In
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 ...
, Neophron ( grc, Νεόφρων, Neophron) is a minor mythological character, who, in order to take revenge against
Aegypius
''Aegypius'' is a genus of Old World vultures found in the subfamily Gypinae. Of the three species in the genus, only the cinereous vulture is extant. The Cinerous vulture (Aegypius Monachus) is a creature that is hard to find as it is “a nea ...
seducing his mother
Timandra, seduced Aegypius's own mother
Bulis. His myth is preserved in the works of
Antoninus Liberalis
Antoninus Liberalis ( el, Ἀντωνῖνος Λιβεράλις) was an Ancient Greek grammarian who probably flourished between AD 100 and 300.
His only surviving work is the ''Metamorphoses'' (Μεταμορφώσεων Συναγωγή, ''Me ...
.
Etymology
The word 'Neophron' is found as meaning 'foolish in mind' (literally, 'new in mind') in ''
Liddell & Scott
Liddell is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Alice Liddell (1852–1934), Lewis Carroll's "muse"
* Allan Liddell (1908–1970)
* Alvar Lidell (1908–1981), BBC radio announcer and newsreader
* Andreas Lidel (1740s–1780s), co ...
''. Celoria argues however that "too much must not be made of this" as Neophron was a very common personal name, with no implications of foolishness.
Mythology
Neophron's mother Timandra became lovers with a much younger man named
Aegypius
''Aegypius'' is a genus of Old World vultures found in the subfamily Gypinae. Of the three species in the genus, only the cinereous vulture is extant. The Cinerous vulture (Aegypius Monachus) is a creature that is hard to find as it is “a nea ...
. Neophron greatly disapproved of the relationship, so he decided to play a trick on Aegypius. In turn, he seduced Aegypius' own mother
Bulis and brought her into his house one day that Aegypius was bound to make his accustomed visit to Timandra, having made sure earlier that Timandra would be out. He then excused himself, and led Aegypius to Bulis. Unknowingly, mother and son lay with each other due to Neophron's machinations. When they woke up, and realized what had happened, Aegypius prayed to the heavens that they would vanish, and
Zeus
Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=Genitive case, genitive Aeolic Greek, Boeotian Aeolic and Doric Greek#Laconian, Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=Genitive case, genitive el, Δίας, ''D ...
turned all four of them into birds. Both Aegypius and Neophron turned into
vulture
A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...
s (''
aegypius
''Aegypius'' is a genus of Old World vultures found in the subfamily Gypinae. Of the three species in the genus, only the cinereous vulture is extant. The Cinerous vulture (Aegypius Monachus) is a creature that is hard to find as it is “a nea ...
'').
Antoninus Liberalis
Antoninus Liberalis ( el, Ἀντωνῖνος Λιβεράλις) was an Ancient Greek grammarian who probably flourished between AD 100 and 300.
His only surviving work is the ''Metamorphoses'' (Μεταμορφώσεων Συναγωγή, ''Me ...
, ''Metamorphoses'
5
/ref>
See also
* Myrrha
Myrrha (Greek: , ''Mýrra''), also known as Smyrna (Greek: , ''Smýrna''), is the mother of Adonis in Greek mythology. She was transformed into a myrrh tree after having had intercourse with her father, and gave birth to Adonis in tree form. A ...
* Nyctaea
In Greek mythology Nyctaea ( grc, Νυκταία, Nuktaía, nocturnal) is a princess featuring in two stories about father-daughter incest, who is eventually turned into an owl by the goddess Athena. Both her tales are preserved in the works of ps ...
* Theias
{{Unreferenced, date=December 2009
In Greek mythology, Theias ( grc-gre, Θείας) was the King of Assyria and father of Myrrha and Adonis. The birth of Adonis existed in two different versions:
#The most commonly accepted version is that Aphro ...
References
Bibliography
* Antoninus Liberalis
Antoninus Liberalis ( el, Ἀντωνῖνος Λιβεράλις) was an Ancient Greek grammarian who probably flourished between AD 100 and 300.
His only surviving work is the ''Metamorphoses'' (Μεταμορφώσεων Συναγωγή, ''Me ...
, ''The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis'' translated by Francis Celoria (Routledge 1992)
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
*
Metamorphoses into birds in Greek mythology
Deeds of Zeus
Characters in Greek mythology
{{Greek-myth-stub