AEPYTUS (last son of the Messenian kings)
Figure of myth · son of Cresphontes
- Parents
- Cresphontes, Merope
- Children
- Glaucus of Messenia
- In the sources
- 11 ancient passages
Aepytus, the youngest child of Cresphontes and Merope, daughter of Cypselus, was the only son of his father to survive the rebellion that killed his father and brothers.1,2,3,4 As the son of his father's sister, he was also the nephew of Holaeas.5
Merope gave Aepytus to her own father, Cypselus, to raise while he was still a boy.1,4 When he reached manhood, the Arcadians brought him back to Messene, and the Messenians summoned him to return and dwell with them.4,6 Accounts differ on the precise manner of his return, with one source stating he secretly returned to Messene at the same time.1
Holaeas restored Aepytus to his position in Messene with help from the Heracleidae, while other Dorian kings and the sons of Aristodemus also helped restore him.5,4,7 He won the support of Messenian nobles through deference and gained the support of the people by giving them gifts.4 Aepytus killed Polyphontes and punished the men who had killed his father and those who had assisted in the murder.1,4 Thus, he recovered the kingdom of his fathers.1
His descendants were named Aepytidae instead of Heracleidae.4 An oracle later commanded that a maiden be chosen from the bloodline of his sons for sacrifice.8 The seers Epebolus and Ophioneus advised against granting Aepytus's honors to a polluted man, yet Aristodemus was chosen king.9 A temple dedicated to Hermes Aepytus stands three stades from a specific fountain, and a tomb marked his resting place near the high mountain of Cyllene in Arcadia.10,11
The codex facts behind this entry
In the myths
Aepytus was the only son of Cresphontes to survive the rebellion that killed his father and brothers. Pausanias 4.3.7 +1
