Evenius

Euenius (Εὑήνιος) or Peithenius (Πειθήνιος) was an Ancient Greek legendary seer from Apollonia, Illyria, whose story survives in the accounts of Herodotus[1] and Conon.[2] The somewhat more detailed version of Herodotus is as follows.

Euenius was one of the most distinguished citizens of Apollonia; and one night, when he was tending the sacred sheep of Helios, which the noble Apolloniatae had to do in turns, the flock was attacked by wolves, and sixty sheep were killed. Euenius said nothing of the occurrence, but intended to purchase new sheep, and thus to make up for the loss. But the thing became known, and Euenius was brought to trial. He was deprived of his office, and his eyes were put out as a punishment for his carelessness and negligence. Hereupon the earth ceased to produce fruit, and the sheep of Helios ceased to produce young. Two oracles were consulted, and the answer was that Euenius had been punished unjustly, for that the gods themselves had sent the wolves among the sheep, and that the calamity under which Apollonia was suffering should not cease until Euenius should have received all the reparation he might desire. A number of citizens accordingly waited upon Euenius, and without mentioning the oracles, they asked him in the course of their conversation, what reparation he would demand, if the Apolloniatae should be willing to make any. Euenius, in his ignorance of the oracles, merely asked for two acres of the best land in Apollonia and the finest house in the city. The deputies then said that the Apolloniatae would grant him what he asked for, in accordance with the oracle. Euenius was indignant when he heard how he had been deceived; but the gods gave him a compensation by bestowing upon him the gift of prophecy.

The account of Conon is generally the same, only it uses the name "Peithenius" instead of "Euenius", makes no mention of the citizens' intent to deceive him, and hints that his prophetic abilities were inherited by his descendants. Indeed, Herodotus writes of Euenius's son Deiphonus who was said to have been raised in Corinth and was a seer for the Greek army during the Greco-Persian wars; yet Herodotus adds that some believed Deiphonus to have falsely claimed descent from Euenius.[3]

References

1. Herodotus, Histories, 9. 93 - 94
2. Conon, Narrations, 30
3. Histories, 9. 95

Sources

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Missing or empty |title= (help)