|
Demodice
In Greek mythology, the name Demodice (Ancient Greek: Δημοδίκη) may refer to: *Demodice, daughter of Agenor, also known as Demonice. *Demodice or Demodika (also known as Gorgopis, Themisto, or Biadice), second wife of either Cretheus or Athamas, who unsuccessfully attempted to seduce Phrixus and in revenge accused him of sexual abuse, which caused him to flee from his father's kingdom. *Demodice, daughter of Rheximachus of Tegea. After Tegea had been at war with Phenea for a long time, the cities agreed to put an end to the conflict by electing a set of triplet brothers to represent each side and letting the victorious side be determined in a fight between them. The Tegeans sent the three sons of Rheximachus, brothers of Demodice, while the Pheneans sent the three sons of Demostratus, one of whom, Demodicus, was betrothed to Demodice. Two of Rheximachus' sons were killed in the fight, but the third brother, Critolaus, outwitted his opponents by pretending to flee from them ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cretheus
In Greek mythology, Cretheus (; Ancient Greek: Κρηθεύς ''Krētheus'') may refer to the following characters: * Cretheus, king and founder of Iolcus, the son of King Aeolus of Aeolia (son of Hellen) by either Enarete or Laodice. He was the brother of Sisyphus, Athamas, Salmoneus, Deion, Magnes, Perieres, Canace, Alcyone, Peisidice, Calyce and Perimede. Cretheus's wives were Tyro, his niece, and Demodice or Biadice. With Tyro, he fathered Aeson, Pheres, and Amythaon. When Cretheus found out that Tyro had an affair with Poseidon, he left her and married Demodice. He also had several daughters, namely Hippolyte, future wife of Acastus (otherwise known as Astydameia), Myrina who married Thoas, and possibly Phalanna, eponym of Phalanna. * Cretheus, also known as Cres, the Cretan father of an unnamed daughter who became the mother of Asterius by Teutamus.Diodorus Siculus, 4.60.2 Notes References *Diodorus Siculus, ''The Library of History'' translated by Charles Henr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sacrificial Victims Of Minotaur
In Greek mythology, the people of Athens were at one point compelled by King Minos of Crete to choose 14 young noble citizens (seven young men and seven maidens) to be offered as sacrificial victims to the half-human, half-taurine monster Minotaur to be killed in retribution for the death of Minos' son Androgeos. Mythology The victims were drawn by lots, were required to go unarmed, and would end up either being consumed by the Minotaur or getting lost and perishing in the Labyrinth, the maze-like structure where the Minotaur was kept. The offerings were to take place every one, seven or nine years and lasted until Theseus volunteered to join the third group of the would-be victims, killed the monster, and led his companions safely out of the Labyrinth. Plutarch in his ''Life of Theseus'' cites a rationalized version of this myth, referring to Philochorus who in his turn claimed to be following a local Cretan tradition. According to it, the young people were not actually killed bu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pindar
Pindar (; grc-gre, Πίνδαρος , ; la, Pindarus; ) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar is by far the greatest, in virtue of his inspired magnificence, the beauty of his thoughts and figures, the rich exuberance of his language and matter, and his rolling flood of eloquence, characteristics which, as Horace rightly held, make him inimitable." His poems can also, however, seem difficult and even peculiar. The Athenian comic playwright Eupolis once remarked that they "are already reduced to silence by the disinclination of the multitude for elegant learning". Some scholars in the modern age also found his poetry perplexing, at least until the 1896 discovery of some poems by his rival Bacchylides; comparisons of their work showed that many of Pindar's idiosyncrasies are typical of archaic genres rather than of only the poet himself. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scamander
Scamander (; also Skamandros ( grc, Σκάμανδρος) or Xanthos () was a river god in Greek mythology. Etymology The meaning of this name is uncertain. The second element looks like it is derived from Greek () meaning 'of a man', but there are sources who doubt this. The first element is more difficult to pinpoint; it could be derived from () 'to limp, to stumble (over an obstacle)' or from () meaning 'left(-handed), awkward'. The meaning of the name might then perhaps be 'limping man' or 'awkward man'. This would refer to the many bends and winds (meanders) of the river, which does not run straight, but "limps" its way along. Geography The Karamenderes River, Scamander River was named after the river god Scamander. The Scamander River was the river that surrounded Troy. The god Scamander took the side of the Trojans in the Trojan War. Family According to Hesiod, Scamander is the son of Oceanus and Tethys (mythology), Tethys. He is alternately described as a son of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sacred Mysteries
Sacred mysteries are the areas of supernatural phenomena associated with a divinity or a religious belief and praxis. Sacred mysteries may be either: # Religious beliefs, rituals or practices which are kept secret from the uninitiated. # Beliefs of the religion which are public knowledge but cannot be easily explained by normal rational or scientific means. Although the term "mystery" is not often used in anthropology, access by initiation or rite of passage to otherwise secret beliefs is an extremely common feature of indigenous religions all over the world. A mystagogue or hierophant is a holder and teacher of secret knowledge in the former sense above, while mysticism may be defined as an area of philosophical or religious thought focusing on mysteries in the latter sense. Greece and Rome The mystery religions of antiquity were religious cults which required initiation of an "initiate" or new member before they were accepted, and sometimes had different levels of initiation, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhea (mythology)
Rhea or Rheia (; Ancient Greek: Ῥέα or Ῥεία ) is a mother goddess in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, the Titaness daughter of the earth goddess Gaia and the sky god Uranus, himself a son of Gaia. She is the older sister of Cronus, who was also her consort, and the mother of the five eldest Olympian gods Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Poseidon and Zeus, and the king of the Underworld, Hades. When Cronus learnt that he was destined to be overthrown by one of his children like his father was before him, he swallowed all the children Rhea bore as soon as they were born. When Rhea had her sixth and final child, Zeus, she spirited him away and hid him in Crete, giving Cronus a rock to swallow instead, thus saving her youngest son who would go on to challenge his father's rule and rescue the rest of his siblings. Following Zeus' defeat of Cronus and the rise of the Olympian gods into power, Rhea withdraws her role as the queen of the gods to become a supporting figure ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pactolus
Pactolus ( el, Πακτωλός), now named Sart Çayı, is a river near the Aegean coast of Turkey. The river rises from Mount Tmolus, flows through the ruins of the ancient city of Sardis, and empties into the Gediz River, the ancient Hermus. The Pactolus once contained electrum that was the basis of the economy of the ancient state of Lydia which used the naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver to forge the first coins under Alyattes of Lydia. Legend According to legend, King Midas divested himself of the golden touch by washing himself in the river. The historian Herodotus claimed that the gold contained in the sediments carried by the river was the source of the wealth of King Croesus Croesus ( ; Lydian: ; Phrygian: ; grc, Κροισος, Kroisos; Latin: ; reigned: c. 585 – c. 546 BC) was the king of Lydia, who reigned from 585 BC until his defeat by the Persian king Cyrus the Great in 547 or 546 BC. Croesus was ..., son of Alyattes. Propertius 1.6 T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aphrodite
Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess . Aphrodite's major symbols include myrtles, roses, doves, sparrows, and swans. The cult of Aphrodite was largely derived from that of the Phoenician goddess Astarte, a cognate of the East Semitic goddess Ishtar, whose cult was based on the Sumerian cult of Inanna. Aphrodite's main cult centers were Cythera, Cyprus, Corinth, and Athens. Her main festival was the Aphrodisia, which was celebrated annually in midsummer. In Laconia, Aphrodite was worshipped as a warrior goddess. She was also the patron goddess of prostitutes, an association which led early scholars to propose the concept of "sacred prostitution" in Greco-Roman culture, an idea which is now generally seen as erroneous. In Hesiod's ''Theogony'', Aphrodite is born off the coast of Cythera from the foam (, ) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lydia
Lydia (Lydian language, Lydian: 𐤮𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣𐤠, ''Śfarda''; Aramaic: ''Lydia''; el, Λυδία, ''Lȳdíā''; tr, Lidya) was an Iron Age Monarchy, kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern western Turkey, Turkish provinces of Uşak Province, Uşak, Manisa Province, Manisa and inland Izmir Province, Izmir. The ethnic group inhabiting this kingdom are known as the Lydians, and their language, known as Lydian language, Lydian, was a member of the Anatolian languages, Anatolian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. The capital of Lydia was Sardis.Rhodes, P.J. ''A History of the Classical Greek World 478–323 BC''. 2nd edition. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010, p. 6. The Kingdom of Lydia existed from about 1200 BC to 546 BC. At its greatest extent, during the 7th century BC, it covered all of western Anatolia. In 546 BC, it became a province of the Achaemenid Empire, Achaemenid Persian Empire ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horatii
In the ancient Roman legend of the kingdom era, the Horatii were triplet warriors who lived during the reign of Tullus Hostilius. The accounts of their epic clash with the Curiatii and the murder of their sister by Publius, the sole survivor of the battle, appear in the writings of Livy.The names ''Horatii'' and ''Curiatii'' are derived from the plural of their surnames: "'' Horatius''", and "''Curiatius''". The English equivalents could be "the Horatius Brothers" and "The Curiatius Brothers". War with Alba Longa Livy recounts this tale in the first book of his ''Ab urbe condita''. During the Roman king Tullus Hostilius' war with the neighboring city of Alba Longa, it was agreed that fighting a costly war between their armies would leave the door open for an Etruscan invasion. Sabine dictator Mettius Fufetius appealed to Tullus Hostilius that the conflict should be settled by a fight to the death between the Roman Horatii triplets and their Alban counterparts, known as t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pseudo-Plutarch
Pseudo-Plutarch is the conventional name given to the actual, but unknown, authors of a number of pseudepigrapha (falsely attributed works) attributed to Plutarch but now known to have not been written by him. Some of these works were included in some editions of Plutarch's ''Moralia''. Among these are: *the ''Lives of the Ten Orators'' ( grc, Βίοι τῶν δέκα ῥητόρων; Latin: ''Vitae decem oratorum''), biographies of the Ten Orators of ancient Athens, based on Caecilius of Calacte, possibly deriving from a common source with the ''Lives'' of Photius *''The Doctrines of the Philosophers'' ( grc, Περὶ τῶν ἀρεσκόντων φιλοσόφοις φυσικῶν δογμάτων; Latin: ''Placita Philosophorum'') *''De Musica'' (''On Music'') *''Parallela Minora'' (''Minor Parallels'') *''Pro Nobilitate'' (''Noble Lineage'') *''De Fluviorum et Montium Nominibus'' (''About the Names of Rivers and Mountains''/''On Rivers''; Greek: Περὶ ποταμῶν ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Demaratus
Demaratus ( el, Δημάρατος ; Doric: ) was a king of Sparta from around 515 BC to 491 BC. The 15th of the Eurypontid line, he was the first son born to his father, King Ariston. As king, Demaratus is known chiefly for his opposition to the co-ruling Spartan king, Cleomenes I. He later fled to Achaemenid Persia, where he was given asylum and land, and fought on the Persian side during the Second Persian invasion of Greece. Early life Demaratus, the son of King Ariston (r. c.550–c.515), belonged to the Eurypontid dynasty, one of the two royal families of Sparta (the other being the Agiads). After Ariston had remained childless from his first two wives, he took the wife of Agetus, one of his friends. Less than 10 months later, Demaratus was born, but Ariston rejected his paternity before the ephors. He nonetheless changed his mind later and recognised Demaratus as his son, who succeeded him at his death around 515. Reign When Cleomenes attempted to make Isagoras t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
