Idomeneus
Frieze-Dennison Vergil
- a king of Crete, the leader of the Cretans against Troy, Verg. A. 3, 401; Ov. M. 12, 358; Hyg. Fab. 81; 270.
(Ἰδομενεύς), a son of Deucalion, and grandson of Minos and Pasiphae; and hence he traced his pedigree to Zeus and Helios. He was a man of great beauty, and is mentioned among the suitors of Helen. (Hon. Il. 13.450, &c., Od. 19.181; Paus. 5.25. 5; Apollod. 3.3. §; Dict. Cret. 1.1; Hyg. Fab. 81.) He is sometimes called Lyctius or Cnosius, from the Cretan towns of Lyctus and Cnosus. (Verg. A. 3.400; Diod. 5.79.) In conjunction with Meriones, the son of his half-brother Molus, he led the Cretans in 80 ships against Troy, and was one of the bravest heroes in the Trojan war. He offered to fight with Hector, and distinguished himself especially in the battle near the ships, where he slew several Trojans. (Hom. Il. 2.645, &c., 3.230, 4.251, 5.43, 7.165, 13.361, &c., 16.345.) Philostratus (Her. 7) even relates that while the Greek heroes were waiting at Aulis, Cretan ambassadors came to Agamemnon to announce that Idomeneus would join him with one hundred Cretan ships, if Agamemnon would share the supreme command with him. After the fall of Troy, Idomeneus returned home in safety (Hom. Od. 3.1.91; Diod. 5.79), though the post-Homeric traditions inform us that once in a storm he vowed to Poseidon to sacrifice to him whatever he should meet first on his landing, if the god would grant him a safe return. The first person he met on landing was his own son. He accordingly sacrificed his son; and as Crete was thereupon visited by a plague, the Cretans expelled Idomeneus. He went to Italy, where he settled in Calabria, and built a temple to Athena. From thence he is said to have again migrated to Colophon, on the coast of Asia, to have settled near the temple of the Clarian Apollo, and to have been buried on Mount Cercaphus. (Serv. ad Aen. 3.121, 401, 531, 11.264 ; Strab. x. p.479; Schol. ad Hom. Od. 13.259.) At Olympia his statue, the work of Onatas, stood among the images of those who drew lots as to who was to fight with Hector, and on his shield a cock was represented. (Paus. 5.25.5; comp. Hom. Il. 7.161, &c.) His tomb was shown at Cnosus, where he and Meriones were worshipped as heroes. (Diod. 5.79.) Another personage of the name of Idomeneus is mentioned among the sons of Priam. (Apollod. 3.12.5.) [L.S]
(Ἰδομενεύς), of Lampsacus, a friend and disciple of Epicurus, flourished about B. C. 310-270. We have no particulars of his life, save that he married Batis, the sister of Sandes, who was also a native of Lampsacus, and a pupil of Epicurus. (D. L. 10.23, 25; Strab. xiii. p.589; Athen. 7.279. f.) Works
Idomeneus wrote a considerable number of philosophical and historical works, and though the latter were not regarded as of very great authority (Plut. Dem. 23), still they must have been of considerable value, as they seem to have been chiefly devoted to an account of the private life of the distinguished men of Greece. Works for which we have titles
The titles of the following works of Idomeneus are mentioned : 1. Ἱστορία τῶν κατὰ Σαμοθρᾴκην.
(Suid. s. v.) This work is probably the one referred to by the Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius (1.916), where for Τρωικά, we should read Σαμοθρᾳκικά. 2. Περὶ τῶν Σωκρατικῶν.
(D. L. 2.19, 20; Athen. 13.611d.) Untitled work
We do not know for certain the title of the work or works of Idomeneus, which contained some account of the following persons :--of the Peisistratidae (Athen. 12.532, f.), of Themistocles (Athen. 12.533d., xiii. p. 576c.; comp. Schol. ad Aristoph. Vesp. 941, where Themistocles appears to be meant, and not Thucydides, the son of Milesius, asthe Scholiast says), of Aristeides (Plut. Arist. 10), of Pericles (Plut. Per. 10, 35), of Demosthenes (Plut. Dem. 15, 23; Athen. 13.592f.), of Aeschines (Apollon. Vit. Aesch. p. 247, ed. Bekker), of Hyperides (Athen. 13.590d.), and of Phocion (Plut. Phoc. 4).
It is not improbable that all these persons were mentioned in one work, to which modern writers have assigned various conjectural titles. Ionsius (Hist. Script. Philos. 2.1. p. 118) conjectured that it was entitled Περὶ ἐνδόξων ἀνδρῶν, Heeren (De Font. Vit. Plut. p. 93) that it was a Greek history, and Luzac (Lect. Att. p. 113) that it was styled Περὶ τῆς ἐνδόξων τρυφῆς, while Sintenis (ad Plut. Pericl. p. 313, &c.) labours to show that all the passages quoted above are taken from the Σωκρατικά. The true title of the work is, however, in all probability restored by a happy emendation of Sauppe (Rheinisches Museum, p. 450, for 1843), who, in place of the corrupt passage in Bekker's Anecdota (p. 249, 27), ὡς δὲ Ἰδομένης φησὶ δημαγωγόν, reads ώς δὲ Ἰδομενεύς φησι περὶ δημαγωγῶν. The title περὶ δημαγωγῶν agrees also much better with all the above-mentioned passages than any of the other titles which have been proposed. Further Information
Sintenis, Fifth Excursus to Plutarch's Pericles ; Vossius, De Histor. Graec. p. 105, ed. Westermann; Clinton, Fast. Hell. vol. iii. p. 488.
(Ἰδομενεύς). (1) The son of Deucalion of Crete, and grandson of Minos. Being one of Helen's suitors, he and Meriones, the son of his half-brother, went with eighty ships to Troy, where he appears in Homer as among the bravest of heroes. He is described by Homer ( Od. iii. 191) as one of those who safely returned to his native land. According to a later story, he was caught in a storm on his way home, and vowed to Poseidon that, if he returned in safety, he would sacrifice to the god whatever he should first meet on his landing. His son came out to meet him, and was accordingly sacrificed; a plague thereupon broke out, he was banished by the Cretans, and betook himself to Calabria. He afterwards withdrew to Colophon in Asia, where he is said to have been buried. His tomb, however, was shown by the Cretans at Cnosus, where he and Meriones were worshipped as heroes.
(2) An Epicurean philosopher of Lampsacus, who flourished about B.C. 260. He wrote several historical and philosophical works that are now lost.
- Apollod. 3.2.2
- leader of the Cretans against Troy: Apollod. E.3.11
- lands in Crete, expelled by Leucus: Apollod. 2.7.1
- descended from the Sun: Paus. 5.25.9
- statue of: Paus. 5.25.9
- Apollod. 3.12.5