- Anchises
In
Greek mythology , Anchises was a son ofCapys andThemiste (daughter of Ilus, son of Tros) orHieromneme , anaiad . His major claim to fame in Greek mythology is that he was a mortal lover of the goddessAphrodite . One version is that Aphrodite pretended to be aPhrygian princess and seduced him for nearly two weeks of lovemaking. Anchises learned that his lover was a goddess only nine months later, when she revealed herself and presented him with the infantAeneas .Anchises was a prince from
Dardania , a territory neighbouringTroy . He had a mortal wife namedEriopis , according to the scholiasts, and he is credited with other children beside Aeneas.Homer , in theIliad , mentions a daughter namedHippodameia , their eldest ("the darling of her father and mother"), who married her cousinAlcathous .Anchises bred his mares with the divine stallions owned by King
Laomedon . However, he made the mistake of bragging about his liaison with Aphrodite, and as a resultZeus , the king of the gods, hit him with a thunderbolt which left him lame.After the defeat of Troy in the
Trojan War , the elderly Anchises was carried from the burning city by his son Aeneas, accompanied by Aeneas' wifeCreusa , who died in the escape attempt, and small sonAscanius (the subject is depicted in several paintings, including a famous version byFederico Barocci in theGalleria Borghese inRome ). Anchises himself died and was buried inSicily many years later. Aeneas later visitedHades and saw his father again in the Elysian Fields. Homer's "Iliad" mentions another Anchises, a wealthy native ofSicyon in Greece and father ofEchepolus .ee also
*
Achish - a royal name or title in theBible , perhaps a cognate of Anchises.
*Julius Caesar and other prominent Romans claimed to be descended fromVenus (the Roman equivalent of Aphrodite) and Anchises.References
*
Homer . "Iliad " II, 819-21; V, 260-73; XX, 215-40.
*Virgil . "Aeneid ".
*Apollodorus . "Bibliotheke " III, xii, 2.
*Apollodorus . "Epitome " V, 21.
*Ovid . "Metamorphoses" XIII, 623-42; XIV, 82-119.
* Rose, H.J. (1924). Anchises and Aphrodite. The Classical Quarterly, Vol. 18, No. 1. (Jan., 1924), pp. 11-16.
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