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 ...

, Melanippe (;

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 ...

: Μελανίππη, "black mare"), also known as Arne or Antiopa, was the daughter of

Aeolus In Greek mythology, Aeolus or Aiolos (; grc, Αἴολος , ) is a name shared by three mythical characters. These three personages are often difficult to tell apart, and even the ancient mythographers appear to have been perplexed about which A ...

and the precedent

Melanippe :''The name Melanippe is the feminine counterpart of Melanippus.'' In Greek mythology, Melanippe () referred to several different people: * Melanippe, daughter of the Centaur Chiron. Also known as Hippe or Euippe. She bore a daughter to Aeolus, Me ...

(or else daughter of

Hippotes Hippotes (Ancient Greek: Ἱππότης) may refer to a number of people from Greek mythology: *Hippotes, son of Mimas and father of Aeolus, the keeper of the Winds in the ''Odyssey''. He was a mortal king. *Hippotes, a Corinthian prince as the ...

or of Desmontes). She was the mother by

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 ...

, of the twins

(

Hellen In Greek mythology, Hellen (; grc, Ἕλλην) is the eponymous progenitor of the Hellenes. He is the child of Deucalion (or Zeus) and Pyrrha, and the father of three sons, Dorus, Xuthus, and Aeolus, by whom he is the ancestor of the Greek p ...

) and

Boeotus In Greek mythology, Boeotus (; Ancient Greek: Βοιωτός ''Boiotos'') may refer to the following personages: * Boeotus, son of Poseidon and Arne.Scholia on Homer, ''Iliad'' B, 494, p. 80, 43 ed. Bekk. as cited in Hellanicus' ''Boeotica'' * ...

Mythology

There are various accounts of what happened to Melanippe after the birth of her sons. In one version, when her father discovered her pregnancy, he handed her over to a man from

Metapontium Metapontum or Metapontium ( grc, Μεταπόντιον, Metapontion) was an important city of Magna Graecia, situated on the gulf of Tarentum, between the river Bradanus and the Casuentus (modern Basento). It was distant about 20 km fr ...

, who was childless and adopted her sons as his own. When the boys grew up, a civil war began in Metapontium and they seized the kingship. They also killed Autolyte, their adoptive father's wife, for having mistreated their natural mother. Diodorus Siculus, '' Bibliotheca historica'' 4.67.3–4 Strabo cites two other accounts, in which Melanippe was said to have been handed over either to Metabus or to Dius. Strabo, '' Geographica'' 6.1.15 In another version of Melanippe's story, when her father discovered that she had given birth to twins, he blinded her, shut her in a prison and ordered that the babies be exposed. However, they were suckled by a cow and survived. They were subsequently rescued by shepherds, who later gave them to

Theano In Greek mythology, Theano (; Ancient Greek: Θεανώ) may refer to the following personages: *Theano, wife of Metapontus, king of Icaria. Metapontus demanded that she bear him children, or leave the kingdom. She presented the children of Melan ...

, wife of King Metapontus of

Icaria Icaria, also spelled Ikaria ( el, Ικαρία), is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea, 10 nautical miles (19 km) southwest of Samos. According to tradition, it derives its name from Icarus, the son of Daedalus in Greek mythology, who was be ...

, as she was looking for a baby to present to her husband as her own, fearing that he would expel her if she bore him no children. Later, however, she did give birth to two sons, but Metapontus was already more fond of the sons of Melanippe. So when they grew up, Theano instructed her natural sons to kill Aeolus and Boeotus during hunt. The two, however, defended themselves and, with the aid of Poseidon, killed Theano's sons. She then committed suicide and the brothers fled to the shepherds who had found them. Having found out about their true descent from Poseidon, they released their natural mother Melanippe from prison, and Poseidon restored her sight.Hyginus, ''Fabulae'
186
Two tragedies by

Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars a ...

, ''Melanippe The Prisoner'' and ''Melanippe The Philosopher'', were dedicated to this character.

Notes

References

* Diodorus Siculus, ''The Library of History'' translated by Charles Henry Oldfather. Twelve volumes. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59–8
Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site
* Diodorus Siculus, ''Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2''. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888-1890
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
* Gaius Julius Hyginus, ''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.
* Strabo, ''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.
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