Apomyius ( grc, Ἀπομυιος), Greek for "driving away the flies," was an
epithet of
Zeus
Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek reli ...
at
Olympia. On one occasion, when
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 adoptiv ...
was offering a sacrifice to Zeus at Olympia, he was annoyed by hosts of flies, and in order to get rid of them, he offered a sacrifice to Zeus Apomyius, whereupon the flies withdrew across the river
Alpheius. From that time the
Eleans sacrificed to Zeus under this name.
It was customary to sacrifice a bull to Zeus Apomyius at the
ancient Olympic Games, in order to drive away the flies that plagued those events.
Notes
Epithets of Zeus
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