Polyxenus

This article is about Greek mythology. For the millipede genus, see Polyxenus (millipede).
For the Indo-Greek king, see Polyxenus Epiphanes Soter.

In Greek mythology, Polyxenus or Polyxeinus /pəˈlɪksɪnəs/ (Ancient Greek: Πολύξενος, Poluxenos, or Πολύξεινος, Poluxeinos) is a name that may refer to:

  • Polyxenus, one of the first priests of Demeter and one of the first to learn the secrets of the Eleusinian Mysteries.[1]
  • Polyxenus, son of Agasthenes and Peloris, king of Elis. He was counted among the suitors of Helen,[2] and accordingly participated in the Trojan War, having brought 40 ships with him.[3] He returned home safely after the war, and had a son Amphimachus, whom he possibly named after his friend Amphimachus (son of Cteatus), who had died at Troy.[4] Polyxenus, king of Elis, was said to have been entrusted with the stolen cattle by the Taphians under Pterelaus; the cattle was ransomed from him by Amphitryon.[5] This Polyxenus, however, appears to be a figure distinct from Polyxenus, son of Agasthenes, since he lived two generations before the Trojan War.
  • Polyxenus, also called Medus, son of the hero Jason and the Colchian sorceress Medea,[6] the daughter of King Aeëtes. He was the brother of Eriopis.[7]
  1. ^ Homeric Hymn 2 to Demeter 477
  2. ^ Apollodorus, 3.10.8; Hyginus, Fabulae 81
  3. ^ Homer, Iliad 2.624; Dictys Cretensis, 1.17 & 3.5; Hyginus, Fabulae 97; Dares Phrygius, 14
  4. ^ Pausanias, 5.3.4
  5. ^ Apollodorus, 2.4.6
  6. ^ Pausanias, 2.3.8 with a reference to Hellanicus
  7. ^ Pausanias, 2.3.9