Lycus

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Lycus or Lykos may refer to:

• Lycus or Lykos, several people in Greek mythology:
  • Lycus (son of Ares), a Libyan king in Greek mythology who sacrificed strangers to his father. He was the father of Callirhoê, who was a lover of Diomedes.
  • Lycus (brother of Nycteus) in Greek mythology, Lycus was uncle to Antiope whom Zeus impregnated. She fled in shame to King Epopeus of Sicyon and abandoned her children, Amphion and Zethus. They were exposed on Mount Cithaeron, but were found and brought up by a shepherd. Nycteus, unable to retrieve his daughter, sent his brother Lycus to take her. He did so and gave her as a slave to his own wife, Dirce.
  • Lycus (Descendant of Lycus). Lycus is a descendant of Lycus (brother of Nycteus)
  • Son of Poseidon and Celaeno, brother of Eurypylus. The two brothers ruled over the Fortunate Islands.
  • Son of Prometheus and Celaeno, brother of Chimaerus. The brothers are said to have had tombs in the Troad; they are otherwise unknown.
  • Son of Dascylus of Mysia or Mariandyne. He was hospitable towards the Argonauts and Heracles, who conquered the land of the Bebryces (Heraclea Pontica).
  • Son of Hyrieus. He became the guardian of Labdacus and Laius. He is probably the same as Lycus, brother of Nycteus.
  • One of the four sons of Pandion II. Upon the death of Pandion, Lycus and his brothers (Aegeus, Nisus, and Pallas) took control of Athens from Metion, who had seized the throne from Pandion. They divided the government in four but Aegeas became king. He gave his name to the Lycians of Asia Minor, hitherto known as Milyans.

• Lycus or Lykos (Greek: Λύκος)^[1], several rivers in ancient geography:
  • Lycus, also called Zabatus or Zaba, a river of Assyria, a tributary of the Tigris, now called the Great Zab, located in modern-day Turkey and Iraq.
  • Lycus (river of Bithynia), in Bithynia that flows into the Black Sea (Pontus Euxinus) near Heraclea Pontica.
  • Lycus (river of Cyprus), in Cyprus that flows into the Mediterranean Sea at Kourion.
  • Lycus (river of Cilicia), in Cilicia that flows from the Pyramus to the Pinarus.
  • Lycus (river of Cilicia Campestris), also called Chersus, in Cilicia Campestris that flows into the Issucus Sinus near Issus.
  • Lycus (river of Colchis), in Colchis, formed by the junction of the Apsarus and Glaucus rivers.
  • Lycus (river of Lydia), in Lydia that is a tributary of the Hyllus river.
  • Lycus (river of Phoenicia), in Phoenicia that flows into the Mediterranean near Beirut (Berytus), now called the Dog River in modern-day Lebanon (Nahr-el-kalb in Arabic).
  • Lycus (river of Phrygia), in Phrygia and Lycia that falls into the Maeander near Tripolis.
  • Lycus (river of Pontus), in Pontus that falls into the Black Sea near Amisus.
  • Lycus (river of Sarmatia Asiatica), in Sarmatia Asiatica that is a tributary of the Tanais river.
  • Lycus (river of Sarmatia), in Sarmatia that falls into the Sea of Azov (Palus Mæotis), now called the Kalmius river.
  • Lycus (river of Constantinople), running through ancient Constantinople (modern Istanbul), partly underground.

[edit] Notes

1. ^ The name seems to have originated in the impression made upon the mind of the beholder by a torrent rushing down the side of a hill, which suggested the idea of a wolf (Greek: Lykos) rushing at its prey.

[edit] References

• Hazlitt, Classical Gazetteer, "Lycus"