Paeon (son of Endymion)

Paeon or Paion (Ancient Greek: Παίων, gen.: Παίονος), in Greek mythology, was an Elean prince as son of King Endymion, and brother of Epeius, Aetolus, EurycydaPausanias, Description of Greece, 5.1.4-5.1.11 and possibly Naxos.Stephanus of Byzantium, Ethnica s.v. Naxos From him, the ancient region of Paeonia—on the Axius river, in the northern parts of the modern region of Macedonia—and the tribe of the Paeonians, were believed to have derived their name.Smith "Paeon" 3.

According to mythology, Endymion had his sons compete in a footrace at Olympia for the right to succeed him as king. Epeius emerged victorious and inherited the kingdom. Paeon, angered by his defeat, withdrew into a distant exile, and the land beyond the River Axius that he settled became known as Paeonia after him.

Notes

See also Paeonian language

References Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. . Online version at the Perseus Digital Library Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library. Smith, William, A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. London. Online at Perseus Stephanus of Byzantium, Stephani Byzantii Ethnicorum quae supersunt, edited by August Meineike (1790-1870), published 1849. A few entries from this important ancient handbook of place names have been translated by Brady Kiesling. Online version at the Topos Text Project.