Search

[German version] (μαντιχώρας; mantichṓras, also martichoras, μαρτιχώρας; martichṓras). According to Ctesias (in Aristot. Hist. an. 2,1, 501a 24ff.), an Indian animal with the body of a lion and the face of a human, with three rows of teeth. The fur was vermilion and the tail was shaped like a scorpion's so that the mantichoras could shoot deadly spines like arrows. The voice sounded like a mixture of a shepherd's pipe and trumpet. The mantichoras is described as fast, wild and man-eating (the meaning of the name, which is of Persian origin; cf. Ael. NA 4,21). Accordi…

[German version] (Πηλεύς; Pēleús). Son of Aeacus (Hom. Il. 21,189) and the daughter of Chiron, Endeis, brother of Telamon (Ov. Met. 7,476f.; cf. Pind. P. 8,100; in Pherecydes FGrH 3 F 60, they are only friends), husband of the Nereid Thetis, father of Achilles [1]. As P. and Telamon intentionally kill their half-brother Phocus (Alcmaeonis F 1 EpGF; Apollod. 3,160), they are banished from their homeland of Aegina by Aeacus. P. goes to Phthia, to Eurytion [4] who purifies him and gives him his daught…

[German version] (Μελανεύς/ Melaneús). Son of Apollo (in Pherecydes FGrH 3 F 82a of Arcesilaus), father of Eurytus [1] and Ambracia. A skilled archer who ruled over the Dryopians and conquered Epirus by war (Antoninus Liberalis 4,3). According to Paus. 4,2,2 the Messenians claimed that he had been given the territory of Oechalia by Perieres, the ruler of Messenia. The city of Oechalia is supposed to have received its name from M.'s wife. Eretria on Euboea was previously named Melaneís after M. (Str. 10,1,10). Stenger, Jan (Kiel)

[German version] (Τάνταλος/ Tántalos, Lat. Tantalus). Mythological king on the Sipylus, son of Zeus (Eur. Or. 5; Paus. 2,22,3) or of Tmolus (schol. Eur. Or. 4) and Pluto [1], husband of Dione or Euryanassa and father of Broteas, Niobe and Pelops [1]. In Greek and Roman literature and the visual arts, T. is represented primarily along with Ixion, Sisyphus and Tityus as the ones undergoing punishment in the underworld. According to Homer, T. stands in the water there but cannot drink from it because it…

[German version] (Μητίων; Mētíōn). Son of Erechtheus and Praxithea, brother of Cecrops (Apollod. 3,15,1). His sons, the Metionids, drive Pandion, the son and heir of Cecrops, from power in Attica, but are in turn overthrown by his sons (Paus. 1,5,3f.; Apollod. 3,15,5). Daedalus [1] was both M.'s grandson, as the son of Eupalamus (Apollod. 3,15,8), and M.'s son (Pherekydes FGrH 3 F 146; Diod. 4,76,1 with M. as the son of Eupalamus and grandson of Erechtheus). Stenger, Jan (Kiel)

[German version] Legendary king of the Sabines (Sabini) in the city of Cures. T. waged war with the Romans because of the rape of the Sabine women (Varro Ling. 5,46; Liv. 1,10,1 f.). Through the treachery of Tarpeia, who was either bribed by T. or in love with him, he succeeded in occupying the Roman Capitol (Capitolium; Liv. 1,11,6; Prop. 4,4; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 2,38-40; Plut. Romulus 17,2-4). The war with Rome was settled when Romulus [1] and T. concluded a treaty ( foedus; Cic. Rep. 2,13; Verg. Aen. 8,635-641; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 2,46,1 f.). The two ruled the city toge…

[German version] (Ῥιπαῖα ὄρη; Rhipaîa órē). Mythical chain of mountains on the northern edge of the world, already known from Alcm. fr. 90 PMGF with a somewhat different name form. Sophocles, who used it to denote the north (Soph. OC 1248 with schol.; cf. Aesch. TrGF 3 F 68), also knew it as Rhípai. Both these authors, and others as well, associate the Rhipaia orē (RO) with night (Nyx). This has its roots in speculations about the path of the sun: according to a commonly held theory, the sun goes around the Earth after setting, but in doing so is …

[German version] (Λυταία; Lytaía). One of the Hyacinthides. L., together with her sisters Antheis, Aigleis and Orthaea, is sacrificed in Athens on the grave of Geraestus, the Cyclops, when the city is under siege by Minos and suffering from hunger and plague (Apollod. 3,212; cf. Diod. Sic. 17,15,2). Stenger, Jan (Kiel)

[German version] (Μινώταυρος; Minṓtauros). Hybrid of man and bull (probably as early as in Hes. Cat. 145), with the animal half generally more prominent. The Minotaur is the product of the union of Pasiphae, the wife of Minos, with the bull that Poseidon sends Minos to consolidate his rule. Daedalus [1] prepares Pasiphae a hollow wooden cow as a disguise to enable congress with the bull (Bakchyl. 26). Minos shuts the resulting Minotaur up in the Labyrinth, where either it is generally fed with huma…

[German version] (Νέμεσις/ Némesis). Greek goddess and personification of retribution, avenger of hýbris , daughter of Nyx/Night (Hes. Theog. 223f.). As a mythical figure, N. played a role in the ‘Cypria (Kypria) as the mother of Helen [1]. Beset by aidṓs (shame) and némesis (a feeling of internal reluctance), N. tried to flee from Zeus, who pursued her over sea and land to mate with her. On her flight she transformed herself into all kinds of land and sea creatures (Cypria F 7 EpGF). When she had taken on the form of a goose, Zeus overc…

[German version] (Φιλοκτήτης/ Philoktḗtēs; Lat. Philoctetes). Thessalian hero, son of Poeas (Hom. Od. 3,190) and Demonassa (Hyg. Fab. 97,8); outstanding archer and companion of Heracles [1]. P. is distinguished by his bow, a token of thanks from Heracles for igniting his funeral pyre on Mt. Oeta (Soph. Phil. 801-803). In Apollod. 3,131 and Hyg. Fab. 81, P. is counted among the suitors of Helena [1]. Party, with seven ships, to the Greek campaign against Troy (Hom. Il. 2,716-725), he is bitten by a sn…

[English version] (Μέγης). Sohn des Phyleus, der von Dulichion mit 40 Schiffen nach Troia fährt (Hom. Il. 2,625ff.), wo er mehrere Feinde tötet (z.B. ebd. 5,69; Q. Smyrn. 1,276ff.). Er gehört zu den Leuten des Odysseus, die aus Agamemnons Zelt die Versöhnungsgeschenke für Achilleus holen (Hom. Il. 19,238ff.), und zur Besatzung des hölzernen Pferdes (Q. Smyrn. 12,326). M. ist auch als einer der Freier der Helene genannt (Apollod. 3,129). Nach Apollod. epit. 6,15a geht er mit vielen anderen auf der Rückfahrt bei Euboia zugrunde. Stenger, Jan (Kiel)

[German version] (νέκταρ/ néctar, Latin nectar). Nectar (derived from the Egyptian ntry, ‘divine’ [1]) together with ambrosia [2] served as the food of the gods of Olympia, who, according to Hom. Il. 5,339-341, neither ate bread nor drank wine. In the main, nectar is imagined to be a beverage whilst ambrosia is a food (e.g. Hom. Od. 5,93), though there is also the reverse view; in Alcm. fr. 42 PMG and Anaxandrides fr. 58 PCG nectar is food. Originally nectar and ambrosia had the same consistency (cf. Hom. …

[German version] (Μίνως, Mínōs). Mythical king of Crete, son of Zeus and Europe [2]; Asterius (Asterion [1]) is said to be his mortal father (Apollod. 3,1,2). M. is the brother of Rhadamanthys (Hom. Il. 14,321f.) and already in Hes. Cat. 140 also of Sarpedon; as Pasiphae's husband, he is the father of Deucalion, Ariadne, Phaedra and other children, from other liaisons as well (their names are listed in Apollod. 3,1,2). Diod. 4,60,3 distinguishes between two rulers named M., grandfather and grandson. M. is particularly well known for his role as a judge and as the first law-m…

[German version] (also Sopor, Greek  ῞Υπνος/ Hýpnos). As a god personifying sleep, Hypnos (= H.) is already mentioned in the Iliad, where Hera visits him on Lemnos and asks him to lull Zeus to sleep (Hom. Il. 14,230-360). In return she promises him Pasithea [2], one of the Graces (cf. Catull. 63,42 f.). Once he had done this, so that Hera could inflict harm on Heracles after the first destruction of Troy, H. had to flee from Zeus's anger to Nyx (Night). He then hides from Zeus in the form of a night b…

(Μήστωρ; Mḗstōr). [German version] [1] Son of Perseus and Andromeda The son of Perseus and Andromeda; the husband of Lysidice, a daughter of Pelops; and the father of Hippothoe. His great-great-grandson, the son of Pterelaus, was also named M. (Apollod. 2,4,5). Stenger, Jan (Kiel) [German version] [2] Son of Priam The son of Priamus, killed by Achilles on Mount Ida (Apollod. Epit. 3,32); Priamus laments his death in Hom. Il.24, 255ff. [1. 283f.]. In Dictys 6,9, M. accompanies Pyrrhus as a prisoner. Stenger, Jan (Kiel) [German version] [3] Son of Locrian Ajax, companion of Agamemnon A son …

(Ξοῦθος; Xoûthos). [German version] [1] Son of Hellen and Orseis/Othreis Son of Hellen and Orseis/Othreis, brother of Dorus and Aeolus [1] (Hes. fr. 9 MW; Hellanicus FGrH 4 F 125; Apollod. 1,49); X. is the mythical ancestor of the tribe of the Ionians (Iones). With Creusa [2], the daughter of the Athenian king Erechtheus, he fathered Ion [1], Achaeus [1] and Diomede (Hes. fr. 10a,20-24 MW; Hdt. 7,94; 8,44; Apollod. 1,50). X. is sent away from Thessaly by his father and journeys to Attica, where he founds …

[English version] (Λυταία). Eine der Hyakinthides. L. wird mit ihren Schwestern Antheis, Aigleis, Orthaia in Athen auf dem Grab des Kyklopen Geraistos geopfert, als die Stadt während der Belagerung durch Minos an Hunger und Pest leidet (Apollod. 3,212; vgl. Diod. 17,15,2). Stenger, Jan (Kiel)

[1] Ort in Lakonien (Μέσση). Einer der bei Hom. Il. 2,582 genannten Orte Lakoniens, deren Herrscher Menelaos ist (vgl. Stat. Theb. 4,226). Strab. 8,5,3 berichtet, daß ein Ort namens M. nirgends gezeigt werde, daß aber einige M. als apokopierte Form für Messene [2] ansähen. Paus. 3,25,9 lokalisiert M. auf dem Weg zw. Tainaron und Oitylos an der Küste des Messenischen Golfes, doch ist auch die bei Strabon gegebene Identifizierung mit Messoa nicht auszuschließen. Stenger, Jan (Kiel) Bibliography E. Visser, Homers Katalog der Schiffe, 1997, 483-488. [2] (christlich) s. Missa (christlich…

[English version] (Μελανεύς). Sohn des Apollon (bei Pherekydes FGrH 3 F 82a des Arkesilaos), Vater von Eurytos [1] und Ambrakia; guter Bogenschütze, der über die Dryoper herrscht und Epeiros durch Krieg erobert (Antoninus Liberalis 4,3). Nach Paus. 4,2,2 berichteten die Messenier, daß er von Perieres, dem Herrscher von Messenien, das Oichaliagebiet zugewiesen bekommen habe; die Stadt Oichalia soll ihren Namen von der Frau des M. erhalten haben. Eretria auf Euboia hieß früher nach M. Melaneís (Strab. 10,1,10). Stenger, Jan (Kiel)