Greek mythology
A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...
, Eunostus (
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 peri ...
: LΕὔνοστος) was a
hero
A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ...
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 Ta ...
,
Boeotia
Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia ( el, Βοιωτία; modern: ; ancient: ), formerly known as Cadmeis, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, and its lar ...
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 his ''P ...
, ''Quaestiones Graecae' 40 /ref> He was said to have received his name from the
nymph
A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label=Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are ty ...
The story of Eunostus' death, related by Plutarch with a reference to the poet
Myrtis of Anthedon
Myrtis of Anthedon (6th century BC) was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, Greek poet, purported to be the teacher of Pindar of Thebes, Greece, Thebes and Corinna of Tanagra... Scholars believe that she was the earliest in the line of lyric poets ...
, is as follows: Ochne, a daughter of Colonus and cousin of Eunostus, fell in love with him, but he rejected her advances and was going to report the matter to her brothers,
Echemus
In Greek mythology, Echemus (; grc, Ἔχεμος, ''Ekhemos'') was the Tegean king of Arcadia who succeeded Lycurgus.
Family
Echemus was the son of Aeropus, son of King Cepheus.Pausanias8.5.1/ref> He was married to Timandra, daughter of Le ...
,
Leon
Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to:
Places
Europe
* León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León
* Province of León, Spain
* Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...
and
Bucolus In Greek mythology, Bucolus (; Ancient Greek: Βουκόλος means "cow boy" or "herdsman" from βους ''vous'' "ox" and κελεύω ''kelevein'' "command") is the name of four men:
* Bucolus, son of Hippocoon, king of Sparta.
* Bucolus, the T ...
. She forestalled him by telling her brothers that Eunostus had taken her by force; they laid an ambush against Eunostus and killed him. Elieus seized the murderers of his son and put them in bonds. Then Ochne, overcome with remorse, confessed to Elieus that her accusations were false. Colonus, who judged the matter, sent his sons into exile, and Ochne committed suicide by throwing herself off a height.
Plutarch further relates that there was a sanctuary of Eunostus in Tanagra, and that women were not allowed to enter the precinct, not even in emergency cases like earthquakes.