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Myscellus, a MythSource painting
Greek

Myscellus

01Identity

Myscellus in Greek tradition

In Henry T. Riley's 1889 English rendering of Ovid's Metamorphoses, Myscelos is caught between a divine command and the law of his Argive city. Hercules directs him to leave, while the city treats departure as a capital offence. When the accusation reaches a trial, Hercules's role in the command becomes part of Myscelos's plea, and the verdict is reversed through the pebbles used to judge him. He is acquitted and completes the journey across the Ionian Sea. At its end, Riley places Myscelos at the burial site of Croton and says that he establishes a city there, giving it the buried man's name. The episode connects a settlement's origin to divine intervention and a grave. It is Ovid's literary account as translated by Riley, not independent evidence for the historical founding of Croton.

SourceThe Metamorphoses of Ovid: Book XV, pp. 517–519

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02The myths

The myths of Myscellus

1 myth, with sources recorded for each.

Myscelos's Journey to Croton

In Riley's 1889 rendering of Ovid, Myscelos faces a conflict that no ordinary choice can settle: Hercules has ordered him away, but his city punishes anyone who leaves. When the charge is brought, he appeals to the god whose command put him there. A miraculous reversal secures his acquittal, and he is free to depart.

Riley links that release to Croton's origin: Myscelos establishes his city at the place where Croton is buried, and gives the settlement the dead man's name. The episode folds divine intervention into a literary account of civic origins. It does not establish Croton's historical foundation.

Myscelos's Journey to Croton, a MythSource painting of the scene

3 sources· checked 2026-09-29

  1. 1The Metamorphoses of OvidT1
  2. 2The Metamorphoses of OvidT1
  3. 3The Metamorphoses of OvidT1