According to the second-century geographerPausanias, Caanthus was commanded by his father Oceanus to seek his sister Melia, who had been abducted by Apollo, but being unable to get Melia away from Apollo, Caanthus set fire to the Apollo's sanctuary, and Apollo shot and killed him.[2]
The story of Caanthus is a close parallel to the more famous story ofCadmus, the founder and first king of Thebes. Like Caanthus, Cadmus' sisterEuropa is abducted by an Olympian god (in this caseZeus), and Cadmus is sent by his father to bring Europa back home, and like Caanthus, Cadmus is unsuccessful.[3] Caanthus' story is perhaps also related to the story of the ThebanAmphion.[4] According toHyginus, Amphion, like Caanthus, was shot and killed by Apollo because of an attack on his temple.[5]
According to Pausanias, Caanthus was buried near a spring above the Ismenion, the Temple of Apollo at Thebes. Pausanias identified the spring as the famous spring of Ares, where Cadmus killed the dragon guarding it.[6]
According toJacob Bryant Caanthus, Cunthus and Cunæthus are all titles of a Deity called Chan-Thoth in Egypt.[7]
^Larson, p. 142, describes Caanthus' story as "clearly a doublet of the better-known myth" of Cadmus; Schachter 1967, p. 4, calls Caanthus and Melia's story an "imitation" of the story of Cadmus and Europa; see also Schachter 1981, p. 79; Fontenrose, p. 318.
Hyginus, Gaius Julius,Fabulae inApollodorus'Library and Hyginus'Fabulae: Two Handbooks of Greek Mythology, Translated, with Introductions by R. Scott Smith and Stephen M. Trzaskoma, Hackett Publishing Company, 2007.ISBN978-0-87220-821-6.
Larson, Jennifer, "Greek Nymphs : Myth, Cult, Lore", Oxford University Press (US). June 2001.ISBN978-0-19-512294-7
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, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918.Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
Schachter, Albert (1981), "Cults of Boiotia: 1. Acheloos to Hera.",Bulletin Supplement (University of London. Institute of Classical Studies), 38.1.JSTOR43768566.
