Alebion

This article is about Greek mythology. For other uses, see Albion (disambiguation).

In Greek mythology, Alebion or Albion (Ancient Greek: Ἀλεβίων or Ἀλβίων) was a son of Poseidon and brother of Bergion (also known as Dercynus) who attacked Heracles with Dercynus when he passed through their country, Liguria in North-Western Italy, on his way back to Mycenae from Iberia having obtained the Cattle of Geryon as his tenth labour.[1] The battle that followed was fierce; Albion and Dercynus (or Bergion) were supported by a numerous army. Hercules and his army were in a difficult position so he prayed to his father Zeus for help. With the aegis of Zeus, Heracles won the battle, and both brothers were killed.[2][3] It was this kneeling position of Heracles, when he prayed to his father Zeus, that gave the name Engonasin (Ἐγγόνασιν, derived from ἐν γόνασιν), meaning "on his knees" or "the Kneeler" to Hercules' constellation.

The Scholiast on Lycophron writes that the brother of Alebion was named Ligys.[4] The story is also alluded to in Hyginus[5] and Dionysius.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Schmitz, Leonhard (1867). "Albion". In William Smith. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology 1. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. p. 94.
  2. ↑ Bibliotheca ii. 5. § 10
  3. ↑ Pomponius Mela, ii. 5. § 39
  4. ↑ Scholiast on Lycophron, p. 648.
  5. ↑ Hyginus, Astronomica, Part 1, 6. The kneeler: Poet. Astr. ii. 6
  6. ↑ Dionysius of Halicarnassus, i. 41

Sources

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