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 ...

, the name Anthus (

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 ...

: Ἄνθος, ''Anthos'' means 'flower, bloom or blosso') may refer to: *Anthus, a son of

Autonous In Greek mythology, Autonous (Ancient Greek: Αὐτόνοος (Auto - Nuss) means 'man with a mind of his own') was an owner of a large herd of horses which were pastured by his wife and children Family Autonous was the son of Melaneus and h ...

and

Hippodamia Hippodamia (, ; also Hippodamea and Hippodameia; Ancient Greek: Ἱπποδάμεια "she who masters horses" derived from ''hippos'' "horse" and ''damazein'' "to tame") was a Greek mythological figure. She was the queen of Pisa as the wife ...

. His brothers were

Erodius In Greek mythology, Erodius ( grc, Ἐροδιός, Erodios, heron) is the son of Autonous (son of Melaneus) and Hippodamia. He was the brother of Acanthis, Acanthus, Anthus and Schoeneus.Antoninus Liberalis7as cited in Boeus' ''Ornithogonia' ...

Schoeneus In Greek mythology, Schoeneus (; Ancient Greek: Σχοινεύς ''Skhoineús'', literally "rushy") was the name of several individuals: *Schoeneus, a Boeotian king, the son of Athamas and Themisto. He may have emigrated to Arcadia, where a villag ...

and Acanthus, and his sister was Acanthis. Once he drove his father's horses away from the grassy meadows, where they had been pastured by his brother Erodius. Out of hunger, the horses attacked Anthus and devoured him; his father was in shock and could not help, while his mother tried to save him but failed because of her physical weakness.

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=Genitive case, genitive Aeolic Greek, Boeotian Aeolic and Doric Greek#Laconian, Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=Genitive case, genitive el, Δίας, ''D� ...

and

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= ...

, out of pity for the grieving family, transformed the members into birds. Anthus himself was metamorphosed into a bird called "anthus" which imitated the neighing of a horse, but always fled from the sight of a horse. His servant, who failed to protect the master, was transformed into a white heron. The bird

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Anthus The pipits are a cosmopolitan genus, ''Anthus'', of small passerine birds with medium to long tails. Along with the wagtails and longclaws, the pipits make up the family Motacillidae. The genus is widespread, occurring across most of the world, e ...

is thus named after him. *Anthus of Anthedon, who went missing when he was a child. His sister

Hypera ''Hypera'' is a genus of clover and alfalfa weevils in the beetle family Curculionidae. There are at least 280 described species in ''Hypera''. See also * List of Hypera species References Further reading * * * * External links

* ...

set out to search for him and eventually was received as guest by

Acastus Acastus (; Ancient Greek: Ἄκαστος) is a character in Greek mythology. He sailed with Jason and the Argonauts, and participated in the hunt for the Calydonian Boar. Family Acastus was the son of Pelias, then king of Iolcus, and Anaxibia ...

Pherae Pherae (Greek: Φεραί) was a city and polis (city-state) in southeastern Ancient Thessaly. One of the oldest Thessalian cities, it was located in the southeast corner of Pelasgiotis. According to Strabo, it was near Lake Boebeïs 90 stadia ...

, in whose household Anthus had ended up serving as a cup-bearer. As Anthus came up to his sister to serve her wine, he recognized her and whispered a rhyme to her: "''Drink wine with lees, 'cause you dwell not in Anthedon''". The same poetic line was otherwise said to be part of an oracular prophecy. Certain companions of Anthus and Hypera were said to have settled in the island

Calauria Kalaureia ( grc, Καλαυρεία) or Calauria or Kalavria ( ell, Καλαυρία) is an island close to the coast of Troezen in the Peloponnesus of mainland Greece, part of the modern island-pair Poros. Strabo describes the coastwise journey ...

(previously known as Eirene, after Eirene) and to have called it Anthedonia and Hypereia.

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'' 19 referring to

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

and Mnasigeiton

Notes

References

Antoninus Liberalis Antoninus Liberalis ( el, Ἀντωνῖνος Λιβεράλις) was an Ancient Greek grammarian who probably flourished between AD 100 and 300. His only surviving work is the ''Metamorphoses'' (Μεταμορφώσεων Συναγωγή, ''Me ...

, ''The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis'' translated by Francis Celoria (Routledge 1992)
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
* Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus, ''Moralia'' with an English Translation by Frank Cole Babbitt. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. London. William Heinemann Ltd. 1936
Online version at the Perseus Digital LibraryGreek text available from the same website
*

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...

, ''The Natural History.'' John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
* Pliny the Elder, ''Naturalis Historia.'' Karl Friedrich Theodor Mayhoff. Lipsiae. Teubner. 1906
Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
{{Subject bar , portal=Ancient Greece, portal2=Myths Metamorphoses into birds in Greek mythology Deeds of Zeus