Editing Oeneus

{{short description|Ancient Greek mythical king}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Greek
| name = Oeneus
| image = Oineus Staatliche Antikensammlungen 1905.jpg
| alt = 
| caption = Oeneus with coat and [[sceptre]], [[Attica|Attic]] white-ground [[lekythos]], c. 500 BC, [[Staatliche Antikensammlungen]] (Inv. 1905)
| member_of=the Royal House of Calydon
| abode = [[Calydon]] in [[Aetolia]]
| consort = [[Althaea (mythology)|Althaea]]
| parents=[[Porthaon]] and [[Euryte]]
| siblings=[[Agrius]], Alcathous, [[Melas (mythology)|Melas]], [[Leucopeus]] and [[Sterope]], [[Laocoon (mythology)|Laocoon]]
| offspring=[[Meleager]], [[Toxeus]], [[Clymenus]], [[Periphas]], [[Agelaus]], Thyreus, [[Gorge]], [[Eurymede]], [[Mothone]], [[Perimede]], [[Melanippe]], [[Deianira]], [[Tydeus]] 
| predecessor=[[Porthaon]], his father
| successor=[[Agrius]], his brother
| mount = 
}}
In [[Greek mythology]], '''Oeneus''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɛ|n|.|j|uː|s}}; {{langx |grc|Οἰνεύς |Oineús |Wine-man}}<ref>Hard, p. 413.</ref>) was a [[Calydon]]ian king. He introduced wine-making to [[Aetolia]], which he learned from [[Dionysus]] and the first who received a vine-plant from the same god.<ref name=":0">[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+1.8.1&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022:chapter=&highlight=Oeneus 1.8.1]</ref>

== Family ==
Oeneus was the son of King [[Porthaon]] and [[Euryte]], and thus, brother of [[Agrius (son of Porthaon)|Agrius]], [[Alcathous]], [[Melas (mythology)|Melas]], [[Leucopeus]], and [[Sterope]]. He married [[Althaea (mythology)|Althaea]] and became the father of [[Deianira|Deianeira]], [[Meleager]],<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=Oeneus 1.9.16]</ref> [[Toxeus]], [[Clymenus]], [[Periphas]], [[Agelaus]] (or [[Ageleus]]), [[Thyreus (mythology)|Thyreus]] (or [[Phereus]] or [[Pheres]]), [[Gorge (mythology)|Gorge]], [[Eurymede]], [[Melanippe]] and [[Perimede (mythology)|Perimede]]<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+7.4.1&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160:chapter=&highlight=Oeneus 7.4.1]</ref> (although Meleager's and Deianeira's fathers could also have been [[Ares]] and [[Dionysus]]<ref name=":1">[[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''Fabulae'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#129 129]</ref> respectively).<ref>The [[Hesiod]]ic ''[[Catalogue of Women]]'' gives Meleagrus' father as Ares and names Oeneus' children by Althaea as: Pheres, Agelaus, Toxeus, Clymenus, Gorge and Deianeira (''Cat'', fr, 25).</ref><ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+1.8.1&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022:chapter=&highlight=Oeneus 1.8.1]</ref><ref name=":2" /> s''ee [[Meleagrids]]''.

Oeneus was also the father of [[Tydeus]] and possibly [[Melanippus]] or [[Olenias]] by [[Periboea]], daughter of [[Hipponous]], though Tydeus was exiled from Aetolia and appears in myths concerning [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]].<ref>Hyginus, ''Fabulae'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#69 69]</ref> According to [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [[Methone (Greek myth)|Mothone]] was a daughter of Oeneus by a concubine.<ref>Pausanias, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+4.35.1&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160:chapter=&highlight=Oeneus 4.35.1]</ref> In some accounts, Polyxo was called the sister of Meleager and thus, can be counted among the daughters of Oeneus.<ref>[[Scholia]] on [[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' 9.584</ref>


{| class="wikitable"
|+ Comparative table of Oeneus' family
|-
! scope="col" rowspan="2"  | Relation
! scope="col" rowspan="2"  | Names
! scope="col" colspan="10" | Sources
|-
! scope="col" | Sch. ''on Hom.''
! scope="col" | ''Hesiod''
! scope="col" colspan="2" | ''Apollodorus''
! scope="col" colspan="2" | ''Hyginus''
! scope="col" colspan="3" | ''Pausanias''
! scope="col" | ''Antoninus''
|-
| scope="row" rowspan="4" | ''Parents'' || Porthaon and Euryte ||  ||  || colspan="2" | ✓ || colspan="2" |  || colspan="3" | ||
|-
| scope="row" | Parthaon or  || || || colspan="2" | || colspan="2" | ✓ || colspan="3" | ||
|-
| scope="row" | Porthaon or || || ✓ || colspan="2" | || colspan="2" | || colspan="3" | ✓ ||
|-
| scope="row" | Portheus || || || colspan="2" | || colspan="2" | || colspan="3" | || ✓
|-
| scope="row" rowspan="5" | ''Siblings''|| Agrius || || || colspan="2" | ✓ || colspan="2" | ✓ || colspan="3" | ||
|-
| scope="row" | Alcathous || || || colspan="2" | ✓ || colspan="2" | || colspan="3" | ✓ ||
|-
| scope="row" | Melas || || || colspan="2" | ✓ || colspan="2" | || colspan="3" | ||
|-
| scope="row" | Leucopeus || || || colspan="2" | ✓ || colspan="2" | || colspan="3" | ||
|-
| scope="row" | Sterope || || || colspan="2" | ✓ || colspan="2" | || colspan="3" | ||
|-
| scope="row" rowspan="5" | ''Consort'' || Althaea || || ✓ || ✓ || || ✓ || || ✓ || || || ✓
|-
| scope="row" | Periboea || || || || ✓ || || ✓ || || || ||
|-
| scope="row" | Gorge || || || || ✓ || || || || || ||
|-
| scope="row" | ''a concubine'' || || || || || || || || ✓ || ||
|-
| scope="row" | ''unnamed woman'' || || || || || || || || || ✓ ||
|-
| scope="row" rowspan="19" | ''Children'' || Polyxo || ✓ || || || || || || || || ||
|-
| scope="row" | Toxeus || || ✓ || ✓ || || || || || || || ✓
|-
| scope="row" | Pheres or || || ✓ || || || || || || || ||
|-
| scope="row" | Thyreus or || || || ✓ || || || || || || ||
|-
| scope="row" | Phereus || || || || || || || || || || ✓
|-
| scope="row" | Agelaus or || || ✓ || || || || || || || ||
|-
| scope="row" | Ageleos || || || || || || || || || || ✓
|-
| scope="row" | Clymenus || || ✓ || ✓ || || || || || || || ✓
|-
| scope="row" | Periphas || || ✓ || || || || || || || || ✓
|-
| scope="row" | Gorge || || ✓ || ✓ || || || || || || ✓ || ✓
|-
| scope="row" | Deianira || || ✓ || ✓ || || ✓ || || ✓ || || || ✓
|-
| scope="row" | Meleager || || ✓ || ✓ || || ✓ || || ✓ || || || ✓
|-
| scope="row" | Tydeus || || || || || || ✓ || || || ✓ ||
|-
| scope="row" | Melanippus or || || || || || || ✓ || || || ||
|-
| scope="row" | Olenias || || || || ✓ || || || || || ||
|-
| scope="row" | Mothone || || || || || || || || ✓ || ||
|-
| scope="row" | Perimede || || || || || || || || || ✓ ||
|-
| scope="row" | Eurymede || || || || || || || || || || ✓
|-
| scope="row" | Melanippe || || || || || || || || || || ✓
|}

== Mythology ==
Oeneus slew his son Toxeus by his own hand because he leaped over the ditch. In Book VI of the ''[[Iliad]]'', Oeneus once hosted the hero [[Bellerophon]], as described by his grandson [[Diomedes]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Homer |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hom.+Il.+6.215&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134 |title=Iliad |at=6.215}}</ref>

=== Divine visit ===
When Dionysus had come as a guest to Oeneus he fell in love with Althaea and the king realizing this, he voluntarily left the city and pretended to be performing sacred rites. But Dionysus lay with Althaea, who became mother of Dejanira. To Oeneus, because of his generous hospitality, he gave the vine as a gift, and showed him how to plant it, and decreed that its fruit should be called oinos from the name of his host.<ref name=":1" />

=== Calydonian boar hunt ===
{{main|Calydonian boar hunt}}
Since Oeneus had made sacrifices yearly to all the gods during the harvest ceremonies, but had omitted to honor [[Artemis]], in anger she sent a boar of immense size to lay waste the district of Calydon. He sent out his son Meleager who promised that he would go with chosen leaders to attack the Calydonian boar.<ref>[[Diodorus Siculus]], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/4B*.html#34.2 4.34.2-3]; Hyginus, ''Fabulae'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#172 172]</ref> So began the [[Calydonian boar hunt]] during which the boar was killed by [[Atalanta]] and Meleager. However, an argument began as to who should take the boar's skin as a prize: Meleager gave it to Atalanta, but two of his maternal uncles, sons of [[Thestius]], wanted the trophy for themselves, claiming that it belonged to them by the right of birth if Meleager did not want it. Meleager, in rage, killed them, which resulted in a war between the Calydonians and the [[Curetes (tribe)|Curetes]], in which all of Oeneus' sons, including Meleager, fell.<ref name=":2">[[Antoninus Liberalis]], [https://topostext.org/work/216#2 2] as cited in [[Nicander|Nicander's]] ''Metamorphoses''</ref>

=== Aftermath ===
When Hipponoüs of [[Olenus (Achaea)|Olenus]], angered at his daughter Periboea because she claimed that she was with child by Ares, sent her away into Aetolia to Oeneus with orders for him to do away with her at the first opportunity. Oeneus, however, who had recently lost son and wife, was unwilling to slay Periboea, but married her instead and begat a son Tydeus.

The sons of Oeneus' brother [[Agrius]] deposed him but [[Diomedes]], his grandson through Tydeus, put Oeneus back on the Calydonian throne (or the throne passed to [[Andraemon]], husband of Gorge, due to Oeneus' old age). Oeneus either died of natural causes or was killed by the surviving sons of Agrius who laid an ambush against him while Diomedes was transporting him to [[Peloponessus]]. He was buried in [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]] by Diomedes, and a town was named Oenoe after him.<ref>Diodorus Siculus, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/4B*.html#35.1 4.35.1-2]; Pausanias, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+2.25.2&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160:chapter=&highlight=Oeneus 2.25.2]; Hyginus, ''Fabulae'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#175 175]</ref>

==Family tree==
{{Calydonian dynasty}}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

== References ==
{{Commons category}}

* [[Antoninus Liberalis]], ''The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis'' translated by Francis Celoria (Routledge 1992). [https://topostext.org/work/216 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
* [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], ''The Library'' with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0021 Greek text available from the same website].
*[[Diodorus Siculus]], ''The Library of History'' translated by [[Charles Henry Oldfather]]. Twelve volumes. [[Loeb Classical Library]]. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59&ndash;8. [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/home.html Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site]
* Diodorus Siculus, ''Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2''. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888-1890. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0540 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.]
*Hard, Robin, ''The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology"'', Psychology Press, 2004, {{ISBN|9780415186360}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC Google Books].
* [[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. {{ISBN|0-674-99328-4}}. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0160 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library]
*Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.  [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0159 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Princes in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Kings in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Family of Calyce (mythology)]]
[[Category:Mythological Aetolians]]
[[Category:Deeds of Artemis]]
[[Category:Deeds of Zeus]]
[[Category:Mythology of Dionysus]]
[[Category:Mythological people involved in incest]]