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 ...

, Poemander or Poimandros (

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 ...

: Ποίμανδρον) was the son of Chaeresilaus (son of

Iasius In Greek mythology, Iasus (; Ancient Greek: Ἴασος) or Iasius (; Ἰάσιος) was the name of several people: *Iasus (Iasius), one of the Dactyli or Curetes. *Iasus, king of Argos. *Iasus, son of Io *Iasius (Iasion), son of Eleuther an ...

) and Stratonice. He was also the founder of

Tanagra Tanagra ( el, Τανάγρα) is a town and a municipality north of Athens in Boeotia, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town Schimatari. It is not far from Thebes, and it was noted in antiquity for the figurines named after it. The ...

, which he named after the naiad

, his wife and the daughter of either

Aeolus In Greek mythology, Aeolus or Aiolos (; grc, Αἴολος , ) is a name shared by three mythical characters. These three personages are often difficult to tell apart, and even the ancient mythographers appear to have been perplexed about which A ...

Asopus Asopus (; grc, Ἀ̄σωπός ''Āsōpos'') is the name of four different rivers in Greece and one in Turkey. In Greek mythology, it was also the name of the gods of those rivers. Zeus carried off Aegina, Asopus' daughter, and Sisyphus, who h ...

. They had two sons,

Leucippus Leucippus (; el, Λεύκιππος, ''Leúkippos''; fl. 5th century BCE) is a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher who has been credited as the first philosopher to develop a theory of atomism. Leucippus' reputation, even in antiquity, was obscured ...

and Ephippus, the father of

Acestor Acestor (Ancient Greek: ), meaning "healer" or "saviour", was the name of several figures in Classical mythology and history: ''Mythological'' *Apollo Acestor, an epithet of the god Apollo in his role as healer or averter of evil. *Acestor, son of ...

Mythology

Poemander was besieged by the Achaeans in a place called Stephon, for having refused to support them in the

Trojan war In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and ...

. At night, he managed to escape and began to fortify Poemandria. His fortifications, however, were made fun of by the architect Polycritus, who leaped over the ditch in derision. Poemander, outraged, threw a stone at him, but missed and hit his own son Leucippus instead, who died of the injury. For the murder, in accordance with the law, Poemander had to leave Boeotia, which was not easy for him, since the land of Tanagra had been invaded by the Achaeans; moreover, his mother Stratonice was carried off by

Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus ( grc-gre, Ἀχιλλεύς) was a hero of the Trojan War, the greatest of all the Greek warriors, and the central character of Homer's '' Iliad''. He was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Pele ...

, who also killed his grandson Acestor. But Ephippus, sent by Poemander to beg for aid, brought Achilles,

Tlepolemus In Greek mythology, Tlepolemus (; Ancient Greek: Τληπόλεμος ''Tlēpólemos'') was the leader of the Rhodian forces in the Trojan War.Homer, ''Iliad'2.653–70 Family Tlepolemus was a son of Heracles and Astyoche, daughter of Phylas, ...

and Peneleos to his father; they escorted Poemander to

Elephenor In Greek mythology, Elephenor ( grc-gre, Ἐλεφήνωρ, -ορος ''Elephḗnōr'', ''-oros'') was the king of the Abantes of Euboea. Family Elephenor was the son of Chalcodon by either Imenarete, MelanippeTzetzes on Lycophron, 1034 or Al ...

, who cleansed him for the murder of Leucippus.

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...

, ''Quaestiones Graecae'' 37

Notes

References

* Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus, ''Moralia'' with an English Translation by Frank Cole Babbitt. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. London. William Heinemann Ltd. 1936
Online version at the Perseus Digital LibraryGreek text available from the same website
*

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
{{Greek-myth-stub Kings in Greek mythology Boeotian characters in Greek mythology