Clytoneus

Two distinct attestations appear in the source corpus. In one genealogical strand Clytoneus (also given in one source as Clytius) is presented as a son of Naubolus of Argos and the father of Nauplius II, making him an ancestor in the Argonautic/Trojan-cycle genealogical network that leads to Palamedes (modern reference works and genealogical summaries list this lineage). In Homeric epic Clytoneus appears as a Phaeacian prince, a son of King Alcinous and Queen Arete of Scheria (Corcyra), brother to Nausicaa, Halius (Halios) and Laodamas; in the Odyssey he appears as one of the young nobles who take part in the athletic contests staged in honour of Odysseus (Odyssey, Book 8). These attestations position the name within aristocratic kinship, heroic ancestry, and the ritualized hospitality and competitive culture of Homeric courts.

The extant sources provide no physical or supernatural description of Clytoneus. Homeric narrative lists him among the sons of Alcinous who run in the foot-race and notes their collective action (raising dust on the plain) but supplies no details of height, hair, clothing, or other bodily features. The genealogical references likewise treat him as a named ancestor without descriptive portraiture.

No supernatural powers are ascribed in the sources. The Phaeacian Clytoneus is attested as athletically competent: he competes in the foot-race and, together with his brother(s), is reported as a winner in the games held for Odysseus (Odyssey, Book 8). The Argive-line Clytoneus functions as a genealogical progenitor—father of Nauplius II—thus linking him to a lineage associated with seafaring; the name itself is glossed as 'famed for ships,' which situates social identity rather than magical ability. Modern artistic adaptations sometimes expand his actions (for example, an operatic scene where he returns bearing arrows), but these are creative elaborations rather than traditional attributions.