Nicostratus (mythology)
In
Family
Nicostratus' mother was either Menelaus' wife Helen of Troy, or a slave.[5] Although in Homer's Odyssey, the only child of Menelaus and Helen is Hermione, other sources also mention a son Nicostratus.[6] The mythographer Apollodorus says that "Menelaus had by Helen a daughter Hermione and, according to some (κατά τινας), a son Nicostratus", while a scholia on Sophocles' Electra quotes Hesiod as saying "She [Helen] bore Hermione to spear-famed Menelaus, and last of all she bore Nicostratus, scion of Ares".[7]
However, according to the geographer Pausanias, Nicostratus, and Megapenthes were sons of Menelaus by a slave, and that because they were illegitimate, Agamemnon's son Orestes succeeded Menelaus as king of Sparta.[8]
One account mentioned that Nicostratus and
Mythology
According to the
According to Pausanias, Nicostratus and Megapenthes were depicted, riding a single horse, on the sixth century BC Doric-Ionic temple complex at Amyclae known as the throne of Apollo, designed by Bathycles of Magnesia.[13]
In popular culture
Although Nicostratus does not figure in any ancient account of the Trojan War, he is the central character in The Luck of Troy, a modern retelling of the story by Roger Lancelyn Green.[14]
Notes
- ^ Parada, s.v. Nicostratus.
- ^ Fowler, p. 529; Tripp, s.v. Nicostratus; Parada, s.v. Nicostratus; Grimal, p. 534 Table 13.
- ap. schol. (D) Iliad 3.175].
- ^ Hard, p. 441; Fowler, p. 529.
- ^ Fowler, p. 529; Tripp, s.v. Nicostratus; Parada, s.v. Nicostratus.
- ^ Hard, p. 441; Homer, Odyssey 4.11–14,
- ap. schol. (D) Iliad 3.175], which seems to understand Nicostratus as being the son of Helen and Menelaus, see Gantz.
- ^ Hard, p. 441; Fowler, p. 529; Pausanias, 2.18.6.
- ^ Apollodorus, 3.11.1, f.n. 1 by Frazer with Scholiast on Homer, Iliad 3.175 as the authority; Grimal, s.v. Menelaus; Gantz, p. 573.
- ISBN 0-8018-4410-X.
- ISBN 978-0-631-20102-1.
- ^ Grimal, s.vv. Megapenthes 1, Menelaus; Pausanias, 2.18.6, 3.19.9.
- ^ Gardner, p. 78; Pausanias, 3.18.13.
- ^ Girl with her Head in a Book, "Review: The Luck of Troy, Roger Lancelyn Green".
References
- Apollodorus, Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Fowler, R. L., Early Greek Mythography: Volume 2: Commentary, Oxford University Press, 2013. ISBN 978-0198147411.
- Gardner, Ernest Arthur, A Handbook of Greek Sculpture, Macmillan and Co,. Limited, London, 1911.
- ISBN 978-0-8018-5362-3(Vol. 2).
- Grimal, Pierre, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Wiley-Blackwell, 1996. ISBN 978-0-631-20102-1.
- .
- 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.
- Parada, Carlos, Genealogical Guide to Greek Mythology, Jonsered, Paul Åströms Förlag, 1993. ISBN 978-91-7081-062-6.
- Pausanias, 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, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. 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.
- .