Battus (mythology)

{{Short description|Greek mythological figure}}

Battus (means "tongue-tied"{{Cite book|title=The Greek Myths|url=https://archive.org/details/greekmythsvolume00robe|url-access=registration|last=Graves|first=Robert|publisher=Penguin Books|year=1960|isbn=978-0143106715|location=Harmondsworth, London, England|pages=s.v. Aristaeus}}) was a figure in Greek mythology who witnessed Hermes stealing Apollo's cattle in Maenalus in Arcadia.

File:Ovide - Métamorphoses - I - Mercure métamorphose en pierre de touche le berger Battus.jpg

Hermes gave him a heifer on condition Battus kept the theft secret. On returning in disguise, Hermes offered to reward Battus if he would tell him the location of the cattle; Battus did so, and for his greed was punished by being turned into stone.{{cite book |title= Who's Who in Classical Mythology |author= Michael Grant, John Hazel |edition= revised |publisher= Routledge |year= 2004 |isbn= 9781134509430 |page= 97}}{{cite book |title= The Penguin Dictionary of Classical Mythology |author= Pierre Grimal |publisher= Penguin Books |year= 1991 |page= 72}}