SYKEUS

SYKEUS (Syceus) was one of the Gigantes (Giants) or Titanes who waged war on the gods. Zeus pursued him to Kilikia (Cilicia) where his mother Gaia (the Earth) hid him in her bossom and transformed him into the first fig-tree.

PARENTS

GAIA (Athenaeus 78a)

CLASSICAL LITERATURE QUOTES

Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 78a (trans. Gullick) (Greek rhetorician C2nd to C3rd A.D.) :
"Speaking of the name given to figs (sykon), Tryphon, in the second book of the History of Plants, says that Androtion, in the Farmer's Handbook, tells the story that Sykeus (Syceus), one of the Titanes (Titans), was pursued by Zeus and taken under the protection of his mother, Ge (Gaea, the Earth), and that she caused the plant [the fig-tree] to grow for her son's pleasure; from him also the city of Sykea (Sycea) in Kilikia (Cicilia) got its name."

SOURCES

GREEK

• Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae - Greek Rhetoric C3rd A.D.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A complete bibliography of the translations quoted on this page.