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[German version] (Ἰάλμενος; Iálmenos). Son of  Ares and  Astyoche. Along with his twin brother  Ascalaphus [2], he led the Minyan contingent at Troy (Hom. Il. 2, 511), and is therefore also mentioned as a suitor of  Helen (Apollod. 3,130). After the capture of Troy, he makes his home in the Crimean region with Minyan settlers (Pherecydes, FGrH 3 F 143; Str. 9,2,42). Like his brother, I. was probably a figure of pre-Iliadic myth. Visser, Edzard (Basle) Bibliography W. Kullmann, Die Quellen der Ilias, 1960, 70f. Kamptz, 252.

[German version] (Κάμπη; Kámpē). Gigantic jaileress who stands guard in  Tartarus over the  Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires, monsters with one hundred hands. In the Titanomachy, Zeus follows the advice of Gaia and kills C. (according to Diod. Sic. 3.72.3 she is killed by Dionysus near the Libyan city of Zabrina) so that the former prisoners can support Zeus (Apollod. 1.6); a detailed description of C. as a sort of dragon (starting with the appellative meaning ‘caterpillar’) can be found in Nonnus, Dion. 18.236-264. Visser, Edzard (Basle) Bibliography W. Kroll, s.v. K., RE 10, 1842.

[German version] (Γραικός; Graikós). According to Hes. fr. 5, 3 M.-W., the son of Zeus and Pandora (or the brother of Latinus, though according to Theog. 1013 the latter's mother is Circe) and the eponymous hero of the Greeks before they acquired the name Hellenes from  Hellen. The name suggests an Illyrian origin [1]. Visser, Edzard (Basle) Bibliography 1 Chantraine, s.v. G., 234. P. Dräger, Untersuchungen zu den Frauenkatalogen Hesiods, 1997, 27-42.

[German version] (Κιναίθων; Kinaíthōn). Epic poet from Sparta, thought to have lived in the 7th or 6th cent. BC. Nothing of his works survives in the original, but testimonia indicate that their basic characteristic was the representation of genealogies. A reference in the Tabulae Iliacae names C. as the author of an Oedipodea. Jer. Chron. 4,2, names him also as the author of a Telegonia, but traditionally this epic poem is associated with Eugammon. It is uncertain whether C. also wrote an epic on Heracles; an even more dubious claim, found in a scholion to …

[German version] (Μάρων; Márōn). Priest of Apollo in the Thracian city of Ismarus; first mentioned in the Cicones episode in the Odyssey: For being spared during a plundering raid by Odysseus' warriors, M. gives Odysseus amongst other things a heavy wine as a present, with which Odysseus can later stun the Cyclops (Hom. Od. 9,39-61; 196-211). M.'s name appears to be derived from the name of the Thracian city of Maronea [1] whose environs were known for good wine (Hom. Od. 9,45; Archil. fr. 2); a nu…

(Ἵππασος; Híppasos). Name often used in epic texts for figures lacking any further characterization, particularly common in patronymic information about less important heroes. Esp. interesting in this context are [1] - [4]: [German version] [1] Father of Actor, the Argonaut  Father of Actor, the Argonaut (Apoll. Rhod. 1,112; Hyg. Fab. 14). Visser, Edzard (Basle) [German version] [2] Father of Charops  Father of  Charops [4] (Hom. Il. 11,426). Visser, Edzard (Basle) [German version] [3] Father of Hypsenor  Father of Hypsenor, killed by Deiphobus (Hom. Il. 13,411). Visser, Edzard …

(Κομήτης; Komḗtēs). [German version] [1] Lover of Aegiale(ia) Lover of  Aegiale(ia) wife of  Diomedes [1], the Achaean warrior at Troy. After Diomedes' return, C. tries to kill him; when Diomedes manages to save himself by finding refuge at an altar to Athena, C. leaves his homeland Argus (schol. Hom. Il. 5, 412). Mimnermus appears to have developed the structure of this myth as a parallel to the fate of  Agamemnon (fr. 17 G.-P.; cf. also Apollod. Epit. 6,9).…

[German version] (Μηκιστεύς; Mēkisteús). Son of the mythical king Talaus of Argos, brother of Adrastus [1]. In the ‘Iliad he is only mentioned as the victor in boxing at Oedipus' funeral games (Hom. Il. 23,678-680; likewise in Paus. 1,28,7). A passage in Herodotus (Hdt. 5,67), according to which he was killed by Melanippus together with Tydeus, indicates that his name was among the ‘Seven against Thebes’. However, Aischyl. Sept. 488 names Hippomedon [1], another son of Talaus (as do…

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(Καρκίνος; Karkínos). [German version] …

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[German version] (Ἴτωνος; Ítōnos). Father of  Boeotus (only in Diod. Sic. 4,67,7 his son); eponym of the town of  Iton, situated close to Coronea in Boeotia, with an important sanctuary of Athena Itonia [1]. The homonymous place and sanctuary in Thessaly (situated between Larisa and Pherae) is an important indication of the conquest and settlement of Boeotia, starting from the north, which allegedly began sixty years after the fall of Troy (Thuc. 1,12,3). I. is, however, mentioned as eponymous hero only in connection with Boeotian settlement. Visser, Edzard (Basle) Bibliography 1 Sch…

(Μενέλαος/Menélaos, Attic Μενέλεως/Menéleos; Latin Menelaus). [German version] [1] Ruler of Sparta, married to Helena A significant character in the cycle of myths about the Trojan War ( Troy: Cycle of myths). A younger brother of Agamemnon, who ruled the mos…

[German version] (Ἰλιονεύς; Ilioneús). Trojan warrior, son of a farmer by the name of Phorbas who was very wealthy due to his close connection to  Hermes; killed in battle by  Peneleus, the Minyaean prince (Hom. Il. 14,487-507). Virgil uses this name for the oldest leader of the Trojan refugees (A. 1,521 et passim). Visser, Edzard (Basle) Bibliography P. Wathelet, Dictionnaire des Troyens de l'Iliade, 1988, no. 161.

(Μαρσύας; Marsýas). [German version] [1] Phrygian rivergod and Celaenae's god of protection Phrygian river god and Celaenae's god of protection, represented as satyr or silenus. The name is derived from a toponym that can be found repeatedly throughout Asia Minor and Syria; the river, at the source of which Celaenae lies, also carries this name (M. [5]). M. was considered the discoverer of flute playing ( aulós), the inventor of the bandage used for flute playing ( phorbeiá) and of songs for the worship of the goddess Cybele. According to the myth, the possibility to pla…

[German version] (Γουνεύς; Gouneús). Leader of the 28th contingent described in the Homeric catalogue of ships (Hom. Il. 2,748-755). His territory, clearly defined by the place names Kyphos and Dodona as well as the tribal names of the Aenianes and Peraebians, comprises approximately the centre of the Pindus Massif and links Thessaly with Epirus. In the epic Kyklos, G. t…

[German version] (Γηρυονεύς; Gēryoneús; also Geryónēs, Geryṓn, Γηρυόνης, Γηρυών; Etruscan Cerun). Mythical giant with three heads and three bodies, residing on the island  Erytheia in the far west of the inhabited world (later generally identified with Gadeira/Cadiz: Hdt. 4,8, et al., in Ptolemy's Geographia 4,1,16, identified with Mauretania, euhemeristically relocated to Ambracia by Hecataeus FGrH 1 F 26), where he tends an especially splendid breed of red cattle. His father is Chrysaor, originated from Medusa, and his mother, an  Oceanid (Callirhoe). In the Greek myth, G.…

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[German version] (Κεστρῖνος; Kestrînos). Eponym of the Greek region of  Cestrine, previously Cammania, in southern Thesprotia opposite the island of Cercyra (Steph. Byz. s.v. Καμμανία). C. is the son of  Helenus [1] and  Andromache; after the death of Helenus, Molossus, the son of Neoptolemus and Andromache, took power in Thesprotia, as a result of which C. emigrated to Cammania; as the new ruler he gave it its name (Paus. 1,11,1f.; 2,23,6). Visser, Edzard (Basle)

[German version] [1] Oldest mythical king of Arcadia (Λυκάων; Lykáōn). Oldest mythical king of Arcadia, son of Pelasgus and of the daughter of Oceanus, Meliboea, or the mountain nymph Cyllene. L.'s sons are the founding heroes of all important Arcadian cities; his son Oenotrus, dissatisfied with his share of the inheritance, is said to have left his homeland and settled in Italy with several followers (hence the name Oenotria) (first in Pherecydes, FGrH 3 F 156). The number of 50 sons mentioned in Apol…