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...

, Macareus was one of the Heliadae

Heliadae

In Greek mythology, the Heliadae were the seven sons of Helios and Rhode, brothers to Electryone. They were Ochimus, Cercaphus, Macareus or Macar, Actis, Tenages, Triopas, and Candalus...

, sons of Helios

Helios

Helios was the personification of the Sun in Greek mythology. Homer often calls him simply Titan or Hyperion, while Hesiod and the Homeric Hymn separate him as a son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia or Euryphaessa and brother of the goddesses Selene, the moon, and Eos, the dawn...

 and Rhodos. Macareus and his brothers, Triopas

Triopas

In Greek mythology, Triopas, Triophas or Triops was the name of several characters, whose relations are unclear. He belonged to the house of Phoroneus....

, Actis

Actis

In Greek mythology, Actis was one of the Heliadae, a son of Rhodos and Helios. Actis, along with his brothers, Triopas, Macar and Candalus, were jealous of a fifth brother, Tenages's, skill at science. They killed him and Actis escaped to Egypt. According to Diodorus Siculus, Actis built the city...

 and Candalus

Candalus

In Greek mythology, Candalus was one of the Heliadae, a son of Rhodos and Helios. Candalus, along with his brothers, Triopas, Macar and Actis, were jealous of a fifth brother, Tenages's, skill at science. They killed him and Candalus escaped to Cos....

, were jealous of a fifth brother, Tenages

Tenages

In Greek mythology, Tenages was one of the Heliadae, a son of Rhodos and Helios. He was murdered by his brothers, Actis, Triopas, Macar and Candalus, who were jealous of Tenages's skill at science....

's, skill at science, so they killed him and had to escape from Rhodes upon discovery of their crime. (The two Heliadae Ochimus

Ochimus

In Greek mythology, Ochimus was the eldest of the Heliadae, sons of Helios and Rhodos. One of his brothers, Tenages, was murdered by four others: Actis, Macareus, Candalus and Triopas, and they had to leave their native island of Rhodes...

 and Cercaphus

Cercaphus

In Greek mythology, Cercaphus was one of the Heliadae, sons of Helios and Rhodus. He and his brother Ochimus were the only to stay at the island of Rhodes, after their brother Tenages was killed by the other four and the murderers had to escape....

 stayed aside and remained on the island of Rhodes

Rhodes

Rhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within...

).

Macareus fled to Lesbos

Lesbos Island

Lesbos is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of with 320 kilometres of coastline, making it the third largest Greek island. It is separated from Turkey by the narrow Mytilini Strait....

, where he became king, and took over many of the neighboring islands. Lesbos, son of Lapithes

Lapithes (hero)

In Greek mythology, Lapithes was a son of Apollo and Stilbe. He and his full brother Centaurus were believed to have given their names to the legendary races of Lapiths and Centaurs respectively....

 and grandson of Aeolus

Aeolus

Aeolus was the ruler of the winds in Greek mythology. In fact this name was shared by three mythic characters. These three personages are often difficult to tell apart, and even the ancient mythographers appear to have been perplexed about which Aeolus was which...

, after whom the island came to be named, married Macareus' daughter, Methymna (eponym

Eponym

An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...

 of Methymna

Mithymna

Mithymna is a former municipality on the island of Lesbos, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Lesbos, of which it is a municipal unit. The second most important town of the island, it is located NE of Eressos, N of Plomari and NW of...

, a city at Lesbos); alternately, Methymna married Lepetymnus, eponym of a mountain on Lesbos, and had by him two sons, Hicetaon and Hypsipylus, who were slain by Achilles

Achilles

In Greek mythology, Achilles was a Greek hero of the Trojan War, the central character and the greatest warrior of Homer's Iliad.Plato named Achilles the handsomest of the heroes assembled against Troy....

 during the sack of the city of Methymna. Among Macareus' other daughters were Mytilene

Mytilene (mythology)

In Greek mythology, the name Mytilene may refer to one of the following figures, all of whom are counted among possible eponyms of the city Mytilene:*Mytilene, sister of the Amazon Myrina...

, Agamede

Agamede

Agamede was a name attributed to two separate women in classical Greek mythology and legendary history:-Mythological:Agamede was, according to Homer, a Greek physician acquainted with the healing powers of all the plants that grow upon the earth...

 and Antissa, all eponyms of cities at Lesbos.. His sons were entrusted by him the leadership of the colonies he founded on the neighbouring islands: Cydrolaus was sent to Samos

Samoš

Samoš is a village in Serbia. It is situated in the Kovačica municipality, in the South Banat District, Vojvodina province. The village has a Serb ethnic majority and its population numbering 1,247 people .-See also:...

, Neandrus to Cos

Kos

Kos or Cos is a Greek island in the south Sporades group of the Dodecanese, next to the Gulf of Gökova/Cos. It measures by , and is from the coast of Bodrum, Turkey and the ancient region of Caria. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Kos peripheral unit, which is...

, Leucippus to Rhodes (where the colonists mixed with the local population), and an unnamed son to Chios

Chios

Chios is the fifth largest of the Greek islands, situated in the Aegean Sea, seven kilometres off the Asia Minor coast. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. The island is noted for its strong merchant shipping community, its unique mastic gum and its medieval villages...

. Yet another son of Macareus, Eresus, gave his name to a town on Lesbos (modern Eresos

Eresos

Eresos and its twin beach village Skala Eresou are located in the southwest part of the Greek island of Lesbos. They are villages visited by considerable number of tourists...

).