Polyphemus the Argonaut
Lapith Argonaut who remained in Mysia searching for the lost Hylas and founded the city of Cius.
The Legend of Polyphemus the Argonaut
This Polyphemus — not the Cyclops of the Odyssey — was a Lapith hero, son of Elatus and Hippeia, who was among the oldest of the Argonauts. He had fought in the battle between the Lapiths and the Centaurs in his youth. During the Argonauts' stop in Mysia, the beautiful youth Hylas was taken by water-nymphs. Heracles went in frantic search for him, abandoning the ship. Polyphemus also went ashore to search. When the Argo was blown out to sea at night and could not return for the two, both were left behind. Polyphemus remained in Mysia — unable to find Hylas, unable to return home. He lived there, founded the city of Cius (later Prusias ad Hypium in Bithynia), and died fighting the Chalybes. Like Heracles, he never completed the voyage to Colchis. He became a symbol of loyal persistence — the man who stayed searching rather than abandoning the mission or returning in defeat.
Parents
Elatus (father); Hippeia (mother)
Symbols
Fun Fact
Polyphemus the Argonaut spent the rest of his life searching Mysia for Hylas — founding a city along the way — and died still far from home, one of mythology's most persistent loyalists.
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