Epeius of Phocis

In Greek mythology, Epeius (/ɪˈpaɪ.əs/; Ancient Greek: Ἐπειός Epeiós) or Epeus, a Greek soldier during the Trojan War or in some accounts, even one of the Achaean Leaders during the said war leading a contingent of 30 ships from the islands of the Cyclades.[1] He was also the architect who constructed the Wooden Horse with the help of which the Achaeans could take Troy; he was himself among those warriors who hid inside it.[2][3][4]

Greek Mythology

Agamemnon, Talthybius and Epeius, Relief from Samothrace

Family

Epeus was the son of Panopeus, son of Phocus and Asterodia.
Mythology

Epeius had the reputation for being a coward but in the Iliad he was victorious after participating in the boxing match against Euryalus at the funeral games in honour of Patroclus. Later during the funeral games for Achilles he fought Acamas the son of Theseus to a stalemate. He built the Trojan Horse, commissioned by Odysseus because Athena had told him in a dream she would be with him to help build it. The horse was hollow and was large enough to hold 30 Greek soldiers equipped with all their armor but Epeius made the Trojan horse so tall that it could not fit through any of the gates of Troy. The trap door of the horse was fastened with a special catch that only Epeius could undo. After constructing the massive horse, he chose the other 29 soldiers that would accompany him inside the horse. He also founded Pisa and Metapontum.[5]
Notes

Dictys Cretensis, Trojan War Chronicle 1.17
Apollodorus, Epitome 5.14
Tzetzes, Posthomerica 641–650
Quintus Smyrnaeus,Posthomerica 12.314-335

Virgil, Aeneid 2.264

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. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
Dictys Cretensis, from The Trojan War. The Chronicles of Dictys of Crete and Dares the Phrygian translated by Richard McIlwaine Frazer, Jr. (1931-). Indiana University Press. 1966. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
Publius Vergilius Maro, Aeneid. Theodore C. Williams. trans. Boston. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1910. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
Publius Vergilius Maro, Bucolics, Aeneid, and Georgics. J. B. Greenough. Boston. Ginn & Co. 1900. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
Quintus Smyrnaeus,The Fall of Troy translated by Way. A. S. Loeb Classical Library Volume 19. London: William Heinemann, 1913. Online version at theio.com
Quintus Smyrnaeus,The Fall of Troy. Arthur S. Way. London: William Heinemann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1913. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.

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Characters in the Iliad
Achaeans

Acamas Achilles Agamemnon (king of Mycenae) Agapenor Ajax the Greater (king of Salamis) Ajax the Lesser Alcimus Anticlus Antilochus Arcesilaus Ascalaphus Automedon Balius and Xanthus Bias Calchas (prophet) Diomedes (king of Argos) Elephenor Epeius Eudoros Euryalus Eurybates Eurydamas Eurypylus Guneus Helen (queen of Sparta) Ialmenus Idomeneus (king of Crete) Iphigenia (princess of Mycenae) Leitus Leonteus Lycomedes Machaon Medon Meges Menelaus (king of Sparta) Menestheus Meriones Neoptolemus Nestor (king of Pylos) Nireus Odysseus (king of Ithaca) Palamedes Patroclus Peneleos Philoctetes Phoenix Podalirius Podarces Polites Polypoetes Promachus Protesilaus Prothoenor Schedius Sinon Stentor Sthenelus Talthybius Teucer Thersites Thoas Thrasymedes Tlepolemus