Search

[German version] (Πρόκνη/ Próknē, Lat. Progne, Procne). Daughter of the Attic king Pandion [1], wife of  Tereus, sister of Philomela. Out of gratitude for support in a war, P.'s father gives her in marriage to the Thracian Tereus. In Thrace her son Itys is born. When P. wishes to see her sister Philomela, Tereus is supposed to bring her from Athens to Thrace. He violates her on the way, cuts out her tongue to secure her silence and hides her in the country. Philomela weaves what happened to her into a…

(also Hypermnestra; Ὑπερμήστρα; Hypermḗstra, Ὑπερμνήστρα; Hypermnḗstra). [German version] [1] Daughter of Danaus Daughter of  Danaus, wife of  Lynceus (or Lyrceus). The only daughter of Danaus who, against her father's orders, did not kill her husband in their wedding night (Pind. Nem. 10,6; Aesch. PV 866; Apollod. 2,1,5). She spares him because she loves him (Aesch. PV 865-868; schol. Pind. Pyth. 9,195b; cf. Hor. Carm. 3,11,33-52) or because he does not touch her (Apollod. 2,1,5; cf. Ov. Epist. 14,64). H. …

[German version] (Ἰλιόνη; Iliónē). Oldest daughter of  Priamus and  Hecabe, wife of Polymestor, the Thracian (Verg. Aen. 1,653f. mentions her sceptre which Aeneas brings from Ilion; cf. Hyg. Fab. 90). She raises her youngest brother  Polydorus along with her and Polymestor's son  Deipylus. After the end of the Trojan War, Agamemnon induces Polymestor to kill Polydorus. He unknowingly kills his own son, since I. had passed Deipylus off as her brother. The real Polydorus then instigates I. to kill he…

[German version] (ὠσχοφόρια/ ōschophória, ὀσχοφόρια/ oschophória, in inscriptions also *ὠσκοφόρια/* ōskophória). Athenian festival. Its course of events can be reconstructed from Plut. Theseus 22-23 and Procl. Chresthomateia 87-92 Severyns [1]: a procession with two youths (ὠσχοφόροι/ ōschophóroi, 'carriers of grapevines') dressed up as girls carrying grape stalks and a choir walked from a temple of Dionysus to the temple of Athena Skiras in Phaleron, where sacrifices were offered. Women participated in the festival as δειπνοφόροι/ deipnophóroi ('food carriers') and to…

[German version] (Ἕρση; Hérsē). Daughter of  Cecrops and  Aglaurus [2] (or Agraulus) (Paus. 1,2,6; Apollod. 3,14,2). In Athens, H. and her sisters Aglaurus (or Agraulos) and  Pandrosus constitute the Cecropids. Despite the prohibition of Athena, who had entrusted it to them, they open a basket containing the new-born  Erichthonius [1]. Then in madness H. and Aglaurus hurl themselves from the Acropolis (Eur. Ion, 268-274; Paus. 1,18,2; cf. 1,2,6; 27,2; Apollod. 3,14,6; Ov. Met. 2,552-561). H. and he…

[German version] (Ἰώ; Iṓ). Daughter of  Inachus, king of Argus (Aesch. PV 589f.; Bacchyl. 19,18 et al.), or of  Peiren (or Peras or Peirasus), king of Tyrins (Hes. Cat. fr. 124), and Melia (Johannes Antiochenus FHG IV 544 fr. 14). Zeus falls in love with her and seduces her in the form of a bull. Out of jealousy, Hera transforms I. into a cow (Aesch. Supp. 299). According to Hes. Cat. fr. 124, I. is transformed by Zeus himself only after their affair in order to deceive Hera (so also Apollod. 2,1,3…

(Κασσιέπεια, Κασσιόπεια, Κασσιόπη, Kassiépeia, Kassiópeia, Kassiópē). [German version] [1] Mistress of Zeus Daughter of Arabus, wife of the son of Agenor  Phoenix, mother of  Phineus, Cilix and Doryclus, by Zeus of  Atymnius [2] (Hes. Cat. fr. 138; Pherecydes FGrH 3 F 86; Apollod. 3,1,2). According to Antoninus Liberalis (40), also the mother of  Europe [2] and  Carme (cf. Hes. Cat. fr. 140). Waldner, Katharina (Berlin) [German version] [2] Wife of Epaphus, son of Zeus Wife of Epaphus, son of Zeus and  Io, mother of Libya, after whom the country of Libya is named (Hyg…

[German version] (Νικοστράτη/ Nikostrátē). Arcadian nymph, prophetess, mother by Hermes of Evander [1], with whom she moved, 60 years before the Trojan War, from Pallantium in Arcadia to Italy, where Evander founded on the Palatine the first city (Str. 5,3,3; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 1,31,1;  Plut. Quaest. Graec. 56; Ov. Fast. 1,462; 618; 627; 634; Serv. Aen. 8,51; 130; 336). According to Plut. Romulus 21, she was the wife of Evander. Outside this Hellenizing tradition, the mother of Evander is called Carmentis (cf. Str. 5,3,3; Plut. Romulus 21). Waldner, Katharina (Berlin) Bibliography H.…

(Πελόπεια/ Pelópeia, Πελοπία/ Pelopía). [German version] [1] Daughter of Pelias Daughter of Pelias and Anaxibia or Phylomache (Apollod. 1,95; Hyg. Fab. 24). With Ares mother of Cycnus [1] (Apollod. 2,155). Waldner, Katharina (Berlin) [German version] [2] Daughter of Thyestes Daughter of Thyestes, with him mother of Aegisthus, who takes revenge on Atreus for the killing of Thyestes' sons. The story of Thyestes' incest is part of the complex of myths about the descendants of Pelops. This incest is mentioned frequently (e.g. Ov. Ib. 359…

[German version] (Λήδα; Lḗda). Daughter of the Aetolian king Thestius and of Eurythemis (Apollod. 1,7,10), sister of Althaea [1] and Hypermestra [1] (Hes. Cat. fr. 23a, 3-5; Apollod. ibid.), wife of the Lacedaemonian king Tyndareos. She is credited with different children: Timandra, Clytaemnestra, Phylonoe (Hes. Cat. fr. 23a, 7-10; Apollod. 3,10,6), Phoebe (Eur. IA 49-51), especially Helene [1] and the Dioscuri Castor and Polydeuces. According to Homer, these are the sons of Tyndareos (Hom. …

[German version] (Κανάκη; Kanákē). Daughter of the Thessalian  Aeolus [1] and Enarete, who had an additional five daughters and six sons (Apollod. 1,50). C. is mother of five sons fathered by Poseidon, among them is Aloeus, progenitor of the  Aloads (Apollod. 1.53). According to Diod. Sic. 5.61, the Tyrrhenian king Aeolus is C.'s father. The Tyrrhenian and Thessalian Aeolus were blended and said by Homer to be the king of the winds  Aeolus [2], whose six sons and six daughters lived in pairs as married couples (Hom. Od. 10.1-9). In the tragedy Aeolus, Euripides described an incestuous …

[German version] (Μήστρα; Mḗstra). Daughter of Helios's son Aethon [2]. According to Hes. Cat. fr. 43c, Mestra received from Poseidon the gift of transforming herself. The legend was first recorded in detail at the time of the Roman Empire: Mestra helps her father, whose punishment from Demeter makes him suffer ravenous hunger, by allowing him to sell her, but she uses Poseidon's gift to turn herself into an animal and return to her father to be sold again (Ov. Met. 8,738f.; cf. also schol. Lykophr…

[German version] (Πασιφάη/ Pasipháē). Daughter of Helios and of Perse(is) (Apoll. Rhod. 3,998-1001; Apollod. 3,1,2; Paus. 3,26,1; Ov. Met. 9,736 amongst others; according to Plut. Agis 9, the daughter of Atlas [2], according to Diod. Sic. 4,60, the daughter of Crete), sister of Aietes, Calypso, Circe and Perses [2], wife of the Cretan king Minos (Apollod. 3,1,2,; Diod. Sic. 4,77 amongst others), mother of Ariadne and Phaedra. Minos asks Poseidon to make a bull appear out of the sea as a sacrificial animal in order to legitimize his claim to power in Crete. Howe…

[German version] (Οἰνοτρόποι; Oinotrópoi). The three daughters of Dorippe and Anius, the mythical first king of Delos: Oino ('Wine-Maid'), Spermo ('Corn-Maid') and Elais ('Oil-Maid'). On their way to Troy, Anius tries to persuade the Greeks to stay with him for nine years and be fed by the O., in order then to conquer Troy in the 10th year (Kypria PEG I fr. 19). The O. have from Dionysus the ability to conjure up corn (schol. Lycoph. 570), wine and oil (Lycoph. 577-580). According to Ovid, everythi…

[German version] (Φαίδρα/ Phaídra, Latin Phaedra). Daughter of Minos and Pasiphae, second spouse of Theseus, mother of Demophon [2] and Acamas. P. loves her stepson Hippolytus [1]. She tries in vain to seduce him and accuses him of having raped her. Theseus asks Poseidon to destroy Hippolytus. The god sends a bull from the sea, which gives such a fright to Hippolytus' horse-team, that he is killed in the accident. P. commits suicide when her love for Hippolytus becomes public (Ps.-Apollod. epit. 1,17…

[German version] (Θυώνη; Thyṓnē). Name of Semele after her assumption among the gods (Diod. 4,25,4; Apollod. 3,38). The earliest evidence is in Sappho (fr. 17,10 Voigt) and Pindar (P. 3,98-99). T. also appears sporadically as the nurse of Dionysus (e.g. Panyassis fr. 5). The latter receives from her the epithet Thyonidas (Hesych. s. v.), Latin Thyoneus (e.g. Hor. Carm. 1,17,23; Ov. Met. 4,13 et passim). Waldner, Katharina (Berlin) Bibliography A. Kossatz-Deissmann, s.v. Semele, LIMC 7.1, 718-726  K. Preisendanz, s.v. T., RE 6 A, 735-736  J. Schmidt, s. v. T., Roscher 5, 926-92…

[German version] (Λύσσα, Λύττα; Lýssa, Lýtta). Personification of (battle) rage and madness. She appears as an independent person for the first time in 5th-cent. tragedy; according to Eur. HF 822-899 she is descended from Nyx and the blood of Uranus that the latter sheds when he is castrated by Kronos. Homer mentions the state of lyssa, but she is not a person (Hom. Il. 8,299; cf. also 9,239; 304f.). As such she appears for the first time in Aeschylus in the Xántriai (TrGF III fr. 169) where she spurs on the Minyades - struck with madness by Dionysus - to kill a human being …

(Ψαμάθη/ Psamáthē, Ψαμάθα/ Psamátha, Ψαμάθεια/ Psamátheia). [German version] [1] Nereid Nereid (Hes. Theog. 260; Apollod. 1,12). The mother of Phocus [1] by Aeacus (Hes. Theog. 1004 f.; Pind. Nem. 5,13). Like her sister Thetis, who resisted marriage to Peleus, P. escaped marriage with Aeacus by transforming into a seal (Apollod. 3,158). According to Eur. Hel. 6-14, she later became the wife of Proteus and the mother of Theoclymenus and Theonoë by him. Because Peleus killed her son Phocus, she sent a rapac…

[German version] (Ὀμφάλη; Omphálē). Mythical queen of the Lydians (Lydia). She is the daughter of Iardanus and becomes queen as successor to her husband Tmolus (Apollod. 2,6,3; Diod. 4,31). Heracles [1] is the father of her sons Lamus [2] and Agelaus [3] (e.g. Apollod. 2,7,8; Ov. Epist. 9,54). According to Clearchus of Soli (fr. 43a Wehrli), she and other Lydian women are raped and as queen she takes her revenge by forcing free women to sleep with slaves. Heracles is sold abroad as a punishment for killing his host Iphitus and performs the duties of a slave for O. (Soph. …

[German version] (Ἰόλη; Iólē). Daughter of  Eurytus [1], king of Oechalia, and Antioche (Hes. Cat. fr. 26,31a), sister of  Iphitus, who was murdered by Heracles (cf. Hom. Od. 21,11-41). Although Heracles wins I. in the archery contest arranged by Eurytus, the latter refuses to give him his daughter (Pherecydes FGrH 3 F 82a; Apollod. 2,6,1-3; Diod. Sic. 4,31,37). In revenge for the period of servitude with  Omphale imposed on him as retribution for the murder of Iphitus, Heracles destroys Oechalia a…