Acamas (son of Theseus) Information & Acamas (son of Theseus) Links at HealthHaven.com

Acamas, the son of Phaedra and Theseus, and half brother to Demophoon, was a character in the Trojan War.^[1]

[edit] Mythology

After his father was exiled from Athens, he and his brother were sent to Euboea, where they grew to adulthood and allied themselves with Euboea's King Elephenor. Prior to the assault of the Greeks against Troy, he and Diomedes were sent to demand the surrender of Helen (this expedition Homer ascribes to Menelaus and Odysseus),^[2] but during his stay at Troy he won the affection of Laodice, daughter of Priam,^[3] and begot by her a son, Munitus, who was brought up by Aethra, grandmother of Acamas.^[4] He was killed by the bite of a snake while hunting at Olynthus in Thrace.

In the war, Acamas fought on the side of the Greeks. After the war, he rescued his grandmother, Aethra, who was being held captive in Troy as Helen's maid. Later mythological traditions describe the two brothers embarking on other adventures as well, including the capture of the Palladium.^[5] On his return home he was detained in Thrace by his love for Phyllis; but after leaving Thrace and arriving in the island of Cyprus, he was killed by a fall from his horse upon his own sword.^[6]

Acamas is not mentioned in Homer's Iliad, but later works, including Virgil's Aeneid,^[7] and almost certainly the Iliou persis, mention that Acamas was one of the men inside the Trojan horse.^[8] The dominant character trait of Acamas is his interest in faraway places.^[5]

[edit] Eponyms and Acamas in art

The promontory of Acamas in Cyprus, the town of Acamentium in Phrygia, and the Attic tribe Acamantis all derived their names from him.^[9]^[10] He was painted in the Lesche at Delphi by Polygnotus, and there was also a statue of him at Delphi.^[11]

[edit] References

^ Diodorus Siculus, iv. 62.
^ Homer. Iliad, xi. 139, &c.
^ Parthenius of Nicaea. Erot. 16.
^ Schol. ad Lycophron 499, &c.
^ ^a ^b Hornblower, Simon (1996). "Acamas". Oxford Classical Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 2.
^ Schol. ad Lycophr. l. c.
^ Virgil, Aeneid ii. 262
^ Schmitz, Leonhard (1867), "Acamas (1)", in Smith, William, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, 1, Boston, pp. 5, http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0014.html
^ Stephanus of Byzantium s.v. Ακαμάντιον
^ Pausanias i. 5. § 2
^ Pans. x. 26. § 3, x. 10. § 1.

[edit] Sources

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology by William Smith (1870).

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Acamas and Demophon

[0] Diodorus Siculus, iv. 62.

[1] Homer. Iliad, xi. 139, &c.

[2] Parthenius of Nicaea. Erot. 16.

[3] Schol. ad Lycophron 499, &c.

[OCD1-4] Hornblower, Simon (1996). "Acamas". Oxford Classical Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 2.

[5] Schol. ad Lycophr. l. c.

[6] Virgil, Aeneid ii. 262

[7] Schmitz, Leonhard (1867), "Acamas (1)", in Smith, William, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, 1, Boston, pp. 5, http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0014.html

[8] Stephanus of Byzantium s.v. Ακαμάντιον

[9] Pausanias i. 5. § 2

[10] Pans. x. 26. § 3, x. 10. § 1.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

Contents

[edit] Mythology

[edit] Eponyms and Acamas in art

[edit] References

[edit] Sources