Laius (Crete)
InGreek mythology,Laius(/ˈleɪəs,ˈlaɪəs/L(A)Y-əs;Ancient Greek:Λάϊος,romanized:Láïos) is aCretanman who attempted to steal fromZeus,the king of gods, and was punished for it. He was transformed into bird for attempting to steal from him.
Mythology[edit]
The Cretan Laius and three other men,Cerberus,AegoliusandCeleusentered the sacred cave ofZeusin Crete where the young god had been born and brought up with the aim to steal some of the sacred honey produced there by Zeus's former bee nurses. Zeus thundered and stripped them of their brazen armors. He meant to kill them all, but the goddess of justiceThemisand theFatesadvised Zeus against doing that, saying the cave as a holy place should not have anyone be killed inside it. So Zeus turned them all into birds instead; Laius became ablue thrush(laios).[1][2][3][4]Laius shares a name with a mythicalkingofThebes,the father ofOedipus.[3]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^Antoninus Liberalis,19
- ^Celoria 1992,pp. 20, 224.
- ^abJacobs et al. 1904,p.389.
- ^Smith,s.v.Laius 2
Bibliography[edit]
- Antoninus Liberalis,The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalistranslated by Francis Celoria (Routledge 1992).Online version at the Topos Text Project.
- Celoria, Francis (October 24, 1992).The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis: A Translation with a Commentary'.USA, Canada:Routledge.ISBN0-415-06896-7.
- Jacobs, Joseph; Trübner Nutt, Alfred; Robinson Wright, Arthur; Crooke, William (1904).Folklore.Vol. 15. London, UK: Folklore Society.
- William Smith,ADictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology,London. John Murray: printed by Spottiswoode and Co., New-Street Square and Parliament Street, 1873.
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