What is "paeon"

paeon \p[ae]"on\ (p[=e]"[o^]n), n. [L. paeon, Gr. paiw`n a solemn song, also, a p[ae]on, equiv. to paia`n. See P[ae]an.] (Anc. Poet.) A foot of four syllables, one long and three short, admitting of four combinations, according to the place of the long syllable. [Written also, less correctly, p[ae]an.]

metrical foot of one long and three short syllables (in any order), c.1600, from Latin paeon, from Greek paion (see paean). Related: Paeonic.

n. (context poetry English) A foot containing any pattern of three short syllables and one long syllable.

Paeon (, gen.: Παίονος) in Greek mythology was a son of Endymion, king of Elis, and brother of Epeius, Aetolus, and Eurycyda; from whom the district of Paeonia, on the Axius river in Macedonia, was believed to have derived its name.

In prosody a paeon (or paean) is a metrical foot used in both poetry and prose. It consists of four syllables, with one of the syllables being long and the other three short. Paeons were often used in the traditional Greek hymn to Apollo called paeans. Its use in English poetry is rare. Depending on the position of the long syllable, the four peaons are called a first, second, third, or fourth peaon.

The cretic or amphimacer metrical foot, with three syllables, the first and last of which are long and the second short, is sometimes also called a paeon diagyios.

Paeon or Paion (, gen.: Παίονος) in Greek mythology was a Paionian mentioned in the Iliad of Homer as the father of the warrior Agastrophus, slain by Diomedes, while fighting on the side of Troy in the Trojan War. He is presumably the same as the Paeon mentioned in Quintus Smyrnaeus' Posthomerica as the father by Cleomede of Laophoon, a companion of Asteropaios slain by Meriones.

In Greek mythology, Paeon was the son of Antilochus, and a lord of Messenia. His father was one of the suitors of Helen, who together with his father Nestor, the king of Pylos, and brother Thrasymedes, fought in the Trojan War. Paeon's sons were among the descendants of Neleus (the Neleidae) expelled from Messenia, by the descendants of Heracles, as part of the legendary " Return of the Heracleidae", later associated with the supposed " Dorian invasion". The sons of Paeon, along with other of the expelled Neleidae, Alcmaeon and Melanthus fled to Athens. It was from this Paeon that the Attic clan and deme of Paeonidae or Paionidai is supposed to have derived its name.

In Greek mythology, Paeon was a son of Poseidon by Helle, who fell into the Hellespont. In some legends he was called Edonus. He was the brother of the giant Almops.