Polyxenus

This article is about Greek mythology. For the millipede genus, see Polyxenus (millipede).

For the Indo-Greek king, see Polyxenus Epiphanes Soter.

In Greek mythology, Polyxenus or Polyxeinus /pəˈlɪksɪnəs/ (Ancient Greek: Πολύξενος, Poluxenos, or Πολύξεινος, Poluxeinos) is a name that may refer to:

• Polyxenus, one of the first priests of Demeter and one of the first to learn the secrets of the Eleusinian Mysteries.^[1]
• Polyxenus, son of Agasthenes and Peloris, king of Elis. He was counted among the suitors of Helen,^[2] and accordingly participated in the Trojan War, having brought 40 ships with him.^[3] He returned home safely after the war, and had a son Amphimachus, whom he possibly named after his friend Amphimachus (son of Cteatus), who had died at Troy.^[4]
• Polyxenus, king of Elis, was said to have been entrusted with the stolen cattle by the Taphians under Pterelaus; the cattle was ransomed from him by Amphitryon.^[5] This Polyxenus, however, appears to be a figure distinct from Polyxenus, son of Agasthenes, since he lived two generations before the Trojan War.
• Polyxenus, also called Medus, son of the hero Jason and the Colchian sorceress Medea,^[6] the daughter of King Aeëtes. He was the brother of Eriopis.^[7]

Notes

1. Homeric Hymn 2 to Demeter 477
2. Apollodorus, 3.10.8; Hyginus, Fabulae 81
3. Homer, Iliad 2.624; Dictys Cretensis, 1.17 & 3.5; Hyginus, Fabulae 97; Dares Phrygius, 14
4. Pausanias, 5.3.4
5. Apollodorus, 2.4.6
6. Pausanias, 2.3.8 with a reference to Hellanicus
7. Pausanias, 2.3.9

References

• 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.
• Dares Phrygius, from The Trojan War. The Chronicles of Dictys of Crete and Dares the Phrygian translated by Richard McIlwaine Frazer, Jr. (1931-). Indiana University Press. 1966. Online version at theoi.com
• Dictys Cretensis, from The Trojan War. The Chronicles of Dictys of Crete and Dares the Phrygian translated by Richard McIlwaine Frazer, Jr. (1931-). Indiana University Press. 1966. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
• 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, The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. ISBN 978-0674995796. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Homer, Homeri Opera in five volumes. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 1920. ISBN 978-0198145318. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White. Homeric Hymns. Cambridge, MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
• 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, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. ISBN 0-674-99328-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
• Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.