Misplaced Pages

In Greek mythology, Cepheus (/ˈsiːfiəs, -fjuːs/; Ancient Greek: Κηφεύς Kephéus) was a king of Tegea in Arcadia. He was an Argonaut, and was, along with most of his twenty sons, killed in Heracles' war against Hippocoon, king of Sparta. He was perhaps the same Cepheus who, according to the mythographer Apollodorus, participated in the Calydonian boar hunt.

Family

Cepheus was a member of the Arcadian royal family, the descendants of Pelasgos, the first king of Arcadia. He was usually said to be the son of Aleus, the king of Tegea in Arcadia. According to Apollodorus, Aleus had, by Neaera the daughter of Pereus, a daughter Auge and two sons Cepheus and Lycurgus. While according to the mythographer Hyginus, Cepheus (the Argonaut) was the son of Aleus and Cleobule. A different tradition perhaps made Cepheus a son of Lycurgus rather than Aleus.

In addition, the Argonaut Amphidamas was said to be another brother of Chepheus and son of Aleus, while according to the geographer Pausanias, Aleus had three sons, Lycurgus, Amphidamas and Cepheus, however Apollodorus has Amphidamas as the son of Lycurgus. According to the historian Diodorus Siculus, Aleus also had a daughter named Alcidice.

Cepheus had twenty sons, one of whom was named Aeropus. He also had a daughter Sterope, who figured in the story of Cepheus' participation in the war against Hippocoon. Pausanias also mentions two other daughters of Cepheus, Aerope, who died giving birth to a son of the god Ares, and Antinoe.

Mythology

In his youth, Cepheus joined Jason and the Argonauts in their quest for the Golden Fleece. He was joined by his brother Amphidamas, and their nephew Ancaeus, the son of their brother Lycurgus. He was also perhaps, along with Ancaeus, one of the many heroes who joined Meleager in hunting the Calydonian boar, since according to Apollodorus, "Ancaeus and Cepheus, sons of Lycurgus, from Arcadia" were among those who participated in the hunt.

The hero Heracles sought the help of Cepheus and his twenty sons, in his campaign against Hippocoon, king of Sparta. But, according to Apollodorus, Cepheus did not want to leave his kingdom unprotected, fearful that if he did, the Argives would march against Tegea. So Heracles gave Cepheus' daughter Sterope a lock of Medusa the Gorgon's hair, which Athena had given him, saying that if it was held up three times from the city walls, any enemy advancing on the city would turn in flight. Thus persuaded, Cepheus and his twenty sons joined Heracles' expedition against Hippocoon. According to Apolodorus, Cepheus and all of his twenty sons were killed in battle, while according to the historian Diodorus Siculus all were killed except three of the sons.

The city of Caphyae was believed to have received its name from Cepheus. A Cepheus was said to have brought colonists to the town of Kyrenia in Cyprus.

Notes

1. Grimal, s.v. Cepheus 1; Tripp, s.v. Cepheus 2; Smith, s.v. Cepheus 2; s.vv. Cepheus 2, Aleus.
2. Hard, pp. 416, 729; Grimal, s.v. Cepheus 1, Tripp, s.v. Cepheus 2, and Parada, s.v. Cepheus 2, all treat these two as the same, while Smith, s.vv. Cepheus 2, Cepheus 3, treats them as distinct.
3. For a discussion of the Arcadian royal family see Hard, pp. 537–549, in particular, for Cepheus, see p. 547. For genealogical tables containing Cepheus, see Hard, p. 713, Table 20, and Grimal, p.532, Table 9. See also Parada, s.vv. Aleus, Cepheus 2.
4. Apollonius Rhodius, 1.161–167; Apollodorus, 1.9.16, 3.9.1; Hyginus, Fabulae 14; Pausanias, 8.4.8, 8.5.1, 8.8.4, 8.23.3, 8.44.7 & 8.47.5
5. Apollodorus, 3.9.1
6. Hyginus, Fabulae 14
7. Grimal, s.v. Cepheus 1; Parada, s.v. Cepheus 2; Apollodorus, 1.8.2. Apollodorus mentions "Ancaeus and Cepheus, sons of Lycurgus, from Arcadia" as being among those heroes who participated in the Calydonian boar hunt, which must represent either a different Cepheus (e.g. Smith, s.v. Cepheus 3, as distinct from s.v. Cepheus 2) or a different genealogical tradition (e.g. Parada, s.v. Cepheus 2).
8. Hyginus, Fabulae 14, and Apollonius of Rhodes, 1.161–167
9. Pausanias, 8.4.8
10. Hard, p. 544 n. 176; Apollodorus, 3.9.2
11. Diodorus Siculus, 4.68.1
12. Hard, p. 279; Diodorus Siculus, 4.33.6; Apollodorus, 2.7.3
13. Pausanias, 8.5.1
14. Grimal, s.v. Cepheus 1; Tripp, s.v. Cepheus 2; Apollodorus, 2.7.3
15. Pausanias, 8.44.7–8
16. Pausanias, 8.8.4
17. Hard, p. 383; Apollodorus, 1.9.16; Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 1.161; Hyginus, Fabulae 14; Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica 1.375.
18. Tripp, s.v. Cepheus 2.
19. Grimal, s.v. Cepheus 1; Apollodorus, 1.8.2
20. Hard; p. 279; Tripp, s.v. Cepheus 2; Apollodorus, 2.7.3; Diodorus Siculus, 4.33.6. Compare with Pausanias, 8.47.5
21. Pausanias, 8.23.3.
22. Hill, p. 87 n. 4.

References

• Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
• Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica, edited and translated by William H. Race, Loeb Classical Library No. 1, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-674-99630-4. Online version at Harvard University Press.
• Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Volume III: Books 4.59-8, translated by C. H. Oldfather, Loeb Classical Library No. 340. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1939. ISBN 978-0-674-99375-4. Online version at Harvard University Press. Online version by Bill Thayer.
• Grimal, Pierre, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Wiley-Blackwell, 1996. ISBN 978-0-631-20102-1.
• Hyginus, Gaius Julius, Fabulae in Apollodorus' Library and Hyginus' Fabulae: Two Handbooks of Greek Mythology, Translated, with Introductions by R. Scott Smith and Stephen M. Trzaskoma, Hackett Publishing Company, 2007. ISBN 978-0-87220-821-6.
• Hard, Robin, The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology", Psychology Press, 2004, ISBN 9780415186360. Google Books.
• Hill, George, A History of Cyprus, Volume 1, Cambridge University Press, 2010. ISBN 9781108020626.
• Parada, Carlos, Genealogical Guide to Greek Mythology, Jonsered, Paul Åströms Förlag, 1993. ISBN 978-91-7081-062-6.
• Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. ISBN 0-674-99328-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
• Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Smith, William, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London (1873). Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Tripp, Edward, Crowell's Handbook of Classical Mythology, Thomas Y. Crowell Co; First edition (June 1970). ISBN 069022608X.
• Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica, translated by J. H. Mozley, Loeb Classical Library No. 286. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1928. Online version at Harvard University Press.

This article relating to Greek mythology is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e

• Greek mythology stubs
• Argonauts
• Mythological city founders
• Mythological kings of Arcadia
• Characters in the Argonautica
• Mythological Arcadians
• Tegea
• Ancient Tegeans