In Greek mythology, Misenus was a name attributed to two individuals.
- Misenus was a friend of Odysseus.1
- Misenus was a character in Virgil's epic poem the Aeneid. He was a brother-in-arms of Hector and, after his death, Aeneas' trumpeter. He challenged the gods to a musical contest on the conch shell, and for his impudence was drowned by Triton, who was jealous. Aeneas was later told by the Sibyl of Cumae that Misenus' body had to be buried before he can enter the Underworld. The passage detailing the funereal rites gives a valuable insight into Roman burial customs, and the importance the Romans placed on respect for the dead. It is regarded as the passage of the Aeneid most imitative of the Annales of Ennius. Cape Misenum, near Cumae, is supposedly named for Misenus. His being called Aeolides arose from the legendary connection between the Aeolian and Campanian Cumae.2
Referencess
- ^ Encyclopedia Mythica - Misenus 1. The companion of Odysseus. 2. The brother-in-arms of Hector, and later in the service of Aeneas. He was the trumpeter of Aeneas' fleet, challenged Triton and was drowned by him. Cape Misenum (current Miseno) in the Bay of Naples was named after him (Virgil III, 239; VI, 173, 212, 234).
- ^ Schmitz, Leonhard (1867), "Misenus", in Smith, William, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, 2, pp. 1093
