Alcinous

For other uses, seeAlcinous (disambiguation).

Odysseus at the Court of AlcinousbyFrancesco Hayez.The blind minstrelDemodocusis playing the harp.

InGreek mythology,Alcinous(/ælˈsɪnoʊəs/;Ancient Greek:Ἀλκίνους or ἈλκίνοοςAlkínoösmeans "mighty mind" ) was a son ofNausithousand brother ofRhexenor.After the latter's death,he married his brother's daughterAretewho bore himNausicaa,Halius,ClytoneusandLaodamas.In some accounts, Alcinous' father wasPhaeax,son ofPoseidonandCorcyra,and brother ofLocrus.

Mythology

Argonautica

In the myth ofJasonand theArgonauts,Alcinous is represented as living with his wifeAreteon Drépané island. The Argonauts, on their return fromColchis,came to his island, and were hospitably received. When the Colchians, in their pursuit of the Argonauts, likewise arrived in Drépané, and demanded thatJason's loverMedeashould be delivered up to them, Alcinous declared that if she was still a virgin she should be restored to them, but if she was already the wife of Jason, he would protect her and her husband against the Colchians. The Colchians were obliged, by the contrivance of Arete, to depart without their princess, and the Argonauts continued their voyage homeward, after they had received expensive presents from Alcinous.He was also the King of the Phaeacians.

Odyssey

Demodocossinging toOdysseusand Alcinous, illustration byJohn Flaxman(1810)

According toHomer,Alcinous is the happy ruler of thePhaiaciansin the island ofScheria,who has by Arete five sons and one daughter, Nausicaa.The description of his palace and his dominions, the mode in whichOdysseusis received, the entertainments given to him, and the stories he related to the king about his own wanderings, occupy a considerable portion ofHomer'sOdyssey(from book vi. to xiii.), and form one of its most charming parts.Alcinous has a squire, Pontonous, who serves wine during this feast.

Other accounts

InConon'sNarrations,when Phaiax who reigned on the island of Corcyra died, Alkinous and his brother Lokros, after quarreling agreed upon on the basis that Alcinous would be the king of the Phaeacians and Locrus would take the heirlooms and part of the ethnos to make a colony. The latter sailed toItalywhere he married the Laurine, daughter of KingLatinusof theItaliansand for this reason, the Phaiakians claim the Lokrians in Italy as relatives.

See also

• 11428 Alcinoös,Jovian asteroid named after Alcinous
• Garden of Alcinous

References

• Apollonius Rhodius,Argonauticatranslated by Robert Cooper Seaton (1853–1915), R. C. Loeb Classical Library Volume 001. London: William Heinemann Ltd, 1912.Online version at the Topos Text Project.
• Apollonius Rhodius,Argonautica.George W. Mooney. London: Longmans, Green. 1912.Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Conon,Fifty Narrations, surviving as one-paragraph summaries in the Bibliotheca (Library) of Photius, Patriarch of Constantinopletranslated from the Greek by Brady Kiesling.Online version at the Topos Text Project.
• Gaius Julius Hyginus,Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginustranslated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies.Online version at the Topos Text Project.
• Homer,The Odysseywith an English Translation by A.T. Murray, PH.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919.Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website.
• Pseudo-Apollodorus,The Librarywith 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.Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website.
• The Orphic Argonautica,translated by Jason Colavito. 2011.Online version at the Topos Text Project.

External links

• JC Loudon (1835) on the Garden of Alcinous