Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities of ...

, the Keres (;

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 p ...

: Κῆρες), singular Ker (; Κήρ), were female death-spirits. They were the goddesses who personified violent death and who were drawn to bloody deaths on battlefields. Although they were present during death and dying, they did not have the power to kill. All they could do was wait and then feast on the dead. The Keres were daughters of

Nyx Nyx (; , , "Night") is the Greek goddess and personification of night. A shadowy figure, Nyx stood at or near the beginning of creation and mothered other personified deities, such as Hypnos (Sleep) and Thanatos (Death), with Erebus (Darknes ...

, and as such the sisters of beings such as Moirai, who controlled the fate of souls, and

Thanatos In Greek mythology, Thanatos (; grc, Θάνατος, pronounced in "Death", from θνῄσκω ''thnēskō'' "(I) die, am dying") was the personification of death. He was a minor figure in Greek mythology, often referred to but rarely appea ...

, the god of peaceful death. Some later authorities, such as

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the est ...

, called them by a Latin name, ''Tenebrae'' ("the Darknesses"), and named them daughters of Erebus and Nyx.

Etymology

The Greek word κήρ means "death" or "doom" and appears as a proper noun in the singular and plural as Κήρ and Κῆρες to refer to divinities.

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the '' Iliad'' and the '' Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of ...

uses ''Κῆρες'' in the phrase ''κήρες θανάτοιο'', "Keres of death". By extension the word may mean "plague, disease" and in prose "blemish or defect". The relative verb ''κεραΐζω'' or ''κείρω'' means "ravage or plunder". Sometimes in Homer the words κήρ and moira have similar meanings. The older meaning was probably "destruction of the dead", and Hesychius of Alexandria relates the word to the verb ''κηραινειν'' "decay".

Description

They were described as dark beings with gnashing teeth and claws and with a thirst for human blood. They would hover over the battlefield and search for dying and wounded men. A description of the Keres can be found in the Shield of Heracles (248–57): Though not mentioned by Hesiod, Achlys may have been included among the Keres. A parallel, and equally unusual personification of "the baleful Ker" is in Homer's depiction of the Shield of Achilles (''Iliad'', ix. 410ff), which is the model for the ''Shield of Heracles''. These are works of art that are being described. In the fifth century, Keres were portrayed as small winged sprites in vase-paintings adduced by J.E. Harrison (Harrison, 1903), who described apotropaic rites and rites of purification that were intended to keep the Keres at bay. According to a statement of Stesichorus noted by Eustathius, Stesichorus "called the Keres by the name Telchines", whom Eustathius identified with the Kuretes of Crete, who could call up squalls of wind and would brew potions from herbs (noted in Harrison, p. 171). The term ''Keres'' has also been cautiously used to describe a person's fate. An example of this can be found in the ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the '' Odys ...

'' where

Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus ( grc-gre, Ἀχιλλεύς) was a hero of the Trojan War, the greatest of all the Greek warriors, and the central character of Homer's '' Iliad''. He was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Pe ...

was given the choice (or ''Keres'') between either a long and obscure life and home, or death at Troy and everlasting glory. Also, when

and Hector were about to engage in a fight to the death, the god

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion, ...

weighed both warriors' ''keres'' to determine who shall die. As Hector’s ''ker'' was deemed heavier, he was the one destined to die and in the weighing of souls, Zeus chooses Hector to be killed. During the festival known as

Anthesteria The Anthesteria (; grc, Ἀνθεστήρια ) was one of the four Athenian festivals in honor of Dionysus. It was held each year from the 11th to the 13th of the month of Anthesterion, around the time of the January or February full moon. The ...

, the Keres were driven away. Their Roman equivalents were Letum (“death”) or the Tenebrae (“shadows”).

Keres and Valkyries

Mathias Egeler suggests a connection exists between the Keres and the

Valkyrie In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ("chooser of the slain") is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become (Old Norse "single (or once) fighters"Orchard (1997:36 ...

s of

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern peri ...

. Both deities are war spirits that fly over battlefields during conflicts and choose those to be slain. The difference is that Valkyries are benevolent deities in contrast to the malevolence of the Keres, perhaps due to the different outlook of the two cultures towards war. The word ''valkyrie'' derives from

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

''valkyrja'' (plural ''valkyrjur''), which is composed of two words; the noun ''valr'' (referring to the slain on the battlefield) and the verb ''kjósa'' (meaning "to choose"). Together, they mean "chooser of the slain". The Greek word "Ker" etymologically means destruction, death.Lidell.Scott: Greek-English Lexicon

Notes

References

Gaius Julius Hyginus Gaius Julius Hyginus (; 64 BC – AD 17) was a Latin author, a pupil of the scholar Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Caesar Augustus. He was elected superintendent of the Palatine library by Augustus according to Suetonius' ''De Gramma ...

, ''Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus'' translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
* Harrison, Jane Ellen, ''Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion'' 1903. Chapter V: "The demonology of ghosts and spites and bogeys" *

Hesiod Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...

, ''Theogony'' from ''The Homeric Hymns and Homerica'' with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website
*March, J., Cassell's Dictionary Of Classical Mythology, London, 1999. *

Marcus Tullius Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the est ...

, ''Nature of the Gods from the Treatises of M.T. Cicero'' translated by Charles Duke Yonge (1812-1891), Bohn edition of 1878
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
*Marcus Tullius Cicero, ''De Natura Deorum.'' O. Plasberg. Leipzig. Teubner. 1917.
Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library
* Unknown
"Greek Gods and Goddesses"

External links