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(Ἀμφιδάμας; Amphidámas). [German version] [1] Hero from Tegea in Arcadia Hero from Tegea in Arcadia, son of Aleus, brother of Lycurgus son of Cepheus and Auge (Paus. 8,4,8), one of the Argonauts (Apoll. Rhod. 1,161; 2,1046). In Apollod. 3,105 he is not the brother, but the son of Lycurgus, and his children are Melanion ( Atalante) and Antimache, wife of Eurystheus. Deviating genealogies in the Homeric scholia  Aphidas. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Opuntic Locrian Opuntic Locrian. Patroclus killed his son during an astragalos game and sought protection from Pe…

[German version] (Αὐτονόη; Autonóē). Daughter of  Cadmus and  Harmonia, sister of  Semele,  Agave and Ino ( Leucothea), wife of Aristaeus, mother of  Actaeon (Hes. Theog. 977; Apollod. 3,26; 30; Hyg. Fab. 184). In Euripides' Bacchae she leads a thiasos of Theban Maenads (230; 680; Ov. Met. 3,720). Following the death of her son, she goes to Megara; her tomb is mentioned by Pausanias (1,44,5). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography A. Kossatz-Deissman, s.v. Autonoe, LIMC 3.1, 64f.

The Roman god of passage in a topographical, temporal and figurative sense. His name is derived from ianua (‘passage, gate’) and is connected with  Ianiculum. The name refers to the god as well as to the cultically relevant gates connected to him. Iconographical representations begin in the Republican period, depicting I. usually with two faces, occasionally with four ( bifrons, quadrifrons). [German version] A. Cult centres His cult is almost exclusively public and political, only two private dedications to him are extant. Two old altars of I. in Rome are att…

[German version] (Κινύρας, Kinýras). Mythic founder of the temple of  Aphrodite of Paphus, and progenitor of the priestly family of the Cinyradae, who shared the leadership of the cult together with the Tamiradae family (whose ancestor, the Cilician seer Tamiras, C. had introduced), but later presided alone over the worship and oracle (Tac. Hist. 2,3). C. is connected with  Apollo (Pind. Pyth. 2,15), which indicates the role of singers in the cult. He is often regarded as a son of Apollo; but it is…

[English version] The polarity between Apollo and Dionysus and the phenomena linked with these gods was introduced into modern aesthetic discussion by Friederich Nietzsche. Nietzsche understood the ‘duplicity of Apollo and Dionysus’ as a fundamental opposition of Greek aesthetics : An ihre (sc. der Griechen) beiden Kunstgottheiten, Apollo und Dionysus, knüpft sich unsere Erkenntnis, daß in der griech. Welt ein ungeheurer Gegensatz, nach Ursprung und Zielen, zw. der Kunst des Bildners, der apollinischen, und der unbildlichen Kunst der Musik, als der des Dionysus, besteht (‘it i…

[German version] [1] Precious stone According to Theophr. De lapidibus 31 [1.68], a precious stone ( gemma) named after the river of the same name in Sicily (today's Carabi or Canitello), and which, along with 11 others, adorned the official escutcheon of the High Priest Aaron (Ex 39,10-13) [2.204 f.]. According to Plin. HN 37,5, King Pyrrhus of Epirus owned a specimen whose naturally occurring streaks ( maculae) depicted Apollo and the nine Muses. According to Plin. HN 37,139-142, the achates and its many variants, whilst having decreased in value owing to ma…

(Καρμάνωρ; Karmánōr). [German version] [1] Cretan seer A Cretan seer and priest of purification, as such closely connected with  Apollo, the god of ritual purification, and with Delphi, his centre of cult worship. He purifies Apollo and Artemis after the killing of the snake  Python (in Tarrha, Phaestus or Dion on Crete, Paus. 2,30,3; Euseb. Praep. evang. 5,31); in his house Apollo loves the nymph Acacallis who becomes mother of the founding heroes of the Cretan city Elyrus (on the myth of abandonment …

[German version] [1] 9th of the 10 Attic phylae (Αἰαντίς; Aiantís). The 9th of the 10 Attic phylae, dating from the phyle reforms of  Cleisthenes (Hdt. 5,66). Named after the hero  Ajax [1], son of Telamon, king of  Salamis. In the 4th cent. BC it included four paralia demes as well as one   asty- and one mesogeia deme ( Phalerum and  Aphidna), which, on account of their size, each represented one trittýs. In 307/6 BC, the A. gave none of its demes to the new Macedonian phyles, but later gave one each to the  Ptolemais,  Attalis and  Hadrianis. In the case of the mesogeiatrittýs of A., there is e…

(Ἀλήτης; Alḗtēs). Suggestive hero's name, ‘Roamer’. [German version] [1] Mythical conqueror of Corinth Son of the Heraclid Hippotes, captures and colonizes Corinth after expelling the descendants of  Sisyphus with help from Melas, an ancestor of  Cypselus (Str. 8,8,5; Konon FGrH 26 F 1,26; Paus. 2,4,3 f; 5,18,8), or he receives the rulership from the Heraclids (Diod. Sic. 7,9,2). His dynasty is replaced by the  Bacchiadae, and in poetry the Corinthians are called Aletidai after him. He won power in Corinth with the help of the Dodona oracle, which told him that he w…

(Ἀφείδας; Apheídas). Suggestive heroic name, ‘not miserly’. [German version] [1] Figure of the Odyssee Son of Polypemon from Alybas, as whose son Eperitus Odysseus passes himself off (Hom. Od. 24,304). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] King of Athens King of Athens, son of Oxyntes; his illegitimate brother kills him (Demon FGrH 327 F 1; Nikolaus FGrH 90 F 48). He is progenitor of the noble family of the Aphidantidae [1]. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [3] King of Tegea Son of Arcas, younger brother of Elatus, king of Tegea (Apollod. 3,102; Paus. 8,4…

(Ἄμφιος; Ámphios). [German version] [1] Son of the seer Merops of Percote A. and Adrestus, sons of the seer Merops of Percote, fought in the Trojan war against his will and were slain by Diomedes (Hom. Il. 2,828-834; 11,328-334). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Son of Selagos from Paesus Son of Selagos from Paesus, killed by Telamonian Ajax (Hom. Il. 5,612; Tzetz. Allegoriae Iliadis Proleg. 812) [1]. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography 1 O. Tauchefen, LIMC 1.1, 318, no. 24.

I. Theory of myth [German version] A. Definition Despite many attempts, it has proven impossible to arrive at a definition of myth (Gr. μῦθος/ mýthos; Lat. mythos) that would satisfy all disciplines. The most satisfactory one refers to G.S. Kirk and W. Burkert who described myth as a ‘traditional narrative of collective significance’ [1; 2]. Still, this definition fails to fully represent the function of myth in the time after Classical Antiquity, when we find myths in entertaining narratives such as Ovidius's ‘Metamorphoses or Nonnus's Dionysiaká. The term ‘traditional’ implies…

[German version] ‘Eternity’, personification of duration of political rule. In the imperial period one can swear by the ‘eternal duration’ of the rule of an emperor, likewise invoke his fame or his well-being (Plin. Ep. 10,41,1; 83). The cult of Aeternitas probably begins in the early imperial period in Spain: coins (for instance from Tarraco and Emerita) under Augustus and Tiberius depict a temple with the legend, Aeternitati Augustae [1]. First depictions of the goddess occur under Vespasian, and the first cult reference is a sacrifice of   the Arvales fratres to A. imperii, after the…

Name of a Roman Plebeian family from Tusculum (who, as mint masters, liked to place on their coins the Dioscuri, who were particularly revered there, RRC 290, 307, cf. 353), whose members often held the office of praetor; the family did not attain the consulate until the early Imperial period. 1. Republican period [German version] [I 1] F. Legate Legate of the proconsul Q. Servilius Caepio in Asculum; their murder by the local population triggered the  Social Wars [3] (Cic. Font. 41; 48; Vell. Pat. 2,15,1; App. B Civ. 1,173); perhaps identical with the mint master RRC 290 or 307. Elvers, Karl…

[German version] (Ἄνδροκλος; Ándroklos). Son of king Codrus of Athens. According to Pherecydes (FGrH 3 F 155), the leader of the procession of colonists going from there to Ionia; however, according to Hellanicus (FGrH 4 F 125), Neleus, son of Codrus, already has this role. A. expels Leleges and Lydians and founds Ephesus; the royal lineage in Ephesus may have been called ‘the Androclids’. A. is said to have fought against the Samians and Carians and to have fallen when securing Priene as an Ionian colony (Paus. 7,2,9). Ephesian coins of the imperial period show his image. Graf, Fritz (Colu…

[German version] (Ἄντικλος; Ántiklos). One of the Greeks in the wooden horse. He wanted to answer Helena, when, near the horse standing on the hill fortress, she was imitating the voices of Greek women. However, Odysseus closed his mouth until Athena had led Helena away (Hom. Od. 4,271-89; Q. Smyrn. 12,317; Apollod. ep. 5,19; Ov. Ib. 567). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

[German version] (Αἴγεστος; Aígestos). Son of Trojan parents who had fled to Sicily; fights with Elymus at Troy and founds Egesta/Segesta after his return (Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 1,52). According to another tradition, son of Sicilian river god   Crimisus and the Trojan nymph Egesta/Segesta (Serv. Aen. 1,550). Virgil recounts in Aen. 5, how A. (whom he calls Acestes) receives Aeneas as a guest. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography C. Arnold-Biucchi, s. v. A., LIMC 1.1, 357 f.

Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] A. Terminology (CT) Neither Greek nor Latin had a word that precisely corresponds to the modern term 'religion' in its academic sense, whether to designate a specific cultural subsystem ('the religion of the Aztecs') or to refer to the anthropological constant of religion. This modern concept was a result of the Enlightenment and ethnological discoveries, and dates only to the Early Modern era. Ancient concepts focused on individual areas: the Greek thrēskeía, 'worship', and the Greek eusébeia refer only to ritual in the collective…

[German version] (Ἄμυρις; Ámyris). From Siris, called ‘the Wise’, father of Damasus, one of the suitors of  Agariste, the mother of Cleisthenes (Hdt. 6,127). The epithet associates him with the general sphere of the pre-philosophical, archaic Tales of Sages [1]. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography 1 F. Wehrli, Hauptrichtungen des griech. Denkens, 1964, 39-43.

[German version] (Ἀμυθάων; Amytháōn). Son of Cretheus and Tyro in Iolcus, brother of Phereus and Aeson, half brother of Neleus and Pelias, the sons of Poseidon (Hom. Od. 11,235-259; Hes. fr. 38). He settles in Pylos, which Neleus founded, and here he fathers his sons Melampus and Bias (Diod. Sic. 4,68,3; Apollod. 1,93; 96). He appears with his relatives in Iolcus, to demand Iason's inheritance from Pelias; he is one of the Argonauts (Pind. Pyth. 4,126). A part of Elis is called Amythaonia after him; before Pelias and Neleus he renews the Olympic games (Paus. 5,8,2). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, …

[German version] (‘Little story’). Modern term describing brief tales built into magic formulas, providing a mythic precedence for a magically effective treatment. Historiolas are already documented in Mesopotamian and ancient Egyptian  magic. In the Graeco-Egyptian  magic papyri (PGM), they provide references to both Greek (e.g. PGM XX) and Egyptian (e.g. PGM IV 1471) mythology, and to Christian legends in Christian rites. However, historiolas should not be understood as abridgments of well-known myths or as ad hoc inventions, rather the narrator understands them as p…

[German version] (Αἰολία sc. νῆσος; Aiolía nêsos). Residence of  Aeolus [2], the lord of the winds. It is a floating island, which is hedged around by steep cliffs and a bronze wall (Hom. Od. 10.3 f.); in a certain contrast to these fairy-tale motives -- especially the floating of the island -- is the very Greek idea that the city and the ‘beautiful houses’ of A. and his family are on this island (loc. cit.13). Since the 5th cent. it is sited in actual geography and in particular identified with the Liparic or Aeolic Islands (Αἰόλου νῆσοι) (Antiochus of Syracuse FGrH 555 F 1; Thuc. 3,88). Graf, Fri…

(Ἀργεῖος; Argeîos). [German version] [1] Son of Likymnios Son of Licymnius. In two myths he is the doomed battle comrade of Hercules. He accompanies him together with his brother Melas on the quest to conquer Oichalia; both are slain and are buried by Hercules (Apollod. 2,156). According to another version he accompanies Hercules on his Trojan campaign, in spite of his father's resistance; Hercules had to swear an oath promising to bring him back. When he is slain outside Troy, Hercules burns the corpse and brings back the ashes (Schol. Hom. Il. 1,52). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) …

(Ἀκταῖος; Aktaîos), ‘he from the coast’ ( akte) or ‘of Akte’. [German version] [1] Attic primal king Attic primal king, the first (Paus. 1,2,6) or successor of Porphyrion (Paus. 1,14,7); father of the (first) Aglaurus, the wife of Cecrops and mother of Aglaurus [2], Herse and Pandrosus (Apollod. 3,180, who in 3,177 first made Cecrops the primal king). Attica was first called Acte after him, as was the Piraeus peninsula in the historical period (Apollod. 3,177; Harpocrat. s. v. Akte). According to Pherecydes (FGrH 3 F 60) he is father of Telamon of Glauce, the daughter of th…

(Ἀτύμνιος; Atýmnios). [German version] [1] Son of the Carian king Amisodarus Son of the Carian king Amisodarus. He and his brother Maris, companions at arms of Sarpedon, were killed by two sons of Nestor (Hom. Il. 16,317). Later, he is regarded as identical to Tymnius, the eponymous founder of the Carian city of Tymnus [1]. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Son of Zeus Son of Zeus (of the Phoenix: Schol. Apoll. Rhod. 2,178) and  Cassiopea, courted by the brothers Minos and Sarpedon in competition with each other. Otherwise Miletus, the son of Ap…

[German version] (Εἰλειθυία; Eileithyíai, Doric Ἐλευθ(υ)ία; Eleuth(y)ía, Mycenaean in Knosos e-reu-ti-ja). Greek goddess, worshipped almost exclusively by women in the context of pregnancy and birth, also in the context of children's and women's diseases (Diod. Sic. 5,73,4; [1]). Already known by Homer in this function (μογοστόκος, ‘concerned with the effort of giving birth’, Hom. Il. 16,187). The name itself seems to be telling ─ it can be connected with eleuth-, ‘to go, to come’ [2]. She has almost no independent myths: she was born at her important cult centre…

[German version] (Βοώτης; Boṓtēs). (‘Ox-driver’) One of the names of a constellation near that of Ursa Major; attested since Hom. Od. 5,272. If the latter constellation is thought of as a bear, the former, as its companion, is termed instead ‘bear-keeper’, Arktophylax (Arat. 91-83; Ov. Fast. 3,145; Manil. Astr. 1,316-318 etc.). Its brightest star is Arcturus (Arktouros), which occasionally gives its name to the whole constellation (Eratosth. Catast. 8). Various legends about the stars give a mythical background to the meaning of Bootes. 1. He is generally underst…

[German version] (ἐποπτεία; epopteía, ‘the seeing’). One of the levels of initiation into the  mysteries; whoever attained it, was epóptēs. In  Eleusis, whence the term originated, epopteia refers to the stage of initiation after the initial  myesis ─ epopteia either refers to the public ‘display’ during the celebration of the mysteries, in which myesis was the individual dedication which could take place outside of the celebrations, or rather a second facultative stage following on from the obligatory mýēsis [1; 2]. In any case, the term underlines the importance of vis…

(Ἀλκίππη; Alkíppē). Common woman's name in mythological epics. [German version] [1] Figure of Greek myth: daughter of Ares Daughter of Ares and Cecrop's daughter Agraulus, raped by  Halirrhotius (Apollod. 3,180), Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Figure of Greek myth: grandmother of Daedalus Grandmother of Daedalus, mother of Eupalamus by Metion (Apollod. 3,214). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [3] Figure from the Iliad: slave of Helena A slave of Helena (Hom. Od. 4,124). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

[German version] (Κατρεύς; Katreús). Son of  Minos and Pasiphae, eponym of the Cretan town Catre; he is killed by his son  Althaemenes, even though he fled to Rhodes to avoid his father who had been warned by an oracle (Apollod. 3,12-16); when his grandson  Menelaus takes part in his funeral, Paris kidnaps Helena (ibid. 3,3). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

(Αἰθαλίδης; Aithalídēs). [German version] [1] Herald during the Argonauts' campaign Son of Hermes and Eupolemea, daughter of Myrmidon, born near the Thessalian stream Amphryssus. Herald during the Argonauts' campaign (Apoll. Rhod. 1,51-55, 640-47). Hermes allowed him to continue to remember after his death and thus to move between the Underworld and the Upperworld (Pherecydes FGrH 3 F 109; Apoll. Rhod. 1,644-7). His soul is said to have entered the body of Pythagoras, as first recounted by Heraclides Ponticus (fr. 89 W. = Diog. Laert. 8,1,4) [1]. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) …

This item can be found on the following maps: Writing | Theatre | Doric Migration | Dark Ages | Grain Trade, Grain Import | Achaeans, Achaea | Apollo | Macedonia, Macedones | Macedonia, Macedones | Mycenaean culture and archaeology | Natural catastrophes | Oracles | Peloponnesian War | Athletes | Delian League | Aegean Koine | Education / Culture (Ἄργος; Árgos). I. Mythical characters [German version] [I 1] Son of Zeus and Niobe The son of Zeus and Niobe, brother of Pelasgus (Acusilaus FGrH 2 F 25), husband of Evadne, father of Epidaurus i.a. (Hes. fr. 247), or Pei…

[German version] (Αἰνεύς; Aineús). Son of Apollo and Stilbe the daughter of Peneius; husband of the Aenete (Αἰνήτη), father of   Cyzicus (Apoll. Rhod. 1,948). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

[German version] (Ἰάλεμος; Iálemos). Son of  Apollo and the Muse  Calliope, thus the brother of several mythical singers:  Hymenaus,  Linus,  Orpheus (schol. Eur. Rhes. 985). Just as Hymenaus is a personification of the wedding song and Linus of the dirge, so I. is the personification of those dirges that, poetically, are called iálemoi. The myth explains this either with I.'s early death which gives cause for lament (as for Linus) (Pind. fr. 139,8), or with I.'s invention of the dirge. He is occasionally identified with Linus (Schol. Eur. Or. 1390). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

[German version] [1] Fish Fish (Greek ἰχθῦς/ ichthŷs; Latin piscis) was a common food in Greece and Rome, certain fishes in Rome were even considered a luxury food. This explains the Greek curiosity about neighbouring cultures such as Egypt or Syria, where conspicuous food prohibitions were observed and generalized (priests in Egypt: Hdt. 2,37; Plut. De Is. et Os. 7, 353b; Plut. Symp. 8,8,2; Syria: Ov. Fast. 2,473f.; Porph. De abstinentia 2,61 etc.) that probably relate to the worship of fish in these cu…

[German version] (ἄλσος/ álsos, Latin lucus). In Greece and Italy a sacred area characterized by its stand of trees (cf. Str. 9,2,33); although lucus originally meant ‘glade’. A grove had at least one altar, often also votive offerings; often a grove could also be part of a larger sacred area with a temple: as in the Apollo sanctuary of  Didyma (Str. 14,1,5), the Samian Heraeum (LSCG, Suppl. 18) or in the Roman grove of the  Dea Dia. The grove was sacred because it was considered to be the place where a deity resided;…

[German version] (μυσταγωγός/ mustagōgós). An Athenian cult functionary in the Eleusinian mysteries ( Mystḗria ) who accompanied the mystae in the annual procession to Eleusis [1] , kept order and probably helped the mystae during the rites (inscriptions from the 1st cent. BC: LSCG, Suppl 15; Plut. Alcibiades 34,6). There is also evidence for this function outside Athens (Andania: IG V 1, 1390 l. 149; 92 BC); the verb derived from it, μυσταγωγεῖν/ mystagōgeín), denotes an initiation (e.g. of a priest in Panamara, Caria, Syll.3 900; 4th cent. AD). Figuratively, a mystagogos is a person…

[German version] Literally ‘Procession around agricultural land’, an agrarian lustration ritual, the corresponding ritual for lustration of urban areas being the amburbia (SHA Aurelian. 20,3 cf. Fest. s. v. Amburbiales hostiae). The Roman cult is familiar with a series of such cleansing processions around agricultural land, which for the most part are the responsibility of individual landowners ( lustratio agri, Cato agr. 141; sacrificium ambarvale, Serv. Ecl. 3,77; cf. also Tib. 2,1 [1]). The animal carried in the procession, which is killed at its conclusi…

(Ἄνθης or Ἄνθας; Ánthēs, Ánthas). [German version] [1] Son of Poseidon and Alcyone [1] Son of Poseidon and  Alcyone [1], the daughter of Atlas. As a child he became lost, but was found by his sister Hypera as cup-bearer in Acastus in Pherae and thus saved (Plut. qu. Gr. 19,295 f.). He founds Anthea, his brother Hyperes ( sic) Hyperea; A.'s son Aetius ruled both locations, which were then united under Pelopidas with Troezen (Paus. 2,30,8 f.). In another tradition Anthedonia and Hyperea are the old names of Troezen (Aristot. fr. 597). He was also regard…

[German version] [1] Goat or nymph, who nourished Zeus as a child (αἴξ aíx). According to the post-Hesiodic myth, Zeus was fed and nourished as a child in the Cretan cave by a goat ( Amalthea) or a nymph by the name of ‘Goat’. Zeus kills her, uses her coat as a shield ( Aegis) in the battle of the Titans and in gratitude sets her among the stars (Eratosth. Catast. 13 Capella; Ant. Lib. 36). The nymph is the mother of Aegipan and Aegocerus (Capricorn, Eratosth. Catast. 27). The representation of the constellation of Ἡνίοχος ( Hēníochos; Auriga) bearing the goat on the shoulder and her two …

(Ἀριστόμαχος; Aristómachos). [German version] [1] Great-grandson of Heracles Great-grandson of Hercules, son of Cleodaeus (Hdt. 6,52; Apollod. 2,171; Paus. 2,7,6). His attempt to conquer the Peloponnese failed because an oracle was misunderstood. He fell in the battle and the country was conquered by his sons Temenus, Cresphontes and (in the Spartan version) Aristodemus [1] (Hyg. Fab. 124. 137) [1]. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Healing hero in Rhamnus Healing hero in Rhamnus. His sanctuary lies on a hill south-west of the Rhamnus Acropolis. He …

[German version] (Λαιρβηνός; Lairbēnós) is the epiclesis of Apollo in Phrygia, as attested to in numerous inscriptions. The missing Greek etymology as well as the variants point to the fact that this is the Greek interpretatio of an indigenous name. Many confession inscriptions stem from his shrine in the region of modern Ortaköy. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography K. M. Miller, Apollo L., in: Numen 32, 1985, 46-70 G. Petzl, Die Beichtinschr. Westkleinasiens, 1994, 122-143.

(Ἄρχανδρος [ Árchandros], Ἀρχιτέλης [ Architélēs]). [German version] [1] Sons or Grandsons of Achaeus Sons or grandsons of Achaeus. They move from Phthia to Argus, where Danaus gives them two of his daughters in marriage, whereby they become rulers of Argus and Lacedaemon and the inhabitants there become known as the Achaeans (Paus. 7,1,6 f.). The city in Lower Egypt known as Archandroupolis is supposed to have been named after Archander (Hdt. 2,98). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Sons of Acastus  Sons of Acastus, who together with them drives Peleus out of P…

(Ἶρις; Îris, ‘Rainbow’) [German version] [1] Messenger of the gods, personification of rainbow The deified rainbow. In Hesiod's genealogy (Hes. Theog. 266) she is the daughter of  Thaumas (cf. θαῦμα/ thaûma, ‘marvel’) and  Electra [1] (cf. the shining metal electrum) and sister of the  Harpies, who flew as fast the wind. Her genealogy characterizes her: she herself is thought to be fast, and in Greek physics, the rainbow can produce winds. In mythological accounts, she is to a very great extent detached from her element, and…

[German version] (Ἀκάδημος). Attic hero, who was venerated in the grove  ‘Akademeia’, 1.6 km west of Athenian Dipylon (a cultic building is presumed). Hecademus is probably an older form of the name (a vase inscription reads hεκα[δεμος] Beazley, ABV 27,36). He revealed to Castor and Polydeuces that Theseus was holding their sister Helena, abducted from Sparta, in Aphidna (Plut. Theseus 32,3-5), and founded the gymnasium (Hesych. s. v. akadḗmia). In gratitude the Spartans spared the academy during their invasions of Attica. The myth competes with another, in whic…

[German version] (Ἀμυμώνη; Amymṓnē). Daughter of Danaus and Europa. By Poseidon she is the mother of Nauplius (Nostoi fr. 1; Hes. fr. 297; Paus. 2,38,2); a river in Lerna is named after her, and the spring of Lerna is ascribed to her (Str. 8,6,8; Paus. 2,37,1. 4). Hyg. Fab. 169 and Apollod. 2,14 recount her myth in the form which goes back to a satyr game, which is probably Aeschylus' A. Sent out by Danaus in order to find a spring in arid Argus, she accidentally startles a sleeping satyr; Poseidon…

[German version] (Ὑάκινθος; Hyákinthos).Hero whose tomb and cult are located in  Amyclae [1] near Sparta, but whose festival, the Hyacinthia, and the name of the month connected to it (hyakínthios, Cretan bakínthios/wakínthios [1]) is known in many Doric cities. The widespread familiarity with H. indicates the hero's ancient, supra-regional significance. The name must be pre-Greek due to the suffix -nth-. Although the Amyclaean sanctuary is pre-Doric, it can be traced only from the late Mycenaean …

[German version] Son of Hermes or Poseidon (Pind. Paean 2), Opuntic Locrian, favourite of Hercules and eponymous hero of the Thracian city Abdera. For Hercules he guarded the human-flesh-eating mares, stolen from the Bistonian king Diomedes, and in so doing, he was himself eaten by them. Hercules founded Abdera on his grave site (Apollod. 2,97) and instigated annually an agone, which was conducted without horse races (Philostr. Imag. 2,25). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography J. Boardman, s. v. A., LIMC 1.1, 1.

[German version] (Βαυβώ; Baubṓ). According to a version of the Eleusinic myth attributed to Orpheus, she was an original inhabitant of Eulisis with the heroes Triptolemus, Eumolpus, Eubuleus and her husband Dysaules, who are visited by  Demeter on her search for his daughter. Like  Iambe in the version of the myth in the Homeric hymn, B. entertains the goddess with food and drink and then obscenely exposes her lower body in order to cheer her up (Clem. Protrepticus 20f.; Arnob. 5,25, who describes …

[German version] (Ἐφέσια γράμματα; Ephésia grámmata, ‘Ephesian letters of the alphabet’). Designation for a series of words devoid of meaning ─ ( askion kataskion lix tetrax damnameneus aision or aisia) that was used orally and in writing for apotropaic and salvation-bringing purposes. Their name comes from the fact that they were engraved on the statue of Artemis of Ephesus (Paus. ap. Eust. Od. 19,247). They were spoken in  exorcism (Plut. Mor. 706 de) for the protection of a bridal couple which was ritually encircled (Men…