In
Ancient Greece, Chrysame (
Greek: Χρυσάμη) was a
Thessalian priestess of
Enodia
In Ancient Greek Religion and mythology, Enodia (also spelled ''Ennodia'' and ''Einodia'') (; Greek: , ‘the one in the streets’ or ‘In the Road’) is a distinctly Thessalian Ancient Greek goddess, identified in certain areas or by certain ...
. She is famous for using herbs to defeat the Ionians at
Erythrae, granting Cnopus of Codridae victory in the battle.
Thessaly was known for
witchcraft, especially the usage of herbs.
[Ogden, D. (2009). Magic, witchcraft, and ghosts in the Greek and Roman worlds: A sourcebook. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.] Thessalian witches were said to even be capable of drawing down the
moon. Therefore, Chrysame’s usage of herbs is appropriate for a
Thessalian priestess.
Especially
Enodia
In Ancient Greek Religion and mythology, Enodia (also spelled ''Ennodia'' and ''Einodia'') (; Greek: , ‘the one in the streets’ or ‘In the Road’) is a distinctly Thessalian Ancient Greek goddess, identified in certain areas or by certain ...
, who is the goddess of
roads,
protection, the city,
cemeteries
A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...
, and who was identified with
Hecate.
[Iles Johnston, Sarah (2013-08-02). ]
Restless Dead.
' University of California Press. .
Chrysame’s defeat of the Erythraians
According to
Polyaenus, a conqueror named Cnopus of Codridae was fighting with the Ionians at Erythrai after the recent
Ionian
Ionic or Ionian may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Ionic meter, a poetic metre in ancient Greek and Latin poetry
* Ionian mode, a musical mode or a diatonic scale
Places and peoples
* Ionian, of or from Ionia, an ancient region in western ...
colonisation of
Asia Minor.
[C.D. Graninger, « Apollo, Ennodia, and fourth-century Thessaly », Kernos, 22 , 2009, 109-124.] Cnopus received an oracle one day that stated:
Therefore an embassy was sent to retrieve the priestess, due to the oracle.
[ {{PD-notice]
Chrysame chose a large and beautiful
bull, gilded his horns, then decorated him with garlands, and purple ribbons embroidered with gold.
She mixed a medicinal herb that would excite madness into his food and ordered him to be kept in the stall and fed upon it.
The concoction would cause anyone to eat it to be seized with madness. Anyone who ate the flesh of the bull when it was in such a state would be seized by the same affliction. When the enemy encamped against her, she directed an altar to be raised in sight of them; and after every preparation for a sacrifice had been made, the bull was brought forth. Under the influence of the concoction, the bull broke loose.
The bull ran wild into the plain with fury and attacked everything in his way. The Erythraians saw the bull running towards their camp and considered it a good omen.
They seized the bull and offered him to their gods. All of the Erythraians ate a piece of the flesh. The whole army was soon afterwards seized with madness, and exhibited the same marks of wildness and frenzy the bull had done.
When Chrysame saw this, she ordered Cnopus immediately to draw out his forces and charge the enemy. Incapable of making any defences, the Erythraians were cut to pieces, therefore defeated. Cnopus made himself master of
Erythrae, which was a great and flourishing city.
See also
*
Enodia
In Ancient Greek Religion and mythology, Enodia (also spelled ''Ennodia'' and ''Einodia'') (; Greek: , ‘the one in the streets’ or ‘In the Road’) is a distinctly Thessalian Ancient Greek goddess, identified in certain areas or by certain ...
*
Ancient Thessaly
*
Magic in the Greco-Roman world
References
Further reading
* Graninger, C. D
"The Regional Cults of Thessaly"(2006 dissertation)
* Edmonds, R. I. G. G. (2019). Drawing Down the Moon: Magic in the Ancient Greco-Roman World. Princeton University Press.
Thessalian mythology
Ancient Greek priestesses