Heraeus

Heraeus is presented in Greek genealogical tradition as one of the fifty sons of the Arcadian king Lycaon. Variant accounts give his mother as the naiad Cyllene, Nonacris, or an unnamed woman, reflecting common variation in ancient lists. In these traditions Heraeus is credited with founding the Arcadian town of Heraea (said in one source to have originally been called Sologorgus), serving the civic function of an eponymous ancestor that links a place-name to a mythic lineage (sources: Heraeus (mythology); Heraea (Arcadia); Lycaon lists).

Classical and modern summary sources do not provide any physical description of Heraeus. He is treated as a genealogical and princely founder-figure in local Arcadian lists rather than as a character depicted with distinctive physical attributes or iconography (sources: Heraeus (mythology); Heraea (Arcadia); Lycaon lists).

No supernatural powers, cultic functions, or mythic exploits are recorded for Heraeus in the cited materials. His attributed action is civic/foundational: being named as the founder and eponym of the town Heraea. He otherwise appears only within genealogical contexts as an ancestral son of Lycaon (sources: Heraeus (mythology); Heraea (Arcadia); Lycaon lists).