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[German version] (Σίσυφος; Sísyphos). Mythical fraudster and penitent in the Underworld. Son of Aeolus [1], father of Glaucus [2], grandfather of Bellerophon, founder and king of Corinth (Corinthus), legendary and proverbial fraudster, who as a punishment in the Underworld has to roll a rock up a mountain, but every time just before reaching the summit it rolls back down into the valley (Hom. Od. 11,593-600). S. earns the punishment by conquering death (i.e. abandoning the boundaries placed on huma…

[German version] (τειχοσκοπία/ teichoskopía, ‘viewing from the walls’). Term, coined already in Antiquity (Schol. Eur. Phoen. 88), for the scene in the Iliad in which Helen (Helena [I 1]) identifies for Priamus the most important leaders of the Greek army (Agamemnon, Odysseus, Menelaus, Ajax [1], Idomeneus [1]) from the Trojan walls (Hom. Il. 3,161-244, imitated e.g. by Eur. Phoen. 88-192). The Homeric narrator has Helen observe an event happening elsewhere at the same time and present it verbally toPriam (and hence …

[German version] (Ἑκατόγχειρες, centimani = ‘hundred-handed’). Briareus (also called Aegaeon: Hom. Il. 1,403f.), Cottus and Gy(g)es (for the name forms see [1]) are powerful monsters (hundred arms, fifty heads: Hes. Theog. 147ff.), offspring of  Uranus and  Gaia. They were chained by their father and thrown into Tartarus (617ff.). Zeus frees them and, on account of their hundred arms, makes them allies in the battle with the  Titans (626ff.). The belief that the H. later guarded the defeated Titans…

[German version] (Τιθωνός; Tithōnós). Member of the Trojan royal family, grandson of Ilus [1], son of Laomedon [1] and hence a brother of Priamus. Eos, the  goddess of dawn, abducted the extremely attractive T. and makes him her lover (cf. Cephalus [1], Cleitus [1], Orion [1]). According to the Homeric formula Eos brings light in the morning, by rising from "T.' bed" (Hom. Il. 11,1 et passim). The result of their union is the Aethiopian king Memnon [1]. Eos asks Zeus for immortality for T., but neg…

(Σειρῆνες/ Seirḗnes; Latin Sirenes, Sirenae). [German version] I. Mythology Mythical female creatures who sing seductively Sirens are mythical beings (in Greek myth female) in ancient sailors' tales (the earliest evidence - admittedly without context - extends back to the Mycenaean period [1]). Their seductive song makes sailors forget their home  (cf. Lotophagi) and perish. Instructed by Circe, Odysseus outwits the Sirens: he stops the ears of his companions with wax and has himself tied to the mast with inst…

(Τυδεύς; Tydeús). [German version] [1] Son of Oeneus and Periboea Son of Oeneus and Periboea [6]. He has to leave his home after killing one of his relatives (for his motive: [1. 175]). In Argos, Adrastus [1] gives him his daughter Deipyle in marriage. In the siege of Troy, their son Diomedes [1] fights hard to match the achievements of his father in every way. As one of the Seven against Thebes, T. is part of an embassy to the city and emerges victorious from a series of contests with the Thebans. On his…

[German version] (Σχερίη; Scheríē). Land of the Phaeaces, last stop on Odysseus's wanderings. As with almost all these stops, brains have been racked over the location of S. since Antiquity. Among the numerous proposed solutions Corcyra [1] (Corfu) appears at a very early stage (Alc. fr. 441 Voigt: [1. 19]) and most frequently [2. 294]. Similarly, for the ship of the Phaeaces, turned to stone on the return from Ithaca (Hom. Od. 13,161-164), several rock formations off Corfu are plausible. All of th…

(Κρεσφόντης). [German version] [1] Heraclidus Heraclidus ( Heraclidae), husband of  Merope. In the lottery for the Peloponnese, C. uses a trick to gain Messenia. After a short reign, he falls victim to a revolt. His only surviving son,  Aepytus [4], avenges him (on the motif:  Orestes) and secures the paternal throne for himself (Paus. 4,3,3-8; 8,5,6-7). Nünlist, René (Basle) [German version] [2] Son of Cresphontes [1] Son of [1] in Euripides' tragedy of the same name, in which C.'s mother almost kills him by mistake while avenging the murder of his father. Nünlist, René (Basle) Bibliogr…

[German version] (Ἑκάεργος; Hekáergos). Epithet of  Apollo and  Artemis ( Hekaerge), mostly interpreted as *έκα (cf. ἑκών) + έργον, ‘working of his own free will’, connected by the poets, however, with ἑκάς, ἕκαθεν: ‘working from afar’. Nünlist, René (Basle) Bibliography W. Beck, s.v. H., LFE 2, 493-494.

(Φοῖνιξ/ Phoînix, Latin Phoenix). Persons P. [1-4], the mythical P. bird [5], the date palm P. [6], geographical locations P. [7-9]. [German version] [1] Mythical king of Sidon or Tyrus Mythical king of Sidon or Tyrus, son of Agenor [1] and Telephassa (Apollod. 3,2-4), brother of Europe [2],  Cadmus [1] and Cilix, according to others also their father (Hom. Il. 14, 321); other children: Phineus (Apoll. Rhod. 2, 178), Carne (Antoninus Liberalis 40). Eponym of the Phoenicians and the Poeni ( Poeni; cf. Phoenicians, Poeni). Käppel, Lutz (Kiel) [German version] [2] Son of Amyntor Son of Amyn…

(Κτιμένη, Ktiménē). [German version] [1] Odysseus' youngest sister  Odysseus' youngest (or younger [1]) sister. She was brought up together with  Eumaeus and sent to Same to be married (Hom. Od. 15,363ff.: only place tò mention siblings of Odysseus). Nünlist, René (Basle) [German version] [2] Daughter of the Locrian Phegeus from Oenoë Daughter of the Locrian Phegeus from Oenoë; C. is said to have been seduced by  Hesiod and to have given birth to  Stesichorus, which caused her brothers Amphiphanes and  Ganyctor [2] to kill Hesiod in revenge (Vita Hesiodi p. 50 Wilam.). Nünlist, René (B…

(Ἰδομενεύς; Idomeneús). [German version] [1] Commander of the Cret. troops at Troy Son of  Deucalion, grandson of  Minos; the name is indirectly attested as early as in Linear B [1]. I. is one of  Helena's suitors (today fr. 204,56ff. M-W) and a guest of Menelaus (Hom. Il. 3,230-233). He commands the rather large Cretan contingent (80 ships) in the Trojan campaign, assisted by his loyal follower  Meriones (Hom. Il. 2,645-652); he is the oldest Greek at Troy after Nestor, still fit for action ( aristeia in Il. 13); I. belongs to the inner circle of Greek army leaders, but does n…

(Ἶρος; Îros). [German version] [1] Son of Actor Son of Actor from Opus, father of the Argonaut Eurytion, whom  Peleus accidentally killed during a hunt (Pind. Fr. 48). I. refused the sheep and cattle offered as atonement (Antoninus Liberalis 38). Nünlist, René (Basle) [German version] [2] Derisive nickname for the beggar Arnaeus Derisive nickname (secondary masculine form of the name of the messenger to the gods  Iris: ‘Mr Iris’) for the beggar Arnaeus, because he ran errands for everyone (Hom. Od. 18,6f.). Greedy, presumptuous, but at the same t…

[German version] (Τηρεύς; Tēreús). Mythical king from Thrace. By marrying Procne he allies himself with the Attic king Pandion [1], whose other daughter Philomele he rapes. In order that she should not be able to denounce him, T. cuts out her tongue. She depicts the crime on a loom, however. Procne avenges herself on her husband by cruelly killing their son Itys. When T. in turn wants to take revenge all three transform themselves into birds, T. into a hoopoe, the sisters into a swallow and a nightingale (Apollod. 3,193-195; Ov. Met. 6,424-674). Sophocles wrote a (largely lost) Tēreús (fr. 5…

[German version] (Φήμη/ Phḗmē; Latin Fama ). Goddess or personification of public speech, rumour and (helpful or malicious) gossip (Hes. Op. 760-764; Bacchyl. 2,1; 10,1). Aeschines (Aeschin. In Tim. 128 with schol.; Aeschin. Leg. 144f.; cf. Paus. 1,17,1) mentions an altar of P. (built after the Battle on the Eurymedon [5]), making the distinction that P. appeared in person, while Diabolḗ ('Calumny') could be traced to individual people. However, Ach. Tat. (6,10,4-5) makes P. the daughter of Diabole. Nünlist, René (Basle)

[German version] (Ἕκτωρ/ Héktōr; Lat. Hector). Son of the Trojan royal couple  Priamus and  Hecabe, husband of  Andromache and father of  Astyanax. As the strongest fighter of Priamus' sons, H. (and not Paris, who is to blame for the war) is responsible for the defence of the besieged city in The Iliad. He is most successful on the third day of battle: after Agamemnon's wounding (Hom. Il. 11,200ff.), H. breaks through the Achaean wall (12,445ff.), and - despite a set-back (14,409ff.) - he pushes them back to their ships and sets one of them on f…

[German version] (Φιλοίτιος; Philoítios). Odysseus’ cowherd (Hom. Od. 20-22); like the swineherd Eumaeus he epitomizes the loyal retainer. After Odysseus has revealed his identity to them and has assured himself of their loyalty, the two of them, who are largely cast in the same mould [1], assist him in killing the suitors. In doing so, the two of them take their revenge on their counterpart, the disloyal goatherd Melanthius [1]. Nünlist, René (Basle) Bibliography 1 B. Fenik, Studies in the Odyssey (Hermes ES 30), 1974, 172-173.

[German version] (Σῶκος; Sôkos). Trojan, son of Hippasus [2], challenges Odysseus to battle to avenge the death of his brother Charops [4] (Hom. Il. 11,430-433: one of the rare direct speeches by a 'minor' combatant). He wounds Odysseus so badly that he has to leave the battle field, but not before killing the fleeing S. and directing a sneering speech of triumph to him (ibid. 11,434-458). Nünlist, René (Basle) Bibliography P. Wathelet, Dictionnaire des Troyens de l'Iliade, vol. 2, 1988, s. v. S., 1001-1004.

(Κλονίος; Kloníos). [German version] [1] Commander of the Boeotian contingent at Troy commanded, with four other leaders, the Boeotian contingent at Troy (Hom. Il. 2,495); died in a sea battle at the hand of  Agenor [5] (ibid. 15,340). Nünlist, René (Basle) [German version] [2] Companion of Aeneas Aeneas [1] had with him two Clonii, who fell in battle against Turnus and Messapus respectively (Verg. Aen. 9,574; 10,749). One of Aeneas' companions with the name of Clonius is said to have founded the gens Cloelia (Paul. Fest. 48,16 L.). Nünlist, René (Basle)

[German version] (Εὔμαιος; Eúmaios). The faithful swineherd of  Odysseus (Hom. Od., esp. Bks. 14-17; 20-22); son of a king, he was abducted as a child owing to the betrayal of a Phoenician maid and was sold. Hard-working, caring, pious and unconditionally faithful to his absent master, E. represents the type of the loyal vassal. The meeting with Telemachus on E.'s farm, in accordance with Athena's directive (Hom. Od.13,404), marks the beginning of Odysseus's homecoming within Ithaca. From there E. …