Aegeus

Name Aegeus Actor John Bach Species Human Occupation Fishmonger Episodes 1.50 - Valley of the Shadow

Aegeus is an old fishmonger that Hercules, Iolaus, and Theseus encounter in the market as they're buying supplies for an upcoming camping trip. For the price of 10 dinars, he gives them information about a choice spot where they can 'trap boars as big as horses and catch fish as big as Iolaus' mouth'. When the trio have to flee from a giant, fanged monster and take shelter in a cave, they find Aegeus there again. Theseus nearly attacks him, but is stopped by Hercules and Iolaus. Only when things calm down does Aegeus tell them that they are, in fact, in Hera's Valley and the monster, called the Protector, wants to kill them for hunting and killing a peacock- one of Hera's sacred animals.

After a meal (consisting of the food that Aegeus swiped from the trio's camp), Theseus and Iolaus go to bed. Hercules, unable to sleep, stays up to talk with the old fishmonger. After their conversation, Aegeus and the others go to check to see if the sun has risen yet. Leaning halfway out of the cave, he is grabbed by the Protector and dragged away. At Herc's insistence, the trio goes to rescue him. After they defeat the Protector, though, they never see Aegeus again, figuring that he's just "gone fishing".

He is later seen again, though, watching from a hilltop as the trio walk back to the Academy. There, it is revealed that the old fishmonger was actually Zeus in disguise.

Trivia

• Aegeus has a tendency to speak about himself in third-person.
• The name Aegeus means 'protection' or 'shield', coming from the word 'aegis'. To do something under someone's aegis means to do so under the protection of a powerful source, such as Zeus' protection order over Hercules. Aegis on Wikipedia