Editing Euphemus (section)

== Mythology ==
Euphemus birthplace is given as "the banks of the [[Cephissus (Boeotia)|Cephissus]]" by [[Pindar]]<ref>Pindar, ''Pythia'' 4.46.</ref> or [[Hyria (Boeotia)|Hyria]] in [[Boeotia]] by the ''[[Megalai Ehoiai]]'',<ref name="Hesiod">[[Hesiod]], ''[[Megalai Ehoiai]]'' {{abbr|fr.|fragment}} 253 {{harvtxt|Merkelbach|West|1967}} in [[scholia]] on Pindar, ''Pythian Ode'' 4.35</ref> but his later residence was [[Taenarum]] in [[Laconia]].<ref name="Hyg. 14">[[Apollonius Rhodius]], 1.179; ''Orphic Argonautica'' 205; Hyginus, ''Fabulae'' 14; [[Gaius Valerius Flaccus|Valerius Flaccus]], 1.365</ref> Euphemus joined the voyage of the Argonauts, and served the crew as helmsman.<ref>Pindar, Pythian Ode 4. 22; Tzetzes ad Lycophron, 886</ref> He let a dove fly between the [[Symplegades]] to see if the ship would be able to pass as well.<ref>Apollonius Rhodius, 2.536–562</ref> By a [[Lemnos|Lemnian]] woman ([[Malicha]], [[Malache (mythology)|Malache]], or [[Lamache]]) he became the father of [[Leucophanes]].<ref>Scholia ad Pindar, ''Pythian Ode'' 4.45;  Tzetzes ad Lycophron, 886</ref>

Euphemus was mythologically linked to the Greek colonization of [[Libya]] and foundation of [[Cyrene, Libya|Cyrene]]. In [[Pindar's First Pythian Ode|Pindar's Pythian Ode]] 4, the myth of him as the ancestor of the colonizers is recounted in the form of a prophecy by [[Medea]], and runs as follows. When the Argonauts stop by the lake Tritonis in [[Libya]], they encounter [[Eurypylus of Cyrene|Eurypylus]], a son of Poseidon, who offers them a clod of earth as a sign of hospitality. Euphemus takes the clod with instructions to throw it on the ground beside the entrance to the Underworld at [[Taenarum]] by which his descendants in the fourth generation would then rule over Libya. The clod is accidentally washed overboard and carried to the island [[Thera]], and Libya is colonized from that island by [[Battus I of Cyrene|Battus]] of [[Santorini|Thera]], an alleged distant descendant of Euphemus (by 17 generations), who founds [[Cyrene (city)|Cyrene]].<ref name=OCD>Emily Kearns, "Euphemus", in Simon Hornblower and Anthony Spawforth (editors), ''The Oxford Classical Dictionary'', Oxford University Press 2009.</ref><ref name=JSTOR639485>Judith Maitland, "Poseidon, Walls, and Narrative Complexity in the Homeric Iliad", ''The Classical Quarterly'', New Series, Vol 49, No 1 (1999), pp 1–13 at p 13, {{JSTOR|639485}} accessed 23 November 2011.</ref><ref>[[Herodotus]], ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]]'' 4.150;  Pindar, ''Pythian Ode'' 4.14–56</ref> 

The ''Argonautica'' by Apollonius Rhodius appears to follow a different version of the same myth: in the poem, when the Argonauts arrive near Lake Tritonis, Euphemus accepts the clod of earth from [[Triton (mythology)|Triton]] who first introduces himself as Eurypylus but later reveals his true divine identity.<ref>[[Apollonius Rhodius]], 4.1551–1562</ref> Later, Euphemus has a dream of the clod producing drops of milk and then changing into a woman; in his dream, he has sex with the woman, and at the same time cries over her as if she were nursed by him; she then tells him that she is a daughter of [[Triton (mythology)|Triton]] and [[Libya of Egypt|Libya]] and the nurse of future children of Euphemus, and instructs him to entrust her to the care of the [[Nereids]], promising that she would return in the future to provide a home for Euphemus' children. Euphemus consults Jason about this dream and, following his advice, throws the clod in the sea, whereupon it transforms into the island [[Calliste (mythology)|Calliste]] ([[Santorini|Thera]]). The island is later colonized by the descendants of Euphemus who had previously been expelled from Lemnos and failed to find refuge in [[Sparta]].<ref>Apollonius Rhodius, 4.1731–1764</ref>

Euphemus was portrayed on the chest of [[Cypselus]] as the winner of the chariot race at the funeral games of [[Pelias]].<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], 5.17.9</ref>