Galaxy/The codex of Asterius

In Greek mythology, Asterius or Asterion (Ancient Greek Ἀστέριος / Ἀστερίων) is the Cretan prince who marries Europa after Zeus brings her to Crete and raises her sons Minos, Rhadamanthys, and Sarpedon. Not the Minotaur (sometimes called Asterion), nor the Thessalian Argonaut Asterius of Piresia.

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

I.Europa's husband

Apollodorus relates that after Zeus in bull form carried Europa to Crete and lay with her, she bore Minos, Sarpedon, and Rhadamanthys. Asterius, prince of the Cretans, married her and brought up the children; when grown they quarrelled over a youth called Miletus (or Atymnius in variants).

Hyginus preserves the Cadmean search for Europa while Asterius holds the Cretan household that will produce the underworld judges and Minos' royal line. He is a foster-king and stepfather figure rather than Europa's divine lover.

II.Homonyms

Pausanias and others sometimes call the Minotaur Asterion — a different being. Apollonius and Hyginus list a Minyan Asterius among the Argonauts from Piresia. The atlas id asterius-crete is only Europa's Cretan husband and foster-father of Minos.

AT A GLANCE

Greek nameAsterios (Ἀστέριος)
Typemortal
DomainsCrete · foster-father of Minos · Europa's husband
SymbolsCretan kingship · Foster-father of the judges of the dead
Cult centersCrete
EtymologyGreek Ἀστέριος / Ἀστερίων from astēr ("star"); the same names attach to the Minotaur in some authors and to several minor heroes.
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