Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

, Aegypius (

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

: Αἰγυπιός) was a

Thessalian Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessa ...

son of Antheus (son of Nomion) and Bulis. He was the lover of Timandre, a widow.

Mythology

Timandre's son,

Neophron Neophron of Sicyon (Νεόφρων, -ονος) was one of the most prolific of the ancient Greek dramatists, to whom are accredited one hundred and twenty pieces, of which only a few fragments of his ''Medea'' remain. This, it is said, Euripides u ...

, resented this relationship, and plotted against it by seducing Bulis (Βοῦλ-ις, -ιδος). Neophron took Bulis to his house, having arranged for his mother to be out, and excused himself just when he knew Aegypius was accustomed to come visit Timandre; thus arranging for mother and son to sleep together, each believing the other someone else. Afterwards, Aegypius fell asleep, and Bulis recognized him. She grabbed a sword, and was just about to blind Aegypius and kill herself, when Aegypius woke up.

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

restored Aegypius's vision long enough for him to realize what had happened and changed all four of them into birds. The men became vultures, Timandra a sparrow-hawk, and Bulis a long-beaked bird that pecks out the eyes of fish. Grasping the situation, including Neophron's trick, he prayed to the gods to abolish all four of them.

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=Genitive case, genitive Aeolic Greek, Boeotian Aeolic and Doric Greek#Laconian, Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=Genitive case, genitive el, Δίας, ''D� ...

heard his prayer, and answered by turning Aegypius and Neophron into vultures; Bulis into a (πώυγξ) (perhaps a

heron The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus ...

), which lives on the eyes of fishes birds and snakes, since she was so fond of taking out eyes; and Timandre into an ''

aegithalos ''Aegithalos'' is a songbird genus in the family Aegithalidae. Taxonomy The genus ''Aegithalos'' was introduced in 1804 by the French naturalist Johann Hermann to accommodate a single species, the long-tailed tit. The genus name was a term used ...

'' (αἰγίθηλος), now the word for "

long-tailed tit The long-tailed tit (''Aegithalos caudatus''), also named long-tailed bushtit, is a common bird found throughout Europe and the Palearctic. The genus name ''Aegithalos'' was a term used by Aristotle for some European tits, including the long-tail ...

", but the Greek bird may also be any of the

Paridae The tits, chickadees, and Titmouse, titmice constitute the Paridae, a large family of small passerine birds which occur mainly in the Northern Hemisphere and Africa. Most were formerly classified in the genus ''Parus''. Members of this family a ...

Antoninus Liberalis Antoninus Liberalis ( el, Ἀντωνῖνος Λιβεράλις) was an Ancient Greek grammarian who probably flourished between AD 100 and 300. His only surviving work is the ''Metamorphoses'' (Μεταμορφώσεων Συναγωγή, ''Me ...

, 5

Note

Reference

, ''The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis'' translated by Francis Celoria (Routledge 1992). {{ISBN, 0-415-06896-7
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
Thessalian characters in Greek mythology Characters in Greek mythology Thessalian mythology Deeds of Zeus Deeds of Apollo Incest in mythology