Galaxy/The codex of Idmon

In Greek mythology, Idmon was an Argonaut seer who foresaw his own death yet sailed with Jason. Sources make him son of Apollo (by Cyrene, Asteria, or others) or give him a mortal father Abas; among the Mariandyni a boar gored him. Distinct from other figures named Idmon (Arachne's father, a Danaid husband, Turnus's herald).

Adapted from Wikipedia, "Idmon (Argonaut)" · CC BY-SA 4.0

I.Seer on the Argo

Idmon joined the Argonauts knowing from bird-omens that he would not return. Apollonius places him among the seers of the voyage; Apollodorus and Hyginus likewise count him in the crew. Parentage varies: Apollo and the nymph Cyrene (Hyginus), Apollo and Asteria, or a mortal Abas as father in some notices — the atlas records the Apollo–Cyrene and Abas forks as a sourced dispute on the character.

On the outbound voyage, in the land of the Mariandyni in Bithynia, a boar killed him while he was gathering straw. Idas later slew the beast. In 559 BCE the citizens of Megara Heraclea (modern Ereğli) are said to have built a temple over his grave.

II.Homonyms

The atlas id idmon is the Argonaut seer. Wikipedia also lists Idmon son of Aegyptus (killed by a Danaid), Idmon father of Arachne, a herald of Turnus in the Aeneid, and a minor Epidaurian in Statius — none of those share this node.

AT A GLANCE

Greek nameIdmōn (Ἰδμών)
Typehero
Domainsaugury · the Argonaut voyage · Argos
ParentageApollo · Cyrene · Abastellings differ →
Cult centersArgos (departure tradition) · Heraclea Pontica / Megara Heraclea (grave temple)
EtymologyAncient Greek Ἴδμων (Ídmōn), "having knowledge of" — apt for a seer.
READ MOREWikipedia