Assaracus

In Greek mythology, Assaracus (/əˈsærəkəs/; Ancient Greek: Ἀσσάρακος Assarakos) was a king of Dardania.[1]

Family

Assaracus was the second son of Tros, King of Dardania[2][3][4][5] by his wife Callirhoe, daughter of Scamander,[6][7][8] or Acallaris, daughter of Eumedes.[9] He was the brother of Ilus, Ganymede, Cleopatra and Cleomestra.[10][11] Assaracus married Hieromneme, daughter of Simoeis; others say his wife was Clytodora, daughter of Laomedon.[9] Either by them, he became the father of his son and heir was Capys.[12]

According to a less common version, Aesyetes and Cleomestra were also mentioned as parents of Assaracus. In this account, his brothers were Alcathous and Antenor.[13] In some versions of the myth, Ganymedes was not a brother of Assaracus but also a son of Assaracus.[14]

Mythology

Assaracus inherited the throne of Dardania when his elder brother Ilus preferred to reign instead over his newly founded city of Ilium (which also became known as Troy). When he died, the kingship passed to his son Capys. As a tribute to all his good work, Assaracus was buried in the midst of Troy, close to the temple of Athena and the later palace of Priam.[15]

Family tree

Trojan race

Oceanus Tethys Atlas Pleione Scamander Idaea Simoeis Zeus/Jupiter Electra Teucer Dardanus Batea Ilus Erichthonius Astyoche Callirrhoe Tros Ilus Ganymede Assaracus Hieromneme Laomedon Themiste Capys Priam Anchises Aphrodite/Venus Latinus Creusa of Troy Aeneas Lavinia Ascanius Silvius Silvius Aeneas Silvius Brutus of Britain Latinus Silvius Alba Atys Capys Capetus Tiberinus Silvius Agrippa Romulus Silvius Aventinus Procas Numitor Amulius Ares/Mars Rhea Silvia Hersilia Romulus Remus

Descent of the Kings of Alba Longa
Anchises Venus Latinus Amata Creusa Aeneas Lavinia Iulus Ascanius Silvius Aeneas Silvius Latinus Silvius Alba (Silvius) Atys Capys Capetus Tiberinus Agrippa Romulus Silvius Aventinus Proca Numitor Amulius Rhea Silvia Mars Hersilia Romulus Remus Prima

Modern appearances

He is mentioned in Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman as "the unseemly," brother to Mailure.[16]

Sibling Rivalry Press features a quarterly literary journal of poetry entitled Assaracus.[17]

Notes

1. Virgil, Aeneid 6.637-678
2. Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica 4.75.3-5
3. Homer, Iliad 20.230-240
4. Ovid, Fasti 4.34
5. Suda v.s. Minos
6. Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3.12.2
7. Tzetzes on Lycophron, 29
8. Scholiast on Homer's Iliad 20.231 who refers to Hellanicus as his authority
9. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Antiquitates Romanae 1.62.2
10. Oxyrhynchus Papyri, 1359 fr. 2 as cited in Hesiod, Ehoiai fr. 102
11. Ovid, Metamorphoses 11.756
12. Ovid, Fasti 4.123
13. Dictys Cretensis, Trojan War Chronicle 4.22
14. Hyginus, Fabulae 224
15. Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy 6.145 ff p. 266
16. Neil Gaiman The Sandman vol. 63 p.23
17. Assaracus, Sibling Rivalry Press

References

• Dictys Cretensis, from The Trojan War. The Chronicles of Dictys of Crete and Dares the Phrygian translated by Richard McIlwaine Frazer, Jr. (1931-). Indiana University Press. 1966. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
• Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History translated by Charles Henry Oldfather. Twelve volumes. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59–8. Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site
• Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888-1890. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• 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, Fabulae 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.
• Hesiod, Catalogue of Women from Homeric Hymns, Epic Cycle, Homerica translated by Evelyn-White, H G. Loeb Classical Library Volume 57. London: William Heinemann, 1914. Online version at theio.com
• Homer, The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Homer, Homeri Opera in five volumes. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 1920. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• 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.
• Publius Ovidius Naso, Fasti translated by James G. Frazer. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
• Publius Ovidius Naso, Fasti. Sir James George Frazer. London; Cambridge, MA. William Heinemann Ltd.; Harvard University Press. 1933. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses translated by Brookes More (1859-1942). Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses. Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes. 1892. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Publius Vergilius Maro, Aeneid. Theodore C. Williams. trans. Boston. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1910. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Publius Vergilius Maro, Bucolics, Aeneid, and Georgics. J. B. Greenough. Boston. Ginn & Co. 1900. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy translated by Way. A. S. Loeb Classical Library Volume 19. London: William Heinemann, 1913. Online version at theio.com
• Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy. Arthur S. Way. London: William Heinemann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1913. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.