'Eryx was a son of Aphrodite and Butas (Butes), a certain native king of Sikelia (Sicily) of very great fame, and he was admired by the natives because of his noble birth on his mother's side and became king over a part of the island. 'And he shall come to the inhospitable wrestling-arena of the bull whom Kolotis (Colotis) bare.'ĭiodorus Siculus, Library of History 4.

Quickly would they have robbed him of his return then and there, but the goddess that rules Eryx, Kypris (Cypris), in pity snatched him away, while yet in the eddies, and graciously meeting him saved him to dwell on the Lilybaion (Lilybaeum) height.' ' the goodly son of Teleon alone of the comrades leapt before them all from the polished bench into the sea, even Boutes, his soul melted by the clear ringing voice of the Seirenes (Sirens) and he swam through the dark surge to mount the beach, poor wretch. He found it in the herds of Eryx, and when the king refused to surrender it unless Herakles should beat him in a wrestling bout, Herakles beat him thrice, killed him in the wrestling, and taking the bull drove it with the rest of the herd to the Ionian Sea.'Īpollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4. So Herakles entrusted the kine to Hephaistos (Hephaestus) and hurried away in search of the bull. Now Eryx was a son of Poseidon, and he mingled the bull with his own herds. ' At Rhegion (Rhegium) a bull broke away and hastily plunging into the sea swam across to Sikelia (Sicily), and having passed through the neighboring country since called Italy after it, for the Tyrrhenians called the bull italus, came to the plain of Eryx, who reigned over the Elymoi. BOUTES & APHRODITE (Diodorus Siculus 4.23.2 & 4.83.1) The king was killed in the ensuing contest. When Herakles was herding the cattle of Geryon across the island, Eryx stole the finest bull from the herd and challenged the hero to a wrestling or boxing match when he sought to recover it. While staying in Eryx, he may have also built the wall that now bears his name.ERYX was a king of the Sicilian town of Eryx, a son of either the god Poseidon or of Aphrodite and the hero Boutes.

After losing his son, Daedalus came to the temple in Eryx to pay homage to Aphrodite. The wax started to melt, and eventually, he plunged down into the sea. Before taking off, Daedalus warned his son not to fly too near to the sun, but the stubborn Icarus didn't listen. To escape from the tyranny of King Minos, Daedalus made wax wings for himself and Icarus. You might know him from the famous myth of Daedalus and Icarus (his son). In Greek mythology, Daedalus was a skillful architect. The section of the wall is named the Wall of Daedalus. This means the wall might have been part of the Temple of Venus' outer wall. However, a wall section at the northern point of the grounds dates back much further (4th or 3rd century BC). Most of the inner courtyard walls are part of the Norman castle.

However, it is little more than just a large cistern excavated in the rocky bank, used to contain the water collected on the esplanade where the temple was. The Well of Venus is said to be a purifying bath in which the goddess and priestesses bathed.

Eryx the tagger