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 ...
, Harpasus () is the son of
Clinis by his wife
Harpe
The ''harpē'' () is a type of sword- or sickle-like weapon mentioned in Greek and Roman sources, and almost always in mythological contexts.
Harpe in mythology
The harpe is most notably identified as the weapon used by Cronus to castrate and ...
, the brother of
Lycius,
Ortygius and
Artemiche. His family venerated
Apollo
Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...
greatly, until they angered him gravely.
Mythology
One day his father Clinis, having witnessed the
Hyperborea
In Greek mythology, the Hyperboreans (, ; ) were a mythical people who lived in the far northern part of the Ecumene, known world. Their name appears to derive from the Greek , "beyond Boreas (god), Boreas" (the God of the north wind). Some schol ...
ns sacrifice donkeys to Apollo, meant to do the same. But Apollo forbid so, under the pain of death. Harpasus's siblings Ortygius and his sister Artemiche persuaded their father to obey the god, while Harparus himself and his other brother Lycius wanted to sacrifice the donkeys. Clinis ended up listening to Ortygius and Artemiche, but Harpasus with Lycius decided to proceed with the sacrifice anyway. Apollo turned the donkeys mad as punishment, who began to devour the family. They all cried for help.
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 ...
felt sorry for Harpasus and his mother Harpe, and transformed them both into birds. It is not clear what bird Harpasus turned into, but given his name, it can be safely assumed it was a bird of prey.
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 ...
20
/ref>
See also
* Aëtos
In Greek mythology, Aëtos () is an earth-born childhood companion of Zeus, the king of the gods, who served as the origin of the Eagle of Zeus, the most prominent symbol of the god of thunder.
Mythology
According to the myth, Aëtos was a be ...
* Erodius
In Greek mythology, Erodius () 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'' He was transformed into a heron by ...
* Autonous
In Greek mythology, Autonous (Greek language, 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 o ...
References
Bibliography
* 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 ...
, ''The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis'' translated by Francis Celoria (Routledge 1992)
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
*
Metamorphoses into birds in Greek mythology
Deeds of Apollo
Asia in Greek mythology
Deeds of Poseidon
{{Greek-myth-stub