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Atymnus

(49 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ἄτυμνος; Átymnos). Cretan hero, brother of Europa. A funeral in Gortyn commemorated his early death, which Phoebus A. (Adymnus) found as charioteer of the sun (Sol. 11,9; Nonnus, Dion. 11,128ff.; 258; 12,217; 19,180). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography R. F. Willetts, Cretan cults and festivals, 1962, 167.

Knots

(240 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[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, depicted in the tied-up snakes on the caduceus - the staff of Hermes - is attributed with special powers of healing wounds when used for the bandage, and is said t…

Hestia

(817 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[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).…

Iphis

(218 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ἶφις; Îphis). Name of a series of minor heroes (genitive Ἴφιος; Íphios) and heroines (genitive Ἴφιδος; Íphidos). The ambivalence in sex is the basis for the story in Ov. Met. 9,666-797 of the change of sex of the daughter of Lygdus and Telethusa in Phaestus, which is a poetic transformation of the aitiology related by Antoninus Liberalis 17 after  Nicander for the ritual of Ekdysia in the cult of Leto at Phaestus, where the heroine is called Leucippe [1]. In addition, several Argive heroes, an Argonaut, a comrade of the Seven Against Thebes and a female sla…

Cerdo

(43 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[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)

Aglaea

(73 words)

Author(s): 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] [2] Figure from Greek myth: Spouse of Charopus Spouse of Charopus, mother of  Nireus of Syme, according to Achilles, he was the most handsome of the men at Troy (Hom. Il. 2,671-5; Diod. Sic. 5,53). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

Epione

(172 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ἠπιώνη; Ēpiṓnē). Wife of  Asclepius, with whom she had the daughters  Hygieia, Aceso, Panacea, and Aegle, and the sons  Machaon and  Podalirius (in great detail in the epigraphical paeans of Macedonius, the so-called Erythraean paean, and of Dion, CollAlex 136-139 Powell); she was reputedly a daughter of  Heracles. In contrast with the sons who in Homer are frequently referred to solely as sons of Asclepius, i.e. only indirectly linked to her, there is a close and direct link with…

Echidna

(247 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[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; Phíx in Hesiod) and of the lion of  Nemea. Later authors add…

Alexanor

(98 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[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 included in north-eastern Peloponnesian healing mythology: the local myth made him a son of  Machaon son of Asclepius, and founder of the Sicyonian sanctuary with its ancient cult image (Paus. 2,11,5-7). In Argus he was regarded as a brother of Sphyrus (founder of the Argive Asclepieum: Paus.…

Aegialeus

(178 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
(Αἰγιαλεύς; Aigialeús). [German version] [1] Figure from Greek myth, Son of Adrastus Son (or father) of   Adrastus the Argive, the only epigone at Thebes who fell in battle. Father or brother of   Aegialea. A. was venerated as a hero in Pagae in Megaris (Pind. Pyth. 8,53-55; Apollod. 1,103 and passim; Hyg. Fab. 71) [1]. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Eponymous hero of Aegialea, name of part of Sicyon. also other name for Achaia Indigenous inhabitant who founds the oldest part of Sicyon, Aegialea, and gives the name Aegialus to the entire Peloponnese (Pau…

Cres

(100 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[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  Minos, who influenced the late Spartan lawmaker  Lycurgus as well (Ephoros, FGrH 145; Diod. Sic. 5,64,1; Steph. Byz. s.v. Κρήτη). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

Dido

(379 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[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 version is to be found in Pompeius Trogus (Just. Epit. 18,4-6), but as in Timaeus without mention of  Aeneas. Her father, king of Tyre, was variously called Mutto (Ti…

Carcabus

(58 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[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)

Alcyone

(196 words)

Author(s): 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…

Alcimedon

(141 words)

Author(s): 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, char…

Alectryon

(78 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
(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. 26,2,27) [1]. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] An Argonaut Father of Leitus (Hom. Il. 17,602), an Argonaut (Apollod. 1,113). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography 1 C. Robert, Alektryon, in: Hermes 37, 1902, 318-320.

Ampyx, Ampycus

(59 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[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. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

Clyti(a)dae

(77 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[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

(1,922 words)

Author(s): 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, hḗrōes); the etymology of the word is unclear, and the modern link with  Hera is problematical [1]. The HC uses both the form of the common Olympian sacrifice as well as more specific cult forms. In the course of the development of Greek religion, various groups have been subsumed under the category of heroes, from original gods to real deceased people [2]. [German version] A. The myths In Bronze Age Greece, heroes are perhaps presupposed by the ti-rise-r…

Initiation

(1,237 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[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; mýēsis, more rarely τελετή; teletḗ, Latin initia n.pl.), but not for the latter. This doe…

Antiades

(21 words)

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

Acmon

(143 words)

Author(s): 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…

Acrisius

(185 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[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 (Amphianax), Proetus compelled A. to share his kingdom with him; Proetus received Tiryns, A., Argus. Because of a prophecy that a descendant would cause his death [1], A. locked Danae in a subterranean iron va…

Candalus

(78 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Κάνδαλος; Kándalos). One of the seven sons of Helius and the nymph Rhodus; in the prehistory of the island of Rhodes, they are culture-bringers after the  Flood. After the most handsome of the brothers,  Tenages, is killed by the rest, they flee; C. settles on the neighbouring island of Cos (Diod. Sic. 5.56f.; schol. Pind. Ol. 7.72f.). The myth most likely reflects the island of Rhodes' political claims to Cos. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

Antheus

(91 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[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.

Alcanor

(82 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
(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.

Anthus

(53 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[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)

Halirrhothius

(187 words)

Author(s): 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 twelve gods acquits him (Eur. El. 1…

Incubation

(618 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[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…

Aceso

(64 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[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.

Ixion

(205 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[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 purifies him personally from the blood of murder (Aesch. Eum. 717f.) and takes him to himself, he wants to indecently assault Hera; but Zeus substitutes a cloud for her and I. fathers the first  Centaurs (u…

Mysteria

(1,961 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
(Μυστήρια/ Mystḗria). [German version] A. Terminology Mysteria is the Attic name of the main cult festival of Demeter and Kore (Persephone) in Eleusis [1]. The name is formed in the same way as most Attic festival names, but the etymology is unclear (Mysteries [1. 15]). Eleusis was also the place for the polis festival of the Eleusinia, a festival which included games and contests, probably held in late spring, in modern times often confused with the Mysteria. Beginning with Hdt. 2,51,2, the festival…

Afterlife, concepts of

(1,141 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] Views about what awaits humans after death exist in most cultures. In the Graeco-Roman world, they were found in literature and art, in philosophical reflection, theological propaganda and, not least, in epitaphs; yet the literary and philosophical opinions in themselves are more coherent than the everyday concepts expressed in the epitaphs. It must also be emphasized that it is difficult to discern a strong connection between concepts of the afterlife and funerary rites, in the s…

Alcathoe, Alcithoe

(173 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
(Ἀλκαθόη, Ἀλκιθόη; Alkathóē, Alkithóē). [German version] [1] Figure of Greek myth: One of the Minyades One of the Minyades, together with Leucippe and Arsinoe, daughter of Minyas of Orchomenus. Her myth belongs to the myths of resistance against Dionysus and is an aition of their  agrionia (Plut. Quaest. Graec. 299ef). While all the other women celebrated the god on the mountain, the Minyades remained at the loom and remained unmoved by miraculous signs. Finally Dionysus made them insane; they tore Leucippe's …

Aedituus

(258 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] ‘Temple guardians’, older, aeditumus (discussions of the word form Varro, ling. 7,12; rust. 1,2,1; Gell. NA 12,2; ThLL 1,934,6 ff.). The aedituus (inscriptions attested for women also: CIL VI 2209. 2213) is especially responsible for access to the temple -- he opens the temple, gives admittance to private individuals, even to the cult idol itself (Sen. Epist. 41,1), and can also, when directed by the responsible magistrate, open the temple on exceptional occasions, for instance for thanksgiving festi…

Anna

(87 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] Sister of  Dido; she plays an important narrative role especially in Verg. Aen. 4 [1]. Her earlier history is not clear: according to Varro it was not Dido, but rather A. who immolated herself for love of Aeneas (Serv. auct. Verg. Aen. 4,682; Serv. Verg. Aen. 5,2). Ovid at the latest identifies her with the goddess  Anna Perenna; the possibly Semitic name of Dido's sister was associated by popular etymology with annus, ‘year’. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography 1 R. Heinze, Vergils ep. Technik, 1915, 126-130.

Carmentis

(253 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (In Greek always, in Latin very rarely Carmenta). Roman goddess of birth and ‘everything future’ (Fast. Praenestini on 11 January). Even if in historical times, she was overshadowed by related female deities (especially  Iuno Lucina), her old importance is evident in the existence of a Flamen Carmentalis. Her sanctuary lay between the Capitol and the Tiber at the Porta Carmentalis [1] and was regarded as being founded by the matrons at the resumption of births after a birth-strike…

Abeona

(82 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] Roman ‘special deity’ which according to Varro (ant. rer. div. 116 Cardauns) is mentioned in Christian polemic (Tert. Ad nat. 2,11; Aug. civ. 4,21) together with Adeona, and is derived from abire or adire. According to Varro both are deities of childhood; the etymological derivation probably refers to the first attempts to walk. The problems associated with all   indigitamenta apply to the name. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography B. Cardauns, M. Terentius Varro. Antiquitates rerum divinarum II (commentary), 1976, 206.

Gaia

(507 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Γαῖα, Γῆ; Gaîa, ). Greek personification of the earth as the basis of all existence; her name can be interpreted possibly in Indo-European as ‘she who gives birth’ [1]. From Hesiod (Theog. 117ff.), she is seen in theogonic poetry as a primal power, who first gave birth to  Uranus, the sky, and Pontus, the Sea, then became the mother of the subsequent generation of deities as well as that of a number of monsters, whose birth even posed a threat to the order of Zeus ( Giants,  Typho…

Hygieia

(306 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ὑγίεια; Hygíeia). Personification of health and one of the daughters of  Asclepius and  Epione (along with  Aceso, Iaso and Panacea); she has no independent mythology. While her sisters incorporate various forms of healing in their names (Greek iáomai, akéomai), H. is the personification of ‘health’ itself. As such, by the late 5th cent. BC she began to displace the rest of her family, at least in cultic significance (Aristid. 38,22). In cult worship, she is usually the only one invoked together with Asclepius and ma…

Delius

(193 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Δήλιος; Dḗlios). Epithet of  Apollo, indicating his association with the island of  Delos: he was born there, and along with  Leto and  Artemis had a central cult site there. D. is as frequent an epiclesis for Apollo as  Pythius, which indicates his association with  Delphi. Whereas there are many cases where the cult of a divinity named Pythius was established (i.e. sanctioned) by the Delphic oracle, there is no comparable institution on Delos: the epiclesis D. is more the expres…

Agetor

(60 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ἀγήτωρ; Agḗtōr, Doric for Ἡγήτωρ; Hegḗtōr). Epiclesis of Zeus in Sparta, connected with the preliminary sacrifices at the beginning of a campaign (Xen. Lac. Pol. 13,2), of Hermes in Megalopolis (Paus. 8,31,7, in the form of Hermes) and of Apollo Karneios in Argos (Theopomp, FGrH 115 F 357 = Schol. Theocr. 5,83). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

River gods

(1,397 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] I. Egypt see Nile. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) II. Greece and Rome [German version] A. General The personification of conditions from the physical environment is part of many myths and religions in antiquity. Apart from the sun and the moon, the mountains and rivers are of special significance: they firmly belong to a particular local environment, and thus define identity and home. Whereas the mountain gods in the Greco-Roman world have only mythological and hardly any cultic reality, the worship …

Leucippe

(73 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Λευκίππη; Leukíppē, ‘the one with the white horse’), as a counterpart to Leucippus with his noble associations, is a typical and almost arbitrarily used heroine's name. Thus it is given to a companion of Persephone (H. Hom. Cer. 418), the mother (Hyg. Fab. 250) or wife of Laomedon (Apollod. 3,146), or to one of the Minyades (Antoninus Liberalis 10), whom Ov. Met. 4,168 calls Leuconoe. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

Gaia Taracia

(109 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (or Gaia Fufetia). A Vestal, who donated to the city of Rome the campus Tiberinus (the Tiber island according to Plut. Publicola 8,8,101b, or rather the Campus Martius according to Gell. NA 7,7,4); therefore, she was not only honoured with a statue (Plin. HN 34,11,25), but also with a law which set out the central prerogatives of the vestals ( lex Horatia, Gell. NA 7,7,2-4). This story is the aition for these rather unusual privileges, which in many aspects gave the Vestals an equal standing with men. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography A. Momigliano, Tre figure miti…

Androgeos

(173 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ἀνδρόγεως; Andrógēos). Son of Minos and Pasiphae. His death in Attica led to the military campaign by Minos for revenge and to paying a tribute of seven girls and seven youths to the Minotaur. He died after his victory in the first Panathenaea through an attack by one of the men he had defeated (Apollod. 3,209). Aegeus is also often made responsible for his death: he allows A. to be removed due to his connections to the sons of Pallas (Diod. Sic. 4,60 f.), or Aegeus despatched him against the Marathonian bull, which killed him (Paus. 1,27,10). As a figure venerated in Attic…

Ancile

(335 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Plural ancilia). Ritual bronze shields of the  Salii in the form of an 8; their form is common in Mycenae, later obsolete. Twelve in number, they belong to the ‘pledges of rulership’, pignora imperii (Varro, ap. Serv. Verg. Aen. 7,188), the religious guarantees for the permanence of Rome's might. Usually kept safe in the Regia, the ancilia are publicly displayed ceremonially twice yearly, in March and October, and worn by the Salii for a weapon dance, in their special ritual procession (in addition to the ancilia, trabea, pointed helmet, bronze girdle, breast plat…

Camilla

(252 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] A Volscian Amazon maiden warrior, whose myth is recounted only by Verg. Aen. 11,539-828 (cf. [1. 803]). While fleeing with the young C., her father,  Metabus, the king of the Volscians, tied her to an ash spear, dedicated her to Diana, and hurled her across the river Amisenus; she grew up as a huntress in the forest. In the war against the followers of Aeneas, she joined forces  with Turnus, and was killed by the Etruscan Arruns. Set up as an ideal virgo virilis by Hier. Adversus Jovinum 41,306 BD, she became with Dante (Inferno 1,107; 4,124) a heroic Italian v…

Aidos

(284 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Αἰδώς; Aidṓs). ‘Shame, demureness, respect’ [1]; its antonym is  Anaideia (Hes. Op. 324); its effect can be ambivalent (Hes. Op. 319-320). She is often personified, but the boundary between appellative and personification cannot always be easily drawn [1]. In Hesiod (Op. 200), as comprehensive social powers A. and Nemesis are the last of the gods to leave iron-age humanity (the two are already connected in Hom. Il. 13,121 f.). According to Sophocles she is enthroned with Zeus as o…

Aethilla

(58 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Αἴθιλλα; Aíthilla). Familiar form of Αἰθία (Polyaenus. 7,47), daughter of Laomedon, sister of Priam, captured by Protesilaus' companions after the conquest of Troy. On the peninsula of Pallene, with her fellow prisoners she burns the Greek ships, whereupon the Greeks found Scione (Conon FGrH 26 F 1,13; Tzetz. Lycoph. 921). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
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