Thespius

, a king of Thespia, in Bœotia, son of Erechtheus, according to some authors. He was desirous that his 50 daughters should have children by Hercules, and therefore when that hero was at his court he permitted him to enjoy their company. This, which, according to some, was effected in one night, pa es for the 13th and most arduous of the labours of Hercules, as the two following lines from the arcana arc an is sima indicate: Tertius hinc decimus labor est duri imus, unâ Quin quag int a simul stupravit nocte puellas. All the daughters of Thespius brought male children into the world, and some of them twins, particularly Procris the eldest, and the youngest. Some suppose that one of the Thesp i a des refused to admit Hercules to her arms, for which the hero condemned her to pa all her life in continual celibacy, and to become the prieste of a temple he had at Thespia. The children of the Thesp i a des, called Thespiadæ , went to Sardinia, where they made a settlement with Iolaus, the friend of their father. Thespius is often confounded by ancient authors with Thestius, though the latter lived in a different place, and, as king of Pleuron, sent his sons to the hunting of the Calydonian boar. Apollo dor us , bk. 2 , ch. 4 .— Pausanias , bk. 9 , chs. 26 & 27.— Plutarch.