In Greek mythology, Lynceus is a Messenian prince and one of the Argonauts who served as a lookout on the Argo. He also participated in the hunt for the Calydonian boar. Lynceus was the murderer of Castor, along with his brother, Idas. He helped Idas to spot and kill Castor, and was in turn killed by Pollux, but first managed to wound Pollux with a thrown rock. Idas and Lynceus murdered Castor because he and his brother Pollux had kidnapped and married Phoebe and Hilaeira, the daughters of Leucippus, who were betrothed to Lynceus and Idas or possibly their relatives. Lynceus was said to have excellent sight; enabling him to see through walls, trees, skin and the ground. This ability had been compared to the real technique of x-ray photography and to Superman’s x-ray vision. According to some versions he was also able to see in the dark; in others his reputation for being able to see through the ground was simply a rumor that resulted from his knowledge of geology and gold-mining.
Appearance List Literature: Homer’s Odyssey (mentioned, c. 8th century BCE, English 1614), Homer’s Iliad (mentioned, c. 8th century BC), Hesiod’s Theogony (c. 700 BCE), Medea by Euripides (431 BC), poetry by Appolonius, Diodorus, Valerius, Apollodorus, Ptolemy, Pausanias, Hyginus, Tzetzes, Apollonius of Rhodes’ epic poem Argonautica (late 3rd century BC), The Argonautica by Gaius Valerius Flaccus (late 1st century AD), Argonautica Orphica, Dante’s Divine Comedy (briefly, 1308–1320), William Morris’ epic poem The Life and Death of Jason (1867). Film: Jason and the Argonauts (1963).
Description In Greek mythology, Lynceus is a Messenian prince and one of the Argonauts who served as a lookout on the Argo. He also participated in the hunt for the Calydonian boar. Lynceus was the murderer of Castor, along with his brother, Idas. He helped Idas to spot and kill Castor, and was in turn killed by Pollux, but first managed to wound Pollux with a thrown rock. Idas and Lynceus murdered Castor because he and his brother Pollux had kidnapped and married Phoebe and Hilaeira, the daughters of Leucippus, who were betrothed to Lynceus and Idas or possibly their relatives. Lynceus was said to have excellent sight; enabling him to see through walls, trees, skin and the ground. This ability had been compared to the real technique of x-ray photography and to Superman’s x-ray vision. According to some versions he was also able to see in the dark; in others his reputation for being able to see through the ground was simply a rumor that resulted from his knowledge of geology and gold-mining.
