Eryx, ancient city, W Sicily, Italy. Long a source of conflict between Carthage and Syracuse, it was destroyed (c.260 B.C.) by the Carthaginians in the First Punic War. Its temple of Venus Erycina was an important religious shrine; the temple area was excavated in 1936. The most notable remains are Cyclopean walls, some with Phoenician inscriptions. The site is now occupied by the village of Erice.

In Greek mythology, Eryx was the son of Aphrodite and King Butes of the Elymian people on Sicily. Eryx was an excellent boxer but died when Heracles beat him in a match. An alternate version claims that Perseus turned him to stone with the head of Medusa.

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