Celtus Explained

In Greek mythology, Celtus (; Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Κέλτος Keltos) may refer to three various figures:

• Celtus, the eponymous progenitor of the Celts.^[1] There are two alternative traditions. One, found in Appian's Illyrian Wars,^[2] holds that Celtus was the son of Polyphemos and Galatea and the brother of Illyrius and Galas.^[3] The other, found in the Erotica Pathemata ("Sorrows of Love") by the 1st-century grammarian Parthenius of Nicaea,^[4] and also known from the medieval Etymologicum Magnum,^[5] has Celtus as the son of Heracles and Celtine.^[6]
• Celtus, son of Periboea and Meges, a rich man son of Dymas. He was killed by Neoptolemus.^[7]
• Celtus, one of the Suitors of Penelope who came from Zacynthus along with other 43 wooers.^[8] He, with the other suitors, was slain by Odysseus with the help of Eumaeus, Philoetius, and Telemachus.^[9]

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.
• Parthenius, Love Romances translated by Sir Stephen Gaselee (1882-1943), S. Loeb Classical Library Volume 69. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. 1916. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
• Parthenius, Erotici Scriptores Graeci, Vol. 1. Rudolf Hercher. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1858. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy translated by Way. A. S. Loeb Classical Library Volume 19. London: William Heinemann, 1913. Online version at theio.com
• Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy. Arthur S. Way. London: William Heinemann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1913. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.

Notes and References

1. Irad Malkin The Returns of Odysseus: Colonization and Ethnicity 1998 0520920260 p. 248 "Braccesi suggests that Diomedes was therefore the 'archegetes [founding leader] of the Gauls' ... It has also been suggested that the aitiological-eponymic tale of the Cyclops Polyphemos and Galatea, parents of Keltos (Celts, ...)"
2. [Appian]
3. The Gentleman's Magazine, and Historical Chronicle 1832
4. [Parthenius of Nicaea|Parthenius]
5. Etymologicum Magnum 502.45 under Keltoi
6. Ebenezer Cobham Brewer, Wordsworth Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, p. 230
7. [Quintus Smyrnaeus]
8. [Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]
9. Apollodorus, Epitome 7.33