Aesacus or Aisakos in Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

, was a son of King Priam

Priam

Priam was the king of Troy during the Trojan War and youngest son of Laomedon. Modern scholars derive his name from the Luwian compound Priimuua, which means "exceptionally courageous".- Marriage and issue :...

 of Troy

Troy

Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...

. Aesacus sorrowed for the death of his wife or would-be lover, a daughter of the river Cebren

Cebren

Cebren was a Greek river-god, whose river was located near Troy. He was the son of Oceanus and Tethys and he was the father of Asterope, Hesperia, who are sometimes considered to be each other, and Oenone. The city Cebrene was named for Cebren....

, and was transformed into a bird.

Apollodorus

Apollodorus

Apollodorus of Athens son of Asclepiades, was a Greek scholar and grammarian. He was a pupil of Diogenes of Babylon, Panaetius the Stoic, and the grammarian Aristarchus of Samothrace...

 makes Aesacus son of Priam's first wife Arisbe

Arisbe

Arisbe may refer to:* Another name for Batea , a person in Greek mythology* Arisbe , an early wife of King Priam of Troy, also daughter of the seer Merops of Percote...

, daughter of Merops

Merops

Merops may refer to:* Merops , a genus of bee-eaters.* MEROPS, an on-line database for peptidases.It may also refer to several figures from Greek mythology:* King of Ethiopia, husband of Clymene, who lay with Helios and bore Phaethon...

. Apollodorus and Tzetzes also make Aesacus a seer who has learned the interpretation of dreams from his grandfather Merops. For them Aesacus is the interpreter of Hecabe

Hecabe

Hecabe can refer to:* Hecabe, Latin Hecuba, a Trojan queen, wife of Priam and mother of Hector.* An orchid related to the genus Phaius....

's dream when Hecabe gives birth to Paris

Paris (mythology)

Paris , the son of Priam, king of Troy, appears in a number of Greek legends. Probably the best-known was his elopement with Helen, queen of Sparta, this being one of the immediate causes of the Trojan War...

. In Apollodorus the deceased daughter of Cebren for whom Aesacus mourns is his wife named Asterope.

In Ovid

Ovid

Publius Ovidius Naso , known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who is best known as the author of the three major collections of erotic poetry: Heroides, Amores, and Ars Amatoria...

's Metamorphoses, Aesacus is an illegitimate son of King Priam secretly born to the nymph Alexirhoe, daughter of the river Granicus

Granicus

The Biga River is a small river or large creek in Çanakkale Province in northwestern Turkey. The river begins at the base of Mount Ida and trends generally northeasterly to the Sea of Marmara. It is located approximately 50 km to the east of the Dardanelles. It flows past the towns of Çan...

. Aesacus avoids Ilium

Troy

Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...

, preferring the countryside. One day he catches sight of the nymph Hesperia, daughter of the river Cebren

Cebren

Cebren was a Greek river-god, whose river was located near Troy. He was the son of Oceanus and Tethys and he was the father of Asterope, Hesperia, who are sometimes considered to be each other, and Oenone. The city Cebrene was named for Cebren....

, falls in love, and pursues her. However, as Hesperia flees a poisonous snake strikes her and she dies. Aesacus, unable to bear living any longer, leaps from a tall cliff into the sea but as he plunges he is changed into a bird by Tethys

Tethys (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Tethys , daughter of Uranus and Gaia was an archaic Titaness and aquatic sea goddess, invoked in classical Greek poetry but not venerated in cult. Tethys was both sister and wife of Oceanus...

. Aesacus still attempts to dive into the depth yet continues still to live in the form of a diving bird.