Mopsus (Argonaut)
{{Short description|Son of Ampyx in Greek mythology}}
{{Other uses|Mopsus}}
In Greek mythology, Mopsus (/ˈmɒpsəs/; Ancient Greek: Μόψος, Mopsos), was the Lapith son of Ampyx and a nymph (sometimes named as ChlorisHyginus, Fabulae [https://topostext.org/work/206#14.2 14]; Tzetzes on Lycophron, [https://archive.org/details/lycophronisalexa02lycouoft/page/284/mode/2up 881], [https://archive.org/details/lycophronisalexa02lycouoft/page/308/mode/2up 980]. and sometimes named AregonisArgonautica Orphica 127 ff), born at Titaressa in Thessaly, was also a seer and augur. In Thessaly the place name Mopsion recalled his own.Lane Fox 2008:212. The earliest evidence of him is inscribed on the strap of a soldier's shield, found at Olympia and dated c.600–575 BC.Lane Fox 2008:212.
Mythology
This Mopsus was one of two seers among the Argonauts,The other was Idmon. and was said to understand the language of birds, having learned augury from Apollo. He had competed at the funeral-games for Jason's fatherHe was shown engaged in boxing on the 7th-century ivory Chest of Cypselus, in Pausanias' description (5.17.10). and was among the Lapiths who fought the Centaurs. While fleeing across the Libyan desert from angry sisters of the slain Gorgon Medusa, Mopsus died from the bite of a viper that had grown from a drop of Medusa's blood. Medea was unable to save him, even by magical means. The Argonauts buried him with a monument by the sea, and a temple was later erected on the site.Argonautica 1.65-68 & 1502-1536; also Ovid, Metamorphoses IV 618- 621; Hyginus, Fabulae [https://topostext.org/work/206#14.2 14.2], [https://topostext.org/work/206#14.5 14.5], [https://topostext.org/work/206#128 128] & [https://topostext.org/work/206#173 173]; Tzetzes on Lycophron, [https://archive.org/details/lycophronisalexa02lycouoft/page/308/mode/2up 980].
Ovid places him also at the hunt of the Calydonian Boar, although the hunt occurred after the Argonauts' return and Mopsus' supposed death.Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.316
Notes
References
- Hyginus, Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. [https://topostext.org/work/206 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
- Orphic Argonautica, translated by Jason Colavito. © Copyright 2011. [https://topostext.org/work/549 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
- Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses translated by Brookes More (1859-1942). Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0028 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
- Tzetzes, John, Lycophronis Alexandra. Vol. II: Scholia Continens, edited by Eduard Scheer, Berlin, Weidmann, 1881. [https://archive.org/details/lycophronisalexa02lycouoft/page/n5/mode/2up?view=theater Internet Archive].
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