In Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

, Boeotus (or Boiotos Βοιωτός) was the eponym

Eponym

An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...

 of Boeotia

Boeotia

Boeotia, also spelled Beotia and Bœotia , is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. It was also a region of ancient Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, the second largest city being Thebes.-Geography:...

 in Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

. Poseidon

Poseidon

Poseidon was the god of the sea, and, as "Earth-Shaker," of the earthquakes in Greek mythology. The name of the sea-god Nethuns in Etruscan was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon...

 fathered both Aeolus

Aeolus

Aeolus was the ruler of the winds in Greek mythology. In fact this name was shared by three mythic characters. These three personages are often difficult to tell apart, and even the ancient mythographers appear to have been perplexed about which Aeolus was which...

 and Boeotus with Arne (Melanippe

Melanippe

In Greek mythology, Melanippe referred to several different people.* Daughter of the Centaur Chiron. Also known as Hippe or Euippe. She bore a daughter to Aeolus, Melanippe or Arne...

). It was then through Boeotus that Arne became the ancestress of the Boeotians. In some traditions Boeotus is the father of Ogyges

Ogyges

Ogyges, Ogygus or Ogygos is a primeval mythological ruler in ancient Greece, generally of Boeotia, but an alternative tradition makes him the first king of Attica.-Etymology:...

.

A late source tells the story of Boeotus' marriage to Eurythemista

Eurythemista

In Greek mythology, the name Eurythemista or Eurythemiste may refer to:*Daughter of Xanthus. She is one of Pelops' and Niobe's possible mothers by Tantalus ....

. Boeotus was planning to get married and had difficulty choosing between two candidates, both equally noble maidens (one of them was Eurythemista and the other one's name is not given). He arranged to meet both on top of a nameless mountain; when they came, he saw a star fall on Eurythemista's shoulder and immediately vanish, and chose her. The mountain was named Asterion (from astēr "star") to commemorate the event, but was later renamed Cithaeron in honor of the young Cithaeron who was loved by Tisiphone, one of the Erinyes

Erinyes

In Greek mythology the Erinyes from Greek ἐρίνειν " pursue, persecute"--sometimes referred to as "infernal goddesses" -- were female chthonic deities of vengeance. A formulaic oath in the Iliad invokes them as "those who beneath the earth punish whosoever has sworn a false oath"...

, and killed by her for not answering her feelings, the same source relates.

Boeotus was also the name of the son of Itonus

Itonus

In Greek mythology, Itonus was the son of Amphictyon. He was married to Melanippe, a nymph, and had a son Boeotus and two daughters, Chromia and Iodame.He founded a sanctuary of Athena, where his daughter Iodame served as priestess...

and the nymph Melanippe, another possible eponym of Boeotia. His father is apparently not the same as Itonus, son of the first Boeotus.