Eurytus and Cteatus

For other uses, see Eurytus.

"Cteatus" redirects here. For the genus of beetle, see Kteatus.

In Greek mythology, Eurytus (/ˈjʊərɪtəs/; Ancient Greek: Εὔρυτος) and Cteatus (/ˈtiːətəs/; Κτέατος) were twin brothers.

Family

Their mother was Molione, that's why they were called Moliones (Μολίονες) or Molionidae (Μολιονίδαι).

They were the sons of either Actor (whence they were also called Actoridae) or Poseidon and nephew of Augeas. Eurytus and Cteatus married the twin daughters of Dexamenus, Theraephone and Theronice, respectively.[1] Their respective sons, Thalpius and Amphimachus, were counted among the Achaean leaders in the Trojan War.[2]

Greek rhetorician and grammar Athenaeus of Naucratis, in his work Deipnosophistae, Book II, cited that poet Ibycus, in his Melodies, described twins Eurytus and Cteatus as "λευκίππους κόρους" ("white-horsed youths") and said they were born from a silver egg,[3] - a story that recalls the myth of Greek divine twins Castor and Pollux and their mother Leda.[4]

Mythology

Greek legend maintains that the brothers were born conjoined with only one body but two heads, four arms and four legs,[5] though Homer makes no mention of this.

Both brothers went on expeditions of war to the Neleus and the Pylians, and later led an army marching against their uncle Augeas at the behest of Heracles. However after the latter made peace, the brothers attacked Heracles and were subsequently killed by him outside Cleonae.[6][7]

See also

• Naming citation for Jovian asteroid 7641 Cteatus

Notes

1. Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio 5.3.3–4
2. Homer, Iliad 2.615
3. Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 2.50
4. Wilkinson, Claire Louise. The Lyric of Ibycus: Introduction, Text and Commentary. Sozomena 13. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2013. pp. 209-213.
5. Hesiod, Ehoiai fr. 17(a)–18
6. Apollodorus, 2.7.2
7. Smith (1846). Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. Taylor, Walton, Maberly. p. 1111.

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.
• Athenaeus of Naucratis, The Deipnosophists or Banquet of the Learned. London. Henry G. Bohn, York Street, Covent Garden. 1854. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Athenaeus of Naucratis, Deipnosophistae. Kaibel. In Aedibus B.G. Teubneri. Lipsiae. 1887. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• 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.
• Hesiod, Catalogue of Women from Homeric Hymns, Epic Cycle, Homerica translated by Evelyn-White, H G. Loeb Classical Library Volume 57. London: William Heinemann, 1914. Online version at theio.com
• Homer, Homeri Opera in five volumes. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 1920. ISBN 978-0198145318. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• 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.