Helenus
Frieze-Dennison Vergil
- son of Priam and Hecuba, a celebrated soothsayer, Cic. Div. 1, 40, 89; Verg. A. 3, 295; 329 sq.; Ov. M. 13, 99; Just. 17, 3.
(Ἕλενος), a son of Priam and Hecabe, was a skilful observer of auguries, and knew the counsel of the gods (Hom. Il. 6.76, 7.44; Apollod. 3.12.5); but he was at the same time a warrior, and with Deiphobus he led the third host of the Trojans against the camp of the Greeks. (Il. 12.94.) He fought against Menelaus, but was wounded by him (13.580, &c.). This is in outline all that the Homeric poems tell us of Helenus, but in other traditions we find the following additions. Once, when yet children, Helenus and Cassandra were left by their parents in the temple of the Thymbraean Apollo; and, as they fell asleep, snakes came and cleaned their ears, whereby they acquired the gift of prophecy. (Eustath. ad Hom. p. 663.) Another tradition was, that his original name was Scamandrius, and that he received the name of Helenus from a Thracian soothsayer, who also instructed him in the prophetic art. (Eustath. ad Hoom. p. 626.) Respecting his deserting his countrymen and joining the Greeks, there are different accounts; according to some it was the act of his free will, and, according to others, he was ensnared by Odysseus, who wanted to have his prophecy respecting the fall of Troy. (Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 905; Soph. Philoct. 605, 1338; Ov. Met. 13.99, 723.) Others again relate that Chryses announced to the Greeks that Helenus was staying with him in the temple of Apollo. When therefore Diomedes and Odysseus were sent to fetch him, Helenus surrendered to them, requesting them to assign to him a place where lie might live away from his own friends and relatives. He then informed them that he had not left his country and friends from fear of death, but on account of the sacrilege which Paris had committed, in murdering Achilles in the temple, and told them of the time and the circumstances under which Troy should fall. (Dict. Cret. 4.18.) Others, lastly, relate that, on the death of Paris, Helenus and Deiphobus disputed about the possession of Helena, and that Helenus being conquered, fled to Mount Ida, where he was taken prisoner by the Greeks. (Conon, Narr. 34; Serv. ad Aen. 2.166.) In the Philoctetes of Sophocles, Helenus foretells to Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles, that Troy shall fall only through Pyrrhus and Philoctetes; and after the destruction of the city, he reveals to Pyrrhus the sufferings which awaited the Greeks who returned home by sea, and prevail upon him to return by land, and settle in Epeirus. (Serv. ad Aen. 2.166.) After the death of Pyrrhus he received a portion of the country, and married Andromache, by whom be became the father of Cestrinus. The remaining part of Epeirus was given to Molossus, the son of Pyrrhus. (Pans 1.11.1, &c., 2.23.6; Verg. A. 3.295, 333.) When Aeneas in his wanderings arrived in Epeirus, he was hospitably received by Helenus, who also foretold him the future events of his life. (Verg. A. 3.245, 374; Ov. Met. 15.438.) According to an Argive tradition, Helenus was buried at Argos. (Paus. 2.23.5.) A different person of the same name occurs in the Iliad (5.707). [L.S]
(Ἕλενος).
1. Son of Pyrrhus, king of Epeirus, by Lanassa, daughter of Agathocles. He was very young when he accompanied his father on his expedition to Italy, B. C. 280; but Pyrrhus is said to have conceived the project, when elated with his first successes in Sicily, of establishing Helenus there as king of the island, to which as grandson of Agathocles he appeared to have a sort of hereditary claim. (Just. xviii, 1, 23.3.) But the tide of fortune soon turned; and when Pyrrhus saw himself compelled to abandon both Sicily and Italy, he left Helenus at Tarentum, together with Milo, to command the garrison of that city, the place in Italy of which he still retained possession. It was not long before he recalled them both from thence, in consequence of the unexpected views that had opened to his ambition in Macedonia and Greece. Helenus accompanied his father on his expedition into the Peloponnese (B. C. 272), and after the fatal night attack on Argos, in which Pyrrhus himself perished, he fell into the hands of Antigonus Gonatas, who however behaved towards him in the most magnanimous manner, treated him with the utmost distinction, and sent him back in safety to Epeirus, bearing with him the remains of his father. (Just. 25.3, 5; Plut. Pyrrhs. 33, 34.) After this we hear no more of him.
2. A freedman of Octavian, who enjoyed a high place in his favour. He was taken prisoner in Sardinia by Maenas, the lieutenant of Sext. Pompey (B. C. 40), but the latter set him at liberty without ransom, in order to curry favour with Augustus. (D. C. 48.30.) According to Appian (App. BC 5.66), he was employed as a general by Octavian, and had reduced Sardinia not long before; but Dio Cassius represents M. Lurius as the commander in the island at the time of its capture. [E.H.B]
(/*Elenos), a veterinary surgeon, who may perhaps have lived in the fourth or fifth century after Christ. Of his writings only some fragments remain, which are to be found in the Collection of Writers on Veterinary Surgery, first in Latin by Joannes Ruellius, Paris, 1530, fol., and afterwards in Greek by Simon Grynaeus, Basil. 1537, 4to. [W.A.G]
(Ἕλενος). A famous soothsayer, son of Priam and Hecuba, and the only one of their sons who survived the siege of Troy. He was so chagrined, according to some, at having failed to obtain Helen in marriage after the death of Paris that he retired to Mount Ida, and was there, by the advice of Calchas, surprised and carried away to the Grecian camp by Odysseus. Among other predictions, Helenus declared that Troy could not be taken unless Philoctetes (q.v.) could be prevailed to quit his retreat and repair to the siege. After the destruction of Troy, he, together with Andromaché, fell to the share of Pyrrhus, whose favour he conciliated by deterring him from sailing with the rest of the Greeks, who (as he foretold) would be exposed to a severe tempest on leaving the Trojan shore. Pyrrhus not only manifested his gratitude by giving him Andromaché in marriage, but nominated him as his successor in the kingdom of Epirus, to the exclusion of his own son Molossus, who did not ascend the throne until after the death of Helenus. A son named Cestrinus was the offspring of the union of Helenus with Andromaché (Verg. Aen. iii. 294 foll.).
- Apollod. 3.12.5, Paus. 2.23.5, Paus. 10.25.5
- reputed wise: Paus. 5.22.2
- claims Helen in marriage against Deiphobus: Apollod. E.5.8
- captured by Ulysses, he tells how Ilium may be taken: Apollod. E.5.8, Apollod. E.5.10
- gets Hecuba and buries her: Apollod. E.5.23
- goes with Neoptolemus to Molossia, founds a city, and marries Deidamia: Apollod. E.6.11
- goes with Pyrrhus to Epirus: Paus. 2.23.6
- marries Andromache and has son Cestrinus by her: Paus. 1.11.1, Paus. 2.23.6
- his oracles: Paus. 1.11.1
- his tomb shown at Argos: Paus. 2.23.5
- painted by Polygnotus: Paus. 10.25.5
- statue at Olympia: Paus. 5.22.2
- Apollod. E.7.29