Actaeon

Actaeon
/ak tee"euhn/, n. Class. Myth.
a hunter who, for having seen Diana bathing, was changed by her into a stag and was torn to pieces by his own hounds.

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▪ Greek hero
      in Greek mythology, son of the minor god Aristaeus and Autonoë (daughter of Cadmus, the founder of Thebes in Boeotia); he was a Boeotian hero and hunter. According to Ovid's Metamorphoses, Actaeon accidentally saw Artemis (goddess of wild animals, vegetation, and childbirth) while she was bathing on Mount Cithaeron; for this reason he was changed by her into a stag and was pursued and killed by his own 50 hounds. In another version, he offended Artemis by boasting that his skill as a hunter surpassed hers.

      The story was well-known in antiquity, and several of the tragic poets presented it on the stage (e.g., Aeschylus in his lost Toxotides, “The Female Archers”). Actaeon was worshiped in Plataea and Orchomenus.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Actaeon — ACTAEON, ŏnis, Gr. Ἀκταίων, ωνος, (⇒ Tab. XXII.) des Aristäus und der Autonoe, einer Tochter des Cadmus, Sohn, wurde in seiner Jugend von dem Chiron erzogen, und vornehmlich im Jagen unterrichtet. Apollodor. lib. III. c. 4. §. 4. Er legete sich… …   Gründliches mythologisches Lexikon

  • Actaeon [1] — ACTAEON, ŏnis, eines von denen vier Pferden der Sonne, das aber besser Aethon genennet wird. Fulgent. Mythol. lib. I. c. 2. & ad eum Muncker. l. c …   Gründliches mythologisches Lexikon

  • Actaeon — Actaeon,   griechischer Mythos: Aktaion …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Actaeon — in Greek mythology, the name of the hunter who discovered Artemis bathing and was changed by her to a stag and torn to death by his hounds. The name is of unknown origin. Sometimes used figuratively in 17c. for a cuckold (because of his horns ) …   Etymology dictionary

  • Actaeon — [ak tē′ən] n. [L < Gr Aktaiōn] Gr. Myth. a hunter who makes Artemis angry by watching her bathe: she changes him into a stag, and his dogs tear him to pieces …   English World dictionary

  • Actaeon — In Greek mythology, Actaeon (pronEng|ækˈtiən) (Greek: Ακταίων), son of the priestly herdsman Aristaeus and Autonoe in Boeotia, was a famous Theban hero, [Through his mother he was a member of the ruling House of Cadmus.] trained by the centaur… …   Wikipedia

  • ACTAEON — I. ACTAEON Melissi Corinthii fil. aequalium suorum longe formosissimus ac pudentissimus: cuius multi amatores fuerunt, prae ceteris Archias de Heraclidarum familia, divitiis et opibus super ceteros Corinthios pollens: quem cum pellicere non… …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • Actaeon —    literary    one who cuckolds another    In the legend Actaeon was no more than a casual observer of Artemis s nakedness, and she had no husband to take offence. Nevertheless she turned him into a stag and set his own pack on him:     Divulge… …   How not to say what you mean: A dictionary of euphemisms

  • Actaeon — Aktaion (altgriech. Άκτέων oder Άκταίων, lat. Actaeon) ist ein griechischer Heros. Sein Vater war der Hirte Aristaios, ein Sohn des Apollo und der thessalischen Nymphe Kyrene (Diodoros 4, 81, 1 3), seine Mutter Autonoë war eine Tochter des Kadmos …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • actaeon — akˈtēən noun Usage: capitalized Etymology: New Latin, from Actaeon, a hunter in Greco Roman mythology turned into a stag by Diana and torn to pieces by his own dogs, from Latin, from Greek Aktaiōn : a genus (the type of the family Actaeonidae) of …   Useful english dictionary

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