Oncius

In Greek mythology, Oncius^{[pronunciation?]} (Ancient Greek: Ὄγκιος, romanized: Ónkios, lit. 'case for arrowheads') or Oncus (Ancient Greek: Ὄγκος, romanized: Ónkos, lit. 'point of an arrow')^[1] was a son of Apollo and a ruler over Ónkeion (Ὄγκειον), a region of Arcadia adjacent to Thelpusa,^[2][3] as well as eponym of a city Oncae.^[4] He owned a herd of horses, in which Demeter tried to hide from Poseidon's advances, changing herself into a mare. Poseidon did mate with her in the shape of a stallion, which resulted in the birth of the fantastic horse Arion. Oncius kept Arion and later gave him away to Heracles as the latter was starting a military campaign against Elis.^[5]

Notes

1. Liddell Scott s.v. ὄγκιον & ὄγκος (Α)
2. Pausanias, Description of Greece, 8. 25. 4
3. Stephanus of Byzantium s. v. Onkeion
4. Etymologicum Magnum, 613. 43
5. Pausanias, Description of Greece, 8. 25. 5 & 10

References

• Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. ISBN 0-674-99328-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
• Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Stephanus of Byzantium, Stephani Byzantii Ethnicorum quae supersunt, edited by August Meineike (1790-1870), published 1849. A few entries from this important ancient handbook of place names have been translated by Brady Kiesling. Online version at the Topos Text Project.