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 o ...
, Memphis ( grc, Μέμφις) was the female
eponym
An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''.
Usage of the word
The term ''epon ...
of
Memphis in Egypt. The name was attributed to several distinct characters, namely:
*
Memphis, daughter of
Nilus.
* Memphis, one of the many consorts of King
Danaus
In Greek mythology, Danaus (, ; grc, Δαναός ''Danaós'') was the king of Libya. His myth is a foundation legend of Argos, one of the foremost Mycenaean cities of the Peloponnesus. In Homer's ''Iliad'', "Danaans" ("tribe of Danaus") and ...
of
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
and mother by him of the three
Danaïdes
In Greek mythology, the Danaïdes (; el, Δαναΐδες), also Danaides or Danaids, were the fifty daughters of Danaus. In the ''Metamorphoses'', Ovid refers to them as the Belides after their grandfather Belus. They were to marry the 50 s ...
:
Chrysippe
:''The name Chrysippe is the feminine form of Chrysippus, see Chrysippus (disambiguation)''.
In Greek mythology, the name Chrysippe ( grc, Χρυσίππη) may refer to:
*Chrysippe, daughter of Danaus and Memphis, who married and killed Chrys ...
,
Sthenele and
Cleite. These daughters wed and slayed their cousin-husbands, sons of King
Aegyptus
In Greek mythology, Aegyptus or Ægyptus (; grc, Αἴγυπτος) was a legendary king of ancient Egypt. He was a descendant of the princess Io through his father Belus, and of the river-god Nilus as both the father of Achiroe, his mother ...
of
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
and
Tyria during their wedding night. According to
Hippostratus
Hippostratus ( grc, Ἱππόστρατος, Hippostratos) was an Indo-Greek king who ruled central and north-western Punjab and Pushkalavati. Bopearachchi dates Hippostratus to 65 to 55 BCE whereas R. C. Senior suggests 60 to 50 BCE.
Rule
In ...
, Danaus had all of his progeny by a single woman,
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
, daughter of the
river-god
A water deity is a deity in mythology associated with water or various bodies of water. Water deities are common in mythology and were usually more important among civilizations in which the sea or ocean, or a great river was more important. Ano ...
Nilus. In some accounts, he married his cousin
Melia, daughter of
Agenor
Agenor (; Ancient Greek: Ἀγήνωρ or Αγήνορας ''Agēnor''; English translation: "heroic, manly") was in Greek mythology and history a Phoenician king of Tyre or Sidon. The Doric Greek historian Herodotus (c. 484–425 BC), born in ...
, king of
Tyre.
* Memphis, daughter of the Egyptian king
Uchoreus, who was said to have founded the city and named it after her, and mother by Neilus of Aegyptus, the eponym of Egypt (apparently distinct from
Aegyptus
In Greek mythology, Aegyptus or Ægyptus (; grc, Αἴγυπτος) was a legendary king of ancient Egypt. He was a descendant of the princess Io through his father Belus, and of the river-god Nilus as both the father of Achiroe, his mother ...
, brother of Danaus).
Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history '' Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which ...
1.51.3
/ref>
Notes
References
* Apollodorus
Apollodorus (Greek: Ἀπολλόδωρος ''Apollodoros'') was a popular name in ancient Greece. It is the masculine gender of a noun compounded from Apollo, the deity, and doron, "gift"; that is, "Gift of Apollo." It may refer to:
:''Note: A f ...
, ''The Library'' with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921.
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website
*Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history '' Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which ...
, ''The Library of History'' translated by Charles Henry Oldfather
Charles Henry Oldfather (13 June 1887 – 20 August 1954) was an American professor of history of the ancient world, specifically at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He was born in Tabriz, Persia.
Parentage
Oldfather's parents, Jeremiah and Fe ...
. Twelve volumes. Loeb Classical Library
The Loeb Classical Library (LCL; named after James Loeb; , ) is a series of books originally published by Heinemann in London, but is currently published by Harvard University Press. The library contains important works of ancient Greek and ...
. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59–8
Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site
* Diodorus Siculus, ''Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2''. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888-1890
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
* Tzetzes, John, ''Book of Histories,'' Book VII-VIII translated by Vasiliki Dogani from the original Greek of T. Kiessling's edition of 1826
Online version at theio.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Memphis (Mythology)
Egyptian characters in Greek mythology
Women in Greek mythology