Amyntor
Encyclopedia
Amyntor was an ancient Greek
name attributed to several people both mythological and historical.
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
name attributed to several people both mythological and historical.
Mythological
- Amyntor, in Greek mythologyGreek mythologyGreek 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 the son of OrmenusOrmenusIn Greek mythology Ormenus or Ormenos is the name of eight men.1. Ormenus one of the Telchines.2. Ormenus, a Trojan warrior killed by Polypoetes during the Trojan War....
and king of OrmeniumOrmenioOrmenio is the northernmost place in all of Greece. It is located in the municipal unit of Trigono in the Evros Prefecture of Thrace, immediately south of the Bulgarian border. Ormenio is located west-northwest of Orestiada, about 200 km north of Alexandroupoli, about 40 km west of...
. With CleobuleCleobuleIn Greek mythology, the name Cleobule refers to:*Wife of Aleus of Tegea, mother of Cepheus and Amphidamas.*Wife of Alector or Lacritus and mother of Leitus.*Daughter of Aeolus or Aeopolus, one of the possible mothers of Myrtilus by Hermes....
, he was the father of PhoenixPhoenix (Iliad)In Greek mythology, Phoenix , son of Amyntor and Cleobule, is one of the Myrmidons led by Achilles in the Trojan War...
and AstydamiaAstydameiaIn Greek mythology, Astydameia is a name attributed to five individuals.-Queen of Iolcus:Astydameia, daughter of Cretheus , was the Queen of Iolcus and wife of Acastus. Her husband purified Peleus of the murder of King Eurytion of Phthia. Astydameia fell in love with Peleus but he scorned her...
, who bore HeraclesHeraclesHeracles ,born Alcaeus or Alcides , was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus...
a son named Ctesippus. Amyntor's son Phoenix, on his mothers' urgings, slept with his father's mistress, Clytia or PhthiaPhthiaPhthia , Phthíē ) in ancient Greece was the southernmost region of ancient Thessaly, on both sides of Othrys Mountain. It was the homeland of the Myrmidones tribe, who took part in the Trojan War under Achilles....
. Amyntor, discovering this, called upon the ErinyesErinyesIn Greek mythology the Erinyes from Greek ἐρίνειν " pursue, persecute"--sometimes referred to as "infernal goddesses" -- were female chthonic deities of vengeance. A formulaic oath in the Iliad invokes them as "those who beneath the earth punish whosoever has sworn a false oath"...
to curse him so that he would have no sons. In a later version of the story, Phoenix was falsely accused by Amyntor's mistress and was blinded by his father. Later ChironChironIn Greek mythology, Chiron was held to be the superlative centaur among his brethren.-History:Like the satyrs, centaurs were notorious for being wild and lusty, overly indulgent drinkers and carousers, given to violence when intoxicated, and generally uncultured delinquents...
restored his sight.
- Amyntor was one of the sons of AegyptusAegyptus- Aegyptus, King of Egypt and Arabia :In Greek mythology, Aegyptus is a descendant of the heifer maiden, Io, and the river-god Nilus, and was a king in Egypt. Aegyptos was the son of Belus and Achiroe, a naiad daughter of Nile. Aegyptus fathered fifty sons, who were all but one murdered by the...
. He was killed by his wife, DamoneDamoneNot to be confused with singer Vic Damone.Damone is an American rock band with distinct elements from power pop in their sound. The band originated in Waltham, a city located just west of Boston, Massachusetts, and comprises Noelle , Mike Woods , Vazquez and Dustin Hengst .-In popular culture:The...
, one of the Danaids.
- Amyntor, son of Phrastor, was the father of TeutamidesTeutamidesIn Greek mythology, Teutamides was a king of Larissa, Thessaly. He was the son of Amyntor and a great-grandson of Pelasgus; his own son was Nanas. It was during the funerary games of Teutamides' father that Perseus accidentally killed Acrisius with a disk....
and grandfather of Nanas. In the latter's reign, the PelasgiansPelasgiansThe name Pelasgians was used by some ancient Greek writers to refer to populations that were either the ancestors of the Greeks or who preceded the Greeks in Greece, "a hold-all term for any ancient, primitive and presumably indigenous people in the Greek world." In general, "Pelasgian" has come...
were driven out of Greece and colonized a land which was later called Tyrrhenia.
Historical
- Amyntor was the name of a 4th century BC MacedonianAncient MacedoniansThe Macedonians originated from inhabitants of the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, in the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Axios...
aristocrat, possibly of Athenian descent. Father of Hephaestion Amyntoros, he was the companion and lieutenant to Alexander the Great. The full history of Hephaestion's lineage is unknown. However, Jeanne Reames has suggested that he descended from Athenian expatriates to Macedon. The most popular piece of evidence pointing to such a connection is in name-tracing. "Hephaestion" is the name of the Temple of HephaestusTemple of HephaestusThe Temple of Hephaestus, also known as the Hephaisteion or earlier as the Theseion, is the best-preserved ancient Greek temple; it remains standing largely as built. It is a Doric peripteral temple, and is located at the north-west side of the Agora of Athens, on top of the Agoraios Kolonos hill....
overlooking the Ancient Agora of AthensAncient Agora of AthensThe Ancient Agora of Athens is the best-known example of an ancient Greek agora, located to the northwest of the Acropolis and is bounded on the south by the hill of the Areopagus and on the west by the hill known as the Colonus Agoraeus.-History:The agora in Athens had private housing, until it...
, near the AcropolisAcropolis of AthensThe Acropolis of Athens or Citadel of Athens is the best known acropolis in the world. Although there are many other acropoleis in Greece, the significance of the Acropolis of Athens is such that it is commonly known as The Acropolis without qualification...
, a name which hardly appears at all in Macedon at this time period.