Nireus
Considered the most beautiful Greek at Troy after Achilles, but brought only three ships and minor military impact.
The Legend of Nireus
Nireus was the son of Aglaia and Charopus, and king of the small island of Syme near Rhodes. Homer mentions him briefly in the Iliad as the most beautiful of all the Greeks who came to Troy — second only to Achilles — but notes immediately that he was weak and brought only a small contingent of three ships. He is the paradigmatic example in Greek literature of a man whose beauty promises greatness but whose reality delivers very little. His early death in the war was recorded in the lost post-Homeric epics; he was killed by Eurypylus, son of Telephus, in the later stages of the conflict. Later writers used Nireus as a byword for beauty without substance — Horace mentions him, and Lucian of Samosata wrote a dialogue in which Nireus proves to be less interesting than his looks suggest. In Hellenistic poetry he became a standard reference for male physical beauty.
Parents
Charopus (father); Aglaia (mother)
Symbols
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