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 ...

, Eurycleia (

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 ...

: Εὐρύκλεια ''Eurýkleia''), or Euryclea (; also known as Antiphata (Ἀντιφάτη ''Antipháte'') in other traditions), is the daughter of

Ops In ancient Roman religion, Ops or ''Opis'' (Latin: "Plenty") was a fertility deity and earth goddess of Sabine origin. Her equivalent in Greek mythology was Rhea. Iconography In Ops' statues and coins, she is figured sitting down, as Chthon ...

and granddaughter of

Peisenor In Greek mythology, the name Peisenor or Pisenor (Ancient Greek: Πεισήνωρ) may refer to: *Peisenor, a Centaur who attended the wedding of Pirithous and Hippodamia. *Peisenor, the Trojan father of Cleitus and Chlemus, who were killed by ...

, as well as the

wet-nurse A wet nurse is a woman who breastfeeds and cares for another's child. Wet nurses are employed if the mother dies, or if she is unable or chooses not to nurse the child herself. Wet-nursed children may be known as "milk-siblings", and in some cu ...

Odysseus Odysseus ( ; grc-gre, Ὀδυσσεύς, Ὀδυσεύς, OdysseúsOdyseús, ), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses ( , ; lat, UlyssesUlixes), is a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the ''Odyssey''. Odysse ...

Mythology

As a girl, Eurycleia was bought by

Laertes In Greek mythology, Laertes (; grc, Λαέρτης, Laértēs ; also spelled Laërtes) was the king of the Cephallenians, an ethnic group who lived both on the Ionian islands and on the mainland, which he presumably inherited from his father A ...

, Odysseus' father. He treated her as his wife, but she was never his consummated lover so as not to dishonor his real wife,

Anticleia In Greek mythology, Anticlea or Anticlia (; Ancient Greek: ''Ἀντίκλεια'', literally "without fame") was a queen of Homer's Ithaca, Ithaca as the wife of King Laertes, Laërtes. Family Anticlea was the daughter of Autolycus and Amphith ...

. She later nursed

Telemachus Telemachus ( ; grc, Τηλέμαχος, Tēlemakhos, lit=far-fighter), in Greek mythology, is the son of Odysseus and Penelope, who is a central character in Homer's ''Odyssey''. When Telemachus reached manhood, he visited Pylos and Sparta in se ...

, Odysseus' son. Eurycleia was the only person to recognize Odysseus without him first revealing himself (as he did to Telemachus) after he returned home from the

Trojan War In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and has ...

. After he entered his own house as a guest of

Penelope Penelope ( ; Ancient Greek: Πηνελόπεια, ''Pēnelópeia'', or el, Πηνελόπη, ''Pēnelópē'') is a character in Homer's ''Odyssey.'' She was the queen of Ithaca and was the daughter of Spartan king Icarius and naiad Periboea. Pe ...

disguised as a beggar, Eurycleia bathed him and recognized him by a scar just above his knee, which he got from a

boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is no ...

while

boar hunting Boar hunting is the practice of hunting wild boar, feral pigs, warthogs, and peccaries. Boar hunting was historically a dangerous exercise due to the tusked animal's ambush tactics as well as its thick hide and dense bones rendering them difficul ...

with his grandfather

Autolycus In Greek mythology, Autolycus (; Ancient Greek: Αὐτόλυκος ''Autolykos'' 'the wolf itself') was a successful robber who had even the power of metamorphosing both the stolen goods and himself. He had his residence on Mount Parnassus and w ...

.The Odyssey, Book 19
/ref> Odysseus stopped her from telling Penelope or anyone else (except Telemachus, who already knew) in the house of his true identity. Eurycleia also informed Odysseus which of his servant girls had been unfaithful to Penelope during his absence, conspiring with Penelope's suitors and becoming their lovers. Among them was

Melantho In Greek mythology, Melantho (; Ancient Greek: Μελανθώ) may refer to the following women: * Melantho, also called Melanthea, a Phthian princess as the daughter of King Deucalion and Pyrrha, daughter of Epimetheus and Pandora. She was not ...

. His son Telemachus hanged the twelve that Eurycleia identified. Later, Eurycleia informed Penelope that Odysseus has returned, but Penelope did not believe the maid. The queen then tested Odysseus to prove that he was indeed her husband and asked him to move the bed Odysseus built in their marriage-chamber; Odysseus told Penelope that it was not possible, as one of the legs of the bed was built into a live olive tree, a secret that only Penelope and Odysseus would know. She finally accepted that her husband had returned. In addition, it was Eurycleia who gave provisions and supplies to Telemachus from the storehouse before he left for Pylos to seek news about Odysseus. She took an oath not to tell Penelope he had left until twelve days had passed; Telemachus not wanting his mother to be any more worried than she already was.

Derivative works

Dennis MacDonald argues in several of his books that the woman who anoints Jesus in chapter 14 of the

Gospel of Mark The Gospel of Mark), or simply Mark (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). is the second of the four canonical gospels and of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells of the ministry of Jesus from his baptism by John the Baptist to h ...

is a reference to Eurycleia. She is the only one to recognize Jesus, and what she has done will be widely known, in the same way that Eurycleia is the only one to recognize Odysseus and whose name means "widely known".

In popular culture

Eurycleia is portrayed by Sylvie in the 1954 film

Ulysses Ulysses is one form of the Roman name for Odysseus, a hero in ancient Greek literature. Ulysses may also refer to: People * Ulysses (given name), including a list of people with this name Places in the United States * Ulysses, Kansas * Ulysse ...

and by

Geraldine Chaplin Geraldine Leigh Chaplin (born July 31, 1944) is an American actress. She is the daughter of Charlie Chaplin, the first of eight children with his fourth wife, Oona O'Neill. After beginnings in dance and modeling, she turned her attention to act ...

in the 1997 mini-series

The Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Iliad'', the ...

References

Sources

* Homer. ''The Odyssey.'' Trans. Stanley Lombardo. Canada: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2000. Print.

External links