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 ...

, Alcaeus or Alkaios (

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 ...

: Ἀλκαῖος derived from ''alke'' "strength") was the name of a number of different people: *Alcaeus, was a Mycenaean prince. He was a son of

Perseus In Greek mythology, Perseus (Help:IPA/English, /ˈpɜːrsiəs, -sjuːs/; Greek language, Greek: Περσεύς, Romanization of Greek, translit. Perseús) is the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty. He was, alongside Cadmus ...

and Andromeda and thus the brother of Perses,

Heleus In Greek mythology, Heleus or Heleius (Ancient Greek: Ἕλειος), also Helius (Ἕλιος), was a Mycenaean prince. Family Heleus was one of the sons of Perseus and Andromeda. He was the brother of Perses, Alcaeus, Sthenelus, Electryon, ...

Mestor In Greek mythology, Mestor (; Ancient Greek: Μήστωρ means "adviser" or "counsellor") was the name of four men. * Mestor, a Mycenaean prince. He was the son of Perseus and Andromeda and thus, brother of Perses, Alcaeus, Heleus, Sthenelus ...

Sthenelus In Greek mythology, Sthenelus (; Ancient Greek: Σθένελος ''Sthénelos,'' "strong one" or "forcer", derived from "strength, might, force") was a name attributed to several different individuals: * Sthenelus, father of Cycnus and King of Li ...

Electryon In Greek mythology, Electryon (;Ancient Greek: Ἠλεκτρύων) was a king of Tiryns and Mycenae or Medea in Argolis. Family Electryon was the son of Perseus and Andromeda and thus brother of Perses, Alcaeus, Heleus, Mestor, Sthenelus ...

Cynurus In Greek mythology, Cynurus (Ancient Greek: Κύνουρος, ''Kúnouros'') was a Mycenaean prince as the son of King Perseus and Andromeda, daughter of the Ethiopian rulers, King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia. He was the brother of Perses, Al ...

Gorgophone In Greek mythology, Gorgophone ( grc, Γοργοφόνη "Gorgon-Slayer") was the name of two different women. * Gorgophone, daughter of Perseus. * Gorgophone, a Libyan princess as one of the 50 Danaïdes. She married and murdered Proteus, son of ...

and

Autochthe In Greek mythology, Autochthe (Ancient Greek: Αὐτόχθη, ''Aὐtókhthē'') was a Mycenaean princess. Family Autochthe was one of the two daughters of Perseus and Andromeda. Her sister was Gorgophone while her brothers were Perses, Alc ...

. Alcaeus was married either to Astydameia, the daughter of

Pelops In Greek mythology, Pelops (; ) was king of Pisa in the Peloponnesus region (, lit. "Pelops' Island"). He was the son of Tantalus and the father of Atreus. He was venerated at Olympia, where his cult developed into the founding myth of the O ...

and Hippodamia, or

Laonome In Greek mythology, the name Laonome (Ancient Greek: 'law of the people' derived from ''laos "''people" and ''nomos'', "law") may refer to: *Laonome, daughter of Guneus, possible spouse of Alcaeus and mother of Amphitryon, Anaxo and Perimede. ...

, daughter of

Guneus In Greek mythology, the name Guneus (; Ancient Greek: Γουνεὐς derived from ''gounos'' "fruitful land") may refer to: *Guneus, a man from Pheneus and father of Laonome, wife of Alcaeus. Through his daughter, he was the grandfather of Amphitr ...

, or else

Hipponome {{short description, Greek mythological figure In Greek mythology, Hipponome (Ancient Greek: Ἱππονόμης means "horse-keeper") was the daughter of Menoeceus from Thebes and thus sister of Creon and Jocasta. She married Alcaeus, son of Per ...

, daughter of

Menoeceus In Greek mythology, Menoeceus (; Ancient Greek: Μενοικεύς ''Menoikeús'' "strength of the house" derived from ''menos'' "strength" and ''oikos'' "house") was the name of two Theban characters. They are related by genealogy, the first being ...

, by whom he became the father of

Amphitryon Amphitryon (; Ancient Greek: Ἀμφιτρύων, ''gen''.: Ἀμφιτρύωνος; usually interpreted as "harassing either side", Latin: Amphitruo), in Greek mythology, was a son of Alcaeus, king of Tiryns in Argolis. His mother was named ei ...

Anaxo In Greek mythology, Anaxo ( or ; Ancient Greek: Ἀναξώ), is the name that may refer to: * Anaxo, daughter of Alcaeus, a son of Perseus. * Anaxo, a girl from Troezen. She was abducted by Theseus.Plutarch, ''Theseus'' 29; Athenaeus, 13.4 No ...

and Perimede. *Alcaeus, the original name of

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive ...

(according to

Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...

), which was given to him on account of his descent from Alcaeus, the son of Perseus mentioned above. *Alcaeus, a son of

by a female slave of Iardanus, from whom the dynasty of the

Heraclids The Heracleidae (; grc, Ἡρακλεῖδαι) or Heraclids were the numerous descendants of Heracles (Hercules), especially applied in a narrower sense to the descendants of Hyllus, the eldest of his four sons by Deianira (Hyllus was also ...

Lydia Lydia (Lydian language, Lydian: ‎𐤮𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣𐤠, ''Śfarda''; Aramaic: ''Lydia''; el, Λυδία, ''Lȳdíā''; tr, Lidya) was an Iron Age Monarchy, kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the mod ...

were believed to be descended.

writes that this son of Heracles is named " Cleolaus". *Alcaeus, a

Cretan Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, an ...

general of Rhadamanthus, according to

, who presented him with the island of

Paros Paros (; el, Πάρος; Venetian: ''Paro'') is a Greek island in the central Aegean Sea. One of the Cyclades island group, it lies to the west of Naxos, from which it is separated by a channel about wide. It lies approximately south-east of ...

. The '' Bibliotheca'' relates that he was a son of Androgeus (the son of

Minos In Greek mythology, Minos (; grc-gre, Μίνως, ) was a King of Crete, son of Zeus and Europa. Every nine years, he made King Aegeus pick seven young boys and seven young girls to be sent to Daedalus's creation, the labyrinth, to be eaten ...

and

Pasiphaë In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, Pasiphaë (; grc-gre, Πασιφάη, Pasipháē, lit=wide-shining derived from πάσι (archaic dative plural) "for all" and φάος/φῶς ''phaos/phos'' "light") was a queen of Crete, and wa ...

) and brother of

, and that when

, on his expedition to fetch the girdle of

Ares Ares (; grc, Ἄρης, ''Árēs'' ) is the Greek god of war and courage. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. The Greeks were ambivalent towards him. He embodies the physical valor necessary for success in war b ...

, which was in the possession of the queen of the

Amazons In Greek mythology, the Amazons (Ancient Greek: Ἀμαζόνες ''Amazónes'', singular Ἀμαζών ''Amazōn'', via Latin ''Amāzon, -ŏnis'') are portrayed in a number of ancient epic poems and legends, such as the Labours of Hercules, ...

, arrived at Paros, some of his companions were slain by the sons of Minos. Heracles, in his anger, slew all the descendants of Minos except Alcaeus and Sthenelus, whom he took with him, and to whom he afterwards gave the island of Thasus as their home. *Alcaeus, son of Margasus and

Phyllis Phyllis is a feminine given name which may refer to: People * Phyllis Bartholomew (1914–2002), English long jumper * Phyllis Drummond Bethune (née Sharpe, 1899–1982), New Zealand artist * Phyllis Calvert (1915–2002), British actress * P ...

, a

Caria Caria (; from Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; tr, Karya) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionians, Ionian and Dorians, Dorian Greeks colonized the west of i ...

n ally of the Trojans in the

Trojan War In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and has ...

. He was killed by

Meges In Greek mythology, Mégês Phyleïdês (Ancient Greek: Μέγης Φυλεΐδης) was the commander of Epeans and/or Dulichians during the Trojan War. Family Meges was the son of Phyleus and his mother's name is variously given as either ...

. Quintus Smyrnaeus, 10.138 ff.

Notes

References

Apollodorus Apollodorus (Ancient Greek, Greek: Ἀπολλόδωρος ''Apollodoros'') was a popular name in ancient Greece. It is the masculine gender of a noun compounded from Apollo, the deity, and doron, "gift"; that is, "Gift of Apollo." It may refer to: ...

, ''The Library'' with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website
*

, '' The Library of History'' translated by

Charles Henry Oldfather Charles Henry Oldfather (13 June 1887 – 20 August 1954) was an American professor of history of the ancient world, specifically at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He was born in Tabriz, Persia. Parentage Oldfather's parents, Jeremiah and Fe ...

. Twelve volumes.

Loeb Classical Library The Loeb Classical Library (LCL; named after James Loeb; , ) is a series of books originally published by Heinemann in London, but is currently published by Harvard University Press. The library contains important works of ancient Greek and L ...

. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59–8
Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site
* Diodorus Siculus, ''Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2''. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888-1890
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
*

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known f ...

, '' The Histories'' with an English translation by A. D. Godley. Cambridge. Harvard University Press. 1920
Online version at the Topos Text Project.Greek text available at Perseus Digital Library
*

Hesiod Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...

, ''

Shield of Heracles The ''Shield of Heracles'' ( grc, Ἀσπὶς Ἡρακλέους, ''Aspis Hērakleous'') is an archaic Greek epic poem that was attributed to Hesiod during antiquity. The subject of the poem is the expedition of Heracles and Iolaus against Cyc ...

'' from ''The Homeric Hymns and Homerica'' with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website
*

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC * Pausanias of Sicily, physician of t ...

, ''Description of Greece'' with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
* Quintus Smyrnaeus, ''

The Fall of Troy The Fall of Troy is an American rock band from Mukilteo, Washington. The band is a trio consisting of Thomas Erak (guitars, vocals, keyboards), Andrew Forsman (drums, percussion) and Tim Ward (bass, screamed vocals) who was later replaced by Fr ...

'' translated by Way. A. S. Loeb Classical Library Volume 19. London: William Heinemann, 1913
Online version at theio.com
* Quintus Smyrnaeus, ''The Fall of Troy''. Arthur S. Way. London: William Heinemann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1913
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
{{Subject bar , portal=Ancient Greece, portal2=Myths Princes in Greek mythology Kings in Greek mythology Heracleidae People of the Trojan War Characters in Greek mythology Mythology of Heracles Mythology of Argolis Cretan characters in Greek mythology