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 ...

, Briseus (

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

: Βρισεύς) or Brises (Ancient Greek: Βρίσης) is the father of

Briseis Briseis (; , ), also known as Hippodameia (, ), is a significant character in the ''Iliad''. Her role as a status symbol is at the heart of the dispute between Achilles and Agamemnon that initiates the plot of Homer's epic. She was married to ...

(

Hippodameia Hippodamia (, ; also Hippodamea and Hippodameia; Ancient Greek: Ἱπποδάμεια "she who masters horses" derived from ''hippos'' "horse" and ''damazein'' "to tame") was a Greek mythological figure, the daughter of Oenomaus. She was the ...

), a maiden captured by the Greeks during the

Trojan War The Trojan War was a legendary conflict in Greek mythology that took place around the twelfth or thirteenth century BC. The war was waged by the Achaeans (Homer), Achaeans (Ancient Greece, Greeks) against the city of Troy after Paris (mytho ...

, as recorded in the ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

''.

Eustathius of Thessalonica Eustathius of Thessalonica (or Eustathios of Thessalonike; ; ) was a Byzantine Greek scholar and Archbishop of Thessalonica and is a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church. He is most noted for his stand against the sack of Thessalonica by the No ...

, a commentator on

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

, says Briseus and

Chryses In Greek mythology, Chryses (; Greek, Χρύσης ''Khrýsēs'', meaning "golden") was a Trojan priest of Apollo at Chryse, near the city of Troy. Family According to a tradition mentioned by Eustathius of Thessalonica, Chryses and Brise ...

were brothers, as sons of Ardys (otherwise unknown), with Briseus dwelling in

Pedasus Pedasus (Ancient Greek: Πήδασος) has been identified with several personal and place names in Greek history and mythology. Persons In Homer's ''Iliad'', Pedasus was the name of a Trojan warrior, and the son of the naiad Abarbarea and h ...

, and Chryses residing in Chryse; both were towns in the

Troad The Troad ( or ; , ''Troáda'') or Troas (; , ''Trōiás'' or , ''Trōïás'') is a historical region in northwestern Anatolia. It corresponds with the Biga Peninsula ( Turkish: ''Biga Yarımadası'') in the Çanakkale Province of modern Tur ...

. Pedasus was said by Homer to be Lelegian settlement, ruled by the Lelegian king

Altes ''For people with the surname, see Altès (surname).'' In Greek mythology, Altes was a Lelegian king who resided at Pedasus, which was situated in or near the Troad. According to Homer's ''Iliad,'' Altes was the father of Laothoe, one of the many ...

. Thus, Briseus may also have been a Lelegian. Other sources say that Briseus was a priest of

Lyrnessus In Greek mythology, Lyrnessus (; ) was a town or city in Dardania (Asia minor), inhabited by Cilicians. It was closely associated with the nearby Cilician Thebe. At the time of the Trojan War, it was said to have been ruled by a king named Euenus. ...

. According to

Dictys Cretensis Dictys Cretensis, i.e. Dictys of Crete (, ; ) of Knossos was a legendary companion of Idomeneus during the Trojan War, and the purported author of a diary of its events, that deployed some of the same materials worked up by Homer for the ''Iliad'' ...

, Briseus hanged himself when he lost his daughter.Dictys Cretensis, 2. 17

Notes

Characters in the Iliad

References

'', 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.
*

, ''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
{{Greek-myth-stub Greek mythology of Anatolia