Listed 100 (total found 564) sub titles with search on: Homeric world for wider area of: "TURKEY Country EUROPE" .
ADRAMYTION (Ancient city) TURKEY
A city of Troas and seat of the king Mynes (Il. 2.690).
ALYVI (Ancient city) ALIZONES
Alybe was a city in Pontus, from where the Greeks were supplied with silver (Il. 2.857). The inhabitants were called Halizones, which means "surrounded by sea". Strabo (12,3,19-20 & 14,5,22-4) considers that Alybe is the most ancient name of the country of the Chalybes (later Chaldaeoi), from where the Greeks were provided with metals at first.
ASSOS (Ancient city) TURKEY
For this Pedasos in the Troad cf. 21.87, 20.92. Strabo calls it a city of the Leleges opposite Lesbos, and another legend identifies it with Adramyttium. More recently it has been identified with Assos. It is not recorded in the Catalogue. A town of the same name in Messene is mentioned in 9.152, and there was a Pedasa near Halikarnassos. (Commentary by Walter Leaf)
Homer speaks of a Pedasus, a city of the Leleges, as subject to lord Altes:
Of Altes, who is lord over the war-loving Leleges,
who hold steep Pedasus on the Satnioeis.
And the site of the place, now deserted, is still to be seen. Some write, though
wrongly, "at the foot of Satnioeis", as though the city lay at the foot of a mountain
called Satnioeis; but there is no mountain here called Satinoeis, but only a river
of that name, on which the city is situated; but the city is now deserted. The
poet names the river, for, according to him,
he wounded Satnius with a thrust of his spear,
even the son of Oenops, whom a peerless Naiad nymph bore unto Oenops, as he tended
his herds by the banks of the Satnioeis;
and again:
And he dwelt by the banks of the fair-flowing Satnioeis
in steep Pedasus.
And in later times it was called Satnioeis, though some called it Saphnioeis.
It is only a large winter torrent, but the naming of it by the poet has made it
worthy of mention. These places are continuous with Dardania and Scepsia, and
are, as it were, a second Dardania, but it is lower-lying. (Strab. 13.1.50)
This extract is from: The Geography of Strabo (ed. H. L. Jones, 1924), Cambridge. Harvard University Press. Cited Aug 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
CHRYSSI (Ancient city) TURKEY
It was located near Thebe and is mentioned by Homer. The town had a harbour and a temple dedicated to Apollo Smintheus (Il. 1.36, 390, 445).
DARDANIA (Ancient city) DARDANIA
It was a city founded by Dardanus before Troy (Il. 20.216) and did not exist in the time of Strabo (Strab. 13,1,24).
ENOS (Ancient city) TURKEY
It was a Thracian city, of which the leader was Peiroos, son of Imbrasus (Il. 4.520).
HYDE (Ancient city) LYDIA
A city in Lydia, beneath the Mt. Timolus (Il. 20.385).
PEDEON (Homeric city) TROAS
It was located in Troad and is mentioned by Homer as the place of abode of Imbrius, son of Mentor (Il. 13.172).
SARDIS (Ancient city) TURKEY
A city of Lydia at the foot of the Mt. Tmolus, afterwards called Sardes (Il. 5.44).
THIVI (Ancient city) TURKEY
It was a city of the Cilicians located on the foot of Mt. Placus and seat of Eetion, father of Andomache, which was sacked by Achilles (Il. 1.366, 6.397, 22.479).
TROAS (Ancient country) TURKEY
Lectum (to Lekton), a promontory in the south-west of Troas, opposite
the island of Lesbos. It forms the south-western termination of Mount Ida. (Hom.
Il. xiv. 294; Herod. ix. 114; Thucyd. viii. 101; Ptol. v. 2. § 4; Plin. v. 32;
Liv. xxxvii. 37.) In the time of Strabo (xiii. p. 605, comp. p. 583) there was
shown on Cape Lectum an altar, said to have been erected by Agamemnon to the twelve
great gods; but this very number is a proof of the late origin of the altar. Under
the Byzantine emperors, Lectum was the northernmost point of the province of Asia.
(Hierocl. p. 659.) Athenaeus (iii. p. 88) states that the purple shell-fish, found
near Lectum as well as near Sigeum, was of a large size. The modern name of Lectum
is Baba, or Santa Maria.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited August 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ARIMA (Ancient country) KILIKIA
A country of Cilicia, where Typhoeus was under the earth (Il. 2.783).
TROAS (Ancient country) TURKEY
Troas was a country of Asia Minor and its capital was Troy, also known as Ilion (Il. 2.162, 3.74, Od. 1.62).
TROY (Ancient city) TURKEY
He was the son of Tros, father of Laomedon, brother of Ganymedes and Assaracus, founder of the city of Ilion (Il. 21.232). His grave was between the Scaean gates and the camp of the Achaeans (Il. 10.415, 11.166 & 371).
Illus, (Ilos). The son of Tros, and great-grandson of Dardanus, brother of Assaracus and Ganymede, and father of Laomedon. He once went from his native town of Dardania upon Mount Ida to Phrygia, where he was victorious in an athletic contest held by the king of the country. Besides fifty youths and fifty maidens, the prize of the contest, the king gave him, at the command of an oracle, a spotted cow, and directed him to found a city on the spot where she lay. He accordingly founded on the hill of the Phrygian Ate, the town which after him was called Ilios, and also Troy (Troia) after his father. When he demanded a sign of Zeus, on the following morning he found the statue known as the Palladium before his tent.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Ilus, a son of Tros, and grandson of Erichthonius. His mother was Calirrhoe, and
being a greatgrandson of Dardanus, he is called Dardanides (Hom. Il. xi. 372).
He was a brother of Assaracus, Ganymedes, and Cleopatra, and married to Eurydice,
the daughter of Adrastus, by whom he became the father of Laomedon, so that he
was the grandfather of Priam (Apollod. iii. 1.1-3; Hom. Il. xx. 232, &c.). He
was believed to be the founder of Troy (Ilion), concerning which the following
story is related. Once Ilus went to Phrygia, and there won the prize as a wrestler
in the games which the king of Phrygia celebrated. The prize consisted of 50 youths
and 50 maidens; and the king, in pursuance of an oracle, at the same time gave
him a cow of different colours, requesting Ilas to build a town on the spot where
that cow should lie down. Ilus accordingly followed the cow until she laid down
at the foot of the Phrygian hill Ate (Steph. Byz. s. v. Ilion ; Hesych. s. v.
Atiolophos; Tzetz. ad Lycoph, 29, who gives the story somewhat differently). There
Ilus accordingly built Ilion; and after having prayed to Zeus to send him a sign,
he found on the next morning the palladium, a statue of three cubits in height,
with its feet close together, holding a spear in its right hand, and a distaff
in the left. Ilus then built a temple for the statue (Apollod. iii. 12.3). Once,
when this temple was consumed by fire, Ilus rescued the statue, but became blind,
as no one was permitted to see it; but he afterwards propitiated the goddess,
and recovered his sight (Plut. Paral. Gr. et Rom. 17). Hus is said to have expelled
Tantalus or his son Pelops from Paphlagonia, for having carried off his brother
Ganymedes (Paus. ii. 22.4; Diod. iv. 74). His tomb was shown in the neighbourhood
of Troy.
(Hom. Il. x. 415, xi. 166, 372, xxiv. 349; Theocrit. xvi. 75; Eustath. ad Hom.)
CHRYSSI (Ancient city) TURKEY
Smintheus, a surname of Apollo, which is derived by some from sminthos, a mouse,
and by others from the town of Sminthe in Troas (Hom. Il. i. 3.9; Ov. Fast. vi.
425, Met. xii. 585 ; Eustath. ad Hom.). The mouse was regarded by the ancients
as inspired by the vapours arising from the earth, and as the symbol of prophetic
power. In the temple of Apollo at Chryse there was a statue of the god by Scopas,
with a mouse under its foot (Strab. xiii. 604, &c.; Eustath. ad Hom.), and on
coins Apollo is represented carrying a mouse in his hands. Temples of Apollo Sminthens
and festivals (Smintheia) existed in several parts of Greece, as at Tenedos, near
Hamaxitos in Aeolis, near Parion, at Lindos in Rhodes, near Coressa, and in other
places (Strab. x., xiii.).
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Aug 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
STRATONIKIA (Ancient city) TURKEY
Chrysaor, the god with the golden sword or arms. In this sense it is used as a surname or attribute of several divinities, such as Apollo (Hom. II. xv. 256), Artemis (Herod. viii. 77), and Demeter (Hom. Hymn. in Cer. 4). We find Chrysaoreus as a surname of Zeus with the same meaning, under which he had a temple in Caria, which was a national sanctuary, and the place of meeting for the national assembly of the Carians. (Strab. xiv. ; comp. Paus. v. 21.5; Steph. Byz. s. v. Chrusaoris.)
TROAS (Ancient country) TURKEY
A river-god (Il. 20.52).
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ADRASTIA (Ancient city) MYSIA
Amphius (Amphios), a son of Merops and brother of Adrastus. These two brothers took part in the Trojan war against their father's advice, and were slain by Diomedes. (Hom. Il. ii. 828, &c., xi. 328, &c.) Another hero of this name, who was an ally of the Trojans, occurs in Il. v. 612.
ASCANIA (Ancient area) MYSIA
A Mysian ally of the Trojans (Il. 13.792).
ENOS (Ancient city) TURKEY
He was son of Eusorus, a Thracian leader and ally of the Trojans, who was slain by Ajax, son of Telamon (Il. 2.844, 5.462, 6.8).
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He was son of Imbrasus from Aenus, a Thracian leader and ally of the Trojans (Il. 2.844, 4.520 & 525).
KARIA (Ancient country) TURKEY
Son of Nomion, a Carian leader in the Trojan War (Il. 2.867).
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Son of Nomion, a Carian leader, who was slain by Achilles (Il. 2.870).
Amphimachus. A son of Nomion, who together with his brother Nastes led a host of Carians to the assistance of the Trojans. He went to battle richly adorned with gold, but was thrown by Achilles into the Scamander. (Hom. Il. ii. 870, &c.) Conon (Narrat. 6) calls him a king of the Lycians.
LYKIA (Ancient country) TURKEY
He was a son of Bellerephon, brother of Isander and Laodameia (Il. 6.197) and father of Glaucus (Il. 6.119, 17.140).
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TROY (Ancient city) TURKEY
A Trojan, who was slain by Diomedes (Il. 5.144).
Son of Aesyetes, husband of the priestess Theano (Il. 5.70, 6.298), father of Agenor, Helicaon, Acamas etc., who was famous for his prudence (Il. 7.347). Antenor counseled in vain the Trojans to give Helen back to the Achaeans (Il. 3.148).
Antenor. A Trojan prince related to Priam. He was the husband of Theano, daughter of Cisseus, king of Thrace, and father of nineteen sons, of whom the most known were Polybus, Acamas, Agenor, Polydamas, Helicaon, Archilochus, and Laodocus. He is accused by some of having betrayed his country, not only because he gave a favourable reception to Diomedes, Odysseus, and Menelaus, when they came to Troy, as ambassadors from the Greeks, to demand the restitution of Helen, but also because he withheld the fact of his recognizing Odysseus, at the time that hero visited the city under the guise of a mendicant. After the conclusion of the war Antenor, according to some, migrated with a party of followers into Italy, and built Patavium. According to others, he went with a colony of the Heneti, or Veneti, from Paphlagonia to the shores of the Hadriatic, where the new settlers established themselves in the district called by them Venetia.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Antenor, a Trojan, a son of Aesyetes and Cleomestra, and husband of Theano, by whom he had many children (Hom. Il. vi. 398; Eustath. ad Hom.). According to the Homeric account, he was one of the wisest among the elders at Troy, and received Menelaus and Odysseus into his house when they came to Troy as ambassadors (Il. iii. 146, &c., 203, &c.). He also advised his fellow-citizens to restore Helen to Menelaus (Il. vii. 348, &c.). This is the substance of all that is said about him in the Homeric poems; but the suggestion contained therein, that Antenor entertained a friendly disposition towards the Greeks, has been seized upon and exaggerated by later writers. Before the Trojan war, he is said to have been sent by Priam to Greece to claim the surrender of Hesione, who had been carried off by the Greeks; but this mission was not followed by any favourable result (Dares Phryg. 5). When Menelaus and Odysseus came to Troy, they would have been killed by the sons of Priam, had it not been for the protection which Antenor afforded them (Dict. Cret. i. 11). Just before the taking of Troy his friendship for the Greeks assumes the character of treachery towards his own country; for when sent to Agamemnon to negotiate peace, he devised with him and Odysseus a plan of delivering the city, and even the palladium, into their hands (Dict. Cret. iv. 22, v. 8; Serv. ad Aen. i. 246, 651, ii. 15; Tzetzes, ad Lycophr. 339; Suidas, s. v. palladion). When Troy was plundered, the skin of a panther was hung up at the door of Antenor's house, as a sign for the Greeks not to commit any outrage upon it (Schol. ad Pind. Pyth. v. 108; Paus. x. 17; Strab. xiii.). His history after this event is related differently. Dictys (v. 17; comp. Serv. ad Aen. ix. 264) states, that he founded a new kingdom at Troy upon and out of the remnants of the old one; and according to others, he embarked with Menelaus and Helen, was carried to Libya, and settled at Cyrene (Pind. Pyth. v. 110); or he went with the Heneti to Thrace, and thence to the western coast of the Adriatic, where the foundation of several towns is ascribed to him (Strab.; Serv. ad Aen. i. 1; Liv. i. 1). Antenor with his family and his house, on which the panther's skin was seen, was painted in the Lesche at Delphi (Paus.).
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ADRAMYTION (Ancient city) TURKEY
Son of Ardys, father of Briseis (Il. 1.392, 9.132, 9.274).
Briseus, the father of Briseis, was a son of Ardys and king of the Leleges at Pedasus, or a priest at Lyrnessus. (Hom. Il. i. 392, ii. 689.) Briseus is said to have hanged himself when he lost his daughter. (Dict. Cret. ii. 17.)
ARISVI (Ancient city) TURKEY
The father of Axylus (Il. 6.12).
AVYDOS (Ancient city) MARMARA
The son of Asius and father of Thoon and Xanthus. He came from Abydus (Il. 5.152, 17.583).
BOZCAADA (Island) TURKEY
Father of Hecamede from the island of Tenedos (Il. 11.626).
CHRYSSI (Ancient city) TURKEY
Chryses was the priest of Apollo Smyntheus and father of Chryseis. After the denial of Agamemnon to free Chryses' daughter, who was part of his spoils, he asked help from the god he served, Apollo, who sent a plague to the Greek camp, which caused the king to return Chryseis to her father (Il. 1.111, 181, 309, 430 etc.).
Chryseis, (Chruseis). Daughter of Chryses, priest of Apollo at Chryse, and taken prisoner by Achilles at the capture of Lyrnessus or the Hypoplacian Thebes. In the distribution of the booty she was given to Agamemnon. Her father Chryses came to the camp of the Greeks to solicit her ransom, but was repulsed by Agamemnon with harsh words. Thereupon Apollo sent a plague into the camp of the Greeks, and Agamemnon was obliged to restore her to her father to appease the anger of the god. Her proper name was Astynome.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Chryses (Chruses). A son of Ardys and a priest of Apollo at Chryse. He was the father of Astynome (Chryseis), and when he came to the camp of the Greeks, offering a rich ransom for the liberation of his daughter, he was treated by Agamemnon with harsh words. Chryses then prayed to Apollo for vengeance, and the god sent a plague into the camp of the Greeks, which did not cease raging until Calchas explained the cause of it, and Odysseus took Chryseis back to her father. (Hom. II. i. 10, &c.)
GOKCEADA (Island) TURKEY
He was a guest-friend of Priam and came from the island of Imbros (Il. 21.40).
KARIA (Ancient country) TURKEY
The father of Amphimachus and Nastes (Il. 2.871).
Nomion: Perseus Project
LYDIA (Ancient country) TURKEY
Talaemenes was the father of Mesthles and Antiphus, leaders of the Maeonians. (Il. 2.865).
LYKIA (Ancient country) TURKEY
He was a son of Bellerephon, brother of Hippolochus and Laodameia, and was slain by Ares in a battle against the Solymi (Il. 6.197 & 203).
Father of Perimus (Il. 16.695).
MYSIA (Ancient country) TURKEY
PEDEON (Homeric city) TROAS
The father of Imbrius (Il. 13.171).
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PESSOS (Homeric city) MYSIA
The father of Amphius (Il. 5.612).
SARDIS (Ancient city) TURKEY
He was the father of Phaestus from Tarne in Lydia (Il. 5.44).
SIPYLOS (Ancient city) LYDIA
The son of Zeus by Pluto, father of Niobe and of Pelops. He served his son Pelops as meal to the gods and, as a result, he was punished in Hades by not to being able to eat or drink as the waters of the lake, where he was placed, always receded from him as soon as he attempted to drink them and the fruits in the trees were lifted by the wind every time he tried to reach them (Od. 11.582 etc.).
Tantalus, (Tantalos). The son of Zeus and Pluto. His wife is called by some Euryanassa, by others Taygete or Dione, and by others Clytia or Eupryto. He was the father of Pelops, Broteas, and Niobe. All traditions agree in stating that he was a wealthy king, but while some call him king of Lydia, others describe him as king of Argos or Corinth. Tantalus is particularly celebrated in ancient story for the terrible punishment inflicted upon him after his death in the lower world, the causes of which are differently stated by the ancient writers. According to the common account Zeus invited him to his table, and communicated his divine counsels to him. Tantalus divulged the secrets thus intrusted to him; and he was punished in the lower world by being afflicted with a raging thirst, and at the same time placed in the midst of a lake, the waters of which always receded from him as soon as he attempted to drink them. Over his head, moreover, hung branches of fruit, which receded in like manner when he stretched out his hand to reach them.. Another account says that there was suspended over his head a huge rock, ever threatening to crush him. Another tradition relates that, wishing to test the gods, he cut his son Pelops in pieces, boiled them and set them before the gods at a repast. A third account states that Tantalus stole nectar and ambrosia from the table of the gods and gave them to his friends; and a fourth relates the following story: Rhea caused the infant Zeus and his nurse to be guarded in Crete by a golden dog, whom Zeus afterwards appointed guardian of his temple in Crete. Pandareus stole this dog, and, carrying him to Mount Sipylus in Lydia, gave him to Tantalus to take care of. But when Pandareus demanded the dog back, Tantalus took an oath that he had never received it. Zeus thereupon changed Pandareus into a stone, and threw Tantalus down from Mount Sipylus. Others, again, relate that Hermes demanded the dog of Tantalus, and that the perjury was committed before Hermes. Zeus buried Tantalus under Mount Sipylus as a punishment; and there his tomb was shown in later times. The punishment of Tautalus was proverbial in ancient times, and from it the English language has borrowed the verb "to tantalize," that is, to hold out hopes or prospects which cannot be realized. The patronymic Tantalides is frequently given to the descendants of Tantalus. Hence we find not only his son Pelops, but also Atreus, Thyestes, Agamemnon, Menelaus, and Orestes called by this name.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Tantalus : Perseus Encyclopedia
TROAS (Ancient country) TURKEY
The father of Laogonus and priest of Idaean Zeus (Il. 16.604).
TROY (Ancient city) TURKEY
He was the first-born son of Laomedon and father of Aesepus and Pedasus by the nymph Abarbarea (Il. 6.22).
Son of Priam and Hecuba (Il. 24.249).
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He was the son of Hector and Andromache, and was also called Scamandrius. The Trojans called him Astyanax, which means "lord of the city", because his father was the "guardian" of Troy (Il. 7.403, 22.506).
Astyanax (Astuanax), the son of Hector and Andromache; his more common name was Scamandrius. After the taking of Troy the Greeks hurled him down from the walls of the city to prevent the fulfilment of a decree of fate, according to which he was to restore the kingdom of Troy (Hom. Il. vi. 400, &c.; Ov. Met. xiii. 415; Hygin. Fab. 109). A different mythical person of the name occurs in Apollodorus. (ii. 7.8)
A Trojan, father of Antenor (Il. 2.793).
A Trojan, father of Alcathous (Il. 13.427).
Father of Tros (Il. 20.466).
Father of Simoeisius (Il. 4.473).
Son of Antenor, husband of the daughter of Priam, Laodice (Il. 3.123, 6.252).
Helicaon (Helikaon), a son of Antenor, and husband of Laodice, a daughter of Priam. (Hom. Il. iii. 124; Paus. x. 26.2)
Laodice, (Laodike). A daughter of Priam and Hecabe, and the wife of Helicaon. (Hom. Il. iii. 123; Paus. x. 26.) According to another tradition, she was the beloved of Acamas, the son of Theseus, who, with Diomedes, went as ambassador to Troy, and by whom she became the mother of Munitus. (Parthen. Erot. 16.) On the death of this son, Laodice, in her grief, leaped down a precipice (Lycoph. 497), or was swallowed up by the earth. (Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 513, 547.) Pausanias (l. c.) saw her represented in the Lesche of Delphi, among the captive Trojan women. Hyginus (Fab.01) calls her the wife of Telephus.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2006 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
A Trojan, who was slain by Patroclus (Il. 17.308).
He was the son of Iphitus and charioteer of Hector (Il. 8.128 & 312).
A Trojan, father of Mydon (Il. 5.581).
A Trojan, father of Laogonus and Dardanus (Il. 20.460).
A Trojan, father of Hypsenor and priest of Scamander (Il. 5.77).
He was the father of Abas and Polyidus and reader of dreams (Il. 5.149).
Father of Podes (Il. 17.575).
A Trojan, father of Eniopeus (Il. 8.120).
A Trojan, the father of Charops and Socus (Il. 11.425 & 450).
Father of Archeptolemus (Il. 8.128).
He was a son of Laomedon, brother of Priam, father of Caletor and one of the elders of Troy (Il. 3.147, 15.419).
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He was a son of Priam by Laothoe, whom Achilles sold as a slave in Lemnos but he escaped and went to Arisbe, where he was seen and slain by Achilles (Il. 3.333, 21.34 etc.).
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One of the elders at Troy (Il. 3.148).
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He was the father of Dolon and herald of the Trojans (Il. 10.314).
Panthous was the husband of Phrontis, father of Euphorbus (Il. 17.60 & 81) and of Polydamas (Il. 18.250) and one of the Trojan elders (Il. 3.146, 15.446, 17.9 & 24 & 40).
He was also named Alexander (Il. 3.16 & 39, 6.290 & 350). He was a son of Priam, brother of Hector and became the cause of the Trojan War, when he abducted Helen, the wife of Menelaus (Il. 3.442 etc.).
Paris, also called Alexander (Alexandros). The second son of
Priam, king of Troy, by his wife Hecuba. When his mother, being about to give
birth to a son, had dreamed that she brought forth a torch which set all Ilium
in flames, the soothsayer Aesacus declared that the child would prove the ruin
of his country, and recommended its exposure. As soon as born, the child was given
to a servant to be left on Ida to perish. He obeyed, but, on returning at the
end of five days, he found that a bear had been nursing the infant. Struck with
this strange event, he took home the infant, reared him as his own son, and named
him Paris. When Paris grew up he distinguished himself by his strength and courage
in repelling robbers from the flocks, and the shepherds, in consequence, named
him Alexander ("Man-protector"), or, according to the Greek form, Alexandros
(apo tou alexein tous andras). In this state of seclusion, too, he united himself
to the nymph Oenone, whose fate is elsewhere related. Their happiness was soon
disturbed. At the marriage of Peleus and Thetis, the goddess of Discord, who had
not been invited to partake of the entertainment, showed her displeasure by throwing
into the assembly of the gods who were at the wedding celebration a golden apple,
on which were written the words He kale labeto, "Let the beauty (among you)
take me." Here, Athene, and Aphrodite laying claim to it, and Zeus being
unwilling to decide, the god commanded Hermes to lead the three deities to Mount
Ida, and to intrust the decision of the affair to the shepherd Alexander, whose
judgment was to be final. The goddesses appeared before him, and each, to influence
his decision, made him an alluring offer of future advantage, Here by the promise
of a kingdom, Athene by the gift of intellectual superiority and martial renown,
and Aphrodite by offering him the fairest woman in the world for his wife. To
Aphrodite he assigned the prize, and brought upon himself, in consequence, the
unrelenting enmity of her two disappointed rivals, which was extended also to
his whole family and the entire Trojan race.
Soon after this event, Priam proposed a contest among his sons
and other princes, and promised to reward the conqueror with one of the finest
bulls on Mount Ida. Persons were sent to procure the animal, and it was found
in the possession of Paris, who reluctantly yielded it up. The shepherd, desirous
of obtaining again this favourite animal, went to Troy, and entered the lists
of the combatants. Having proved successful against every competitor, and having
gained an advantage over Hector himself, that prince, irritated at seeing himself
conquered by an unknown stranger, pursued him closely, and Paris must have fallen
a victim to his brother's resentment had he not fled to the altar of Zeus. This
place of refuge preserved his life; and Cassandra, the daughter of Priam, struck
with the similarity of the features of Paris to those of her brothers, inquired
his birth and his age. From these circumstances she soon discovered that he was
her brother, and as such she introduced him to her father and to his children.
Priam, thereupon, forgetful of the alarming predictions of Aesacus, acknowledged
Paris as his son, and all enmity instantly ceased between the newcomer and Hector.
Not long after this, at the instigation of Aphrodite, who had not forgotten her
promise to him, Paris proceeded on a voyage to Greece, from which the soothsaying
Helenus and Cassandra had in vain endeavoured to deter him. The ostensible object
of the voyage was to procure information respecting his father's sister Hesione,
who had been given in marriage by Hercules to his follower Telamon, the monarch
of Salamis. The real motive, however, which prompted the enterprise, was a wish
to obtain, in the person of Helen, then the fairest woman of her time, a fulfilment
of what Aphrodite had offered him when he was deciding the contest of beauty.
Arriving at Sparta, where Menelaus, the husband of Helen, was reigning, he met
with a hospitable reception; but, Menelaus soon after having sailed away to Crete,
the Trojan prince availed himself of his absence, seduced Helen, and bore her
away to his native city, together with a large portion of the wealth of her husband.
Hence ensued the war of Troy, which ended in the total destruction of that illfated
city.
Paris, though represented in general as effeminate and vain
of his personal appearance, yet dis tinguished himself during the siege of Troy
by wounding Diomedes, Machaon, Antilochus, and Palamedes, and subsequently by
discharging the dart which proved fatal to Achilles. Aphrodite took him under
her special protection, and, in the single combat with Menelaus, rescued him from
the vengeance of the latter. On the capture of Troy, Paris was wounded by Philoctetes
with one of the arrows of Heracles, and, falling ill, returned to Oenone, whom
he had so long before abandoned. Resenting her wrongs she refused to heal him,
and he returned to Troy, where he died.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Paris : Perseus Project
Paris : Various WebPages
The father of Cleitus (Il. 15.445).
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