Linus (mythology)

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Linus (in Greek, Linos) may refer to any of three sons of Apollo from Greek mythology:

• Son of Apollo and Urania, he was killed by Apollo during a contest.

• Son of Apollo and Psamathe, whose father was the King of Argos. She feared her father and gave the infant Linus to shepherds to raise. He was torn apart by dogs after reaching adulthood and Psamathe was killed by her father, for which Apollo sent a child-killing plague to Argos.

• Son of Apollo and Terpsichore, he taught music to Orpheus and Heracles. Heracles killed him with Linus's own lyre after he reprimanded Heracles for making errors. According to other sources, he was the son of the muse Calliope and the inventor of melody and rhythm. [1]

• Other sources have Linus as the son of the muse Urania and Amphimarus (a son of Poseidon). He was killed by Apollo because he rivalled the god in his musical skill. [2]

• Linus may have been the personification of a dirge or lamentation, as there was a classical Greek song genre known as linos, a form of dirge, which was sometimes seen as a lament for Linus. He was therefore described as a son of Apollo by a Muse ,(Calliope, or by Psamathe or Chalciope, Apollod. i. 3, § 2 ; Paus. i. 43. § 7,787-ii 19. § 7 ; Eustath. ad Horn. p. 1164),'or of Amphimarus by Urania (Pans. ix. 29. § 3).