Androgeos



Androgeos or Androgeus (Ἀνδρόγεως, Androgeōs) was the name of two individuals in Greek and Roman mythology.

In Greek mythology, Androgeos was the father of Sthenelus and a son of Minos and Pasiphaë. Aegeus, King of Athens, killed Androgeos because he won every prize during a feast. As punishment, the Athenians had to send several youths every nine years to be devoured by the Minotaur. This continued until the Minotaur was killed by Theseus.

In Virgil's Aeneid, Androgeos was a Greek soldier, who during the sack of Troy in the middle of the night mistook Aeneas and his group of Trojan defenders for a Greek raiding party, paying for this mistake with his life. Afterwards, Aeneas's companion Coroebus dressed in Androgeos' armor in order to fool more Greek soldiers to their demise.