Lelantos

Lelantos (Lelantus) was a Titan who appears only in Nonnus’ late epic, the Dionysiaca. There he is the husband of Periboia, a daughter of Oceanus, and the father of the huntress Aura, who was ravished by Dionysus. He has no story of his own and no domain in the ancient sources.

Lelantos in the Dionysiaca

Nonnus introduces Aura, the “mountain maiden” who hunts on the slopes of Dindymon in Phrygia, as the daughter of “ancient Lelantos the Titan, who wedded Periboia, a daughter of Oceanos”. Aura is a devoted companion of Artemis, runs as swiftly as the mountain winds and has never known Aphrodite (Nonnus, Dionysiaca 48). When the huntress mocks the goddess Artemis for the shape of her body, Artemis calls upon Nemesis to punish her, and Nemesis, who is of Titan descent herself, will not turn a Titan girl to stone because “her father Lelantos might blame me when he heard”. Instead she promises that Aura shall no longer be a maiden (Nonnus, Dionysiaca 48).

The consequences are told on the page of Aura. Dionysus, struck by Eros, makes her drunk and takes her in her sleep; she bears twin sons, and in her madness destroys one of them. Aura throws herself into the river Sangarius and Zeus changes her into a fountain (Nonnus, Dionysiaca 48).

Family and Name

Nonnus calls Lelantos a Titan but gives no parents for him. Hesiod names Coeus and Phoebe among the Titans and gives them two children, Leto and Asteria (Hesiod, Theogony 133–136, 404–410), and Lelantos is not among their children there. No ancient source gives him a domain such as the air or the art of stalking prey.

Lelantos Sources

Nonnus, Dionysiaca 48; Hesiod, Theogony 133–136, 404–410.

See Also: Aura, Periboia, Oceanus, Dionysus, Artemis, Nemesis, Titans