Editing Euphemus

{{Short description|Son of Poseidon in Greek mythology}}
{{Other uses|Euphemus (mythology)}}

In [[Greek mythology]], '''Euphemus''' {{IPAc-en|j|uː|ˈ|f|iː|m|ə|s}} ({{langx|grc|Εὔφημος}}, ''Eὔphēmos'', {{IPA|fr|eʊ̯́pʰɛːmos|pron}} "reputable") was counted among the [[Calydonian hunt]]ers<ref>[[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''Fabulae'', 173</ref> and the [[Argonauts]],<ref>Apollodorus, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+1.9.16&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022:book=0:chapter=0&highlight=Euphemus 1.9.16]</ref> and was connected with the legend of the foundation of [[Cyrene, Libya|Cyrene]].<ref name="OCD" /><ref name="JSTOR639485" />  

== Family ==
Euphemus was a son of [[Poseidon]],<ref>Apollodorus, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+1.9.16&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022:book=0:chapter=0&highlight=Euphemus 1.9.16]</ref> granted by his father the power to walk on water.<ref>[[Apollonius Rhodius]], 1.182; Hyginus, ''Fabulae'' 14</ref> His mother is variously named: (1) [[Europa (Greek myth)|Europe]], daughter of the giant [[Tityos]];<ref>Hyginus, ''Fabulae'' 14; [[Pindar]], ''Pythian Ode'' 4.45</ref> (2) [[Doris (Greek myth)|Doris]] (Oris),<ref name=":0" /> (3) [[Mecionice]],<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Megalai Ehoiai]]'' {{abbr|fr.|fragment}} 253 {{harvtxt|Merkelbach|West|1967}} in [[scholia]] on Pindar, ''Pythian Ode'' 4.35; Tzetzes ad [[Lycophron]], 886</ref>  daughter of either [[Eurotas]] or [[Orion (mythology)|Orion]]<ref name=":0">[[Tzetzes]], ''Chiliades'' 2.43</ref> or (4) lastly, [[Macionassa]].<ref>John Lempière, ''[http://www.argonauts-book.com/lempriegraveres-summary.html Argonautae]''</ref> In some accounts he is said to have been married to [[Laonome]], sister of [[Heracles]].<ref>Tzetzes ad Lycophron, 886; Scholia on Pindar, Pythian Ode 4. 76</ref> 

== 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>

==In popular culture==
In the 1963 [[motion picture]] [[Jason and the Argonauts (1963 film)|Jason and the Argonauts]] Euphemus is portrayed by British actor/[[Stunt performer|stuntman]] Doug Robinson. The film relegates him to being only a minor character recognized as being a champion swimmer. In contrast to his mythology, Euphemus is killed by the film's villain [[Acastus]] who betrayed the Argonauts.

== Notes ==
<references/>

== References ==

* [[Apollonius of Rhodes|Apollonius Rhodius]], ''Argonautica'' translated by Robert Cooper Seaton (1853-1915), R. C. Loeb Classical Library Volume 001. London, William Heinemann Ltd, 1912. [https://topostext.org/work/126 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
* Apollonius Rhodius, ''Argonautica''. George W. Mooney. London. Longmans, Green. 1912. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0227 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Gaius Julius Hyginus]], ''Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus'' translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. [https://topostext.org/work/206 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
* [[Herodotus]], ''The Histories'' with an English translation by A. D. Godley. Cambridge. Harvard University Press. 1920. [https://topostext.org/work/22 Online version at the Topos Text Project.] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0125 Greek text available at Perseus Digital Library].
* [[John Tzetzes]], ''Book of Histories,'' Book II-IV translated by Gary Berkowitz from the original Greek of T. Kiessling's edition of 1826.  [http://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades1.html Online version at theio.com]
* [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Description of Greece'' with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+1.1.1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library]
* Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.  [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0159 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Pindar]], ''Odes'' translated by Diane Arnson Svarlien. 1990. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0162%3Abook%3DP. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
* Pindar, ''The Odes of Pindar'' including the Principal Fragments with an Introduction and an English Translation by Sir John Sandys, Litt.D., FBA. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1937. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0161%3Abook%3DP. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Gaius Valerius Flaccus]], ''Argonautica'' translated by Mozley, J H. Loeb Classical Library Volume 286. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1928. [http://www.theoi.com/Text/ValeriusFlaccus1.html Online version at theio.com.]
* Gaius Valerius Flaccus, ''Argonauticon.'' Otto Kramer. Leipzig. Teubner. 1913. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2007.01.0058 Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.]
* [[Argonautica Orphica|''The Orphic Argonautica'']], translated by Jason Colavito. © Copyright 2011. [https://topostext.org/work/549 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]

==Bibliography==
* {{Citation| last1=Merkelbach| first1=R.| last2=West| first2=M.L.| title=Fragmenta Hesiodea| place=Oxford| year=1967| ISBN=0-19-814171-8}}.

[[Category:Argonauts]]
[[Category:Children of Poseidon]]
[[Category:Characters in the Argonautica]]
[[Category:Mythological Boeotians]]