Lycurgus of Thrace
In Greek mythology, Lycurgus (/laɪˈkɜːrɡəs/; Ancient Greek: Λυκοῦργος Lykoûrgos, Ancient Greek: [lykôrɡos]; also Lykurgos, Lykourgos) was the king of the Edoni in Thrace, son of Dryas, the "oak", and father of a son whose name was also Dryas.[1]
Mythology
Lycurgus banned the cult of
The compiler of
In some versions the story of Lycurgus and his punishment by Dionysus is placed in
In Homer's Iliad, an older source than Aeschylus, Lycurgus's punishment for his disrespect towards the gods, particularly Dionysus, is blindness inflicted by Zeus followed not long after by death.[11]
According to Sophocles, the frenzied Lycurgus mocked at Dionysus and as punishment was shut in "a prison of stone" until his madness went away.[12]
The author of the Geoponica states that Dionysus, fleeing from Lycurgus, tied him up with vines and dove into the sea; Lycurgus shed a tear then, which transformed into cabbage. This was supposedly why grapevines and cabbages had a mutual dislike toward one another, and could not thrive together, as vines withered in the fields whenever a cabbage was growing nearby.[13][14]
See also
References
- ^ Homer. Iliad, Book 6.
- E.V. Rieu's translation.
- ^ Tripp, Edward. The Handbook of Classical Mythology. Meridian, 1970, pg. 350.
- Minyads, etc.
- ^ Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca, 3. 5. 1.
- ^ Ode 2.19 at Horatius.net. Archived 2022-05-18 at the Wayback Machine. "EXITIVM LICVRGI. Hic, quod vites excidisset, furore a Libero iniecto crura sibi falce amputavit." ["The doom of Lycurgus: he, because he had cut down the vines, cut off his own legs with a sickle from madness sent by Liber."] The word vītis used for 'vine' here usually refers to grapevines but can refer to any vine. Horace's ode just lists Thracis et exitium Lycurgi ("and the doom of Lycurgus the Thracian") among the deeds of Bacchus.
- ^ Hyginus, Fabulae, 132, 192, 242.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica 3.55
- ^ Athenaeus. Deipnosophistae, 447c.
- ^ Dalby (2005), pp. 65-71, 153.
- ^ Homer. Iliad, 6. 130-136, 140.
- ^ Sophocles, Antigone, 955 ff
- ^ Geoponica XVVII
- ^ Ascherson 1884, p. 31.
Sources
- Dalby, Andrew (2005). The Story of Bacchus. London: British Museum Press. ISBN 0-7141-2255-6.
- Anonymous (1805). Geoponika: Agricultural Pursuits. Vol. II. Translated by Thomas Owen. London.
- Ascherson, Ferdinand (1884). Berliner Studien für classische Philologie und Archaeologie. Calvary.