Aegina and Aeacus

The story of Aegina (Αἄγινα) and her son has already been briefly told in the Aegina, Islands (Geographia) and in the Myrmidons, Mythical Creatures sections. Hera persecuted them because of Zeus' dalliance with yet another mortal girl.

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Asopus was the river god in Sicyon who had a beautiful daughter named Aegina. Zeus once again fell in love with a mortal maiden, and transformed himself into a flame or an eagle before carrying her off to the island of Oenone. On Oenone, Zeus then ravished Aegina, and she gave birth to a son whom she named Aeacus (Αἄάκός).

Asopus tried to find his daughter but could not find Aegina until he came upon Sisyphus, the king of Corinth. Sisyphus told the river-god that he saw her being taken to the island of Oenone, in return for Asopus using his power to create a spring or well on the hill of Acrocorinth.

Asopus tried to fetch his daughter from the Oenone, but Zeus drove away the river god with his thunderbolts. In Tartarus (Underworld), Zeus punished Sisyphus for informing against him, with endless but repetitive and futile toils. Sisyphus had to roll a large boulder uphill, but the boulder would always roll back to the bottom before he could reach the top of the hill.

See Sisyphus, in the Aeolids page, for more on the life of Sisyphus.

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Aegina and her son lived on the island until Aeacus was old enough to rule. Aeacus changed the island's name of Oenone to that of Aegina, in honour of his mother.

Aeacus was known throughout Greece as a pious and just king of Aegina. During his childhood, he and his mother were under Zeus' protection against the power of Hera, Zeus' jealous wife and consort in Olympus.

However, their people on the island did not have that protection. Hera sent a devastating pestilence that killed the entire population of Aegina, except for Aeacus and his mother. Their animals also died in the pestilence. Without people in his kingdom, Aeacus and Aegina would face starvation. Aeacus and Aegina prayed daily for Zeus' aid.

One day, Aeacus saw worker ants that were unaffected by the pestilence. So Aecus and his mother prayed that Zeus would repopulate the island with people who were as hardy as the worker ants.

Zeus answered their prayers by transforming the ants into humans who were also unaffected by the pestilence. These new people were called the Myrmidons.

Aeacus became king of the Myrmidons. The Myrmidons were not only as hardworking as the ants; they were also fierce warriors in times of war.

Aeacus married Endeïs (Endeis), and became the father of two famous heroes, Peleus and Telamon. However the marriage was far from happy. Aeacus had a lover, the sea goddess (Nereid) Psamathe, daughter of Nereus and Doris, and sister of the goddess Thetis. Psamathe bore him a son named Phocus.

Phocus was his youngest son, who quickly surpassed his half-brothers in prowess and became Aeacus' favourite. Phocus had three sons: Crisus, Naubolus and Panopeus.

Endeïs was jealous of her husband's affection for the illegitimate son, and persuaded and plotted with her sons to murder Phocus. Peleus and Telamon were also jealous of Phocus' athletic prowess. Though it was said that they both murdered their half-brother, it was most likely Peleus who murdered Phocus since Psamathe cursed or continuously harassed Peleus. Psamathe would forgive Peleus because the hero would later marry her sister, Thetis.

Aeacus exiled both of his sons. Telamon settled on the nearby island of Salamis, while Peleus wandered to Thessaly. Aeacus was left without an heir, because Phocus' three sons migrated to the region east of Aetolia, which they named after their father. (A different version says that the region Phocis was named after another Phocus).

When Aeacus exiled his sons for the murder of his other son, Phocus, Peleus and Telamon, some of the Myrmidons followed Peleus. They migrated and settled in Phthia, in southern Thessaly, where Peleus had married Antigone, daughter of Eurytion or Actor, king of Phthia. (See Peleus about the murder of Phocus and the migration to Phthia).

Later, Achilles, Peleus' son, sailed to Troy with the Myrmidons during the Trojan War. Neoptolemus brought the Myrmidons back to Greece, but they settled in a new kingdom in Epeirus (Epirus).

Aeacus also helped the gods Apollo and Poseidon in building the walls around Troy. When Aeacus died, he became a god in the Underworld. His duty, along with Minos and Rhadamanthys, sons of Zeus and Europa, was to act as a judge to the dead.