In Greek mythology, Menestratus (/mɛnɛˈstrætus/; Ancient Greek: Μενέστρατος, romanized: Menéstratos) is a Thespian man who dies trying to slay a dragon in an attempt to save his lover from the monster. His story is recounted in Description of Greece, a second-century work by Greek traveller and geographer Pausanias.
Mythology
editMenestratus lived in Thespiae, where he met and became lovers with a man named Cleostratus. Soon, a great dragon started ravaging their city, and the citizens looked to Zeus for help.[1] The god commanded them to sacrifice a teenage boy each year to the monster, which they did for an undisclosed number of years. When the lot fell to Cleostratus, Menestratus devised a trick in order to save his lover from such fate.[2] He made a bronze breastplate with a fish-hook on each plate, point turned upwards. Clad in the breastplate he willingly offered himself to the dragon, convinced it would kill it. The dragon devoured him, and like Menestratus had predicted, it died indeed, though at the cost of Menestratus' own life.[3] Afterwards, the Thespians erected a bronze cult statue to honour Zeus the Saviour.[1][4]
Culture
editThe story bears a lot of similarities to the myth of Alcyoneus and Eurybarus. In both cases a horrifying beast terrorises a place, and a man chooses to confront it in the stead of their love interests, who are the intended sacrificial victims.[5] Unlike Eurybarus however, Menestratus does not survive the ordeal. The lovers being of the same sex is noted to be a rare variant among the many versions of the dragon-slaying fairytale trope.[6]
See also
edit
Notes
edit- ^ a b Felton 2021, pp. 148–149.
- ^ Pausanias 9.26.7
- ^ March 2014, s.v. Menestratus.
- ^ Pausanias 9.26.8
- ^ Felton 2021, pp. 151–152.
- ^ Hansen 2002, p. 128.
References
edit- Felton, Debbie (2021). Monsters and Monarchs: Serial Killers in Classical Myth and History. Austin, US: University of Texas. ISBN 978-1-4773-0379-5.
- Hansen, William F. (2002). Ariadne's Thread: A Guide to International Oral Narratives in Classical Literature. Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-3670-2.
- March, Jennifer R. (May 31, 2014). Dictionary of Classical Mythology. Oxbow Books. ISBN 978-1-78297-635-6.
- 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, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.