The Lion of Cithaeron [a] was a lion in Greek mythology which harassed the lands of king Amphitryon and king Thespius or of king Megareus. Some myths say that it was killed by Heracles, while others say it was slain by Alcathous of Elis.
According to the Suda , it was also called the Thespian lion and the Ravine lion (Ancient Greek : Χαραδραῖος λέων, Charadraios leōn) because it lived in a place called "Ravine" (Ancient Greek : χαράδρα, charadra). [1]
One account of the myth, recorded by Apollodorus in the Bibliotheca , states that the lion came from Cithaeron to hunt the cattle belonging to Amphitryon and to King Thespius of Thespiae. When Heracles was eighteen years old, Thespius asked him to kill the lion. The hunt took Heracles fifty days, during which Thespius hosted him (and each night of which Heracles slept with a different daughter of the king). After Heracles slew the lion, he dressed himself in its skin and wore its scalp as a helmet. [2] According to the Suda, it was killed near Thespiae, before Heracles killed the Nemean lion. [1]
According to Pausanias, writing in the second century BC, the Megarians believed that the Cithaeronian Lion killed many people, including Euippus, the son of their king Megareus. Consequently, Megareus promised that whoever killed the Lion would marry his daughter and inherit his throne. Alcathous killed the lion and when he became the king, he built the temple of Artemis Agrotera (Huntress) (Ancient Greek : Ἀγροτέραν Ἄρτεμιν) and Apollo Agraeus (Hunter) (Ancient Greek : Ἀπόλλωνα Ἀγραῖον). [3] [4] [5]
Heracles, born Alcaeus or Alcides, was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon. He was a descendant and half-brother of Perseus. He was the greatest of the Greek heroes, the ancestor of royal clans who claimed to be Heracleidae (Ἡρακλεῖδαι), and a champion of the Olympian order against chthonic monsters. In Rome and the modern West, he is known as Hercules, with whom the later Roman emperors, in particular Commodus and Maximian, often identified themselves. Details of his cult were adapted to Rome as well.
In Greek mythology, Antiphus or Ántiphos is a name attributed to multiple individuals:
In Greek mythology, Eurypylus was the name of several different people:
In Greek mythology, Thespius or Thestius was a legendary founder and king of Thespiae, Boeotia. His life account is considered part of Greek mythology.
Agraeus was the name of a number of personages from ancient myth, but was primarily known as an epithet of the god Apollo in Greek mythology, which meant "the hunter". After Apollo had killed the Lion of Cithaeron, a temple was erected to him by Alcathous, son of Pelops, at Megara under the name of Apollo Agraeus. The epithet was also sometimes used, in the feminine form Agraea, for the goddess Artemis, which was synonymous with her epithet Agrotera.
Alcathous was in Greek mythology, a Pisatian prince who became a king of Megara.
In Greek mythology, Megareus, also called Megarus (Μέγαρος), was king of Onchestus in Boeotia. In some myths, he was the eponymous king of Megara.
In Greek mythology, Pyrrha may refer to the following women:
In Greek mythology, Archemachus may refer to the following personages:
In Greek mythology, Procris was a Thespian princess as the eldest of the 50 daughters of King Thespius and Megamede, daughter of Arneus. She bore twin sons, Antileon and Hippeus, to the hero Heracles.
In Greek mythology, Meline is a Thespian princess as one of the 50 daughters of King Thespius and Megamede, daughter of Arneus. She bore Laomedon to the hero Heracles.
In Greek mythology, Argele was a Thespian princess as one of the 50 daughters of King Thespius and Megamede, daughter of Arneus. She bore Cleolaus to the hero Heracles.
In Greek mythology, Marse was a Thespian princess as one of the 50 daughters of King Thespius and Megamede, daughter of Arneus. She bore Bucolus to the hero Heracles.
In Greek mythology, Hippocrate was a Thespian princess as one of the 50 daughters of King Thespius and Megamede, daughter of Arneus. She bore Hippozygus to the hero Heracles.
In Greek mythology, Olympus was the Thespian son of Heracles and Euboea, daughter of King Thespius of Thespiae.
In Greek mythology, Phalias was the Thespian son of Heracles and Heliconis, daughter of King Thespius of Thespiae.
In Greek mythology, Capylus was the Thespian son of Heracles and Hippo, daughter of King Thespius of Thespiae.
In Greek mythology, Tigasis was the Thespian son of Heracles and Phyleis, daughter of King Thespius of Thespiae.
In Greek mythology, Antileon was the Thespian son of Heracles and Procris, eldest daughter of King Thespius of Thespiae. He was the twin brother of Hippeus.
Creon may refer to three different characters:
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