Ilus is the name of several mythological persons associated directly or indirectly with
TroyTroy is a legendary city and center of the Trojan War, as described in the Epic Cycle and especially in the Iliad, one of the two epic poems attributed to Homer...
.
HomerHomer is a legendary ancient Greek epic poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey...
's
IliadThe Iliad is an epic poem recounting significant events during a portion of the final year of the Trojan War — the Greek siege of the city of Ilion — hence the title...
mentions at several points the tomb of
Ilus son of
DardanusIn Greek mythology, Dardanus was a son of Zeus and Electra, daughter of Atlas, and founder of the city of Dardania on Mount Ida in the Troad.Dionysius of Halicarnassus states that Dardanus' original home was in Arcadia where Dardanus and his elder...
in the middle of the Trojan plain. Later writers explain him as the son and heir of Dardanus who died childless whence his brother
ErichthoniusThe mythical King Erichthonius of Dardania was the son of Dardanus or Darda, King of Dardania, and Batea, ....
gained the kingship.
Ilus (
Ilos in Greek) is in
Greek mythologyGreek 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...
the founder of the city called
Ilion (latinized as
Ilium) to which he gave his name.
Ilus is the name of several mythological persons associated directly or indirectly with
TroyTroy is a legendary city and center of the Trojan War, as described in the Epic Cycle and especially in the Iliad, one of the two epic poems attributed to Homer...
.
Ilus (son of Dardanus)
HomerHomer is a legendary ancient Greek epic poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey...
's
IliadThe Iliad is an epic poem recounting significant events during a portion of the final year of the Trojan War — the Greek siege of the city of Ilion — hence the title...
mentions at several points the tomb of
Ilus son of
DardanusIn Greek mythology, Dardanus was a son of Zeus and Electra, daughter of Atlas, and founder of the city of Dardania on Mount Ida in the Troad.Dionysius of Halicarnassus states that Dardanus' original home was in Arcadia where Dardanus and his elder...
in the middle of the Trojan plain. Later writers explain him as the son and heir of Dardanus who died childless whence his brother
ErichthoniusThe mythical King Erichthonius of Dardania was the son of Dardanus or Darda, King of Dardania, and Batea, ....
gained the kingship.
Ilus (son of Tros)
Ilus (
Ilos in Greek) is in
Greek mythologyGreek 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...
the founder of the city called
Ilion (latinized as
Ilium) to which he gave his name. When the latter became the chief city of the Trojan people it was also often called
TroyTroy is a legendary city and center of the Trojan War, as described in the Epic Cycle and especially in the Iliad, one of the two epic poems attributed to Homer...
, the name by which it is best known today.
Ilus was son and heir to Tros of
DardaniaDardania in Greek mythology is the name of a city founded on Mount Ida by Dardanus from which also the region and the people took their name. It lay on the Hellespont, and is the source of the strait's modern name, the Dardanelles....
and brother of
AssaracusIn Greek mythology, Assaracus was the second son of King Tros of Dardania. He inherited the throne when his elder brother Ilus preferred to reign instead over his newly founded city of Ilium . He married Aigesta or Themiste or Clytodora, daughter of Laomedon. Assaracus' son and heir was Capys...
and
GanymedeGanymede most often refers to:*Ganymede , Trojan prince in Greek mythology* Ganymede , Jupiter's largest moon, named after the mythological characterGanymede, Ganymed or Ganymedes may also refer to:...
. He won the wrestling prize at games held by the King of Phrygia and received fifty youths and maidens as his reward. The king also, on the advice of an oracle, gave him a cow and asked him to found a city where it should lie down. Ilus did so.
Ilus then prayed to
ZeusIn Greek mythology, Zeus is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky and thunder. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull, and oak. In addition to his Indo-European inheritance, the classical "cloud-gatherer" also derives certain iconographic traits from the...
for a sign and at once saw the
PalladiumIn Greek and Roman mythology, a palladium or palladion was an image of great antiquity on which the safety of a city was said to depend. "Palladium" especially signified the wooden statue of Pallas Athena that Odysseus and Diomedes stole from the citadel of Troy and which was later taken to the...
fallen from heaven and lying before his tent but was immediately blinded for the impiety of looking on the image. He regained his sight after making offerings to
AthenaIn Greek mythology, Athena is the goddess of wisdom, peace, warfare, strategy, handicrafts and reason, shrewd companion of heroes and the goddess of heroic endeavour...
.
Ilus preferred his new city of Ilium to Dardania and on his father's death he remained there, bestowing the rule of Dardania on his brother
AssaracusIn Greek mythology, Assaracus was the second son of King Tros of Dardania. He inherited the throne when his elder brother Ilus preferred to reign instead over his newly founded city of Ilium . He married Aigesta or Themiste or Clytodora, daughter of Laomedon. Assaracus' son and heir was Capys...
instead and so the Trojans were split into two kingdoms.
Ilus was father of
LaomedonIn Greek mythology, Laomedon was a Trojan king, son of Ilus, brother of Ganymedes and father of Priam, Astyoche, Lampus, Hicetaon, Clytius, Cilla, Proclia, Aethilla, Clytodora, and Hesione. Tithonus is also described by most sources as Laomedon's eldest legitimate son; and most sources omit...
who succeeded him. His wife was said to be either
EurydiceIn Greek Mythology, Eurydice was the daughter of Adrastus, wife of Ilus, and mother of King Laomedon....
(daughter of
AdrastusAdrastus or Adrestus , traditionally translated as "nonparticipant" or "uncooperative", was a legendary king of Argos during the war of the Seven Against Thebes.-Mythological tradition:...
), or
LeucippeIn Greek mythology, Leucippe is the name of the following individuals:*One of the Minyades, three sisters who were driven by Dionysus to kill Hippasus, the son of Leucippe...
. Other children of Ilus include two daughters,
ThemisteIn Greek mythology, Themiste was the daughter of Ilus and Eurydice, sister of Laomedon and mother of Anchises by her husband Capys, son of Assaracus....
(or
ThemisThemis is an ancient Greek goddess. She is described as "of good counsel", and is the embodiment of divine order, law, and custom. Themis means "law of nature" rather than human ordinance, literally "that which is put in place", from the verb τίθημι, títhēmi, "to put"...
) and
TelecleiaIn Greek mythology, a daughter of King Ilus of Troy, and the wife of King Cisseus of Thrace. She is therefore the mother of Theano, wife to Antenor....
, who married
CapysIn Greek mythology, Capys was a name attributed to three individuals:*A son of Assaracus and Aigesta or Themiste or Clytodora or Hieromneme, and father of Anchises and so grandfather of Aeneas...
and
CisseusIn Greek mythology, Cisseus was a Thracian king and father of Theano, the wife of Antenor, as related in Homer's Iliad. His wife was Telecleia, a daughter of King Ilus of Troy....
, respectively.
Ilus (son of Mermerus)
Another Ilus from Greek mythology was a son of Mermerus, and grandson of
JasonJason was a late ancient Greek mythological figure, famous as the leader of the Argonauts and their quest for the Golden Fleece. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcus...
and
MedeaMedea is a woman in Greek mythology. She was the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, niece of Circe, granddaughter of the sun god Helios, and later wife to the hero Jason, with whom she had two children: Mermeros and Pheres. In Euripides's play Medea, Jason leaves Medea when Creon, king of...
. This Ilus lived at
EphyraEphyra may refer to:* The city of Kichyro, later known as Ephyra.* Ephyra, one of the Oceanids* Ephyra, one of the Nereids* Ephyra, stage of the life cycle of Aurelia * Ephyra, Rock Band...
, between
ElisElis, or Eleia is an ancient district, that corresponds with the modern Ilia Prefecture...
and
OlympiaOlympia , a sanctuary of ancient Greece in Elis, is known for having been the site of the Olympic Games in classical times, comparable in importance to the Pythian Games held in Delphi. Both games were held every Olympiad , the Olympic Games dating back possibly further than 776 BC...
. In a tale recounted in
The Odyssey, he played host to
OdysseusOdysseus or Ulysses , in Greek mythology , was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem, The Odyssey...
, but when Odysseus requested from Ilus poison for his arrows, he declined, from fear of divine vengeance.