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 ...

, Cĕrambus (

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 ...

: Κέραμβος), a son of Euseiros (himself son of

Poseidon Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as a ch ...

) and the

nymph A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label=Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are ty ...

Eidothea of

Othreis In Greek mythology, Othreis (Ancient Greek: Οθρηις ''Othrêis'' means "of Mount Othrys") was an oread nymph who consorted with both Zeus and Apollo and became by them mother of Meliteus and Phager respectively. Mythology When Meliteus ...

Mythology

Cerambus was a survivor of

Deucalion In Greek mythology, Deucalion (; grc-gre, Δευκαλίων) was the son of Prometheus; ancient sources name his mother as Clymene, Hesione, or Pronoia.A scholium to ''Odyssey'' 10.2 (='' Catalogue'' fr. 4) reports that Hesiod called Deucalion ...

's flood by means of wings which he received from the

nymphs A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label=Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are typ ...

. These wings had raised him above the water thus escaping death. He dwelt in the land of the Melians on the spurs of Mount

Othrys Mount Othrys ( el, όρος Όθρυς – ''oros Othrys'', also Όθρη – ''Othri'') is a mountain range of central Greece, in the northeastern part of Phthiotis and southern part of Magnesia. Its highest summit, ''Gerakovouni'', situated on ...

and owned a large herd of cattle. In another myth, Cerambus was renowned as the greatest singer of his time. He was credited with inventing the shepherd's pipes, as well as with introducing

lyre The lyre () is a stringed musical instrument that is classified by Hornbostel–Sachs as a member of the lute-family of instruments. In organology, a lyre is considered a yoke lute, since it is a lute in which the strings are attached to a yoke ...

-playing and composing a number of delightful rural songs. This was why the

of Mount Othrys favored him, and even became visible to him as he was playing his lyre. The honors, however, made Cerambus arrogant to the point of insanity: when Pan advised him to drive his cattle down to the plain, due to an extremely severe winter being expected, Cerambus wouldn't listen to him as though smitten by some god. Moreover, he went so far in his insolence that he told insulting and mindless tales of the nymphs, claiming that they were descended not from

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=Genitive case, genitive Aeolic Greek, Boeotian Aeolic and Doric Greek#Laconian, Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=Genitive case, genitive el, Δίας, ''D� ...

, but from

Spercheios The Spercheios (, ''Sperkheiós''), also known as the Spercheus from its Latin name, is a river in Phthiotis in central Greece. It is long, and its drainage area is . It was worshipped as a god in the ancient Greek religion and appears in some c ...

and the

naiad In Greek mythology, the naiads (; grc-gre, ναϊάδες, naïádes) are a type of female spirit, or nymph, presiding over fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of fresh water. They are distinct from river gods, who ...

Deino, and that when Poseidon fell for one of the nymphs,

Diopatra ''Diopatra'' is a genus of polychaete worms in the family Onuphidae. Description Members of this genus live in thick, parchment-like tubes that project from the sediment on the seabed. The tubes are covered on the outside by fragments of shell, ...

, he changed her sisters into poplar trees, but restored their original shape after satisfying his desires. The nymphs were angry and transformed Cerambus into a wood-gnawing beetle ''

Cerambyx ''Cerambyx'' is a genus of beetles in the family Cerambycidae (longhorn beetles). They are commonly known as capricorn beetles, as their strong, stout and curved antennae, each segment of which flares towards the tip, are reminiscent of the hor ...

(''κεράμβυξ)''.'' A short while later there came a sudden frost and the streams froze. This was the beginning of the severe winter Pan predicted. The cattle all perished from the cold, as did the trees. The Cerambyx beetle can be seen on trunks and has hook-teeth, ever moving his jaws together. It is a black, long and has hard wings like a great dung beetle and is called the ox that eats wood. Boys use him as a toy, cutting off his head, to wear as a pendant. The head looks like the horns of a lyre made from a tortoiseshell.

Antoninus Liberalis Antoninus Liberalis ( el, Ἀντωνῖνος Λιβεράλις) was an Ancient Greek grammarian who probably flourished between AD 100 and 300. His only surviving work is the ''Metamorphoses'' (Μεταμορφώσεων Συναγωγή, ''Me ...

, ''Metamorphoses'' 22

Notes

References

, ''The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis'' translated by Francis Celoria (Routledge 1992)
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
*

Publius Ovidius Naso 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'' translated by Brookes More (1859-1942). Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
* Publius Ovidius Naso, ''Metamorphoses.'' Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes. 1892
Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library
Fictional musicians Metamorphoses into arthropods in Greek mythology Insects in culture Characters in Greek mythology {{Greek-myth-stub

Mythology

See also

Notes

References