Greek Myth and Religion

Sign in Modify your search

Perform this search in

Narrow Your Choices

Availability

Subject

 161-180 of 779 Results  for:

  • Greek Myth and Religion x
Clear all

Article

Callirhoë  

J. D. Mikalson

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek Myth and Religion
The name (‘beautifully flowing’) given to (1) a daughter of the river Acheloüs (for her story see acarnan, Alcmaeon (1)); (2) a virgin of Calydon vainly loved by Coresus, a priest of *Dionysus (Paus. 7. 21. 1–5); (3) a daughter of Oceanus, mother of Geryoneus (Hes. Theog. 287–8); (4) an Athenian spring, later called Enneakrounos (‘Nine Spouts’), whose *water was favoured for ritual uses (Thuc.

Article

Callisto  

Madeleine Jost

Article

Publication History:

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

Callisto, ‘very beautiful’, a mythical Arcadian princess or *nymph. (See arcadia.) She was daughter of *Lycaon, and a companion of *Artemis in the chase. Loved by *Zeus, she gave birth to *Arcas and was changed by Zeus (or Artemis or *Hera) into a bear. In some versions she was shot with an arrow and killed by Artemis, while in others she was changed into a *constellation (the Great Bear) by Zeus. Despite her links with Artemis Calliste, Callisto is not a divine hypostasis. She makes several appearances in the visual arts.

Article

Calymnos  

Ellen E. Rice

Article

Publication History:

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

A Dodecanese island lying between *Cos and Leros to the west of the *Halicarnassus peninsula. Calymnos together with nearby islands whose identity is disputed are probably the ‘Kalydnai isles’ mentioned in Homer (Il. 2. 677). Caves and tombs reveal neolithic and Mycenaean occupation. The main Mycenaean citadel was probably at Perakastro near the modern capital Pothia. Herodotus (7. 99) states that Calymnos was later colonized by Dorians from Epidaurus. In historical times, Calymnian ships fought with the Carians during the Persian War (see artemisia (1)), and the island appears in the Athenian *tribute lists. At the end of the 3rd cent. bce it was absorbed by Cos and the population became *demes of the Coan state.

A sanctuary of *Apollo and theatre were found at the site of Christ of Jerusalem near Damos in the southern half of the island. Finds show that the cult existed there from archaic times onwards, and nearby cemeteries and walls attest ancient occupation in this area. The other main centre of occupation was around Vathy in the east, as an impressive fortification circuit wall at Embolas shows. There are Roman and Byzantine remains throughout the island as well as on the islet of Telendos to the west.

Article

Calypso  

Nicholas J. Richardson

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek Myth and Religion
Calypso (‘Concealer’?), a nymph, daughter of *Atlas (Il. 1. 14, 52), possibly invented by *Homer. She lived on the island of Ogygie, ‘where is the sea's navel’ (Od. 1. 50), rescued *Odysseus when shipwrecked, and kept him for seven years, vainly promising immortality. Commanded by *Zeus and *Hermes to release him, she helped him to make a boat and let him go (Od. 5. 1–268, 7. 244–66). In *Hesiod, Theog. 1017–18, she has two sons by Odysseus, Nausithous and Nausinous, and in Hes. fr. 150. 31 M–W is perhaps mother of the Cephallenians by Hermes. Later she is mother by Odysseus or Atlas of Auson, eponym of Ausonia (southern Italy) (Scymn. 229 f., schol. Ap. Rhod. 4. 553, etc. ). In Lucian (Ver. hist. 2. 35) Odysseus writes to her after his death from the *Island of the Blest, regretting having left her and promising to return, and in Hyginus (Fab.

Article

Canace  

Alan H. Griffiths

Article

Publication History:

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

Canace (Κανάκη), tragic victim of the story presented in *Euripides' Aeolus. A daughter of the island-king *Aeolus (1), she was impregnated by her brother Macareus. When she gave birth and the affair came to light, her father sent her a sword with which she committed suicide; the guilty brother followed suit.

Article

cannibalism  

Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek Myth and Religion
Cannibalism has been called ‘for Greeks, one of those extreme pollutions, often imagined, though never experienced’ (Parker). Such hard evidence as there is, e.g. Thuc. 2. 70. 1, Potidaea, tends to relate to sieges and is usually something the enemy does, not your own side. From Aegean prehistory, *Minoan civilization provides an isolated find of human bones from *Cnossus (c.

Article

Capaneus  

Herbert Jennings Rose

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek Myth and Religion
Capaneus (Καπανεύς), in mythology, son of Hipponous and father of Sthenelus (Il. 4. 367; Hyg. Fab. 70. 1); one of the *Seven against Thebes, see also adrastus (1). As he climbed on the walls, boasting that not even *Zeus should stop him, he was destroyed by a thunderbolt: Aesch. Sept.

Article

Carnea  

Robert Parker

Article

Publication History:

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

The main Dorian festival, honouring *Apollo Carneius. We know little about its content except at *Sparta, where it took place in late summer and lasted nine days; and even here the evidence is fragmentary. The Spartan Carnea was above all a choral and musical festival of *panhellenic importance. The most picturesque rite was that of the σταφυλοδρόμοι, ‘grape runners’, one of whom, draped in woollen fillets, was chased by the others: it counted as ‘a good omen for the city’ if he was caught. Carnea runners are also attested on *Thera and at *Cnidus. We also hear that the Carnea was ‘an imitation of the military way of life’, at which men selected by *phratries camped out and dined together in huts (*Demetrius (12) of Scepsis in Athenaeus 141e). See spartan cults.

Article

Cassandra  

Herbert Jennings Rose and Jenny March

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek Myth and Religion
Cassandra or Alexandra, in mythology daughter of *Priam and *Hecuba. In *Homer she is mentioned as being the most beautiful of Priam's daughters (Il. 13. 365), and she is the first to see her father bringing home the body of *Hector (24. 699 ff.). The Iliu Persis (Proclus) adds that during the sack of Troy she took refuge at the statue of Athena, but *Aias (2) the Locrian dragged her away to rape her, and in so doing loosened the statue from its plinth. Perhaps Homer knew of this episode, for at Od. 4. 502 he says that Aias was ‘hated by Athena’; but he makes no direct mention of it. Nor does he mention Cassandra's prophetic powers for which in later tradition she was famous. The Cypria (Proclus; see epic cycle) first mentions her prophecies. Aeschylus’ Agamemnon (1203 ff.) tells how Apollo gave her the power of prophecy in order to win her sexual favours, which she promised to him. But she broke her word, so he turned the blessing into a curse by causing her always to be disbelieved. Later authors follow this form of the story; but there is another (schol. Il.

Article

Catreus  

Herbert Jennings Rose and Jenny March

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek Myth and Religion
Catreus, in mythology, son of *Minos and Pasiphae, and father of *Althaemenes, Apemosyne, *Aërope, and *Clymene. Because of a prophecy that one of his children would kill him, Althaemenes and Apemosyne emigrated to *Rhodes, and Catreus gave Aerope and Clymene to *Nauplius (2) the navigator and slave-trader to sell overseas. Aerope married Pleisthenes, who in this version replaces *Atreus as father of *Agamemnon; and Clymene married Nauplius himself and bore *Palamedes and Oeax.

Article

caves, sacred  

Roger Beck and Antony Spawforth

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek Myth and Religion
The Greeks associated caves with the primitive (see trogodytae), the uncanny, and hence the sacred. In myth they witness divine births (Zeus on Mt. Dicte), are home to monsters (the *Cyclopes), and conceal illicit sex (see selene). Remote and wild, real caves attracted the cult of *Pan and the *nymphs, for whom several dozen cave-sanctuaries are known (e.g. those of Attica; the Corycian Cave at *Delphi) Natural or man-made, and sometimes within a temple, they could house oracles (see claros; delphi; taenarum). In Italy the most celebrated holy cave was the Lupercal on the Palatine (see lupercalia). Of imported cults, the most associated with caves was Mithraism (see mithras), whose rites were celebrated in real or make-belief caves because the cave was considered an ‘image of the universe’. That thesis is also central to Porphyry's On the Cave of the Nymphs (best in Lamberton's translation, 1983), an allegorical interpretation of Homer's description in Od.

Article

Cecrops  

Emily Kearns

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek Myth and Religion
A mythical king of Athens. In most accounts (Marm. Par. A1 is an exception) he was not the first king, being son-in-law and successor to Actaeus, but Athenians clearly regarded him as their archetypal ancestral figure. No parents are recorded for him, and probably he was thought of as autochthonous (see autochthons). He was described as διφυής, ‘double-natured’, with reference to his form as half-man, half-snake—the normal style of his depiction on red-figure vases, where he is a popular figure in many Athenian scenes. Cecrops was the father of *Aglaurus, *Pandrosus, and Herse, and of one son Erysichthon, who died young. His deeds mark him out as a civilizing figure, the one who established monogamous marriage, writing, funeral rites (schol. Ar.Plut. 773, Tac.Ann. 11. 14. 2; Cic.Leg. 2. 63), and other customs which though diverse were perceived as important to contemporary, ‘normal’, society. The foundation of many religious cults was also ascribed to him. The historical tradition recognized a second King Cecrops, son of *Erechtheus; probably it was this Cecrops who was worshipped at *Haliartus in Boeotia, and he may also have come to be identified as the tribal eponym (see eponymoi).

Article

Centaurs  

Alan H. Griffiths

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek Myth and Religion
Centaurs (Κένταυροι; for the etymology, and their ancestry, see ixion), a tribe of ‘beasts’ (φῆρες, Aeol. for θῆρες, Il. 1. 268, 2. 743), human above and horse below; the wild and dangerous counterpart of the more skittish *satyrs, who are constructed of the same components but conceived of as amusing rather than threatening creatures. In both cases it is the very closeness of the horse to humanity that points up the need to remember that a firm line between nature and culture must be drawn. *Pirithous the king of the Lapiths, a *Thessalian clan, paid for his failure to absorb this lesson when he invited the Centaurs to his wedding-feast; the party broke up in violence once the guests had tasted *wine, that quintessential product of human culture (Pind. fr. 166 Snell–Maehler), and made a drunken assault on the bride (see the west pediment of the temple of Zeus at *Olympia).

Article

Cephalus  

Emily Kearns

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek Myth and Religion
A famous mythical hunter known to the *Epic Cycle (Epigoni F 4, incert. loc. 1 Davies); a hero having mythological connections with *Attica, *Phocis and *Cephallenia. In origin there may have been two or more figures named Cephalus who have become confused. His cult is known only in Attica, where he seems to have originated from the *Thoricus area. Whether he was the son of Deio (eus) of Phocis, or of Hermes and an Athenian princess, he married *Procris daughter of *Erechtheus, but was abducted by *Eos, by whom he had a son usually named Phaethon. On returning to his wife, he disguised himself in order to test her fidelity, but found it wanting. Procris fled in shame, but on her return tried the same trick, with the same result. Cephalus accidentally killed Procris when she was spying on him as he went hunting, and was brought to trial at the *Areopagus by her father Erechtheus.

Article

Cepheus  

Herbert Jennings Rose and Antony Spawforth

Article

Publication History:

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

Cepheus (Κηφεύς), name of four or five mythological persons, the best known being the father of *Andromeda. Though generally called an Ethiopian from *Euripides on, he and consequently the whole legend are very variously located; for particulars see Tümpel in Roscher's Lexikon 2. 1109–13.

Article

Cerberus  

Alan H. Griffiths

Article

Publication History:

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

Cerberus (Κέρβερος), monstrous hound who guards the entrance to the Underworld, often called simply ‘the dog of Hades’, ‘the dog’. Hesiod makes him a child of *Echidna and *Typhon, ‘brass-voiced and fifty-headed’ (Theog. 311 f.); three heads are more normal in literary descriptions and in art, while Attic vase-painters usually make do with two. A shaggy mane runs down his back, and he may sprout writhing snakes. Despite his impressive appearance, however, he failed to keep out *Orpheus, who lulled him to sleep with music; while *Heracles (with Athena's help) even managed to chain him up and drag him away to the upper world, where in a rerun of the conclusion to the labour of the Erymanthian boar he terrified *Eurystheus with the captive beast. The scene was already depicted in Archaic art on the so-called ‘Throne of *Amyclae’ (Paus. 3. 18. 13); a Caeretan hydria in the Louvre handles the theme with magnificent exuberance.

Article

Ceyx  

Alan H. Griffiths

Article

Publication History:

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

Ceyx (Κήυξ), son of the Morning Star, king of Trachis, friend of *Heracles, and father-in-law of *Cycnus (Hes. Shield 354); but most famous as husband of Alcyone. Their marriage was celebrated in the Hesiodic Wedding of Ceyx (frs. 263–9 M–W; see hesiod), but nuptial bliss was short-lived: whether as punishment for the couple's temerity in calling each other ‘*Zeus’ and ‘*Hera’ (Apollod. 1. 7. 4), or because Ceyx drowned at sea and his wife's grief was inconsolable (an extended, bravura account by *Ovid, Met. 11. 410 ff.), the gods turned them into sea-birds. The semi-mythical ‘halcyon’ (traditionally identified with the kingfisher) is already associated with a plaintive, mourning cry at Ili. 9. 563 (cf. Eur. IT 1089 ff.); the kēx (Od. 15. 478) for whom she calls may be intended as the male of the species, or as some other diving gull.

Article

changing landscapes, natural causes of  

John Bintliff

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
29 March 2017
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography
  2. Greek Myth and Religion
  3. Science, Technology, and Medicine

The classical world witnessed many forms of landscape change in its physical geography, mostly due to longer-term geological and climatological processes, whilst only a minority were due purely to human action. The physical environment of Greek and Roman societies saw alterations through earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, sea-level fluctuations, erosion, and alluviation.

Already in Greek antiquity, Plato (Critias iii) observed how the Aegean physical landscape was being worn down over time as erosion from the uplands filled the lowland plains. Indeed, the Mediterranean region is amongst the most highly erodible in the world.1 However, scientific research in the field known as geoarchaeology has revealed a more complex picture than a continuous degradation of the ancient countryside.2

To uncover a more realistic picture of Mediterranean landscape change, the element of timescales proves to be central, and here the framework developed by the French historian Fernand Braudel3 provides the appropriate methodology. Braudel envisaged the Mediterranean past as created through the interaction of dynamic forces operating in parallel but on different “wavelengths” of time: the Short Term (observable within a human lifetime or less), the Medium Term (centuries or more, not clearly cognisant to contemporaries), and the Long Term (up to as much as thousands or millions of years, not at all in the awareness of past human agents).

Article

Chaos  

Herbert Jennings Rose

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek Myth and Religion
‘The very first of all Chaos came into being’, says *Hesiod (Theog. 116); it is noteworthy that he implies by the verb (γένετο, not ἦν) that it did not exist from everlasting. What it was like he does not say; the name clearly means ‘gaping void’. Later, presumably influenced by the ὁμοῦ πάντα (‘all is together’) of *Anaxagoras, it is described (Ov.

Article

Charites  

Karim Arafat

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek Myth and Religion
‘Graces’, goddesses personifying charm, grace, and beauty. Like the *nymphs and the *Horae, they vary in number, but are usually three from Hesiod (Theog.907–9), who names them Aglaea (Radiance), Euphrosyne (Joy), and Thalia (Flowering) (cf. *Pindar, Ol. 14. 3–17; *Homer neither names nor numbers them, Il. 14. 267–8, 275). *Hesiod calls them daughters of *Zeus and Eurynome, and is followed by most writers, although the mothers vary. They are closely associated with *Aphrodite in Homer (e.g. Od. 8. 364–6, 18. 193–4), and later. In Hesiod (Theog. 53–64; Op. 73–5), they and the Horae deck *Pandora. They enjoy poetry, singing, and dance (Theog. 64; Thgn. 15) and perform at the wedding of *Peleus and *Thetis. They make roses grow (Anac. 44. 1), have myrtles and roses as attributes, and the flowers of spring belong to them (Cypria fr.