Myscellus, or Myscelus

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

, ''

Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' (, , ) is a Latin Narrative poetry, narrative poem from 8 Common Era, CE by the Ancient Rome, Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''Masterpiece, magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the world from its Cre ...

'' 15.19, 26. (), son of Alemon, was a native of the Achaean polis Rhypes and the legendary founder of

Crotona Crotone (; ; or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy. Founded as the Achaea (ancient region), Achaean colony of Kroton ( or ; ), it became a great Greek city, home of the renowned mathematician-philosopher Pythagoras amongst other f ...

in 710 BC. According

, the god

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

appeared to Myscelus in a dream and commanded him to leave his native Achaea and seek out the "stone-filled waters of Aesar." Myscelus prepared to leave despite the laws that prohibited citizens from leaving their native land. When his plan was discovered by his fellow townspeople and he was brought to trial, he prayed to Hercules to come to his aid. The god responded by changing the color of the pebbles with which the townspeople had voted to convict Myscelus. He set sail and soon reached the river Aesar in southeastern Italy, where he discovered the raised burial mound of Croton. Myscelus founded a city which he named Croton in honor of Croton. Years earlier, this same Croton had welcomed Hercules as the hero was passing through the area. Upon leaving, Hercules thanked his host by promising that in two generations there would be a city in the spot where Croton lived. Myscelus thus fulfilled the earlier promise of Hercules. Ovid's claim that he is reporting a well-established tradition appears to be borne out by the versions recorded by Strabo and Dionysius of Halicarnassus as well as other no longer extant sources. Nevertheless, these variants do provide details not in Ovid. Among these was the legend that Myscelus was assisted in founding a

colony A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their ''metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often orga ...

at Crotona by Archias, the future founder of the Greek colony at

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

. The colony was led forth under the sanction of the

Delphic oracle Pythia (; ) was the title of the high priestess of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. She specifically served as its oracle and was known as the Oracle of Delphi. Her title was also historically glossed in English as the Pythoness. The Pythia w ...

, and Myscelus, having previously been to survey the locality, was so much better pleased with the site of

Sybaris Sybaris (; ) was an important ancient Greek city situated on the coast of the Gulf of Taranto in modern Calabria, Italy. The city was founded around 720 BC by Achaeans (tribe), Achaean and Troezenian settlers and the Achaeans also went on ...

that on his return he tried in vain to persuade the Delphic god to allow the colonists to select Sybaris as their place of settlement.

Müller Müller may refer to: Companies * Müller (company), a German multinational dairy company ** Müller Milk & Ingredients, a UK subsidiary of the German company * Müller (store), a German retail chain * GMD Müller, a Swiss aerial lift manufacturi ...

, ''Dorians'', i. 6. § 12

References

{{SmithDGRBM 8th-century BC Greek people Ancient Achaeans Heracleidae