Aratus (mythology)

Aratus (Ancient Greek: Ἄρατος) was in Greek mythology the son of the god Asclepius and the mortal Sicyonian woman Aristodeme. He was half-brother to Aceso, Aegle, Hygieia, Iaso, Meditrina, Panacea, Machaon, Podalirius, and Telesphoros.

Literary evidence of Aratus's parentage largely comes via references from one single author, the geographer Pausanias.[1][2] However, there are other remnants, such as an inscription dating from the second or third century BCE and unearthed in the city of Epidaurus that reads: "[We] set up this dragon, the monstrous father of the hero Aratus, to be guardian of possessions."[3]

It is unclear to what extent Aratus as the son of Asclepius was an existing mythological tradition and to what extent it was a post-hoc mythologizing of Aratus of Sicyon after his death.[4]

  1. ^ Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.10.3, 4.14.8
  2. ^ Ogden, Daniel (2004). "Aristomenes in and out of the underworld". Aristomenes of Messene: Legends of Sparta's Nemesis. Classical Press of Wales. p. 77. ISBN 9781914535017. Retrieved 2023-03-26.
  3. ^ Ogden, Daniel (2013). "The World of the Slain Drakontes". Drakon: Dragon Myth and Serpent Cult in the Greek and Roman Worlds. Oxford University Press. p. 174. ISBN 9780199557325. Retrieved 2023-03-26.
  4. ^ Rigoglioso, M. (2009). The Cult of Divine Birth in Ancient Greece. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 39. ISBN 9780230620919. Retrieved 2023-03-26.