Acacallis

Ακακαλλις

One of the daughters of Minos, loved first by Hermes, by whom she had Cydon, and then Apollo by whom she had three sons; Naxos (who gave his name to the island), Miletus and Amphitemis who was also known as Garamas. While Acacallis was waiting for the birth of Amphitemis, Minos, in a fit of anger, banished her from Crete and sent her to Libya where her son became the progenitor of the nomadic people the Garamantes. Acacallis had also fled from her father's anger before the birth of her third son Miletus. She sought refuge in the woods, where she gave birth to Miletus and, unable to rear him herself, she left him at the foot of a tree. In obedience to Apollo, the she-wolves in the forest suckled him until some shepherds found him, took him in, and brought him up.

Acacallis is sometimes called Acacalle, which in Greek means 'the Egyptian tamarisk' (see Philandrus).

{E2 DICTIONARY OF CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY}

Table of Sources:
- Paus. 8, 53, 4
- Apoll. Rhod. Arg. 4, 1490ff. with schol. on 1492
- Antoninus Liberalis, Met. 30
- See M. P. Nilsson, Mycenean Origins edn 2, p. 539

From Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (London, 1880)

ACACALLIS ('Acacallis). daughter of Minos, by whom, according to a Cretan tradition, Hermes begot Cydon ; while according to a tradition of the Tegeatans, Cydon was a son of Tegeates, and immigrated to Crete from Tegea. (Paus. viii. 53. § 2.) Apollo begot by her a son Miletus, whom, for fear of her father, Acacallis exposed in a forest, where wolves watched and suckled the child, until he was found by shepherds who brought him up. (Antonin. Lib. 30.) Other sons of her and Apollo are Amphithemis and Garamas. (Apollon. iv. 1490, &c.) Apollodorus (iii. 1. § 2) calls this daughter of Minos Acalle ('Acalle)), but does not mention Miletus as her son. Acacallis was in Crete a common name for a narcissus. (Athen, xv. p. 681 ; Hesych. s. v.)

L. S.

An original e-text for everything2. I scanned, OCR'd, formatted, and linked this text - it is not available in any format on any other web site. All Greek words are transliterated into Latin characters.