Akoites
Akoites ( Greek Ἀκοίτης ; literarily attested only under the Latin form of the name Acoetes ) is a figure in Greek mythology .
Akoites was the son of a poor fisherman from Maeonia . He served as the helmsman on a Tyrrhenian pirate ship. On Chios his companions found a handsome, sleeping boy and brought him to the ship. Akoites was supposed to take the child with him, but recognized him as a young god and refused to consent to the kidnapping. However, he was forced by his comrades to set sail with the boy on board. Not long afterwards the boy woke up and asked to be taken to Naxos . The skippers agreed, but did not keep their word. Then the boy revealed himself to be Dionysus . The ship suddenly stopped, grapevines climbed the mast and keel; theSwinging Thyrsos and surrounded by tigers, lynxes and panthers the god appeared. He touched the boatmen with his staff, whereupon they jumped madly into the sea and turned into dolphins . The god only spared Akoites from his vengeance and initiated him into his mysteries as a reward on Naxos. Akoites now spread the Dionysus cult . In Thebes he told Pentheus the miracle, but the king, who opposed the worship of Dionysus, threw Akoites into dungeon. The god let his servant lose his fetters and open the doors.
This legend is reported by Ovid and Hyginus essentially in agreement. The representations of the two authors are likely to be based on a common Hellenistic author who in turn could have used the seventh Homeric hymn as a source.
literature
- Ulrich Hoefer : Akoites 1 . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume I, 1, Stuttgart 1893, Col. 1175.
- Michael von Albrecht : Alkoites 1. In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 1, Stuttgart 1964, Col. 219.
Remarks
- ↑ Ovid, Metamorphosen 3, 582-691.
- ^ Hyginus, Fabulae 134.
- ↑ Michael von Albrecht : Alkoites 1. In: Der Kleine Pauly (KlP). Volume 1, Stuttgart 1964, Col. 219.