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(Νηλεύς; Nēleús). [German version] [1] King of the Messenian Pylos King of Messenian Pylos, son of Poseidon and Tyro, the daughter of Salmoneus. Tyro, wife of Cretheus, falls in love with the river god Enipeus. In his guise, Poeseidon sires with her N. and his twin brother Pelias (Hom. Od. 11,235-253; cf. also Hes. Cat. 30f.). After Cretheus' death, strife develops between N. and Pelias over who is to rule in Iolcus. N. is forced to repair to the Peloponnese, where he founds Pylos (Hom. Od. 11,254-259; He…

[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 …

(Μεγαρεύς; Megareús). [German version] [1] Son of Poseidon Son of Poseidon (Hyg. fab. 157), father of Hippomenes (Ov. met. 10,605). M. brings an army to the aid of Nisus against Minos and falls in the battle. The city of Nisa is renamed after M. to Megara [2] (Paus. 1,39,5). According to others, M. is married to Nisus's daughter Iphinoe and succeeds him (ibid. 1,39,6; see also 1,41,3). Stenger, Jan (Kiel) [German version] [2] Son of Creon [1] and Eurydice Son of Creon [1] and Eurydice. He saves Thebes by sacrificing his own life in war (Aeschyl. Sept. 474; Soph. Ant. 1303 with schol.). Stenger, J…

(Λυκομήδης; Lykomḗdēs). [German version] [1] King of the Dolopes on Scyros King of the Dolopes on Scyros, father of Deidamia [1]. Because Achilles is predestined to die in Troy, his mother Thetis disguises him as a girl at the court of L. where Achilles fathers a son Neoptolemus by Deidamia (Apollod. 3,174; schol. Hom. Il. 9,668). Later Odysseus and Phoenix persuade L. on behalf of the Greeks to allow Neoptolemus to come to Troy (Soph. Phil. 343ff.; only Odysseus in Hom. Od. 11,506ff. and in The Ilias P…

(Μεγαρεύς). [English version] [1] Sohn des Poseidon Sohn des Poseidon (Hyg. fab. 157), Vater des Hippomenes (Ov. met. 10,605). M. kommt mit einem Heer dem Nisos gegen Minos zu Hilfe und fällt im Kampf. Nach M. wird die Stadt Nisa in Megara [2] umbenannt (Paus. 1,39,5). Nach anderen ist M. mit Nisos' Tochter Iphinoe verheiratet und folgt diesem in der Herrschaft (ebd. 1,39,6; s. auch 1,41,3). Stenger, Jan (Kiel) [English version] [2] Sohn des Kreon [1] und der Eurydike Sohn des Kreon [1] und der Eurydike; rettet Theben durch Opferung des eigenen Lebens im Krieg (Aischyl. Se…

[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)

(Μενεσθεύς; Menestheús). [German version] [1] Athenian leader at Troy Son of Peteus, great-grandson of Erechtheus. M. led the contingent of Athenians with fifty ships at Troy. Only Nestor was his equal in marshalling horses and warriors for battle (Hom. Il. 2,552ff.). While Theseus was detained in Hades, the Dioscuri conquered Aphidna and installed M. as king of Athens. Theseus's sons fled to Euboea. Because M. gained the favour of the Athenians, they ousted Theseus on his return (Paus. 1,17,5f.). Accord…

[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] (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…

(Μετάνειρα; Metáneira). [German version] [1] Wife of the Eleusinian king Keleos Wife of the Eleusinian king Celeus (according to schol. Eur. Or. 964 of Hippothoon), mother of Demophon [1] and of several daughters. Metaneira takes Demeter, who is looking for Persephone, into her house and entrusts her little son, Demophon, to her care. However she unwittingly disturbs the goddess who is trying to make the child immortal in the fire, and Demeter pulls away from him (Hom. h. 2,185-291; Ov. fast. 4,507ff., in …

[German version] (Μέγης/M égēs). Son of Phyleus, sailed with 40 ships from Dulichium to Troy (Hom. Il. 2,625ff.), where he killed several enemies (e.g. ibid. 5,69; Q. Smyrn. 1,276ff.). He is one of Odysseus's men who fetched the propitiatory gifts for Achilles from Agamemnon's tent (Hom. Il. 19,238ff.), and one of those in the Wooden Horse (Quint. Smyrn. 12,326). M. is also mentioned as one of Helen's suitors (Apollod. 3,129). According to Apollod. Epitome 6,15a he is one of the many who died on Euboea during the return voyage. Stenger, Jan (Kiel)

(Θησεύς /Thēseús). Mythical king and national hero of the Athenians (Athens). T. belongs to the generation before the Trojan War. He is the son of Aethra, daughter of Pittheus. His divine father is Poseidon, his human father the Athenian king Aegeus. [German version] I. Myth T. grew up with Pittheus at Troezen, because Aegeus abandoned the pregnant Aethra in the light of an oracular prophecy. Having found the symbolic items (sword, shoes) left there by Aegeus, he made his way to Athens. During the journey, T. had to survive several battles…

[German version] ( Psychostasia). The weighing of the soul occurred in Egyptian religion; the hearts of the dead, which were thought to contain the memory of their actions, are weighed with a feather under the supervision of Osiris [1.321-323]. The Greek idea of the weighing of the soul is entirely different: it takes place before death and is not assessed according to moral criteria. Here men's fates are weighed (κήρ/ kḗr, Ker), as a result of which it is decided who will live or die ( kerostasia). This version was probably already known to the author of the Aethiopís from which the ‘Iliad’ too…