Lilaeus (mythology)
According to Pseudo-Plutarch's Treatise on Rivers and Mountains, Lilaeus (Ancient Greek: Λίλαιος, Lilaios) was an Indian shepherd who angered the gods.
Mythology
A shepherd in India named Lilaeus acknowledged only the Moon among the gods, and only honoured her by performing rituals and mysteries during the night. The other gods, angered, sent two wild lions that tore him apart. Selene then transformed her adorer into a mountain, Mt. Lilaeon, situated somewhere near the Indus river.[1][2]
The author of Treatise on Rivers and Mountains, now known not to be the actual Plutarch,[3] attributed this story to Clitophon the Rhodian's first book of Indian Relations, perhaps writing down an Indian tale using the names of the Greek gods via interpretatio graeca.[1]
See also
Notes
- Pseudo-Plutarch, Treatise on Rivers and Mountains 25.4
- Grimal, s.v. Lilaeus
- "Plutarch". The Mineralogical Record - Library. Archived from the original on August 18, 2016. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
References
- Grimal, Pierre, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, 1987, Wiley-Blackwell, ISBN 0-631-13209-0. Internet archive.
- Pseudo-Plutarch, Names of Rivers and Mountains, in Plutarch, The Moralia, translations edited by William Watson Goodwin (1831-1912), from the edition of 1878, reformatted/lightly corrected by Brady Kiesling.