Achaeus

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In Greek mythology and history, Achaeus is the name of several individuals.

• The founder of Achaean race. He was a son of Xuthus and Creusa. He fled Thessaly, after the accidental murder of a man, to Peloponnesus. His sons and the inhabitants of the area were called after him. He later returned to Thessaly.
• A king of Lydia who was hanged by his subjects for extortion, according to Ovid.
• Achaeus, a tragic poet of Eretria who wrote forty-five tragedies, some of whose titles are preserved (e.g. Adrastus, Linus, Cycnus, Eumenides, Philoctetes, Pirithous, Theseus, Œdipus, etc.). Only one of these won the prize in competition. He lived some time after Sophocles.
• Achaeus of Syracuse was another tragic poet who wrote ten or fourteen tragedies.
• Achaeus, a relative of Antiochus III the Great who was appointed governor of all the king's provinces beyond Taurus. He aspired to be king and fought with Antiochus for three years. He was at last betrayed by a Cretan. His limbs were cut off, and his body, sewed in the skin of an ass, was exposed on a gibbet (213 BC).
• The son of Seleucus Nicator and the brother of Antiochus Soter. He had two sons, Andromachus, the father of the other Achaeus, and Laodice, the wife of Seleucus II Callinicus.

Other use:

• In the U.S. GameBoy Advance game, "Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones", Princess Tana's pegasus is named Achaeus.

--This article incorporates some material from the public domain 1848 edition of Lempriere's Dictionary.