Athamas (mythology)
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Athamas (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Athamas (; grc, Ἀθάμας, Athámas) was a Boeotian king.Apollodorus1.9.1/ref> Family Athamas was formerly a Thessalian prince and the son of King Aeolus of Aeolia and Enarete, daughter of Deimachus. He was the brother of Salmoneus, Sisyphus, Cretheus, Perieres, Deioneus, Magnes, Calyce, Canace, Alcyone, Pisidice and Perimede. Athamas sired several children by his first wife, the goddess Nephele, and his other wives Ino and Themisto. Nephele first bore to him twins, a son Phrixus and a daughter Helle;Apollodorus1.9.1 Hyginus, ''Fabulae'1/ref> and also a second son, Makistos. He subsequently married Ino, daughter of Cadmus, with whom he had two children: Learches and Melicertes. By the daughter of Hypseus, Themisto, he was the father of Sphincius and Orchomenus Hyginus, ''Fabulae'1/ref> or Schoeneus and Leucon and also, Erythrius and Ptous.Apollodorus, 1.9.2; Tzetzes on Lycophron, 22 Mythology Phrixus and Helle were hated by their ...
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Canace
In Greek mythology, Canace (; Ancient Greek: Κανάκη means "‘barking") was a Thessalian princess as daughter of King Aeolus of Aeolia and Enarete, daughter of Deimachus. She was sometimes referrred as Aeolis. Family Canace was the sister of Athamas, Cretheus, Deioneus, Magnes, Perieres, Salmoneus, Sisyphus, Alcyone, Calyce, Peisidice, Perimede Arne and possibly Tanagra. As the lover of Poseidon, she was the mother of Aloeus, Epopeus, Hopleus, Nireus and Triopas. Mythology In another, more famous version Canace was a lover not of Poseidon, but of her own brother Macareus. This tradition made them children of a different Aeolus, the lord of the winds (or the Tyrrhenian king), and his wife Amphithea. Canace fell in love with Macareus and committed incest with him, which resulted in her getting pregnant. Macareus promised to marry Canace but never did. When their child was born, Canace's nurse tried to take the baby out of the palace in a basket, pretending to be carry ...
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Learches
In Greek mythology, Learchus (Ancient Greek: Λέαρχος) or Learches was a Boeotian prince as the son of King Athamas and Ino, daughter of King Cadmus of Thebes. He was the brother of Melicertes. Mythology The story of Learchus is part of the Theban Cycle which was elaborated by Ovid in his ''Metamorphoses''. He was killed as a boy by his father, Athamas, whom Hera drove insane as punishment for having received and raised Dionysus, the illegitimate son of Zeus and Semele, Ino's sister. Athamas, blinded by the madness, exchanged Learchus for a lion (or a ram/ fawn, in other versions) and killed him. After this, Athamas went in frenzied pursuit of Ino, who jumped into the sea with their other son, Melicertes. Ovid adds some details to this story, saying, for instance, that Learchus had spontaneously stretched out his arms to his father to hug him, not knowing that he was mad and would slay him. Dante cites this myth as an example of insanity in his ''Inferno''. References ...
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Cadmus
In Greek mythology, Cadmus (; grc-gre, Κάδμος, Kádmos) was the legendary Phoenician founder of Boeotian Thebes. He was the first Greek hero and, alongside Perseus and Bellerophon, the greatest hero and slayer of monsters before the days of Heracles. Commonly stated to be a prince of Phoenicia, the son of king Agenor and queen Telephassa of Tyre, the brother of Phoenix, Cilix and Europa, Cadmus could trace his origins back to Zeus. Originally, he was sent by his royal parents to seek out and escort his sister Europa back to Tyre after she was abducted from the shores of Phoenicia by Zeus. In early accounts, Cadmus and Europa were instead the children of Phoenix.Scholia on Homer, ''Iliad'' B, 494, p. 80, 43 ed. Bekk. as cited in Hellanicus' ''Boeotica'' Cadmus founded the Greek city of Thebes, the acropolis of which was originally named ''Cadmeia'' in his honour. Cadmus' homeland was the subject of significant disagreement among ancient authors. Apollodorus identi ...
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Ino (Greek Mythology)
In Greek mythology, Ino ( ; grc, Ἰνώ ) was a Theban princess who later became a queen of Boeotia. After her death and transfiguration, she was worshiped as a goddess under her epithet Leucothea, the "white goddess." Alcman called her "Queen of the Sea" ( ''thalassomédousa''), which, if not hyperbole, would make her a doublet of Amphitrite. Family Ino was the second daughter of the King Cadmus and Queen Harmonia of Thebes and one of the three sisters of Semele, the mortal woman of the house of Cadmus who gave birth to Dionysus. Her only brother was Polydorus, another ruler of Thebes. Together with her two sisters, Agave and Autonoë, they were the surrogates and divine nurses of Dionysus:Ino was a primordial Dionysian woman, nurse to the god and a divine maenad. (Kerenyi 1976:246)Ino was the second wife of the Minyan king Athamas, mother of Learchus and Melicertes and stepmother of Phrixus and Helle. Mythology Maenads were reputed to tear their own children limb from ...
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Stephanus Of Byzantium
Stephanus or Stephan of Byzantium ( la, Stephanus Byzantinus; grc-gre, Στέφανος Βυζάντιος, ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD), was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethnica'' (). Only meagre fragments of the dictionary survive, but the epitome is extant, compiled by one Hermolaus, not otherwise identified. Life Nothing is known about the life of Stephanus, except that he was a Greek grammarian who was active in Constantinople, and lived after the time of Arcadius and Honorius, and before that of Justinian II. Later writers provide no information about him, but they do note that the work was later reduced to an epitome by a certain Hermolaus, who dedicated his epitome to Justinian; whether the first or second emperor of that name is meant is disputed, but it seems probable that Stephanus flourished in Byzantium in the earlier part of the sixth century AD, under Justinian I. The ''Ethnica'' Even as an ...
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Macistus
In Greek mythology, Macistus or Makistos (Ancient Greek: Μάκιστος means 'tallest' or 'greatest) may refer to the following person and surname: * Macistus, a Boeotian prince as the son of King Athamas probably by the cloud-nymph Nephele, thus the brother of Phrixus and Helle. From Macistus, the town of Macistus in Triphylia was believed to have derived its name. * Makistios, an epithet of Heracles, who had a temple in the neighbourhood of the town of Macistus in Triphylia, Elis (Peloponnese).Strabo8.3.21 p. 348: '' — In the intervening space are both the temple of the Macistian Heracles and the Acidon River.''. See also *Mecisteus Notes References *Stephanus of Byzantium, ''Stephani Byzantii Ethnicorum quae supersunt,'' edited by August Meineike (1790-1870), published 1849. A few entries from this important ancient handbook of place names have been translated by Brady KieslingOnline version at the Topos Text Project.*Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as ...
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Helle (mythology)
Helle (; , Héllē), or Ellie, sometimes also called (), was a character in Greek mythology who figured prominently in the story of Jason and the Argonauts. Mythology Phrixus, son of King Athamas of Boeotia and the half-nymph Nephele, along with his twin sister, Helle, were hated by their stepmother, Ino. Ino hatched a devious plot to get rid of the twins, roasting all the town's crop seeds so they would not grow. The local farmers, frightened of famine, asked a nearby oracle for assistance. Ino bribed the men sent to the oracle to lie and tell the others that the oracle required the sacrifice of Phrixus. Before he was killed though, Phrixus and Helle were rescued by a flying golden ram sent by Nephele, their natural mother. Helle fell off the ram into the Hellespont (which was subsequently named after her) and either died or was rescued by Poseidon and turned into a sea-goddess, but Phrixus survived all the way to Colchis, where King Aeetes took him in and treated him kindly, g ...
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Phrixus
In Greek mythology Phrixus (; also spelt Phryxus; el, Φρίξος, ''Phrixos'' means "standing on end, bristling") was the son of Athamas, king of Boeotia, and Nephele (a goddess of clouds). He was the twin brother of Helle and the father of Argus, Phrontis, Melas and Cytisorus by Chalciope ( Iophassa), daughter of Aeetes, king of Colchis. Mythology Phrixus and Helle (also known as Ellie) were hated by their stepmother, Ino. She hatched a devious plot to get rid of the twins, roasting all of Boeotia's crop seeds so they would not grow. The local farmers, frightened of famine, asked a nearby oracle for assistance. Ino bribed the men sent to the oracle to lie and tell the others that the oracle required the sacrifice of Phrixus and Helle. Before they were killed, though, Phrixus and Helle were rescued by a flying, or swimming, ram with golden wool sent by Nephele, their natural mother; their starting point is variously recorded as Halos in Thessaly and Orchomenus in Boeo ...
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Themisto
In Greek mythology, Themisto (; Ancient Greek: Θεμιστώ) was a Thessalin princess as the daughter of King Hypseus of LapithsApollodorus, 1.9.2 and the naiad Chlidanope. Her name is derived from the Ancient Greek word: "θεμιστος" which means "belonging to the law", or "belonging to the customs". Family Themisto's sisters were Cyrene, AlcaeaScholia on Pindar, ''Pythian Ode'' 9.31 and Astyagyia. She was the third and last wife of Athamas, a Boeotian king. According to some sources, the couple had four children: Leucon, Erythrius, Schoeneus, and Ptous. In other sources, there were but two: Sphincius and Orchomenus, or else Schoeneus and Leucon. Some say that the father of Leucon was Poseidon (see also Leuconoe). Mythology Themisto intended to kill her husband's children by his previous wife, but accidentally slew her own sons. This was the subject of a non-surviving tragedy by Euripides, retold by Hyginus as follows. Athamas married Themisto as he believed hi ...
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Ino (Greek Mythology)
In Greek mythology, Ino ( ; grc, Ἰνώ ) was a Theban princess who later became a queen of Boeotia. After her death and transfiguration, she was worshiped as a goddess under her epithet Leucothea, the "white goddess." Alcman called her "Queen of the Sea" ( ''thalassomédousa''), which, if not hyperbole, would make her a doublet of Amphitrite. Family Ino was the second daughter of the King Cadmus and Queen Harmonia of Thebes and one of the three sisters of Semele, the mortal woman of the house of Cadmus who gave birth to Dionysus. Her only brother was Polydorus, another ruler of Thebes. Together with her two sisters, Agave and Autonoë, they were the surrogates and divine nurses of Dionysus:Ino was a primordial Dionysian woman, nurse to the god and a divine maenad. (Kerenyi 1976:246)Ino was the second wife of the Minyan king Athamas, mother of Learchus and Melicertes and stepmother of Phrixus and Helle. Mythology Maenads were reputed to tear their own children limb from ...
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Nephele
In Greek mythology, Nephele (; Ancient Greek: Νεφέλη from νέφος ''nephos'' "cloud"; Latinized to ''Nubes'') was a cloud nymph who figured prominently in the story of Phrixus and Helle. Mythology Greek myth has it that Nephele is the cloud whom Zeus created in the image of Hera to trick Ixion to test his integrity after displaying his lust for Hera during a feast as a guest of Zeus. Ixion's restraint failed him, and he assaulted Nephele, eventually fathering the Centaurs (through Imbros or CentaurosApollodorus, Epitome 1.20). Nephele married Athamas, and had twins, a son, Phrixus, and a daughter, Helle. Athamas then divorced her for Ino, who hatched a devious plot to get rid of the twins, roasting all the town's crop seeds so they would not grow. The local farmers, frightened of famine, asked a nearby oracle for assistance. Ino bribed the men sent to the oracle to lie and tell the others that the oracle required the sacrifice of Phrixus. Before he was killed thou ...
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