Philomelus

For the general of the Phocians in the Third Sacred War, see Philomelus of Phocis.

Philomelus
Inventor of the chariot, the wagon and the plough
Other names	Philomêlos, Philomenus, Philomenos
Genealogy
Parents	Iasion and Demeter
Siblings	Plutus, Corybas, Despoina, Persephone, Iacchus, Arion
Children	Parias

In Greek mythology, Philomelus, Philomelos, Philomenus or Philomenos (/ˌfɪləˈmiːləs/; Greek: Φιλόμηλος, romanized: Philómêlos; /fɪˈlɒmɪnəs/; Greek: Φιλόμηλος, romanized: Philómēnos) was a mortal demigod/minor god son of Demeter, and the inventor of farm equipment such as the hoe, the carrying pole, the yoke, the wagon, the carriage, the chariot, the wheelbarrow and the plough (that became the constellation, "the Plough", that's also a part of the constellation, Ursa Major).

His name means 'friend of ease' from philos and mêlos.

Family

Philomelus was the son of the goddess, Demeter, and Iasion (a son of the Pleiad, Electra and Zeus), and the mortal fraternal-twin-brother of Plutus. Among their many half-siblings is Persephone (the queen of the Underworld).

Philomelus' son, Parias, gave his name to the Parians and the city of Parion (a town in Mysia on the Hellespont).

Mythology

While Philomelus' fraternal-twin brother, Plutus, turned-out to be immortal and very wealthy, he would share none of his riches or good fortune with his brother. Out of necessity, Philomelus bought two oxen, invented equipment like the yoke and the wagon, and supported himself with long, hard work by ploughing his fields and cultivating crops. Their mother, Demeter, admiring her ingenuitive son for his inventions and his hard work, put him in the heavens as the constellation Boötes (lit. "ox-driver," "plowman," or "herdsman"), when his time came, immortalizing him in the night sky.

While both the constellations Boötes and the Big Dipper are associated with Philomelus, the constellation the Auriga (the chariot or the charioteer) is not. Instead Auriga is associated with characters like Erichthonius (a son of Hephaestus), who was also said to have invented the chariot (or a version of a chariot to act as an early version of a wheelchair), and Athena (as evidenced by her epithet "Hippia" (lit. "she of the horses')).

External links

• William Smith, ed. (1870). "Philomelus" . Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
• "BOOTES - Greek Demi-God of the Plough & Wagon". www.theoi.com.