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[German version] (Ῥοιώ; Rhoiṓ). Daughter of Staphylus and Chrysothemis [1], sister of Molpadia [1] and Parthenus [2]. After the sisters fail to guard their father's newly produced wine, they throw themselves into the sea and are rescued by Apollo, who fathers Anius with R. Staphylus locks the pregnant R. in a chest, which comes ashore in Delos (or Euboea, Tzetz. Lycoph. 570), where Apollo tends to his son (Diod. 5,62 f.; Dion. Hal. De Dinarcho 11,17; Lycoph. 570). In the story of the Argive Lyrcus,…

(Λαονόμη; Laonómē). [German version] [1] Daughter of Guneus Daughter of Guneus, wife of Alcaeus [1] (other names are also mentioned), mother of Amphitryon (Paus. 8,14,2; Apollod. 2,50). Harder, Ruth Elisabeth (Zürich) [German version] [2] Daughter of Amphitryon and Alcmene Daughter of Amphitryon and of Alcmene, sister of Heracles [1], wife of the son of Poseidon Euphemus (schol. Pind. Pyth. 4,79). In Hellanicus (FGrH 4 F 13) she is associated with the god of the Underworld Hodoedocus. Harder, Ruth Elisabeth (Zürich) Bibliography K. Meuli, s.v. L. (1)-(2), RE 12, 758.

(Πηρώ; Pērṓ). [German version] [1] Daughter of Neleus and Chloris Daughter of Neleus [1] and Chloris [4], with twelve brothers, including Nestor [1]. Neleus demands Iphiclus' cattle as a bride price for P. Melampus [1] delivers the cattle for his brother Bias [1], who is given P. as his bride (Hom. Od. 11,281-297; 15,231-238; Apoll. Rhod. 1,120f.; Paus. 4,36,3; 10,31,10). Several of the couple's sons are part of the Argonaut campaign (Apoll. Rhod. 1,118-120). Harder, Ruth Elisabeth (Zürich) [German version] [2] Mother of the river god Asopus Mother by Poseidon of the river god Aso…

[German version] (Πενθεσίλεια/ Penthesíleia, Lat. Penthesilea). Amazon (Amazons), daughter of Ares and Otrere (Aithiopis argumentum, fr. 1f. PEG I), who to expiate blood guilt - in some sources the murder of her sister Hippolyte [1] (Apollod. Epit. 5,1; Quint. Smyrn. 1,20-32) - enters the Trojan War and supports the Trojans after the death of  Hector (Hellanicus FGrH 4 F 149; Diod. Sic. 2,46,5). She kills a number of Greeks (Prop. 3,11,14f.; Quint. Smyrn. 1,238-246) but is then defeated by Achilles […

[German version] (Δανάη; Danáē). Mythical daughter of  Acrisius, the king of Argus, and Euridice or Aganippe (Hom. Il. 14,319f.; Hes. fr. 129; 135MW; Hyg. Fab. 63). She was imprisoned by her father to keep her from any contact with the outside world following a pronouncement by the oracle that he would be killed by his grandson. Zeus approached D. in the form of a shower of gold and she became pregnant with  Perseus (Pind. Pyth. 10,44f.; 12,9ff.; Soph. Ant. 944ff.; Isocr. 10,59; Ov. Met. 4,610f.). …

(Μολπαδία; Molpadía). [German version] [1] Daughter of Staphylus and Chrysothemis Daughter of Staphylus and Chrysothemis [1]. Together with her sister Rhoeo, she was charged with guarding the wine, which had just been invented. However, they fell asleep and pigs overturned the jug. Out of fear, the sisters leapt into the sea. Apollo rescued them and took M. as Hemithea to Castabus in the Carian Chersonesus of Knidos (Diod. 5,62f.). Harder, Ruth Elisabeth (Zürich) [German version] [2] Amazon Amazon who killed Antiope [2], who was fighting alongside Theseus, after which sh…

(Εὐρώπη; Eurṓpē). [German version] [1] Geographic concept Originally reserved for the female mythological figure ( E. [2]; cf. Hes. Theog. 357, 359), as a geographical term E. initially referred to central Greece (cf. Hom. H. ad Apollinem 251, 291) and the Thracian-Macedonian north (cf. Hdt. 6,43; 7,8), as opposed to the Peloponnese in the south, the Ionian Islands in the west and the Aegean islands, and separated from the Asiatic land-mass by the Aegean Sea, the Hellespont, Propontis, the Bosporus and Pontus Euxinus. As awareness grew during the ‘great colonisation’ that the…

(Δίρκη; Dírkē). [German version] [1] Daughter of Ismenus Daughter of Ismenus (Callim. H. 4,75ff.), wife of king  Lycus. Both are hostile to Lycus' niece  Antiope [2]; after Antiope had failed in her attempt to escape, D. and Lycus handed her over to her twin sons  Amphion and Zethus, whom she had abandoned at birth, to have her dragged to death by a bull. However, the sons recognize their mother just in time and then proceed to make D. suffer that very punishment (Eur. in Hyg. Fab. 7f.; Plaut. Pseud. 19…

(Ἀντιγόνη; Antigónē). [German version] [1] Daughter of Thessalian  Phere Daughter of Thessalian  Phere and mother of the Argonaut Asterion (Hyg. Fab. 14,1). Harder, Ruth Elisabeth (Zürich) [German version] [2] Daughter of king Eurytion of Phthia Daughter of king Eurytion of Phthia, wife of  Peleus, by whom she has a daughter Polydora (Pherec. FGrH 3 F 61a). Peleus accidentally kills Eurytion and therefore flees to Acastus at Iolcus, who exculpates him. Acastus' wife Astydameia tries in vain to win him for herself and then in reve…

(Νιόβη/ Nióbē, Lat. Nioba). [German version] I. Mythology Daughter of Tantalus and Dione or Euryanassa (Hyg. Fab. 9, schol. Eur. Or. 4) and wife of Amphion [1] (Hes. fr. 183 M./W.). The oldest version of the myth is found in Hom. Il. 24,602-617 in the form of a comparison by which Achilles seeks to induce Priam to overcome his grief over his son's death just as N. did. N.'s children, the Niobids (Νιοβίδαι/ Niobídai, Lat. Niobidae), were killed by Apollo and Artemis after N. boasted of her superiority to their mother, Leto, because Leto had borne only two children, whil…

(Ἀταλάντη; Atalántē). [German version] A. Myth Mythological daughter of Schoeneus or of Iasius and Clymene. In a Boeotian version she is allowed to remain a virgin, but to do so she has to defeat all suitors in a race (Hyg. Fab. 185).  Hippomenes receives three golden apples from Aphrodite, which he drops in A.'s way during the competition, and which she picks up (Hes. fr. 72-76 M-W, Ov. Met. 10.560-680), whereby he wins. The pair consummate their union in a sanctuary of Cybele or Zeus and are, as pu…

(Λάνασσα; Lánassa). [German version] [1] Ancestress of the Molossian dynasty Daughter of Cleodaeus, granddaughter of Hyllus, great-granddaughter of Hercules [1], ancestress of the Molossian dynasty of Epirus (Plut. Pyrrhus 1,2; Lysimachus, FGrH 382 F 10). Neoptolemus abducts her from the Zeus temple of Dodona, marries her and has eight children with her, among them Pyrrhus (Iust. 17,3,4). Harder, Ruth Elisabeth (Zürich) Bibliography P. Levêque, Pyrrhos, 1957, 643 M. Schmidt, s.v. L., RE 12, 617. [German version] [2] Wife of Pyrrhus and Demetrius Poliorcetes, 3rd cent. BC Daughter…

Harder, Ruth Elisabeth (Zürich) [German version] A. Introduction (CT) Papyrus was the most important writing material in Antiquity [13]; it was also used for administrative and personal purposes (the so-called documentary papyri) and for the transcription of literary texts by Greeks who had settled in Egypt following the conquests of Alexander the Great. From ca. 300 BC to ca. 700 AD Greek texts were written on papyri in Egypt, and these papyri were preserved, re-used (for other texts or for use as wrap…

(Μελίβοια/ Melíboia, Latin Meliboea). [German version] [1] Heroine Heroine, known within the Leto cult of Argos as Chloris [2] (on the aition: Paus. 2,21,9f.). In the Demeter cult of Hermion(e), Kore ( Persephone) bears the byname M. (Ath. 14,624e, the passage is textually disputed). M. first appears in Hom. Od. 11,281-287 as the daughter of Amphion [1], later also as the daughter of Niobe (Apollod. 3,47) and spouse of Neleus (Pherecydes FGrH 3 F 117). Ath. 13,557a mentions her as the spouse of Theseus. Harder, Ruth Elisabeth (Zürich) Bibliography R. Carden, The Papyrus Fragments of …

(Ἑκάλη; Hekálē). [German version] [1] Att. Heroine, hostess of Theseus Heroine of the like-named Attic deme on Pentelicon, who takes in  Theseus, who has been surprised by a storm on his way to fight the Bull of Marathon, very hospitably despite her poverty. As he returns after his victory, he finds her dead and out of gratitude establishes a cult to her and  Zeus Hekal(ei)os, at which the surrounding demes meet for an annual sacrifice.  Callimachus (Hecale fr. 230-377) and Plut. Thes. 14,6b-c (= Philocho…

(Γλαύκη; Glaúkē). [German version] [1] Nereide Nereid (Hom. Il. 18,39; Hes. Theog. 244; Hyg. Praef. 8), whose name describes the glossy blue as well as comparable colour shades of the sea (Hom. Il. 16,34; Hes. Theog. 440) and whose masculine counterpart is  Glaucus. G. is also represented as a nymph at various locations (Paus. 8,47,2f.; Tzetz. Theogony 100-102). Harder, Ruth Elisabeth (Zürich) [German version] [2] Spring nymph, bride of Jason Spring nymph in Corinth, equated by some authors with the daughter of the local king  Creon, who otherwise is called  Creus…

(Ἑλένη; Helénē, Lat. Helena). [German version] [1] Beautiful wife of Menelaus ('Helen of Troy') Goddess who was worshipped at various cult sites in and around Sparta, especially in the Menelaion in  Therapne (Hdt. 6,61; Paus. 3,15,3; Hsch. s.v. Ἑλένεια, [1]). In  Rhodes she had a cult as H. Dendritis (Paus. 3,19,10), in  Cenchreae and  Chios she is attested as a deity of springs (Paus. 2,2,3; Steph. Byz. s.v. Ἑλένη). There is no completely reliable etymology for her name [2. 63-80]. For evidence of her cult i…

(Λαοδίκη; Laodíkē). I. Mythology [German version] [I 1] Daughter of Priamus and Hecuba Daughter of Priamus and Hecabe; her husbands are given as Helicaon (Hom. Il. 3,122-124; 6,252), through whom she was spared enslavement after the fall of Troy (Paus. 10,26,3), or Acamas (Parthenius 16 MythGr), Demophon [2] (Plut. Thes. 34,2) or Telephus (Hyg. Fab. 101). According to Apollodorus (Epit. 5,25), after the fall of Troy she was swallowed up by a cleft in the earth (cf. also Lycoph. 316f.; Tryphiodorus 660f.). Harder, Ruth Elisabeth (Zürich) [German version] [I 2] Daughter of Agamemnon …

(Ἀρσινόη; Arsinóē). I. Myth [German version] [I 1] Daughter of Leukippos Daughter of Leucippus, sister of the Leucippids, who were abducted by the Dioscuri, she was the mother by Apollo of the Messenian Asclepius (Hes. fr. 50; Apollod. 3,117f.; Paus. 2,26,7; 4,3,2). In Sparta A. had a shrine (Paus. 3,12,8); on the agora of Messene there was an A. spring (Paus. 4,31,6), in the Messenian Asclepieum there was, amongst other things, a painting of A. (Paus. 4,31,11f.). The relationship of the Messenian to the …