Lycomedes of Scyros
{{Short description|Greek mythical figure, killer of Theseus}}
{{Other uses|Lycomedes (mythology)}}
Image:Achilles Lycomedes Louvre Ma2120.jpg on a panel of an Attic sarcophagus, c. 240 AD. Achilles stands in the middle (without his female disguise), while Lycomedes is the seated figure on the left, and Agamemnon sits on the right.LIMC, [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20I-1/page/n57/mode/2up I.1 p. 57], [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-O%C4%B1ax/page/n163/mode/2up VI.1 p. 299].]]
In Greek mythology, Lycomedes {{IPAc-en|ˌ|l|aɪ|k|ə|ˈ|m|iː|d|iː|z}} ({{langx|grc|Λυκομήδης}}), also known as Lycurgus, was the most prominent king of the Dolopians in the island of Scyros near Euboea during the Trojan War.
Family
Lycomedes was the father of seven daughters including Deidameia, and grandfather of Pyrrhus or Neoptolemus.File:Batoni, Pompeo ~ Achilles at the Court of Lycomedes, 1745, oil on canvas, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.jpg, 1745, oil on canvas, Uffizi, Florence|left|252x252px]]
Mythology
=Death of Theseus=
Plutarch says that Lycomedes killed Theseus, who had fled to his island in exile by pushing him off a cliff for he feared that Theseus would dethrone him, as people of the island treated the guest with marked honor. Some related that the cause of this violence was that Lycomedes would not give up the estates which Theseus had in Scyros, or the circumstance that Lycomedes wanted to gain the favour of Menestheus.Plutarch, Theseus 35.3; Pausanias, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.17.6 1.17.6]; Tzetzes on Lycophron, 1324.
=Achilles=
{{main|Achilles on Skyros}}
At the request of Thetis, Lycomedes concealed Achilles in female disguise among his own daughters. At Lycomedes' court, Achilles had an affair with Deidamia, which resulted in the birth of Neoptolemus (Pyrrhus). As Odysseus drew Achilles out of his disguise and took him to Troy, Neoptolemus stayed with his grandfather until he too was summoned during the later stages of the war.Apollodorus, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:3.13.8 3.13.8].File:Gaziantep Zeugma Museum Achilles mosaic in 2011 2098.jpg from the Poseidon Villa in Zeugma, Commagene (now in the Zeugma Mosaic Museum) depicting Achilles on Skyros disguised as a woman and Odysseus tricking him into revealing himself]]
Namesake
The asteroid 9694 Lycomedes is named for him – being a Jupiter Trojan, a group of asteroids which are by convention named for characters associated with the Trojan War.
Notes
{{Reflist}}
References
- Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus, Lives with an English Translation by Bernadotte Perrin. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. London. William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. 1. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0067 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0075 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}}. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0160 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library]
- Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0159 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
- Pseudo-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}}. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0021 Greek text available from the same website].
External links
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{{Characters in the Iliad}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Kings in Greek mythology