Orchomenus, an
Arcadian prince as one of the 50 sons of the impious King
Lycaon[1] either by the
naiadCyllene,[2]Nonacris[3] or by an unknown woman. He was the founder and
eponym of
Orchomenus (Arcadia), as well as founder of
Methydrium.[4] One account called him father of
Arcas.[5] Orchomenus and his siblings were the most nefarious and carefree of all people. To test them,
Zeus visited them in the form of a peasant. These brothers mixed the entrails of a child into the god's meal, whereupon the enraged king of the gods threw the meal over the table. Orchomenus was killed, along with his brothers and their father, by a lightning bolt of the god.[6]
Orchomenus, son of
Zeus and the
DanaidIsonoe (Isione[8]). He was the husband of
Hermippe and legal father of
Minyas[9] whose biological father was
Poseidon.[10] In some accounts, Orchomenus was regarded as the son of Zeus and Hermippe instead.[11]
Orchomenus, a son of
Minyas and
Phanosyra, thus grandson of the above[10] (note though that there were multiple versions of Minyas' parentage). He succeeded to Minyas' power and had his domain, the
BoeotianOrchomenus, named after himself. He received
Hyettus who had fled
Argos over the murder of
Molurus, and assigned to him a tract of land.[12] According to one source, Orchomenus died without issue, and his kingdom was handed over to
Presbon, a son of
Phrixus;[13] in an alternate version though, he was father of
Aspledon,
Amphidocus and
Clymenus,[14] of whom the latter was his successor. He may be the Orchomenus who is given as father of
Chloris, the consort of
Ampycus.[15]
Orchomenus, son of
Eteocles and brother of Minyas, in a rare genealogy; essentially the same as the above.[16]
Stephanus of Byzantium, Stephani Byzantii Ethnicorum quae supersunt, edited by August Meineike (1790-1870), published 1849. A few entries from this important ancient handbook of place names have been translated by Brady Kiesling.
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
This article includes a list of Greek mythological figures with the same or similar names. If an
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