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...

, Hyrtacus is an obscure character associated with the Trojan War

Trojan War

In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad...

. He was a comrade 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...

. Hyrtacus married Arisbe

Arisbe (daughter of Merops)

In Greek mythology, Arisbe was a daughter of Merops of Percote, a seer. In a non-Homeric story, she married Priam, later king of Troy, and bore him a son named Aesacus. Priam subsequently divorced her in favor of Hecuba, daughter of King Dymas of Phrygia...

, daughter of King 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...

 of Percote

Percote

Percote was a town or city on the southern side of the Hellespont, to the northeast of Troy. Percote is mentioned a few times in Greek mythology, where it plays a very minor role each time. It was said to be the home of a notable seer named Merops, also its ruler...

, after Priam had divorced her to marry Hecabe

Hecuba

Hecuba was a queen in Greek mythology, the wife of King Priam of Troy during the Trojan War, with whom she had 19 children. These children included several major characters of Homer's Iliad such as the warriors Hector and Paris, and the prophetess Cassandra...

. Hyrtacus's son by Arisbe was named Asius

Asius (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Asius refers to two people who fought during the Trojan War:* Asius son of Hyrtacus was the leader of the Trojan allies that hailed from, on, or near the Dardanelles. He was a son of Hyrtacus and Arisbe, the latter being first wife of King Priam and daughter of Merops...

 and fought at Troy. In the Aeneid

Aeneid

The Aeneid is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It is composed of roughly 10,000 lines in dactylic hexameter...

, Hyrtacus is credited with two more sons, Nisus

Nisus and Euryalus

Nisus and Euryalus are a pair of friends serving under Aeneas in the Aeneid, the Augustan epic by Vergil. Their foray among the enemy, narrated in Book 9, demonstrates their stealth and prowess as warriors, but ends as a tragedy: the loot Euryalus acquires attracts attention, and the two die...

 and Hippocoon

Hippocoon

In Greek mythology, the name Hippocoön refers to several characters:*A son of the Spartan King Oebalus and Bateia. His brothers were Tyndareus and Icarius. When their father died, Tyndareus became king. Hippocoön, with the help of his sons, overthrew him, took the throne and expelled his...

. Hyrtacus's own parentage is not given.

The name 'Hyrtacus' is perhaps of Cretan

Crete

Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...

origin, given that there was an ancient city named Hyrtacus (or Hyrtacina) in southwestern Crete.