Aleus
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

In
Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...
, Aleus (or Aleos) ( grc, Ἀλεός) was the king of
Arcadia Arcadia may refer to: Places Australia * Arcadia, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Arcadia, Queensland * Arcadia, Victoria Greece * Arcadia (region), a region in the central Peloponnese * Arcadia (regional unit), a modern administrative un ...
, eponym of Alea, and founder of the cult of Athena Alea. He was the grandson of Arcas. His daughter
Auge In Greek mythology, Auge (; Ancient Greek: Αὐγή 'sunbeam, daylight, dawn') was the daughter of Aleus the king of Tegea in Arcadia, and the virgin priestess of Athena Alea. She was also the mother of the hero Telephus by Heracles. Auge had ...
was the mother of the hero
Telephus In Greek mythology, Telephus (; grc-gre, Τήλεφος, ''Tēlephos'', "far-shining") was the son of Heracles and Auge, who was the daughter of king Aleus of Tegea. He was adopted by Teuthras, the king of Mysia, in Asia Minor, whom he succe ...
, by
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 ...
. Aleus' sons
Amphidamas Amphidamas (; Ancient Greek: Ἀμφιδάμας) was the name of multiple people in Greek mythology: *Amphidamas, father of Pelagon, king of Phocis, who gave Cadmus the cow that was to guide him to Boeotia. *Amphidamas or Amphidamantes, fath ...
and Cepheus, and his grandson Ancaeus were Argonauts. Ancaeus was killed by the
Calydonian boar The Calydonian boar hunt is one of the great heroic adventures in Greek legend. It occurred in the generation prior to that of the Trojan War, and stands alongside the other great heroic adventure of that generation, the voyage of the Argonauts, ...
.


Family

Aleus was the son of Apheidas whose father was Arcas, the son 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 ...
and
Callisto Callisto most commonly refers to: *Callisto (mythology), a nymph *Callisto (moon), a moon of Jupiter Callisto may also refer to: Art and entertainment *''Callisto series'', a sequence of novels by Lin Carter *''Callisto'', a novel by Torsten Kro ...
, and the eponym of Arcadia. Some accounts make Aleus the brother of Stheneboea, the wife of
Proetus In Greek mythology, Proetus (; Ancient Greek: Προῖτος ''Proitos'') may refer to the following personages: * Proetus, king of Argos and Tiryns, son of Abas and twin brother of Acrisius. *Proetus, a prince of Corinth as the son of Prince ...
. Aleus succeeded his father as king of
Tegea Tegea (; el, Τεγέα) was a settlement in ancient Arcadia, and it is also a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the Tripoli municipality, of which it is a municipal un ...
in Arcadia, and when
Aepytus Aepytus (Ancient Greek: Αἵπυτος) can refer to several people in Greek mythology: * Aepytus, king of Arcadia and son of Elatus. * Aepytus, also a king of Arcadia and son of Hippothous. * Aepytus, son of the Heraclid Cresphontes.Apol ...
died, Aleus became king of all Arcadia, with Tegea as his capital. He was said to have been the eponymous founder of the city of Alea. From Aleus also comes, presumably, the epithet Athena Alea, whose temple at Tegea, he was said to have built. According to various accounts Aleus had three sons,
Lycurgus Lycurgus or Lykourgos () may refer to: People * Lycurgus (king of Sparta) (third century BC) * Lycurgus (lawgiver) (eighth century BC), creator of constitution of Sparta * Lycurgus of Athens (fourth century BC), one of the 'ten notable orators' ...
, the Argonauts
Amphidamas Amphidamas (; Ancient Greek: Ἀμφιδάμας) was the name of multiple people in Greek mythology: *Amphidamas, father of Pelagon, king of Phocis, who gave Cadmus the cow that was to guide him to Boeotia. *Amphidamas or Amphidamantes, fath ...
and Cepheus, and two daughters,
Auge In Greek mythology, Auge (; Ancient Greek: Αὐγή 'sunbeam, daylight, dawn') was the daughter of Aleus the king of Tegea in Arcadia, and the virgin priestess of Athena Alea. She was also the mother of the hero Telephus by Heracles. Auge had ...
, and
Alcidice Alcidice (Ancient Greek: Ἀλκιδίκη) was, in Greek mythology, an Arcadian princess as the daughter of King Aleus. She married Salmoneus, king of Elis, and bore a daughter, Tyro. After her death Salmoneus married Sidero In Greek mythology, ...
, by either Neaera the daughter of
Pereus In Greek mythology, Pereus ( Ancient Greek: Περέος) was an Arcadian prince as the son of King Elatus and Laodice, daughter of King Cinyras. He had four brothers namely, Stymphalus, Aepytus, Ischys and Cyllen. Pereus had a daughter, Neaer ...
, or
Cleobule In Greek mythology, the name Cleobule or Cleoboule (Ancient Greek: Κλεοβούλη, ''Kleoboúlē'') or Cleobula refers to: *Cleobule, daughter of Aeolus or Aeopolus, one of the possible mothers of Myrtilus by Hermes. *Cleobule, wife of Aleus ...
.


Mythology


Auge and Telephus

Aleus' daughter Auge, virgin priestess of Athena Alea, was made pregnant by Heracles, and though Aleus tried to dispose of mother and child, both ended up at the court of king
Teuthras In Greek mythology, Teuthras ( Ancient Greek: Τεύθρας, gen. Τεύθραντος) was a king of Mysia, and mythological eponym of the town of Teuthrania. Mythology Teuthras received Auge, the ill-fated mother of Telephus, and either ...
in
Mysia Mysia (UK , US or ; el, Μυσία; lat, Mysia; tr, Misya) was a region in the northwest of ancient Asia Minor (Anatolia, Asian part of modern Turkey). It was located on the south coast of the Sea of Marmara. It was bounded by Bithynia on th ...
, with Auge his wife (or by some accounts his adopted daughter) and Telephus his adopted heir. According to one account, the Delphic oracle had warned Aleus that if his daughter had a son, then this grandson would kill Aleus' sons, so Aleus made Auge a priestess of Athena, telling her that she must remain a virgin, on pain of death. But Heracles, passing through Tegea, became enamored of Auge and while drunk had sex with her. In some accounts, Aleus discovered that Auge was pregnant and gave her to Nauplius to be drowned, but instead Nauplius sold her to Teuthras. Others say that Auge had her baby secretly in the temple of Athena at Tegea and hid it there, but that an ensuing plague and investigation caused her to be found out, so Aleus put Auge and Telephus to sea in a wooden chest and cast them adrift. In some accounts, the infant Telephus arrives together with Auge in Mysia, where he is adopted by Teuthras. In others, Telephus is left behind in Arcadia, having been abandoned on
Mount Parthenion Mount Parthenion ( grc, τὸ Παρθένιον ὄρος) or Parthenius or Parthenium) ("Mount of the Virgin", modern el, Παρθένιο - ''Parthenio'') is a mountain on the border of Arcadia and Argolis, in the Peloponnese, Greece. Its ele ...
, either by Aleus, or by Auge when she was being taken to the sea by Nauplius to be drowned; however, Telephus is suckled by a deer, and eventually reunited with Auge in Mysia many years later. Some accounts have Telephus killing his maternal uncles, the sons of Aleus, thereby fulfilling the oracle, but none say how.


Ancaeus

When Aleus was an old man, his sons Amphidamas and Cepheus left Tegea to join
Jason Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea. He ...
and the Argonauts on their quest to find the
Golden Fleece In Greek mythology, the Golden Fleece ( el, Χρυσόμαλλον δέρας, ''Chrysómallon déras'') is the fleece of the golden-woolled,, ''Khrusómallos''. winged ram, Chrysomallos, that rescued Phrixus and brought him to Colchis, where ...
. Aleus' eldest son Lycurgus stayed home to care for his father, sending his son Ancaeus in his stead. But Aleus, hoping to keep his grandson with him safe at home, hid all of Ancaeus' implements of war, and so Ancaeus went with Jason wearing a bearskin, and wielding a double-sided axe. Later Ancaeus joined the hunt for the
Calydonian boar The Calydonian boar hunt is one of the great heroic adventures in Greek legend. It occurred in the generation prior to that of the Trojan War, and stands alongside the other great heroic adventure of that generation, the voyage of the Argonauts, ...
, but was killed when the beast gored him. At the time of
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 ...
, the scene was depicted on the front gable of the temple of Athena Alea at Teage, with Ancaeus shown wounded, supported by
Epochus In Greek mythology, the name Epochus (Ancient Greek: ) may refer to: *Epochus, an Arcadian prince as son of King Lycurgus of Arcadia and Cleophyle or Eurynome or Antinoe, and thus the brother of Ancaeus, Amphidamas and Iasus. Epochus participa ...
, next to his dropped axe. The story of Aleus and his grandson Ancaeus shares similarities with the story told by
Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society ...
about Croesus and his son Atys. Croesus had dreamed that Atys would be killed by a spear. Because of this, to keep Atys safe, Croesus locked away all of his son's weaponry. A wild boar began to ravage the countryside and when a hunt was organized to rid the land of the raging beast, Croeus would not let his son join. However Atys said the boar would surely not kill him using a spear. So Croesus relented, and Atys was killed by a spear thrown by a fellow hunter.During the hunt for the Calydonian Boar,
Peleus In Greek mythology, Peleus (; Ancient Greek: Πηλεύς ''Pēleus'') was a hero, king of Phthia, husband of Thetis and the father of their son Achilles. This myth was already known to the hearers of Homer in the late 8th century BC. Biogra ...
accidentally kills
Eurytion Eurytion (Ancient Greek: Εὐρυτίων, "widely honoured") or Eurythion (Εὐρυθίων) was a name attributed to several individuals in Greek mythology: * Eurytion, the king of Phthia. *Eurytion, a Centaur of Arcadia who demanded to marr ...
in a similar manner: Apollodorus
1.8.23.13.2


Notes


References

* Apollodorus, ''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
*
Apollonius Rhodius Apollonius of Rhodes ( grc, Ἀπολλώνιος Ῥόδιος ''Apollṓnios Rhódios''; la, Apollonius Rhodius; fl. first half of 3rd century BC) was an ancient Greek author, best known for the ''Argonautica'', an epic poem about Jason and t ...
, ''The Argonautica, Jason and the Argonauts'', Translated by R.C. Seaton, Forgotten Books, 2007. . *Collard, Christopher and Martin Cropp, ''Euripides Fragments: Aegeus–Meleanger'', Loeb Classical Library (June 30, 2008). . *Collard, Christopher and Martin Cropp (2), ''Euripides Fragments: Oedipus–Chrysippus, Other Fragments'', Loeb Classical Library (June 30, 2008). . * Diodorus Siculus, ''Diodorus Siculus: The Library of History''. Translated by C. H. Oldfather. Twelve volumes. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 2. Books 2.35–4.58. . *Gantz, Timothy, ''Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources'', Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes: (Vol. 1), (Vol. 2). * Garagin, M., P. Woodruff, ''Early Greek Political thought from Homer to the Sophists'', Cambridge 1995. . * Grenfell, Bernard P., Arthur S, Hunt, ''The Oxyrhynchus Papyri Part XI'', London, Egypt Exploration Fund, 1915
Internet Archive
*Heres, Huberta, "The Myth of Telephos in Pergamon" in ''Pergamon: The Telephos Frieze from the Great Altar, Volume 2'', by Renée Dreyfus, Ellen Schraudolph, University of Texas Press, 1996. . *
Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society ...
; ''Histories'',
A. D. Godley Alfred Denis Godley (22 January 1856 – 27 June 1925) was an Anglo-Irish classical scholar and author of humorous poems. From 1910 to 1920 he was Public Orator at the University of Oxford, a post that involved composing citations in Latin for ...
(translator), Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1920;
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
*Huys, Marc, ''The Tale of the Hero Who Was Exposed at Birth in Euripidean Tragedy: A Study of Motifs'', Cornell University Press (December 1995). . * Hyginus, Gaius Julius
''The Myths of Hyginus''
Edited and translated by Mary A. Grant, Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1960. * Jebb, Richard Claverhouse, W. G. Headlam, A. C. Pearson, ''The Fragments of Sophocles'', Cambridge University Press, 2010, 3 Volumes. (Vol 1), (Vol. 2), (Vol. 3). * Lloyd-Jones, Hugh, ''Sophocles Fragments'' Volume 1, edited and translated by Hugh Lloyd-Jones, Harvard University Press 1996
Google Books
*Most, Glenn W., ''Hesiod II'', Harvard University Press, 2006. . *
Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...
, ''Ovid: Heroides - Amores'', translated by Showerman, Grant. Loeb Classical Library Volume 41. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1931
Online text at Theoi.com
*
Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...
, ''
Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' ( la, Metamorphōsēs, from grc, μεταμορφώσεις: "Transformations") is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the ...
'', Brookes More. Boston. Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
*Page, Denys Lionel, Sir, ''Select Papyri'', Harvard University Press. (v. 3). *
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''. W. H. S. Jones (translator). Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. (1918). *Pausanias, ''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, ''Quintus Smyrnaeus: The Fall of Troy'', Translator: A.S. Way; Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA, 1913. *Rosivach, Vincent J., ''When a Young Man Falls in Love: The Sexual Exploitation of Women in New Comedy'', Psychology Press, 1998. . * Strabo, ''Geography'', translated by Horace Leonard Jones; Vol. 6, Books 13–14 Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. (1924). . *Webster, Thomas Bertram Lonsdale, ''The Tragedies of Euripides'', Methuen & Co, 1967 *Winnington-Ingram, Reginald Pepy, ''Sophocles: An Interpretation'', Cambridge University Press, 1980. {{ISBN, 9780521296847. Princes in Greek mythology Mythological kings of Arcadia Kings in Greek mythology Arcadian characters in Greek mythology Characters in Greek mythology Tegea