In Greek and Roman mythology there are several creatures known as Aethon:
- According to Ovid (II, 153), one of Helios' horses.
- According to Virgil (XI, 89), Pallas' horse.
- The personification of famine, Demeter placed him in Erysichthon's gut, making Erysichthon permanently famished. His Roman equivalent was Fames, a female deity.
- According to Homer (XIX, 180), the pseudonym Odysseus assumed during his interview with Penelope upon his return to Ithaca.
- Hyginus refers to the eagle that repeatedly ate Prometheus' innards as "aethonem aquilam".[1] The author could be applying the name Aethon to the eagle,[2] or simply using a transliteration of the Greek adjective "αἴθων", which may mean "red-brown" or "tawny".[3]
References
- . ^ Hyginus, Fabulae 31.5.
- . ^ Thesaurus Linguae Latinae s.v. Aethon: 3 aquila: HYG. fab. 31 p. 65, 13
- . ^ P. G. W. Glare (ed.) [1982] (1996). Oxford Latin Dictionary, reprinted with corrections, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 75, s.v. aethōn1. ISBN 0-19-864224-5.