Aepytus
Encyclopedia
Aepytus can refer to several people in Classical mythology:
- Aepytus was one of the mythical kings of ArcadiaArcadiaArcadia is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Peloponnese. It is situated in the central and eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. It takes its name from the mythological character Arcas. In Greek mythology, it was the home of the god Pan...
. He was the son of Eilatus, and originally ruled over Phaesana on the Alpheius in Arcadia. When Cleitor, the son of AzanAzan (mythology)In Greek mythology, Azan was the son of Arcas and the Dryad Erato, brother of Apheidas, Elatus and Hyperippe. Azania in Arcadia was named after him. He married Hippolyte, daughter of Dexamenus, and had a son Cleitor. When Azan died, the first funeral games in history were held in his honor. It was...
, died without leaving any issue, Aepytus succeeded him and became king of the Arcadians, a part of whose country was called after him Aepytis. He is said to have been killed during the chase on Mount Sepia by the bite of a venomous snake. His tomb there was still shown in the time of Pausanias, and he was anxious to see it, because it was mentioned in Homer.
- Aepytus, the youngest son of CresphontesCresphontesIn Greek mythology, Cresphontes was a son of Aristomachus, husband of Merope, and brother of Temenus and Aristodemus. He was a great-great-grandson of Heracles and helped lead the fifth and final attack on Mycenae in the Peloponnesus...
the HeraclidHeracleidaeIn Greek mythology, the Heracleidae or Heraclids were the numerous descendants of Heracles , especially applied in a narrower sense to the descendants of Hyllus, the eldest of his four sons by Deianira Other Heracleidae included Macaria, Lamos, Manto, Bianor, Tlepolemus, and Telephus...
, king of MesseniaMesseniaMessenia is a regional unit in the southwestern part of the Peloponnese region, one of 13 regions into which Greece has been divided by the Kallikratis plan, implemented 1 January 2011...
, and of MeropeMerope (mythology)Merope was the daughter of King Cypselus of Arcadia and wife of Cresphontes, the Heraclid king of Messenia. After the murder of her husband and her two older children by Polyphontes , Merope was forced to marry the murderer, but she managed to save her youngest son, Aepytus, whom she sent...
, the daughter of the Arcadian king Cypselus. Cresphontes and his other sons were murdered during an insurrection, and Aepytus alone, who was educated in the house of his grandfather Cypselus, escaped the danger. The throne of Cresphontes was in the meantime occupied by the Heraclid Polyphontes, who also forced Merope to become his wife. When Aepytus had grown to manhood, he was enabled by the aid of Holcas, his father-in-law, to return to his kingdom, punish the murderers of his father, and put Polyphontes to death. He left a son, Glaucus, and it was from him that subsequently the kings of Messenia were called Aepytids instead of the more general name Heraclids.
- Aepytus a son of HippothousHippothousIn Greek mythology Hippothous is the name of seven men.1. Hippothous son of Cercyon. He was one of the hunters of the Calydonian Boar. He later inherited the kingdom of Arcadia when king Agapenor did not return from the Trojan War. His successor was his son, Aepytus.2. Hippothous, son of Lethus...
, and king of ArcadiaArcadiaArcadia is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Peloponnese. It is situated in the central and eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. It takes its name from the mythological character Arcas. In Greek mythology, it was the home of the god Pan...
. He was a great-grandson of the Aepytus mentioned first. He was reigning at the time when OrestesOrestesOrestes was the son of Agamemnon in Greek mythology; Orestes may also refer to:Drama*Orestes , by Euripides*Orestes, the character in Sophocles' tragedy Electra*Orestes, the character in Aeschylus' trilogy of tragedies, Oresteia...
, in consequence of an oracleOracleIn Classical Antiquity, an oracle was a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic predictions or precognition of the future, inspired by the gods. As such it is a form of divination....
, left MycenaeMycenaeMycenae is an archaeological site in Greece, located about 90 km south-west of Athens, in the north-eastern Peloponnese. Argos is 11 km to the south; Corinth, 48 km to the north...
and settled in Arcadia. There was at MantineiaMantineiaMantineia was a city in ancient Greece that was the site of two significant battles in Classical Greek history. It is also a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Tripoli, of which it is a municipal unit. Its seat...
a sanctuary, which down to the latest time no mortal was ever allowed to enter. Aepytus disregarding the sacred custom crossed the threshold, but was immediately struck with blindness, and died soon after. He was succeeded by his son CypselusCypselusCypselus was the first tyrant of Corinth in the 7th century BC.With increased wealth and more complicated trade relations and social structures, Greek city-states tended to overthrow their traditional hereditary priest-kings; Corinth, the richest archaic polis, led the way...
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