Argynnus

 ( Mythological Boeotians ) 

In Greek mythology, Argynnus () is a young and handsome boy from Boeotia.Graf, para. 1. He is said to have been a lover of the Greek king Agamemnon, and to have later died in the Cephissus river. Agamemnon subsequently establishes the worship of Aphrodite under the epithet "Argennis".

His story is told by the Greek elegaic poet Phanocles, as well as by Athenaeus and the Roman poet Propertius. According to the Byzantine author Stephanus of Byzantium, he is the son of Pisidice, while Likymnios of Chios considered him the lover of the god Hymenaeus.

---

Mythology According to the elegaic poet Phanocles, while Agamemnon is in the town of Aulis, he becomes enamoured of Argynnus. His love for the boy causes him to forget his troops. The boy later dies from drowning in the Cephissus river, leading Agamemnon to start a cult to Aphrodite Argennis.Graf, para. 1.

The Greek grammarian and rhetorician Athenaeus (2nd to 3rd century AD) tells a similar tale, of how Agamemnon mourned the loss of Argynnus, his friend or lover, when he drowned in the Cephisus river. He buried him, honored with a tomb and a shrine to Aphrodite Argynnus. The Deipnosophists of Athenaeus of Naucratis, Book XIII Concerning Women, 80D (p. 603)

The Roman elegaic poet Propertius tells of "Agamemnon's woe" at the loss of the young man, who he calls a descendant of Athamas. He also states that Agamemnon does not set sail, ultimately leading to the sacrifice of his daughter, Iphigenia.Goold, p. 245.

This episode is also found in Clement of Alexandria.Clement of Alexandria, Protrepticus II.38.2

According to the Byzantine grammarian Stephanus of Byzantium (fl. 6th century AD), Argynnus is a prince from Boeotia, one of the sons of the queen Pisidice, placing him as a descendant of Athamas, and ultimately of Aeolus. He briefly recounts the story of his death.Stephanus of Byzantium, Ethnica, A114.8

According to Athenaeus, Likymnios of Chios, in his Dithyrambics, says that Argynnus was a lover of the god Hymenaeus.Athenaeus, Deipnosophists, 13.80

---

Notes

• Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae or Banquet of the Learned. London. Henry G. Bohn, York Street, Covent Garden. 1854. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Athenaeus of Naucratis, Deipnosophistae. Kaibel. In Aedibus B.G. Teubneri. Lipsiae. 1887. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Goold, G. P., Propertius. Elegies, Loeb Classical Library No. 18, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1990. . Loeb Classical Library.
• Graf, Fritz, "Argynnus", in Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World. Antiquity, Volume 1, A – Ari, edited by Hubert Cancik and Helmuth Schneider, Brill, 2002. .
• Stephanus of Byzantium, Stephani Byzantii Ethnicorum quae supersunt, edited by August Meineike (1790-1870), published 1849. A few entries from this important ancient handbook of place names have been translated by Brady Kiesling. Online version at the Topos Text Project.

Post Comment