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 ...
, Cytisorus ( grc, Κυτίσωρος, Kytíssōros) or Cytorus () or Cylindrus was the founder of
Cytorus
Cytorus (Greek Κύτωρος, Kytoros;
also Cytorum, Κύτωρον, Kytoron and Κύτωρις) was an ancient Greek city on the northern coast of Asia Minor. Mentioned by Homer, Cytorus survives in the name of Gideros, which is both
* a ba ...
.
Family
Cytisorus was the son of
Phrixus
In Greek mythology Phrixus (; also spelt Phryxus; el, Φρίξος, ''Phrixos'' means "standing on end, bristling") was the son of Athamas, king of Boeotia, and Nephele (a goddess of clouds). He was the twin brother of Helle and the father of ...
and
Chalciope
Chalciope (; grc, Χαλκιόπη, Khalkiópē means "bronze-face"), in Greek mythology, is a name that may refer to several characters.
* Chalciope, daughter of King Aeetes of Colchis, sister of Medea and wife of Phrixus, by whom she had four ...
Colchis
In Greco-Roman geography, Colchis (; ) was an exonym for the Georgian polity of Egrisi ( ka, ეგრისი) located on the coast of the Black Sea, centered in present-day western Georgia (country), Georgia.
Its population, the Colchians a ...
Melas
Melas may refer to:
* Plural of mela
People
* Melas (mythology), a number of different characters in Greek mythology
* Pavlos Melas (1870–1904), a Hellenic Army officer and a symbol of the Greek Struggle for Macedonia
* Chloe Melas, an Ameri ...
,
Phrontis
In Greek mythology, Phrontis (/fron-tis/; Ancient Greek: Φροντις means "thought, care, attention") may refer to the following personages:
''Male''
* Phrontis, son of Phrixus and Chalciope, daughter of King Aeetes.
*Phrontis, son of O ...
, and according to some accounts, also of
Presbon In Greek mythology, the name Presbon (Ancient Greek: Πρέσβων "elder, senior") may refer to:
*Presbon, a son of Phrixus and Chalciope ( Iophassa), daughter of King Aeetes of Colchis, mentioned in few sources, and never enumerated alongside h ...
.
Mythology
Cytisorus and his brothers were raised in Colchis, but after their father died, he and his brothers set out to avenge their father’s ill treatment in the hands of king
Athamas
In Greek mythology, Athamas (; grc, Ἀθάμας, Athámas) was a Boeotian king.Apollodorus1.9.1/ref>
Family
Athamas was formerly a Thessalian prince and the son of King Aeolus of Aeolia and Enarete, daughter of Deimachus. He was the brothe ...
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 ...
(Dia) in the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...
until they were rescued from the island by
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'', ...
. Once Jason discovered that Cytisorus and his brothers were grandsons of King Aeëtes of Colchis, Jason convinced Cytisorus and his brothers to return with him to Colchis and help him to obtain 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 ...
. Jason also questioned Cytisorus and his brothers on the layout and security of the land. After the Fleece was retrieved from Colchis, Phrontis and his brothers returned with the Argo's crew to
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
.
In another version of the myth, the Achaeans were just about to sacrifice
Athamas
In Greek mythology, Athamas (; grc, Ἀθάμας, Athámas) was a Boeotian king.Apollodorus1.9.1/ref>
Family
Athamas was formerly a Thessalian prince and the son of King Aeolus of Aeolia and Enarete, daughter of Deimachus. He was the brothe ...
who was a scapegoat to purge the sins of the country according to the command of an oracle but Cytisorus came from Aea in
Colchis
In Greco-Roman geography, Colchis (; ) was an exonym for the Georgian polity of Egrisi ( ka, ეგრისი) located on the coast of the Black Sea, centered in present-day western Georgia (country), Georgia.
Its population, the Colchians a ...
and delivered his grandfather Athamas. Having done so, Cytisorus brought the wrath of the gods upon his own descendants. In other myths,
Sophocles
Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or co ...
represented Athamas as led to the altar, a victim to the vengeance of
Nephele
In Greek mythology, Nephele (; Ancient Greek: Νεφέλη from νέφος ''nephos'' "cloud"; Latinized to ''Nubes'') was a cloud nymph who figured prominently in the story of Phrixus and Helle.
Mythology
Greek myth has it that Nephele is t ...
but was saved 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 adoptive ...
instead.W. W. How, J. Wells, ''A Commentary on Herodotus'' 7.197.3
Notes
References
*
Gaius Julius 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 ...
, ''Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus'' translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies Online version at the Topos Text Project. *
Gaius Valerius Flaccus
Gaius Valerius Flaccus (; died ) was a 1st-century Roman poet who flourished during the " Silver Age" under the Flavian dynasty, and wrote a Latin ''Argonautica'' that owes a great deal to Apollonius of Rhodes' more famous epic.Online version at theoi.com. * Gaius Valerius Flaccus, ''Argonauticon.'' Otto Kramer. Leipzig. Teubner. 1913 Latin 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 ...
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 ...
, ''Catalogue of Women'' from ''Homeric Hymns, Epic Cycle, Homerica'' translated by Evelyn-White, H G. Loeb Classical Library Volume 57. London: William Heinemann, 1914 Online version at theoi.com *
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 ...
Pseudo-Apollodorus
The ''Bibliotheca'' (Ancient Greek: grc, Βιβλιοθήκη, lit=Library, translit=Bibliothēkē, label=none), also known as the ''Bibliotheca'' of Pseudo-Apollodorus, is a compendium of Greek myths and heroic legends, arranged in three book ...
Stephanus of Byzantium
Stephanus or Stephan of Byzantium ( la, Stephanus Byzantinus; grc-gre, Στέφανος Βυζάντιος, ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD), was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethni ...
, ''Stephani Byzantii Ethnicorum quae supersunt,'' edited by August Meineike (1790-1870), published 1849. A few entries from this important ancient handbook of place names have been translated by Brady Kiesling Online version at the Topos Text Project. *
Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...