Rhoecus (or Rhaecus, Rhœcus, Rhæcus, Rhoikos) ( grc, Ῥοῖκός) was a
Samian sculptor of the 6th century BCE. He and his son
Theodorus were especially noted for their work in
bronze
Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
.
Herodotus says that Rhoecus built the temple of
Hera
In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; grc-gre, Ἥρα, Hḗrā; grc, Ἥρη, Hḗrē, label=none in Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she ...
at Samos, which was destroyed by fire c. 530 BCE. In the temple of
Artemis at
Ephesus
Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἔφεσος, Éphesos; tr, Efes; may ultimately derive from hit, 𒀀𒉺𒊭, Apaša) was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in t ...
was a
marble figure of night by Rhoecus. His name has been found on a fragment of a vase which he dedicated to
Aphrodite at
Naucratis. His sons Theodorus and Telecles made a statue of the
Pythian Apollo
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
for the Samians.
Rhoecus was also the name of a
centaur
A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse.
Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as being ...
, who together with another centaur called Hylaeus, tried to rape
Atalanta, but she killed them both.
Callimachus, Hymn to Artemis, §206
/ref>
References
*
{{Authority control
6th-century BC Greek sculptors
Ancient Greek sculptors
Ancient Samians
Centaurs