In Greek mythology, Calydon was the eponymous ruler of Calydon, a city in Aetolia. He was a son of King Aetolus and, with his brother Pleuron, belonged to the Aetolian royal house descended from the Aeolid line. Through his daughters Protogeneia and Epicaste his descendants continued the dynasties of Calydon and Pleuron.
Adapted from Wikipedia, "Calydon of Aetolia" · CC BY-SA 4.0
I.Overview
In Greek mythology, Calydon was the eponymous ruler of Calydon, a city in the region of Aetolia in central Greece. As the city's founding figure, his name was held to account for that of the settlement.
He belonged to the Aetolian royal house: a son of King Aetolus, he and his brother Pleuron stand among the eponyms of the chief Aetolian cities. The genealogy is recorded chiefly by Apollodorus in the Bibliotheca and by Stephanus of Byzantium in his geographical lexicon, the Ethnica.
II.Family
Calydon was a son of King Aetolus and of Pronoe, daughter of Phorbus, and the brother of Pleuron. The Aetolian line into which he was born descended ultimately from the Aeolid stock, linking the house to the wider family of Calyce.
He married Aeolia, daughter of Amythaon, and by her had two daughters. Protogeneia bore a child to the god Ares, while Epicaste married her cousin Agenor, the son of Pleuron. Through these unions Calydon's descendants carried on the intertwined royal lines of Calydon and Pleuron in Aetolia.
III.Sources
Calydon's genealogy and his role as eponymous ruler of the Aetolian city are attested by Apollodorus (Bibliotheca 1.7.7), who sets him within the descent from Aetolus and Pronoe alongside his brother Pleuron.
Stephanus of Byzantium, in his lexicon of place-names (Ethnica), likewise records Calydon as the figure who gave his name to the city, preserving the eponymous tradition in geographical form.