Mnestheus is a character from
Roman mythology, found in
Virgil's ''
Aeneid''. He is described by Virgil as the ancestral hero of the
Memmii
The gens Memmia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. The first member of the gens to achieve prominence was Gaius Memmius Gallus, praetor in 172 BC. From the period of the Jugurthine War to the age of Augustus they contributed numerous tribunes ...
and "Of the house of
Assaracus". One of a handful of vaguely defined lieutenants under
Aeneas, he appears to be Aeneas's most senior captain, taking charge in Book 9 in his absence. He takes second place in the boat race during the funeral games of
Anchises
Anchises (; grc-gre, Ἀγχίσης, Ankhísēs) was a member of the royal family of Troy in Greek and Roman legend. He was said to have been the son of King Capys of Dardania and Themiste, daughter of Ilus, who was son of Tros. He is most fam ...
in Book 5.
See also
*
9023 Mnesthus
9023 Mnesthus is a large Jupiter trojan from the Trojan camp, approximately in diameter. It was discovered on 10 September 1988, by American astronomer couple Carolyn and Eugene Shoemaker at the Palomar Observatory in California. The dark Jov ...
, Jovian asteroid named after Mnestheus
*
Mnestheus (skipper)
''Mnestheus'' is a genus of skippers in the family Hesperiidae.
Species
The following species are recognised in the genus ''Mnestheus'':
* '' Mnestheus damma'' (Evans, 1955)
* '' Mnestheus ittona'' (Butler, 1870)
* '' Mnestheus servilius'' (M� ...
, a genus of butterflies
References
* Virgil IV, 288; IX, 171, 781.
* ''
A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities
''A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'' is an English language encyclopedia first published in 1842. The second, improved and enlarged, edition appeared in 1848, and there were many revised editions up to 1890. The encyclopedia covered law ...
'' edited by
William Smith (1870).
External links
*
Characters in the Aeneid
Characters in Roman mythology
{{AncientRome-myth-stub