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(Ἁλιθέρσης; Halithérsēs), ‘having courage on the sea’ [1; 2]. [German version] [1] Son of Ancaeus [2] and Samia Son of  Ancaeus [2] and Samia (Asius EpGF fr. 7; PEG I). Ambühl, Annemarie (Groningen) [German version] [2] Soothsayer and companion of Odysseus Soothsayer in the Odyssey, son of Mastor (2,157f.), old friend of Odysseus and Telemachus (2,253; 17,68). Divining a bird sign in light of an earlier prophesy, he warns the suitors, in vain, of the return of Odysseus (2,161ff.). After the suitors are murdered, he advises against a civil war (24,451ff.) [3; 4]. Ambühl, Annemarie (Groni…

[German version] (Ὀφέλτης/ Ophéltēs). Son of king Lycurgus [3] of Nemea and of Eurydice. He was killed as a child by a snake, when, despite an oracle's warning, his nurse, the Lemnian Hypsipyle (Lemnian women), left him unguarded on the ground to show the Seven against Thebes a spring. The Seven kill the snake, rescue the nurse from the death penalty and bury O. The seer Amphiaraus, who regards the misfortune as a bad omen for the war campaign, renames O. Archemorus ('beginning of death'). The fune…

[German version] (Πρωτεύς/ Prōteús). Sea god, Poseidon's herdsman of seals, sometimes also his son. P. possesses the characteristics  typical of sea gods: old age ( hálios gérōn : Hom. Od. 4,349), the gift of prophecy, and the ability to transform (cf. Heracles' wrestling matches with Nereus and Triton, or that of Peleus with Thetis). In Hom. Od. 4,349-570, P. is taking a midday rest among the seals on the Egyptian island of Pharos; with the help of P.' daughter Eidothea, Menelaus [1] overcomes the god…

[German version] (Ὑπερβόρε(ι)οι; Hyperbóre(i)oi). The Hyperboreans, a mythical people imagined as living at the edge of the world (Pind. Isthm. 6,23) ‘beyond the North Wind (Boreas)’ (thus ancient etymology, which is considered uncertain today [1]). The H. share with other marginal peoples (such as the Ethiopians, their southern counterpart), traits of the ideal concept of a paradisical existence in proximity to the gods, in a country favoured by climate [2; 3; 4]. By their relation to  Apollo, the…

(Ἑκαέργη). [German version] [1] Epithet of Artemis Epithet of  Artemis (Clem. Al. Strom. 5,8,48,4f.; EpGr 460,6). Baudy, Gerhard (Constance) [German version] [2] Maiden active in the cult of Artemis A mythical maiden named Aspalis Ameilete H., from the city of Melite in Thessaly, active in the cult of  Artemis. Because she hanged herself in order to escape being raped by the tyrant Tartarus, the virgins made an annual sacrifice to her by hanging a young goat (Nikander in Antoninus Liberalis 13). Baudy, Gerhard (Constance) [German version] [3] Kore from the island of Ceos A kore from the …

(Ἁλοσύδνη; Halosýdnē). [German version] [1] Sea goddess Name of the sea or a sea goddess ( Amphitrite, according to schol. ad loc.) in Hom. Od. 4,404, where the seals appear as the ‘offspring of H.’ Ambühl, Annemarie (Groningen) [German version] [2] Epithet of Thetis The epithet of  Thetis (Hom. Il. 20,207) and the  Nereids as a whole (Apoll. Rhod. 4,1599). The etymology was disputed in antiquity (‘daughter of the sea’, among other meanings; cf. Hsch. s.v. ὕδναι); today, H. is defined as ‘sea-wave’ (with gen. ἅλός and n-stem from ὕδωρ) [1; 2; 3]. The reference may be as early as …

(Θόωσα, 'who rushes off'). [German version] [1] Sea Nymph Sea nymph, daughter of  Phorcys [1], by Poseidon mother of the Cyclops Polyphemus (Hom. Od. 1,71-73, on which all later mentions depend: Nonn. Dion. 39,293; Apollod. Epit. 7,4; Porph. De antro Nympharum 35; Hesych. s. v. T.; in Theocr. 11,26 not mentioned by name). Ambühl, Annemarie (Groningen) [German version] [2] Daughter of Poseidon Daughter of Poseidon, according to a version of the myth mother by Apollo of the singer Linus (Certamen Homeri et Hesiodi 46). Ambühl, Annemarie (Groningen)

[German version] (Θάνατος/ Thánatos). Personification of death in Greek art and mythology, of practically no cultic significance. T. is the son of Nyx (night) and the twin brother of Hypnos (Sleep, cf. Somnus; Hes. Theog. 211f.; 756f.; Hom. Il. 14,231) with whom he transported the body of the dead Sarpedon [1] from Troy to Lycia (Hom. Il. 16,453-457; 16,671-683). This scene, a favourite on Attic vases from the late 6th cent. BC on, was adopted into every-day life in that T. and Hypnos function as e…

(Νησώ/ Nēsṓ). [German version] [1] Nereid Nereid (Hes. Theog. 261). For the name cf. Nesaea. Ambühl, Annemarie (Groningen) [German version] [2] Daughter of the Trojan king Teukros Daughter of the Trojan king Teucer, sister of Batieia, and (like her sister) wife of Dardanus [1] and mother of the Marpessian Sibyl (Lycoph. 1465 with schol.; Arr. FGrH 156 F 95; Eust. ad Hom. Il. 2,814). Ambühl, Annemarie (Groningen)

(Φόρκυς/ Phórkys, Latin Phorcus, Phorcys, Phorcyn). [German version] [1] Sea god Sea god, son of Pontus and Gaia, brother of Nereus (Hes. Theog. 237; in Orph. Fr. 16 son of Oceanus and Tethys, in Orph. Fr. 114 Titan); with his sister Ceto he fathered monsters (Phorcydes) such as the Graeae, Gorgons (Gorgo [1]), Echidna and the snake Ladon [1] (Hes. Theog. 270-303; 333-336); according to others he was also the father of the Sirens (Soph. fr. 861 TrGF), the Hesperides (schol. Apoll. Rhod. 4,1399d), Scylla (Apoll. Rhod. 4,828f. with schol.) and Thoosa (Hom. Od. 1,71f.). In the Odyssey, where a…

(Κερκυών; Kerkyṓn). [German version] [1] Son of Poseidon In Attic legend, a fiend living in Eleusis, son of Poseidon (Paus. 1,14,3; depicted differently in Hyg. Fab. 38, Apollod. epit. 1,3), accustomed to overpowering passers-by in a deadly wrestling game until defeated by  Theseus (Plut. Thes. 11; Paus. 1,39,3). The battle against C. is a fixed component of the cycle of Theseus' deeds, depicted pictorially from the late 6th cent. BC [1], and it is also attested to in literature since Aeschylus' satyr p…

[German version] (Λευκοθόη; Leucothóe). Daughter of the Persian king Orchamus and of Eurynome. She is raped by Sol, an act which his jealous mistress Clytia reveals to L.'s father, who then buries her alive. The grieving god transforms her into an incense tree (Ov. Met. 4,190-255). Occasionally confused with Leucothea. Ambühl, Annemarie (Groningen) Bibliography L. C. Curran, Rape and Rape Victims in the Metamorphoses, in: Arethusa 11, 1978, 213-241.

(Κόροιβος; Kóroibos). [German version] [1] Hero founder of Tripodiscus in the Megaris Hero founder of Tripodiscus in the Megaris. The legend is told in Callim. Fr. 26-31 in connection with an Argive aition according to the local historians Agias and Dercylus (FGrH 305 F 8 to) [1]:  Linus, the son of Apollo and  Psamathe, is torn apart by dogs, and Psamathe is killed by her father  Crotopus. As a punishment Apollo sends a child-murdering demon, the Poineḗ or   Ker , to Argus. When the brave C. kills the monster, the god sends a further plague, whereupon…

[German version] [1] Mythical seer from Lesbos (Πρύλις; Prýlis). Mythical seer from Lesbos, apostrophized in Lycoph. 219-223. P. is son of the nymph Issa and Hermes (called Kádmos/Cadmus, in the Boeotian variant of the name, in line 219) and through Hermes, great-grandson of Atlas [2]. Prompted by presents from Palamedes [1], P. reveals to the Greeks in an early stage how to capture Troy, advising them to build the wooden horse. He is referred to as one who "helped to destroy his own kindred" in line 222 because the Troja…

[German version] (Τελχῖνες/ Telchînes). Telchines, the mythical original people of the Aegean, particularly of Rhodes; malicious blacksmiths and magicians. According to ancient etymology the name is derived from thélgein ('bewitch') (EM; Hsch. s.v. T.). According to local historical tradition the T. are the native inhabitants of the islands of Rhodes, Crete, Cyprus and Ceos; the name T. is however documented on the Greek mainland (Teumessus, Delphi, Sicyon). The T. raise Poseidon on Rhodes, who fathers children with their …

[German version] (Νηρηΐδες/ Nērēḯdes, Νηρεΐδες/ Nēreḯdes; Latin Nereides, singular Nereis, Nereine, Nerine). Sea nymphs, daughters of Nereus and Doris [I 1] (Hes. Theog. 240-242), traditionally numbering fifty (ibid. 264). The graceful, playful and helpful Nereids usually appear in literature and the visual arts as a group, but some of them have their own specific myths (Thetis, Amphitrite, Galatea [1]). There are many names of Nereids in the catalogues of Nereids that have been handed down (Hes. Theog. 240-264; Hom. Il. 18,37-49; Apollod. 1,11f.; Hyg.…

[German version] (Ὀρτυγία/ Ortygía, “quails' island”). Mythical birthplace of Artemis, originally separate from that of her twin brother's Apollo (Hom. h. 3,16). The place name, which can not be geographically located in the oldest sources (Hom. Od. 5,123; 15,404), was later identified with different places of worship dedicated to Artemis (schol. Apoll. Rhod. 1,419), especially with Delos (Pind. Paian 7b fr. 52h,48 Maehler; Kall. h. 2,59, epigr. 62,2 and fr. 18,7; Apoll. Rhod. 1,419 and 537), the i…

(Τρίτων/ Trítōn, Latin Triton). [German version] [1] Sea deity Sea deity with the upper body of a human and the tail of a fish, sometimes also as an ichthyocentaur with the forelegs of a horse (Tzetz. Lycophr. 34; 886), son of Poseidon and Amphitrite (Hes. Theog. 930-933), who stirs up the waters with his conch shell and calms them again (Verg. Aen. 10,209-212; Ov. Met. 1,330-342). Like the related sea gods  Glaucus [1], Halios geron, Nereus, Phorcys [1] and Proteus, T. in particular is a figure of liter…

(Ὦπις/ Ôpis, Οὖπις/ Oûpis). [German version] [1] Epithet of Artemis In Ephesus an epithet of Artemis, derived in antiquity from her companion O. [2] (Callim. H. 3,204 with scholia; Antimachus fr. 99 Matthews [1]; Macrob. Sat. 5,22; different in Cic. Nat. D. 3,58). Ambühl, Annemarie (Groningen) [German version] [2] Hyperborean Hyperborean woman (Hyperborei), whose tomb on Delos was worshipped in cult (Hdt. 4,35). She is mostly mentioned along with Hecaerge [4] (Paus. 1,43,4; 5,7,8; Pl. Ax. 371a); in Callim. H. 4,292 Loxo is also added. O. was cl…

[German version] (Κλείτη; Kleítē, ‘The Famous One’). The daughter of  Merops, newly wed wife of Cyzicus, king of the Doliones, who was killed by his guest  Jason [1] in a fatal night-time duel whereupon C. hung herself because of her grief (Apoll. Rhod. 1,974ff., 1063ff.; Parthenius 28 MythGr 2). The waters of spring came from C.'s tears (Orph. A. 594ff.; Schol. Apoll. Rhod. 1,1065f. [1]) or those of the nymphs of the grove crying around her (Apoll. Rhod. 1,1067ff. [2]). Ambühl, Annemarie (Groningen) Bibliography 1 H. Fränkel, Noten zu den Argonautika des Apollonios, 1968, 130f. 2 S. Ja…