Caeneus, Trans Warrior King and Conqueror of Centaurs, Acusilaus fr. 22

The Warrior King Caeneus

Name: Acusilaus Date:   6th century BCE Region:    Argos [modern Greece] Citation:   fragment 22 / P. Oxy.13.1611

Acusilaus says the following about Caeneus: Poseidon slept with Caenis, the child of Elatus. Not being able to bear a child for him or anyone else, Poseidon made him an invincible man, having  the greatest strength of all mankind, nor could anyone pierce him with iron or bronze, or anything else. And so he became king of the Lapiths, and fought against the Centaurs.

λέγει γὰρ περὶ Καινέα̣  οὕτως· Καινῆι δὲ τῆι  ʼΕλάτου μίσγεται Ποσι- δῶν. ἔπειτα οὐ γὰρ ἦν αὐτῆι ἰσ̣τ̣ὸν παῖδας  τεκνὲ̣ν οὔτ’ ἐξ̣  ἐκείνου οὔτ’ ἐξ ἄλλου οὐ δενός, ποιεῖ αὐτὸν Πο- σε̣δέων ἄνδρα ἄτρω- τον̣, ἰ̣σχύν ἔχοντα μεγ̣ί- στη̣ν τῶν ἀνθρώπων τῶν τότε, καὶ ὅτε τις αὐ- τὸν κεντοίη σιδερῶι ἢ χαλκῶι, ἠλίσκετο μά- λιστα χρημάτων. καὶ γίγνεται βασιλεὺς οὗ- τος Λαπιθέων καὶ τοῖς Κενταύροις πολεμεεσκε.

Haec fabula de Caeneo [ab Acusilaeo historico] fertur: Neptunum Caenidi, Elati proli, miscuisse. Quae nec illo nec cuiquam filios gignere nequiens, in virum atrotum & ex omnibus fortissimum a Neptuno transformatus, nec ferro nec aere nec telo alio vulnerari potuit. Deinde Caeneus Rex Lapithorum factus, et Centaurisque bellum ingessit. Translated into Latin by Kris Masters

Acusilaus of Argos [6th century BCE, modern Greece] Little is known about the life or works of Acusilaus, but he is thought to be a mythographer from the 6th century BCE. Only fragments of his work remain.