In
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 ...
, Thersanon or Thersanor is one of the
Argonauts, the crew of the legendary
Argo. Born on the island of
Andros
Andros ( el, Άνδρος, ) is the northernmost island of the Greek Cyclades archipelago, about southeast of Euboea, and about north of Tinos. It is nearly long, and its greatest breadth is . It is for the most part mountainous, with many ...
, Thersanon was the son of the
sun god Helios by a woman named Leucothoe; he joined
Jason
Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea. He ...
and the other Argonauts in the quest for the
golden fleece
In Greek mythology, the Golden Fleece ( el, Χρυσόμαλλον δέρας, ''Chrysómallon déras'') is the fleece of the golden-woolled,, ''Khrusómallos''. winged ram, Chrysomallos, that rescued Phrixus and brought him to Colchis, where ...
, kept by King
Aeëtes
Aeëtes (; , ; , ), or Aeeta, was a king of Colchis in Greek mythology. The name comes from the ancient Greek word (, "eagle").
Family
Aeëtes was the son of Sun god Helios and the Oceanid Perseis, brother of Circe, Perses and Pasiphaë, ...
of
Colchis
In Greco-Roman geography, Colchis (; ) was an exonym for the Georgian polity of Egrisi ( ka, ეგრისი) located on the coast of the Black Sea, centered in present-day western Georgia.
Its population, the Colchians are generally though ...
, one of Thersanon's paternal half-brothers.
Parentage
Hyginus
Gaius Julius Hyginus (; 64 BC – AD 17) was a Latin author, a pupil of the scholar Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Caesar Augustus. He was elected superintendent of the Palatine library by Augustus according to Suetonius' ''De Grammati ...
names
Leucothoe as his mother; according to
Ovid
Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...
,
Leucothoe was a mortal princess of
Babylon that Helios fell in love with; but when her
father
A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...
discovered the affair thanks to
Clytie
In Greek mythology, the name Clytie (Ancient Greek: Κλυτίη, Ionic) or Clytia (, Attic and other dialects) may refer to:
*Clytie (Oceanid), known for her unrequited love for Helios. Out of jealousy, Clytie arranged the death of Leucotho ...
, he buried Leucothoe alive, and afterwards her dead body was turned into a
frankincense tree by Helios. Hyginus assigning them a son might indicate that he knew a very different version of the myth, or perhaps he refers to another woman, such as the sea goddess
Leucothea
In Greek mythology, Leucothea (; grc-gre, Λευκοθέα, Leukothéa, white goddess), sometimes also called Leucothoe ( grc-gre, Λευκοθόη, Leukothóē), was one of the aspects under which an ancient sea goddess was recognized, in this ...
, whom he elsewhere refers to as "Leucothoe" in the same work.
[William Smith, '']Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology
The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 ...
'
Leucothoe
/ref>
See also
* Augeas
In Greek mythology, Augeas (or Augeias, , grc-gre, Αὐγείας), whose name means "bright", was king of Elis and father of Epicaste. Some say that Augeas was one of the Argonauts. Hyginus, ''Fabulae'14/ref> He is best known for his stables, ...
* Phaethon
Phaethon (; grc, Φαέθων, Phaéthōn, ), also spelled Phaëthon, was the son of the Oceanid Clymene and the sun-god Helios in Greek mythology.
According to most authors, Phaethon is the son of Helios, and out of desire to have his par ...
* Argonautica
The ''Argonautica'' ( el, Ἀργοναυτικά , translit=Argonautika) is a Greek epic poem written by Apollonius Rhodius in the 3rd century BC. The only surviving Hellenistic epic, the ''Argonautica'' tells the myth of the voyage of Jason ...
* List of Argonauts
Footnotes
References
Bibliography
*
* Gantz, Timothy, ''Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources'', Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes: (Vol. 1), (Vol. 2).
* Hyginus, Gaius Julius
''The Myths of Hyginus''
Edited and translated by Mary A. Grant, Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1960.
* Hard, Robin, ''The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology"'', Psychology Press, 2004,
Google Books
* Ovid
Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...
. ''Metamorphoses
The ''Metamorphoses'' ( la, Metamorphōsēs, from grc, μεταμορφώσεις: "Transformations") is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the ...
, Volume I: Books 1-8''. Translated by Frank Justus Miller. Revised by G. P. Goold. Loeb Classical Library No. 42. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retir ...
, 1977, first published 1916.
* Scott Smith R.; Trzaskoma, Stephen M., ''Apollodorus' Library and Hyginus' Fabulae: Two Handbooks of Greek Mythology'', Hackett Publishing Company
Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. is an academic publishing house located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Since beginning operations in 1972, Hackett has concentrated mainly on the humanities, especially classical and philosophical texts. Many Hacket ...
, Inc, 2007,
Google books
* Smith, William, ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology
The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 ...
'', London (1873)
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
Argonauts
Children of Helios
Aegean Sea in mythology
{{Greek-myth-stub