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 ...

, Alcinous (;

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 ...

: Ἀλκίνους or Ἀλκίνοος ''Alkínoös'' means "mighty mind") was a son of

Nausithous The name Nausithous (; Ancient Greek: Ναυσίθοος ''Nausíthoos'') is shared by the following characters in Greek mythology: *Nausithous, the king of the Phaeacians who reigned in the generation before Odysseus washed ashore on their home i ...

and brother of Rhexenor. After the latter's death, he married his brother's daughter Arete who bore him Nausicaa, Halius, Clytoneus and Laodamas. In some accounts, Alcinous' father was Phaeax, son of

Poseidon Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as a ...

and

Corcyra Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...

, and brother of

Locrus In Greek mythology, the name Locrus or Lokros (; Ancient Greek: Λοκρός) may refer to: * Locrus, the king of Locris and son of his predecessor King Physcius. He was the grandson of Amphictyon, son of Deucalion. Pseudo-Scymnus, ''Circuit of t ...

. Conon, ''Narrations'' 3

Mythology

Argonautica

In the myth of

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 ...

and the Argonauts, Alcinous is represented as living with his wife Arete on Drépané island. The Argonauts, on their return from

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. Its population, the Colchians are generally though ...

, came to his island, and were hospitably received. When the Colchians, in their pursuit of the Argonauts, likewise arrived in Drépané, and demanded that

's lover Medea should be delivered up to them, Alcinous declared that if she was still a virgin she should be restored to them, but if she was already the wife of Jason, he would protect her and her husband against the Colchians. The Colchians were obliged, by the contrivance of Arete, to depart without their princess, and the Argonauts continued their voyage homeward, after they had received expensive presents from Alcinous. He was also the King of the Phaeacians.

Odyssey

According to Homer, Alcinous is the happy ruler of the

Phaiacia Scheria or Scherie (; grc, Σχερία or ), also known as Phaeacia () or Faiakia was a region in Greek mythology, first mentioned in Homer's ''Odyssey'' as the home of the Phaeacians and the last destination of Odysseus in his 10-year journey b ...

ns in the island of Scheria, who has by Arete five sons and one daughter, Nausicaa. The description of his palace and his dominions, the mode in which Odysseus is received, the entertainments given to him, and the stories he related to the king about his own wanderings, occupy a considerable portion of Homer's '' Odyssey'' (from book vi. to xiii.), and form one of its most charming parts.compare

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 Grammati ...

, ''Fabulae'' 125 & 126 Alcinous has a squire, Pontonous, who serves wine during this feast.

Other accounts

In Conon's ''Narrations'', when Phaiax who reigned on the island of Corcyra died, Alkinous and his brother Lokros, after quarreling agreed upon on the basis that Alcinous would be the king of the Phaeacians and Locrus would take the heirlooms and part of the ethnos to make a colony. The latter sailed to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

where he married the Laurine, daughter of King Latinus of the Italians and for this reason, the Phaiakians claim the Lokrians in Italy as relatives.

Notes

References

* Apollonius Rhodius, ''Argonautica'' translated by Robert Cooper Seaton (1853–1915), R. C. Loeb Classical Library Volume 001. London: William Heinemann Ltd, 1912
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
* Apollonius Rhodius, ''Argonautica''. George W. Mooney. London: Longmans, Green. 1912
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
* Conon'', Fifty Narrations, surviving as one-paragraph summaries in the Bibliotheca (Library) of Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople'' translated from the Greek by Brady Kiesling
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
* Gaius Julius Hyginus, ''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.
* Homer, ''The Odyssey'' with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, PH.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website
*

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 ...

, ''The Library'' with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd. 1921
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website
* ''The Orphic Argonautica'', translated by Jason Colavito. 2011
Online version at the Topos Text Project.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alcinous Kings in Greek mythology Characters in the Argonautica Characters in the Odyssey Phaeacians in Greek mythology Characters in Greek mythology