Search

(Βάττος; Báttos). [German version] …

(Εἰρήνη; Eirḗnē). The word is perhaps pre-Greek [1; 2]. [German version] [1] Personification and deification of peace…

[German version] (Βῶρμος; Bôrmos). A handsome young Mariandynian (south coast of the Black Sea) who disappeared suddenly while he was out fetching water for reapers. According to Hsch (s.v. Β. 356) he was taken by nymphs. Another tradition reports that as the son of Titias, brother of Priolas and Mariandynus, he lost his life on a hunt (Nymphis of Heraclea FGrH 432 F5; Domitius Callistratus FGrH 433 F3; Poll. 4,54f.). The Mariandynians called out after him in laments during high summer. The oldest allusions to this are in Aesch. Pers. 937.…

[German version] (Βρισηίς; Brisēís). Prisoner of war and beloved of  Achilles who carried her off as booty in Lyrnessus (Mysia) after he had slain her husband and three brothers (Hom. Il. 2,688-693; 19,291-297). According to Il. 9,128-134; 270-276 (with schol. Il. 1,366), B. was one of seven girls whom Achilles had captured on Lesbos. In schol. Il. 1,392, B. is called Hippodamia. According to the Cypria, B. came from Pedasus in the Troad, another town that had been conquered by Achilles (schol. Il. 16,57). When Agamemnon after the oracle of Calchas has to surrender  Chryseis, he demands B. as a substitute. The reason for Achilles' wrath and absence from further battles was th…

[German version] (Ἰχθυοφάγοι/ Ichthyophágoi, ‘fish-eaters’). Collective ethnographic term for coastal peoples who primarily live on fish. As a Utopian people residing at the ends of the then-known world, the I. are described as models of justice, but sometimes also as animal-like, living on a low civilizational level (Agatharchides of Cnidus, De Mari Erythro, fr. 31-49 = GGM 1, 129-141). Most frequently mentioned are the Ethiopian I. on the Red Sea, whom Herodotus reports as having been sent (in va…

(Ἠριδανός/ Ēridanós, Latin Eridanus). [German version] [1] Personification of a river in the west of France or Spain Mythical river in the (north) west (northern Italy, south of France or Spain), son of  Oceanus and  Tethys (Hes. Theog. 338).  Phaeon plunged into the E. from his sun wagon and his sisters ( Heliades) were turned into black poplars on the banks of the E., and their tears into amber (Eur. Hipp. 736-741; Ov. Met. 2,324; 365; Hyg. Fab. 152; 154). Since Hesiod, the E. is associated with the creation of…

(Χλωρίς, Χλῶρις; Chlōrís, Chlôris). [German version] [1] Goddess According to Ovid (Fast. 5,195ff.) the goddess  Flora was originally called C.; Zephyrus took her as his wife and made her goddess of flowers. This juxtaposition is an invention of Ovid. It was taken up by Lactantius (1,20,8) and by the Anthologia Latina (747R.). Bloch, René (Berne) [German version] [2] Daughter of Niobe, the only one spared by Artemis Daughter of  Amphion [1] and  Niobe. She was the only one of the daughters of Niobe to be spared by Artemis, because she prayed to Leto. Her image …

[German version] …

[German version] (Edula, Edusa, Edulia). Roman ‘special deity’ ( Indigitamenta), which, according to Varro (antiquitates rerum divinarum 114 Cardauns) was named in Christian Polemic (Tert. Ad nat. 2,11,8: Edula; Aug. Civ. 4,34; 6,9) together with  Potina. According to Varro in Non. 151, E. ( Edusa) supposedly watched over the food for the children. Sacrifices were made to her when children had their first meal. In Donat. Ter. Phorm. 1,1,15, her name is Edulia. According to [1], E. was originally a gens deity. Bloch, René (Berne) Bibliography 1 F. Altheim, Röm. Religionsgesch. 1, 1931, 78-79. B. Cardauns, M. Terentiu…

…

[German version] (Πυγμαῖοι/ Pygmaîoi; from πυγμή/ pygmḗ, 'fist'; hence 'mittens' [1]; Lat. Pygmaei). A dwarf people, generally located by ancient ethnography at the edge of the known world, i.e. in Africa (Aristot. Hist. an. 8,12,597a), India (Ctesias FGrH 688 F 45) and Thrace (Plin. HN 4,44). Pygmy is, however, also a general term for people of unusually short stature (Aristot. Gen. an. 2,8,749a 4-6). Mythology has pygmies originating from Gaea and Poseidon  (Hes. fr. 150,17-18 Merkelbach/West). Herodotus'…

(Βρῖσαι; Brîsai). [German version] [1] Nymphs on Ceos Nymphs on Ceos; introduced the rural deity  Aristaeus to olive oil and honey (Hsch s.v. B. 348; schol. Theoc. 5,53). Even in antiquity they were associated with the Lesbian Dionysus,  Brisaeus, whom a nymph Brisa is said to have nurtured (schol. Pers. 1,76). Bloch, René (Berne) [German version] [2] Thracian sub-tribe Thracian sub-tribe above the lower Nestus, neighbours of the Sinti and Mygdones; only attested once in literature (Plin. HN 4,40), frequently conjectured to be Brigas (Brison in Arr. Ana…

[German version] (μονόκερως/ monókerōs, monoceros, unicornis). The unicorn was irrelevant to Graeco-Roman mythology; and it was not a theme in iconography (it is common, however, in mediaeval book illustration). Accounts of one-horned animals are more frequent, originating primarily from the Indian rhinoceros (Aristot. Hist. an. 2,1, 499b20; Aristot. Part. an. 3,2,663a20; Megasthenes FGrH 715 F 27b;  Ael. NA 3,41; 16,20; Plin. HN 8,76; 11,255). The mai…

…

[German version] (Χρυσηίς; Chrysēís). Etymology ‘girl from  Chryse’ or ‘daughter of Chryses’. The daughter of the Apollo priest Chryses who was captured by  Achilles in Thebes and allotted to Agamemnon as a slave. When Chryses pleaded with Agamemnon to have C. returned, he was refused. On Chryses' prayer Apollo forced the return of C. by sending a plague. Agamemnon then demanded Achilles' captive  Briseis as a substitute and, …

[German version] (Χρυσίππη; Chrysíppē). Danaid who killed her spouse Chrysippus, son of Aegyptus (Apollod. 2,18; Hyg. Fab. 170). Bloch, René (Berne)

[German version] (Δεῖμος; Deîmos). Personification of fear; usually associated with  Phobos. Together with  Eris the pair urge warriors into battle (Hom. Il. 4,440), and harness the horses to  Ares's chariot (Il. 15,119f.).  Antimachus [3] misinterpreted them as the horses of Ares, descended from Thyella (‘storm’) [1]; similarly, in Val. Fl. 3,89 Terror and Pavor are the horses of Mars. According to Hes. Theog. 934, D. and Phobos are the sons of Ares and Cythereia (Aphrodite). In Semus, FGrH 396 F 22, D. is the father of Scylla. D. and Phobos are depicted next to Gorgo on Agamemnon's shield (Hom. Il. 11,36f.); on the shield of Heracles the two of them stand next to Ares (Hes. Sc. 195f.; 463f.). No iconographic representation of D. can be established with certainty [2; 3]. Cf. for the Romans Pallor and Pavor (Liv. 1,27) or Metus a…

[German version] The personification and deification of harmony analogous to the Greek  Homonoia (Cic. Nat. D. 2,61…

[German version] …

[German version] (Βότρης; Bótrēs). Son of the Theban Eumelus. When the latter, in B.'s presence, is about to sacrifice a sheep to Apollo, B. eats the animal's brains before it is placed on the altar. Thereupon his father strikes him with a firebrand. Apollo, however, takes pity on him and turns him into the bird, Aeropus (Bee-eater), which broods in an underground nest and continually seeks to fly (Ant. Lib. 18). Bloch, René (Berne)