Ancaeus (son of Lycurgus)

For other uses, see Ancaeus.

The fallen warrior on Roman sarcophagi of the Calydonian boar hunt is often identified as Ancaeus. This specimen dates to the 2nd century, and is housed at the Archaeological Museum of Eleusis, Greece.

In Greek mythology, Ancaeus (/ænˈsiːəs/; Ancient Greek: Ἀγκαῖος, romanized: Ankaîos, lit. 'curved', 'bent' or 'holding in the arms') was both an Argonaut and a participant in the Calydonian Boar hunt, in which he met his end.

Family

Ancaeus was the son of King Lycurgus of Arcadia either by Cleophyle or Eurynome or Antinoe. Ancaeus married Iotis and became the father of Agapenor who led the Arcadian forces during the Trojan War.

Mythology

Ancaeus' arms were ominously hidden at home, but he set forth, dressed in a bearskin and armed only with a labrys (λάβρυς "doubled-bladed axe").

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.
• 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. ISBN 0-674-99328-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
• Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Woodford, Susan (1992). "Meleagros". Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC). Vol. VI.1: Kentauroi et Kentaurides – Oiax. Zürich and Munich: Artemis Verlag. ISBN 3760887511. Internet Archive.