In
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 ...
, Cepheus (;
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 ...
: Κηφεύς ''Kephéus'') was a 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 unit w ...
in
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 ...
. He was an
Argonaut
The Argonauts (; Ancient Greek: ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology, who in the years before the Trojan War (around 1300 BC) accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, ''Argo'', ...
, and was, along with most of his twenty sons, killed in
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 ...
' war against
Hippocoon In Greek mythology, the name Hippocoön (; grc, Ἱπποκόων, ''Hippokóōn'') refers to several characters:
*Hippocoon, in one account, father of Neleus, who is otherwise called son of Cretheus or Poseidon.
*Hippocoon, a Spartan king, fathe ...
, king of
Sparta
Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...
. He was perhaps the same Cepheus who, according to the mythographer
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: ...
, participated in the
Calydonian boar hunt
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
Cepheus was a member of the Arcadian royal family, the descendants of
Pelasgos, the first 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 ...
. He was usually said to be the son of
Aleus
In Greek mythology, Aleus (or Aleos) ( grc, Ἀλεός) was the king of Arcadia, eponym of Alea, and founder of the cult of Athena Alea. He was the grandson of Arcas. His daughter Auge was the mother of the hero Telephus, by Heracles. Aleus' s ...
, the 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 unit w ...
in Arcadia. According to Apollodorus, Aleus had, by
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 ...
, a 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 ...
and two sons Cepheus and
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' ...
. While according to the mythographer
Hyginus
Gaius Julius Hyginus (; 64 BC – AD 17) was a Latin author, a pupil of the scholar Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Caesar Augustus. He was elected superintendent of the Palatine library by Augustus according to Suetonius' ''De Grammatic ...
, Cepheus (the Argonaut) was the son of Aleus and
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 ...
. A different tradition perhaps made Cepheus a son of Lycurgus rather than Aleus.
In addition, the Argonaut
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, father o ...
was said to be another brother of Chepheus and son of Aleus, while according to the geographer
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 th ...
, Aleus had three sons, Lycurgus, Amphidamas and Cepheus, however Apollodorus has Amphidamas as the son of Lycurgus. According to the historian
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 ...
, Aleus also had a daughter named
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, ...
.
Cepheus had twenty sons, one of whom was named
Aeropus. He also had a daughter
Sterope Sterope (; Ancient Greek: Στερόπη, , from , ''steropē'', lightning) was the name of several individuals in Greek mythology:
* Sterope (or Asterope), one of the Pleiades and the wife of Oenomaus (or his mother by Ares).
* Sterope, a Pleu ...
, who figured in the story of Cepheus' participation in the war against
Hippocoon In Greek mythology, the name Hippocoön (; grc, Ἱπποκόων, ''Hippokóōn'') refers to several characters:
*Hippocoon, in one account, father of Neleus, who is otherwise called son of Cretheus or Poseidon.
*Hippocoon, a Spartan king, fathe ...
. Pausanias also mentions two other daughters of Cepheus,
Aerope
In Greek mythology, Aerope (Ancient Greek: Ἀερόπη) was a Cretan princess as the daughter of Catreus, king of Crete. She was the sister to Clymene, Apemosyne and Althaemenes. Aerope's father Catreus gave her to Nauplius, to be drowned, or ...
, who died giving birth to a son of the god
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 ...
, and
Antinoe
In Greek mythology, the name Antinoe (; Ancient Greek: Ἀντινόη) may refer to:
* Antinoe, mother of Ancaeus and Epochus by King Lycurgus of Arcadia.Scholia on Apollonius of Rhodes, ''Argonautica'' 1.164 The latter's wife was otherwise kn ...
.
Mythology
In his youth, Cepheus joined
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 w ...
and the
Argonauts
The Argonauts (; Ancient Greek: ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology, who in the years before the Trojan War (around 1300 BC) accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, '' Argo'', ...
in their quest for 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 P ...
. He was joined by his brother
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, father o ...
, and their nephew
Ancaeus, the son of their brother
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' ...
. He was also perhaps, along with Ancaeus, one of the many heroes who joined
Meleager
In Greek mythology, Meleager (, grc-gre, Μελέαγρος, Meléagros) was a hero venerated in his ''temenos'' at Calydon in Aetolia. He was already famed as the host of the Calydonian boar hunt in the epic tradition that was reworked by Ho ...
in hunting 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, ...
, since according to Apollodorus, "Ancaeus and Cepheus, sons of Lycurgus, from Arcadia" were among those who participated in the hunt.
The hero
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 ...
sought the help of Cepheus and his twenty sons, in his campaign against
Hippocoon In Greek mythology, the name Hippocoön (; grc, Ἱπποκόων, ''Hippokóōn'') refers to several characters:
*Hippocoon, in one account, father of Neleus, who is otherwise called son of Cretheus or Poseidon.
*Hippocoon, a Spartan king, fathe ...
, king of
Sparta
Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...
. But, according to Apollodorus, Cepheus did not want to leave his kingdom unprotected, fearful that if he did, the Argives would march against Tegea. So Heracles gave Cepheus' daughter Sterope a lock of
Medusa
In Greek mythology, Medusa (; Ancient Greek: Μέδουσα "guardian, protectress"), also called Gorgo, was one of the three monstrous Gorgons, generally described as winged human females with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Those ...
the
Gorgon
A Gorgon (Help:IPA/English, /ˈɡɔːrɡən/; plural: Gorgons, Ancient Greek language, Ancient Greek: Γοργών/Γοργώ ''Gorgṓn/Gorgṓ'') is a creature in Greek mythology. Gorgons occur in the earliest examples of Greek literature. W ...
's hair, which Athena had given him, saying that if it was held up three times from the city walls, any enemy advancing on the city would turn in flight. Thus persuaded, Cepheus and his twenty sons joined Heracles' expedition against Hippocoon. According to Apolodorus, Cepheus and all of his twenty sons were killed in battle, while according to the historian
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 ...
all were killed except three of the sons.
The city of
Caphyae Caphyae or Kaphyai ( grc, Καφύαι) was a city of ancient Arcadia situated in a small plain, northwest of the lake of Orchomenus (Arcadia), Orchomenus. It was protected against inundations from this lake by a mound or dyke, raised by the inhabit ...
was believed to have received its name from Cepheus. A Cepheus was said to be have brought colonists to the town of
Kyrenia
Kyrenia ( el, Κερύνεια ; tr, Girne ) is a city on the northern coast of Cyprus, noted for its historic harbour and castle. It is under the ''de facto'' control of Northern Cyprus.
While there is evidence showing that the wider region ...
in
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
.
[Hill]
p. 87 n. 4
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
* 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 ...
, ''Argonautica
The ''Argonautica'' ( el, Ἀργοναυτικά , translit=Argonautika) is a Greek epic poem written by Apollonius Rhodius in the 3rd century BC. The only surviving Hellenistic epic, the ''Argonautica'' tells the myth of the voyage of Jason a ...
'', edited and translated by William H. Race, 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 ...
No. 1, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retirem ...
, 2009.
Online version at Harvard University Press
* 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 ...
, ''Library of History, Volume III: Books 4.59-8'', translated by C. H. Oldfather, 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 ...
No. 340. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retirem ...
, 1939.
Online version at Harvard University Press
* Grimal, Pierre, ''The Dictionary of Classical Mythology'', Wiley-Blackwell, 1996. .
* Hyginus, Gaius Julius, ''Fabulae
Gaius Julius Hyginus (; 64 BC – AD 17) was a Latin author, a pupil of the scholar Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Caesar Augustus. He was elected superintendent of the Palatine library by Augustus according to Suetonius' ''De Grammati ...
'' in ''Apollodorus' ''Library'' and Hyginus' ''Fabulae'': Two Handbooks of Greek Mythology, Translated, with Introductions by R. Scott Smith and Stephen M. Trzaskoma'', Hackett Publishing Company, 2007. .
* Hard, Robin, ''The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology"'', Psychology Press, 2004,
Google Books
* Hill, George, ''A History of Cyprus, Volume 1'', Cambridge University Press, 2010. .
* Parada, Carlos, ''Genealogical Guide to Greek Mythology'', Jonsered, Paul Åströms Förlag, 1993. .
* 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 th ...
, ''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
* Smith, William, ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology
The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 p ...
'', London (1873)
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Tripp, Edward, ''Crowell's Handbook of Classical Mythology'', Thomas Y. Crowell Co; First edition (June 1970). .
* Valerius Flaccus, ''Argonautica'', translated by J. H. Mozley, 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 ...
No. 286. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1928
Online version at Harvard University Press
{{Greek-myth-stub
Argonauts
Mythological city founders
Mythological kings of Arcadia
Kings in Greek mythology
Characters in the Argonautica
Arcadian characters in Greek mythology
Characters in Greek mythology
Tegea
Ancient Tegeans