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 ...

, Staphylus (;

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 ...

: Στάφυλος, '

grape cluster In viticulture, the grape cluster (also bunch of grapes) is a fertilized inflorescence of the grapevine, the primary part of this plant used for food (grape leaves are also used in some culinary traditions). The size of the grape bunch greatly va ...

') was the son of wine-god

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ...

and

Ariadne In Greek mythology, Ariadne (; ; ) was a Cretan princess, the daughter of King Minos of Crete. There are variations of Ariadne's myth, but she is known for helping Theseus escape from the Minotaur and being abandoned by him on the island of N ...

. His brothers include

Oenopion In Greek mythology, Oenopion (Ancient Greek language, Ancient Greek: , ''Oinopíōn'', English language, English translation: "wine drinker", "wine-rich" or "wine face") was a legendary king of Chios, and was said to have brought winemaking to th ...

, Thoas, Peparethus, Euanthes and Phanus. Another source stated that Staphylus's brothers were

Maron Maron, also called Maroun or Maro (, '; , '; ; ), was a 4th-century Syriac Christian hermit monk in the Taurus Mountains whose followers, after his death, founded a religious Christian movement that became known as the Maronite Church, in full ...

, Thoas, and Eunous.

Mythology

Staphylus and his brother Phanus are counted among the

Argonauts The Argonauts ( ; ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology, who in the years before the Trojan War (around 1300 BC) accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, ''Argo'', named after it ...

. As one of

Rhadamanthys In Greek mythology, Rhadamanthus () or Rhadamanthys () was a wise king of Crete. As the son of Zeus and Europa he was considered a demigod. He later became one of the judges of the dead and an important figure in Greek mythology. His name, ...

' generals, he was the founder of the colony of Peparethos on the island of

Skopelos Skopelos (, ) is a Greek island in the western Aegean Sea. Skopelos is one of several islands that comprise the Northern Sporades island group, which lies east of the Pelion peninsula on the mainland and north of the island of Euboea. It is par ...

, in the Northern

Sporades The (Northern) Sporades are an archipelago along the east coast of Greece, northeast of the island of Euboea,"Skyros - Britannica Concise" (description), Britannica Concise, 2006, webpageEB-Skyrosnotes "including Skiathos, Skopelos, Skyros, and Al ...

island chain. Staphylus dwelt in

Naxos Naxos (; , ) is a Greek island belonging to the Cyclades island group. It is the largest island in the group. It was an important centre during the Bronze Age Cycladic Culture and in the Ancient Greek Archaic Period. The island is famous as ...

and was married to

Chrysothemis In Greek mythology, Chrysothemis or Khrysothemis (; , "golden law") is a name ascribed to several female characters in Greek mythology. * Chrysothemis, daughter of Carmator and the first winner of the oldest contest held at the Pythian Games, ...

, by whom he had three daughters:

Rhoeo In Greek mythology, Rhoeo (; ) was a lover of Apollo and mother of Anius, king of Delos and priest of Apollo. Family Rhoeo was the daughter of Staphylus, son of Dionysus and Ariadne, and Chrysothemis, daughter of Carmanor. Her sisters were ...

, who was a lover to

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

, Parthenos, and

Molpadia In Greek mythology, Molpadia (Ancient Greek: Μολπαδία means 'divine song') may refer to the two different women: * Molpadia, an Amazon who was said to have fought for both Antiope and Orithyia. She was a participant in the Attic War, ...

or Hemithea.Diodorus Siculus
5.62.3
/ref> The latter became the mother of

Basileus ''Basileus'' () is a Greek term and title that has signified various types of monarchs throughout history. In the English language, English-speaking world, it is perhaps most widely understood to mean , referring to either a or an . The title ...

with

Lyrcus Lyrcus (Ancient Greek: Λύρκος) is the name of two Greek mythological figures, one a figure in a 1st-century BC Hellenistic romance by Parthenius of Nicaea,son of phoroneus, the other the eponymous legendary founder of Lyrceia and son of Aba ...

after Lyrcus had made a journey to the

oracle An oracle is a person or thing considered to provide insight, wise counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. If done through occultic means, it is a form of divination. Descript ...

Didyma Didyma (; ) was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek sanctuary on the coast of Ionia in the domain of the famous city of Miletus. Apollo was the main deity of the sanctuary of Didyma, also called ''Didymaion''. But it was home to both of the Ancient ...

. Staphylus is said to have enticed Lyrcus into too much drinking of wine and then, when Lyrcus' senses were dulled by drunkenness, united him with Hemithea. Parthenius
1
with sources— ''Lyrcus'' of Nicaenetus and the ''Caunus'' of Apollonius Rhodius;

Notes

References

Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus or Diodorus of Sicily (; 1st century BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek historian from Sicily. He is known for writing the monumental Universal history (genre), universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty ...

, ''The Library of History'' translated by

Charles Henry Oldfather Charles Henry Oldfather (13 June 1887 – 20 August 1954) was an American professor of Greek and Ancient History at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He was born in Tabriz, Qajar dynasty, Persia. Parentage Oldfather's parents, Jeremiah and Feli ...

. Twelve volumes.

Loeb Classical Library The Loeb Classical Library (LCL; named after James Loeb; , ) is a monographic series of books originally published by Heinemann and since 1934 by Harvard University Press. It has bilingual editions of ancient Greek and Latin literature, ...

. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59–8
Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site
* Diodorus Siculus, ''Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2''. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888–1890
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
*

Pseudo-Apollodorus The ''Bibliotheca'' (Ancient Greek: ), is a compendium of Greek myths and heroic legends, genealogical tables and histories arranged in three books, generally dated to the first or second century AD. The work is commonly described as having been ...

, ''The Library'' with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921.
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website
Argonauts Children of Dionysus Mythological Cretans {{Greek-myth-stub