(), a son of Deucalion, and grandson of Minos
and Pasiphae; and hence he traced his pedigree to Zeus and Helios. He was a man of great
beauty, and is mentioned among the suitors of Helen. (Hon. Il.
13.450, &c., Od. 19.181; Paus. 5.25. 5; Apollod. 3.3. §; Dict. Cret. 1.1;
Hyg. Fab. 81.) He is sometimes called Lyctius or Cnosius, from
the Cretan towns of Lyctus and Cnosus. (Verg. A. 3.400; Diod. 5.79.) In conjunction with Meriones, the son of his half-brother
Molus, he led the Cretans in 80 ships against Troy, and was one of the bravest heroes in the
Trojan war. He offered to fight with Hector, and distinguished himself especially in the
battle near the ships, where he slew several Trojans. (Hom. Il.
2.645, &c., 3.230, 4.251, 5.43, 7.165, 13.361, &c., 16.345.) Philostratus (Her. 7) even relates that while the Greek heroes were waiting
at Aulis, Cretan ambassadors came to Agamemnon to announce that Idomeneus would join him with
one hundred Cretan ships, if Agamemnon would share the supreme command with him. After the
fall of Troy, Idomeneus returned home in safety (Hom. Od.
3.1.91; Diod. 5.79), though the post-Homeric traditions
inform us that once in a storm he vowed to Poseidon to sacrifice to him whatever he should
meet first on his landing, if the god would grant him a safe return. The first person he met
on landing was his own son. He accordingly sacrificed his son; and as Crete was thereupon
visited by a plague, the Cretans expelled Idomeneus. He went to Italy, where he settled in
Calabria, and built a temple to Athena. From thence he is said to have again migrated to
Colophon, on the coast of Asia, to have settled near the temple of the Clarian Apollo, and to
have been buried on Mount Cercaphus. (Serv. ad Aen.
3.121, 401, 531, 11.264 ; Strab.
x. p.479; Schol. ad Hom. Od. 13.259.) At Olympia his statue, the
work of Onatas, stood among the images of those who drew lots as to who was to fight with
Hector, and on his shield a cock was represented. (Paus. 5.25.5;
comp. Hom. Il. 7.161, &c.) His tomb was shown at Cnosus,
where he and Meriones were worshipped as heroes. (Diod. 5.79.)
Another personage of the name of Idomeneus is mentioned among the sons of Priam. (Apollod. 3.12.5.)