:''Caanthus is also a synonym of the

cylindrical bark beetle Colydiinae is a subfamily of beetles, commonly known as cylindrical bark beetles. They have been treated historically as a family Colydiidae, but have been moved into the Zopheridae, where they constitute the bulk of the diversity of the newly ex ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

Ciconissus.'' In

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...

, Caanthus or Kaanthos (;

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

: Κάανθος) was the son of Oceanus and Tethys, and the brother of Melia, who was the consort of

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 ...

, and an important cult figure at Thebes.

Mythology

According to the second-century geographer

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC * Pausanias of Sicily, physician of t ...

, Caanthus was commanded by his father Oceanus to seek his sister Melia, who had been abducted by Apollo, but being unable to get Melia away from Apollo, Caanthus set fire to the Apollo's sanctuary, and Apollo shot and killed him. The story of Caanthus is a close parallel to the more famous story of Cadmus, the founder and first king of Thebes. Like Caanthus, Cadmus' sister Europa is abducted by an Olympian god (in this case

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek reli ...

), and Cadmus is sent by his father to bring Europa back home, and like Caanthus, Cadmus is unsuccessful. Caanthus' story is perhaps also related to the story of the Theban

Amphion There are several characters named Amphion in Greek mythology: * Amphion, son of Zeus and Antiope, and twin brother of Zethus (see Amphion and Zethus). Together, they are famous for building Thebes. Pausanias recounts an Egyptian legend accor ...

. According to

Hyginus Gaius Julius Hyginus (; 64 BC – AD 17) was a Latin author, a pupil of the scholar Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Caesar Augustus. He was elected superintendent of the Palatine library by Augustus according to Suetonius' ''De Grammati ...

, Amphion, like Caanthus, was shot and killed by Apollo because of an attack on his temple. According to Pausanias, Caanthus was buried near a spring above the Ismenion, the Temple of Apollo at Thebes. Pausanias identified the spring as the famous spring of Ares, where Cadmus killed the dragon guarding it. According to

Jacob Bryant Jacob Bryant (1715–1804) was an English scholar and mythographer, who has been described as "the outstanding figure among the mythagogues who flourished in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries." Life Bryant was born at Plymout ...

Caanthus, Cunthus and Cunæthus are all titles of a Deity called Chan-Thoth in Egypt.Bryant
pp. 448–449 n. 64
/ref>

Notes

References

* Bryant, Jacob, ''A New System; or, An Analysis of Antient Mythology'', J. Walker, 1807
Internet Archive
* Fontenrose, Joseph Eddy, ''Python: A Study of Delphic Myth and Its Origins'',

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by facult ...

, 1959. . * Hyginus, Gaius Julius, ''

Fabulae Gaius Julius Hyginus (; 64 BC – AD 17) was a Latin author, a pupil of the scholar Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Caesar Augustus. He was elected superintendent of the Palatine library by Augustus according to Suetonius' ''De Grammati ...

'' in ''Apollodorus' ''Library'' and Hyginus' ''Fabulae'': Two Handbooks of Greek Mythology, Translated, with Introductions by R. Scott Smith and Stephen M. Trzaskoma'', Hackett Publishing Company, 2007. . * Larson, Jennifer, "Greek Nymphs : Myth, Cult, Lore", Oxford University Press (US). June 2001. *

, ''Pausanias Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes.'' Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Schachter, Albert (1967), "A Boeotian Cult Type" in '' Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies (BICS)'', No. 14, pp. 1-16. * Schachter, Albert (1981), "Cults of Boiotia: 1. Acheloos to Hera.", ''Bulletin Supplement (University of London. Institute of Classical Studies)'', 38.1. . * Smith, William; ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 ...

'', London (1873)
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
{{Authority control Children of Potamoi Mythology of Argolis Theban mythology Deeds of Apollo