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 ...

, Platanus ( grc, Πλάτανος, Platanos, plane tree) is the daughter of the Thessalian king

Aloeus Aloeus (; Ancient Greek: Ἀλωεύς probably derived from ἀλοάω ''aloaō'' "to thresh, to tread" as well as "to crush, to smash") can indicate one of the two characters in Greek mythology: *Aloeus or Haloeus, a Thessalian prince as the ...

and the sister of the

Aloadae __NOTOC__ In Greek mythology, the Aloadae () or Aloads (Ancient Greek: Ἀλωάδαι ''Aloadai'') were Otus or Otos (Ὦτος means "insatiate") and Ephialtes (Ἐφιάλτης "nightmare"), Thessalian sons of Princess Iphimedia, wife of Aloe ...

giants, who attacked the gods. Platanus was said to be as big as her brothers. Her brief tale survives in the chronicles of a Byzantine scholar of the twelfth century, Nicephorus Basilacius.

Family

Platanus was the daughter of

, the stepfather of the

, presumably by his wife

Iphimedeia In Greek mythology, Iphimedeia (; Ancient Greek: Ἰφιμέδεια) or Iphimede (Ἰφιμέδη) was a Thessalian princess. She was attested in Homer's ''Odyssey'' in the Catalogue of women as being a mortal. Family Iphimedia was the daught ...

, the Aloadae's mother. She also had a sister named Elate.

Mythology

Platanus was a very beautiful girl, and as great in stature as her enormous brothers and sister. When Zeus with a lightning bolt slew the Aloadae for trying to wage war against the very heavens, Platanus was so sorrowful her shape change to that of a tree bearing her name, the

plane tree ''Platanus'' is a genus consisting of a small number of tree species native to the Northern Hemisphere. They are the sole living members of the family Platanaceae. All mature members of ''Platanus'' are tall, reaching in height. All except f ...

, keeping the great size and beauty she had in her previous life. Nicephorus Basilakes, '' Progymnasmata'
6
"As a girl, Platanos was beautiful. As the daughter of Aloeus, she was tall and not inferior to her brothers in stature. When Zeus stopped her brothers from raging against the gods by striking them with his lightning bolt, the girl could not endure the calamity and so changed her natural form into a tree." A similar fate befell her sister Elate, who transformed into a fir tree for the same reason.

References

Bibliography

* * * Women in Greek mythology Greek legendary creatures Greek giants Metamorphoses into trees in Greek mythology Family of Canace Thessalian characters in Greek mythology {{Greek-myth-stub

Family

Mythology

See also

References

Bibliography