Irus

• the name of a beggar in the house of Ulysses at Ithaca; used proverbially to denote a poor man: Irus est subito, qui modo Croesus erat, Ov. Tr. 3, 7, 42: Iron, id. R. Am. 747; Prop. 3, 3, 39 (4, 4, 17): Iro pauperior, Mart. 5, 41, 9; id. 5, 39, 9; 6, 77, 1.—In Ov. Ib. 415, binominis, double-named, because he was named Arnaeus by his mother.

(Ἶρος).

1. A son of Actor, and father of Eurydamas and Eurytion. He propitiated Peleus for the murder of his brother; but during the chase of the Calydonian boar, Peleus unintentionally killed Eurytion, the son of Irus. Peleus endeavoured to soothe him by offering him his flocks ; but Irus would not accept them, and at the command of an oracle, Peleus allowed them to run wherever they pleased. A wolf devoured the sheep, but was thereupon changed into a stone, which was shown in later times on the frontier between Locris and Phocis. (Ant. Lib. 38; Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 175; Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. 1.71.)

2. The well-known beggar of Ithaca, who was celebrated for his voracity. His real name was Arnaeus, but he was called Irus because he was employed by the suitors of Penelope as the messenger; for Irus, according to the lexicographers, signifies a messenger. (Hom. Od. 18.5, &c., 239.) [L.S]

(Ἶρος). (1) A beggar of Ithaca, remarkable for his large stature and unusual gluttony. His original name was Arnaeus, but he received that of Irus, as being the messenger of the suitors of Penelopé. Irus attempted to obstruct the entrance of Odysseus into the palace, under the mean disguise assumed by the latter on his return home, and in presence of the whole court challenged him to fight. Odysseus immediately brought him to the ground with a single blow (Odyss. xviii. 1 foll.).

(2) The son of Actor and father of Eurydamus and Eurytion. He purified Peleus (q.v.) after the latter had killed Phocus. During the Calydonian boar-hunt, Peleus accidentally slew Eurytion.

• Ulysses wrestles with him: Apollod. E.7.32