Dexamenus
Encyclopedia
Dexamenus was a name attributed to at least three characters in Greek mythology
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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...
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- Dexamenus, son of OeceusOeceusIn Greek mythology, Oeceus was a king of Olenus. According to Callimachus, he was father of Dexamenus....
, king of OlenusOlenusIn Greek mythology, Olenus was the name of several individuals:#Olenus, son of Hephaestus and father of Helice and Aex, two nurses of infant Zeus. A city in Aulis was named for him....
. The CentaurCentaurIn Greek mythology, a centaur or hippocentaur is a member of a composite race of creatures, part human and part horse...
EurytionEurytionIn Greek mythology Eurytion , "widely-honoured", was a name attributed to six individuals....
forced him to betroth his daughter, Mnesimache, to him. 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...
rescued the girl, killing Eurytion when he showed up to claim his bride. In another version of the tale, the girl is instead DeianiraDeianiraDeïanira or Dejanira is a figure in Greek mythology, best-known for being Heracles' third wife and, in the late Classical story, unwittingly killing him with the Shirt of Nessus...
, Heracles' future wife. Heracles violates her and promises her father that he will marry her. After his departure, Eurytion appears, demanding Deianira as his bride. Her father, afraid, gives in, but Heracles reappears just in time and slays the centaur. In yet another variant, the daughter is Hippolyte. Eurytion threatens violence to her at her wedding feast (she having married 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...
). As usually Heracles, who is also attending the feast, kills him. Dexamenus' other children include EurypylusEurypylusIn Greek mythology, Eurypylus was the name of several different people.-Son of Thestius:One Eurypylus was a son of Thestius. He participated in the hunt for the Calydonian Boar, during which he insulted Atalanta and was killed by Meleager.-Son of Euaemon:Another Eurypylus was a Thessalian king,...
, Theronice, and Theraephone.
- Dexamenus, son of 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...
and father of AmbraxAmbraxAmbrax was an Greek mythological king of the city of Ambracia located in the region in Epirus in ancient Greece.He was king was the exiled Aeneas came to his city.He was son of Dexamenus that was in turn son of Hercules....
, king of AmbraciaAmbraciaAmbracia, occasionally Ampracia , was an ancient Corinthian colony, situated about 7 miles from the Ambracian Gulf in Greece, on a bend of the navigable river Arachthos , in the midst of a fertile wooded plain.-History:...
(a city in EpirusEpirusThe name Epirus, from the Greek "Ήπειρος" meaning continent may refer to:-Geographical:* Epirus - a historical and geographical region of the southwestern Balkans, straddling modern Greece and Albania...
).
- Dexamenus, son of Mesolus and Ambracia, daughter of PhorbasPhorbasIn Greek mythology, Phorbas or Phorbaceus may refer to:*Phorbas, a prince of the Thessalian Phlegyes who emigrated to Elis in the Peloponnesos. Phorbas was the son of Lapithes and Orsinome, and a brother of Periphas. He assisted Alector, king of Elis, in the war against Pelops, and shared the...
. After him a part of the region AmbraciaAmbraciaAmbracia, occasionally Ampracia , was an ancient Corinthian colony, situated about 7 miles from the Ambracian Gulf in Greece, on a bend of the navigable river Arachthos , in the midst of a fertile wooded plain.-History:...
was called Dexamenae.