In Greek mythology, Mecisteus (/məˈsɪsˌt(j)uːs/; Ancient Greek: Μηκιστεύς Mēkisteús) may refer to the following personages:
- Mecisteus, an Arcadian prince as one of the 50 sons of the impious King Lycaon either by the naiad Cyllene,[1] Nonacris[2] or by unknown woman. He and his brothers were the most nefarious and carefree of all people. To test them, Zeus visited them in the form of a peasant. These brothers mixed the entrails of a child into the god's meal, whereupon the enraged Zeus threw the meal over the table. Mecisteus was killed, along with his brothers and their father, by a lightning bolt of the god.[3]
- Mecisteus, one of the Seven Against Thebes who attacked the city. He was the son of Talaus and Lysimache.[4]
- Mecisteus, an Achaean warrior who participated in the Trojan War. He was the son of Echius,[5] another Greek soldier during the siege of Troy. Together with the Pylian Alastor, Mecisteus carried the wounded Teucer off the battle-field,[6] as they later did with Hypsenor.[7] Ultimately, Mecisteus was killed by the Trojan Polydamas.[8]
- Mecisteus, one of the Suitors of Penelope who came from Dulichium along with other 56 wooers.[9] He, with the other suitors, was killed by Odysseus with the help of Eumaeus, Philoetius, and Telemachus.[10]
- ^ Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Antiquitates Romanae 1.13.1
- ^ Pausanias, 8.17.6
- ^ Apollodorus, 3.8.1
- ^ Apollodorus, 1.9.13, 1.9.16 & 3.6.3
- ^ Homer, Iliad 8.333, 13.422
- ^ Homer, Iliad 8.333
- ^ Homer, Iliad 13.422
- ^ Homer, Iliad 15.33
- ^ Apollodorus, Epitome 7.26–27
- ^ Apollodorus, Epitome 7.33