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[German version] (Τιτυός/ Tityós). Son of Zeus and Elara, the daughter of Orchomenus. In fear of Hera, Zeus conceals the pregnant Elara under the earth, which then 'gives birth' to T., with the result that he, because of his gigantic size, could also be called 'Earth-son' (Hom. Od. 7,324; 11,576), i.e. Gēgenḗs (cf. Gēgeneís ; Pherekydes FGrH 3 F 55), or Giant [1. 184 f.]. Since T. intends to assault Leto when she goes through Panopeus to Pytho (= Delphi [2. 302]), he is shot dead by Artemis (Pind. P. 4,90-92) and Apollo (Apoll. Rhod. 1,759-762). In Hades, where he is one …

[German version] (Κίρκη, Kírkē, Lat. Circe, Circa). Immortal (Hom. Od. 12,302) goddess, with the gift of language (ibid. 10,136) and a nymph (ibid. 10,543), daughter of Helios and of the  Oceanid Perse(is), sister of  Aeetes (ibid. 10,135ff.; Hes. Theog. 956f.; Apollod. 1,83), of  Perses (Apollod. 1,147) and  Pasiphae (Apollod. 3,7), by Odysseus, she is the mother of  Agrius and Latinus (Hes. Theog. 1011ff.) as well as  Cassiphone (Lycoph. 808 with schol.). According to Diodorus (4,45,3ff.), C. is …

[German version] (Μήδεια/ Mḗdeia, Lat. Medea). Born in Aea/Colchis (M. Αἰαίη: Apoll. Rhod. 3,1136) as the daughter of Aeetes, who was the son of Helios and the brother of Circe, and the Oceanid Idyia (Hes. Theog. 956ff., 992ff., Apollod. 1,129) or Hecate (Diod. Sic. 4,45,3). Sister of Chalciope [2] and Apsyrtus [1] (Apollod. 1,83.132), betrothed to Styrus (Val. Fl. 5,257f.), wife of Jason [1] and by him the mother of Medeius (Hes. Theog. 1001) or Mermerus and Pheres (Apollod. 1,146). Subsequently s…

(Νιρεύς; Nireús). [German version] [1] Son of Poseidon and Canace Son of Poseidon and the Aeolian Canace (Apollod. 1,53). Dräger, Paul (Trier) [German version] [2] Second most beautiful Greek in the Trojan War Son of Aglaia [2] and Charops [3], the ruler of Syme; weakling and (after Achilles) the second most beautiful Greek in the Trojan War, in which he took part with three ships (Hom. Il. 2,671ff.). N. is killed by his Trojan opposite number Eurypylus [2], the second most beautiful Trojan (Hom. Od. 11,522), (Quint. Smyrn. 6,3…

[German version] (Μινύαι; Minýai). Mycenaean-period tribe with a highly developed culture (domed tombs, palace, dyke works on Lake Copais [1. 127ff.]), living both in Boeotia (chief town Orchomenus [1], with the epithet Minyeïos, Hom. Il. 2,511; Hom. Od. 11,284; Hes. fr. 257,4; founded out of Iolcus: Apoll. Rhod. 3,1093ff.) and in southern Thessaly ([1. 139ff.; 2. 205ff.; 3. 243ff.] place name Minya, IG IX 2, 521; Steph. Byz. s.v. Μινύα; M. in Iolcus: Sim. fr. 540 PMG; founded by M.: Demetrios Skepsios fr. 51 Gaede; Strab. 9,2…

[German version] (Τυρώ; Tyrṓ). The daughter of Salmoneus and Alcidice, famed for her very white skin (from tyrós, cheese) and her magnificent head of curls (cf. Hom. Od. 2,119 f.; Hes. Cat. 30,25; Pind. Pyth. 4,136, cf 109; Soph. fr. 648; Diod. Sic. 6 fr. 6,5; 7,2). After her parents were killed by Zeus, T. who had opposed her father's sacrilege, is taken to Thessalia to her uncle Cretheus and his wife Sidero. Here Poseidon, assuming the shape of the river god Enipeus, fathers her twins Neleus [1] and Pelias; At…

(Τάλως/ Tálōs). [German version] [1] Crete's iron guardian Myth of various versions in Apollod. 1,140 f.: T. was one of the bronze race or was given to Minos by Hephaestus (by Zeus to Europe [2]: Apoll. Rhod. 4,1643); he is a bronze man (triple giant: Orph. A. 1351) or a bull; he has a single vein from the neck to the ankles which is sealed at the end by a bronze nail (a membrane: Apoll. Rhod. 4,1647 f.); he runs all the way around Crete three times a day and keeps the Argonauts from landing by throwing…

[German version] (Συμπληγάδες sc. πέτραι; Symplēgádes, sc. pétrai: 'clashing sc. rocks'), also synormádes (Sim. fr. 546 PMG), sýndromoi (Pind. P. 4,208-211), Cyaneae [1] (Eur. Andr. 864 f.), syndromádes (Eur. Iph. T. 422) or Plēgádes (Apoll. Rhod. 2,596). Gateway of rocks in the myth of the Argonauts at the transition from the real world into the mythical one (return through the Planctae , with which they were often confused, e.g. Hdt. 4,85,1). The Argo is the first ship to successfully pass through, with Hera's (and Athena's) help, a…

[German version] (Μινυάδες, Latin also Minyeïades/singular Minyeïas or Minyeïdes/singular Minyeïs). The three daughters of Minyas, whose names were Leucippe (Leuconoë), Arsippe (Arsinoë [I 2]) and Alcathoë [1] (Alcithoë). Their myth, which is missing in Apollodorus, is found with variants in Ov. Met. 4,1ff., 389ff., Plut. Mor. 299e-300a (Qu. Gr. 38), Antoninus Liberalis 10 and Ael. VH 3,42. According to Antoninus Liberalis, who follows Nicander (Heteroioumena, B. 4) and Corinna (fr. 665 PMG), the Minyade…

[German version] (Ὕλας; Hýlas). Son of  Theiodamas (Apollod. 1,117; Apoll. Rhod. 1,1212f.) and Menodice (Hyg. Fab. 14,11); local hero of  Cius. In a quarrel over food (for his son: Callim. Fr. 24),  Heracles kills Theiodamas (Apollod. 2,153; Apoll. Rhod. 1,1212-1219, where Heracles seeks a pretext for war against the Dryopians). Furthermore, according to Apollod. 1,117; Apoll. Rhod. 1,1153-1283, Heracles takes H. with him as his lover on the journey of the  Argonauts. In Mysia, H. is kidnapped by nymphs while fetching water (transformed into an…

[German version] (Ἕλλη; Héllē). Daughter of  Athamas and  Nephele, fled with her brother  Phrixus on a golden ram from her stepmother Ino and drowned in the sea, which from then on has been called  Hellespont (Pind. fr. 189; Aesch. Pers. 69f.) (Apollod. 180-182; Ov. Fast. 3,851-876; Hyg. Fab. 1-3; her tomb on the Chersonesus: Hdt. 7,58,2). Valerius Flaccus (5,476ff.; 2,611) associates H. and Phrixus more closely with the  Argonauts, by making Athamas the son of  Cretheus, rather than his brother, a…

[German version] (Ἀλκιμέδη, Alkimédē). Daughter of Phylacus and the (Eteo-)Clymene, with Pherecydes (FGrH F 104) wife of Aeson and mother of Jason (and Promachus). Valerius Flaccus (1,730) depicts a heroic Roman matron, who seizes the initiative for a joint death with Aeson through the blood of a bull; according to other versions she hangs (Apollod. 1,143) or suffocates herself (Diod. Sic. 4,50,2 = Dion. Scyt. fr. 35 Scaffolding). Other names: Amphinome (Diod. Sic.), Theognete (Andron FGrH F 5), Arne, Rhoeo, Scarphe (Tzetz. Chil. 6,979 f. and Lycophr. 872).  Aes…

(Χαλκιόπη; Chalkiópē). [German version] [1] Daughter of Chalcodon Daughter of Chalcodon (king of the Abantes: Hom. Il. 2,541) or of Rhexenor; second wife of Aegeus before Medea (Apollod. 3,207; Schol. Eur. Med. 673). Dräger, Paul (Trier) [German version] [2] Sister of Medea Daughter of Aeetes and Idyia; sister of Medea, wife of Phrixus, mother of Argos, Mela, Phrontis and Kytis(s)orus (Apollod. 1,83; Herodor FGrH F 39; Apoll. Rhod. 2,1148ff.); in Pherecydes (FGrH F 25) she is called Euenia (also C. and Iophossa; cf. Hes. fr. 255 M-W; Ac…

(Ἴδμων; Ídmōn). [German version] [1] Seer Son of  Asteria [2] (daughter of the Thessalian  Lapith Coronus) and of Apollo (Val. Fl. 1,228ff.), father of  Thestor, grandfather of  Calchas (Pherecydes, FGrH 3 F 108.). The Argive  Abas [1] is named as his human ‘father’ (Apoll. Rhod. 1,139ff.; Orph. A. 187ff.; Hyg. Fab. 14,11). As a seer with a telling name (‘the one who knows’), what is apparently the original version of the myth of  Argonauts he takes part in the expedition despite his foreknowledge tha…

[German version] (‘the little Maas’, diminutive of Mosa [1]). Lefthand, 545 km long tributary of the Rhine, today the Moselle. Its source was on the Vosegus in the territory of the Leuci, it flowed in the land of the Treveri through the provinces of Gallia Belgica and Germania superior, and its mouth was near Confluentes (Koblenz). Situated on the M. were Divodurum, Augusta [6] Treverorum and Rigodulum (cf. Tac. Ann. 13,53; Tac. Hist. 4,71; 77). The legate of Germania superior, L. Antistius Vetus,…

(Ἀργοναῦται; Argonaûtai). [German version] A. Participants Argonauts is the general descriptive term for the group of heroes (also called Minyae), mainly belonging to the pre-Trojan generation, who were sent by Pelias under Jason's leadership on the Argo to fetch the fleece of the ram on which Phrixus and Helle had once fled. Even the most ancient sources identify the Golden Fleece with the Argonauts myth, although originally the two groups of myths probably had nothing done with each other. Altogethe…

[German version] (Αἶα). Mythical island of exploration in the Oceanus (in the land of the Aethiopeans: Mimn. fr. 5 Poetae Elegiaci Gentili/Prato), in which Helios has a thalamos for his rays, originally the goal of Jason (Mimn. fr. 10). In A. (etymologically, ‘Earth, Land’ [1. 22, 39]) is the city of Aeetes, the ‘husband of A.’ (Mimn. fr. 10, cf. Pherecyd. fr. 105). Knowledge that the Pontus is an inland lake resulted in A. being shifted to the river (Phasis) connecting it with the sea (Hes. fr. 2…

(Εὐρύπυλος; Eurýpylos). [German version] [1] Suitor to Helen Son of Euaimon; a Thessalian and suitor to Helen (Apollod. 3,131), a warrior at Troy: leader of 40 ships (Hom. Il. 2,734ff.); wounded by Paris (11,575ff.), healed by Patroclus (11,809ff; 15,390ff.); stranded in Libya on the journey home (Lycoph. Al. 901f. with schol.). Dräger, Paul (Trier) [German version] [2] Son of Telephus, the son of Heracles Son of  Telephus son of Heracles; king of the Mysians; sent to the aid of Troy (Acusilaus FGrH F 40) by his mother  Astyoche, sister of Priam (Apollod. 3,…

[German version] (Αἰήτης; Aiḗtēs). King of Aea/Colchis, son of Helios and Perse(is), brother of Circe, Pasiphae and Perses. Spouse of Idyia or Asterodeia (or Eurylytes: Naupact. fr. 6-7 EpGF), father of Chalciope (whom he married to Phrixus), of Medea, of Apsyrtus/Phaethon (as well as of Circe and Aegialeus in Diod. Sic. 4,45,3 and Dion. Scyt. fr. 20 Rusten): Hom. Od. 10,138 f.; Hes. Theog. 956 ff.; Apollod. 1,83, 129, 147; Apoll. Rhod. 3,240 ff. A. tries to kill Jason for the Golden Fleece, since his power depends on its possession (Val. Fl. 5,236 ff. = Diod. Sic.…

[German version] (Ὑψιπύλη, -λεια; Hypsipýlē, - leia). The myth that was originally perhaps autonomous [1. 235f.] and was then interwoven with the journey of the Argonautae and the Theban group of legends is as follows, according to Apollod. 1,114f. (cf. Apoll. Rhod. 1,609ff.; Ov. Pont. 6; Val. Fl. 2,82ff.; Stat. Theb. 5,28ff.; schol. Pind. Nem. hypothesis b): Because of the neglect of her cult, Aphrodite afflicts the Lemnian women (LW) with a bad odour [2; 3] so that the men of Lemnos live with capt…