Actaeus Explained

Type:	Greek
Actaeus
Deity Of:	King of Attica
Other Names:	Actaeon
Abode:	Attica
Parents:	?autochthon
Siblings:	-
Offspring:	Aglaurus
Successor:	Cecrops

In Greek mythology, Actaeus (; Ancient Greek: Ἀκταῖος Ἀktaῖos means "coast-man"^[1]), also called Actaeon,^[2] was the first king of Attica, according to Pausanias.^[3]

Family

Actaeus was the father of Aglaurus, and father-in-law to Cecrops, the first king of the city of Athens. In one account, in addition to Aglaurus, Actaeon fathered Erse, Pandrosus and Phoenike.^[4]

Mythology

According to the Suda, the ancient Greek historian Scamon of Mytilene claimed that Actaeus named the Phoenician letters in honor of his daughter Phoenice, who had died a virgin.

Actaeus was said to have ruled over a city named Acte (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Ἀκτή Akte) or Actica. The location of this city is uncertain, but given that Acte means "coast" or "promontory", one can speculate that this is a culture reference to local or native population groups inhabiting some coastal areas of the Attic promontory, perhaps sharing language, or ethnic ties. This concords with evidence from the archaeological record which attest widespread coastal settlement in the Neolithic period (OED ad. loc. cit. Attica).

One tradition states that Actaeus gave Attica its name before it was changed to Cecropia by Cecrops, others claim that Atthis, a daughter of Cranaos, the second king of Athens, was Attica's namesake. Actaeus had a daughter – Agraulus, who was married to Cecrops, the first king of the city of Athens.^[5] According to the Bibliotheca, on the other hand, Cecrops was the first king of Attica, and the three daughters were his own.^[6]

Paleontology

Actaeus armatus, a Middle Cambrian (~505 MA) arthropod from the Burgess Shale, was named after Actaeus.^[7]

References

• 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. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
• Hard, Robin, The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology", Psychology Press, 2004. . Google Books.
• 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. . Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
• Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Smith, William, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London (1873). Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Suida, Suda Encyclopedia translated by Ross Scaife, David Whitehead, William Hutton, Catharine Roth, Jennifer Benedict, Gregory Hays, Malcolm Heath Sean M. Redmond, Nicholas Fincher, Patrick Rourke, Elizabeth Vandiver, Raphael Finkel, Frederick Williams, Carl Widstrand, Robert Dyer, Joseph L. Rife, Oliver Phillips and many others. Online version at the Topos Text Project.

Notes and References

1. Hard, p. 365.
2. Web site: Interleaved Greek and English text (translation by Gillian Newing). The Parian Marble. Fragment 2. March 7, 2001. https://web.archive.org/web/20131225031833/http://www.ashmolean.museum/ash/faqs/q004/q004008.html. December 25, 2013. January 24, 2019. dead.
3. [Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]
4. [Suda]
5. Smith, s.v. Actaeus
6. [Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]
7. Web site: Actaeus armatus. Burgess Shale Fossil Gallery. Virtual Museum of Canada. (Burgess Shale species 23). https://web.archive.org/web/20230326150506/https://burgess-shale.rom.on.ca/fossils/actaeus-armatus/. March 26, 2023. live.