Baton (mythology)

Baton ( Greek Βάτων ) is a figure from Greek mythology .

According to Pausanias , Baton was the charioteer of Amphiaraos , king of Argos and seer of Zeus . Like him, Baton came from the house of the Melampodids, the descendants of the seer Melampus . In the struggle of the supporters of Polynices against his brother Eteocles for rule in Thebes - a material that in the seven against Thebes a tragic treatment by Aeschylus learned - Baton was killed in the same way as Amphiaraos: When they turned to escape in a hopeless situation, Zeus saved them an inglorious end by tearing open the earth that devoured them both.

Like Amphiaraos, Baton enjoyed heroic veneration in Argos and owned a hieron near the Temenos of Asclepius . On the famous ark of Kypselos in the sanctuary of Olympia , Baton had already got into the chariot with the reins in one hand and a spear in the other, while Amphiarus had just put one foot into the chariot. On some Greek vase pictures from the 6th century BC. Baton is depicted as a companion of the amphiaraoh and identified by inscription. One of the most splendid specimens of this depiction, which is probably very similar to that of the Kypseloslade, was on the lost Amphiaraos crater .

As part of the large, semicircular consecration gift of the Argives to the Sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi , which lined the Holy Road on the south side soon after it began, the chariot of Amphiaraoh with his charioteer baton was also shown. The reason for the foundation was the victory over Sparta near Oinoë between 461 and 452 BC. The consecration gift was carried out by the sculptors Hypatodoros and Aristogeiton.

According to Stephanos of Byzantium , who relies on Polybius , Baton was the Oikistes of the Illyrian city of Harpyia, but Strabon names a leader of Dalmatian tribes named Baton, so that there could be a mix-up here. It remains unclear on which side.

literature

Erich Bethe : Baton 1 . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume III, 1, Stuttgart 1897, column 141.
Hans von Geisau : Baton. In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 1, Stuttgart 1964, column 842.
Oswald Wolff : Baton . In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 1,1, Leipzig 1886, column 752 ( digitized version ).

Remarks

↑ Pausanias 2,23,2.
↑ Libraries of Apollodor 3, 6, 8, where Elatonos is also mentioned as an alternative name for the charioteer; Schoinikos mentions the Scholion at Pindar , Olympic Oden 6:21 as a further name.

↑ Pausanias 5:17, 8.

↑ Pausanias 10:10, 3.

↑ Stephanos of Byzantium sv Ἂρπυια ( online ).

↑ Strabo 7,5,3.

^ Johannes Oswald Wolff: Baton. In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology. Volume 1,1, Leipzig 1886, column 752 sees a mix-up, Erich Bethe: Baton 1. In: Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen antiquity. Volume III, 1, Stuttgart 1897, Col. 141 considers a mythical variant that makes Baton the Oikistes to be not improbable due to the "relationship of this area to the Theban-Argive saga".

[1] Pausanias 2,23,2.

[2] Libraries of Apollodor 3, 6, 8, where Elatonos is also mentioned as an alternative name for the charioteer; Schoinikos mentions the Scholion at Pindar , Olympic Oden 6:21 as a further name.

[3] Pausanias 5:17, 8.

[4] Pausanias 10:10, 3.

[5] Stephanos of Byzantium sv Ἂρπυια ( online ).

[6] Strabo 7,5,3.

[7] Johannes Oswald Wolff: Baton. In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology. Volume 1,1, Leipzig 1886, column 752 sees a mix-up, Erich Bethe: Baton 1. In: Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen antiquity. Volume III, 1, Stuttgart 1897, Col. 141 considers a mythical variant that makes Baton the Oikistes to be not improbable due to the "relationship of this area to the Theban-Argive saga".