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 ...

, Amechania or Amekhania (

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 ...

: Àμηχανίην) was the spirit of helplessness. She was regarded as a close companion (and sister) of

Penia In Plato's ''Symposium'', Penae ("deficiency" or "poverty" in Latin) or Penia (; "deficiency" or "poverty" in Greek) was the personification of poverty and need. She married Porus at Aphrodite's birthday and was sometimes considered the mother ...

and

Ptocheia Ptocheia or Ptokheia (pronounced pa-toh-KEE-uh; Ancient Greek: Πτωχείας) was the ancient Greek female spirit of beggary. She was regarded as a companion (and a sister) of Penia and Amechania. Her opposites were Euthenia and Ploutos.Arist ...

. She was virtually identical to

Aporia In philosophy, an aporia ( grc, ᾰ̓πορῐ́ᾱ, aporíā, literally: "lacking passage", also: "impasse", "difficulty in passage", "puzzlement") is a conundrum or state of puzzlement. In rhetoric, it is a declaration of doubt, made for ...

. Amechania was mentioned by ancient Greek authors such as Alcaeus and

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society ...

, '' Histories'' 8.111.1

Notes

References

, ''The Histories'' with an English translation by A. D. Godley. Cambridge. Harvard University Press. 1920.
Online version at the Topos Text Project.Greek text available at Perseus Digital Library
Greek goddesses Personifications in Greek mythology {{Greek-deity-stub