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 ...

, Carya was a Laconian princess as the daughter of the King Dion.

Family

Carya's mother was Amphithea, daughter of

Pronax In Greek mythology, Pronax (; Ancient Greek: Πρῶναξ) was one of the sons of Talaus and Lysimache, a brother of Adrastus and Eriphyle, and the father of Lycurgus and Amphithea. According to some accounts, he died before the war of the Sev ...

Argos Argos most often refers to: * Argos, Peloponnese, a city in Argolis, Greece ** Ancient Argos, the ancient city * Argos (retailer), a catalogue retailer operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland Argos or ARGOS may also refer to: Businesses ...

. Her sisters were Lyco and Orphe.

Mythology

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label= Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label ...

, in reward for Dion and Amphithea receiving him with great reverence and hospitality, bestowed a gift of prophecy upon their daughters, but imposed a restriction that they should not betray gods nor search after forbidden lore. Later,

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Roma ...

also paid a visit to Dion's house and was received with equal hospitality; during his stay, he fell in love with Carya and lay with her secretly. He then left but, missing Carya, soon returned under pretext of consecrating a temple which Dion had built for him. But Lyco and Orphe, suspecting a love affair between Dionysus and their sister, guarded Carya to prevent her from having intercourse with the god. By doing so they committed a violation of the restrictions imposed by Apollo, so Dionysus, after several warnings and threats, drove the two sisters mad, in which state they ran off to Mount

Taygetus The Taygetus, Taugetus, Taygetos or Taÿgetus ( el, Ταΰγετος, Taygetos) is a mountain range on the Peloponnese peninsula in Southern Greece. The highest mountain of the range is Mount Taygetus, also known as "Profitis Ilias", or "Prophet ...

, where they were transformed into rocks. Carya was changed by Dionysus into a walnut tree (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

''karya''). From these circumstances later arose the local cult of

Artemis In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified wit ...

Caryatis. Servius on

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: th ...

's Eclogue 8, 2

/ref>

Notes

References

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Ed. by William Smith (1870)
v. 1, page 1027
Ausführliches Lexikon der griechischen und römischen Mythologie. Hrsg. von H.W. Roscher. Leipzig, Teubner, 1890-1897. Repr.: Hildesheim, Olms, 1965
Band I. A-H., S. 1028 {{Greek-myth-stub Metamorphoses into trees in Greek mythology Deeds of Apollo Laconian mythology Consorts of Dionysus Classical oracles Mythological Greek seers Princesses in Greek mythology

Family

Mythology

See also

Notes

References