Agriopas was a writer of
ancient Greece mentioned by
Pliny the Elder. He was the author of an account of the
Olympic victors, called the ''Olympionicae''. His exact date of birth is unknown.
Agriopas is also sometimes cited by writers on
werewolf mythology. These writers have handed down Agriopas' tale of
Demaenetus of
Parrhasia
In rhetoric, parrhesia is a figure of speech described as "speak ngcandidly or ... ask ngforgiveness for so speaking". This Ancient Greek word has three different forms, as related by Michel Foucault. ''Parrhesia'' is a noun, meaning "free speec ...
who, during the
Arcadia
Arcadia may refer to:
Places Australia
* Arcadia, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney
* Arcadia, Queensland
* Arcadia, Victoria
Greece
* Arcadia (region), a region in the central Peloponnese
* Arcadia (regional unit), a modern administrative un ...
n sacrifices for the festival of
Zeus Lycaeus
Mount Lykaion ( grc, Λύκαιον ὄρος, ''Lýkaion Óros''; la, Mons Lycaeus) is a mountain in Arcadia, Greece. Lykaion has two peaks: ''Stefani'' to the north and St. Ilias (, ''Agios Īlías'') to the south where the altar of Zeus is loc ...
, tasted the viscera of a human child, and was turned into a wolf for ten years. At the end of those ten years he supposedly became a man again and competed in the
ancient Olympic Games
The ancient Olympic Games (Ὀλυμπιακοὶ ἀγῶνες; la, Olympia, neuter plural: "the Olympics") were a series of athletic competitions among representatives of city-states and were one of the Panhellenic Games of Ancient Greece. ...
.
Agriopas was also in some manuscripts of
Pliny given as the name of the father of
Cinyras
In Greek mythology, Cinyras (; grc, Κινύρας – ''Kinyras'') was a famous hero and king of Cyprus. Accounts vary significantly as to his genealogy and provide a variety of stories concerning him; in many sources he is associated with ...
, rather than
Apollo. Whether this is genuine or an error remains a matter of some debate.
References
Ancient Greek historians known only from secondary sources
Ancient Greek mythographers
Ancient Olympic Games
Werewolves in Greek Myths
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