Phlegyas
Phlegyas, son of
Ares and
Chryse, King of the
Lapiths in
Greek mythology was father of
Ixion and
Coronis, one of
Apollo's lovers. Pregnant with
Asclepius, Coronis fell in love with
Ischys, son of
Elatus. A crow informed Apollo of the affair and he sent his sister, Artemis, to kill Coronis. Apollo rescued the baby though and gave it to the
centaur Chiron to raise. Phlegyas was irate and torched the Apollonian temple at
Delphi and Apollo killed him.
Phlegyas was condemned to act as ferryman for the souls that cross the Styx, one of the four rivers of Hades.
In the Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, Phlegias helps Virgil and Dante to cross that river.
Phlegyas was the mythical ancestor of the Phlegyans.