Just who was that mythical hero Cephalus, who gave the island his name? Apollodorus informs us that Cephalus was the son of Hermes and Herse, the daughter of Cecrops, and that he belonged to the race of Cephalidae from Thoricus in Attica. (There are, however, suspicions that the myth was invented for political purposes by the Athenians in the 5th century BC.) Another myth has it that Cephalus was the son of the king of Phokis, Deioneus, and yet another presents him as the son of Pandion and Creusa. Numerous
myths have been invented about the erotic and marital adventures of Cephalus, a handsome
man and intrepid hunter. He married Procris, daughter of the king of Attica Erechtheus
and Praxithea. Cephalus was very much in love with her. Ovid tells the following story:
It was during the second month of their marriage, and Cephalus "was spreading his
nets on the peak of Mt. Hymettus to catch deer with big antlers", when Eos (the Dawn)
appeared before him in a chariot with the intention of kidnapping him. In vain did the
poor mortal struggle against the goddess, pleading his recent marriage and his love for
his legal wife. Finally the goddess, seeing him so unwilling, freed him, but not until she
had sown a few doubts about his wife's fidelity. In disguise, the suspicious husband
returned to his wife and offered her his treasures. When her categorical refusal slowly
began to falter, Cephalus, furious, revealed his true identity. The shamed wife went off
to live in the mountains of Crete, where she became a huntress. Artemis, seeing that she
was repentant, gave her a hunting dog, Laelaps, who always caught his quarry, and a
spear that always found its mark. Then she turned Procris into a man and sent her home to
her husband. She invited Cephalus to take part in a hunting contest and when she was
victorious she revealed her true identity. The "deceived" husband realised his
mistake and they lived happily together for many years. Once the Thebans asked for Cephalus' help,
because a wild beast, destined by the gods never to be vanquished by the hand of man,
was wreaking havoc in the area. Cephalus took Laelaps with him and set him to hunt the
beast. But as the two animals were creations of the gods, neither one could ever defeat
the other. So the gods turned them to stone to save them from disgracing themselves. Procris, however, always had a seed of
jealousy in her heart, and every time her husband went hunting alone, she thought he was
going out to meet Eos. So she followed him everywhere, staying hidden behind the bushes.
On one of his hunting trips he mistook her for a deer and killed her with her own spear.
The Areopagus sentenced the wife-killer to perpetual exile, and that was how he found
himself in the friendly city of Thebes, involved in Amphitryon's expedi tions against the Taphians. Some say that,
inconsolable for what he had done, he threw himself over the cliff on Cape Leukata. Another variation of the same myth tells
how the wife, in her shame, took refuge in Crete, where she proceeded to deceive her
husband with Pteleon. King Minos had a spell cast on him by his wife Pasiphae: every time
he embraced another woman, snakes and scorpions crawled out of his body. Procris cured
him, and out of gratitude, the king presented her with Laelaps and the spear. It was
Pasiphae's anger that forced Procris to return to Athens and straighten things out with
Cephalus. Apollodorus puts a little more spice in the
myth. He has king Minos fall head over heels in love with Procris. In order to win her, he
does not hesitate to give her the hunting dog and the spear. After that the myth continues
in the usual way. Aristotle tells us that the hero could not
have children, so he asked The face of mythical Cephalus appears on
many ancient coins. His life was a source of inspiration not only for ancient historians,
but also for modern artists. (Guerin painted his abduction by Eos.) His descendents all
lived up to his reputation. They were kings for ten generations, after which they
returned to Attica on orders from the Delphic oracle. Myth tells us that in Homer's time Same was
first inhabited by Angaeus, who, according to lamblichus, was descended from Zeus. The
fact that Angaeus was an Arcadian hero is one more proof that the Cephallenes were of
Arcadian origin. Aristotle tells us that he was a "friend of agriculture" and
was the first to cultivate the vine. It is also said that because he was of an advanced
aae, one of his servants admonished him not to get too tired, so that he would live to
drink the wine from his grapes. When the time of the grape harvest arrived, the king
called his servant to show him that he would drink some of his wine. The wise servant's
reply was proverbial: "Many things can happen before you put the cup to your
lips." And indeed, at that moment another servant arrived to tell the king that a
wild boar had appeared in the town and was causing damage and injuring people. When the
king hurried off to kill it, he was wounded and died. The inhabitants of Kefalonia honoured many
of the Olympian gods, which shows that they were in contact with mainland Greece. Depicted
on coins found in all four city-states of Kefalonia are Aenesian Zeus (who is none other
than Olympian Zeus), Poseidon, from whom the Taphians were descended, Athena,
protectress of Odysseus, and Demeter, goddess of agriculture. Other coins featured
Cephalus, Procris, Heracles and Laelaps, who were worshipped as demi-gods. |
for advice from the priestess at Delphi. The
oracle recommended that he have intercourse with the first female creature he saw. That
creature turned out to be a bear! That was how Arceisius, future king of the Ionian
islands and part of the Acarnanian peninsula, was born. His son, Laertes, was heir to
that kingdom, as was Laertes' son Odysseus after him.