Greek Myth and Religion

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Article

Stentor  

Jenny March

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek Myth and Religion

Stentor, a man who became proverbial from Homer's statement that he had a ‘brazen voice’ equal to that of fifty other men (Il. 5. 785–6). He died after his defeat by *Hermes in a shouting contest.

Article

Sterope (1), one of the Pleiads, wife of Oenomaus  

Herbert Jennings Rose

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek Myth and Religion
Sterope (1) or Asterope, one of the Pleiads (see pleiad), wife of *Oenomaus (Paus. 5. 10. 6); (2) daughter of Cepheus king of Tegea (Apollod. 2. 144). *Heracles gave her (in Paus. 8. 47. 5, Athena gave Cepheus) some of the hair of Medusa (see gorgo), bidding her lift it three times above the city wall, to put attackers to flight.

Article

stones, sacred  

A. Schachter

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek Myth and Religion

There are two kinds of sacred stone: stones embedded in the earth, and free-standing stones. The first kind is found in mystery sanctuaries: the Mirthless Stone of *Eleusis, the ‘Felsengruppe’ of the Theban Cabirion (see Thebes (1); cabiri), one or more of the ‘rock altars’ at *Samothrace (Schachter, 74). These are natural rock formations, whose function in cult was to provide a visible and tangible link between the upper and nether worlds. Far better known is the free-standing variety, which ranges from the Delphic Omphalos (see delphi and omphalos) to various unworked lumps of rock set up in sanctuaries. Between the two extremes are rocks or heaps of rocks placed at doorways of houses and at crossroads, to act as talismans, guides, or averters of evil. Some of these were said to have fallen from the skies, and some were worshipped as cult objects.

Article

Stymphalus  

James Roy

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography
  2. Greek Myth and Religion

Stymphalus, *polis of NE *Arcadia, situated in a long, narrow, enclosed upland basin. The basin, with no outward surface drainage, floods and produces a lake of varying size, famous in antiquity as the home of the man-eating Stymphalian birds killed by *Heracles. An older settlement (not securely located) was replaced in the 4th cent. bce by a fortified, orthogonally planned, town on the north shore of the lake. Stymphalus' limited resources gave it only modest political influence. By the 2nd cent. ce Stymphalus, like neighbouring Alea, was linked to the Argolid (see argos(1)) rather than Arcadia.

Article

Styx  

Madeleine Jost

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek Myth and Religion

Styx, eldest of the daughters of Ocean (see oceanus) and *Tethys, located at the bottom of *Tartarus (Hes.Theog.775–806). Having helped *Zeus against the Titans (see titan), she became the ‘great oath of the gods’ (ibid. 400). In later writers, the Styx is the river of the Underworld (see hades). *Herodotus (1) places the Styx in *Arcadia (6. 74), as do *Strabo (8. 8. 4), *Pliny (1) (HN 2. 231), and *Pausanias (3) (8. 17. 6: near Nonacris, not far from Pheneos). The Arcadians took *oaths by the waters of the Styx, which was believed to have harmful properties. Since the 19th cent., the Styx has been identified with the falls of Mavronero, which flow down the length of a rocky slope near the village of Solos, at the foot of the highest peak of Mount Chelmos. The myth's origins must lie in geography.

Article

Symplegades  

Richard Hunter

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography
  2. Greek Myth and Religion
Symplegades, the ‘Clashing Rocks’ which, according to legend, guarded the entrance at the *Bosporus (1) to the Black Sea (see euxine); they are also regularly called ‘Dark (Kyaneai) Rocks’ (first at Hdt. 4. 85. 1 and Soph. Ant. 966). They ceased clashing together when *Jason (1)'s ship, the Argo (see Argonauts) succeeded in passing between them. The name ‘Symplegades’ occurs first in *Euripides; *Pindar speaks of ‘rocks that run together’ (Pyth. 4. 208–9). They were presumably originally identified with the Planktai, ‘Wandering Rocks’, which the Homeric *Circe (see homer) says were safely navigated by the Argo with Hera's help (Od. 12. 59–72), but these were later sited in the western Mediterranean (usually in the Aeolian islands near Sicily; see aeoliae insulae) and distinguished from the Symplegades. *Apollonius (1) of Rhodes has a marvellous description of the Argo's passage through the Symplegades (Arg.

Article

Syrinx  

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek Myth and Religion

Syrinx (Σῦριγξ), a nymph loved by *Pan. She ran away from him and begged the earth, or the river nymphs, to help her; she became a reed-bed, from which Panegyricus made his pipe (σῦριγξ). See also hermes.

Article

Talos  

Emily Kearns

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek Myth and Religion

Talos (Τάλως) (1) was an animated bronze man, in the usual account made by *Hephaestus to guard *Europa; later the guardian of *Crete. There are several variant accounts of his origin and function. He kept strangers off by throwing stones (Ap. Rhod. 4. 1638–88), or burned them (Simonides, in Page, PMG568), or heated himself red-hot and clasped them in his arms (Eust. Od. 20. 302). His vital fluid was kept in a magic membrane in his foot; *Medea cast him into a magic sleep and cut the membrane, thus killing him. (2) Nephew of *Daedalus, sometimes called Kalos or Perdix (the latter is also given as his mother's name). Daedalus was jealous of his inventive talent and so killed him. According to *Apollodorus(6) (3. 15. 8), his invention was to make a saw from a snake's jaw-bone.

Article

Talthybius  

Simon Hornblower

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek Myth and Religion

Herald (Il. 1. 320). For some reason his name remains familiar in later writings, while his comrade Eurybates is forgotten. He was the *eponym of a herald-clan at *Sparta, the Talthybiadae (see Hdt. 7. 134. 1). See spartan cults.

Article

tamiai  

D. M. MacDowell

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Economy
  2. Greek Myth and Religion
Tamiai means ‘treasurers’. In Athens the most important officials with this title were the treasurers of Athena. They were ten in number, appointed annually by lot, one from each of the ten *phylai. According to a law attributed to *Solon only *pentakosiomedimnoi were eligible, but by the 4th cent. bce this rule was no longer enforced. They had charge of the money and treasures of Athena on the Acropolis. They kept the money in a building called opisthodomos (the location of which is doubtful), and they received and made payments in accordance with the decisions of the people. They paid out money not only for religious purposes but also for military use, especially during the *Peloponnesian War, and to defray other secular expenses. Many of their records are preserved on stone and are an important source of information about Athenian finance. In 434 a similar board of ten treasurers of ‘the other gods’ was instituted to take charge of money and treasures belonging to other Attic shrines, which were now brought together into a single fund. It also was kept in the opisthodomos, but separately from the money of Athena.

Article

Tantalus  

Alan H. Griffiths

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek Myth and Religion
Tantalus, legendary king of Sipylus on the borders of *Phrygia and *Lydia, son of *Zeus and father of *Pelops and *Niobe; like other Asian rulers (*Midas(1), *Croesus) he was proverbial for his wealth, as the phrase τὰ Ταντάλου τάλαντα (‘the talents of Tantalus’) (Anac. fr. 355) shows. Along with *Lycaon(3), *Tityus, *Ixion, and *Sisyphus he belongs to the group of archetypal violators of the laws laid down by Zeus for the conduct of human society, criminals whose exemplary punishment stands as a moral landmark for posterity. His offence was to abuse the great privilege he enjoyed, as one of the first generation of mortals, in being allowed to dine with the gods. Either he blabbed about the divine policy discussions he had overheard; or he stole and distributed to mortals the nectar and *ambrosia served at the feast (Pind.

Article

Tartarus  

Simon Hornblower

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek Myth and Religion
Tartarus, son of *Gaia (Earth) and *Aither (Sky; cf. nyx); and father of *Typhon by (again) Gaia, his own mother (Hes.Theog.822). Tartarus was also the name for the deepest region of the underworld, lower even than *Hades (Hom. Il. 8. 13 ff. with Kirk's n., and Hes. Theog.

Article

Telamon (1), mythical Greek hero  

Jenny March

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek Myth and Religion

Telamon (1), in mythology son of *Aeacus and Endeis, and brother of *Peleus. He and Peleus were banished for killing their bastard half-brother, *Phocus; and Telamon settled in *Salamis(1), where he became king (Apollod. 3. 12). He was one of the *Argonauts, and a participator in the Calydonian boarhunt (see meleager(1)). By his wife, Eriboea or Periboea, he fathered the great *Aias(1). By his slave-concubine, *Hesione, the daughter of King *Laomedon of *Troy and given him by *Heracles for his help in taking Troy, he fathered *Teucer(2). When Teucer returned home from the Trojan War without Aias, Telamon banished him (Eur.Hel. 91 ff.). For Telamon's *hero-cult, see e.g. Hdt. 8. 64. 2.

Article

Telchines  

Alan H. Griffiths

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek Myth and Religion

Telchines (Τελχῖνες), an ancient race of Nibelung-like godlings, inventors of the craft of metalwork (see culture-bringers); associated chiefly with the islands of *Rhodes, *Cyprus, *Ceos, and *Crete, but traces of their folklore are also found in *Boeotia (*‘Athena Telchinia', Paus. 9. 19. 1), *Sicyon, and elsewhere on the mainland. Their ‘magical’ skill brought with it allegations of wizardry, the blighting of crops with their sulphur and foul water (Strabo 14. 654), and the evil eye. Hence their reputation as spiteful, jealous beings whom *Zeus attempted to drown (Ov., Met. 7. 365 ff.) or scatter; hence too, most famously, *Callimachus(3)'s pillorying of his literary enemies under their name (Aetia fr. 1, cf. frs. 75, 64, ed. C. Trypanis (Loeb)). Compare Idaean Dactyls.

Article

Telemachus  

Jenny March

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek Myth and Religion

Telemachus, the son of *Odysseus and *Penelope in Homer's Odyssey, where he plays a prominent part, with the narrative showing his development from a timid and unenterprising youth, quite unable to restrain the unruly suitors, to a self-reliant and resourceful young man who helps his father to kill them. In books 1–4, inspired by *Athena, he sails from *Ithaca to the mainland to inquire after his father at the courts of *Nestor(1) at Pylos and *Menelaus(1) and *Helen at Sparta. He sails home by a different route, thus avoiding an ambush laid for him by the suitors. After reaching Ithaca once more, he is reunited with his father in the hut of *Eumaeus the swineherd (16. 4–219), and father and son together plot the suitors' destruction. Telemachus fights valiantly beside Odysseus in the final battle where all the suitors are killed (22. 91 ff.).

Article

Telemus  

Simon Hornblower

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek Myth and Religion

Telemus (Τήλεμος), in mythology, a prophet who foretold to Polyphemus the *Cyclops that *Odysseus would one day blind him; Od. 9. 507 ff.

Article

Telephus (1), Arcadian hero  

Madeleine Jost

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek Myth and Religion
Telephus (1) (Τήλεφος), an Arcadian hero. He was son of *Heracles and of Auge, daughter of Aleus king of *Tegea and priestess of *Athena Alea. The baby was hidden by his mother in Athena's sanctuary, and in consequence the land became barren. To get rid of his daughter and her son, Aleus decided to set them adrift at sea (Eur., quoted in Strabo 13. 1. 69), but they reached King Teuthras in Mysia. In some versions deriving from Arcadian tradition (Apollod. 2. 146) Auge alone was exiled to Mysia, while Telephus was exposed on Mt. Parthenion, where he was suckled by a hind (his name contains ἔλαφος ‘deer’ or ‘hind’) and rescued by shepherds. Fourth-cent. coins of Tegea show Telephus with the hind, and there was a precinct sacred to him on Mt. Parthenion. When he grew up, Telephus consulted the *Delphic oracle and was reunited with his mother; Teuthras made him his heir. Later, when the Greeks stopped in Mysia on their way to Troy, Telephus killed many of them, but as he fled from *Achilles in the Caïcus plain he caught his foot in a vine placed there by Dionysus and was wounded by him.

Article

Telesphorus  

Fritz Graf

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek Myth and Religion
A healing deity associated with *Asclepius, with a speaking name (τελεσφόρος ‘bringing fulfilment’), son of Asclepius in an Athenian hymn (IG 22. 2127, after ce 250). He is always represented as a boy in a hooded cloak.Telesphorus must have originated around ce 100 in *Pergamum, where he had been introduced by an oracle, as a personification of the hopes for healing, equivalent to the Epidaurian daughter of Asclepius, Akesis, ‘Healing’ (Paus. 2. 11. 7; see epidaurus). His first known statue was dedicated in ce 98/102 by a treasurer of the emperor *Trajan (Altertümer von Pergamon 8. 3. 135); under *Hadrian (reigned 117–38) his image appears first on Pergamene, then on other Anatolian coins; P. Aelius *Aristides, permanent invalid in Pergamum after ce 145, often acknowledges his help. His popularity rose rapidly during the 2nd cent. when first *Epidaurus, and later other places, adopted his cult (see the Athenian hymn).

Article

temenos  

Irad Malkin

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek Myth and Religion
Temenos in classical usage means frequently a demarcated sacred land, subject to rules of purity, reserved as a sanctuary (hieron) and containing an altar (bōmos; see *altars) and optional edifices, such as temples, treasuries, and priests' houses, but can also indicate revenue-producing land belonging to a god or hero, not necessarily contiguous with the deity's sanctuary. In fact, temenos kept its original meaning of an estate, the result of the community ‘cutting off’ (temnein) and allocating choice lands to prominent men: the Lawagetas and Wanax in Mycenaean Greek (te-me-no; see mycenaean language), Homeric kings and heroes, and exceptional kings in the Classical period (the Battiads at *Cyrene). In *Homer, the verb of possession, nemein, preserves the sense of allocation, and beginning with Homer we also find the ritual ‘temenos and fragrant altar’, giving the impression of rather small sites compared with the revenue-bearing estate-temenē.

Article

Temenus of Argos  

Christiane Sourvinou-Inwood

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek Myth and Religion

Temenus of Argos, a Heraclid (see heraclidae, son of Aristomachus, ancestor of the Macedonian royal house (Ephorus FGrH 70 F 115; Theopompus FGrH 115 F 393; Nicolaus of Damascus FGrH 90 F 30; Apollod. 2. 8. 2–5; Paus. 2. 19. 1–2). He was a leader of the successful Heraclid/*Dorian invasion of the *Peloponnesus, at the conclusion of which he received *Argos(1) as his portion. *Pheidon, who was believed to be Temenus' descendant, presented his expansionist policies in the guise of claiming the heritage of Temenus.

Temenus' sons arranged his murder because he had favoured their sister *Hyrnetho and her husband *Deiphontes over them. A descendant of Temenus called Perdiccas (Hdt. 8. 137–8) or his son Archelaus (cf. Euripides, Archelaus) founded the royal house of *Macedonia. Temenus received hero cult at his grave at Temenion (Paus. 2. 38. 1; Strabo 8. 6. 2).