Editing Anius (section)

== Mythology ==
Anius was born either on the island of Delos, which was sacred to his father Apollo, or on [[Euboea]], after the box in which his mother had been placed by Staphylus when he had discovered her pregnancy was washed ashore there. Rhoeo then, placing the baby on Apollo's altar, asked the god to care for it, if it was his.<ref name="tripp">Tripp, Edward. ''The Meridian Handbook of Classical Mythology.'' Meridian, 1970, [https://archive.org/details/meridianhandbook00trip/page/52/mode/2up?view=theater p. 52].</ref> Rhoeo then married [[Zarex]], who thus became the legal father of Anius. Apollo cared for the child Anius for a long time, teaching him the arts of divination and prophecy. Anius later became Apollo's priest and the king of Delos.<ref>[[Diodorus Siculus]], 5.62</ref><ref>[[Tzetzes]] on [[Lycophron]], 570 & 580</ref>

Anius had three daughters: Oeno, Spermo, and Elais, known as the [[Oenotropae]]; and three sons, Andros, Mykonos, and Thasos. Their mother was Dorippe, a [[Thracia]]n woman ransomed by Anius for the price of a horse from the pirates who had kidnapped her.<ref>''[[Etymologicum Magnum]]'' 293. 39, ed. by [[Friedrich Sylburg]], p. 266 (under Δωρίππη)</ref> [[Dionysus]] gave the three daughters the power to change whatever they wanted into [[wine]], [[wheat]], and [[Vegetable oil|oil]].<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [[Epitome]] 3.10</ref> When the Greeks landed on Delos while on their way to [[Troy]], Anius prophesied that the [[Trojan War]] would not be won until the tenth year, and insisted that they stay with him for nine years, promising that his daughters would supply them with aliments during that period. When [[Agamemnon]] heard this, he wanted to take the Oenotropae with him by force, to provide his army with food and wine. They prayed to Dionysus, who changed them into doves.<ref>[[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' 13.631–640, where they are said to have actually been carried off by Agamemnon and to have escaped, before their transformation took place</ref><ref>[[Maurus Servius Honoratus|Servius]], ''Commentary on [[Virgil|Virgil's]] [[Aeneid]]'' 3.80</ref>

Of Anius's three sons, Andros and Mykonos became [[eponym]]s of the islands of [[Andros]] and [[Mykonos]] respectively.<ref>[[Stephanus of Byzantium]], s.v. ''Andros'', ''Mykonos''</ref> As for Thasos, he was devoured by dogs, and since then it was prohibited to keep dogs on Delos.<ref>Ovid, ''[[Ibis (Ovid)|Ibis]]'' 477</ref><ref>[[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''Fabulae'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#247 247], where he is called "Thasius"</ref>

Later, Anius, an old friend of [[Anchises]], gave aid to him, his son [[Aeneas]], and his retinue when they were fleeing from [[Troy]] and en route to the future site of [[Rome]].<ref>Virgil, ''Aeneid'' 3.80–83, with Servius' commentary</ref><ref>Ovid, ''Metamorphoses'' 13.622 ff</ref> According to a rare version of the myth, Aeneas married Anius's daughter Lavinia (or Launa), who, like her father, had prophetic abilities and bore Aeneas a son, who was also named Anius.<ref>[[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]], ''Antiquitates Romanae'' 1.59</ref><ref>[[Aurelius Victor]], ''[[Origo Gentis Romanae]]'' 9</ref>