Cleostratus (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Cleostratus (Ancient Greek: Κλεόστρατος, romanized: Kleóstratos, lit. 'glorious army') is a teenage boy from Thespiae, a town in Boeotia, who is chosen to be offered to a dragon in a yearly sacrifice to the monster, until he is saved by his partner Menestratus. His and Menestratus's myth is known thanks to Description of Greece, a second-century work by Greek traveller and geographer Pausanias. Cleostratus' myth is an early example of the hero-tale where the hero saves a damsel or princess from a vicious dragon.
Mythology
[edit]Cleostratus lived in Thespiae; no family or lineage of his is recorded. He was the lover of a man named Menestratus. Their city was attacked by a horrible dragon monster, who ravaged Thespiae and caused great destruction.[1] The people of Thespiae asked Zeus, the king of the gods, for guidance, and he told them they needed to sacrifice each year one teenager (ephebos) to the dragon.[2] After an unspecified amount of years and sacrifices, Cleostratus was chosen by lot to be the next victim of the dragon.[3]
Menestratus, who would not allow Cleostratus to suffer death at the jaws of the dragon, came up with a plan.[4] Although he was probably not a teenager and thus ineligible,[5] he took Cleostratus' place nevertheless and entered the dragon's den, clad in a bronze breastplate that had upward-pointing fish-hooks fastened on the plates, hoping the sharp points would kill the dragon.[6] His plan was successful and the dragon died, Menestratus' sacrifice thus saving both Cleostratus and the Thespians.[7][2]
Following the deaths of the dragon and Menestratus, the people of Thespiae would erect a bronze statue to honour Zeus, worshipped under the epithet 'Saviour'; although it had not been Zeus who actually saved the city, it is not always possible to find coherent explanations for all aspects of Greek myths and legends.[8]
Interpretation
[edit]The myth is similar to that of Alcyoneus and Eurybarus, with Cleostratus' role paralleling Alcyoneus' own. In both stories there is a theme of a horrifying (serpentine) beast that ravages a town; the Thespian dragon causes undefined damage, while Sybaris specifically targeted livestock and humans. A man then decides to confront it, willingly taking the place of a young man or boy they have fallen in love with, who is supposed to be sacrificed to the beast.[9][2] Differences include that Cleostratus and Menestratus are an established couple, whereas Eurybarus only met Alcyoneus on the day the youth was about to die.[10] Also, unlike Eurybarus, Menestratus does not survive the encounter with the beast.
Another tale of the same type is a legend said about Euthymos, a Locrian Olympic victor of the fifth century BC, who killed a beast and saved a beautiful woman from it.[11] Unlike that legend, and more in line with the Alcyoneus-Eurybarus story, the lovers of Thespiae are of the same sex, a rather rare variant of the fairytale trope where the hero saves the damsel from a dragon.[12]
See also
[edit]
Notes
[edit]- ^ Felton 2021, pp. 148.
- ^ a b c Celoria 1992, p. 128.
- ^ Pausanias 9.26.7
- ^ Grimal 1987, s.v. Cleostratus.
- ^ Felton 2021, pp. 150.
- ^ March 2014, s.v. Menestratus.
- ^ Pausanias 9.26.8
- ^ Felton 2021, pp. 148–149.
- ^ Felton 2021, pp. 151–152.
- ^ Antoninus Liberalis 8
- ^ Fontenrose 1959, pp. 101-102.
- ^ Hansen 2002, p. 128.
References
[edit]- Antoninus Liberalis, The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis translated by Francis Celoria (Routledge 1992). Online version at the Topos Text Project.
- Celoria, Francis (1992). The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis: A Translation with a Commentary. Canada, USA: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-06896-7.
- Felton, Debbie (2021). Monsters and Monarchs: Serial Killers in Classical Myth and History. Austin, US: University of Texas. ISBN 978-1-4773-0379-5.
- Fontenrose, Joseph Eddy (1959). Python: A Study of Delphic Myth and Its Origins. Los Angeles: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-04091-0.
- Grimal, Pierre (1987). The Dictionary of Classical Mythology. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-13209-0.
- Hansen, William F. (2002). Ariadne's Thread: A Guide to International Oral Narratives in Classical Literature. Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-3670-2.
- March, Jennifer R. (May 31, 2014). Dictionary of Classical Mythology. Oxbow Books. ISBN 978-1-78297-635-6.
- Pausanias, Pausanias Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.