Aiakos - Aiakos (English spelling)

A hero in Greek mythology. Son of Zeus and Aegina, daughter of the river god Asopus. Father of Telamon, King of Salamis, and his son Ajax the Elder was his grandson. Known as a very pious man, when the inhabitants of his native island of Aegina were wiped out by a plague, Zeus rewarded his faith by turning ants (Myrmex) into humans and having them live on the island, naming them Myrmidons. Aeacus prayed to Zeus during a drought to appease his anger, and with the help of the gods, built the walls of Troy. He married Endeis, daughter of Skiron, and had two children, Telamon and Peleus (father of Achilles), and also had a relationship with the sea nymph Psamathe to give birth to Phocus, and after his death he became the judge of the dead in the underworld.

[Masahiro Ogawa]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

ギリシア神話の英雄。ゼウスとアソポス河神の娘アイギナとの子。サラミス王テラモンの父で、その子アイアス（大）は孫にあたる。非常に敬虔(けいけん)な人として知られ、生地アイギナ島の住民が疫病で全滅したとき、ゼウスは彼の信仰心に報いて蟻(あり)（ミュルメクス）を人間に変えてその島に住まわせ、彼らをミュルミドン人と名づけた。アイアコスは、干魃(かんばつ)のときゼウスに祈って怒りをなだめ、また神々を助けてトロヤの城壁を築いた。スキロンの娘エンデイスと結婚してテラモンとペレウス（アキレウスの父）の2子を、また海のニンフ、プサマテと交わってポコスを得、死後は冥界(めいかい)で死者を裁く者となった。

［小川正広］

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