Hylas
Beautiful young companion of Heracles on the Argo who was pulled into a spring by enamored water nymphs and never seen again.
The Legend of Hylas
The Naiads wanted him so badly they dragged him underwater — and Heracles abandoned the quest for the Golden Fleece to search for him. Hylas went ashore in Mysia to fetch water and leaned over a spring. The Naiads, captivated by his beauty, seized his arm and pulled him beneath the surface. Heracles heard his cry and searched frantically, refusing to leave. The Argonauts debated whether to wait and finally sailed without their strongest member. Heracles wandered the coast calling Hylas's name — a scene that became one of the most depicted in ancient art. The people of Kios held an annual ritual of searching for Hylas, calling his name through the hills.
Parents
Theiodamas
Symbols
Fun Fact
The people of Kios held an annual festival where they walked through the hills calling Hylas's name.
Explore Further
Polyphemus the Argonaut
🗡 heroLoyalty, Loss, City Foundation
Lapith Argonaut who remained in Mysia searching for the lost Hylas and founded the city of Cius.
Mysian Plain
🏛 placegeography
A region of northwestern Anatolia where Heracles was abandoned by the Argonauts while searching for his lost companion Hylas.
Acis
🗡 heroLove, rivers
Sicilian shepherd youth beloved by the sea-nymph Galatea and crushed by the jealous Cyclops Polyphemus
Butes
🗡 heroBeekeeping, Resistance, Sirens
Argonaut and Athenian hero who alone leaped toward the Sirens and was saved by Aphrodite.
Aegeus
🗡 herotragedy
King of Athens and father of Theseus who threw himself into the sea when he saw black sails, believing his son was dead.
Narcissus
🗡 heroYouth who fell in love with his own reflection
A beautiful youth who rejected all lovers and fell in love with his own reflection in a pool. Unable to embrace the image, he wasted away and became a flower.
Elpenor
🗡 heroNone recorded
Young companion of Odysseus who died from a drunken fall on Circe's island
Jason
🗡 heroLeader of the Argonauts, seeker of the Golden Fleece
The hero who assembled the Argonauts and sailed to Colchis in quest of the Golden Fleece. Jason's story is one of ambition, adventure, and tragic betrayal.
Theseus
🗡 heroheroism
Athenian prince who entered the Cretan Labyrinth, killed the Minotaur with Ariadne's help, then abandoned her on Naxos.
Telegonus
🗡 herotragedy
Son of Odysseus and Circe who unknowingly killed his own father, fulfilling a prophecy that death would come to Odysseus from the sea.
Helle
🗡 herotragedy
Daughter of Athamas who fell from the golden ram into the strait that bears her name — the Hellespont.
Hyas
🗡 heroHunting, grief, stars
Hunter whose death from a lion or boar caused such grief in his sisters that they were transformed into the Hyades star cluster