Antenor (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Antenor was a son of the Dardanian noble Aesyetes by Cleomestra. He was one of the wisest of the Trojan elders and counsellors. Antenor was husband of Theano, daughter of Cisseus of Thrace, who bore him numerous children, mostly sons (most of whom perished during the Trojan War). Before and during the Trojan War, he was a councilor of King Priam. He advised his fellow-townsmen to send Helen back to the Greeks, and showed himself not unfriendly to the Greeks and an advocate of peace. In the later story (according to Dares and Dictys) he was said to have treacherously opened the gates of Troy to the enemy; in return for which, at the general sack of the city, his house, marked by a panther's skin at the door, was spared by the victors. Afterwards, according to various versions of the legend, he either rebuilt a city on the site of Troy, or settled at Cyrene, or became the founder of Patavium (currently Padua) (Virgil, Aeneid I, 242). The circle Antenora, for traitors, is named after him in the Divine Comedy. Antenor's children by Theano include Archelochus, Acamas, Glaucus, Helicaon, Laodocus, Coon, Polybus, Agenor, Iphidamas, Laodamas, Demeleon, Eurymachus, and Crino. He was also the father of a son Pedaeus, by an unknown woman.

Modern references

A minor planet 2207 Antenor discovered in 1977 by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh is named after him.

References

Sources

• Homer, Iliad III, 148, 203, 262; VII, 347.
• Horace, Epp. i. 2. 9.
• Livy, i. 1.
• Pindar, Pythia, v. 83.