- Icarius
In
Greek mythology , there were two people named Icarius, or Ikários (and another named Icarus).#One Icarius was the son of
Oebalus andGorgophone and, throughPeriboea , father ofPenelope ,Perileos andIphthime . He was a Spartan king and a champion runner who would not allow anyone to marry his daughter unless he beat him in a race.Odysseus succeeded. He was the brother ofHippocoon andTyndareus . He was apparently still alive at the time of the events of the "Odyssey".
#The other Icarius was from Athens. He was cordial towardsDionysus , who gave his shepherds wine. They became intoxicated and killed Icarius, thinking he had poisoned them. His daughter,Erigone , and her dog,Maera , found his body. Erigone hanged herself over her father's grave, thereby condemning other Athenian virgins to do the same [Kondoleon, C. "Domestic and Divine: Roman Mosaics in the House of Dionysos". Cornell University Press, 1995, p. 177.] Dionysus was angry and punished Athens with a plague, inflicting insanity on all the unmarried women, who all committed suicide. Icarius was placed in the stars as the constellationBoötes . There is a mosaic in Paphos, Cyprus, from a Roman villa from the mid 2nd century a.d. which is called "Dionysus House". The mosaic "First wine drinkers" describes Dionysus giving the gift of vine and wine to Icarius as a reward for Icarius' generous hospitality.References
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