{{short description|Ancient Greek mythological figure}} {{About|Greek mythology||Albion (disambiguation)}} In Greek mythology, '''Alebion''' (Ancient Greek: Ἀλεβίων) or '''Albion''' ({{lang|grc|Ἀλβίων}}) of Liguria, was a son of Poseidon<ref>Tzetzes, ''Chiliades'' [https://topostext.org/work/617#2.340 2.341] & ad Lycophron, [https://topostext.org/work/860#649 649]</ref> and brother of Dercynus<ref>Apollodorus, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+2.5.10&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Dercynus 2.5.10]; Tzetzes, ''Chiliades'' [https://topostext.org/work/617#2.340 2.341] & ad Lycophron, [https://topostext.org/work/860#649 649]</ref> (also called Bergion<ref>Pomponius Mela, [https://archive.org/details/gographiedepomp00baudgoog/page/n142/mode/2up?view=theater&q= 2.5.39] ([https://topostext.org/work/145#2.78 =2.78] ed. Romer called him Dercynus instead)</ref> or Ligys<ref>Tzetzes ad Lycophron, [https://topostext.org/work/860#649 649]</ref>). In one source, Alebion was also known as '''Ialebion''' (Ἰαλεβίων).<ref name=":02">Apollodorus, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+2.5.10&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Ialebion 2.5.10]</ref>
== Mythology == Alebion attacked Heracles with Dercynus when he passed through their country, Liguria in North-Western Italy, on his way back to Mycenae from Iberia having obtained the Cattle of Geryon as his tenth labour.<ref name="DGRBM">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Schmitz |first=Leonhard |title=Albion |editor=William Smith |encyclopedia=Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology |volume=1 |pages=94 |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |location=Boston |year=1867 |url=http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0103.html |url-status=usurped |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080501223737/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0103.html |archivedate=2008-05-01 }}</ref> The battle that followed was fierce; Albion and Dercynus (or Bergion) were supported by a numerous army. Heracles and his army were in a difficult position so he prayed to his father Zeus for help. With the aegis of Zeus, Heracles won the battle, and both brothers were killed.<ref name=":0">Apollodorus, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+2.5.10&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Dercynus 2.5.10]; Strabo, [https://topostext.org/work/144#4.1.7 4.1.7]; Tzetzes, ''Chiliades'' [https://topostext.org/work/617#2.340 2.341–342]; Pomponius Mela, [https://archive.org/details/gographiedepomp00baudgoog/page/n142/mode/2up?view=theater&q= 2.5.39] ([https://topostext.org/work/145#2.78 =2.78] ed. Romer called him Dercynus instead)</ref> It was this kneeling position of Heracles, when he prayed to his father Zeus, that gave the name Engonasin (Ἐγγόνασιν, derived from ἐν γόνασιν), meaning "on his knees" or "the Kneeler" to Hercules' constellation. The story is also alluded to in Hyginus,<ref>Hyginus, ''De astronomia'' [https://topostext.org/work/207#2.6.5 2.6.5]</ref> Dionysius<ref>Dionysius of Halicarnassus, ''Antiquitates Romanae'' [https://topostext.org/work/139#1.41.3 1.41.3]</ref> and Strabo.<ref>Strabo, [https://topostext.org/work/144#4.1.7 4.1.7]</ref>
==See also== * {{annotated link|Albion (Blake)}}
==Notes== {{reflist|2}}
== References == * Apollodorus, ''The Library'' with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. {{ISBN|0-674-99135-4}}. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0021 Greek text available from the same website]. * Dionysus of Halicarnassus, ''Roman Antiquities.'' English translation by Earnest Cary in the Loeb Classical Library, 7 volumes. Harvard University Press, 1937–1950. [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/home.html Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site] * Dionysius of Halicarnassus, ''Antiquitatum Romanarum quae supersunt'', ''Vol I-IV''. . Karl Jacoby. In Aedibus B.G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1885. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0572 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library]. * Gaius Julius Hyginus, ''Astronomica from The Myths of Hyginus'' translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. [https://topostext.org/work/207 Online version at the Topos Text Project.] * Scholia to Lycophron's ''Alexandra'', marginal notes by Isaak and Ioannis Tzetzes and others from the Greek edition of Eduard Scheer (Weidmann 1881). [https://topostext.org/work/860 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]. Greek text available on Archive.org * Strabo, ''The Geography of Strabo.'' Edition by H.L. Jones. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0198%3Abook%3D6%3Achapter%3D1%3Asection%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] * Strabo, ''Geographica'' edited by A. Meineke. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0197 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.] * Tzetzes, John, ''Histories or Chiliades'' unedited translation by Ana Untila (Book I), Gary Berkowitz (II-IV), Konstantinos Ramiotis (V-VI), Vasiliki Dogani (VII-VIII), Jonathan Alexander (IX-X), Muhammad Syarif Fadhlurrahman (XI), and Nikolaos Giallousis (XII-XIII), with translation adjustments by Brady Kiesling affecting about 15 percent of the total . These translations are based on the 1826 Greek edition of Theophilus Kiesslingius. [https://topostext.org/work/617 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
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Category:Children of Poseidon Category:Mythology of Heracles