Alcon (classical history)
Encyclopedia
The name Alcon or Alco can refer to a number of people from classical myth and history:
- Alcon, a son of HippocoonHippocoonIn Greek mythology, the name Hippocoön refers to several characters:*A son of the Spartan King Oebalus and Bateia. His brothers were Tyndareus and Icarius. When their father died, Tyndareus became king. Hippocoön, with the help of his sons, overthrew him, took the throne and expelled his...
, and one of the hunters of the Calydonian BoarCalydonian BoarThe Calydonian Boar is one of the monsters of Greek mythology that had to be overcome by heroes of the Olympian age. Sent by Artemis to ravage the region of Calydon in Aetolia because its king failed to honor her in his rites to the gods, it was killed in the Calydonian Hunt, in which many male...
. He was killed, together with his father and brothers, by HeraclesHeraclesHeracles ,born Alcaeus or Alcides , was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus...
, and had a heroonHeroonA heroon , also called heroum, was a shrine dedicated to an ancient Greek or Roman hero and used for the commemoration or cult worship of the hero. It was often erected over his supposed tomb or cenotaph....
at SpartaSpartaSparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...
. - Alcon, a son of ErechtheusErechtheusErechtheus in Greek mythology was the name of an archaic king of Athens, the re-founder of the polis and a double at Athens for Poseidon, as "Poseidon Erechtheus"...
, king of AthensAthensAthens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, and father of PhalerusPhalerusIn Greek mythology, Phalerus was the son of Alcon and grandson of Erechtheus, from Athens. He is counted among the Argonauts. He also attended the wedding of Pirithous and Hippodamia...
the ArgonautArgonautArgonaut may refer to:* Argonaut , a kind of octopus in the genus Argonauta* Jason and the Argonauts, sailors in Greek mythology* Argonauts of Saint Nicholas, a military order in Naples...
. Valerius FlaccusValerius FlaccusValerius Flaccus is the name of:*Gaius Valerius Flaccus , Latin poet at the time of Vespasian*a number of Roman political figures, including:*Lucius Valerius Flaccus *Lucius Valerius Flaccus...
represents him as such a skillful archer that once, when a serpent had entwined his son, he shot the serpent without hurting his child. VirgilVirgilPublius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
mentions an Alcon, whom Servius calls a CretanCreteCrete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
, and of whom he relates almost the same story as that which Valerius Flaccus ascribes to Alcon, the son of Erechtheus. - Alcon the Molossian (6th century BC) suitor of Agariste of SicyonAgariste of SicyonAgariste was the daughter, and possibly the heiress, of the tyrant of Sicyon, Cleisthenes. Her father wanted to marry her to the best of the Hellenes and, subsequently, he organized a competition, whose prize was his own daughter...
. - Alcon, a surgeonSurgeonIn medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...
(vulnerum medicus) at RomeRomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
in the reign of ClaudiusClaudiusClaudius , was Roman Emperor from 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was born at Lugdunum in Gaul and was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy...
, 4141Year 41 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Saturninus...
—5454Year 54 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lentulus and Marcellus...
, who is said by PlinyPliny the ElderGaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
to have been banished to GaulGaulGaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
, and to have been fined ten million sestertiiSestertiusThe sestertius, or sesterce, was an ancient Roman coin. During the Roman Republic it was a small, silver coin issued only on rare occasions...
. After his return from banishment, he is said to have gained by his practice an equal sum within a few years, which, however, seems so enormous that there must probably be some mistake in the text. A surgeon of the same name, who is mentioned by MartialMartialMarcus Valerius Martialis , was a Latin poet from Hispania best known for his twelve books of Epigrams, published in Rome between AD 86 and 103, during the reigns of the emperors Domitian, Nerva and Trajan...
as a contemporary, may possibly be the same person. - Alcon, a sculptor mentioned by PlinyPliny the ElderGaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
. He was the author of a statue of HerculesHerculesHercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...
at ThebesThebes, GreeceThebes is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range, which divides Boeotia from Attica, and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain. It played an important role in Greek myth, as the site of the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus and others...
, made of iron, as symbolic of the god's endurance of labor. - Two other, otherwise unknown personages of the same name occur in CiceroCiceroMarcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
and in HyginusGaius Julius HyginusGaius Julius Hyginus was a Latin author, a pupil of the famous Cornelius Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Caesar Augustus. He was by Augustus elected superintendent of the Palatine library according to Suetonius' De Grammaticis, 20...
.