Poeas
Encyclopedia
In Greek mythology
, Poeas, or Poias was one of the Argonauts
and a friend of Heracles
.
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...
, Poeas, or Poias was one of the Argonauts
Argonauts
The Argonauts ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology who, in the years before the Trojan War, accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, the Argo, which was named after its builder, Argus. "Argonauts", therefore, literally means...
and a friend of Heracles
Heracles
Heracles ,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...
.
- As an Argonaut, Poeas is identified as the greatest archer of the group. When facing the giant Talos, some accounts say MedeaMedeaMedea is a woman in Greek mythology. She was the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, niece of Circe, granddaughter of the sun god Helios, and later wife to the hero Jason, with whom she had two children, Mermeros and Pheres. In Euripides's play Medea, Jason leaves Medea when Creon, king of...
drugged the bronze giant and Poeas shot an arrow to poison him in his heel. - More famously, Poeas had a role in the apotheosis of Heracles. When Heracles realized he was dying from poisonous centaur blood he demanded a funeral pyre built and lit once he stood atop it. Yet, none of his own men would light the pyre, a passer-by (Poeas) was asked by Heracles to light the pyre. In return for this favor Heracles bestowed his famed bow and poison arrows upon Poeas. Other versions had his son PhiloctetesPhiloctetesPhiloctetes or Philocthetes according to Greek mythology, the son of King Poeas of Meliboea in Thessaly. He was a Greek hero, famed as an archer, and was a participant in the Trojan War. He was the subject of at least two plays by Sophocles, one of which is named after him, and one each by both...
as the passer-by or that Poeas assigned Philoctetes the task.
- Poeas was also the king of MeliboeaMeliboeaIn Greek mythology, Meliboea was a name attributed to the following individuals:*The wife of Magnes, who named the town of Meliboea in Thessaly after her. The town of Meliboea became a kingdom in eastern Thessalia . Nowadays, Meliboea is a municipality of Larissa prefecture...
in ThessalyThessalyThessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....
.