cAcus
Publié le 22/02/2012
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cAcus (1) Greek A halfhuman lesser god, a
maneating ogre, the son of Hephaestus.
cAcus (2) Roman First an early god of the
people of Etruria, perhaps a household god of the
hearth, or a Penate. In his earliest representations,
Cacus was a beautiful young man, a shepherd, and
singer with the gift of seeing into the future. His
image survives on an early Etruscan mirror made of
bronze.
Over time and in various stories, Cacus was also the
villain in the Roman story of Hercules' adventures
with the cattle of Geryon. Two important Roman
poets portray Cacus differently as they tell the story
of Cacus's theft of the cattle as Hercules rested near a
river. According to Livy, Cacus, a local shepherd, was
a strong, fierce man. According to Virgil, Cacus was a
dangerous, evil monster who ate humans and littered
his cave with their skulls and bones. In both versions,
Hercules kills Cacus while rescuing the cattle. The
traditional site of this conflict became Rome's famous
cattle market, the forum Boarium.
In another story, Cacus was the slave of King
Evander. Cacus stole the sheep of a Greek colonist.