In Greek mythology, Oeneus (Ancient Greek: Οἰνεύς) was a king of Calydon in Aetolia. His name literally means "Wine-man": he introduced wine-making to Aetolia, a knowledge he acquired from the god Dionysus, and was said to be the first to receive a vine-plant as a divine gift. He was the husband of Althaea and father of the hero Meleager and of Deianira, and his royal house lay at the center of the Calydonian boar hunt.
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I.Family
Oeneus was the son of King Porthaon and Euryte. His siblings included Agrius, Alcathous, Melas, Leucopeus, and Sterope.
He married Althaea and fathered numerous children: Deianeira, Meleager, Toxeus, Clymenus, Periphas, Agelaus, Thyreus, Gorge, Eurymede, Melanippe, and Perimede. In alternative accounts the paternity of Meleager was sometimes attributed to Ares and that of Deianeira to Dionysus.
Oeneus also fathered Tydeus by Periboea, daughter of Hipponous. According to Pausanias, Mothone was his daughter by a concubine.
II.Mythology
The chief myths attached to Oeneus concern his hospitality to Dionysus and the gift of the vine, the disastrous Calydonian boar hunt that destroyed his sons, and the loss and eventual restoration of his throne.
III.Divine Visit and the Gift of Wine
When Dionysus visited Oeneus as a guest, the god fell in love with Althaea. Recognizing this, Oeneus withdrew from the city under the pretense of performing sacred rites. Dionysus then lay with Althaea, who bore Deianira. In gratitude for Oeneus' hospitality, Dionysus gave him the vine, taught him how to cultivate it, and decreed that its fruit be called oinos after the name of his host.
An alternative account describes how Oeneus' goatherd Staphylus discovered grapes. After tasting their juice, Oeneus named the wine after himself and the grape after Staphylus; or, in another version, he offered the wine to Dionysus, who honored both men by naming the fruit and the juice after them.
IV.The Calydonian Boar Hunt
Because Oeneus had made yearly sacrifices to all the gods during the harvest ceremonies but omitted to honor Artemis, the angry goddess sent an enormous boar to devastate the land of Calydon. Oeneus dispatched his son Meleager together with chosen leaders to attack the beast, and the great Calydonian boar hunt ensued, during which Atalanta and Meleager killed the boar.
A dispute then arose over the ownership of the hide: Meleager awarded it to Atalanta, but two of his maternal uncles, sons of Thestius, claimed it by right of birth. In his rage Meleager killed them, sparking war between the Calydonians and the Curetes. All of Oeneus' sons, including Meleager, perished in this conflict.
V.Aftermath and Loss of the Throne
Hipponous of Olenus, angry that his daughter Periboea claimed to be carrying the child of Ares, sent her to Aetolia with orders that Oeneus put her to death. But Oeneus, recently bereaved of son and wife, refused and married her instead, fathering Tydeus.
The sons of Oeneus' brother Agrius eventually deposed him, but his grandson Diomedes, son of Tydeus, restored him to the Calydonian throne. In some versions the throne passed instead to Andraemon, husband of Gorge, on account of Oeneus' old age.
Oeneus died either of natural causes or was killed by surviving sons of Agrius who ambushed him while Diomedes was conveying him to the Peloponnese. Diomedes buried him in Argos, and a town named Oenoe was established in his honor.