Editing Tros (mythology)

{{Short description|Ruler of Troy in Greek mythology}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Greek
| name = Tros
| image = 
| caption = 
| deity_of = Eponym of [[Troad]]
| abode = Troy
| consort = [[Callirhoe (Greek mythology)|Callirhoe]] or [[Acallaris]]
| parents = (1) Erichthonius and [[Astyoche]]<br>or (2) Ilus I
| siblings = 
| children = Ilus II, [[Assaracus]], [[Ganymede (mythology)|Ganymede]], [[Cleopatra (Greek myth)|Cleopatra]] and [[Cleomestra]]
| successor = [[Ilus (son of Tros)|Ilus II]]
| predecessor = [[Erichthonius of Dardania|Erichthonius]] or [[Ilus (son of Dardanus)|Ilus I]]
| member_of = the [[Dardania (city)|Dardanian]] Royal Family
}}

In [[Greek mythology]], '''Tros''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|t|r|ɒ|s}}; [[Ancient Greek]]: Τρώς, {{IPA|grc|trɔ́ːs|lang|link=yes}}) was the founder of the kingdom of [[Troy]], of which the city of [[Ilios]], founded by his son [[Ilus (son of Tros)|Ilus]] took the same name, and the son of [[Erichthonius of Dardania|Erichthonius]] by [[Astyoche]] (daughter of the river god [[Simoeis]])<ref name=":0">[[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' 20.230; [[John Tzetzes|Tzetzes]] on [[Lycophron]], 29</ref> or of [[Ilus#Ilus (son of Dardanus)|Ilus I]],{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}} from whom he inherited the throne. Tros was the father of three sons: Ilus, [[Assaracus]] and [[Ganymede (mythology)|Ganymede]] and two daughters, [[Cleopatra (Greek myth)|Cleopatra]] and [[Cleomestra]].<ref>[[Dictys Cretensis]], [https://topostext.org/work/152#4.22 4.22]</ref> He is the [[eponym]] of [[Troy]], also named ''Ilion'' for his son Ilus. Tros's wife was said to be [[Callirhoe (mythology)|Callirrhoe]], daughter of the river god [[Scamander]],<ref name=":3">Scholiast ''on Homer's'' Iliad 20.231 who refers to [[Hellanicus of Lesbos|Hellanicus]] as his authority; Tzetzes on Lycophron, 29</ref> or [[Acallaris]], daughter of [[Eumedes]].<ref name=":2">[[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Dionysius_of_Halicarnassus/1C*.html#62.2 ''Antiquitates Romanae'' 1.62.2]</ref>

Another Tros was a Trojan warrior. According to Homer's ''[[Iliad]]'', he is the son of the Lycian [[Alastor]] and he was slain by [[Achilles]].<ref>Homer, ''Iliad'' 20.462</ref>

== Genealogy ==

=== Homer's account ===
The following excerpts from [[Homer]]'s ''[[Iliad]]'' recounts Tros' ancestors and descendants:

: Howbeit, if thou wilt, hear this also, that thou mayest know well my lineage, and many there be that know it: at the first [[Zeus]], the cloud-gatherer, begat [[Dardanus (son of Zeus)|Dardanus]], and he founded [[Dardanians (Trojan)|Dardania]], for not yet was sacred Ilios builded in the plain to be a city of mortal men, but they still dwelt upon the slopes of many-fountained Ida. And Dardanus in turn begat a son, king Erichthonius, who became richest of mortal men. Three thousand steeds had he that pastured in the marsh-land; mares were they. rejoicing in their tender foals. Of these as they grazed the North Wind became enamoured, and he likened himself to a dark-maned stallion and covered them; and they conceived, and bare twelve fillies These, when they bounded over the earth, the giver of grain, would course over the topmost ears of ripened corn and break them not, and whenso they bounded over the broad back of the sea, would course over the topmost breakers of the hoary brine. And Erichthonius begat '''Tros''' to be king among the Trojans, and from Tros again three peerless sons were born, Ilus, and Assaracus, and godlike Ganymedes that was born the fairest of mortal men; wherefore the gods caught him up on high to be cupbearer to Zeus by reason of his beauty, that he might dwell with the immortals. And Ilus again begat a son, peerless [[Laomedon]], and Laomedon begat [[Tithonus]] and [[Priam]] and [[Clytius]], and [[Hicetaon]], scion of [[Ares]]. And Assaracus begat [[Capys]], and he [[Anchises]]; but Anchises begat me and Priam goodly [[Hector]]. This then is the lineage amid the blood wherefrom I avow me sprung.<ref>Homer, ''Iliad'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:20.199-20.241 20.213–241]</ref>

=== Apollodorus' account ===
The ancient author Apollodorus in his book, ''Bibliotheca'', also gives Tros' lineage:

: And he (i.e. Dardanus) had sons born to him, Ilus and Erichthonius, of whom Ilus died childless, and Erichthonius succeeded to the kingdom and marrying Astyoche, daughter of Simoeis, begat '''Tros'''. On succeeding to the kingdom, Tros called the country Troy after himself, and marrying Callirrhoe, daughter of Scamander, he begat a daughter Cleopatra, and sons, Ilus, Assaracus, and Ganymede. This Ganymede, for the sake of his beauty, Zeus caught up on an eagle and appointed him cupbearer of the gods in heaven; and Assaracus had by his wife Hieromneme, daughter of Simoeis, a son Capys; and Capys had by his wife [[Themiste]], daughter of Ilus, a son Anchises, whom [[Aphrodite]] met in love's dalliance, and to whom she bore Aeneas and Lyrus, who died childless.<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:3.12.2 3.12.2]</ref>

=== Dionysius of Halicarnassus  ===
Another writer, named [[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]], wrote a passage about Tros' ancestry that gives us back to Dardanus proving that the Trojan race was indeed of Greek origin.

: But the subject requires that I relate also how Aeneas was descended: this, too, I shall do briefly. Dardanus, after the death of [[Chryse (mythology)|Chrysê]], the daughter of [[Pallas (son of Lycaon)|Pallas]], by whom he had his first sons, married [[Batea (mythology)|Bateia]], the daughter of [[Teucer]], and by her had Erichthonius, who is said to have been the most fortunate of all men, since he inherited both the kingdom of his father and that of his maternal grandfather. Of Erichthonius and Callirrhoê, the daughter of Scamander, was born Tros, from whom the nation has received its name; of '''Tros''' and Acallaris, the daughter of Eumedes, Assaracus; of Assaracus and [[Clytodora]], the daughter of Laomedon, Capys; of Capys and a Naiad nymph, Hieromnemê, Anchises; of Anchises and Aphroditê, Aeneas.<ref name=":1">Dionysius of Halicarnassus, ''Antiquitates Romanae'' 1.62</ref>

== Mythology ==
When [[Zeus]] abducted Ganymedes, Tros grieved for his son. Sympathetic, Zeus sent [[Hermes]] with a pair of fine horses<ref>Homer, ''Iliad'' 5.265 & 20.231; [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], 5.24.5 with a reference to Homer</ref> so swift they could run "over water and standing airs of grain",<ref>Pseudo-Hyginus, ''Fabulae'' 89</ref> "the same that carry the immortals". Hermes also assured Tros that Ganymede was immortal and would be the cupbearer of the gods, a position of great distinction.<ref>''[[Homeric Hymns|Homeric Hymn 5]] to Aphrodite'' 203 ff</ref>

In Homer's ''Iliad'', Book V, 265 the described the horses given by Zeus to Tros as a compensation for his abduction of the youth:

: As for these twain, their swift horses shall not bear both back from us again, even if one or the other escape. And another thing will I tell thee, and do thou lay it to heart. If so be Athene, rich in counsel, shall vouchsafe me this glory, to slay them both, then do thou hold here these swift horses, binding the reins taut to the chariot rim; but be mindful to rush upon the horses of Aeneas and drive them forth from the Trojans to the host of the well-greaved Achaeans. For they are of that stock where from Zeus, whose voice is borne afar, gave to Tros recompense for his son Ganymedes, for that they were the best of all horses that are beneath the dawn and the sun. Of this stock the king of men Anchises stole a breed, putting his mares to them while Laomedon knew naught thereof. And from these a stock of six was born him in his palace; four he kept himself and reared at the stall, and the other two he gave to Aeneas, devisers of rout. Could we but take these twain, we should win us goodly renown.

In variant versions, Ganymede is son of [[Laomedon]] son of [[Ilus]] son of Tros;<ref>[[Cicero]], ''[[Tusculanae Disputationes|Tusculan Disputations]]'' 1.26</ref> however, others call him son of Ilus,<ref>Tzetzes on Lycophron, 34</ref> Erichthonius<ref>[[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''Fabulae'' 271</ref> or Assaracus.<ref>Hyginus, ''Fabulae'' 224</ref>

It was from Tros that the Dardanians were called [[Troy|Trojan]]s and the land named the [[Troad]].

== Family tree ==
{{Trojan race}}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* [[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].
*[[Dictys Cretensis]]'', from The Trojan War.'' ''The Chronicles of Dictys of Crete and [[Dares Phrygius|Dares the Phrygian]]'' translated by Richard McIlwaine Frazer, Jr. (1931-). Indiana University Press. 1966. [https://topostext.org/work/152 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
*[[Dionysius of Halicarnassus|Dionysus of Halicarnassus]], ''Roman Antiquities.'' English translation by Earnest Cary in the Loeb Classical Library, 7 volumes. Harvard University Press, 1937-1950. [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Dionysius_of_Halicarnassus/home.html Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site]
*Dionysius of Halicarnassus, ''Antiquitatum Romanarum quae supersunt'', ''Vol I-IV''. . Karl Jacoby. In Aedibus B.G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1885. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0572 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.]
*[[Homer]], [[Iliad|''The Iliad'']] with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. {{ISBN|978-0674995796|}}. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0134 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
*Homer, ''Homeri Opera'' in five volumes. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 1920. {{ISBN|978-0198145318|}}. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0133 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
*[[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}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tros (Mythology)}}
[[Category:Trojans]]
[[Category:Mythological kings of Troy]]
[[Category:Kings in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Mythological city founders]]
[[Category:Progenitors in Greek mythology]]