Agriopas was a writer of
ancient Greece
Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...
mentioned by
Pliny the Elder. He was the author of an account of the
Olympic victors, called the ''Olympionicae''. His exact date of birth is unknown.
Agriopas is also sometimes cited by writers on
werewolf mythology. These writers have handed down Agriopas' tale of
Demaenetus of
Parrhasia who, during the
Arcadian sacrifices for the festival of
Zeus Lycaeus, tasted the viscera of a human child, and was turned into a wolf for ten years. At the end of those ten years he supposedly became a man again and competed in the
ancient Olympic Games
The ancient Olympic Games (Ὀλυμπιακοὶ ἀγῶνες; la, Olympia, neuter plural: "the Olympics") were a series of athletic competitions among representatives of city-states and were one of the Panhellenic Games of Ancient Greece. ...
.
Agriopas was also in some manuscripts of
Pliny
Pliny may refer to:
People
* Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'')
* Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...
given as the name of the father of
Cinyras
In Greek mythology, Cinyras (; grc, Κινύρας – ''Kinyras'') was a famous hero and king of Cyprus. Accounts vary significantly as to his genealogy and provide a variety of stories concerning him; in many sources he is associated wit ...
, rather than
Apollo
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
. Whether this is genuine or an error remains a matter of some debate.
References
Ancient Greek historians known only from secondary sources
Ancient Greek mythographers
Ancient Olympic Games
Werewolves in Greek Myths
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