Acamas

Acamas (Ἀκάμ-ας, -αντος; folk etymology: "unwearying") was a name attributed to several characters in Greek mythology. The following three all fought in the Trojan War, and only the first was not mentioned by Homer.

References

Sources

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "^{article name needed}". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. 

Acamas (son of Theseus)

Acamas, the son of Phaedra and Theseus, and brother or half brother to Demophon, was a character in the Trojan War.

Mythology

After his father was exiled from Athens, he and his brother were sent to Euboea, where they grew to adulthood and allied themselves with Euboea's King Elephenor. Prior to the assault of Troy by the Greeks, he and Diomedes were sent to demand the surrender of Helen (this expedition Homer ascribes to Menelaus and Odysseus), but during his stay at Troy he won the affection of Laodice, daughter of Priam, and begot by her a son, Munitus, who was brought up by Aethra, grandmother of Acamas. He was killed by the bite of a snake while hunting at Olynthus in Thrace.

In the war, Acamas fought on the side of the Greeks. After the war, he rescued his grandmother, Aethra, who was being held captive in Troy as Helen's maid. Later mythological traditions describe the two brothers embarking on other adventures as well, including the capture of the Palladium. Some sources relate of Acamas the story which is more commonly told of his brother Demophon, namely the one of his relationship with Phyllis of Thrace. This might be a mistake.

Acamas (horse)

Acamas (foaled 2 May 1975) was a British-bred French-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. The last notable horse owned by the French breeder Marcel Boussac he showed promise as a two-year-old in 1977 when he finished a close third in the Grand Criterium. He reached his peak in the following year when he won the Prix Lupin and the Prix du Jockey Club, coming from an apparently impossible position in the latter race. He then finished second in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes in England, but was later disqualified after failing a dope test. At the end of his three-year-old season he was retired to stud but proved largely infertile.

Background

Acamas was a strong, deep-bodied bay horse with a white coronet on his left hind foot bred in the United Kingdom by Marcel Boussac. He was one of many successful racehorses sired by Mill Reef, an American-bred horse who won the Epsom Derby, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in 1971. His dam Licata, was a very good racemare who won the Prix Cleopatre and Prix de Malleret in 1972. She was even better as a broodmare, going on to produce the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud winner Akarad and the 1982 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Akiyda. Boussac sent his colt into training with Guy Bonnaventure.