Glaucus

Glaucus (Ancient Greek: Γλαῦκος) was a Greek prophetic sea-god, born mortal and turned immortal upon eating a magical herb. It was believed that he commonly came to the rescue of sailors and fishermen in storms, having once been one himself.

Parents

Glaucus' parentage is different in the different traditions, which Athenaeus lists:

Origins

The story of Glaucus' deification was dealt with in detail by Ovid in Metamorphoses and briefly referenced by many other authors. According to Ovid, Glaucus began his life as a mortal fisherman living in the Boeotian city of Anthedon. He discovered by accident a magical herb which could bring the fish he caught back to life, and decided to try eating it. The herb made him immortal, but also caused him to grow fins instead of arms and a fish's tail instead of legs (though some versions say he simply became a merman-like being), forcing him to dwell forever in the sea. Glaucus was initially upset by this side-effect, but Oceanus and Tethys received him well and he was quickly accepted among the deities of the sea, learning from them the art of prophecy.

Glafkos (river)

The Glafkos (or Glaucus) is a river in Greece. It flows into the Gulf of Patras (Ionian Sea) in Patras. The first hydroelectric power plant was built on this river. Currently, it is open to the public as a museum. The boundary of Messatida with Patras is partially over the Glafkos River.

References

Glaucus (son of Sisyphus)

In Greek and Roman mythology, Glaucus (Greek: Γλαῦκος, Glaukos) was a son of Sisyphus whose main myth involved his violent death as the result of his horsemanship. He was a king of Corinth and the subject of a lost tragedy by Aeschylus, Glaucus Potnieus (Glaucus at Potniae), fragments of which are contained in an Oxyrhynchus Papyrus.

The myth and its variants

Glaucus took part in the funeral games organized in honor of Pelias by his son Acastus, the famous Athla epi Pelia in which some of the foremost heroes of Greece competed, including the Argonauts. Glaucus lost to Iolaus in the chariot race. A fragment from Aeschylus's tragedy has sometimes been taken to mean that Glaucus died in a chariot accident on the way home, but it seems more probable that the accident occurred during the race. According to Pausanias, Glaucus haunted the Isthmian Games as a form of Taraxippus, because he was killed by his horses during the funeral games.

There are two main traditions concerning the death of Glaucus. In one, he feeds his mares on human flesh in order to make them fierce in battle, but at the games he has no supply for them, and they turn on their master and devour him instead.Servius, however, regards Glaucus as a doublet of Hippolytus: he offended the goddess Aphrodite (Venus) either by keeping his mares from mating in order to preserve their speed, or by scorning her in general. The goddess then brings retribution upon him through his horses. In other sources, the mares are driven into their man-killing frenzy by consuming either an herb in their Boeotian pasture at Potniae or water from a toxic well.Gilbert Murray saw Hippolytus, Glaucus and their ilk as undergoing sparagmos as vegetation deities.