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 ...

, Larissa or Larisa (

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 ...

: Λάρισσα) was the name of two different figures that appears in various accounts:

Larisa, daughter of Pelasgus

Larisa was a

nymph A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label=Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are ty ...

from

Thessaly Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thes ...

. She was described 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 ...

as a daughter of

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 ...

, son of

Triopas In Greek mythology, Triopas () or Triops (; grc, Τρίωψ, gen.: Τρίοπος) was the name of several characters whose relations are unclear. *Triopas, king of Argos and son of Phorbas. His daughter was Messene. * Triopas, king of Thessaly, ...

, king of Argos. Hellanicus states that the sons of

Poseidon Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as a ch ...

and Larissa were Achaios, Phthios, and Pelasgus. These sons left Argos and arrived in Haemonia (Thessaly) where they drove out the barbarian inhabitants and divided the country into three parts, calling them, after their names,

Phthiotis Phthiotis ( el, Φθιώτιδα, ''Fthiótida'', ; ancient Greek and Katharevousa: Φθιῶτις) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Central Greece. The capital is the city of Lamia. It is border ...

Achaia Achaea () or Achaia (), sometimes transliterated from Greek as Akhaia (, ''Akhaïa'' ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Western Greece and is situated in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. The ...

and

Pelasgiotis Pelasgiotis ( grc, Πελασγιῶτις, Pelasgiōtis) was an elongated district of ancient Thessaly, extending from the Vale of Tempe in the north to the city of Pherae in the south. The Pelasgiotis included the following localities: Argos Pela ...

. The arx of Argos and two towns (

Larissa Larissa (; el, Λάρισα, , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 144,651 according to the 2011 census. It is also capital of the Larissa regiona ...

and one in the Peneus) are believed to have derived their name (meaning "citadel") from her. Larissa drachma

She was represented on the obverse of common drachmas produced by the city of

between 400 BCE and at least 340 BCE, as a three-quarters face with outward flowing hair.Mørkholm p.85 This style was copied from the head of Arethusa by

Cimon Cimon or Kimon ( grc-gre, Κίμων; – 450BC) was an Athenian ''strategos'' (general and admiral) and politician. He was the son of Miltiades, also an Athenian ''strategos''. Cimon rose to prominence for his bravery fighting in the naval Batt ...

, depicted on Syracusan tetradrachmas. According to hoard evidence from Thessaly, this coinage was produced down to c. 320 BCE. Other coins depict Larissa seated, holding a

hydria The hydria ( el, ὑδρία; plural hydriai) is a form of Greek pottery from between the late Geometric period (7th century BC) and the Hellenistic period (3rd century BC). The etymology of the word hydria was first noted when it was stamped o ...

and with a spring nearby, confirming her status as a

. A

moon of Neptune The planet Neptune has 14 known moons, which are named for minor water deities in Greek mythology. By far the largest of them is Triton, discovered by William Lassell on October 10, 1846, 17 days after the discovery of Neptune itself; over a ce ...

was discovered by Harold J. Reitsema, William B. Hubbard, Larry A. Lebofsky and David J. Tholen on May 24, 1981 and later given the name Larissa. Larissa is also designated as "Neptune VII", S/1981 N 1 and "S/1989 N 2".

Larisa, daughter of Piasus

Larissa was the daughter of the Pelasgian prince,

Piasus In Greek mythology, Piasus (Ancient Greek: Πίασος), also known according to the Suda as Piasos the Thessalian, was the father of Larisa, wife of Cyzicus, king of the Doliones In Greek mythology, the Doliones (Ancient Greek: Δολίονες) ...

and wife of

Cyzicus Cyzicus (; grc, Κύζικος ''Kúzikos''; ota, آیدینجق, ''Aydıncıḳ'') was an ancient Greek town in Mysia in Anatolia in the current Balıkesir Province of Turkey. It was located on the shoreward side of the present Kapıdağ Peni ...

, king of the

Dolionians In Greek mythology, the Doliones (Ancient Greek: Δολίονες) or Dolionians were the people living on the coast of the Propontis (northwestern Asia Minor), visited by the Argonauts. They were ruled by Cyzicus, son of Aeneus and Aenete. My ...

, the people of northwestern Asia Minor visited by the Argonauts.

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...

reported that "before her marriage, her father Piasus fell in love with her and, having violated her, paid the penalty for the outrage; on that account Larisa, observing him leaning over a cask of wine, seized him by the legs, raised him, and plunged him into the cask, drowning him."

13.3.4.
/ref>

Notes

References

* * Dionysus of Halicarnassus, ''Roman Antiquities.'' English translation by Earnest Cary in the Loeb Classical Library, 7 volumes. Harvard University Press, 1937-1950
Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site
*Dionysius of Halicarnassus, ''Antiquitatum Romanarum quae supersunt'', ''Vol I-IV''. . Karl Jacoby. In Aedibus B.G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1885
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
*Larson, Jennifer S. (2001) ''Greek Nymphs: Myth, Cult, Lore''. Oxford, Oxford University Press. * Mørkholm, Otto (1991) ''Early Hellenistic Coinage from the Accession of Alexander to the Peace of Apamaea (336–188 BC).'' Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. * Parthenius, ''Love Romances'' translated by Sir Stephen Gaselee (1882-1943), S. Loeb Classical Library Volume 69. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. 1916.
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
*Parthenius, ''Erotici Scriptores Graeci, Vol. 1''. Rudolf Hercher. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1858
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
*

, ''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
* Smith, William (1849) ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology''. *

, ''The Geography of Strabo.'' Edition by H.L. Jones. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
*Strabo, ''Geographica'' edited by A. Meineke. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.

External links

LarissaTora.com
A website about the prefecture of larissa with the coin image in its banner (contains some information about the mythological Nymph named Larissa also).
Silver coin with head of Larissa
{{Greek myth index Nymphs Queens in Greek mythology Larissa Mythology of Argolis Mythological rape victims Incest in Greek mythology Incestual abuse

Larisa, daughter of Pelasgus

Larisa, daughter of Piasus

See also

Notes

References

External links