In
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...
, Caeneus or Kaineus () was a
Lapith
The Lapiths (; , ''Lapithai'', sing. Λαπίθης) were a group of legendary people in Greek mythology, who lived in Thessaly in the valley of the Pineios and on the mountain Pelion. They were believed to have descended from the mythical Lapi ...
hero
A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such thin ...
, ruler of
Thessaly
Thessaly ( ; ; ancient Aeolic Greek#Thessalian, Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic regions of Greece, geographic and modern administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient Thessaly, a ...
, and the father of the
Argonaut Coronus. Caeneus was born a girl, Caenis (), the daughter of
Elatus
There were several figures named Elatus or Élatos (Ancient Greek: Ἔλατος means "ductile") in Greek mythology.
* Elatus, a son of Arcas by either Leaneira (or Laodameia), Meganeira, Chrysopeleia or Erato and the brother of Apheidas ...
, but after Poseidon had sex with Caenis, she was transformed by Poseidon into an invulnerable man. Caeneus participated in the
Centauromachy, where he met his demise at the hands of the Centaurs by being pounded into the ground while still alive.
Family
Caeneus' father was the
Lapith
The Lapiths (; , ''Lapithai'', sing. Λαπίθης) were a group of legendary people in Greek mythology, who lived in Thessaly in the valley of the Pineios and on the mountain Pelion. They were believed to have descended from the mythical Lapi ...
king
Elatus
There were several figures named Elatus or Élatos (Ancient Greek: Ἔλατος means "ductile") in Greek mythology.
* Elatus, a son of Arcas by either Leaneira (or Laodameia), Meganeira, Chrysopeleia or Erato and the brother of Apheidas ...
, from
Gyrton in Thessaly. Caeneus' son was the
Argonaut Coronus, who was killed by
Heracles
Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through ...
while leading a war against the
Dorians
The Dorians (; , , singular , ) were one of the four major ethnic groups into which the Greeks, Hellenes (or Greeks) of Classical Greece divided themselves (along with the Aeolians, Achaeans (tribe), Achaeans, and Ionians). They are almost alw ...
and their king
Aegimius
Aegimius (Ancient Greek: Αἰγίμιος) was the Greek mythological ancestor of the Dorians, who is described as their king and lawgiver at the time when they were yet inhabiting the northern parts of Thessaly.
Mythology
Aegimius asked Hera ...
. According to the mythographer Hyginus, Caeneus' mother was
Hippea—the daughter of a Thessalian from
Larissa
Larissa (; , , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 148,562 in the city proper, according to the 2021 census. It is also the capital of the Larissa ...
named Antippus—and his brothers were
Ischys
In Greek mythology, Ischys () was the son of Elatus and Hippea.
Mythology
Ischys had an affair with the Thessalian princess Coronis, one of Apollo's lovers, who was at that time pregnant with the god's child. When a (then white) raven told Ap ...
and the
Argonaut Polyphemus
Polyphemus (; , ; ) is the one-eyed giant son of Poseidon and Thoosa in Greek mythology, one of the Cyclopes described in Homer's ''Odyssey''. His name means "abounding in songs and legends", "many-voiced" or "very famous". Polyphemus first ap ...
. Hyginus also states that, in addition to Coronus, Caeneus had two other sons:
Phocus and
Priasus, who were also Argonauts. According to
Antoninus Liberalis
Antoninus Liberalis () was an Ancient Greek grammarian who probably flourished between the second and third centuries AD. He is known as the author of ''The Metamorphoses'', a collection of tales that offers new variants of already familiar myths ...
, his father was
Atrax
''Atrax'' is a genus of venomous Australian funnel web spiders that was first described by O. Pickard-Cambridge in 1877 from the type species '' Atrax robustus''. It contains five species. Originally placed with the curtain web spiders, it wa ...
, rather than Elatus.
Mythology
Transformation
Caeneus was originally a woman named Caenis who was transformed into a man by the sea-god
Poseidon
Poseidon (; ) is one of the twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and mythology, presiding over the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 He was the protector of seafarers and the guardian of many Hellenic cit ...
. Although possibly as old as the
Hesiodic
Hesiod ( or ; ''Hēsíodos''; ) was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer.M. L. West, ''Hesiod: Theogony'', Oxford University Press (1966), p. 40.Jasper Griffin, " ...
''
Catalogue of Women
The ''Catalogue of Women'' ()—also known as the ''Ehoiai '' (, )The Latin transliterations ''Eoeae'' and ''Ehoeae'' are also used (e.g. , ); see Catalogue of Women#Title and the ē' hoiē-formula, Title and the ''ē' hoiē''-formula, below. Th ...
'' (c. first half of the sixth century BC), the oldest secure mention of this transformation comes from the mythographer
Acusilaus
Acusilaus, Acusilas, Acousileos, or Akousilaos () of Argos, Peloponnese, Argos, son of Cabas or Scabras, was a Greece, Greek logographer (history), logographer and mythographer who lived in the latter half of the 6th century BC but whose work surv ...
(sixth to fifth century BC). According to Acusilaus, after having sex with Poseidon, Elatus' daughter—here instead called Caene—did not want to have a child by Poseidon or anyone else, due to an unspecified vow or prohibition against it; to prevent this, Poseidon transformed Caene into an invulnerable man, stronger than any other. However, according to the usual version of events, after having sex with Caenis, Poseidon promised he would do whatever Caenis wanted, so Caenis asked to be transformed into an invulnerable man, which Poseidon did.
Kingship
Besides the
Centauromachy, little is said about Caeneus' activities after his transformation. According to Acusilaus, Caeneus was the strongest warrior of his day, and became king of the
Lapiths
The Lapiths (; , ''Lapithai'', Grammatical number, sing. Λαπίθης) were a group of legendary people in Greek mythology, who lived in Thessaly in the valley of the Pineios (Thessaly), Pineios and on the mountain Pelion. They were believed to ...
. While king, Caeneus angered the gods by an act of impiety, although accounts differ; according to an ''
Iliad
The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...
''
scholia
Scholia (: scholium or scholion, from , "comment", "interpretation") are grammatical, critical, or explanatory comments – original or copied from prior commentaries – which are inserted in the margin of the manuscript of ancient a ...
st, Caeneus set up his spear in the
agora
The agora (; , romanized: ', meaning "market" in Modern Greek) was a central public space in ancient Ancient Greece, Greek polis, city-states. The literal meaning of the word "agora" is "gathering place" or "assembly". The agora was the center ...
and ordered his subjects to worship it, while according to a scholiast on
Apollonius of Rhodes
Apollonius of Rhodes ( ''Apollṓnios Rhódios''; ; fl. first half of 3rd century BC) was an ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek author, best known for the ''Argonautica'', an epic poem about Jason and the Argonauts and their quest for the Go ...
' ''
Argonautica
The ''Argonautica'' () is a Greek literature, Greek epic poem written by Apollonius of Rhodes, Apollonius Rhodius in the 3rd century BC. The only entirely surviving Hellenistic civilization, Hellenistic epic (though Aetia (Callimachus), Callim ...
'', Caeneus himself worshipped his spear rather than the gods. In either case, Caeneus' actions so offended the gods that, as Acusilaus goes on to say, Zeus sent the Centaurs against him. The
Oxyrhynchus Papyrus that supplies Acusilaus' account says that Caeneus was used by
Theophrastos
Theophrastus (; ; c. 371 – c. 287 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher and naturalist. A native of Eresos in Lesbos, he was Aristotle's close colleague and successor as head of the Lyceum, the Peripatetic school of philosophy in Athens. The ...
as an example of ruling by the "spear" rather than the "scepter"—that is, by force rather than authority.
Caeneus was also listed as among those who took part in the
Calydonian boar hunt
The Calydonian boar hunt is one of the great heroic adventures in Greek legend. It occurred in the generation prior to that of the Trojan War, and stands alongside the other great heroic adventure of that generation, the voyage of the Argonauts, ...
by the sixth-century BC Greek
lyric poet
Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person.
The term for both modern lyric poetry and modern song lyrics derives from a form of Ancient Greek literature, t ...
Stesichorus
Stesichorus (; , ''Stēsichoros''; c. 630 – 555 BC) was a Greek Greek lyric, lyric poet native of Metauros (Gioia Tauro today). He is best known for telling epic stories in lyric metres, and for some ancient traditions about his life, such as hi ...
, as well as by the Roman poet
Ovid
Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...
and the Roman mythographer Hyginus, although no details of his participation are given.
Centauromachy

Caeneus' participation in the Centauromachy—the battle between the Lapiths and the Centaurs at the wedding feast of
Pirithous
Pirithous (; or , derived from ; also transliterated as Perithous), in Greek mythology, was the King of the Lapiths of Larissa in Thessaly, as well as best friend to Theseus.
Biography
Pirithous was a son of "heavenly" Dia, fathered either ...
—seems to be the earliest story told about Caeneus. His transformation and other stories are likely later elaborations.
Caeneus fought in the Centauromachy, where most accounts say he met his demise. Because of his invulnerability, none of the Centaurs' weapons could hurt him, so in order to defeat the Lapith king, they hammered him into the ground with tree trunks and boulders, which succeeded in restraining him alive.
Caeneus' earliest mention occurs in
Homer
Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
's ''
Iliad
The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...
'', where
Nestor names Caeneus among those "mightiest" of warriors who fought and defeated the Centaurs:
The
Hesiodic
Hesiod ( or ; ''Hēsíodos''; ) was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer.M. L. West, ''Hesiod: Theogony'', Oxford University Press (1966), p. 40.Jasper Griffin, " ...
''
Shield of Heracles
The ''Shield of Heracles'' (, ''Aspis Hērakleous'') is an archaic Greek epic poem that was attributed to Hesiod during antiquity. The subject of the poem is the expedition of Heracles and Iolaus against Cycnus, the son of Ares, who challenged ...
'' (c. first half of the sixth century BC) describes "the spear-bearing Lapiths around Caeneus their king" battling the Centaurs who fought with fir trees.
There is no mention in Homer, or the ''Shield'', of the story of Caeneus' invulnerability, nor the unique manner of his death at the hands of the Centaurs which invulnerability entailed. However, the Centauromachy was a popular theme in Greek art, and depictions of Caeneus show that this story was well known by at least as early as the seventh century BC. Depictions of Centaurs pounding Caeneus into the ground are shown on a mid-seventh-century BC bronze relief from Olympia, and on the
François Vase (c. 570–560 BC); the former shows Caeneus being pounded by two Centaurs, both using tree trunks, and the latter shows Caeneus, halfway in the ground, being pounded by three Centaurs, two using boulders and one a tree trunk.
The first preserved literary mention of Caeneus' death is found in Acusilaus, which says that Caeneus died after the Centaurs beat him "upright" () into the ground and sealed him in with a rock. The fifth-century BC Greek poet
Pindar
Pindar (; ; ; ) was an Greek lyric, Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes, Greece, Thebes. Of the Western canon, canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar i ...
apparently also referred to Caeneus being driven vertically () into the ground.
The third-century BC ''
Argonautica
The ''Argonautica'' () is a Greek literature, Greek epic poem written by Apollonius of Rhodes, Apollonius Rhodius in the 3rd century BC. The only entirely surviving Hellenistic civilization, Hellenistic epic (though Aetia (Callimachus), Callim ...
'' of
Apollonius of Rhodes
Apollonius of Rhodes ( ''Apollṓnios Rhódios''; ; fl. first half of 3rd century BC) was an ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek author, best known for the ''Argonautica'', an epic poem about Jason and the Argonauts and their quest for the Go ...
, gives a fuller account, saying that Caeneus:
Concerning Caeneus' fate, Ovid has Nestor say that some thought Caeneus was pushed down directly into
Tartarus
In Greek mythology, Tartarus (; ) is the deep abyss that is used as a dungeon of torment and suffering for the wicked and as the prison for the Titans. Tartarus is the place where, according to Plato's '' Gorgias'' (), souls are judged after ...
, but that the seer
Mopsus said that Caeneus had been transformed into a bird. According to the ''
Orphic Argonautica
__NOTOC__
The ''Orphic Argonautica'' or ''Argonautica Orphica'' () is a Greek epic poem dating from the 4th century CE.Meisnerp. 4 West, p. 37 states that "it can hardly be earlier and may well be later than the fourth century AD". It is narrated i ...
'', Caeneus endured his beating by the Centaurs without bending a knee, and "went down among the dead under the earth while still alive."
Hyginus listed Caeneus among those who killed themselves. According to
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...
's ''
Aeneid
The ''Aeneid'' ( ; or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan War#Sack of Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Ancient Rome ...
'',
Aeneas
In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas ( , ; from ) was a Troy, Trojan hero, the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite (equivalent to the Roman Venus (mythology), Venus). His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy ...
sees the
shade
Shade, Shades or Shading may refer to:
* Shade (color), a mixture of a color with black (often generalized as any variety of a color)
* Shade (shadow), the blocking of sunlight
* Shades or sunglasses
* Shading, a process used in art and graphic ...
of Caeneus while visiting a place in the Underworld called the (
Mourning Fields), where those who died for love reside. Virgil locates these fields as part of, or near to, the region containing suicides. There Aeneas sees Caeneus, of whom Virgil says, although once a man, is now a woman again, "turned back by Fate into her form of old".
Iconography

Caeneus is one of the earliest mythological figures in ancient Greek art that can be securely identified. The only event concerning Caeneus found in ancient Greek iconography is his participation in the Centauromachy—no surviving example of Caeneus' original femininity and transformation is found. However, the Centauromachy was a popular theme in the visual arts, and many examples show depictions of Caeneus battling Centaurs.
The earliest depiction, from the mid–late seventh century BC, is the bronze relief from Olympia, where two Centaurs hammer Caeneus into the ground with tree trunks. He is represented as an armored
hoplite
Hoplites ( ) ( ) were citizen-soldiers of Ancient Greek city-states who were primarily armed with spears and shields. Hoplite soldiers used the phalanx formation to be effective in war with fewer soldiers. The formation discouraged the sold ...
, already beaten into the ground to mid-calf. In any depiction of the Centauromachy, this partially-sunken motif makes Caeneus immediately identifiable. That Caeneus is here depicted without a shield (having instead a sword in each hand) implies invulnerability. The heraldic three-figured grouping on this relief, with Caeneus flanked by two Centaurs, becomes canonical.
[. Of the 76 catalogued entries in the '' LIMC'', categorized by the number of Centaurs attacking Caeneus, 57 depict this configuration.]
Caeneus battling Centaurs is the centerpiece of the Centauromacy depicted on the neck of the mid-sixth-century BC François Vase. Here Caeneus, already buried up to his waist, is shown being pounded by three Centaurs using boulders and a tree trunk. This depiction of Caeneus is the first to identify Caeneus by inscription, and the first to introduce a third Centaur opponent. Other depictions appeared on temple
frieze
In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...
s from the second half of the fifth century BC, including those on the
Temple of Hephaestus
The Temple of Hephaestus or Hephaisteion (also "Hephesteum" or "Hephaesteum"; , , and formerly called in error the Theseion or "Theseum"; , ), is a well-preserved Greek temple dedicated to Hephaestus; it remains standing largely intact today. I ...
at Athens, the
Temple of Apollo Epicurius at
Bassae, and the
Temple of Poseidon at
Sounion
Cape Sounion (Modern Greek: Aκρωτήριο Σούνιο ''Akrotírio Soúnio'' ; ''Άkron Soúnion'', latinized ''Sunium''; Venetian: ''Capo Colonne'' "Cape of Columns") is the promontory at the southernmost tip of the Attica peninsula, ...
.
In the ''Metamorphoses''
The most detailed account of Caeneus' story is found in the Roman poet
Ovid
Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...
's ''
Metamorphoses
The ''Metamorphoses'' (, , ) is a Latin Narrative poetry, narrative poem from 8 Common Era, CE by the Ancient Rome, Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''Masterpiece, magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the world from its Cre ...
'', which takes up most of book 12, and has Nestor tell
Achilles
In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus () was a hero of the Trojan War who was known as being the greatest of all the Greek warriors. The central character in Homer's ''Iliad'', he was the son of the Nereids, Nereid Thetis and Peleus, ...
the story of Caeneus' transformation, the brawl between the Centaurs and the Thessalians at Pirithous' wedding feast, and Caeneus' demise. No earlier version of the story explains why Caeneus chose to be transformed into a man; however, the ''Metamorphoses'' does. According to Ovid, Caenis was the most beautiful of maidens, but refused all of her many suitors. One day, as "report declares", while walking on the beach, she was raped by the sea-god Neptune (the Roman equivalent of Poseidon). Afterwards, when the god promised to grant her any request, Caenis chose to be made a man, so that she would never suffer being raped again:
This Neptune did, transforming the girl into a man, and in addition making Caeneus "proof against all wounds of spear or sword". After this, Caeneus went away happy, spending "years in every manful exercise", while roaming the plains of northern Thessaly.
Nestor next describes the wedding feast of Pirithous and
Hippodamia, to which the Centaurs and the "Thessalian chiefs" (including Caeneus) were invited. After a drunken Centaur tries to abduct Hippodamia, a brawl breaks out, during which Caeneus killed five Centaurs (Styphelus, Bromus, Antimachus, Elymus, and Pyracmos). Caeneus is then mocked by the Centaur Latreus who says:
When none of their weapons could harm him, the Centaurs buried Caeneus under mountains of trees and rocks, crushing the life out of him. Nestor tells Achilles that no one knew for certain what had happened to Caeneus, and that some thought he was pushed down into
Tartarus
In Greek mythology, Tartarus (; ) is the deep abyss that is used as a dungeon of torment and suffering for the wicked and as the prison for the Titans. Tartarus is the place where, according to Plato's '' Gorgias'' (), souls are judged after ...
. However, when a yellow bird emerged from his burial pile, the seer
Mopsus said that Caeneus had been transformed (as must happen in any ''Metamorphoses'' episode) into a bird. The story of Caeneus' metamorphosis into a bird only occurs here, and, if not an Ovidian invention, is probably a
Hellenistic
In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...
one.
Notes
References
Bibliography
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External links
*
Caeneus, ''
Encyclopædia Britannica
The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...
''.
{{Authority control
Characters in Book VI of the Aeneid
Metamorphoses into the opposite sex in Greek mythology
Women of Poseidon
Metamorphoses characters
Mythological rape victims
Lapiths
Deeds of Zeus
Suicides in Greek mythology
Metamorphoses into birds in Greek mythology
Men of Poseidon
Transgender men