Asius (mythology)
Encyclopedia
In Greek mythology
, Asius refers to two people who fought during the Trojan War
:
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
, Asius refers to two people who fought during the Trojan War
Trojan War
In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad...
:
- Asius (Asios-Ἄσιος) son of HyrtacusHyrtacusIn Greek mythology, Hyrtacus is an obscure character associated with the Trojan War. He was a comrade of King Priam of Troy. Hyrtacus married Arisbe, daughter of King Merops of Percote, after Priam had divorced her to marry Hecabe. Hyrtacus's son by Arisbe was named Asius and fought at Troy. In...
was the leader of the TrojanTroyTroy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...
allies that hailed from, on, or near the DardanellesDardanellesThe Dardanelles , formerly known as the Hellespont, is a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara. It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with its counterpart the Bosphorus. It is located at approximately...
. He was a son of HyrtacusHyrtacusIn Greek mythology, Hyrtacus is an obscure character associated with the Trojan War. He was a comrade of King Priam of Troy. Hyrtacus married Arisbe, daughter of King Merops of Percote, after Priam had divorced her to marry Hecabe. Hyrtacus's son by Arisbe was named Asius and fought at Troy. In...
and ArisbeArisbe (daughter of Merops)In Greek mythology, Arisbe was a daughter of Merops of Percote, a seer. In a non-Homeric story, she married Priam, later king of Troy, and bore him a son named Aesacus. Priam subsequently divorced her in favor of Hecuba, daughter of King Dymas of Phrygia...
, the latter being first wife of King PriamPriamPriam was the king of Troy during the Trojan War and youngest son of Laomedon. Modern scholars derive his name from the Luwian compound Priimuua, which means "exceptionally courageous".- Marriage and issue :...
and daughter of MeropsMeropsMerops may refer to:* Merops , a genus of bee-eaters.* MEROPS, an on-line database for peptidases.It may also refer to several figures from Greek mythology:* King of Ethiopia, husband of Clymene, who lay with Helios and bore Phaethon...
. Asius led the contingent from a cluster of towns on both sides of the Hellespont, including ArisbeArisbeArisbe may refer to:* Another name for Batea , a person in Greek mythology* Arisbe , an early wife of King Priam of Troy, also daughter of the seer Merops of Percote...
, PercotePercotePercote was a town or city on the southern side of the Hellespont, to the northeast of Troy. Percote is mentioned a few times in Greek mythology, where it plays a very minor role each time. It was said to be the home of a notable seer named Merops, also its ruler...
, AbydosAbydos, HellespontFor other uses, see Abydos Abydos , an ancient city of Mysia, in Asia Minor, situated at Nara Burnu or Nagara Point on the best harbor on the Asiatic shore of the Hellespont. Across Abydos lies Sestus on the European side marking the shortest point in the Dardanelles, scarcely a mile broad...
and Sestus. This last town was the only one to lie on the European (northern) side of the Dardanelles; the rest were situated on the Asian (southern) side. Asius himself resided in the town of Arisbe, by the river Selleis. Asius had two brothers, named NisusNisus and EuryalusNisus and Euryalus are a pair of friends serving under Aeneas in the Aeneid, the Augustan epic by Vergil. Their foray among the enemy, narrated in Book 9, demonstrates their stealth and prowess as warriors, but ends as a tragedy: the loot Euryalus acquires attracts attention, and the two die...
and HippocoonHippocoonIn Greek mythology, the name Hippocoön refers to several characters:*A son of the Spartan King Oebalus and Bateia. His brothers were Tyndareus and Icarius. When their father died, Tyndareus became king. Hippocoön, with the help of his sons, overthrew him, took the throne and expelled his...
, according to VirgilVirgilPublius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
. All three men fought at TroyTroyTroy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...
as allies of King Priam. During the assault on the Achaean wall, Asius was the only soldier not to listen to HectorHectorIn Greek mythology, Hectōr , or Hektōr, is a Trojan prince and the greatest fighter for Troy in the Trojan War. As the first-born son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba, a descendant of Dardanus, who lived under Mount Ida, and of Tros, the founder of Troy, he was a prince of the royal house and the...
and Polydamas, and did not dismount from his chariot. Asius was killed by the Cretan king IdomeneusIdomeneusIn Greek mythology, Idomeneus , "strength of Ida") was a Cretan warrior, father of Orsilochus and Chalkiope, son of Deucalion, grandson of Minos and king of Crete. He led the Cretan armies to the Trojan War and was also one of Helen's suitors. Meriones was his charioteer and brother-in-arms...
during the assault.
- Asius was a PhrygiaPhrygiaIn antiquity, Phrygia was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now modern-day Turkey. The Phrygians initially lived in the southern Balkans; according to Herodotus, under the name of Bryges , changing it to Phruges after their final migration to Anatolia, via the...
n leader and son of King DymasDymasIn Greek mythology, Dymas is the name attributed to at least four individuals.- Dymas :The first Dymas was a Phrygian king and father of Hecuba , wife to King Priam of Troy...
, and brother of Queen HecubaHecubaHecuba was a queen in Greek mythology, the wife of King Priam of Troy during the Trojan War, with whom she had 19 children. These children included several major characters of Homer's Iliad such as the warriors Hector and Paris, and the prophetess Cassandra...
of Troy. Asius, son of Dymas, belonged to a tribe of Phrygians who resided by the River Sangarius. He had two sons, Adamas and PhaenopsPhaenopsIn Greek mythology, the name Phaenops refers to three characters who are all associated with Troy and the Trojan War:* Father of Xanthus and Thoon, who were slain by Diomedes. He was an old man by the time the Trojan War began, and had no other sons and heirs except these two.* Father of Phorcys,...
. In the IliadIliadThe Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles...
, Apollo is said to have taken Asius's shape to encourage Hector to fight PatroclusPatroclusIn Greek mythology, as recorded in the Iliad by Homer, Patroclus, or Patroklos , was the son of Menoetius, grandson of Actor, King of Opus, and was Achilles' beloved comrade and brother-in-arms....
. This Asius does not die in the narrative of the Iliad, but Dictys CretensisDictys CretensisDictys Cretensis of Knossus was the 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...
says he was slain by Ajax.