In Greek mythology, the Teumessian fox (Greek: Alopekos Teumesios, Αλωπεξ Τευμησιος ) was a gigantic fox that was destined never to be caught. It was said that it had been sent by the gods (perhaps Dionysus) to prey upon the children of Thebes as a punishment for some national crime.

Creon, the then Regent of Thebes, set Amphitryon the impossible task of destroying this beast. He discovered a perfect solution to the problem by fetching the magical dog Laelaps, whom was destined to catch everything it chased. Zeus, faced with an innevitable contradiction in fate (an uncatchable fox being pursued by an unavoidable dog) turned the pair of beasts into stone.

Sources

• Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses (XLI)
  
• Pseudo-Apollodorus, Library (II, 4, 6)
  
• Corinna (fgt. 672)
  
• Epigonoi (fgt. 4 PEG)
  
• Ovid Metamorphoses (VII, 748)
  
• Pausanias, Description of Greece (IX, 19, 1)

Links

ALOPEKOS TEUMESIOS

Greek Mythology

See also : Greek Mythology. Paintings, Drawings

Mythology Images