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 ...
, Lyrcus (
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 p ...
: Λύρκος) was the illegitimate son of
Abas, king of
Argos
Argos most often refers to:
* Argos, Peloponnese, a city in Argolis, Greece
** Ancient Argos, the ancient city
* Argos (retailer), a catalogue retailer operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland
Argos or ARGOS may also refer to:
Businesses
...
.
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 ...
, ''Graeciae Descriptio'' 2.25.5
Mythology
In
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 ...
's ''Description of Greece'', the city of
Lyrceia Lyrceia or Lyrkeia ( grc, ἡ Λύρκεια), or Lyrceium or Lyrkeion (Λυρκεῖον), was a town in ancient Argolis, distant 60 stadia (a little less than 7 miles) from Argos, and 60 stadia from Orneae, and situated on the road Climax, whi ...
( el, Λυρκεία) lies on one of the two roads which proceeded from the gate of Deiras. The northern road leads to Lyrceia and
Orneae Orneae or Orneai ( grc, Ὀρνέαι) was a town in ancient Argolis, mentioned by Homer in the Catalogue of Ships in the ''Iliad'', which is said to have derived its name from Orneus, the son of Erechtheus. Orneae retained its ancient Cynurian ...
. The distance from
Argos
Argos most often refers to:
* Argos, Peloponnese, a city in Argolis, Greece
** Ancient Argos, the ancient city
* Argos (retailer), a catalogue retailer operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland
Argos or ARGOS may also refer to:
Businesses
...
to Lyrceia is about sixty
stades and the distance from Lyrceia to Orneae is the same, with Lyrceia situated between the two cities on the road named Climax.
Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
in
the Catalogue
''The Catalogue'' (german: Der Katalog) is a box set consisting of the eight albums by German electronic music band Kraftwerk that were released from 1974 to 2003. All albums are digitally remastered, with most of the cover art redesigned, includ ...
makes no mention of the city Lyrceia because at the time of the Greek expedition against
Troy
Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Ç ...
it already lay deserted.
The city was formerly called Lynceia after
Lynceus
In Greek mythology, Lynceus (; grc, Λυγκεύς, Lynkeús, lynx-eyed) was a king of Argos, succeeding Danaus on the throne.
Family
Lynceus was named as a descendant of Belus through his father Aegyptus, who was the twin brother of Danaus, ...
, one of the 50 sons of
Aegyptus. Lynceus arrived there after fleeing from the city of
Argos
Argos most often refers to:
* Argos, Peloponnese, a city in Argolis, Greece
** Ancient Argos, the ancient city
* Argos (retailer), a catalogue retailer operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland
Argos or ARGOS may also refer to:
Businesses
...
when all of his brothers were murdered by the daughters of
Danaus on their wedding night. He gave intelligence of his safe arrival to his faithful wife
Hypermnestra
Hypermnestra ( grc, Ὑπερμνήστρα, ''Hypermnēstra''), in Greek mythology, was a Libyan princess as one of the 50 Danaids the daughter of King Danaus, son of King Belus of Egypt. Her mother was Elephantis and full sister to Gorgophone ...
by holding up a torch and she in like manner informed him of her safety by raising a torch from
Larissa the citadel of Argos.
Lyrcus was the illegitimate son of Abas, the son of Lynceus and Hypermnestra. He was expelled from Argos and got possession of Lynceia and it was renamed
Lyrceia Lyrceia or Lyrkeia ( grc, ἡ Λύρκεια), or Lyrceium or Lyrkeion (Λυρκεῖον), was a town in ancient Argolis, distant 60 stadia (a little less than 7 miles) from Argos, and 60 stadia from Orneae, and situated on the road Climax, whi ...
. Later the town fell in ruins with nothing remaining except the statue of Lyrcus upon a pillar.
[{{cite book, url=https://archive.org/details/travelsinmoreaw06leakgoog, quote=Lyrcus., title=Travels in the Morea: With a Map and Plans, last=Leake, first=William Martin, publisher=J. Murray, year=1830, location=Original from the University of Michigan, page]
414
doi=, id=
Notes
References
*
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'' 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
Characters in Greek mythology