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 ...

, Theonoe (

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 ...

: Θεονόη) was a character in

Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful e ...

' play, ''

Helen Helen may refer to: People * Helen of Troy, in Greek mythology, the most beautiful woman in the world * Helen (actress) (born 1938), Indian actress * Helen (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) Places * Helen, ...

''—daughter to the Egyptian king,

Proteus In Greek mythology, Proteus (; Ancient Greek: Πρωτεύς, ''Prōteus'') is an early prophetic sea-god or god of rivers and oceanic bodies of water, one of several deities whom Homer calls the "Old Man of the Sea" ''(hálios gérôn)''. ...

, and the

Nereid In Greek mythology, the Nereids or Nereides ( ; grc, Νηρηΐδες, Nērēḯdes; , also Νημερτές) are sea nymphs (female spirits of sea waters), the 50 daughters of the 'Old Man of the Sea' Nereus and the Oceanids, Oceanid Doris ...

Psamathe Psamathe may refer to: Greek mythology * Psamathe (Nereid) * Psamathe (Crotopus), Daughter of Crotopus Other * Psamathe (moon), moon of Neptune * ''Psamathe'' (polychaete), polychaete Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class of generally marine ...

. She was the sister of

Theoclymenus In Greek mythology, Theoclymenus (; Ancient Greek: Θεοκλύμενος) was a prophet from Argos. Family Theoclymenus was the son of Polypheides and Aechme, daughter of Haemon, and brother of Harmonides. In some accounts, his parents were ...

, the current king of Egypt. Her name means "divine wisdom," coming from ''theós'' 'god' and ''nóos'' or ''noûs'' 'mind.' Theonoe's earlier name was Eido ( Eidothea).

Mythology

According to

' telling,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

only abducted a phantom of the title heroine from her husband,

Menelaus In Greek mythology, Menelaus (; grc-gre, Μενέλαος , 'wrath of the people', ) was a king of Mycenaean (pre- Dorian) Sparta. According to the ''Iliad'', Menelaus was a central figure in the Trojan War, leading the Spartan contingent of th ...

, and the real Helen was taken to Egypt by the gods, where Theoclymenus attempted to marry her, but she would not consent. Theonoe didn't want her brother to marry Helen against the latter's will, and when Menelaus also ended up in Egypt, (after getting caught in a sea storm on his way home from

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...

), she helped them escape together. Theoclymenus accused Theonoe of plotting against him and sentenced her to death, but the

Dioscuri Castor; grc, Κάστωρ, Kástōr, beaver. and Pollux. (or Polydeukes). are twin half-brothers in Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology, known together as the Dioscuri.; grc, Διόσκουροι, Dióskouroi, sons of Zeus, links=no, f ...

(brothers of Helen) intervened and saved her life. According to

Conon Conon ( el, Κόνων) (before 443 BC – c. 389 BC) was an Athenian general at the end of the Peloponnesian War, who led the Athenian naval forces when they were defeated by a Peloponnesian fleet in the crucial Battle of Aegospotami; later he c ...

, ''Narrations'' 8 Theonoe fell in love with

Canopus Canopus is the brightest star in the southern constellation of Carina and the second-brightest star in the night sky. It is also designated α Carinae, which is Latinised to Alpha Carinae. With a visual apparent magnitude ...

, the young and handsome pilot of Menelaus' ship; he, however, did not return her feelings.

Notes

References

'', Fifty Narrations, surviving as one-paragraph summaries in the Bibliotheca (Library) of Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople'' translated from the Greek by Brady Kiesling
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
*

, ''The Complete Greek Drama'', edited by Whitney J. Oates and Eugene O'Neill, Jr. in two volumes. 2. Helen, translated by Robert Potter. New York. Random House. 1938
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
* Euripides, ''Euripidis Fabulae.'' ''vol. 3''. Gilbert Murray. Oxford. Clarendon Press, Oxford. 1913
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
Women in Greek mythology Egyptian characters in Greek mythology {{Greek-myth-stub