Anchises in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Anchises

11 passages from 5 ancient authors that tell of Anchises, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Anchises was the son of Capys and Themiste in Greek mythology, father of Aeneas. He was better known as a lover of the goddess Aphrodite, who appeared... For the story in one place, read our article on Anchises.

Homer (7)

Homer, The Homeric Hymns 5.105–214Hymn 5 to Aphrodite (2): Aphrodite's false story and the revelationAphrodite answers that she is no goddess but a mortal girl from Phrygia, the daughter of Otreus, brought to him by Hermes. Anchises takes her to his bed, and when she wakes him he sees her neck and eyes, knows her for a goddess, and is afraid. She reminds him of Ganymedes, taken by Zeus to pour wine for the gods, and of the gifts Zeus gave his father Tros as recompense.
Homer, The Homeric Hymns 5.1–104Hymn 5 to Aphrodite (1): Zeus makes Aphrodite love AnchisesThe hymn sings of Aphrodite's power over gods, men, beasts and birds, and says that only Athena, Artemis and Hestia escape it. Zeus, who has been made to lie with mortal women by her, puts into her heart a longing for the Trojan herdsman Anchises. She dresses at Paphos and goes to Mount Ida, where Anchises is playing the lyre alone, and she appears to him as a maiden; he greets her and prays for a long life.
Homer, Iliad 20.156–258Achilles and Aeneas exchange wordsAeneas and Achilles meet between the armies, and Achilles asks why Aeneas has come out to fight him, reminding him that he once chased him down Mount Ida after taking his cattle. Aeneas answers that he will not be frightened by words, and tells his descent from Dardanus through Tros, Ilus and Laomedon, saying that Zeus gives men strength as he wills.
Homer, Iliad 2.786–877The Trojan CatalogueIris, in the likeness of Polites, warns Priam's people that the Achaeans are advancing, and Hector breaks up the assembly and arms the Trojans. The poet lists the Trojan forces under Hector, Aeneas and Pandarus, and then the allies from Thrace, Paphlagonia, Phrygia, Maeonia, Caria and Lycia, the last led by Sarpedon and Glaucus.
Homer, Iliad 5.166–296Pandarus and Aeneas against DiomedesPandarus complains that his arrow has not killed Diomedes and fears that a god stands beside him, and Aeneas persuades him to mount his car and face the Achaean. Sthenelus warns Diomedes, who refuses to flee and bids him seize Aeneas' horses, which are of the breed that Zeus gave to Tros. Pandarus' spear pierces Diomedes' shield, but Diomedes' spear passes through Pandarus' face and kills him.
Homer, Iliad 13.328–454Idomeneus' onslaughtIdomeneus and Meriones go into the battle like fire on a mountain, and Idomeneus kills Othryoneus, who had sought Cassandra's hand, and then Asius. He kills Alcathous, a son-in-law of Anchises, and Deiphobus' spear, thrown at Idomeneus, misses him and kills Hypsenor. Idomeneus boasts over each of his victims and calls on Zeus.
Homer, The Homeric Hymns 5.215–293Hymn 5 to Aphrodite (3): Tithonus and the birth of AeneasTros rejoices at Zeus's gifts, and Aphrodite goes on to the story of Tithonus, whom Eos carried off and who has grown old and helpless in his chamber, as a warning of what she does not wish for Anchises. She tells him that the nymphs will rear the son she bears, that she will bring him to Anchises, and that he must never reveal who the child's mother is, before she soars up to heaven.

Ovid (1)

Ovid, Metamorphoses 13.623–747Aeneas at Delos; Anius' daughters; ScyllaAeneas escapes from Troy with his father and his household gods and comes to Delos, where the king Anius shows them the temple and tells how his three daughters had the power of turning things into corn, wine and oil. Agamemnon tried to take them for the Greek army, and they escaped by prayer to Dionysus (Bacchus), who turned them into doves. Aeneas sails on past Sicily and the straits of Scylla and Charybdis, and the nymph Scylla asks the sea-nymph Galatea why she weeps.

Pausanias (1)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.12.1–9Mantinea: the roads to Methydrium and Orchomenus, Penelope's grave and Anchises' tombPausanias notes the sanctuary of Zeus Charmon and the oaks of Arcadia, including the cork oak whose bark is used for floats. On the road to Methydrium he tells how Alcimedon exposed his daughter Phialo and her child by Hercules, and how a jay's imitation of the baby's cries led Hercules to them. On the roads to Orchomenus are the stadium of Ladas, the mound the Mantineans say is Penelope's grave, the ruins of old Mantinea and the tomb of Anchises on Mount Anchisia.

Quintus Smyrnaeus (1)

Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 13.297–414Aeneas escapes; Menelaus and HelenAeneas, seeing Troy burning, carries his father Anchises on his shoulders and leads his son out through the fire, guided by Aphrodite. Calchas tells the Argives to spare him because he is fated to found a great city by the Tiber. Menelaus kills Deiphobus in Helen's chamber and finds Helen, but Aphrodite strikes the sword from his hand and fills him with love, and his brother urges him not to kill her.

Lycophron (1)

Lycophron, Alexandra 839–978Alexandra 839–978: Landfalls in Italy and Libya, the builder of the horse, and the exiles in SicilyThe husband seeking his bride passes the scene of an old slaying of a whale, sleeps among foul-smelling beasts and reaches Siris and Lacinium, where the women are to mourn a nine-cubit hero, third in descent from Aeacus and Doris. Other Greeks are wrecked on the Libyan coast at Taucheira, where a blade of the Argo marks a tomb and Triton is given a golden bowl, while a leader and his men from many named towns bewail their lack of funeral rites. One hero, killed by the Pellenians, is buried near Crathis and honoured as a god at Macalla, and the builder of the horse settles at Lagaria, paying for his father's false oath. In Sicily the daughters of Phoenodamas found a shrine, one of them bears a son to the river Crimisus, and he guides the bastard scion of Anchises to the island's farthest bounds.