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 ...

, Ascalaphus (;

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 ...

: Ἀσκάλαφος ''Askalaphos'') was the son of

Acheron The Acheron (; grc, Ἀχέρων ''Acheron'' or Ἀχερούσιος ''Acherousios''; ell, Αχέροντας ''Acherontas'') is a river located in the Epirus region of northwest Greece. It is long, and its drainage area is . Its source is ...

and Orphne.

Mythology

Ascalaphus was the custodian of the orchard of Hades. He told the other gods that

Persephone In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Persephone ( ; gr, Περσεφόνη, Persephónē), also called Kore or Cora ( ; gr, Κόρη, Kórē, the maiden), is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the underworld after ...

had eaten

pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punicoideae, that grows between tall. The pomegranate was originally described throughout the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean re ...

seeds in the Underworld. Because she had tasted food in the underworld, Persephone was obliged to return to the Underworld and spend four months (in later versions six months) there every year. Demeter was so angry, she buried Ascalaphus beneath a heavy rock in the Underworld, or alternatively it was Persephone who punished him. When

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptiv ...

went to the underworld, he rolled the stone away and released him from his prison. But then, Demeter transformed Ascalaphus into a short-eared owl. According to another myth, Persephone herself changed him into a short-eared owl by sprinkling him with water of the river

Phlegethon In Greek mythology, the river Phlegethon ( Φλεγέθων, English translation: "flaming") or Pyriphlegethon (Πυριφλεγέθων, English translation: "fire-flaming") was one of the five rivers in the infernal regions of the underworld, ...

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 ...

mentions: "So he became the vilest bird; a messenger of grief; the lazy owl; sad omen to mankind."Ovid. ''Metamorphoses''. Book V. As an owl, he became the familiar bird of Hades, god of the underworld.

Notes

References

* Apollodorus, ''Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes.'' 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 ...

; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921.
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
*

, ''

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 ...

'', Brookes More, Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
{{authority control Children of Potamoi Metamorphoses into birds in Greek mythology Symbols of Hades Greek underworld Eleusinian Mysteries Rape of Persephone Fictional horticulturists and gardeners Deeds of Demeter

Mythology

See also

Notes

References