{"id":1151,"date":"2019-10-20T06:56:06","date_gmt":"2019-10-20T05:56:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/?post_type=gods&p=1151"},"modified":"2024-02-23T15:18:32","modified_gmt":"2024-02-23T15:18:32","slug":"aristaeus","status":"publish","type":"gods","link":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/gods\/aristaeus\/","title":{"rendered":"Aristaeus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

God of Shepherds and Useful Arts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In Greek mythology, Aristaeus was the god of useful arts, such as bee-keeping and cheese-making, olive-growing, herding, and hunting. He was a rustic god, a god of the countryside and pastoral places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aristaeus was a minor god in Athens but a prominent god in Boetia, a farming region in central Greece, where he was known as “the pastoral Apollo.” He is often pictured on Boetian pottery as a young man with wings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aristaeus also appears prominently in the mythology of Macedonia, Arcadia, Sicily, Sardinia, Thessaly, and Ceos. Later, stories about his travel emerged in order to account for his prominence in all these different regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over time, Aristaeus became a popular Greek name, given to many famous public figures in ancient Greek politics and society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"aristaeus-god-of-useful-arts\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
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Aristaeus’s Birth and Training<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Aristaeus was the son of Apollo<\/a> and Cyrene. Apollo seduced Cyrene by promising she would be the founding mother of a great city raised in her name if she would go to Libya with him. After Aristaeus was born, he was taken by Hermes<\/a> and raised on nectar and ambrosia. The Earth goddess Gaia<\/a> then made him immortal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Various gods and goddesses<\/a> taught Aristaeus the rustic arts. Apollo taught him the art of healing with herbs. The goddess Demeter<\/a> taught him how to hunt and how to skin the animals he caught and tan leather. The god Dionysus<\/a> taught him to make beer and wine. The great Earth mother Demeter taught him the arts of herding and agriculture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the Myrtle-Nymphs Aristaeous learning to make olive oil, keep bees for honey, and to make butter and cheese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Aristaeus became a man he sailed to Boetia and was schooled in deeper mysteries by the Centaur Chiron<\/a>. He married Autonoe, a daughter of Cadmus, founder of Thebes<\/a>. They had a son named Acteon, who was also trained in hunting and other mysteries by the cave-dwelling Chiron.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Aristaeus, Ceos, and the Dog-Star Sirius<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

According to one myth, the Delphic Oracle advised Aristaeus to visit Ceos, where he would be greatly honored by the local people. When he arrived he found them falling ill due to the early morning rising of Sirius, the Dog-Star. Aristaeus put together a healing ritual that involved a sacrifice to Sirius at its first appearance, thereby cooling the weather and healing the sick populace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aristaeus also found that Ceos was overrun by murderers. He found them and had them executed, making Ceos safe once again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How Aristaeus Saved the Bees<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In yet another story, Aristaeus found that his bees were all dying. He went to see the Water Nymph Arethusa, who appeared to him as a fountain. Arethusa told him to make sacrifices of cattle and leave their carcasses on the altar. From those carcasses, new colonies of bees appeared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Facts About Aristaeus<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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  • Aristaeus is sometimes credited with the invention of the olive press. This contraption was a very important  development in ancient agriculture. It enabled the widespread production of olive oil, a staple in the Greek (and wider meditterannean) diet and economy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Beyond his well-known association with pastoral arts, Aristaeus was also revered as a protector of small towns and communities. The blessings he was invoked to provide were often prayed for to safeguard against the hardships of rural life and for prosperity for the community.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Aristaeus’s connection to bees went far beyond mere beekeeping. Ancient texts suggest he was also venerated as a guardian of bees.\u00a0Responsible for their health and productivity which\u00a0made him a rare, masculine figure of fertility and abundance.\u00a0Something that was mostly reserved for the more feminine deities.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • While Aristaeus’s cult was particularly prominent in Boetia, he was also celebrated in festivals across much of Greece Particularly rural areas with a heavy reliance on agricultural and pastoral life. These festivals often included competitions in cheese-making and olive oil production, reflecting his domains of patronage.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Aristaeus’s marriage to Autonoe and their son Actaeon link him to the tragic tale of Actaeon’s transformation into a stag and subsequent death by his own hounds.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • In some lesser-known myths, Aristaeus is credited with the discovery of the curative properties of certain herbs and plants. These rare accounts further cement his role as a god of healing and protector of human health.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • With a name that translates to ‘the best’ or more accurately ‘most excellent,’ it’s a wonder he never appeared in any of the Bill and Ted movies!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    God of Shepherds and Useful Arts In Greek mythology, Aristaeus was the god of useful arts, such as bee-keeping and cheese-making, olive-growing, herding, and hunting. He was a rustic god, a god of the countryside and pastoral places. Aristaeus was a minor god in Athens but a prominent god in Boetia, a farming region in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3321,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gods\/1151"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gods"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/gods"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1151"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gods\/1151\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5084,"href":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gods\/1151\/revisions\/5084"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}