Introduction
Aeacus is a son of Zeus and the nymph Aegina, king of the island of Aegina, celebrated in his lifetime for exceptional justice and piety, and, after death, honoured as one of the three judges of the dead in the underworld, alongside Minos and Rhadamanthus.
This figure marks the point where the genealogy of the gods gives way to the genealogy of heroes. A fuller account of their adventures belongs to a separate treatment of the Greek Heroic Cycle; this article covers their divine parentage and place in that transition.
Family
- Father: Zeus
- Mother: Aegina
- Siblings: Persephone, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Dionysus, Ares, Hephaestus, Hebe, Eileithyia, Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polyhymnia, Terpsichore, Thalia, Urania, Perseus, Heracles, Arcas, Epaphus, Dardanus, Minos, Rhadamanthus, Sarpedon, Pollux (Polydeuces), Helen, Amphion, Zethus
King of Aegina and the Myrmidons
Growing up largely alone on the newly named island, Aeacus asked Zeus to populate it, and the god transformed the local ants into people, the Myrmidons, over whom Aeacus then ruled as a just and pious king, whose prayers were said to be able to end droughts and plagues.
Judge of the dead
For his exceptional fairness in life, Aeacus was made, after death, one of the three judges who weigh the souls of the dead in the underworld, alongside Minos and Rhadamanthus, his fellow sons of Zeus in this shared role.
Ancestor of the heroes of Troy
Aeacus's descendants form one of the most important lines of the Trojan War generation: his son Peleus (father, by the sea-nymph Thetis, of Achilles) and his son Telamon (father of the great warrior Ajax) both trace directly back to him, making Aeacus a key genealogical bridge to the Heroic Cycle.