In
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 ...
, Eunostus (, "good yield" or "happy return") was a
hero
A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such thin ...
of
Tanagra,
Boeotia
Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinisation of names, Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia (; modern Greek, modern: ; ancient Greek, ancient: ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the modern regions of Greece, region of Central Greece (adm ...
. His parents were
Elieus, son of
Cephissus, and
Scias.
Plutarch
Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...
, ''Quaestiones Graecae'
40
/ref> He was said to have received his name from the nymph
A nymph (; ; sometimes spelled nymphe) is a minor female nature deity in ancient Greek folklore. Distinct from other Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature; they are typically tied to a specific place, land ...
Eunosta who reared him.
Mythology
The story of Eunostus' death, related by Plutarch with a reference to the poet Myrtis of Anthedon, is as follows: Ochne, a daughter of Colonus and cousin of Eunostus, fell in love with him, but he rejected her advances and was going to report the matter to her brothers, Echemus, Leon and Bucolus. She forestalled him by telling her brothers that Eunostus had taken her by force; they laid an ambush against Eunostus and killed him. Elieus seized the murderers of his son and put them in bonds. Then Ochne, overcome with remorse, confessed to Elieus that her accusations were false. Colonus, who judged the matter, sent his sons into exile, and Ochne committed suicide by throwing herself off a height.
Plutarch further relates that there was a sanctuary of Eunostus in Tanagra, and that women were not allowed to enter the precinct, not even in emergency cases like earthquakes.
See also
* Phaedra and Hippolytus
* Cleoboea and Antheus
* Stheneboea and Bellerophon
* Tenes and Philonome
Note
References
* Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus, ''Moralia'' with an English Translation by Frank Cole Babbitt. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. London. William Heinemann Ltd. 1936
Online version at the Perseus Digital LibraryGreek text available from the same website
Greek mythological heroes
Mythological Boeotians
Tanagra
{{Greek-myth-stub