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 ...

, Termerus (

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 ...

: Τέρμερος) was a bandit who was killed by

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptiv ...

Mythology

The episode is referenced in

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 ...

's ''Life of

Theseus Theseus (, ; grc-gre, Θησεύς ) was the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens. The myths surrounding Theseus his journeys, exploits, and friends have provided material for fiction throughout the ages. Theseus is sometimes describ ...

'', in description of

' method of slaying his assailants by returning "the same sort of violence that they offered to him," as

killed Termerus by “breaking his skull in pieces (whence, they say, comes the proverb of 'a Termerian mischief'), for it seems Termerus killed passengers that he met by running with his head against them.” According to Stephanus of Byzantium, Termerus was the eponym of the city Termera in Lycia. A scholiast on Euripides relates that Termera was founded by Termerus and took its name after him. The same source informs that Termerus and Lycus, two Leleges, Lelegians "of beastly nature", were said to be notorious robbers that raided Caria and also sailed as far as the island Kos for the same purpose; the saying "Termerian mischief" was accordingly inspired by their deeds. According to the dictionary Suda, however, the proverbial expression "Termerian mischief" ( grc, Τερμέρια κακά) was due to a fortified dungeon located in Caria near Mount Termerion lying between Myndus and Halicarnassus.Suda, Suida, s.v.
Termeria kaka
'

Notes

References

*Plutarch, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus, ''Lives'' with an English Translation by Bernadotte Perrin. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. London. William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. 1
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website
*

. Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans. New York: Modern Library, 1979. Print. * Stephanus of Byzantium, ''Stephani Byzantii Ethnicorum quae supersunt,'' edited by August Meineike (1790-1870), published 1849. A few entries from this important ancient handbook of place names have been translated by Brady Kiesling
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
*Suda, Suida, ''Suda Encyclopedia'' translated by David Whitehead
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
Greek mythology of Anatolia Mythology of Heracles {{Greek-myth-stub