Aristaeus

▪ Greek mythology

      Greek divinity whose worship was widespread but concerning whom myths are somewhat obscure. The name is derived from the Greek aristos (“best”). Aristaeus was essentially a benevolent deity; he introduced the cultivation of bees and the vine and olive and was the protector of herdsmen and hunters.

      According to the generally accepted account, Aristaeus, son of Apollo and the nymph Cyrene, was born in Libya but later went to Thebes, where he received instruction from the Muses in the arts of healing and prophecy and became the son-in-law of Cadmus and the father of Actaeon. Virgil, in Book IV of Georgics, tells the story that Eurydice, the wife of Orpheus, died when she was bitten by a snake that she had trod upon while being pursued by Aristaeus; as a consequence of her death, his bees died, and he was prevented from practicing apiculture until he had sacrificed to her spirit.

      He was often identified with Zeus, Apollo, and Dionysus. He was represented as a young man dressed like a shepherd and sometimes carrying a sheep.

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