Elymus ( grc-gre, Έλυμος) was the supposed
Trojan ancestor of the
Elymians, an indigenous people of
Sicily, in
Greek and
Roman legend.
Legends
Elymus was a
Trojan, a natural son of
Anchises
Anchises (; grc-gre, Ἀγχίσης, Ankhísēs) was a member of the royal family of Troy in Greek and Roman legend. He was said to have been the son of King Capys of Dardania and Themiste, daughter of Ilus, who was son of Tros. He is most fam ...
and a brother of
Eryx. Previous to the emigration of
Aeneas, also a son of Anchises, Elymus and
Acestes
In Roman mythology, Acestes or Egestes ( grc, Ἀκέστης) was the son of the Sicilian river-god Crinisus by a Dardanian or Trojan woman named Egesta or Segesta.
According to Servius, this woman Egesta or Segesta was sent by her father, Hip ...
had fled from Troy to Sicily, and had settled on the banks of the river
Crinisus
CRIMISUS or CRIMISSUS (Κριμισός, Lycophr., Dionys.; Κριμησός, Plut.; Κριμισσός, Ael.), a river of Sicily, in the neighbourhood of Segesta, celebrated for the great battle fought on its banks in B.C. 339, in which Timoleon, ...
, in the country of the
Sicani. When afterwards the Trojan refugees led by Aeneas also arrived there, Elymus built for them the towns of
Segesta and
Elyme, and the Trojans who settled in that part of Sicily called themselves Elymi, after Elymus.
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 ...
calls him Elymnus, and says that he went to Sicily with Aeneas, and that they together took possession of the cities of
Eryx and
Lilybaeum
Marsala (, local ; la, Lilybaeum) is an Italian town located in the Province of Trapani in the westernmost part of Sicily. Marsala is the most populated town in its province and the fifth in Sicily.
The town is famous for the docking of Giuse ...
. Elymus was further believed to have founded
Asca
''Asca'' is a genus of mites with worldwide distribution in the family Ascidae.
Species
* ''Asca acornis'' Lindquist, 1972
* ''Asca annandalei'' Bhattacharyya & Sanyal, 2002
* ''Asca anwenjui'' Ma, 2003
* '' Asca aphidioides' ...
and
Entella
Éntella (Greek language, Greek: ), was an ancient city in the interior of Sicily, situated on the left bank of the river Hypsas (modern Belice), and nearly midway between the two seas, being about 40 km from the mouth of the Hypsas, and ...
in Sicily.
In the ''
Aeneid'',
Vergil has Elymnus competing in the
funeral games held on Sicily for Anchises, in the footrace in which
Nisus and Euryalus are introduced. As ''Helymus'', he is also listed among the competitors by
Hyginus, who says he finished second to Euryalus and was awarded an
Amazonian
quiver.
[ Hyginus, ''Fabulae'' 273.14.]
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
{{Aeneid
Trojans
Ancient Sicily
Characters in the Aeneid
Sicilian characters in Greek mythology