Acontius of Cea
Acontius of Cea (spear-man) In Greek mythology, a poor young man who fell in love with Cydippe, daughter of a rich Athenian nobleman. Acontius carved an oath on an apple (or orange or quince). He gave the fruit to Cydippe, and she read out the oath, which said, “I swear by Artemis’s Temple that I will marry no one but Acontius.” Alarmed at the prospect of a poor match for their daughter, her parents went to the Delphic oracle for guidance and were told to let the lovers marry. Acontius’s story is in one of Ovid’s Heroides (21), verse letters from women of both myth and history to their absent lovers and husbands.
SOURCE:
Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend, Third Edition – Written by Anthony S. Mercatante & James R. Dow
Copyright © 2009 by Anthony S. Mercatante
