Leitus

In Greek mythology, Leitus (/ˈliːɪtəs/; Ancient Greek: Λήϊτος) was a leader of the Boeotians and admiral of 12 ships which sailed against Troy.[1]

Family

Leitus was the son of Alector (Alectryon)[2] and Polybule[3] or of Lacritus and Cleobule.[1] He was the brother of Clonius, and probably the half-sibling of other Boeotian leaders, Arcesilaus and Prothoenor.[4]

In some accounts, Leitus was described as an earth-born and thus a son of Gaia (Earth).[5]
Mythology

Leitus also sailed with the Argonauts[6] and afterwards, as one of the suitors of Helen, fought in the Trojan War,[1][7][8] where he killed 20 enemies,[9] including Phylacus.[10]

Leitus was one of the seven Achaean leaders (others being Teucer, Thoas, Meriones, Antilochus, Peneleos and Deipyrus) in front of whom Poseidon appeared during the Trojans' attack on the Achaean ships, urging them to fight back instead of acting like cowards.[11] He was wounded by Hector on the hand at the wrist,[12] but in the end, he was the only Boeotian leader to safely return home after the Trojan War. He also brought back the remains of Arcesilaus, another Boeotian chieftain, and buried them near the city of Lebadea.[13] His own tomb was at Plataeae.[14]
Notes

Hyginus, Fabulae 97
Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica 4.67.7
Tzetzes, Allegoriae Iliadis Prologue 534
Tzetzes, Allegoriae Iliadis Prologue 533–536
Euripides, Iphigenia in Aulis 259
Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1.9.16
Homer, Iliad 2.494
Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3.10.8
Hyginus, Fabulae 114
Homer, Iliad 6.35
Homer, Iliad 13.90–124
Homer, Iliad 17.602–605
Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio 9.39.3

Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio 9.4.3

References

Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History translated by Charles Henry Oldfather. Twelve volumes. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59–8. Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site
Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888–1890. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
Euripides, The Plays of Euripides, translated by E. P. Coleridge. Volume II. London. George Bell and Sons. 1891. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
Euripides, Euripidis Fabulae. vol. 3. Gilbert Murray. Oxford. Clarendon Press, Oxford. 1913. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
Gaius Julius Hyginus, Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
Homer, The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
Homer, Homeri Opera in five volumes. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 1920. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. Online version
Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
Pseudo-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. . Greek text .

vte

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