Hunters
The heroes who participated assembled from all over Hellas, according to Homer; Bacchylides called them "the best of the Hellenes".
The table lists:
- Those seen by Pausanias on the Temple of Athena Alea at Tegea.
- Those listed by Latin mythographer Hyginus (Fabulae 30); they include Deucalion, whose connection is unlikely.
- Those noted in Ovid's list from the 8th Book of his Metamorphoses.
| Hero | Pausanias | Hyginus | Ovid | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acastus | √ | "a splendid javelin- thrower" (Ovid, VIII, 306). | ||
| Admetus | √ | √ | the son of Pheres, from Pherae | |
| Alcon | √ | √ | one of three sons of Hippocoon or Ares from Amykles in Thrace | |
| Amphiaraus | √ | √ | the son of Oicles, from Argos; "As yet unruined by his wicked wife", i. e. Eriphyle (Ovid). | |
| Ancaeus | √ | √ | √ | "from Parrhasia" (Ovid), son of Lycurgus, killed by the boar. In Ovid's account Ancaeus wielded a two-headed axe but he was undone by his boastfulness which gave the boar time enough to charge him: Ancaeus was speared on the boar's tusks at the upper part of the groin and guts burst forth from the gashes it had made. |
| Asclepius | √ | son of Apollo | ||
| Atalanta | √ | √ | √ | called Tegeaea ("of Tegea") by Ovid, the daughter of Skoineus, from Arcadia |
| Caeneus | √ | √ | son of Elatus; Ovid notes that Caeneus was "now no longer a woman" (VIII, 305). | |
| Castor and Pollux | √ | √ | √ | the Dioscuri, sons of Zeus and Leda, from Lacedaemon |
| Cepheus, from Arcadia | ||||
| Cteatus | √ | brother of Eurytus, son of Actor. | ||
| Deucalion, son of Minos | √ | |||
| Dryas of Calydon | √ | √ | son of Ares (Hyginus notes him as "son of Iapetus") | |
| Echion | √ | √ | son of Mercurius (Hermes); Ovid says "the first spear ... was launched from Echion's shoulder." (VIII, 345). | |
| Enaesimus | √ | √ | one of three sons of Hippocoon or Ares from Amykles in Thrace | |
| Epochus | √ | |||
| Euphemus | √ | son of Poseidon | ||
| Eurypylus | ||||
| Eurytion | √ | accidentally run through with the javelin of Peleus | ||
| Eurytus | √ | son of Mercurius (Hermes) | ||
| Hippasus, son of Eurytus | √ | √ | ||
| Hippothous | √ | √ | √ | the son of Kerkyon, son of Agamedes, son of Stymphalos |
| Hyleus | √ | killed by the boar | ||
| Iason | √ | √ | Aeson’s son, from Iolkos | |
| Idas | √ | √ | and Lynceus, sons of Aphareus, from Messene | |
| Iolaus | √ | √ | √ | son of Iphicles, nephew of Heracles |
| Iphicles | the twin of Heracles, who took no part, Amphitryon’s mortal son, from Thebes | |||
| Kometes and Prothous | √ | √ | the sons of Thestios, Meleager's uncles | |
| Laertes | √ | son of Arcesius, Odysseus' father | ||
| Lelex | √ | of Naryx in Locria | ||
| Leucippus | √ | √ | one of three sons of Hippocoon or Ares from Amykles in Thrace | |
| Lynceus and Idas | √ | √ | ||
| Meleager | √ | √ | √ | son of Oineus |
| Moliones !the Moliones or Actorides | √ | |||
| Mopsus | √ | √ | son of Ampycus | |
| Nestor | √ | "Still in his prime" Ovid says. | ||
| Panopeus | √ | |||
| Peleus | √ | √ | √ | son of Aiakos, father of Achilles from Phthia |
| Phoenix | √ | √ | son of Amyntor | |
| Phyleus | √ | from Elis | ||
| Pirithous | √ | √ | son of Ixion, from Larissa, the friend of Theseus | |
| Plexippus | √ | √ | brother of Toxeus, slain by Meleager | |
| Polydeuces | √ | √ | √ | |
| Prothous and Kometes | √ | √ | the sons of Thestios, Meleager's uncles | |
| Telamon | √ | √ | √ | son of Aeacus |
| Theseus of Athens | √ | √ | √ | faced another dangerous chthonic creature, the dusky wild Crommyonian Sow, on a separate occasion. Strabo (Geography 8.6.22) reckoned she was the mother of the Calydonian Boar, but there are no hints within the myths to link the two and suggest Strabo might have been right. |
| Toxeus | √ | brother of Plexippus, slain by Meleager |
Read more about this topic: Calydonian Boar
Famous quotes containing the word hunters:
“Back in the days when men were hunters and chestbeaters and women spent their whole lives worrying about pregnancy or dying in childbirth, they often had to be taken against their will. Men complained that women were cold, unresponsive, frigid.... They wanted their women wanton. They wanted their women wild. Now women were finally learning to be wanton and wild—and what happened? The men wilted.”
—Erica Jong (b. 1942)
“Boys and bad hunters had known what to do
With stone and lead to unprotected glass:
Shatter it inward on the unswept floors.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“There is a period in the history of the individual, as of the race, when the hunters are the “best men,” as the Algonquins called them.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)