Polydorus Explained

In Greek mythology, Polydorus (; Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Πολύδωρος, i.e. "many-gift[ed]") or Polydoros referred to several different people.

• Polydorus, son of Phineus and Cleopatra, and brother of Polydector (Polydectus).^[1] These two sons by his first wife were blinded by Phineus because of the instigation of their stepmother, Idaea, who accused them of corrupting her virtue.
• Prince Polydorus, son of the King Cadmus and goddess Harmonia, fathered Labdacus by his wife Nycteis.^[2]
• Polydorus, an Argive, son of Hippomedon and Euanippe, daughter of Elatus.^[3] Pausanias lists him as one of the Epigoni, who attacked Thebes in retaliation for the deaths of their fathers, the Seven against Thebes, who died attempting the same thing.^[4]
• Prince Polydorus, a Trojan, was King Priam's youngest son.^[5]
• Polydorus, a Ceteian warrior who participated in the Trojan War. During the siege of Troy, he was killed by Odysseus using his sword along with Aenus, another Ceteian.^[6] (Ceteius is called a stream in Asia Minor).
• Polydorus (son of Astyanax)^[7]
• Polydorus, one of the suitors of Penelope who came from Zacynthus along with other 43 wooers.^[8] He, with the other suitors, was shot dead by Odysseus with the assistance of Eumaeus, Philoetius, and Telemachus.^[9]

In history, Polydorus was:

• Polydorus of Sparta (reigned from c. 741 to c. 665 BC)
• Polydorus, tyrant of Pherae, ruled briefly in 370 BC

In art, Polydorus was:

• One of the three Rhodian sculptors who created the sculpture Laocoön and His Sons and signed the Sperlonga sculptures

See also

• Polydora

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.
• Gaius Julius Hyginus, Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
• 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.
• 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.
• William Smith. A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology vs .Polydorus-1, Polydorus-2 & Polydorus-3. London. John Murray: printed by Spottiswoode and Co., New-Street Square and Parliament Street. 1849.

Notes and References

1. [Scholia]
2. [Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]
3. [Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]
4. Hyginus, Fabulae 71; Pausanias, 2.20.5
5. Homer, and Stanley Lombardo. Iliad. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub., 1997:399.
6. [Quintus Smyrnaeus]
7. https://books.google.com/books?id=JghSwDMI-9MC&dq=priam+Astyanax+Charlemagne&pg=PA156 Google Books - Lineage of the Saints
8. Apollodorus, Epitome 7.29
9. Apollodorus, Epitome 7.33