Name of several figures in Greek mythology. One Glaucus was the young son of King Minos; he fell into a jar of honey and died, and the court seer restored him to life with a magic herb. Glaucus Pontius was a sea god; originally a fisherman and diver, he ate a magic plant and became divine. Glaucus, son of Sisyphus and father of Bellerophon, fed his horses human flesh and was torn to pieces by them. Another Glaucus was a grandson of Bellerophon, who assisted King Priam in the Trojan War.
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Glaucus fell in love with the beautiful nymph Scylla, but she was appalled by his fish-like features and fled onto land when he tried to approach her. He asked the witch Circe for a potion to make Scylla fall in love with him, but Circe fell in love with him. She tried to win his heart with her most passionate and loving words, telling him to scorn Scylla and stay with her. But he replied that trees would grow on the ocean floor and seaweed would grow on the highest mountain before he would stop loving Scylla. In her anger, Circe poisoned the pool where Scylla bathed, transforming her into a terrible monster with twelve feet and six heads. In Euripides' play Orestes, Glaucus was a son of Nereus and says that he assisted Menelaus on his homeward journey with good advice. He also helped the Argonauts. It was believed that he commonly came to the rescue of sailors in storms, having once been one himself.
Glaucus, usually surnamed Potnieus, from Potniae near Thebes, was a Corinthian king, son of Merope and Sisyphus. He angered Aphrodite, and she angered his horses during the funeral games of King Pelias. In the end, the horses literally tore Glaucus' body apart (ref.: Virgil, Georgics, Hyginus ). His ghost supposedly was a taraxippus ("terrifier of horses") during the Isthmian Games (ref: Pausanias ). He was also the father of Bellerophon.
Glaukos was a son of Hippolochus and a grandson of Bellerophon. He was a captain in the Lycian army under the command of his close friend and cousin Sarpedon. The Lycians in the Trojan War were allies of Troy. During the war Glaukos fought valiantly.
In the Iliad (2.876; 6.199), he met Diomedes in the field of battle in face to face combat. In response to Diomedes' challenge to him, Glaukos said that as a grandson of Bellerophon he would fight anybody. On learning of Glaukos' ancestry Diomedes planted his spear in the ground and told of how his grandfather Oeneus was a close friend of Bellerophon, and declared that the two of them despite being on opposing sides should continue the friendship. As a sign of friendship Diomedes took off his bronze armor and gave it to Glaukos. Glaukos then had his wits taken by Zeus and gave Diomedes his gold armour.
Glaukos was in the division of Sarpedon and Asteropaios when the Trojans assaulted the Greek wall. Their division fought valiantly, allowing Hector to break through the wall. During this assault Teucer shot Glaukos with an arrow, wounding him and forcing him to withdraw from combat. Later, upon seeing Sarpedon mortally wounded, Glaukos prayed to Apollo, asking him to help him to rescue the body of his dying friend. Apollo cured his wound, allowing Glaukos to rally the Trojans around the body of Sarpedon until the gods carried the body away. Later in the war, when the fighting over Achilles' corpse took place, Glaukos was killed by Ajax. His body however, was rescued by Aeneas and was then taken by Apollo to Lycia for funeral rites.
Searching for the boy, Polyidus saw an owl driving bees away from a wine-cellar in Minos' palace. Inside the wine-cellar was a cask of honey, with Glaucus dead inside. Minos demanded Glaucus be brought back to life, though Polyidus objected. Minos was justified in his insistence, as the Delphic Oracle had said that the seer would restore the child alive. Minos shut Polyidus up in the wine-cellar with a sword. When a snake appeared nearby, Polyidus killed it with the sword. Another snake came for the first, and after seeing its mate dead, the second serpent left and brought back a herb which then brought the first snake back to life. Following this example, Polyidus used the same herb to resurrect Glaucus.
Minos refused to let Polyidus leave Crete until he taught Glaucus the art of divination. Polyidus did so, but then, at the last second before leaving, he asked Glaucus to spit in his mouth. Glaucus did so and forgot everything he had been taught. The story of Polyidus and Glaucus was the subject of a lost play attributed to Euripides. Glaucus later led an army that attacked Italy, introducing to them the military girdle and shield. This was the source of his Italian name, Labicus, meaning "girdled".