Characters
- Amphitrite — divine father of Amycus
- Amycus — Bebrycian king; son of Poseidon; killer of guest-boxers; slain by Polydeuces
- Argonauts — armed supporters in the post-bout battle
- Bebryces — people who attack after Amycus’s death and are routed
- Castor — twin brother; present among the Argonauts (support in the aftermath fight)
- Jason — leader who allows the challenge to be met by the right champion
- Polydeuces — Dioscuran champion; defeats and kills Amycus in the ring
Places
- Bebrycia — land of Amycus; scene of the boxing match
- Hellespont — sea road from Cyzicus toward Phineus
Themes
Narrative
Leaving the Propontis, the Argonauts came to the land of the Bebryces in Bithynia (or the Asian shore of the Bosporus region). Their king Amycus, a brutal son of Poseidon, compelled every stranger to box with him and killed the losers. He met the Argo’s company with the same law: choose a champion or leave as cowards.
Polydeuces (Pollux), the Dioscuran boxer, accepted. They bound their hands with rawhide thongs. Amycus was huge and savage; Polydeuces was skilled and swift. In Apollonius’s bout Polydeuces dodges, watches for openings, and finally smashes Amycus’s skull (or temple) so that the king falls dead. The Bebryces rushed to avenge their lord; the Argonauts armed and drove them off with slaughter. The heroes took what supplies they needed and sailed on toward the Bosporus and the house of Phineus.
Apollodorus states the same outline: Amycus forces boxing; Polydeuces kills him. Theocritus’s *Idyll* 22 expands the fight as a hymn to the Dioscuri’s athletic aretē. The stop shows the crew’s specialized excellence—here Castor’s twin as fist-fighter—matching later trials that need seers, winged pursuers, or Medea’s craft rather than Jason alone.