In Greek mythology, Heraeus or Heraeeus (Ancient Greek: Ἡραιέα or Ἡραιεὺς) was an Arcadian prince as one of the 50 sons of the impious King Lycaon[1] either by the naiad Cyllene,[2] Nonacris[3] or by unknown woman. He founded the Arcadian town of Heraea.[4]
Heraeus and his siblings were the most nefarious and carefree of all people. To test them, Zeus visited them in the form of a peasant. These brothers mixed the entrails of a child into the god's meal, whereupon the enraged king of the gods threw the meal over the table. Heraeus was killed, along with his brothers and their father, by a lightning bolt of the god.[5]