MATTON & KERAON
Greek Name
Ματτων
Κεραων
Δειπνευς
Transliteration
Mattôn
Keraôn
Deipneus
Latin Spelling
Matton
Ceraon
Deipneus
Translation
Kneading (mattô)
Mixing (keraô)
Meal-Making (deipneô)
MATTON and KERAON (Ceraon) were Spartan demi-gods of the preparation of meals. Matton was the breadmaker, literally "kneader of dough", and Keraon the mixer of wine.
DEIPNEUS was a related Akhaian (Achaean) demi-god of meal-preparation or perhaps more specifically of breadmaking.
PARENTS
Nowhere stated
CLASSICAL LITERATURE QUOTES
Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 1. 39c - 39d (trans. Gullick) (Greek rhetorician C2nd to C3rd A.D.) :
"Polemos says that in Mounykhia (Munychia) honours are paid to a hero Akratopotes (Drinker of Unmixed Wine), and that among the Spartans statues of heroes named Matton (Kneader) and Keraon (Ceraon, Mixer) have been set up by certain cooks in the public mess. In Akhaia (Achaea), also, Deipneus, who got his name from deipna (Dinners), is held in honour."
Aelian, Historical Miscellany 14. 7 (trans. Wilson) (Greek rhetorician C2nd to 3rd A.D.) :
"Spartan cooks were expected to know about meat only; anyone with other skills was banished from Sparta."
Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 274 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Inventors and their Inventions . . . A certain man named Cerasus mixed wine with the river Achelous in Aetolia, and from this ‘to mix’ is called kerasai."
SOURCES
GREEK
- Aelian, Historical Miscellany - Greek Rhetoric C2nd - 3rd A.D.
- Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae - Greek Rhetoric C3rd A.D.
ROMAN
- Hyginus, Fabulae - Latin Mythography C2nd A.D.
OTHER SOURCES
Other references not currently quoted here: Polemo Historicus 40 (Keraon).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A complete bibliography of the translations quoted on this page.