Galaxy/The codex of Anius

In Greek mythology, Anius (Ancient Greek Ἄνιος) is king of Delos and priest of Apollo, son of Apollo and Rhoeo. He hosts Aeneas on the flight from Troy and is father of the Oenotropae — daughters granted by Dionysus the power to produce wine, grain, and oil — whom Agamemnon tries to seize for the Achaean army.

Adapted from Wikipedia, "Anius" · CC BY-SA 4.0

I.Priest-king of Delos

Rhoeo, daughter of Staphylus, bears Apollo's child; exposed in a chest, she reaches Delos or Euboea and places the infant on Apollo's altar. Apollo rears Anius in prophecy; he becomes the god's priest and king of Delos. By Dorippe he has three daughters — Oeno, Spermo, and Elais (the Wine-growers / Oenotropae) — and sons including the eponyms Andros and Mykonos.

When the Greeks touch at Delos en route to Troy, Anius prophesies a ten-year war and offers his daughters' magical provisions for nine years. Agamemnon tries to take the Oenotropae by force; they pray to Dionysus and are changed into doves (Ovid; Apollodorus' Epitome). Virgil and Ovid later show aged Anius receiving Anchises and Aeneas as a guest-friend on Apollo's isle.

II.Homonym note

Anius is this Delian priest-king alone. A rare Roman strand marries a prophetic daughter Lavinia/Launa to Aeneas — not to be confused with Latinus' Lavinia of the Aeneid's Italian books.

AT A GLANCE

Greek nameAnios (Ἄνιος)
Typehero
Domainsking of Delos · priest of Apollo · the Wine-growers' father
ParentageApollo
SymbolsDelian priesthood · Oenotropae (wine, wheat, oil) · Doves (daughters' metamorphosis)
Cult centersDelos
EtymologyAncient Greek Ἄνιος (Ánios).
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