Cepheus was a member of the Arcadian royal family, the descendants of
Pelasgos, the first king of
Arcadia.[3] He was usually said to be the son of
Aleus, the king of
Tegea in Arcadia.[4] According to Apollodorus, Aleus had, by
Neaera the daughter of
Pereus, a daughter
Auge and two sons Cepheus and
Lycurgus.[5] While according to the mythographer
Hyginus, Cepheus (the Argonaut) was the son of Aleus and
Cleobule.[6] A different tradition perhaps made Cepheus a son of Lycurgus rather than Aleus.[7]
In addition, the Argonaut
Amphidamas was said to be another brother of Chepheus and son of Aleus,[8] while according to the geographer
Pausanias, Aleus had three sons, Lycurgus, Amphidamas and Cepheus,[9] however Apollodorus has Amphidamas as the son of Lycurgus.[10] According to the historian
Diodorus Siculus, Aleus also had a daughter named
Alcidice.[11]
Cepheus had twenty sons,[12] one of whom was named
Aeropus.[13] He also had a daughter
Sterope, who figured in the story of Cepheus' participation in the war against
Hippocoon.[14] Pausanias also mentions two other daughters of Cepheus,
Aerope, who died giving birth to a son of the god
Ares,[15] and
Antinoe.[16]
Mythology
In his youth, Cepheus joined
Jason and the
Argonauts in their quest for the
Golden Fleece.[17] He was joined by his brother
Amphidamas, and their nephew
Ancaeus, the son of their brother
Lycurgus.[18] He was also perhaps, along with Ancaeus, one of the many heroes who joined
Meleager in hunting the
Calydonian boar, since according to Apollodorus, "Ancaeus and Cepheus, sons of Lycurgus, from Arcadia" were among those who participated in the hunt.[19]
The hero
Heracles sought the help of Cepheus and his twenty sons, in his campaign against
Hippocoon, king of
Sparta. But, according to Apollodorus, Cepheus did not want to leave his kingdom unprotected, fearful that if he did, the Argives would march against Tegea. So Heracles gave Cepheus' daughter Sterope a lock of
Medusa the
Gorgon's hair, which Athena had given him, saying that if it was held up three times from the city walls, any enemy advancing on the city would turn in flight. Thus persuaded, Cepheus and his twenty sons joined Heracles' expedition against Hippocoon. According to Apolodorus, Cepheus and all of his twenty sons were killed in battle, while according to the historian
Diodorus Siculus all were killed except three of the sons.[20]
The city of
Caphyae was believed to have received its name from Cepheus.[21] A Cepheus was said to have brought colonists to the town of
Kyrenia in
Cyprus.[22]
^Hard, pp.
416,
729; Grimal, s.v. Cepheus 1, Tripp, s.v. Cepheus 2, and Parada, s.v. Cepheus 2, all treat these two as the same, while Smith, s.vv.
Cepheus 2,
Cepheus 3, treats them as distinct.
^For a discussion of the Arcadian royal family see Hard, pp. 537–549, in particular, for Cepheus, see p. 547. For genealogical tables containing Cepheus, see Hard, p. 713, Table 20, and Grimal, p.532, Table 9. See also Parada, s.vv. Aleus, Cepheus 2.
^Grimal, s.v. Cepheus 1; Parada, s.v. Cepheus 2; Apollodorus,
1.8.2. Apollodorus mentions "Ancaeus and Cepheus, sons of Lycurgus, from Arcadia" as being among those heroes who participated in the
Calydonian boar hunt, which must represent either a different Cepheus (e.g. Smith,
s.v. Cepheus 3, as distinct from
s.v. Cepheus 2) or a different genealogical tradition (e.g. Parada, s.v. Cepheus 2).
Grimal, Pierre, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Wiley-Blackwell, 1996.
ISBN978-0-631-20102-1.
Hyginus, Gaius Julius, Fabulae in Apollodorus' Library and Hyginus' Fabulae: Two Handbooks of Greek Mythology, Translated, with Introductions by R. Scott Smith and Stephen M. Trzaskoma, Hackett Publishing Company, 2007.
ISBN978-0-87220-821-6.
Hard, Robin, The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology", Psychology Press, 2004,
ISBN9780415186360.
Google Books.
Hill, George, A History of Cyprus, Volume 1, Cambridge University Press, 2010.
ISBN9781108020626.
Parada, Carlos, Genealogical Guide to Greek Mythology, Jonsered, Paul Åströms Förlag, 1993.
ISBN978-91-7081-062-6.