Cerambus

In Greek mythology, Cerambus (Ancient Greek: Κέραμβος, Kerambos), a son of Euseiros (himself
son of Poseidon) and the nymph Eidothea of Othreis.

Mythology
Cerambus was a survivor of Deucalion's flood by means of wings which he received from the nymphs.
These wings had raised him above the water thus escaping death.[1] He dwelt in the land of the
Melians on the spurs of Mount Othrys and owned a large herd of cattle.

In another myth, Cerambus was renowned as the greatest singer of his time. He was credited with
inventing the shepherd's pipes, as well as with introducing lyre-playing and composing a number of
delightful rural songs. This was why the nymphs of Mount Othrys favored him, and even became
visible to him as he was playing his lyre. The honors, however, made Cerambus arrogant to the point
of insanity: when Pan advised him to drive his cattle down to the plain, due to an extremely severe
winter being expected, Cerambus wouldn't listen to him as though smitten by some god.

Moreover, he went so far in his insolence that he told insulting and mindless tales of the nymphs,
claiming that they were descended not from Zeus, but from Spercheios and the naiad Deino, and that
when Poseidon fell for one of the nymphs, Diopatra, he changed her sisters into poplar trees, but
restored their original shape after satisfying his desires. The nymphs were angry and transformed
Cerambus into a wood-gnawing beetle Cerambyx (κεράμβυξ). A short while later there came a sudden
frost and the streams froze. This was the beginning of the severe winter Pan predicted. The cattle all
perished from the cold, as did the trees.

"The Cerambyx beetle can be seen on trunks and has hook-teeth, ever moving his jaws together. It is
black, long, and has hard wings like a great dung beetle and is called the ox that eats wood. Boys use
him as a toy, cutting off his head, to wear as a pendant. The head looks like the horns of a lyre made
from a tortoiseshell."[2]

See also
Myia
Tithonus

Notes
1. Ovid, Metamorphoses 7.353 - 356
 2. Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses 22

References
Antoninus Liberalis, The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis translated by Francis Celoria
(Routledge 1992). Online version at the Topos Text Project. (https://topostext.org/work/216)
Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses translated by Brookes More (1859-1942). Boston, Cornhill
Publishing Co. 1922. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/h
opper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0028)
Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses. Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes.
1892. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?
doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0029).

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