Calydon in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Calydon

9 passages from 6 ancient authors that tell of Calydon, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Calydon was a city in ancient Greece, and a place that appears in various myths. It was located in the region of Aetolia, and took its name from its f... For the story in one place, read our article on Calydon.

Hesiod (1)

Hesiod, Fragments 1.97–99Ellopia, a fierce boar and the house of AmphiarausA fragment describes the land of Ellopia, its flocks and cattle, and the oak oracle of Dodona. A longer passage describes a terrible fight in which no mortal could face a boar with gleaming tusks except Heracles. The last fragment gives the seer Amphiaraus, his wife Eriphyle and their son Alcmaeon.

Homer (1)

Homer, Iliad 9.529–605Phoenix tells the story of MeleagerPhoenix tells of the war between the Aetolians and the Curetes over the boar sent against Oeneus' land, in which Meleager, angered at his mother's curses, stayed away from the fighting while the Curetes pressed the city. The elders, priests and his own father and friends begged him to come out and offered rewards, but he held out until his wife Cleopatra pleaded with him, and then he fought without the gifts. Phoenix urges Achilles to come while gifts are offered, and not wait until the ships are on fire.

Apollodorus (2)

Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 1.7.1–10Prometheus, Deucalion's flood and the family of HellenPrometheus moulds men from water and earth, steals fire for them and is nailed to Mount Caucasus, where an eagle eats his liver until Heracles frees him. His son Deucalion survives Zeus's flood in a chest with Pyrrha and makes new people from stones; their son Hellen gives the Greeks their name and divides the country among Dorus, Xuthus and Aeolus. The section then follows Aeolus's children: the Aloads Otus and Ephialtes who pile Ossa and Pelion on Olympus, Endymion, Aetolus, Evenus and Marpessa, and the house of Thestius.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 1.8.1–6Oeneus, Meleager and the Calydonian boarOeneus of Calydon is the first to receive a vine from Dionysus, and the Fates declare that his son Meleager will die when the brand on the hearth is burnt out, so Althaea hides it. When Oeneus forgets Artemis in his sacrifices she sends a boar, and a company of heroes is gathered; Atalanta wounds it first and Meleager kills it and gives her the hide. He kills his mother's brothers, the sons of Thestius, who took it from her, and Althaea burns the brand; a second version has him fall in a war against the Curetes. The section ends with Oeneus's later marriage, Tydeus (father of Diomedes) and the revenge of Diomedes on the sons of Agrius.

Diodorus Siculus (1)

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.34.1–4.35.4Deianeira, Meleager and the Calydonian boarHeracles settles at Calydon and marries Deïaneira, daughter of Oeneus. The chapters tell of Meleager and the Calydonian boar: his love for Atalanta, his killing of Althaea's brothers, and his mother's curse, with Oeneus's remarriage to Periboea and the birth of Tydeus.

Ovid (2)

Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.264–444The Calydonian boar huntArtemis (Diana), angered at being forgotten at the harvest rites, sends a huge boar to ravage the fields of Calydon, and Meleager gathers heroes from all Greece to hunt it. The hunters include Theseus, Jason, Castor and Pollux, and the huntress Atalanta, whose beauty and skill the others admire. Atalanta first wounds the boar, and Meleager kills it, and awards the head and hide to her. Meleager's uncles, jealous of Atalanta, snatch the prize from her, and Meleager kills them in a rage.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.445–546Althaea and the death of MeleagerHis mother Althaea, hearing of her brothers' death, takes from a chest the brand which the Fates had said would measure her son's life, and throws it on the fire. Meleager dies in agony far away, and Althaea kills herself, and his sisters mourn and are turned into guinea-hens.

Pausanias (2)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 7.18.1–13Patrae: early history and the Laphria festivalPausanias passes Olenus beside the river Pirus and reaches Patrae, describing its legendary founders Eumelus and Triptolemus, the cities of Aroe, Anthea and Mesatis, and the descent of Patreus. Patrae helped the Aetolians against the Gauls, then dwindled, until Augustus gathered its people back and freed it. He explains how the image of Artemis Laphria was brought from Calydon. He describes the annual Laphria festival, with its procession and sacrifice of living animals on a great altar of logs.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 7.21.1–14Patrae: Coresus and Callirhoe, the harbour sanctuaries and the mirror oraclePausanias tells the story of Coresus, priest of Dionysus at Calydon, whose love for Callirhoe led Dionysus to madden the Calydonians until Coresus sacrificed Callirhoe or someone who would die for her. Coresus killed himself instead of the girl, and Callirhoe then killed herself at the spring that bears her name. He lists the sanctuaries of Patrae: the precinct of the three Dionysus images, the sanctuary of Safety, Poseidon Hippius, Aphrodite, Ares, Apollo and Demeter. Beside Demeter's spring the sick consult a mirror let down on a cord, and there are also two sanctuaries of Serapis and one of Aesculapius.