Search

(Πίερος; Píeros). [German version] [1] Eponym of the Macedonian region Pieria Eponym of the Macedonian region Pieria (Pierides), son of Macedon [1] (Schol. Hom. Il. 14,226). His association with the Muses is evident from alternative genealogies: son of Linus (Suda s.v. Ὅμηρος; Certamen Homeri et Hesiodi 47), father of Oeagrus and Calliope [1] (l.c.; Paus. 9,30,4; Suda l.c.). The first to write poetry to the Muses (Plut. De musica 3), he introduced the cult of the nine Muses to Thespiae (Thespia) (Paus. 9,2…

(Μίλητος; Mílētos). [German version] [1] Mythical founder of the city of Miletus Mythical founder of the city of M. [2]; from Crete; son of Apollo and Areia, daughter of Cleochus whose tomb was in the sanctuary of Didyma [1. 165f.] (Apollod. 3,5f.), or of Apollo and Deione (Ov. Met. 9,443ff.) or of Apollo and Acacallis, daughter of Minos (Antoninus Liberalis 30). Minos fell in love with M., but M. fleed to Caria, establishds M. there [2] and married Eidothea; the children of their union are Byblis and Caunus [1]. According to Ephorus FGrH 70 F 127 M. was founded by Sarpedon. Käppel, Lutz (Kiel) Bi…

[German version] (φθόνος/ phthónos, Latin invidia). 'Envy, jealousy', particularly what was known as phthónos theôn, the 'jealousy of the gods', which is directed against humans who aspire to transgress the boundaries with the divine (Hybris); (cf. Hdt. 1,32; 3,40 etc.); as a personification P. appears in Eur. Tro. 768 etc. Käppel, Lutz (Kiel)

[German version] (also Atius Navius). Legendary Roman augur ( augures ) from the period of the monarchy (Cic. Att. 10,8,6), at the time of Tarquinius Priscus (Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 30,70,1). He opposed an attempt to amend the centuriate system (Cic. Rep. 2,36). So as to discredit NA, Tarquinius is said to have tasked him with predicting from the flight of birds whether his plan was feasible. When NA confirmed that it was, Tarquinius ordered him to cut through a stone with a knife, and NA succeeded in doing so (Liv. 1,36,4; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom 3,71,2ff.; cf. also Cic. Div. 1,32). Käppel, Lutz (Kie…

[German version] (Πολύτεχνος; Polýtechnos). In Antoninus Liberalis 11 (after Boeus, Ornithogonia) the husband of Aedon and father of Itys. In revenge for the violation of her sister Chelidonis by P., Aedon kills their son Itys and serves him for P. to eat. In the end all participants are turned into birds, P. into a woodpecker [1. 87-89]. This is probably the purest form of ancient bird tale, which ultimately found its canonical form with  Tereus, Procne and Philomele (Ov. Met. 6,412-674) [2. 115-119]. Käppel, Lutz (Kiel) Bibliography 1 M. Papathemopoulos (ed.), Antoninus Liberal…

(Φαῖστος; Phaȋstos). [German version] [1] Mythical king of Sicyon Mythical king of Sicyon, son Rhopalus the son of Heracles [1]; establishes divine worship of Heracles; because of an oracle emigrates to Crete, where the city of P. [4] is named after him (Paus. 2,6,6f.). Käppel, Lutz (Kiel) [German version] [2] Ally of the Trojans in the Trojan War Ally of the Trojans in the Trojan War, son of Borus from Tarne in Lydia, killed by  Idomeneus [1] (Hom. Il. 5,43). Käppel, Lutz (Kiel) [German version] [3] Epicist, Hellenistic period Hellenistic epic poet, mentioned twice in the scholia o…

(Μούλιος; Moúlios). [German version] [1] Son-in-law of Augeias of Elis, son-in-law of Augeias, to whose daughter Agamede he is married; he is killed by Nestor (Hom. Il. 11,738ff.). Käppel, Lutz (Kiel) [German version] [2] Herald of Penelope's suitor Amphinomus Herald of Penelope's suitor Amphinomus of Dulichium; he serves the suitors in the house of Odysseus (Hom. Od. 18,423). Käppel, Lutz (Kiel)

[German version] (Πλοῦτος/ Ploûtos). Personification of wealth, esp. the wealth of the harvest (cf. also Abundantia, Consus, Copia, Ops [3]). Son of Demeter and Iasion (Hes. Theog. 969-974), conceived in Crete (Hom. Od. 5,125-128). P. assures those who meet him of prosperity. The reference to him in H. Hom. ad Cererem 483-489 is evidence of his prominent role in the Mysteria of Eleusis [1]: after handing over the mysteries to humans, Demeter and her daughter Kore retire to Olympus, sending P. to those they love, to whom he brings blessings and affluence ( ibid. 488f.), apparently in rew…

(Περσεύς; Perseús). [1] Son of Danae and Zeus, Argive hero [German version] I. Mythology Son of Danae and Zeus, who impregnates her in the form of a shower of gold; grandson of Acrisius, the king of Argos, and Eurydice. Because of an oracle predicting that the son of his daughter will kill him, Acrisius sets Danae and P. adrift at sea in a chest. Mother and son are washed ashore in Seriphus and found and taken in by Dictys [1]. When Polydectes, the brother of Dictys and king of Seriphus, wishes to marry Danae…

[German version] (Οἰνεύς/ Oineús). Mythological king of Calydon [3], son of Porthaon (Hom. Il. 14,115ff.) and Euryte (Apollod. 1,63; the whole family tree in Apollod. 1,64); children: Toxeus, Meleager [1], Deianira, Gorge (through the latter, O. was father of Tydeus). He was ousted by his brother Agrius [1]. Originally, O. may have been a wine god common to all Greeks, later replaced by Dionysus. He was often depicted in vase pictures as a wine god [1]. Numerous tragedians wrote (lost) tragedies entitled O. [2]. Käppel, Lutz (Kiel) Bibliography 1 E. Stasinopoulou-Kakarouga, s.v. O. …

[German version] (Ὀκρησία/ Okrēsía; Ocresia). Aristocratic young woman from the town of Corniculum, which had been conquered by the Romans; mother of the Roman king Servius Tullius, whom she conceived from a phallus that had miraculously appeared from the fireside of Tarquinius (Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 4,2; Plut. De fortuna Romanorum 10,323a-d; Ov. Fast. 6,627-636; Plin. HN 36,204; Arnob. 5,18). In Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 4,1 and Liv. 1,39,5 this myth is rationalized: O. conceived her son before the town …

[German version] (Μέδουσα; Médousa). Mythological monster, one of the three Gorgons (see Gorgo [1]): M. is mortal, whereas her two sisters Sthenno and Euryale are immortal. Käppel, Lutz (Kiel)

[German version] (Φόλος, Latin Pholus). One of the Centaurs, son of Silenus (Silens) and a Nymph. When Heracles [1] is being entertained with wine by P., the other Centaurs attack them; Heracles repels them with poisoned arrows, by which P. is also wounded and he dies (Stesich. PMGF S 19 = 181 p. 162; Theoc. 7,149; Diod. Sic. 4,12,3ff.; Verg. G. 2,456; Verg. Aen. 8,294). Käppel, Lutz (Kiel)

[German version] A  paean to  Asclepius in dactyls preserved in an inscription from Erythrae [2] ( c. 380-360 BC), sung by the community during the sacrifice in the Asclepius cult as an appeal for good health; the inscription contains three other paeans with cult directions. Probably composed as early as the 5th cent. BC, the paean remained popular (numerous inscriptions) in many places until the Imperial period.  Metre Käppel, Lutz (Kiel) Bibliography F. Graf, Nordion. Kulte, 1985, 250-257 L. Käppel, Paian, 1992, 189-200; 370-374 (with text, translation, bibliography).

[German version] (Μῆτις/ mêtis, literally ‘cleverness’, ‘clever advice’). M. first appears as an attribute of Zeus ( Mētíeta‘ gifted with wisdom’, e.g. Hom. Il. 1,175 etc.) and is personified as a goddess for the first time in Hes. Theog. 358 as one of the daughters of Oceanus. She becomes the first wife of Zeus (ibid. 886ff.). But Gaia and Uranus warn Zeus that M. will bear dangerously clever children and advise him to swallow her. By doing this he prevents the birth of a son, but not the birth of Athena, who u…

[German version] (Οὐρανός, Lat. Uranus). Divine personification of the sky, treated by Hesiodus (Theog. 126-128) as a mythical figure. U. is born of Gaia, the earth, without the contribution of a father, 'so that he may wrap her up and the gods have a permanent seat in him' (ibid.). After that, U. begets the Uraniones with Gaia (ibid. 424; 486), namely the Titans, including Kronos, Zeus' father. As a result, U. is the progenitor of the gods (ibid. 44 f.; 105 f.). The Cyclopes and the Hekatoncheires …

[German version] From Sparta, presumably 6th cent. BC. Author of  paeans, which were performed at the Gymnopaedia together with the songs of  Thaletas and  Alcman (Sosibius FGrHist 595 F 5). Käppel, Lutz (Kiel)

[German version] (Πειθώ; Peithṓ). Greek personification of 'persuasion', especially of erotic persuasion, hence a frequent epithet of Aphrodite. Daughter of Oceanus, spouse of Phoroneus or of Argus [I 1] (Hes. Theog. 349; schol. Eur. Phoen. 1116; schol. Eur. Or. 1239). Although unknown in Homer's work, P. appears in Hesiod's writings (Hes. Erg. 73; Hes. Theog. 573) during the making of Pandora together with the Charites. Sappho fr. 200 V. makes her one of the Charites, Aeschylus makes her daughter …

[German version] (Doric, later generally widespread Παιάν/ Paián; epic Παιήων/ Paiḗōn; Ionic-Attic Παιών/ Paiṓn; Aeolian Πάων/ Páōn; Lat. paean). Term for a Greek song genre as well as a god, later an epithet for various gods. The etymology of the word is obscure [1; 2; 3]. Modern treatises on the song genre paean usually make the identity of the name for the song and the god the starting-point of their considerations. Either the god was a personification of the call [4; 5] drawn from the impersonal cry ἰὴ παιάν ( iḕ paián) or there was originally a god Paean to whom the cry ἰὴ Παιάν ( iḕ Paián) was …

[German version] (Μύσιος/ Mýsios). Mythical Argive who received the goddess Demeter as a guest and was said to have erected a temple in her honour on the road from Argos to Mycene (Paus. 2,35,4). A festival held in Demeter's grove near Pellene, the Mysaeum, was also founded by him: the so-called Mysia (Paus. 7,27,9, cf. 2,18,3) [1]. Käppel, Lutz (Kiel) Bibliography 1 Nilsson, Feste, 327.