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 ...

, Pierus ( grc, Πίερος), was the king of Emathia

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, '' ...

9
as cited in Nicander's ''Metamorphoses'' in Macedonia. He was the eponym of Pieria and Mt. Pierus. Pierus was credited to be the first to write in the praise of the

Muses In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

Family

According to Marsyas of Pella (c. 330 BC), Pierus was the son of

Makednos In Greek mythology, Makedon, also Macedon ( grc, Μακεδών) or Makednos (), was the eponymous ancestor of the ancient Macedonians according to various ancient Greek fragmentary narratives. In most versions, he appears as a native or immigr ...

by a local woman and brother of

Amathus Amathus or Amathous ( grc, Ἀμαθοῦς) was an ancient city and one of the ancient royal cities of Cyprus until about 300 BC. Some of its impressive remains can be seen today on the southern coast in front of Agios Tychonas, about west o ...

(Emathus), eponym of Emathia but

Solinus Solinus may refer to: * Gaius Julius Solinus, a 3rd century Latin author * Solinus (horse), a British racehorse (1975–1979) * Solinus, Duke of Ephesus, a character in William Shakespeare's play ''The Comedy of Errors'' See also * Salinas (disam ...

(9.10) contradicts this idea because according to him Pierus was unrelated and older than Makednos. In the ''

Suda The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; grc-x-medieval, Σοῦδα, Soûda; la, Suidae Lexicon) is a large 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas (Σούδας) or Souida ...

'', he was described as a son of

Linus Linus, a male given name, is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Linos''. It's a common given name in Sweden. The origin of the name is unknown although the name appears in antiquity both as a musician who taught Apollo and as a son of Apollo who di ...

, the son of

Thracian The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied ...

Aethusa In Greek mythology, Aethusa ( Ancient Greek: Αἵθουσα) was a daughter of Poseidon and the Pleiad Alcyone, daughter of Atlas. She was loved by Apollo and bore to him Eleuther and Linus. Through either of the latter two, Aethusa became the ...

and in turn Pierus was the father of Oeagrus making him the grandfather of the musician

Orpheus Orpheus (; Ancient Greek: Ὀρφεύς, classical pronunciation: ; french: Orphée) is a Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet in ancient Greek religion. He was also a renowned poet and, according to the legend, travelled with J ...

. His wife was known to be Methone, a

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 ...

while others called her Pierus' sister. In the account of

, Pierus sprung from the soil (an autochthon). Most of the myths recounted Pierus to have fathered the Pierides by Antiope, nymph of Pieria or

Euippe Euippe or Evippe (Ancient Greek: Εὐίππη; English translation: "good mare") is the name of eight women in Greek mythology: * Euippe, a daughter of Danaus and the naiad Polyxo. She married (and murdered) Imbrus, son of Aegyptus and Caliad ...

of Paionia. An unnamed daughter of Pierus was said to be the mother of Orpheus, not the

Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in ...

Calliope In Greek mythology, Calliope ( ; grc, Καλλιόπη, Kalliópē, beautiful-voiced) is the Muse who presides over eloquence and epic poetry; so called from the ecstatic harmony of her voice. Hesiod and Ovid called her the "Chief of all Muse ...

as what the Greeks believed according to Pausanias. {, class="wikitable" , +Comparative table of Pierus' family , - ! rowspan="2" , Relation ! rowspan="2" , Name ! colspan="8" , Sources , - , ''

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

'' , ''Marsyas'' , ''Cicero'' , ''Ovid'' , ''Pausanias'' , ''Antoninus'' , ''Suda'' , ''Tzetzes'' , - , rowspan="3" , ''Parentage'' , Linus , ✓ , , , , , , ✓ , , - , Macednos , , ✓ , , , , , , , - , '' autochthon'' , , , , , , ✓ , , , - , rowspan="3" , ''Wife'' , Methone , ✓ , , , , , , , , - , Antiopa , , , ✓ , , , , , , - ,

, , , , ✓ , , , , , - , rowspan="2" , ''Sibling'' ,

, , ✓ , , , , , , , - , Methone , , , , , , , , ✓ , - , rowspan="4" , ''Children'' , Oeagrus , ✓ , , , , , , ✓ , , - , Pierides , , , ✓ , ✓ , , ✓ , , , - , ''mother of Orpheus'' , , , , , ✓ , , , , - ,

, , , , , , , , ✓

Mythology

Pierus was famous for his daughters, the Emathides, nine maidens whom he named after the nine

. These girls, believing that their skills were a great match to the Muses, afterwards entered into a contest with the Muses. Being conquered, they were transformed into birds called ''Colymbas, Iyngx, Cenchris, Cissa, Chloris, Acalanthis, Nessa, Pipo,'' and ''Dracontis''.Ovid, ''Metamorphoses'
5.677–78
/ref> In the account of Pausanias, Pierus has emigrated from Thrace into Boeotia and established the worship of the Muses at Thespiae. Pausanias
9.29.3
/ref>

Notes

References

, ''The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis'' translated by Francis Celoria (Routledge 1992)
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
* Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'' with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
*

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
* William Smith. '' A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology
s.v. Pierus
'. London (1873). Autochthons of classical mythology Kings in Greek mythology