Epistrophus is presented in the sources as a member of heroic-age genealogies rather than as a figure with a cultic origin story. One tradition names him son of Iphitus by Hippolyte (or Thrasybule) and brother of Schedius; Apollodorus in another account identifies Epistrophus as father of Schedius. He is enumerated among the leaders associated with the Trojan War generation and appears in lists of suitors of Helen in some compilations. These variant genealogical attributions reflect the divergent strands of epic and mythographic transmission.
The provided sources do not supply a physical description of Epistrophus. He is attested only by name in catalogue passages, genealogical notices, and summaries; one summary notes a representation of Epistrophus in the Lesche at Delphi, but no contemporary narrative passage included here describes his dress, stature, or visual attributes.
No supernatural powers are ascribed to Epistrophus in the cited materials. He is consistently portrayed as a mortal war-leader: counted among the leaders of the Phocians in Homeric catalogues (Iliad references) and listed among suitors of Helen in some enumerations. Narrative notices record his participation in the Trojan War and that he was slain in battle, and later mythographic summaries recount that his remains were carried to Anticyra in Phocis.
Abas
Abas (Ancient Greek: Ἄβας, gen.: Ἄβαντος) is not a single mythic being but a recurring personal name borne by multiple mortals and minor mythic figures in Greek epic and genealogical traditions — kings, founders, seers, warriors, attendants, a centaur, and a youth transformed by a goddess. The name is glossed in the sources as 'guileless' or 'good-hearted' and appears across Argive, Theban, Trojan, Euboean, and other local cycles.
Adrastus
Adrastus (Ancient Greek: Ἄδραστος or Ἄδρηστος) is a legendary king of Argos in the Greek mythic-historical tradition, best known as the leader of the expedition of the Seven against Thebes and as a figure tied to oracular counsel, dynastic marriages, and local hero cults.
Ajax (Aias)
Ajax (Ancient Greek: Aias) is a human heroic figure of the Trojan-cycle tradition and the tragic protagonist of Sophocles' play Ajax. In the surviving tradition he is a mortal Salaminian warrior celebrated for physical strength and martial reputation whose wounded honor, rage, and resulting suicide are the focus of Sophocles' drama.
Ajax the Great
Ajax the Great (Ancient Greek: Αἴας, Aíās) is a mortal heroic figure of the Trojan War cycle, famed as a towering, steadfast Greek champion and defender of the Achaean ships. Prominent in Homer’s Iliad, he is portrayed as second only to Achilles in martial standing and as a paragon of defensive strength and reliability.
Alcinous
Alcinous (Ancient Greek: Ἀλκίνοος, Alkínoos, "mighty mind") is a legendary human king of the Phaeacians in Greek epic tradition. He is portrayed as an ideal hospitable monarch who receives wandering heroes (notably Odysseus and the Argonauts), presides over feasts and games, adjudicates disputes, and provides ships, gifts, and safe passage. Variant genealogies and island-identifications appear across sources, but his role as a beneficent royal host is consistent.
Alcmeonis
A lost early Greek epic poem (Ancient Greek: Ἀλκμεωνίς / Ἀλκμαιωνίς) traditionally counted among the Theban cycle; known only from a small number of fragmentary references, it narrated the story of Alcmaeon’s killing of his mother Eriphyle in vengeance for the death of his father Amphiaraus.
Amphialus (Amphialos)
Amphialus (Ancient Greek: Άμφίαλος, Amphialus/Amphialos, lit. 'of two seas') is a recurring personal name in classical Greek epic, genealogical tradition, and later pastoral/romance literature. The name is applied to several distinct mortal figures — a Phaeacian athlete in the Odyssey, various seafaring companions and suitors in Homeric summaries, a son of Neoptolemus and Andromache in genealogical accounts, and a noble/warrior character in early modern Arcadian romances — rather than to a single supernatural being.
Amphinomus
Amphinomus (Ἀμφίνομος) is a personal name borne by several human figures in Greek tradition, most notably a princely suitor of Penelope in Homer's Odyssey; other bearers appear in local genealogies, a Catanian civic legend, and a later historical record as a geometer. The sources treat Amphinomus as mortal personages rather than a supernatural being.
Andromache
Andromache (Ancient Greek Ἀνδρομάχη) is a human figure of ancient Greek literary tradition: the wife of Hector of Troy who exemplifies virtuous fidelity, ritual mourning, and the losses suffered by women in war. She appears in Homeric epic and later classical sources as grieving spouse, captive concubine after Troy's fall, and later queen in post-war narratives.
Antimachus of Teos
Antimachus of Teos (Greek: Ἀντίμαχος ὁ Τήϊος) is an early Greco-Ionian epic poet cited in later antiquity as the putative author or ascription-anchor for fragmentary Theban-cycle material (notably sometimes the Epigoni). Later authors quote or reference him for sententiae and as a chronological marker; his identity is contested and sometimes conflated with the much later Antimachus of Colophon.
Antiphus
Antiphus (Ancient Greek Ἄντιφος) is a personal name borne by several mortal men in Greek myth and epic traditions rather than a single supernatural being. Multiple figures named Antiphus appear in genealogies and narratives as princes, warriors, companions of heroes, colonists, and victims in the heroic age (generation of Heracles, the Trojan War, and the Odyssey).
Argos
Argos is the loyal hunting dog of Odysseus in Homer's Odyssey, remembered for recognizing his master upon Odysseus's covert return to Ithaca after a twenty-year absence. Presented as a domesticated, neglected animal, Argos functions as a moral and emotional emblem of fidelity and the effects of prolonged absence in the epic.
Community Record
- [1]Epistrophus (mythology) — Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 'Epistrophus (mythology)'wiki
- [2]Epistrophus — Wikidata entry Q14925836. Wikidata entry for Epistrophuswiki
- [3]Achaean Leaders — Greek Mythology Link (catalogues). ACHaean Leaders listing (catalogue summaries)other
- [4]Trojan Leaders — Greek Mythology Link (catalogues). Trojan/Achaean leader lists and scholiaother
- [5]The Iliad: Index BCDE (Homeric catalogue references). Homer, Iliad (catalogue entries cited e.g. Il. 2.517)literary
- [6]Pantheon / Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology — Schedius / Epistrophus notes. Dictionary/Pantheon summary noting variant genealogy, death, and remains carried to Anticyra; representation at Delphiother
- [7]Suitors of Helen — Greek Legends and Myths (list). List of suitors including Epistrophus in summary traditionother