Idomeneus of Crete
| Idomeneus | |
|---|---|
King of Crete | |
| Member of the Cretan Royal Family | |
 Idomeneus coming back, Palais Niel, France | |
| Predecessor | Catreus |
| Successor | Leucus |
| Abode | Crete |
| Parents | Deucalion and Cleopatra |
| Consort | Meda |
| Offspring | Orsilochus, Cleisithyra, Iphiclus and Lycus |
In Greek mythology, Idomeneus (/aɪˈdɒmɪniəs/;[1] Greek: Ἰδομενεύς) was a Cretan king and commander who led the Cretan armies to the Trojan War, in eighty black ships.[2] He was also one of the suitors of Helen, as well as a comrade of the Telamonian Ajax. Meriones was his charioteer and brother-in-arms.
Description
Idomeneus was described by the chronicler Malalas in his account of the Chronography as "above average height, dark-skinned, good eyes, well set, strong, good nose, thick beard, good head, curly hair, a berserker when fighting".[3]
Family
Idomeneus was the son of
Mythology
In Homer's Iliad, Idomeneus is found among the first rank of the Greek generals, leading his troops and engaging the enemy head-on, and escaping serious injury. Idomeneus was one of Agamemnon's trusted advisors. He was one of the primary defenders when most of the other Achaean heroes were injured, and even fought Hector briefly and repulsed his attack.[9] Like most of the other leaders of the Greeks, he is alive and well as the story comes to a close. He was one of the Achaeans to enter the Trojan Horse. Idomeneus killed twenty men and at least three Amazon women, including Bremusa,[10] at Troy.[11]
Alternatively, in a tradition preserved by Apollodorus of Athens, Idomeneus was driven out of Crete by Leucus, his foster son, who had seduced and then killed Idomeneus' wife Meda and usurped the throne of Crete.[16]
The tale is also covered by the French 17th century writer François Fénelon.
Idomeneo, a 1781 opera seria by Mozart, is based on the story of Idomeneus's return to Crete. In this version, Poseidon (Neptune in the opera) spares Idomeneo's son Idamante, on condition that Idomeneo relinquish his throne to the new generation.
Gallery
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The sacrifice of Idomeneus toJupiter, engraving by W. Skelt Wellcome -
Mentor offers Idomeneus an olive branch to Adventures of Telemachus by Jacob Folkema -
Telemachus refuses the crown and sceptre of the Cretan by Jacob Folkema -
Idomeneus is offered war and peace by Jean-Baptiste Tilliard -
Philocles is received amicably by Idomeneus, by Jean-Baptiste Tilliard -
Telemachus and Mentor received by Idomeneus, by Jean-Baptiste Tilliard -
Timocrates convinces Idomeneus of Philocles ' betrayal by Jean-Baptiste Tilliard -
Hegesippus summons Philocles to return at the request of Idomeneus by Jean-Baptiste Tilliard -
Mentor shows Idomeneus regulations for the arts and police by Jean-Baptiste Tilliard
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Notes
- ^ Walker, John; Trollope, William (1830). A key to the classical pronunciation of Greek, Latin, and scripture proper names. Printed for J.F. Dove. p. 68.
Robert Palfrey Utter, 1918, Every-day pronunciation, p 127 - ^ Homer, Iliad 2.645
- ^ Malalas, Chronography 5.104
- Tzetzes, Homeric Allegories Prologue 587
- ^ Tzetzes on Lycophron, 431
- ^ Pausanias, 5.25.9
- ^ Homer, Odyssey 13.260 ff.
- Tzetzes on Lycophron, 1222
- ^ Iliad, repeated appearances
- ^ Quintus Smyrnaeus, Book 1
- Fabulae114
- ^ Thus the Encyclopædia Britannica s. v. "Idomeneus"; cf., however, Apollodorus, The Library, ed. and trans. Sir James George Frazer (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1921), Vol. 2, 394-5 (https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=iau.31858052742800&view=1up&seq=406&q1=Idomeneus).
- ^ Virgil, Aeneid 3.400
- ^ Scholiast on Homer's Odyssey 5.259
- ^ Operum quae exstant, p. 174, Marcus Terentius Varro, printed by Christophorus Raphelengius, 1601.
- ^ Apollodorus, Epitome 6.10
References
- Achterberg, Winfried; Best, Jan; Enzler, Kees; Rietveld, Lia; Woudhuizen, Fred, The Phaistos Disc: A Luwian Letter to Nestor, Publications of the Henry Frankfort Foundation vol XIII, Dutch Archeological and Historical Society, Amsterdam 2004.
- 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.
- Gaius Julius Hyginus, Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
- Homer, Homeri Opera in five volumes. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 1920. .
- Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy translated by Way. A. S. Loeb Classical Library Volume 19. London: William Heinemann, 1913. Online version at theio.com
- Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy. Arthur S. Way. London: William Heinemann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1913. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Publius Vergilius Maro, Aeneid. Theodore C. Williams. trans. Boston. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1910. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Publius Vergilius Maro, Bucolics, Aeneid, and Georgics. J. B. Greenough. Boston. Ginn & Co. 1900. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
External links
Media related to Idomeneus at Wikimedia Commons
