Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

, Aegolius () is a

Cretan Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

man who attempted to steal from

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

, the king of gods, and was punished for it. He was transformed into an owl.

Mythology

The Cretan Aegolius and three other men,

Cerberus In Greek mythology, Cerberus ( or ; ''Kérberos'' ), often referred to as the hound of Hades, is a polycephaly, multi-headed dog that guards the gates of the Greek underworld, underworld to prevent the dead from leaving. He was the offspring o ...

Celeus Celeus ( ) or Keleus () was the king of Eleusis in Greek mythology, husband of Metaneira and father of several daughters, who are called Callidice, Demo, Cleisidice and Callithoe in the '' Homeric Hymn to Demeter'', and Diogeneia, Pammerope ...

and

Laius In Greek mythology, King Laius ( ) or Laios () of Thebes was a key personage in the Theban founding myth. Family Laius was the son of Labdacus. He was the father, by Jocasta, of Oedipus, who killed him. Mythology Abduction of Chrysip ...

entered the sacred cave of

in Crete where the young god had been born and brought up with the aim to steal some of the sacred honey produced by Zeus's bee nurses. Zeus thundered and stripped them of their brazen armors. He meant to kill them all, but

Themis In Greek mythology and religion, Themis (; ) is the goddess and personification of justice, divine order, law, and custom. She is one of the twelve Titan children of Gaia and Uranus, and the second wife of Zeus. She is associated with oracles a ...

and the

Moirai In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Moirai ()often known in English as the Fateswere the personifications of fate, destiny. They were three sisters: Clotho (the spinner), Lachesis (mythology), Lachesis (the allotter ...

advised him against that, as the cave was a holy place and no one should be killed in it. So Zeus turned them all into birds instead; Aegolius became an ''

aegolius ''Aegolius'' is a genus of small true owls. The genus name is from Latin, ''aegolius'', is a type of screech owl that was thought to be a bird of ill omen. Taxonomy The genus ''Aegolius'' was introduced in 1829 by the German naturalist Johann J ...

'' owl.

Smith Smith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals * Smith (given name) * Smith (surname), a family name originating in England ** List of people ...

, s.v
Laius 2
/ref>

References

Bibliography

Antoninus Liberalis Antoninus Liberalis () was an Ancient Greek grammarian who probably flourished between the second and third centuries AD. He is known as the author of ''The Metamorphoses'', a collection of tales that offers new variants of already familiar myths ...

, ''The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis'' translated by Francis Celoria (Routledge 1992)
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
* * *

William Smith William, Willie, Will, Bill, or Billy Smith may refer to: Academics * William Smith (Master of Clare College, Cambridge) (1556–1615), English academic * William Smith (antiquary) (c. 1653–1735), English antiquary and historian of University C ...

, ''A

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' is a biographical dictionary of classical antiquity, edited by William Smith (lexicographer), William Smith and originally published in London by John Taylor (English publisher), Tayl ...

'', London. John Murray: printed by Spottiswoode and Co., New-Street Square and Parliament Street, 1873. Mythological Cretans Deeds of Zeus Metamorphoses into birds in Greek mythology {{Greek-myth-stub

Mythology

See also

References

Bibliography