LYNCEUS, in fabulous history, one of the Argonauts who accompanied Jason in the expedition to Colchis to obtain the golden fleece. He was of great use to the Argonauts, by enabling them to avoid the sand-banks and rocks which they found in their way. The poets say that Lynceus had so piercing a sight that it could not only
penetrate to the bottom of the sea, but even to the shades below. Some mythologists suppose that this fable arose from the skill of Lynceus in observing the stars, and discovering the mines of gold and silver concealed in the earth.