Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

, Chrysanthis (

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

: ) was a female figure associated with the goddess

Demeter In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Demeter (; Attic: ''Dēmḗtēr'' ; Doric: ''Dāmā́tēr'') is the Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over crops, grains, food, and the fertility of the earth. Although s ...

Mythology

According to an

Argive Argos (; el, Άργος ; grc, label=Ancient and Katharevousa, Ἄργος ) is a city in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, and the oldest in Europe. It is the largest city in Arg ...

legend recorded by

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC *Pausanias of Sicily, physician of th ...

, Chrysanthis informed Demeter of the abduction of

Persephone In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Persephone ( ; gr, Περσεφόνη, Persephónē), also called Kore or Cora ( ; gr, Κόρη, Kórē, the maiden), is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the underworld after ...

Hades Hades (; grc-gre, ᾍδης, Háidēs; ), in the ancient Greek religion and myth, is the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also ...

when Demeter was visiting

Pelasgus In Greek mythology, Pelasgus ( grc, Πελασγός, ''Pelasgós'' means "ancient") was the eponymous ancestor of the Pelasgians, the mythical inhabitants of Greece who established the worship of the Dodonaean Zeus, Hephaestus, the Cabeiri, and ot ...

in Argos. Thus, in the Argive account Chrysanthis substitutes for

Hecate Hecate or Hekate, , ; grc-dor, Ἑκάτᾱ, Hekátā, ; la, Hecatē or . is a goddess in ancient Greek religion and mythology, most often shown holding a pair of torches, a key, snakes, or accompanied by dogs, and in later periods depicte ...

of the Homeric hymn to Demeter. A

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

uncovered near

Lerna In classical Greece, Lerna ( el, Λέρνη) was a region of springs and a former lake near the east coast of the Peloponnesus, south of Argos. Even though much of the area is marshy, Lerna is located on a geographically narrow point between moun ...

portrays an altar, to the left of which stands Demeter, to the right stand Chrysanthis, her husband

Mysius In Greek mythology, Mysius (Ancient Greek: Μύσιος) was a figure meant to provide an etiology for ''Mysia'' as a surname of Demeter. He was said to have received Demeter hospitably in his home in Argos as she was searching for Persephone, and ...

, and two maidens presumed to be their daughters. Mysius is otherwise known as a native of Argos who offered hospitality to Demeter and dedicated a sanctuary to her, from which circumstance the goddess received the surname ''Mysia''. The family may be seen as a parallel to

Celeus Celeus or Keleus (Ancient Greek: Κελεός ''Keleós'') was the king of Eleusis in Greek mythology, husband of Metaneira and father of several daughters, who are called Callidice, Demo, Cleisidice and Callithoe in the ''Homeric Hymn to Dem ...

Metaneira In Greek mythology, Metanira (; Ancient Greek: Μετάνειρα ''Metáneira'') or Meganira was a queen of Eleusis as wife of King Celeus. She was the daughter of Amphictyon, king of Athens. Mythology While Demeter was searching for her daug ...

, and their daughters.''Realencyclopädie'', s. 2483

Notes

References

*'' Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft'', Band III, Halbband 6, Campanus ager-Claudius (1899), s. 2483, u. ''Chrysanthis'' * Grimal, Pierre. A Concise Dictionary of Classical mythology. Basil Blackwell Ltd, 1990. – p. 96
Lyons, Deborah. Gender and Immortality: Heroines in Ancient Greek Myth and Cult. Appendix – A Catalogue of Heroines, under ''Chrysanthis''
*

, ''Description of Greece'' with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918.
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
*Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
Women in Greek mythology Mythology of Argos Deeds of Demeter {{Greek-myth-stub