Cepheus

A son of Aleus and Neaera (or Cleobule). He succeeded his father as the ruler of Tegea in Arcadia. Cepheus was the father of twenty sons and two daughters, but nearly all of his sons perished in an expedition they undertook with Heracles. At Tegea there was a sanctuary named Eryma (Defense). According to legend, Cepheus received from Athena a boon, that Tegea should never be captured while time shall endure, adding that the goddess cut off some of the hair of Medusa and gave it to him as a guard to the city.

Cepheus was one of the Argonauts and is the reputed founder of Caphyae, which derives its name from him.

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References

Sources

  • Apollonius Rhodius. Argonautica i, 161.
  • Hyginus. Fabulae, 14.
  • Pausanias. Description of Greece viii, 8.3, 23.3, 47.5.
  • Pseudo-Apollodorus. The Library i, 9.16; ii, 7.3; iii, 9.1.
  • Smith, William. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. London: Taylor, Walton, and Maberly.