Acastus
(
Ἄκαστος). The son of Pelias, king of Iolcos, who joined
the Argonautic expedition, though against his father's will, as a friend of Iason. At his
father's death he celebrated funeral games which were the theme of ancient poets and artists,
and in which Peleus was represented as participating. He took part in the Calydonian
boar-hunt. But his wife Astydamia fell in love with
Peleus (q.v.), and this brought ruin on the wedded pair. His daughter was Laodamia,
renowned for her tender love of
Protesilaüs (q.v.).