Phylakos (son of Deion)

Phylakos ( Greek  Φύλακος ), son of Deion and Diomede , is a figure in Greek mythology .

He is considered to be the founder of the Thessalonian city ​​of Phylake or of Phylakia in Attica . His siblings were Ainetos , Aktor , Kephalos and Asteropeia . As the husband of Clymene , Phylakos became the father of Iphiklos and Alkimede . He is sometimes mistakenly called the father of Protesilaos .

The most famous is the legend about his son Iphiklos. Phylakos is said to have been castrating the goats when he caught the boy engaged in a lewd act. Angry his father threatened him with the knife; in one variant he is said to have injured his pubic parts. Iphiklos ran away and Phylakos thrust the bloody knife into a tree where it grew. When the boy became a man, it turned out that he was sterile. One day the seer Melampus came to Phylake to buy cattle from Iphiklos. He heard of the problem and advised that Iphiklos be allowed to drink wine mixed with the rust of that knife for ten days. The cure was successful and Melampus received the cattle in gratitude.

literature

• Ludwig Less : Phylakos 1 . In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 3.2, Leipzig 1909, Col. 2479 f. ( Digitized version ).