Alipherus Explained
| Type: | Greek |
| Alipherus |
| Deity Of: | Eponymous King of Aliphera |
| Member Of: | the Arcadian Royal Family |
| Abode: | Arcadia |
| Parents: | Lycaon and Cyllene or Nonacris |
| Siblings: | Acacus, Aseatas, Caucon, Ceteus, Charisius, Cleitor, Cromus, Daseatas, Eleuther, Euaemon, Haemon, Helisson, Heraeus, Hypsus, Lebadus, Lycius, Macar, Macedon, Maenalus, Mantineus, Melaeneus, Nyctimus, Oenotrus, Orchomenus, Orestheus, Pallas, Parrhasius, Peraethus, Phigalus, Phthius, Stymphalus, Tegeates, Thesprotus, Thocnus, Thyraeus, Trapezeus, Tricolonus, etc. |
Alipherus or Halipherus (Ancient Greek: Ἀλίφηρος or Ἀλιφήρου) was in Greek mythology, an Arcadian prince as one of the 50 sons of the impious King Lycaon[1] [2] either by the naiad Cyllene,[3] Nonacris[4] or by unknown woman.
Mythology
Alipherus and his siblings were the most nefarious and carefree of all people. To test them, Zeus visited them in the form of a peasant. These brothers mixed the entrails of a child into the god's meal, whereupon the enraged king of the gods threw the meal over the table. Alipherus was killed, along with his brothers and their father, by a lightning bolt of the god.[5]
The town of Aliphera in Greece was traditionally believed to have been founded by this Alipherus, and to have derived its name from him.[6]
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.
- Dionysus of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities. English translation by Earnest Cary in the Loeb Classical Library, 7 volumes. Harvard University Press, 1937-1950. 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. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
- 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.
- Stephanus of Byzantium, Stephani Byzantii Ethnicorum quae supersunt, edited by August Meineike (1790-1870), published 1849. A few entries from this important ancient handbook of place names have been translated by Brady Kiesling. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
Notes and References
- Encyclopedia: 1867. Alipherus. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Little, Brown and Company. Boston. Schmitz. Leonhard. William Smith. 1. 132. Leonhard Schmitz.
- [Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]
- [Dionysius of Halicarnassus]
- Pausanias, 8.17.6
- [Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]
- Pausanias, 8.3.1 & 8.26.4; Stephanus of Byzantium, s.v. Aliphera (Ἀλίφηρα)
