View source for Ceryx

{{Short description|Priest of Demeter at Eleusis}}
{{For|the moth genus|Ceryx (moth)}}
In [[Greek mythology]], '''Ceryx''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|ɪər|ᵻ|k|s|,_|ˈ|s|iː|r|ᵻ|k|s}} ({{langx|grc|Κῆρυξ}} ''Kērux'', literally "herald"<ref>Robin Hard. ''The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology (2004)''<br /></ref>) was a member of the [[Athens|Athenian]] royal family as the son of [[Hermes]] by either the princesses, [[Pandrosus]]<ref>Scholia to [[Homer]]'s ''[[Iliad]]'', I 334</ref> or [[Aglaurus, daughter of Cecrops|Agraulus]].<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+1.38.3 1.38.3]; Parada, p. 44.</ref>

== Mythology ==
Ceryx was, like his father, a messenger. But the ''kêryx'' career began as a humble cook for the tribe, a skill Hermes demonstrates in his cooked meat offerings on the Twelve Gods Altar set in place in 522 BC by Peisistratos III in Athens. The Homeric ''Hymn to Hermes'' 128 recalls the young god cutting out and laying up twelve steaks on a flat rock or ''platamoni'', the 12 Gods altar.''

According to [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], Ceryx was the youngest son of [[Eumolpus]],<ref>Pausanias, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+1.38.3 1.38.3].</ref> one of the first priests of [[Demeter]] at [[Eleusis]] and a founder of the [[Eleusinian Mysteries]]. He founded the two families of high priests in Eleusis: the ceryces (or Ceryces), a family of priests in [[Athens, Greece|Athens]], and the [[Eumolpidae]].

==Ceryces==
{{Main|Kerykes}}
In [[Homer]]’s time, ceryx was a [[profession]] of trusted attendants or retainers of a chieftain. The role of ceryces {{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|ɛ|r|ᵻ|ˌ|s|iː|z}} expanded, however, to include acting as inviolable messengers between states, even in time of war, proclaiming meetings of the council, [[popular assembly]], or [[court of law]], reciting there the formulas of [[prayer]], and summoning persons to attend. [[Hermes]], himself the ceryx of the gods, was their patron and carried the [[caduceus]] (Latin corruption of Ancient Greek ''kerykeion''), the herald’s staff.<ref>[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] Inc., 2012. Web. 13 Jun. 2012 [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/315587/keryx]</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

== References ==

* Hard, Robin, ''The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology"'', Psychology Press, 2004, {{ISBN|9780415186360}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC Google Books].
* Parada, Carlos, ''Genealogical Guide to Greek Mythology'', Jonsered, Paul Åströms Förlag, 1993. {{ISBN|978-91-7081-062-6}}.
* [[Pausanias (geographer)|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. {{ISBN|0-674-99328-4}}. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0160 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library]
* Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.  [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0159 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].

[[Category:Greek mythological heroes]]
[[Category:Mythological Eleusinians]]
[[Category:Mythological people from Attica]]


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