InGreek mythology,Polyidus (/ˌpɒliˈaɪdəs/;Ancient Greek:Πολύειδος,romanized: Polúeidos,lit. 'he who sees many things') also known asPolyeidus, is the son ofCoeranus, and a famous seer fromArgos[1] orCorinth.[2]
Polyidus was a descendant of another renowned seer,Melampus, king of Argos. Given that Melampus had two sons,Abas andMantius, different sources made Coeranus, father of Polyidus, son or grandson of either of the two. Briefly, the two alternate lineages were:
According to ascholiast onHomer'sIliad, Polyidus had two sons,Euchenor andCleitus, byEurydameia, daughter ofPhyleus.[4]Pausanias makes Polyeidus the father of Coeranus,Manto andAstycrateia, and calls Euchenor his grandson through Coeranus.[3]
The best known myth concerning Polyidus is the one that deals with him saving the life ofGlaucus, which runs as follows.[5] One day,Glaucus, son of KingMinos and QueenPasiphaë ofCrete, was playing with amouse and suddenly disappeared. TheKuretes told Minos: "A marvelous creature has been born amongst you: whoever finds the true likeness for this creature will also find the child."
They interpreted this to refer to a newborn calf in Minos' herd. Three times a day, the calf changed color from white to red to black. Polyidus ( orAsclepius, god of medicine) observed the similarity to the ripening of the fruit of themulberry, and Minos sent him to find Glaucus.
Searching for the boy, Polyidus saw anowl drivingbees away from a wine-cellar in Minos' palace. Inside the wine-cellar was a cask of honey, with Glaucus dead inside. Minos demanded Glaucus be brought back to life and ordered Polyidus to be entombed with the body. When asnake appeared nearby, Polyidus killed it immediately. Another snake came for the first, and after seeing its mate dead, the second serpent left and returned with anherb which then brought the first snake back to life. With the herb Polyidus resurrected the child.
Minos refused to let Polyidus leave Crete until he taught Glaucus the art ofdivination. Polyidus did so, but then, at the last second before leaving to Argos, he asked Glaucus to spit in his mouth. Glaucus did so and forgot everything he had been taught.
The story of Polyidus and Glaucus was the subject of a lost play ofEuripides, hisBellerophon, and of one byAeschylus, and Sophocles' lostThe Mantises. Previously unknown fragments of Euripedes'Polyidus were found in 2022 and publicized in 2024.[6]
It is related that Polyidus advisedBellerophon as to how to find and tamePegasus, in order to kill theChimera.[7]
Polyidus was said to have come toMegara to purifyAlcathous, son of Pelops, for the accidental murder of the latter's son Callipolis. He also built the sanctuary ofDionysus Patroos (Paternal), and dedicated a wooden image that in Pausanias' day was covered up except the face, which alone was exposed. The tomb of his two daughters was shown at Megara.[3]
Polyidus also appears in one of the stories collected inPseudo-Plutarch'sOn Rivers: he explains toLysippe, mother ofTeuthras, the source of her son's insanity.[8]
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