Acamas (Akamas), heroes of Greek mythology
In Greek mythology, Akamas is the name of several heroes. One Acamas was the son of Antenor and known as one of the bravest Trojan warriors, but he was killed by Meriones. Another Acamas was the uncle of Cyzicus, who fought on the Trojan side; he led a Thracian contingent and was slain by Ajax the Great.
However, the most famous Acamas was the son of Theseus and Phaedra, the king and queen of Athens. His father, Theseus, was the son of King Aegeus of Athens and Aethra, while his mother, Phaedra, was the daughter of King Minos of Crete and Pasiphae. Acamas had a brother named Demophon.
According to legend, after Theseus was exiled from Athens, Acamas and his brother were sent to Euboea island, where they grew up. They allied themselves with King Elephenor and participated in the attempt to bring Helen back to Greece before the start of the Trojan War. But Homer attributes this mission to Menelaus and Odysseus.
During his stay in Troy, Acamas won the love of Laodice, the daughter of Priam, and fathered a son named Munitus. The boy was raised by Aethra, Acamas’ grandmother, who had been held captive in Troy. She had been taken as a servant after accompanying Helen there. Munitus later died of a snakebite while hunting at Olynthus in Thrace.
Later, Acamas and his brother fought on the Greek side during the Trojan War. Acamas was one of the soldiers who hid inside the wooden horse that helped the Greeks infiltrate and conquer Troy.
After the city’s fall, he found and freed from long captivity in Troy his grandmother Aethra. She had been taken as a servant after accompanying Helen there.
Though Acamas is not mentioned in Homer’s Iliad, later works like Virgil’s Aeneid and likely the Iliou persis (also known as The Sack of Troy, a lost epic of ancient Greek literature) recount his adventures, including the capture of the Palladium, a sacred wooden statue of Troy (more precisely, a xoanon).
The dominant character trait of Acamas is his interest in faraway places. The Athenian tribe called the Acamantidae is believed to have been named after him.
Akamas and Demophon with their horses, attic Halsamphora, signed as potter and painter of Exekias, around 540 BCE; production place: Athens; findspot: Vulci , Italy; Collection of Antiquities Berlin/Altes Museum
In art, Acamas and his brother are frequently depicted in scenes from the sack of Troy or shown rescuing Aethra.
Pausanias, the ancient geographer, mentions a statue of Acamas among other Athenian heroes and describes a bronze horse on the Athenian Acropolis that included Acamas.
At Delphi, he was depicted in the Iliou persis by Polygnotus in the Lesche of the Knidians, and a statue of him was dedicated there as part of the spoils from the Battle of Marathon.
The Hydria Vivenzio is a red figure hydria attributed to the painter of Kleophrades, found inside a dolium in Nola and kept at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, in Campania, Italy. It depicts the episodes following the entry of the Achaeans into Troy, during the homonymous war. C. 490-480 BCE.
On Greek pottery, Acamas appears on various vessels: a black-figure amphora by Exekias alongside his brother Demophon; a kylix by Hieron featuring him with Odysseus and Diomedes in their struggle over the Palladium. Infact, later mythological traditions describe two brothers embarking on other adventures as well, including the capture of the Palladion, a cult image of the goddess Pallas (Athena).
He is also depicted in scenes from the sack of Troy, alongside Aethra or other characters, such as on the Vivenzio hydria in Naples, the Brygos kylix in the Louvre, and two volute kraters by the Niobid Painter in Bologna. His name is inscribed on the dinos with an Amazonomachy scene in the British Museum and on a vase by Meidias depicting the abduction of the Leucippides. He also appears on the Tabula Iliaca in the Capitoline Museums in an ambiguous scene and in the depiction of Aethra’s liberation.
Attic red-figure volute krater with scenes from war of Troy - from Bologna, Arnoaldi necropolis, tomb 88; 475–465 BCE; Painter of the Niobides.
On the neck of one side, Theseus’ battle against the Centaurs; on the other Heracles and the centaur Pholus before a huge container of wine; on the body, three scenes from the war of Troy: Neoptolemus killing King Priam; the abduction of Cassandra by Ajax the Lesser before a statue dedicated to worship of Athena; aged Aethra, mother of Theseus, recognized by her grandsons Demophon and Acamas. The krater has been attributed to the “Painter of the Niobides”, a sophisticated exponent of the first Classical phase, whose production is widely documented throughout Po Valley Etruria. It is likely that the krater came from a female tomb, since two alabaster unguentaria were also found there; the tomb can be dated just after the mid-5th century BC.
Last update: November 4, 2024
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