Alebion

In Greek mythology, Alebion (Ancient Greek: Ἀλεβίων) or Albion (Greek: Ἀλβίων) was a son of Poseidon and brother of Bergion (also known as Dercynus).

Mythology

Alebion attacked Heracles with Dercynus when he passed through their country, Liguria in North-Western Italy, on his way back to Mycenae from Iberia having obtained the Cattle of Geryon as his tenth labour.[1] The battle that followed was fierce; Albion and Dercynus (or Bergion) were supported by a numerous army. Hercules and his army were in a difficult position so he prayed to his father Zeus for help. With the aegis of Zeus, Heracles won the battle, and both brothers were killed.[2][3] It was this kneeling position of Heracles, when he prayed to his father Zeus, that gave the name Engonasin (Ἐγγόνασιν, derived from ἐν γόνασιν), meaning "on his knees" or "the Kneeler" to Hercules' constellation.

The Scholiast on Lycophron writes that the brother of Alebion was named Ligys.[4] The story is also alluded to in Hyginus[5] and Dionysius.[6]

See also

• Albion (Blake) – Primeval man in the mythology of William Blake

Notes

1. Schmitz, Leonhard (1867). "Albion". In William Smith (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. 1. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. p. 94. Archived from the original on 2008-05-01.
2. Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2.5.10
3. Pomponius Mela, 2.5.39
4. Scholiast on Lycophron, p. 648.
5. Hyginus, Astronomica Part 1, 6. The kneeler: Poet. Astr. ii. 6
6. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Antiquitates Romanae 1.41

References

• Dionysus of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities. English translation by Earnest Cary in the Loeb Classical Library, 7 volumes. Harvard University Press, 1937–1950. Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site
• Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Antiquitatum Romanarum quae supersunt, Vol I-IV. . Karl Jacoby. In Aedibus B.G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1885. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Gaius Julius Hyginus, Astronomica from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
• Pseudo-Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Alebion". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. on page 94