Listed 66 sub titles with search on: Mythology for wider area of: "ETOLOAKARNANIA Prefecture GREECE" .
ACHELOOS (River) ETOLOAKARNANIA
It was this silt (brought down by the Achelous) which in early times caused the country called Paracheloitis, which the river overflows, to be a subject of dispute, since it was always confusing the designated boundaries between the Acarnanians and the Aetolians; for they would decide the dispute by arms, since they had no arbitrators, and the more powerful of the two would win the victory; and this is the cause of the fabrication of a certain myth, telling how Heracles defeated Achelous and, as the prize of his victory, won the hand of Deianeira, the daughter of Oeneus, whom Sophocles represents as speaking as follows:
For my suitor was a river-god, I mean Achelous, who would demand me of my father in three shapes, coming now as a bull in bodily form, now as a gleaming serpent in coils, now with trunk of man and front of ox.
Some writers add to the myth, saying that this was the horn of Amaltheia, which Heracles broke off from Achelous and gave to Oeneus as a wedding gift. Others, conjecturing the truth from the myths, say that the Achelous, like the other rivers, was called "like a bull" from the roaring of its waters, and also from the the bendings of its streams, which were called Horns, and "like a serpent" because of its length and windings, and "with front of ox" for the same reason that he was called "bull-faced"; and that Heracles, who in general was inclined to deeds of kindness, but especially for Oeneus, since he was to ally himself with him by marriage, regulated the irregular flow of the river by means of embankments and channels, and thus rendered a considerable part of Paracheloitis dry, all to please Oeneus; and that this was the horn of Amaltheia.
EVINOS (River) ETOLOAKARNANIA
And there (at Evenus River) Nessus, it is said, who had been appointed ferryman, was killed by Heracles because he tried to violate Deianeira when he was ferrying her across the river.
Nessus, (Nessos). A Centaur, who used to ferry travellers over the river Evenus. On attempting to outrage Deianira, the wife of Heracles, he was shot by the latter with one of his poisoned arrows. Upon this he presented Deianira with a portion of his poisoned blood, professedly to enable her to regain her husband's affections, should he prove false to her. A robe smeared with this blood proved fatal to Heracles.
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
Nessos : Various WebPages
KALYDON (Ancient city) IERA POLIS MESSOLONGIOU
Hercules married a second wife, Deianira. He won her hand in marriage by wrestling with the river-god Acheloos, who took the form of a centaur. During the fight, Hercules broke off one of Acheloos' horns.
Once, when Deianira and Hercules were traveling, they came to the Evenus River. A centaur, Nessos, had been appointed ferryman there. As he carried Deianira across, he tried to assault her, and Hercules, hearing her screams, ran to rescue his damsel in distress. Hercules shot the centaur in the heart with one of his arrows.
Just before he died, Nessos set up his revenge by telling Deianira that the blood spilling from his wound could be used as a love potion, if need be. Deianira picked up some of the centaur's blood and saved it. Later, she put it onto a cloak she'd woven for Hercules, hoping it would renew his love for her.
The blood, of course, was not a love potion, but a deadly poison instead, and its touch burned Hercules' skin. His eventual death is described in the biography section (see ancient Argos).
The story of Deianira and Hercules became the subject of one of Sophocles' tragic plays, Trachiniae (The Women of Trachis). Like many Greek tragedies. this play explored the disruptive and horrible consequences when gods and mortals interacted.
This text is cited July 2004 from Perseus Project URL bellow, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Deianeira. The daughter of king Oeneus of Calydon and Althaea, but sometimes
it was whispered that Dionysus was her real father. Deianeira had many sisters
and brothers: Toxeus, Agelaus, Thyreus, Clymenus (or Periphas), Meleager, Gorge,
Eurymede and Melanippe.
Althaea died of grief when Meleager died, still a young boy, and his
sisters turned into guinea hens out of sorrow. Dionysus then intervened and spared
Deianeira and Gorge.
Deianeira was very beautiful, and both Heracles and the river god
Achelous wanted to marry her. A fight broke out between the two, and Achelous
transformed himself into a snake and then a bull. Heracles managed to break off
one of the bull's horn, and so won the battle.
The couple lived in Calydon for a few years, but when Heracles killed
a local boy by mistake, they were forced to leave. When they reached the Euenus
river they met the Centaur Nessus. When he saw the beautiful Deianeiera he tried
to rape her after he had carried her across the river, but Heracles killed him
with an arrow, its tip had been dipped in the blood of the Hydra. The dying Centaur
gave Deianeira a piece of cloth soaked with his blood, and told her to keep it.
With it, he said, she would have Heracles' love if she ever came near to losing
it.
Heracles and Deianeira settled in Trachis
where they had several children: Hyllus, Ctesippus, Glenus, Hodites and Macaria.
Heracles often went away on various adventures, but he always came back.
After many years, Deianeira was horrified to hear that her husband
had taken a young wife, and that he was coming back with her. The young bride,
Iole, was also rumoured to be very beautiful, and Deianeira was at her wits end.
When she had made sure her husband was really coming with Iole through a servant,
she put the Centaur's cloth in a barrel of water, and then put a shirt in it that
she sent to Heracles.
When Heracles put the shirt on it stuck on his skin and caused him
great pain. When he tried to take it off, pieces of his own flesh came with it.
He made it to Trachis, only
to find that Deianeira had hung herself when she had realised what she had done.
Heracles made a funeral pyre for himself by Mt.
Oeta, and then ascended it.
This text is cited Sept 2003 from the In2Greece URL below.
Coresus was a priest of Dionysus. He was in love with Callirhoe, a maiden. But his love for her was equalled by her hatred of him. When she refused to change her mind, he went as a suppliant to the image of Dionysus. The god listened to his prayer and death overtook the Calydonians. So they appealed to the oracle at Dodona. It declared that it was the wrath of Dionysus that caused the plague, which would not cease until Coresus sacrificed to Dionysus either Callirhoe herself or one who had the courage to die in her stead. When everything was ready for the sacrifice according to the oracle from Dodona, the maiden was led like a victim to the altar. Coresus stood ready to sacrifice, when, his resentment giving way to love, he slew himself in place of Callirhoe. When Callirhoe saw Goresus lying dead, she repented and cut her throat at the spring in Galydon and later generations call the spring Callirhoe after her.
Callirrhoe, a maiden of Calydon, who, when she was loved by Coresus, a priest of Dionysus, rejected all the offers he made to her. At length, he implored his god to punish the cruel maid. Dionysus now visited the people of Calydon with a general madness, which raged there like a plague. The Dodonaean oracle, which was consulted about the mode of averting the calamity, answered, that Dionysus must be propitiated, and that Callirrhoe must be sacrificed to him, or some one else in her stead. The maiden endeavoured in vain to escape her fate; but when she was led to the altar, Coresus, instead of performing the sacrifice, felt his love for her revive so strongly, that he sacrificed himself in her stead. But she also now put an end to her life near a well which derived its name from her (Paus. vii. 21.1). There are two more mythical personages of this name. (Steph. Byz. s. v. Alabanda; Plut. Parallel. Gr. et Rom. 23)
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Nov 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Apollodorus, Library and Epitome 1.8.2 & P. Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses 8.260
AGRINION (Ancient city) ETOLOAKARNANIA
Son of Porthaon, accuses Tydeus, some of his sons killed by Tydeus, two of his sons kill Oeneus.
KALYDON (Ancient city) IERA POLIS MESSOLONGIOU
Calydon (Kaludon), a son of Aetolus and Pronoe, married to Aeolia, by whom he became the father of Epicaste and Protogeneia. He was regarded as the founder of the Aetolian town of Calydon. (Apollod. i. 7.7; Steph.Byz. s. v. )
PLEVRON (Ancient city) ETOLOAKARNANIA
A hero, his shrine, son of Aetolus, husband of Xanthippe, ancestor of Dioscuri.
ARGOS AMFILOCHIKON (Ancient city) ETOLOAKARNANIA
Son of Alcmaeon by Manto, founder of the city.
After Ambracia comes Argos Amphilochicum, founded by Alcmaeon and his children. According to Ephorus, at any rate, Alcmaeon, after the expedition of the Epigoni against Thebes, on being invited by Diomedes, went with him into Aetolia and helped him acquire both this country and Acarnania; and when Agamemnon summoned them to the Trojan war, Diomedes went, but Alcmaeon stayed in Acarnania, founded Argos, and named it Amphilochicum after his brother; and he named the river which flows through the country into the Ambracian Gulf "Inachus", after the river in the Argeian country. But according to Thucydides, Amphilochus himself, after his return from Troy, being displeased with the state of affairs at Argos, passed on into Acarnania, and on succeeding to his brother's dominion founded the city that is named after him (Strab. 7,7,7).
AKTION (Ancient port) ETOLOAKARNANIA
Actiacus, a surname of Apollo, derived from Actium, one of the principal places of his worship. (Ov. Met. xiii. 715; Strab. x.)
ARAKYNTHOS (Mountain) ETOLOAKARNANIA
Arakunthias, a surname of Aphrodite, derived from mount Aracynthus, the position of which is a matter of uncertainty, and on which she had a temple. (Rhianus, ap. Steph. Byz. s. v. Arakunthos)
KALYDON (Ancient city) IERA POLIS MESSOLONGIOU
Caledonius Kaludonios), a surname of Dionysus, whose image was carried from Calydon to Patrae (Paus. vii. 21.1), and of Meleager, the hero in the Calydonian hunt. (Ov. Met. viii. 231.)
Laphraeus (Laphraios), a surname of Apollo at Calydon. (Strab. x., where, however, some read Lathrios.)
Laphria (Laphraia), a surname of Artemis among the Calydonians, from whom the worship of the goddess was introduced at Naupactus and Patrae, in Achaia. At the latter place it was not established till the time of Augustus, but it became the occasion of a great annual festival. (Paus. iv. 31. 6, vii. 18. 6. &c.; Schol. ad Eurip. Orest. 1087). The name Laphria was traced back to a hero, Laphrius, son of Castalius, who was said to have instituted her worship at Calydon. Laphria was also a surname of Athena. (Lycoph. 356.)
NAFPAKTOS (Ancient city) ETOLOAKARNANIA
Aetole (Aitole), a surname of Artemis, by which she was worshipped at Naupactus. In her temple in that town there was a statue of white marble representing her in the attitude of throwing a javelin. (Paus. x. 38.6)
Hippotes, a son of Phylas by a daughter of Iolaus, and a great-grandson of Heracles. When the Heracleidae, on their invading Peloponnesus, were encamped near Naupactus, Hippotes killed the seer Carnus, in consequence of which the army of the Heracleidae began to suffer very severely, and Hippotes by the command of an oracle was banished for a period of ten years (Apollod. ii. 8.3; Paus. ii. 4.3, 13.3; Conon, Narrat. 26; Schol. ad Theocrit. v. 83). He seems to be the same as the Hippotes who was regarded as the founder of Cnidus in Caria. (Diod. v. 9, 53; Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 1388)
ETOLIA (Ancient area) ETOLOAKARNANIA
[...] but when the Epeians met them with arms, and it was found that the two forces were evenly matched, Pyraechmes the Aetolian and Degmenus the Epeian, in accordance with an ancient custom of the Greeks, advanced to single combat. Degmenus was lightly armed with a bow, thinking that he would easily overcome a heavy-armed opponent at long range, but Pyraechmes armed himself with a sling and a bag of stones, after he had noticed his opponent's ruse (as it happened, the sling had only recently been invented by the Aetolians); and since the sling had longer range, Degmenus fell, and the Aetolians drove out the Epeians and took possession of the land;
KALYDON (Ancient city) IERA POLIS MESSOLONGIOU
Architeles, father of the boy Eunomus, whom Heracles killed by accident on his visit to Architeles. The father forgave Heracles, but Heracles nevertheless went into voluntary exile. (Apollod. ii. 7. 6; Diod. iv. 36, who calls the boy Eurynomus; Athen. ix.)
Eunomus (Eunomos), a son of Architeles, was killed by Heracles (Apollod. ii. 7.6). Eustathius (ad Hom.) calls him Archias or Chaerias.
Son of Porthaon, suitor of Hippodamia, killed by Tydeus.
Son of Melas, killed by Tydeus.
..that Ulysses went to Aetolia, to Thoas, son of Andraemon, married the daughter of Thoas, and leaving a son Leontophonus, whom he had by her, died in old age.
There were ties of kindred between the Heracleidae and the kings of Aetolia; in particular the mothers of Thoas, the son of Andraemon, and of Hyllus, the son of Heracles, were sisters. It fell to the lot of Oxylus to be an outlaw from Aetolia. The story goes that as he was throwing the quoit he missed the mark and committed unintentional homicide. The man killed by the quoit, according to one account, was Thermius, the brother of Oxylus; according to another it was Alcidocus, the son of Scopius.
(Perseus Project - Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.3.7)
Son of Scopius, slain by Oxylus.
Andraemon. A son of the Oxylus mentioned above, and husband of Dryope, who was mother of Amphissus by Apollo. (Ov. Met. ix. 363; Anton. Lib. 32.) There are two other mythical personages of this name, the one a son of Codrus (Paus. vii. 3.2), and the other a Pylian, and founder of Colophon. (Strab, xiv.)
PLEVRON (Ancient city) ETOLOAKARNANIA
Son of Thestius.
Son of Perieres, or of Oebalus, father of Perilaus, father of Penelope, etc., sets wooers of Penelope to run a race, gives Penelope to Ulysses to wife, Penelope said to have been sent away by Ulysses to her father Icarius, sets up image of Modesty, supports Hippocoon against Tyndareus, expelled from Lacedaemon by Hippocoon.
Son of Thestius, hunts the Calydonian boar, in the Argo.
Evippus, (Euippos). A son of Thestius and Eurythemis, who, together with his brothers, was killed by Meleager. (Apollod. i. 7.10, 8.3)
KALYDON (Ancient city) IERA POLIS MESSOLONGIOU
PLEVRON (Ancient city) ETOLOAKARNANIA
Demonice, (Demonike), a daughter of Agenor and Epicaste, who became by Ares the mother of Euenus, Molus, Pylus, and Thestius. (Apollod. i. 7.7.) Hesiod (ap. Schol. ad Hm. II. xiv. 200) calls her Demodoce.
AKARNANIA (Ancient area) ETOLOAKARNANIA
Acarnan (Akarnan), one of the Epigones, was a son of Alemaeon and Calirrhoe, and brother of Amphoterus. Their father was murdered by Phegeus, when they were yet very young, and Calirrhoe prayed to Zeus to make her sons grow quickly, that they might be able to avenge the death of their father. The prayer was granted, and Acarnan with his brother slew Phegeus, his wife, and his two sons. The inhabitants of Psophis, where the sons had been slain, pursued the murderers as far as Tegea, where however they were received and rescued. At the request of Achelous they carried the necklace and peplus of Harmonia to Delphi, and from thence they went to Epirus, where Acarnan founded the state called after him Acarnania. (Apollod. iii. 7.5-7; Ov. Met. ix. 413, &c.; Thuc. ii. 102; Strab. x.)
Acarnan and Amphoterus. The sons of Alcmaeon and Callirrhoe. Their mother, hearing of her husband's murder by Phegeus and his sons, prayed Zeus, who loved her, to let her sons grow up into men at once, so as to avenge their father. This done, they slew the sons of Phegeus at Tegea and himself at Psophis, offered up at Delphi the jewels of Harmonia, which they thus acquired, and then founded a kingdom called after the elder of them Acarnania.
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
ALYZIA (Ancient city) ETOLOAKARNANIA
The author of the Alcmaeonis says that Icarius, the father of Penelope, had two sons, Alyzeus and Leucadius, and that these two reigned over Acarnania with their father; accordingly, Ephorus thinks that the cities were named after these.
ETOLIA (Ancient area) ETOLOAKARNANIA
Aetolus, (Aitolos). The son of Endymion, who founded Elis and
Iphianassa. Having accidentally killed Apis, son of Phoroneus, he fled with a
band of followers into the country which afterwards was called, in his honour,
Aetolia.
EVINOS (River) ETOLOAKARNANIA
Son of Ares, father of Marpessa, throws himself into a river, which is named after him.
THERMON (Ancient city) ETOLOAKARNANIA
Brother of Oxylus.
AKARNANIA (Ancient area) ETOLOAKARNANIA
The author of the Alcmaeonis says that Icarius, the father of Penelope, had two sons, Alyzeus and Leucadius, and that these two reigned over Acarnania with their father; accordingly, Ephorus thinks that the cities were named after these.
PLEVRON (Ancient city) ETOLOAKARNANIA
Pesreus Encyclopedia
(Thestios). The son of Ares and Demonice or Androdice, or, according to others, a son of Agenor and grandson of Pleuron, the king of Aetolia. He was the father of Iphiclus, Euippus, Plexippus, Eurypylus, Leda, Althaea, and Hypermnestra. The patronymic Thestiades is given to his grandson Meleager, as well as to his sons; and the female patronymic Thestias to his daughter Althaea, the mother of Meleager.
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
Agenor: Son of Pleuron and father of Thestius, husband of Epicaste.
Epicaste: Daughter of Calydon, wife of Agenor.
Agenor, a son of Pleuron and Xanthippe, and grandson of Aetolus. Epicaste, the daughter of Calydon, became by him the mother of Porthaon and Demonice (Apollod. i. 7.7). According to Pausanias (iii. 13.5), Thestius, the father of Leda, is likewise a son of this Agenor.
KALYDON (Ancient city) IERA POLIS MESSOLONGIOU
PLEVRON (Ancient city) ETOLOAKARNANIA
Cycnus (Kuknos). A son of Apollo by Thyria or Hyria, the daughter of Amphinomus. He was
a handsome hunter, living in the district between Pleuron and Calydon, and although
beloved by many, repulsed all his lovers, and only one, Cycnus, persevered in
his love. Cycnus at last imposed upon him three labours, viz. to kill a lion without
weapons, to catch alive some monstrous vultures which devoured men, and with his
own hand to lead a bull to the altar of Zeus. Phyllius accomplished these tasks,
but as, in accordance with a request of Heracles, he refused giving to Phyllius
a bull which he had received as a prize, Cycnus was exasperated at the refusal,
and leaped into lake Canope, which was henceforth called after him the Cycnean
lake. His mother Thyria followed him, and both were metamorphosed by Apollo into
swans (Antonin. Lib. 12). Ovid (Met. vii. 371, &c.), who relates the same story,
makes the Cycnean lake arise from Hyria melting away in tears at the death of
her son.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Nov 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
AKARNANIA (Ancient area) ETOLOAKARNANIA
It appears that also a colony from Lacedaemon settled in Acarnania, I mean Icarius, father of Penelope, and his followers, for in the Odyssey the poet represents both Icarius and the brothers of Penelope as living.. in Lacedaemon, since in that case Telemachus would not have lodged at the home of Menelaus when he went to Lacedaemon, and, secondly, we have no tradition of their having lived elsewhere. But they say that Tyndareus and his brother Icarius, after being banished by Hippocoon from their homeland, went to Thestius, the ruler of the Pleuronians, and helped him to acquire possession of much of the country on the far side of the Achelous on condition that they should receive a share of it; that Tyndareus, however, went back home, having married Leda, the daughter of Thestius, whereas Icarius stayed on, keeping a portion of Acarnania, and by Polycaste, the daughter of Lygaeus, begot both Penelope and her brothers.
Ephorus.. says that Alcmaeon, the son of Amphiaraus, made an expedition with Diomedes and the other Epigoni, and had brought to a successful issue the war against the Thebans, and then joined Diomedes and with him took vengeance upon the enemies of Oeneus, after which he himself, first giving over Aetolia to them, passed into Acarnania and subdued it; and meanwhile Agamemnon attacked the Argives and easily prevailed over them, since the most of them had accompanied the army of Diomedes.
Ephorus makes Acarnania subject to Alcmaeon even before the Trojan War; and he not only declares that the Amphilochian Argos was founded by him, but also says that Acarnania was named after Alcmaeon's son Acarnan, and the Amphilochians after Alcmaeon's brother Amphilochus; therefore his account is to be cast out amongst those contrary to Homeric history. But Thucydides and others say that Amphilochus, on his return from the Trojan expedition, was displeased with the state of affairs at Argos, and took up his abode in this country, some saying that he came by right of succession to the domain of his brother, others giving a different account.
Acarnan, the sons of Alcmaeon; and the sons of Alcmaeon ..they journeyed to Epirus, collected settlers, and colonized Acarnania. (Perseus Project - Apollodorus, Library and Epitome (ed. Sir James George Frazer))
ETOLIA (Ancient area) ETOLOAKARNANIA
Ephorus, after saying that the Aetolians were a race which had never become subject to any other people, but throughout all time of which there is any record had remained undevastated, both because of the ruggedness of their country and because of their training in warfare, says at the outset that the Curetes held possession of the whole country, but when Aetolus, the son of Endymion, arrived from Elis and overpowered them in war, the Curetes withdrew to what is now called Acarnania, whereas the Aetolians came back with Epeians and founded the earliest of the cities of Aetolia, and in the tenth generation after that Elis was settled by Oxylus the son of Haemon, who had crossed over from Aetolia.
This extract is from: The Geography of Strabo (ed. H. L. Jones, 1924), Cambridge. Harvard University Press. Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
AKARNANIA (Ancient area) ETOLOAKARNANIA
It appears that also a colony from Lacedaemon settled in Acarnania,
I mean Icarius, father of Penelope, and his followers; for in the Odyssey the
poet represents both Icarius and the brothers of Penelope as living:
" who shrink from going to the house of her father, Icarius, that he himself
may exact the bride-gifts for his daughter", and, concerning her brothers,"for
already her father and her brothers bid her marry Eurymachus";
for, in the first place, it is improbable that they were living in Lacedaemon,
since in that case Telemachus would not have lodged at the home of Menelaus when
he went to Lacedaemon, and, secondly, we have no tradition of their having lived
elsewhere. But they say that Tyndareus and his brother Icarius, after being banished
by Hippocoon from their homeland, went to Thestius, the ruler of the Pleuronians,
and helped him to acquire possession of much of the country on the far side of
the Achelous on condition that they should receive a share of it; that Tyndareus,
however, went back home, having married Leda, the daughter of Thestius, whereas
Icarius stayed on, keeping a portion of Acarnania, and by Polycaste, the daughter
of Lygaeus, begot both Penelope and her brothers.
This extract is from: The Geography of Strabo (ed. H. L. Jones, 1924), Cambridge. Harvard University Press. Cited Apr 2003 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
AMFILOCHIKO ARGOS (Settlement) ETOLOAKARNANIA
Hecataeus of Miletus moves Geryon from Iberia (which seemed too far away for Heracles to drive cattle to Eurystheus in Mycenae) to somewhere in the region of Ambracia and Amphilochia.
Receive our daily Newsletter with all the latest updates on the Greek Travel industry.
Subscribe now!
