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(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 …

[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…

(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…

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[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. …

[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 (Columb…

[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 …

[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. Fr. 313);  Croesus supposedly used them to put out the burning wood that was to burn him at the stake (Suda s.v. Ε. γ., E 386); written on a piece of leather and worn, th…

(Ἀμώνιος; Ammónios). [German version] [1] Favourite of  Alexander [II 13] I (Balas), middle of the 2nd cent. BC Favourite of  Alexander [II 13] I (Balas); …

[German version] (Ἀλλογενής; Allogenḗs, the ‘different’). Name of  Seth as son of Adam and Eve in Sethian  Gnosticism (Epiphanius, Panarii libri 40,7,2). His seven sons are the Allogeneis (40,7,5). Books are also ascribed to him, which are likewise called Allogeneis (39,5,1; 40,2,2). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

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[German version] A festival was held in her honour at the Ides of March in her grove (Martial. 4,64; 16) at the first milestone of the Via Flaminia near the Tiber, which is characterized by a sacrifice for a good year ut commode liceat annare perennareque…

(Greek ἰατρός; iatrós, ‘physician’). [German version] [1] Physician Physician,  Medicine. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] …

[German version] (Γελάνωρ; Gelánōr). Mythical original king of Argus, son of Sthenelus (Paus. 2,16,1), whose only significance is that he abdicated the rulership to  Danaus (Apollod. 2,13); in Aesch. Supp. 266 he is called  Pelasgus. The change in dynasty took place either after a battle (Plut. Pyrrhus 32,9f., 404e-f) or by referendum (Paus. 2,19,3f.). A battle, understood as an omen, between a bull …

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[German version] (Ἄκεσις). Healing hero in Epidaurus ( akéomai ‘healing’), whom the Pergamens equated with Telesphorus, the Sicyonans with Euhamerion (Paus. 2,11,7). The Telephorus hymn inscription of the imperial period, from Athens, IG II/III ed. minor 3,1 4533,36 (Kaibel 1027) [1] also knows of this equation with Telesphoros. The classical form would be Akesios [2]. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography 1 Edelstein, Asclepius Vol. 1, 89 n. 50 2 Schwyzer, Gramm., 1953, 473.

[German version] I. Greek-Roman antiquity Katabasis (κατάβασις/ katábasis, ‘descent’, more precisely εἰς ᾍδου κ., ‘descent into the Underworld’; pl. katabáseis; since Isoc. Or. 10,20, cf. Hdt. 2,122,1). Katabasis is, as a specific form of the voyage into the other world, the (mythological) narration or (ritual) staging of a voyage into the Underworld, with the purpose of either finding a particular inhabitant (a dead person, a deity, or a monster), or gaining knowledge of the future (guarded by the subterraneans)…

[German version] (Ἀλκείδης; Alkeídēs). Patronymic of Alceus = Alcaeus [1], therefore epithet of Hercules as grandson (Hes. Sc. 112) of Amphitryon and as son of Alcaeus. A. is also regarded as Hercules' real name, which was altered by the Pythia (Apollod. 2,73). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

[German version] (Γαλεῶται; Galeôtai). Name of a Sicilian family of seers, probably from Hybla Galeatis/Gereatis (Paus. 5,23,6), whose members are linked with prophecies relating to the rule of  Dionysius I (Philistus FGrH 556 F 57 in Cic. Div. 1,39; Ael. VH 12,46). Myth associates them with  Telmissus, the location in Caria famous for its prophecy (Cic. Div. 1,91): the eponymous Galeos was said to be, like his brother Telmissus, the son of  Apollo and the Hyperborean princess Themisto. On the advi…

[German version] (Ἀντίκλεια; Antíkleia). Daughter of  Autolycus, wife of  Laertes, mother of  Odysseus and Ctimene. In Homer she died of anguish about her long-absent son; Odysseus speaks with her shadow in the Underworld (Hom. Od. 11). Post-Homer, Odysseus is also regarded as son of A. and  Sisyphus. She committed suicide on the false news of Odysseus' death (Hyg. Fab. 243). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography A. Touchefeu-Meynier, LIMC 1.1, 828-830.

[German version] (ἀρχηγέτης; archēgétēs). ‘Leader’, functional title of heroes and epiclesis of Apollo and Hercules. In the case of heroes, A. indicates in particular the role of progenitor and patron -- examples are the heroes of Attic demes (Demosth. 43,66 [1]) and the Thracian horse-riding hero in northern Greece and in Pon…

[German version] (Κόδρος; Kódros). Son of  Melanthus, a mythical king of Athens. In the list of Attic kings, his role is primarily to establish the connection to the Pylian colonists of Ionia. According to a tradition common in the 5th cent. BC, his father, a Neleid, came …

(Ἀλκάθοος; Alkáthoos). [German version] [1] Megarian hero, connected with the town that was also called Alcathoe Megarian hero, son of Pelops and Hippodamia of Elis. A fugitive after striking his brother dead, by killing the Cithaeronian lion he won the daughter of the Megarian king Megareus and …

[German version] (Ἀκεσ(σ)αμενός). King of Pieria, founder and hero of Acesamenae in Macedonia (Steph. Byz. s. v. Ἀκεσαμεναί); father of Periboea, who became mother of Pelegon by the river god Axius (Hom. Il. 21,142). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

[German version] (Ἀχλύς). The darkness that in Homer comes upon the eyes of mortals (e.g. Il. 5,696) or those whom the gods have blinded (e.g. Il. 20,324). It is depicted on the shield of Hercules in a female personification with hideous baroque-like features as leader of the team of horses of Nyx (Hes. asp. 264), in the late Orph. A. 341. The Latin correspondence to her is Caligo ‘dark fog’, Mother of Chaos and Nox in the cosmogonical myth, of unknown, but probably Greek origin (Hyg. Fab. praef. 1). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography F. Queyrel, s. v. A., LIMC 1.1, 214 A. Shapiro, Personi…

[German version] (Αἰαία). ‘The woman from  Aea’, the corresponding epithet of Circe (Hom. Od. 9,32; Verg. Aen. 3,386), Calypso (Prop. 3,12,31), Medea (Apoll. Rhod. 3,1136). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

[German version] (Ὑριεύς; Hyrieús). Son of  Poseidon and  Alcyone [1], founder of the Boeotian town  Hyria.  Trophonius and Agamedes build him a treasury, but such that they can secretly steal from it; a story follows this which varies the tale of the master thief (Hdt. 2,121) (Paus. 9,27,5-7). The story of how H. comes by his son Orion is often told: Zeus and Apollo visit the childless widower, and in thanks for his hospitality (he slaughters his only cow for them) they urinate into the skin of the beast; from this is created the child Orion (wordplay on oureîn, ‘urinate’; in detail Ov. Fas…

[German version] (Λήναια, the Lenaea). Name of a festival of Dionysus that according to the name of the month associated with it - Lenaion - must have been widespread over the whole of Ionia. However, we have more precise knowledge only of the festival from Athens, where the Lenaea together with the Anthesteria and the two Dionysia were part of the winter festival cycle for Dionysus. They took place in the month of Gamelion (January/February) and in the texts were called Dionysia ‘on the Lenaion’ (ἐπὶ Ληναίωι), a place in the lower part of the Athenian Agora. They comprised a …

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[German version] (usually spelled Halaesus). Italic hero, companion or illegitimate son of  Agamemnon, who fled to…

[German version] [1] Ancient name for Egypt Ancient name for Egypt used in Aesch. Supp. 75; see also Steph. Byz., s. v. Αἴγυπτος ( Aígyptos) and Apoll. Rhod. 4,267. The etymology is unclear, perhaps from ἀήρ. Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) [German version] [2] Town in  Gallia Narbonensis Town in  Gallia Narbonensis (Str. 4,185…

[German version] (Ἄφίδνος; Aphídnos). Autochthonous, eponymous king of the Attic town of Aphidna (Steph. Byz. s. v. Aphidna). He was entrusted by Theseus with the task of guarding Aithra, Theseus' mother and also the abducted Helen (Plut. Thes. 31; 33). During the attack on Aphidna by the Dioscuri (heavenly twins), he wounded Castor in the right thigh (Polemon fr. 10). A. adopted the Dioscuri and initiated them into the Eleusinian Mysteries (Plut. Thes. 33,2). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography Kearns, 151.

[German version] The cultic worship of the emperor during his lifetime and after his death, namely as a deity and part of the municipal pantheon, was as such the Roman Imperial version of ruler cult already commonly practised amongst the Hellenistic …

[German version] Roman equivalent of the Greek ruler of the Underworld,  Hades or respectively  Pluto. According to ancient tradition, the name Dis derives from dives, ‘rich’, in the same way as Pluto derives from ploûtos, …

[German version] In pagan Rome, the antistes is the leader of rites and administrator of a temple, the priest or high priest, though not as a specialist term in sacred language, despite its rare inscriptional use (CIL III 1115,7. X 5654). As old Roman temples did not have permanent priests, the expression was used for specific sacral colleagues such as the vestals (Liv. 1,20,2) or the Decemviri as A. of Apollo (Liv. 10,8,2), for foreign (peregrine) gods like Ceres with a fixed priesthood, or for cults outside Rome (Cic. Verr. 2,3,111). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography J. Marquardt, …

[German version] (Ἀντέρως; Antérōs). ‘Mutual love’, as personified requited love, likewise the avenger of an unrequited love (Serv. Aen. 4,520). In a palaistra from Elis a plastic group of both these was to be seen, in which A. sought to seize the victory palm from Eros (Paus. 6,23,5; altars: 6,23,3); on Tenos C. Pandusinus dedicated Nikes, Erotes and Anteros (IG XII 5,917). Near to the Acropolis in Athens Anteros had an altar as  Alastor (Avenger) of an unrequited love (P…

[German version] (Αἰγιάλεια; Aigiáleia). In prose also Aegiale, daughter of Adrastus (Hom. Il. 5,412) and Amphithea (Apollod. 1,79), and wife of Diomedes. In order to avenge herself for being wounded by Diomedes (Il. 5,330 ff,) Aphrodite coerces her, during Diomedes' absence in Troy, into getting involved with many young men in Argus. Upon returning home, Diomedes wants to murder A., or he flees in abhorrence to Calydon, and then to Italy. The myth establishes Diom…

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(Ἀθήνη/Ἀθηνᾶ; Athḗnē/ Athēnâ). [German version] A. Etymology and Origin Central Greek polis deity, daughter of Zeus and Metis, born from her father's head, virginal patron of war, crafts and female work (Hom. Hymn. Ven. 7); her common epithet, Pallas, is understood to mean ‘girl’ (Chantraine s.v. παλλακή). The Romans identified her with  Minerva (Etruscan, Menrva), the Greeks with numerous Eastern deities, for instance the Lycian Maliya [1], the Egyptian  Saïs (Hdt. 2,28), the Ugarite  Anat or the Palmyrene Allat. Like many Eastern goddesses, she belonged to the ty…

[German version] (Λητώ; Lētṓ). Daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe (Hes. Theog. 405). She gives birth to Zeus' twins Apollo and Artemis and appears closely connected to them from Homer (Il. 5,447; 20,39f.). However, the birth of Apollo is closely linked to Delos, while that of Artemis is also linked to Ephesus. In both cases, the myth speaks of Hera's hostility which forces L. to make a long journey and delays the birth. On Delos, the floating island, where L. is finally accepted after she promises to moor the is…

[German version] (Ἀκανθίς, ‘siskin’ and Ἄκανθος, ‘goldfinch’). Daughter and son of Autonous and Hippodamia, sisters of Erodius (‘Heron’), Anthus (obscure bird-name), Schoineus (likewise). When the mares from the father's horse stud pulled Anthus apart, the family grieved for him, until out of compassion Zeus and Apollo transformed them all into birds: the parents into a bittern and a crested lark, the children into the birds whose names they bore (Anton. Lib. 7). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography P.M.C. Forbes Irving, Metamorphosis in Greek myth, 1990, 224 f.

[German version] [1] Name of a goddess associated with agrarian wealth in the imperial period Name of a goddess associated with agrarian wealth ( …

[German version] [1] Wife and sister of the Phaeacian king  Alcinous (Ἀρήτη; Arḗtē). Wife and sister of the Phaeacian king  Alcinous (Hes. fr. 222). Her benevolence helped both Odysseus (Hom. Od. 7) and Jason and Medea: she mediated between the Argonauts and the Colchians (Apoll. Rhod. 4,1068-1120), married Jason to Medea (Apollod. 1,138 f.), and presented the couple with 12 female servants who jokingly teased the heroes during the wedding celebrations; an aition in the cult of Apollo Aigletes [1]. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography U. Hölscher, Das Schweigen der Arete, in…

Erdbeer, Robert Matthias I. Concept (CT) A. Concept and Process (CT) [German version] 1. Myth and Mythology (CT) Different from ‘myth’, the term 'mythology' - an 'account' ( logos) of the deeds of gods and heroes - can either refer to the total store of traditional narratives ('myths') of an ethnic group; or, alternatively, it can refer to the 'reasoned knowledge' ( logos) of thes…

[German version] (Κυνοκέφαλοι; Kynoképhaloi, ‘dog heads’) is the term for various fanciful frontier peoples; they settled in Libya (Hdt. 4,191), in Ethiopia (Aesch. fr. 603ab Mette; Str. 16,4,16) and in India (Ctesias, FGrH 688 F 45), and are consider…

[German version] I. General …

(Ἀριστόδημος; Aristódēmos). [German version] [1] Great-grandson of Heracles Great-grandson of Hercules, one of the three Heraclids who led the Dorians into the Peloponnese. According to the widely known version of the myth (Pl. Leg. 3,692 bk.; Apollod. 2,173; Paus. 3,1,6), A. died before reaching the Peloponnese, leaving twin sons, Eurysthenes and Procl…

Roman god of the outdoors, early identified with the Greek  Pan. In poetry and especially in the figurative arts the two generally coincide: F., lover of the  Nymphs (Hor. Carm. 3,18,1) and insatiable erotomaniac [1], comes from Hellenistic mythology. F. does not have his own iconography [2; 3]. Like Pan, he is associated with forest and mountains as well as with goats and sheep. More his own is his role as originator of nightmares and numinous voices (and then generally as a seer), his association with the   Lupercalia and his integral place in the line of original Italian kings. It is not clear whether the much more frequent pl. Fauni (attested since Enn. Ann. 207) is modelled on the Greek pl. Panes or stands alone. [German version] A. Faunus as god of the outdoors…

[German version] (χίμαιρα; chímaira). C., ‘goat’, is the Lycian monster, ‘lion in front, snake behind, and she-goat in the middle’ (Hom. Il. 6,181 = Lucr. 5,905), slain by  Bellerophon. It is the child of  Typhon by Echidna, mother of the  Sphinx (Phix: Hes. Theog. 319-326); a different tradition says it was reared by the Lycian Amisodarus (Hom. Il. 16,328). A firm component of the myth, since Homer, is that it breathes fire: according to Ov. Met. 9,647 and Apollod. 2,31 from the eponymous goat's h…

[German version]  Elk-like animal of nordic countries (Scandinavia or Gangavia), known to the Romans only from hearsay. In the descriptions (Plin. HN 8,39; Solin. 20,3) zoological mirabilia of other animals (elk, elephant, rhinoceros) are mixed with possibly genuine memories of the giant deer, which died out in historical times. The Pliny report survives in the Song of the Nibelungs (16,937), where the achlis is replaced by the ‘Schelch’. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography W. Richter, A., in: Philologus 103, 1959, 281 ff.

[German version] (Ἀγαπήνωρ; Agapḗnōr). Son of Ancaeus (Hyg. Fab. 97), king in Tegea. In connection with the murder of  Alcmaeon [1], Arsinoe, the daughter of Phegeus, was brought to him by her brothers as a slave in a chest (Apollod. 3,90). A. was one of Helen's suitors (Apollod. 3,129) and led the Arcadians before Troy (Hom. Il. 2,609). On the return journey he came to Cyprus, where he founded Paphus and its sanctuary of Aphrodite (Paus. 8,5,2). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography W. Kullmann, Die Quellen der Ilias, 1960, 97.

The goddess of fortune with an ancient cult in Italy; in the Republican period mostly understood as favourable chance but later considered increasingly negative, at least in literature. The myth of her relationship to Servius  Tullius demonstrates that this deification of an abstraction is to be understood in the full personal meaning ( Personification).The multitude of her cultic specifications (lists: Plut. Mor. 281e; 322f.) makes a uniform interpretation of origin and function difficult (revi…

[German version] Daughter of Phegeus of Psophis, possesses the necklace of Eriphyle (Paus. 2,24,8-10); also called  Arsinoe [3]. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

[German version] (Ἀγαμήδη; Agamḗdē). Daughter of Augeias, wife of Mulius, like Medea, one with knowledge of healing herbs (Hom. Il. 11,740 f.; Eust. Dion. Per. 322). With Poseidon, mother of Belus, Actor and Dictys (Hyg. Fab. 157). Her name is suggestive (‘Great Thinker’), like the variant Perimede (‘Intense Thinker’, Theoc. 2,16; Prop. 2,4,8) or the name of Medea's mother Idyia (‘Knowing One’). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

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(Ἀμφικτύων; Amphiktýōn). [German version] [1] Mythical third king of Athens The third king of Athens, successor of Cranaus, predecessor of Erichthonius, autochthonous or son of Deucalion (Apollod. 3,187; Paus. 1,2,6). He entertained Dionysus in Attica, which in the Athenian region of Dionysus Melpomenus was represented by terracottas (Paus. 1,2,5); in this way he learned the c…

[German version] [1] Water monster (Ὕδρα; Hýdra, ‘water snake’). A monster, born of the monsters  Typhon and  Echidna (‘snake’) and…

(Ἀκέστωρ; Akéstōr), ‘Healer’, literary epithet of Apollo (Eur. Androm. 900), but also anthronym (unknown Athenian: Aristoph. vesp. 1221). [German version] …

(Ἀστέριος; Astérios). [German version] [1] Cretan epiclesis of Zeus A Cretan epiclesis of Zeus, attested to only in the Byzantine writers; it arose through euhemeristic interpretation of the myth of Asterion [1]. In contrast to this view, evolutionist interpretations regarded him the origin of that hero. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography H. Schwabl, s.v. Zeus I, RE 10 A, 281. [German version] [2] Sophis from Cappadocia Sophist from Cappadocia, belonged to the circle of students of Lucianus of Antioch (martyr AD 312) from whom came the spokesmen for the …

[German version] (Κισσεύς; Kisseús, from Greek κισσός, ‘ivy’, the holy plant of  Dionysus; Latin Cisseus). Name of several mythical kings associated with Thrace and Macedonia (Dionysus' supposed native land) -- the fabrication of these figures is evident. The father of  Hecabe (Eur. Hec. 3 with schol.), the guest of Anchises (Verg. Aen. 5,536f.), whom Serv. z.St. identifies with the former, the father of the Trojan priestess of Athena  Theano (Str. 7,330 fr. 24) are Thracian kings. The treacherous Macedonian …

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[German version] Play a role in Greek and Roman religion as well as in some other religious cultures. Although the meaning of the iconographically transmitted Minoan ‘cult knot’ is unclear [1], knots are a common symbolic medium of binding something, esp. in the magic and healing rituals of historical times. Thus, the knot of Hercules, depict…

(Ἱππόλυτος; Hippólytos). [German version] [1] Son of Theseus and an Amazon Son of  Theseus and an Amazon ( Antiope [2] or  Hippolyte). His mythical-literary image was shaped essentially through the H. dramas by Sophocles ( Phaedra, lost) and esp. by Euripides, the lost earlier H. Kalyptómenos (‘The Veiled H.’) and the extant H. Stephanēphóros (‘The Garlanded H.’). The point of departure for both authors is his stepmother  Phaedra's love for H., which he rejects, whereupon Phaedra accuses him of sexually pursuing her. The enrage…

[German version] (Ἑστία; Hestía). Greek goddess of the  hearth. Like  Vesta, she is a personification closely connected to her subject and cannot be separated from the ritual role of the hearth in both public and private domains. The cultic worship of the hearth probably derives from notions originating in the Indo-European period [1]. The cult of H. is generally characterized by the fact that she is addressed first in every prayer and is the first to receive a donation in every sacrifice (Pind. Nem. 11,5; Eur. Phaeton fr. 781,35; Pl. Crat. 401a).…

[German version] (Ἶφις; Îphis). Name of a series of minor heroes (genitive Ἴφιος; …

[German version] (Κερδώ, Kerdṓ, the ‘purveyor of gain’). The wife of the Argival primordial man  Phoroneus; she has a tomb (and therefore a cult) on the agora of  Argos, next to the shrine of  Asclepius (Paus. 2,21,1). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

(Ἀγλαΐα, ep. -η; Aglaía/-ē, ‘festive radiance’). [German version] [1] Youngest of the Charites Youngest of the  Charites, married to Hephaestus (Hes. Theog. 945; Pind. Ol. 14,10). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] …

[German version] (Ἠπιώνη; Ēpiṓnē). Wife of  Asclepius, with whom she had the daughters  Hygieia, Aceso, Panacea, and Aegle, and the sons  Machaon an…

[German version] (Ἔχιδνα; Échidna). Primeval female creature in the shape of a snake, introduced into Greece due to the influence of Near East narrative art and iconography (Iluyanka for the Hittites, Tiamat in Mesopotamia). In Hesiod, E. is the daughter of the sea creatures Phorcys and Ceto (Theog. 295-303) and, together with  Typhon who also often occurs in the body of a snake, mother of a series of monsters ─ of Orthrus the dog of the triple-bodied  Geryoneus, of  Cerberus, of  Hydra, of  Chimaera, of the  Sphinx (Φίξ; …

[German version] (Ἀλεξάνωρ; Alexánōr). Healing hero with suggestive name (‘Protector of Men’, cf.  Alcon), who together with the healing god Euhamerion was venerated in the Asclepieum of Sicyon (Titane). He is include…

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[German version] (Κρής). Eponym of the island of  Crete. The contradictory myths mirror the island's various archaic institutions and mythologems. C. is regarded as the son of Zeus and an Idaeic nymph, but also as the protector of newborn Zeus (in this context he is addressed as Curete or as the King of the  Curetes); his son is  Talos. He is an autochthonous king and the bringer of culture, but also a lawmaker like  M…

[German version] Mythical founder of  Carthage; called Elissa by Phoenicians, Theiosso by Greeks, and Deido by Africans because of her wanderings (so Timaeus in FGrH 566 F 82; but see Serv. auct. Verg. Aen. 1,340). The myth to be lastingly established by Virgil (Aen. 1 and 4) is in its outlines present already in Timaeus; a far more detailed pre-Virgilian ve…

[German version] (Καρκάβος, Καρνάβας [ Karkábos, Karnábas] in Eust. at Hom. Il. 4,88). Founder of Zelia at Cyzicus, son of  Triopas and father of  Pandarus. He kills his cruel father and flees to Tros, the king of the Dardani, who expiates him and gives him the land of Zelia (schol. Hom. Il. 4,88). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

(Ἀλκυόνη; Alkyónē). Name of heroines attested numerous times; for instance, the wife of Meleager (Hyg. Fab. 174,7), the mother of Elephenor (Apollod. 3,11) or the sister of Eurystheus (Apollod. 2,53). In each of these cases it is unclear to what extent Alcyone coincides with either of the two well-attested figures. [German version] [1] Daugher of Atlas Daughter of Atlas, one of the Pleiades (from Hes. fr. 169). She is seduced by Poseidon, which is depicted already on the Cypselus chest (Paus. 3,18,10). The eponyms of various cities arise from the con…

(Ἀφαρεύς; Aphareús). [German version] [1] Son of Perieres and Gorgophone Son of  Perieres and Gorgophone, daughter of Perseus. As king of the Messenians he founded Arene at Pylos, which he named after his wife, the daughter of Oebalus and his half-sister. He took in Neleus and gave him Pylos, and was initiated into the cult of the ‘Great Gods’ of Andania by Lycus, son of Pandium (Paus. 4,2,4-6); Athenian propaganda is reflected here. He also took in Tyndareos (Paus. 3,1,4). His sons Idas and Lynceus (Paus…

(Ἀέτιος; Aétios). [German version] [1] Mythical king of Troezen Son of Anthas, mythical king of Troezen; his successors colonized Halicarnass and Myndus in Caria (Paus. 2,30,8 f.). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) …

(Ἀλκιμέδων, Alkimédōn). [German version] [1] Arcadian hero Arcadian hero, after whom a plateau at Mantinea is named, father of Phealo, whom Hercules made pregnant. A. exposed her with her child Aechmagoras; through a jay ( kíssa), which imitated the whimpering of the child, Hercules was led to them both, recognized the son and named the spring nearby Kissa (‘Jay spring’; Paus. 8,12,2). Also used elsewhere as a hero-name appropriate for the hexameter: Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Figure of the Iliad: chariot-driver Son of Laerces, leader of the Myrmidons, chariot-driver for Automedon after the death of Patroclus (Hom. Il. 16,197; 17,467-83). …

(Ἀλεκτρυών, ‘Rooster’). [German version] [1] Ares' minder during his meetings with Aphrodite Ares' minder during his meetings with Aphrodite. When A. slept late one morning, Helios discovered the lovers and betrayed them to Hephaestus. Ares turned A. into a rooster (Lucian. Gallus 3; Auson. 26…

(Ἀλθαία; Althaía). [German version] [1] Mythical figure: daughter of Thestius Daughter of  Thestius and Eurythemis, wife of  Oeneus of Calydon; among her children are  Ancaeus,  Deianira and  Meleager, who was also regarded as a son of Ares (Hyg. Fab. 14,16; Apollod. 1,63). Shortly after his birth, an oracle told her that Meleager would live as long as the log burned in the oven; she took it out and kept it for safe keeping, but burned it when Meleager killed her brothers in the dispute about the Calydon…

[German version] (Ἄμπυξ, Ἄμπυκος; Ámpyx, Ámpykos). Son of Tita(e)ron, the eponym of a Thessalian city (Schol. Apoll. Rhod. 1,65). Seer, married to Chloris, the daughter of Orchomenus, father of the seer Mopsus (Hygin. fab. 14,5; Paus. 5,17,10). Titaresius (Hes. sc. 181) and Titaironeus (Tzetz. in Lycophrontem 881) are thus epithets of Mopsus. …

[German version] (Κλυτιάδαι, Κλυτίδαι; Klytiádai, Klytídai). Family, which together with the Iamidae ( Iamus) provided the seers in Olympia; through  Clytius [2], grandson of Amphiaraus, who is in turn the great-grandson of Melampus, the C. can be traced back to two of the central seers in Greek myth (Paus. 6,17,6). In the pre-Imperial period only Theogonus and his son Eperastus are known, by means of a statue in Olympia (Paus. loc. cit.). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

Hero cult (HC) is the cult worship of a particular group of superhuman beings whom the Greeks describe as heroes from the time of Homer (ἥρωες, …

(Ἀχαιός; Achaiós). [German version] [1] Son of Xuthus and Creusa Son of Xuthus and Creusa, grandson of Helen, brother of Ion (Hes. fr. 10a 20-24; Apollod. 1,49 f.). He settled in Achaea (Eur. Ion 1592-4; Philochor. FGrH 328 F 13) or in Thessaly (Paus. 7,1,2), from whence his sons Archander and Architeles set off for Argus (Paus. 7,1,6). The myths reflect attempts to establish a special position of the Achaeans in the Peloponnese. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography M. L. West, The Hesiodic Catalogue of Women, 1985, 57 f. [German version] [2] of Eritrea Tragedian, 5th cent. BC Tragedi…

[German version] A. General Initiation refers a) in a perspective limited to Greek and Roman religion, to ritual inauguration into a mystery cult, b) in additional ethnological and socio-anthropological terminology, to the complex of rites with which in ancient society adolescents of both sexes are accepted into the society of adults (in German scholarship formerly referred to also as puberty ceremony). For the former function, corresponding ancient terminology exists (Greek μύησις; …

[German version] (Ἀντιάδης; Antiádēs). Son of Hercules and Aglaea, the daughter of Thespius (Apollod. 2,162). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

(Ἄκμων; Ákmōn, ‘anvil’). [German version] [1] One of the Idaeaic dactyls in the  Phororonis One of the Idaeaic dactyls in the  Phororonis (fr. 2,3 PEG), matching the dactyls as deities of the blacksmith's forge: the stem of the name is also found with those other divine blacksmiths, the Cyclops (Pyracmon, ‘Fire anvil’ Verg. Aen. 8,425; Acmonides, ‘son of the anvil’ Ov. Fast. 4,288) Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] In an early Greek theogony son of Gaia, father of Uranus In an early Greek theogony son of Gaia, father of Uranus (Hes. fr. 398; Alcman fr. 61). The l…

[German version] (Ἀκρίσιος; Akrísios). Argive, son of Abas and Aglaea (Apollod. 2,24; Schol. Eur. Or. 965; Ocaleia), spouse of Aganippe (Eurydice Paus. 3,13,8), father of Danae. A. expelled his twin brother Proetus from the land; however, with the help of his father-in-law, the Lycian Iobates (…

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[German version] (Ἀνθεύς; Antheús). Epithet of Dionysus in Patrae. Here he was venerated simultaneously as A., Mesateus and Aroeus, after the three villages whose synoecism formed Patrae, and whose old Dionysian images were each brought into the sanctuary of Dionysus Aesymnetes in his festival (Paus. 7,21,6). The festival played out the dissolution of the political unity on the entry of the god; the local epiclesis here is to be distinguished from related ones, such as of Evanthes and Anthius in Attica (Paus. 1,31,4). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography Graf, 84 f.

(Ἀλκάνωρ; Alkánōr). [German version] [1] Figure in the Aeneid: Trojan from Mount Ida Trojan from Mount Ida, whose sons Pandarus and Bitias fought in Aeneas' army in Italy (Verg. Aen. 9,672). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Figure in the Aeneid: a Rutulian A Rutulian, who is killed by Aeneas, brother of Maeon and Numitor (Verg. Aen. 10,338). The name is formed from good epic elements, only attested historically in Greek [1]. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography 1 Bechtel, HPN, 36.

(Αὐτομέδων; Automédōn). [German version] [1] Charioteer to Achilles and Patroclus Son of Diores of Scyrus (Hyg. Fab. 97). Charioteer to Achilles and Patroclus (Hom. Il. 9,209; frequent referenc…

[German version] (Ἄνθος; Ánthos). Son of Autonous and Hippodamia, who was torn apart by his father's horses and transformed into the bird A.; since then he flees from horses and imitates their neighing (Aristot. Hist. an. 9,1 609b 14; Plin. HN 10,116; cf. Ant. Lib. 7).  Acanthis. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

[German version] (Ἁλιρρόθιος; Halirrhóthios). Attic hero, son of Poseidon and a nymph, whose death was the subject of the first trial before the  Areopagus. In the most common form of the myth, which explains the role of the Areopagus as a homicide court, he rapes the daughter of Ares and Aglaurus, Alcippe, and is struck down by Ares; the site of both deeds is the spring in the later Asclepium above the theatre of Dionysus. Poseidon indicts Ares, the court of the twel…

[German version] (from the Latin incubare; Greek ἐγκοιμᾶσθαι/ enkoimâsthai, ‘to sleep in a temple’). The term for a method, practised in many religions, for receiving revelations: the sleep in a sacred place, during which the superhuman occupant of the place appears, gives information and advice (even in the comic fracture of Aristoph. Plut. 698-747 Asclepius himself appears). In Graeco-Roman antiquity, just as in Byzantine Christianity, incubation was particularly practised in the  healing cults, above…

[German version] (Ἀκεσώ). Healing heroine ( akéomai ‘to heal’), daughter of Asclepius and Epione, venerated in Epidaurus (Suda s. v. Ἠπιόνη 578 eagle). In inscriptions in Athens, as daughter of Epione she is connected with Iaso, Panacea, Hygiea (LSCG 21 A) and  Aegle [4] (CIA III 171 b). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography Edelstein, Asclepius vol. 2, 87 ff. J. Larson, Greek Heroine Cults, 1994, 62 f.

[German version] (Ἰξίων; Ixíōn). Thessalian king and one of the great sinners being punished in the Underworld. According to Pindar, he is the first murderer of a relative (Pindar leaves the identity of the victim open, later - Pherecydes FGrH 3 F 51 - it is his father-in-law Eïoneus). When Zeus purif…