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Phthia
Phthia (; or Φθίη ''Phthía, Phthíē'') was a city or district in ancient Thessaly according to Greek mythology. In Literature It is frequently mentioned in Homer's ''Iliad'' as the home of the Myrmidons, the contingent led by Achilles in the Trojan War. It was founded by Aeacus, grandfather of Achilles, and was the home of Achilles' father Peleus, mother Thetis (a sea nymph), and son Neoptolemus (who reigned as king after the Trojan War). Phthia is referenced in Plato's '' Crito'', where Socrates, in jail and awaiting his execution, relates a dream he has had (43d–44b): "I thought that a beautiful and comely woman dressed in white approached me. She called me and said: 'Socrates, may you arrive at fertile Phthia on the third day. The reference is to Homer's ''Iliad'' (ix.363), when Achilles, upset at having his war-prize, Briseis, taken by Agamemnon, rejects Agamemnon's conciliatory presents and threatens to set sail in the morning; he says that with good weathe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peleus
In Greek mythology, Peleus (; Ancient Greek: Πηλεύς ''Pēleus'') was a hero, king of Phthia, husband of Thetis and the father of their son Achilles. This myth was already known to the hearers of Homer in the late 8th century BC. Biography Peleus was the son of Aeacus, king of the island of Aegina, and Endeïs, the oread of Mount Pelion in Thessaly. He married the sea-nymph Thetis with whom he fathered Achilles. Polymele, a daughter of Peleus, was one of the possible mothers of Patroclus by Menoetius. Peleus and his brother Telamon were friends of Jason and both were counted as Argonauts. Though there were no further kings in Aegina, the kings of Epirus claimed descent from Peleus in the historic period. Mythology Peleus and his brother Telamon killed their half-brother Phocus, perhaps in a hunting accident and certainly in an unthinking moment, and fled Aegina to escape punishment. In Phthia, Peleus was purified by the city's ruler, Eurytion, and then marr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Achilles
In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus () was a hero of the Trojan War who was known as being the greatest of all the Greek warriors. The central character in Homer's ''Iliad'', he was the son of the Nereids, Nereid Thetis and Peleus, king of Phthia and famous Argonauts, Argonaut. Achilles was raised in Phthia along with his childhood companion Patroclus and received his education by the centaur Chiron. In the ''Iliad'', he is presented as the commander of the mythical tribe of the Myrmidons. Achilles' most notable feat during the Trojan War was the slaying of the Trojan prince Hector outside the gates of Troy. Although the death of Achilles is not presented in the ''Iliad'', other sources concur that he was killed near the end of the Trojan War by Paris (mythology), Paris, who shot him with an arrow. Later legends (beginning with Statius' unfinished epic ''Achilleid'', written in the first century CE) state that Achilles was invulnerable in all of his body except ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Farsala
Farsala (), known in Antiquity as Pharsalos (, ), is a town in southern Thessaly, in Greece. Farsala is located in the southern part of Larissa (regional unit), Larissa regional unit, and is one of its largest settlements. Farsala is an economic and agricultural centre of the region. Cotton and livestock are the main agricultural products, and many inhabitants are employed in the production of textile. The area is mostly famous for being the birthplace of the mythical ancient Greek hero Achilles, and the site of a Battle of Pharsalus, major battle between Roman generals Gaius Julius Caesar and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus in 48 BC. Geography Farsala lies at the southern edge of the Thessalian Plain, 4 km south of the river Enipeas (Thessaly), Enipeas. The Greek National Road 3 (Larissa - Lamia (city), Lamia) and the Greek National Road 30 (Karditsa - Volos) pass through the town. The Palaiofarsalos railway station (litt. "''Ancient Pharsalus''"), on the Piraeus–Platy railway, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Argos Pelasgikon
Argos Pelasgikon () is a Homeric location of Thessaly mentioned in the "Catalogue of Ships" passage: It has been interpreted to be a city in the Pelasgiotis district or an alternative name of Phthia, the kingdom of Peleus and Achilles or pertaining to the whole Thessaly. Strabo reports that: ''Some take the Pelasgian Argos as a Thessalian city once situated in the neighborhood of Larisa but now no longer existent; but others take it, not as a city, but as the plain of the Thessalians, which is referred to by this name because Abas, who brought a colony there from Argos, so named it''. Strabo gives also the following post-classical meaning of the word 'argos': ''And in the more recent writers the plain, too, is called Argos, but not once in Homer. Yet they think that this is more especially a Macedonian or Thessalian usage''. Finally, although Homeric geography of Thessaly is not limited in this passage, the toponym "Thessalia" is absent in Homer. The unique element of the n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andromache (play)
''Andromache'' () is an Athenian tragedy by Euripides. It dramatises Andromache's life as a slave, years after the events of the Trojan War, and her conflict with her master's new wife, Hermione. The date of its first performance is unknown. Some scholars place the date sometime between 428 and 425 BC. Müller places it between 420 and 417 BC. A Byzantine scholion to the play suggests that its first production was staged outside Athens, though modern scholarship regards this claim as dubious. Background During the Trojan War, Achilles killed Andromache's husband Hector. Homer in Illiad describes Andromache's lament, after Hector's death, that their young son Astyanax will suffer poverty growing up without a father. Instead, the conquering Greeks threw Astyanax to his death from the Trojan walls, for fear that he would grow up to avenge his father and city. Andromache was made a slave of Achilles' son Neoptolemus. Years pass and Andromache has a child with Neoptolemus. Ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Myrmidons
In Greek mythology, the Myrmidons (or Myrmidones; , singular: , ) were an ancient Thessaly, Thessalian tribe. In Homer's ''Iliad'', the Myrmidons are the soldiers commanded by Achilles. Their :wikt:eponym, eponymous ancestor was Myrmidon (hero), Myrmidon, a king of Phthiotis, who was a son of Zeus and "wide-ruling" Eurymedousa, a princess of Phthiotis. In one account, Zeus seduced Eurymedousa in the form of an ant. An etiology, etiological myth of their origins, simply expanding upon their supposed etymology—the name in Classical Greek was interpreted as "ant-people", from ''myrmex (mythology), myrmedon'' (, ''murmēdṓn'', plural: , ''murmēdónes''), which means "ant-nest"—was first mentioned by Ovid in the ''Metamorphoses''. In Ovid's telling, the Myrmidons were simple worker-ants on the island of Aegina. Ovid's myth of the repopulation of Aegina Hera, queen of the gods, sent a epidemic, plague to kill all the human inhabitants of Aegina because the island was named f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phthiotis
Phthiotis (, ''Fthiótida'' ; ancient Greek and Katharevousa: Φθιῶτις) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Central Greece (administrative region), Central Greece. The capital is the city of Lamia (city), Lamia. It is bordered by the Malian Gulf to the east, Boeotia in the south, Phocis in the south, Aetolia-Acarnania in the southwest, Evrytania in the west, Karditsa (regional unit), Karditsa regional unit in the north, Larissa (regional unit), Larissa regional unit in the north, and Magnesia (regional unit), Magnesia in the northeast. The name dates back to ancient times. It is best known as the home of Achilles. Geography Phthiotis covers the northern and southern shorelines of the Malian Gulf, an inlet of the Aegean Sea. It stretches inland towards the west along the valley of the river Spercheios. In the south it covers the upper part of the Cephissus (Boeotia), Cephissus valley. There are several mountain ranges in Pht ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trojan War
The Trojan War was a legendary conflict in Greek mythology that took place around the twelfth or thirteenth century BC. The war was waged by the Achaeans (Homer), Achaeans (Ancient Greece, Greeks) against the city of Troy after Paris (mythology), Paris of Troy took Helen of Troy, Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology, and it has been Epic Cycle, narrated through many works of ancient Greek literature, Greek literature, most notably Homer's ''Iliad''. The core of the ''Iliad'' (Books II – XXIII) describes a period of four days and two nights in the tenth year of the decade-long siege of Troy; the ''Odyssey'' describes the journey home of Odysseus, one of the war's heroes. Other parts of the war are described in a Epic Cycle, cycle of epic poems, which have survived through fragments. Episodes from the war provided material for Greek tragedy and other works of Greek literature, and for Latin literature, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aeacus
Aeacus (; also spelled Eacus; Ancient Greek: Αἰακός) was a king of the island of Aegina in Greek mythology. He was a son of Zeus and the nymph Aegina, and the father of the heroes Peleus and Telamon. According to legend, he was famous for his justice, and after he died he became one of the three judges in the underworld alongside Minos and Rhadamanthus. In another story, he assisted Poseidon and Apollo in building the walls of Troy. He had sanctuaries in Athens and Aegina, and the Aeginetan festival of the Aeacea (Αἰάκεια) was celebrated in his honour. Mythology Birth and early days Aeacus was born on the island of Oenone or Oenopia, where his mother Aegina had been carried by Zeus to secure her from the anger of her parents; afterward, this island became known as Aegina.Apollodorus3.12.6 Smiths.v. Aeacus Compare Plato, '' Gorgias'524a/ref> He was the father of Peleus, Telamon and Phocus and was the grandfather of the Trojan war warriors Achilles and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andromache
In Greek mythology, Andromache (; , ) was the wife of Hector, daughter of Eetion, and sister to Podes. She was born and raised in the city of Cilician Thebe, over which her father ruled. The name means "man battler", "fighter of men" or "man's battle", i.e. "courage" or "manly virtue", from the Greek stem ("man"), the compound interfix and ("battle"). Following the Trojan War, after Achilles had killed Hector and Troy had been captured and sacked by the Greeks, the Greek herald Talthybius informed her of a plan to kill Astyanax, her son by Hector, by throwing him from the city walls. This act was carried out by Neoptolemus who then took Andromache as a concubine and Hector's brother, Helenus, as a slave.Euripides, ''Trojan Women'' By Neoptolemus, she was the mother of Molossus, and according to Pausanias,Pausanias, 1.11.1 of Pielus and Pergamus. When Neoptolemus died, Andromache married Helenus and became Queen of Epirus. Pausanias also implies that Helenus' son, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catalogue Of Ships
The Catalogue of Ships (, ''neōn katálogos'') is an epic catalogue in Book 2 of Homer's ''Iliad'' (2.494–759), which lists the contingents of the Achaean army that sailed to Troy. The catalogue gives the names of the leaders of each contingent, lists the settlements in the kingdom represented by the contingent, sometimes with a descriptive epithet that fills out a half-verse or articulates the flow of names and parentage and place, and gives the number of ships required to transport the men to Troy, offering further differentiations of weightiness. A similar, though shorter, Catalogue of the Trojans and their allies follows (2.816–877). A similar catalogue appears in the Pseudo-Apollodoran ''Bibliotheca''. Historical background In the debate since antiquity over the Catalogue of Ships, the core questions have concerned the extent of historical credibility of the account, whether it was composed by Homer himself, to what extent it reflects a pre-Homeric document or memor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Briseis
Briseis (; , ), also known as Hippodameia (, ), is a significant character in the ''Iliad''. Her role as a status symbol is at the heart of the dispute between Achilles and Agamemnon that initiates the plot of Homer's epic. She was married to Mynes, a son of the King of Lyrnessus, until the Achaeans sacked her city and she was given to Achilles shortly before the events of the poem. Being forced to give Briseis to Agamemnon, Achilles refused to reenter the battle. Description Briseis receives the same minimal physical description as most other minor characters in the ''Iliad''. She is described with the standard metrical epithets that the poet uses to describe a great beauty, though her appearance is left entirely up to the audience's imagination. Her beauty is compared to that of the goddesses. Briseis was imagined about two millennia later by the Byzantine poet John Tzetzes as: Meanwhile, in the account of Dares the Phrygian (probably the 5th century AD), Briseis was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
