I might think of something later

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞

[temperamentalgreen]

Δημήτηρ Μέλαινα🐍🌾🐴

Mount Elaios is some thirty stades away from Phigalia [in Arkadia] and has a cave sacred to Demeter surnamed Melaina (Black). The Phigalians accept the account of the people of Thelpousa about the mating of Poseidon and Demeter, but they assert that Demeter gave birth, not to a horse, but to Despoine (the Mistress), as the Arkadians call her. Afterward, they say, angry with Poseidon and grieved at the rape of Persephone. She put on black apparel and shut herself up in this cavern for a long time. But when all the fruits of the earth were perishing, and the human race dying yet more through famine, no god, it seemed, knew where Demeter was in hiding, until Pan, they say, visited Arkadia. Roaming from mountain to mountain as he hunted, he came at last to Mount Elaios and spied Demeter, the state she was in, and the clothes she wore. So Zeus learnt this from Pan, and sent the Moirai (Fates) to Demeter, who listened to the Moirai and laid aside her wrath, moderating her grief as well. For these reasons, the Phigalians say, they concluded that this cavern was sacred to Demeter and set up in it a wooden image. The image, they say, was made after this fashion. It was seated on a rock, like to a woman in all respects save the head. She had the head and hair of a horse, and there grew out of her head images of serpents and other beasts. Her tunic reached right to her feet; on one of her hands was a dolphin, on the other a dove. Now why they had the image made after this fashion is plain to any intelligent man who is learned in traditions. They say that they named her Melaina (Black) because the goddess had black apparel. They cannot relate either who made this wooden image or how it caught fire. But the old image was destroyed, and the Phigalians gave the goddess no fresh image, while they neglected, for the most part, her festivals and sacrifices until the barrenness fell on the land Then they went as suppliants to the Pythian priestess and received this response :

‘Azanian Arkadians, acorn-eaters, who dwell in Phigaleia, the cave that hid Deo, who bare a horse, you have come to learn a cure for grievous famine, who alone have twice been nomads, alone have twice lived on wild fruits. It was Deo who made you cease from pasturing, Deo who made you pasture again after being binders of corn and eaters of cakes, because she was deprived of privileges and ancient honors given by men of former times. And soon will she make you eat each other and feed on your children, unless you appease her anger with libations offered by all your people, and adorn with divine honors the nook of the cave.’

When the Phigalians heard the oracle that was brought back, they held Demeter in greater honor than before, and particularly they persuaded Onatas of Aigina, son of Mikon, to make them an image of Demeter at a price" - Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 42. 1-13

My favourite part in this account recorded by Pausanias is the oracle's message to the Phigalians. To me, it's metal as hell.

This isn't an attempt to recreate the wooden cult statue. I just wanted to draw the mare headed Deo. I imagine her with a white mare head, white like barley seed, while Melaina ("Black") refers to the dark cloak she wore in her grief and anger like the barley seed kept hidden beneath the black earth.

[nardialrose]

Complete List of Gods' and Heroes' Lesser Known Male Love

...as of 02/06/2026

This is pride month, so might as well redo my other post, but now more organized, properly cited including new ones, and several new additions I can find that are marked green. I posted few examples previously that are extremely obscure, so I figured I moved them to a different post to not further clutter here.

Not gonna go full detail on these couples as I'm sure everyone knows them. Zeus/Ganymede, Poseidon/Pelops, Apollo/Hyacinth, Achilles/Patroclus, Achilles/Troilus, and Heracles/Hylas.

Important disclaimer that some of these are more ambiguous than others due to the nature of the text and language, thus they contain a question mark and a footnote.

============

Zeus:

Adonis [Scholi. ad. Theocritum vetera 63]

Aëtos [Serv. A. 1.394]

Chrysippus [Praxilla = Athenaeus 13.79; *Clement, Exhortations 2.28?]

Euphorion [Ptolemy Chennus (Photius), Bibliotheca, 190.24]

Priam [Ptolemy Chennus (Photius), Bibliotheca, 190.48]

Poseidon:

*Chrysippus [Clement, Exhortations 2.28?]

Nerites [Aelian, Characteristics of Animals 14.28]

Patroclus [Ptolemy Chennus (Photius), Bibliotheca, 190.6]

Caeneus [Hesiod, Catalogue of Women, fr. 165 Most (= fr. 87 MW); Ovid, Met., 12.168–209; Apollodorus, E.1.22; Scholia D on Homer, Iliad, 1.264]

Apollo:

Admetus [Callimachus, Hymn to Apollo 47; Ovid, Ars Amatoria 2.239; Tibullus, Elegies 2.3; Ps-Plutarch, Am. 17, Numa 4.5; Nonnus 10.321]

Adonis [Ptolemy Chennus (Photius), Bibliotheca, 190.42]

Amyclas [Ps-Clementine Homilies 5.15]

Boreas [Valerius Flaccus, 4.465]

Branchus the Tymnæan [Callimachus, Iambi fr. 217 Pf; Conon, Narrations (Photius) 33; Lucian, Dialogues of the Gods 6, the Hall 26?; Longus, Daphnis and Chloe 4.17; Strabo 14.1.5; Ps-Clementine Homilies 5.15;]

Carnus [Praxilla = Conon, Narrations (Photius) 26]

Cinyras [Pindar, Pythian Odes 2.1 ; Ps-Clementine Homilies 5.15]

Cyparissus [Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana 1.16; Scholia ad. Statius Thebaid 4.460; Ps-Clementine Homilies 5.15; Servius Danielis, ad. Aeneadem 3.680]

Helenus [Photius (Ptolemy Chennus), Bibliotheca, 190.49]

Hylas [Ps-Clementine Homilies 5.15]

Iapyx [Verg.Aen. 12.383]

Leucatas [Servius, Commens Aeneid 3,279.]

Hippolytus of Sicyon [Plutarch, Life of Numa 4.5]

Hymeneous [Antoninus Liberalis, Met. 23 (= Hesiod, Megalai Ehoiai fr. 16)]

Melampus [Scholia ad. Apollonius Argonautica A118]

***Orestes?

Orpheus [Ps-Clementine Homilies 5.15]

Paris [Eustathius, Comm. ad Hom. Odyssey, 11.538 1696, 50]

Parus the Potnian [Ps-Clementine Homilies 5.15]

Phorbas [Plutarch, Numa 4.5; Ps-Clementine Homilies 5.15]

Troilus [Ps-Clementine Homilies 5.15]

Zacyinthus [Ps-Clementine Homilies 5.15]

Hermes:

Amphion [Philostr. Im. 1. 10.3]

Antheus [Alexander of Aetolia frag. 3 Magnelli; Aristotle and Milesian Historians via Parthenius 14]

Chrysas [Ps-Clementine Homilies 5.15]

Crocus [Galenus, Medicorum Graecorum Fragmenta 13, 269 Kuhn, De Compositione Medicamentorum Secundum Locos 9.4; Servius, Commens Virgil Georgics 4.182]

Daphnis [Aelian. VH. 10.18]

Orpheus [Ps-Clementine Homilies 5.15]

Perseus [Ps-Hyginus, De Astronomica 2.12?; Ps-Clementine Homilies 5.15]

Polydectes [Photius (Ptolemy Chennus), Bibliotheca, 190.50]

Theseus [Ps-Clementine Homilies 5.15]

Hephæstus: Peleus [Ps-Clementine Homilies 5.15]

**Ares: Alectryon? [Lucian, Gallus 3; Libanius, Progymnasmata 2.26; Scholiast on Aristophanes' Aves 835]

Dionysus:

Achilles [Ps-Clementine Homilies 5.15]

Adonis [Plato Comicus Adonis fr. 3.4 (7.435 K-A?) = Athenaeus 10.83b; Phanocles fr. 3 CA = Ps-Plutarch Moralia 670e; Ps-Clementine Homilies 5.15]

Ampelus [[Ps-Clementine Homilies 5.15; Nonnus 11.185]

Chiron [Ptolemy Chennus (Photius), Bibliotheca, 190.33]

Hermaphrodites [Ps-Clementine Homilies 5.15]

Hymenæus [Nonnus 13.83 2.9.39-44; Ps-Clementine Homilies 5.15]

Prosymnus [Clement, Exhortations 2.31; Tzetzes, Ad Lycophronem 212]

Staphylus [Aristophanes via Suidas s.v. Enekheis 1020]

Pan: Daphnis [Theocritus Inscription IV, Epigram AP 6.177; Glaucus AP 9.341 = 3 HE; Ps-Clementine Homilies 5.15]

Priapus: Daphnis [Theocritius Epigram AP 9.338]

Zephyrus: Cyparissus [Nonnus 11.363–365; Serv. A. 3.680]

Hesperus: Hymenaeus [Serv. Ecl. 8.30]

Hymenaeus:

Apollo

Argynnus [Likymnios, Dithyrambs PMG 768 = Athen. 13.603d]

Dionysus

Hesperus

Hypnos: Endymion [Licymnius Dithyrambs PMG771 = Athen. 13. 564cd]

Minos:

Atymnius [Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3.1.2]

Ganymede [Dosiadas, FGrHist 458 F5; Echemenes, FGrHist 259 F1 = Athenaeus 13.77; Stephanus of Byzantium, s.v. Arpalia; Suda s.v. Minos mu, 1039; Eustathius on Homer, pp. 986, 1205.]

Miletus [Antoninus Liberalis, Met. 30; Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3.1.2]

Theseus [Zenis of Chios = Athenaeus 13.77]

Rhadamanthus:

Atymnius [Philostratus Letter 8.46]

Talos [Ibycus frag. 32 = Athenaeus 603d; Suida s.v. Theta 41]

Sarpedon:

Atymnius [Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3.1.2]

Miletus [Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3.1.2]

Heracles:

Abderus [Ptolemy Chennus (Photius), Bibliotheca, 190.12; Philostratus of Lemnos, Eikones 2.25; Ps-Clementine Homilies 5.15]

Admetus [Ps-Plutarch, Am. 17]

Adonis [Ptolemy Chennus (Photius), Bibliotheca, 190.11]

Argos [Ptolemy Chennus (Photius), Bibliotheca, 190.14]

Chonus [Ps-Clementine Homilies 5.15]

Corythus [Ptolemy Chennus (Photius), Bibliotheca, 190.14]

Diomus [Scholia on Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica, 1. 1207; Stephanus of Byzantium, s.v. Diomeia 231.12]

Dryops [Ps-Clementine Homilies 5.15]

Elacatas [Bernard Sergent (1986): According to Sosibius, there was in Sparta a sanctuary whose name, the Elacataeon, derived from that of a hero, Elacatas, in whose honor the Spartans staged the games known as the Elacatia.' Sosibius, who is a good historian of Sparta, also tells us that Elacatas was the erômenos of Heracles.]

Eurystheus [Diotimus = Athenaeus 603d; Ps-Clementine Homilies 5.15]

Hæmon [Ps-Clementine Homilies 5.15]

Iolaus [Ps-Plutarch, Am. 17]

Jocastus [Ps-Clementine Homilies 5.15]

Nestor [Ptolemy Chennus (Photius), Bibliotheca, 190.10]

Nireus of Syme [Ptolemy Chennus (Photius), Bibliotheca, 190.11]

Perithyas/Perithoas [Scholia on Apollonius Rhodius 1. 1207]

Philoctetes [Martial, Epigrams 2.84; Ps-Clementine Homilies 5.15; Scholia on Apollonius Rhodius 1. 1207]

Phrix/Trinx [Scholia on Apollonius Rhodius 1. 1207]

Polyphemus [Ps-Clementine Homilies 5.15]

Polystratus/Sostratus [Pausanias, 7.17.8.]

Stichios [Ptolemy Chennus (Photius), Bibliotheca, 190.49]

Theseus:

Chrysippus [Ps-Hyginus, Fabulae 271]

***Pirithous?

Asclepius: Hippolytus [Ps-Clementine Homilies 5.15]

Orpheus:

Kalais [Phanocles fr. 1 Collectanea Alexandrina]

unknown Thracian lovers [Phanocles Erotes fr. 1.10 Powell; Ovid, Met. 10.78–219]

Laius: Chrysippus [Scholi. ad. Euripides Ph. 60]

Oedipus: Chrysippus [Scholi. ad. Euripides Ph. 60]

Marsyas: Olympus [Philostratus, Lives of the Sophists, 2.5.5, Imagines 1.20.1; Ps-Plutarch, On Music 7.]

Thamyris: Hyacinthus [Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1.3.3]

Tantalus: Ganymede [Mnaseas FGrHist 3.154 F30; Phanocles frag. 4; Augustine, City of God 8.15; Tzetzes, Ad Lycophronem 355; Stephanus of Byzantium, s.v. Arpalia; Eustathius ad Iliadem 20.219]

Paris: Antheus [Tzetzes ad Lycophron, 134]

Deiphobus: Antheus [Tzetzes ad Lycophron, 134]

Achilles:

Antilochus [Philostratus, Imagines, 2.7.1]

Dionysus

Agamemnon: Argynnus [Ibycus? = Athenaeus; Athen. 13. 603d; Phanocles, Frag. 5 Bach. Cp = Clement 2.34; Propertius 3.7.61-6; Ps-Plutarch Moralia 17; Stephanus of Byzantium A114 8]

***Orestes:

Apollo?

Pylades? [Luc. Am. 47; Magical Papyrus = Supplementum Magicum 1.42]

Idomeneus: Meriones [Strato AP 12.2]

============

Notes

*In Clement text it stated, "For your gods did not abstain from boys. One loved Hylas, another Hyacinthus, another Chrysippus, another Ganymedes." Theoi put Poseidon in bracket as Chrysippus' lover. However, we have a variant of Zeus as the erastes to him. Though Clement didn't stated who, I'm inclined to believe it meant Zeus, but putting in Poseidon for posterity sake.

**Discussed before. I decided to give them a bone since I already added Orestes and Peirithous.

***Although Xenophon listed Theseus/Peirithous and Orestes/Pylades alongside Achilles/Patroclus as primary examples of friendship or sworn brothers, 'loving' nature of the two former pairs also led to possibility of being interpreted as lovers, such as in Pseudo-Lucian who believed Orestes/Pylades are anything but friends. For Orestes/Pylades and Apollo, see Rabinowitz 305-308.

[thecordedbed]

I'm not entirely sure what your criteria are, but there are probably even more - a grey area where characters are sometimes immortal and sometimes not, but one example of Hymenaios springs to mind.

§ th.41 Θάμυρις ἢ Θαμύρας: Thamyris or Thamyras: A Thracian, of the Edones, the city in Brinkoi; son of Philammon and Arsinoe, eighth epic poet before Homer; but according to others fifth; and some [say he came] from Odryse. This Thamyris was blinded because he insulted the Muses. A Theology in three thousand verses is attributed to him.

And he was the first to be passionate about a boy, called Hymenaios, the son of Kalliope and Magnes. But the Cretans say that a certain Talon was passionate about Rhadamanthys [sc. and was the first to be so]. Others [claim] Laios was passionate about Chrysippos, the son of Pelops, as the first [sc. object of such passion]. Others [assert] that it was the Italiotes, under campaigning duress, who invented this. But the truth is that it was Zeus himself who was first passionate about Ganymede.

[nardialrose]

Greek Myth - Mother’s Edition

Happy Mother’s Day! Here’s a series of epigrams that dedicated to a historical queen who was honored by her sons with a catalogue of mothers receiving love in classical mythology and poetry presented in Greek Anthology 3.

1. On Dionysus conducting his mother Semele up to heaven, with Hermes in the lead and Satyrs and Sileni escorting them with torches

This is the fair-haired daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia, slain in childbirth by the lightning of Zeus, being led up from Acheron by her thyrsus-loving son; thus he responds to the godless insolence of Pentheus.

2. The second pillar has Telephus recognized by his mother.

Leaving the paths of Arcadia’s deep valleys for the sake of my mother Auge, I, Telephus, myself the dear son of Heracles, set foot on this Teuthranian land, to bring her back to Arcadia.

3. The third has Phoenix being blinded by his father Amyntor, and Alcimede restraining her husband.

Alcimede pulls her husband Amyntor away from their son, wishing to halt the wrath of Phoenix’s father. He was angry with his father for his virtuous mother’s sake, because he was drawn to the bed of a slave concubine. His father, listening to insidious whispers, was also angry with the young man, and turned a lethal torch against his eyes.

4. The fourth has Polymedes and Clytius, the sons of Phineus of Thrace, who murdered their father’s Phrygian wife, because he had taken her in place of their mother Cleopatra.

Clytius and Polymedes, renowned for intelligence, are killing their Phrygian stepmother for their own mother’s sake. Cleopatra is delighted with this; she had earlier seen Phineus’ wife righteously defeated.

5. The fifth has Cresphontes killing Polyphontes, his father’s murderer; Merope is there too, holding a staff and cooperating with her son in her husband’s demise.

You, Polyphontes, once killed Cresphontes’ father, wishing to defile the bed of his wedded wife, but later came his son came to avenge his father by your murder; now he kills you for the sake of his mother Merope. For this reason he planted a spear in your back, and she is helping, pounding your forehead with her heavy staff.

6. The sixth has Python being killed by Apollo and Artemis, because it appeared and prevented Leto from traveling to Delphi to take possession of its oracle.

Leto in utter loathing turns her head from earthborn Python, a creeping congeries of coils. It wishes to annoy the wise goddess, but Phoebus, shooting from the height, lays the beast low in its own blood. He will make the Delphic tripod inspired, and that most cruel of dragons will breathe out a plaintive hiss.

7. The seventh, on the northern side, has a scene of Amphion and Zethus. They are tying Dirce to a bull, because she, transported by jealous anger, punished their mother Antiope with excessive harshness; because of her affair, her father Nycteus had handed her over to her (Dirce’s) husband Lycus.

Amphion and Zethus, whelps of Zeus, kill this woman Dirce, who intended to slay your mother Antiope, whom formerly she kept in prison because of her jealous spite. But now she is the suppliant and begs piteously. Tie her to a bull with a double rope, so that it will drag her body through this thicket.

8. On the eighth is the necromancy of Odysseus. He questioned his own mother Anticlea concerning affairs at home.

Anticlea, mother of wise Odysseus, you did not live to welcome your son home to Ithaca; but now that you have come to the banks of Acheron, he wonders that his eye lights upon his sweet mother.

9. On the ninth are carved Pelias and Neleus, the sons of Poseidon, delivering their mother from bondage. Her father Salmoneus had recently imprisoned her because she had an affair, and her stepmother Sidero applied to her the instruments of torture.

Let your coils, Sidero, no longer torment Tyro, nor let her be subject to her father here, Salmoneus. For he will no longer keep her a slave in a cage, when he sees Neleus and Pelias sitting here nearby.

10. On the western side on the first part of the tenth tablet are carved Eunous and Thoas, the children of Hypsipyle, being recognized by their mother. They are showing her the golden vine that was the token of their birth and saving her from her punishment at the hands of Eurydice for the death of Archemorus.

Thoas, show her this, Bacchus’ plant, for you will save from death your mother, the slave Hypsipyle. She had endured the wrath of Eurydice since the earth-born snake slew feeble Archemorus.2 And you go too, Eunous, and leave the fields of Asopis, to take your mother to most holy Lemnos.

11. On the eleventh is Polydectes, king of Seriphus, being turned to stone by Perseus with the Gorgon’s head; because he wanted to marry his (Perseus’) mother, he had sent him for the Gorgon’s head, and the death that he intended for another he suffered himself, in accordance with the providence of Justice.

You, Polydectes, dared to defile the bed of Danaë, putting the blame on Zeus for your ill-rumored liaisons. In response Perseus here uncovered the eyes of the Gorgon and made your limbs stone, as a favor to his mother.

12. On the twelfth is Ixion killing Phorbas and Polymelus because of the murder of his own mother, Megara. They murdered her out of anger when she preferred not to marry either of them.

Here is Ixion striking Phorbas and Polymelus to the earth, in revenge for their punishment of his own mother.

13. The thirteenth has Heracles leading his mother Alcmene to the Elysian plains, giving her in marriage to Rhadamanthys, and then himself being admitted to the number of the gods.

The bold son of Alceus gave this woman, his mother Alcmene, in holy wedlock to Rhadamanthys.

14. In the fourteenth is Tityus being shot by Apollo and Artemis, for daring to assault their mother Leto.

Lustful and drunk with foolishness, why did you turn with violence to the bed of Zeus’ consort? He deservedly fouled you with your own blood, and now has righteously left you on the ground, food for beasts and birds.

16. By the temple doors as you go in are Aeolus and Boeotus, sons of Poseidon, delivering their mother Melanippe from the fetters in which she was placed by her father because of her affair.

Aeolus and Boeotus, you performed a clever and pious task in saving your mother from death. Therefore you were proven mighty men, one from Aeolia and one from Boeotia.

18. On the eighteenth are Cleobis and Biton; they enabled their mother Cydippe, who was priestess of Hera in Argos, to perform her sacrifices by putting their own necks under the yoke when the ox team was delayed. They say that she was so pleased that she prayed to the goddess that her sons should meet with whatever was best for men; thus she prayed, and they died that very night.

This story is no lie; the pious sacrifice of Cydippe’s sons is surpassingly true. Their timely journey set a pleasing target for men’s aim; they undertook a glorious labor out of pious devotion to their mother. So rejoice in sacrifices, men renowned for your piety, and may you alone have age-long story.

19. On the nineteenth are Remus and Romulus, delivering their mother (Servilia by name) from the tortures of Amulius. Ares had seduced her and fathered children from her; they were exposed and suckled by a wolf. When they grew to be men, they freed their mother from bondage, founded Rome, and restored Numitor to the throne.

You are bearing to Ares a hidden brood of children, Remus and Romulus from a single birth. A wild wolf raised them to manhood and nursed them in her cave, and they snatched you out of woes with no easy cure.

[theoihalioistuff]

"In so far as she has affected the traditions of the Church, a male deity, S. Demetrius, has in general superseded [Demeter]. Under the title of στερεανός, 'belonging to the dry land,' he has in most districts taken over the patronage of agriculture; while his inherited interest in marriage receives testimony from the number of weddings celebrated, especially in the agricultural districts, on his day. But at Eleusis, the old home of Demeter's most sacred rites, the people, it seems, would not brook the substitution of a male saint for their goddess, and yielded to ecclesiastical influence only so far as to create for themselves a saint Demetra (η αγία Δήμητρα) entirely unknown elsewhere and never canonised. Further, in open defiance of an iconoclastic Church, they retained an old statue of Demeter, and merely prefixing the title 'saint' to the name of their cherished goddess, continued to worship her as before. The statue was regularly crowned with garlands of flowers in the avowed hope of obtaining good harvests, and without doubt prayer was made before it as now before the pictures of canonical saints. This state of things continued down to the beginning of the nineteenth century. Then, in 1801, two Englishmen, named Clarke and Cripps, armed by the Turkish authorities with a license to plunder, perpetrated an act unenviably like that of Verres at Enna, and in spite of a riot among the peasants of Eleusis removed by force the venerable marble ; and that which was the visible form of the great goddess on whose presence and goodwill had depended from immemorial ages the fertility of the Thriasian plain is now a little-regarded object catalogued as "No. xiv, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, (much mutilated)." — Lawson, John Cuthbert (1910). Modern Greek Folklore and Ancient Greek Religion: A Study in Survivals, p. 79–80.

For more recent scholarship see Cosmopoulos, Michael B. (2015). Bronze Age Eleusis and the Origins of the Eleusinian Mysteries, p. 35–36.

Fitzwilliam Museum; official website:

In 1801 the Cambridge professor E. D. Clarke visited the village of Eleusis near Athens, once the site of an important sanctuary dedicated to Demeter, the Greek goddess of corn and fertility. He observed this statue 'in the midst of a heap of dung, buried as high as the neck', and went on to explain that 'the inhabitants of the village still regard [it] with a very high degree of veneration. They attributed to its presence the fertility of the land, and it was for this reason that they heaped around it the manure intended for their fields.' [...] Recognising the quality and importance of this statue, Clarke decided to remove it. He winched the statue out of its dungy bed and shipped it to England. But it did not travel willingly: the ship carrying the caryatid, and other items collected by Clarke, sank off Beachy Head on the south coast of England (though most of the pieces were later salvaged).

[theoihalioistuff]

P.Herc. 1088 IX / 433 VIa = FGrHist 107 F17 = Philodemos, On piety 94.14.45.14-23 Gomperz

[But Ste]simbrotos [say]s that Zeus, having received rulership from his mother [Rhea], was t[hen] deprived of that rule by her, as she gave sovereignty to Artemis a[nd] Athena.

[Στη]σίμβροτος δ[ὲ λέγ]ει τὸν Δία πα[ρ]ὰ [Ῥέας] τῆς μετρὸς [τὴν] ἀρχὴν λαβόντα [τὴ]ν ἀρ⟦χ⟧χὴν πάλι[ν ὑ]π’ αὐτῆς ἀφαιρεθῆ[ν]αι τῆι Ἀρτέμιδί τ[ε] καὶ Ἀθηναῖ τὴ[ν] βασιλείαν δούση[ς]

"According to the interesting, but not supported by the text, suggestion of W. Luppe (Artemis und Athene bei Stesimbrotos FGrHist 107 F 17, ZPE 61 (1985), 22), the passage should be restored as Ἀρτέμιδι τ[ῆ]ι καὶ Ἀθηνᾶι in the sense that ‘Artemis’ and ‘Athena’ were two names for the same deity." — Dmitriev, Sviatoslav. 2012. "Stesimbrotos of Thasos (107)" In Jacoby Online. Brill's New Jacoby, Part II, edited by Ian Worthington. Brill: Leiden.

I'll limit myself to repeating Jacoby's comment: "The literature of the Teletai provided many bizarre thing about Artemis" (die literatur der Τελεταί gab gerade über Artemis viel merk würdiges).

[brimo5]

Stesimbrotos please come back

If the text of Philodemus' On Piety is reliably restored, he iscited for three bizarre details from succession-myths: (i) that Earth bore Artemis and abandoned her;(ii) that the gods fought each other; (iii) that, after Zeus received power over the universe from hismother Rhea, she took it back from him and gave it to the goddess Artemis, who was the same as Athena...

FGH 107 F 19-20. He also claimed that Artemis and Athene were servants of Cybele...

(The Physicist as Hierophant: Aristophanes, Socrates and the Authorship of the Derveni Papyrus by Richard Janko)

I will always love those who dare to challenge the "traditional pantheon".

[theoihalioistuff]

Same. I'll never understand why people view unfamiliar mythological narratives as something to be glossed over, that is somehow "lying" or threatens some contrived idea of "canon", instead of as something that enriches our understanding of mythology as a whole.

In light of that here are all of Stesimbrotos' (FGrHist/BNJ 107) surviving mythological fragments!!

F12a. Etymologicum Magnum 465.27

Idaioi: "Idaian Daktyls of Crete, whom once the nymph Anchiale brought forth [or caused to sprout] in the Diktaian cave, grasping the earth of Oaxos with both hands" (Ap. Argonautica 1. 1129-31) .They are ten in number. Hence, they were called Daktyls (Fingers) after our own fingers, or because they were thrown from among the fingers. They are called "Idaian" because they were born on Mount Ida in Crete, or because the dust that was thrown was from Mount Ida. Stesimbrotos in his On Initiations calls them children of Zeus and the nymph Ida, and says that Zeus ordered his nurses to take dust and throw it behind them, and that the Idaian Daktyls were born from that dust.

F12b. Scholia on Apollonios Rhodios Argonautica 1. 1126 (101 Wendel)

He took from Stesimbrotos the idea that a certain nymph "grasping the earth of Oaxos" produced those called the Idaian Daktyls. <lacuna> And that they were called “Daktyls” because they flowed through her hand.

F13. Etymologicum Magnum 277.35

Dionysos: Some call him Dionyxos, because, having been born with horns, he pierced (enyxe) Zeus’s (Dios) thigh, as Stesimbrotos says.

F14. Philodemos, On piety 50.1.22.1-10 Gomperz

… Ammon … to be … Apollo (as says?) Stesimbrotos. Aischylos in The Heliades (F 70 Radt) says that Zeus is the sky and the earth and the universe and everything and beyond everything.

F15. Philodemos, On piety 90.27.41.27-29 Gomperz

and Stesim[brotos says that] [G]aia gave birth to Arte[mis]... [and cast her out into the wilderness (vel sim.)]

F16. Philodemos, On piety 91.21.42.21-29 Gomperz

[Accord]ing to the author of Danais (F 3 Davies), the [Kou]retes serve the Mother of the G[ods]. Stes[imbro]tos made Artem[is] and Athen[a he]r attendants …

F17. Philodemos, On piety 94.14.45.14-23 Gomperz

[But Ste]simbrotos [say]s that Zeus, having received rulership from his mother [Rhea], was t[hen] deprived of that rule by her, as she gave sovereignty to Artemis a[nd] Athena.

F18. Suda τ 1216, s.v. τυφλότερος ἀσπάλακος = Leutsch and Schneidewin 2 (1851), 695

As for the reason that this animal [the mole] has no eyes, Stesimbrotos says that it was blinded by Gaia for destroying the crops. For it has the most dreadful teeth, a snout like a weasel and feet like a bear.

F19. Scholia on Apollonios Rhodios Argonautika 1.1304 (118 Wendel)

Apollonios says that Herakles destroyed the Boreads because they had prevented the ship from turning back to Mysia, and Semos says that this happened because the Boreads overtook Herakles in a foot-race. But Stesimbrotos says that they quarreled with Herakles over the gifts that Jason had given to the leaders.

F20. Strabo, Geography 10.3.19-20.472 (Radt 3, 236)

But others say that the Korybantes were sons of Zeus and Kalliope, and that they are the same as the Kabeiroi, that these left for Samothrace, which was then called Melite, and that their rites were mystical. The Scepsian (F 61 Gaede), who put together such myths, does not confirm this, as there is no such mystical story told about the Kabeiroi in Samothrace, but he still adduces the opinion of Stesimbrotos of Thasos, that rites were performed for the Kabeiroi in Samothrace. That man also says that they were called Kabeiroi after the Kabeiros mountain in Berecyntia.

[theoihalioistuff]

P.Herc. 1088 IX / 433 VIa = FGrHist 107 F17 = Philodemos, On piety 94.14.45.14-23 Gomperz

[But Ste]simbrotos [say]s that Zeus, having received rulership from his mother [Rhea], was t[hen] deprived of that rule by her, as she gave sovereignty to Artemis a[nd] Athena.

[Στη]σίμβροτος δ[ὲ λέγ]ει τὸν Δία πα[ρ]ὰ [Ῥέας] τῆς μετρὸς [τὴν] ἀρχὴν λαβόντα [τὴ]ν ἀρ⟦χ⟧χὴν πάλι[ν ὑ]π’ αὐτῆς ἀφαιρεθῆ[ν]αι τῆι Ἀρτέμιδί τ[ε] καὶ Ἀθηναῖ τὴ[ν] βασιλείαν δούση[ς]

"According to the interesting, but not supported by the text, suggestion of W. Luppe (Artemis und Athene bei Stesimbrotos FGrHist 107 F 17, ZPE 61 (1985), 22), the passage should be restored as Ἀρτέμιδι τ[ῆ]ι καὶ Ἀθηνᾶι in the sense that ‘Artemis’ and ‘Athena’ were two names for the same deity." — Dmitriev, Sviatoslav. 2012. "Stesimbrotos of Thasos (107)" In Jacoby Online. Brill's New Jacoby, Part II, edited by Ian Worthington. Brill: Leiden.

I'll limit myself to repeating Jacoby's comment: "The literature of the Teletai provided many bizarre thing about Artemis" (die literatur der Τελεταί gab gerade über Artemis viel merk würdiges).

[theoihalioistuff]

Schol. T Il. 16. 222a. daidaleēs (cunningly wrought): They used to call intricate works daidala after Daidale, the mother of Metis, by whom Athena was reared.

Eustath. 1056. 53: The daidaleē chest, and generally all things called daidaleia or daidalea or daidala, [derive their name] not only from Daidalos the Cretan, but also, as is shown elsewhere, from the mythical Daidale, the mother of Metis, by whom, they say, Athena was reared.

Etym. M. 250. 56: Daidalos: The proper name of the hero; from [the verb] daiō (meaning "to know/be skilled"), [hence] daialos, the skilled one, which by the doubling of the [letter] d [becomes] daidalos. Or from daiō, [meaning] "to learn"; and daidala, [meaning] intricate works, which come from learning and experience; or from daēnai, things born from instruction. Or from Daidalos, one who decorates his works. Or from Daidale, Athena's grandmother or nurse. And everything created by the virgin [Athena] is attributed to her.

I find this last sentence particularly lovely: anything Athena makes (i.e. anything made beautifully or cleverly) is ultimately credited to the person who raised her, her grandma.

<3

[fostydosty]

Daidale was a local Boeotian goddess who became replaced by Hera as a part of the Daedala festival. Images of Daidale would be burned in Hera’s honor, though presumably the festival was originally for Daidale and she would’ve been glorified by it symbolically or something.

Pausanias mentions how Athena was raised by Alalcomenes:

Alalcomenae is a small village, and it lies at the very foot of a mountain of no great height. Its name, some say, is derived from Alalcomeneus, an aboriginal, by whom Athena was brought up; others declare that Alalcomenia was one of the daughters of Ogygus. At some distance from the village on the level ground has been made a temple of Athena with an ancient image of ivory.

He also describes the Daedala festival, you can find it here.

Here’s what Plutarch describes of it, in his On the Festival of Images At Plataea, though (it’s harder to find so I wanted to share this one):

It is that when Hera fell out with Zeus and would no longer consort with him but hid herself, he wandered around at his wits’ end; in this state he fell in with Alalcomeneus the aboriginal, who instructed him that he must trick Hera by a pretence of marrying someone else. Alalcomeneus assisted him in secretly felling a lovely straight-grained oak-tree, which they shaped and dressed like a bride, giving it the name of Daidalê. Then, these preparations made, the wedding-song rang out, and the Nymphs of the river Tritonb brought the water for the bridal bath, and Boeotia provided pipes and revelry. As all this went forward, Hera could stand it no longer, but came down from Cithaeron, with a retinue of women from Plataea, and ran in anger and jealousy to confront Zeus. The counterfeit being exposed, she was reconciled to him and herself led the bridal procession with joy and laughter; she gave honour to the wooden image, by naming the festival Daidala, but for all that she burnt it up, lifeless though it was, in her jealousy.

In conclusion: the sources you noted are evidence enough, for me, to say that Hera was Athena’s nurse <333333

[theoihalioistuff]

Thanks for the addition (and any mention of the Daidala is going to have me dancing around) but I'm going to have to politely disagree hehehe.

Grammatically, Δαιδάλη (Daidálē) is just a feminine proper noun derived from the same linguistic root that produced the verb δαιδάλλω (to craft, to make with cunning, to decorate) or the adjective δαίδαλος (cunningly wrought, skilfully made, intricate), which can also mean "crafty" or "cunning" when applied to people (e.g. of Selene in PGM IV. 2266: ἐνεύχομαί σοι, δαιδάλη "I implore you, O cunning one"), and as a substantive simply refers to a crafted object (a carved doll in the case of the Plataian festival):

Because of this reconciliation, they celebrate the Daidala festival, since men of old used to call xoana (wooden statues) daidala." (Paus. 9.3.2)

There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever of a prehistoric Boiotian goddess called Daidale that was at some point supplanted by Hera.

The personified concept Daidale (Δαιδάλη – Craftiness, Skill, Cunning) is created by shifting to the feminine (-η) ending, and her role as the mother of Metis (Μῆτις – also meaning Skill, Cunning, Craftiness, Wisdom, Counsel, etc.) is basically just a further embellishment of the already allegorical "Athena was the daughter of Wisdom," by adding something along the lines of "and Craftiness was Wisdom's mother and Athena's nurse". Kind of like the allegory found in Plato's Symposium 203b where Resourcefulness (Poros) is the son of Cunning (Metis) and the father of Eros (Love) by Penia (Poverty). It's not really mythologically relevant (whatever that sentence means).

To finish off, it's impossible to know when, by whom, or in what context this Daidale was first mentioned, since she is only ever referenced anonymously in these exegetical works (that are definitely referencing each other), which include material spanning from the 5th century BC to the middle ages. Metis herself was only ever a mythological character with no real cult of her own, and, despite the popularity of the Hesiodic account, Athena was just as (if not more) often the motherless daughter of Zeus.

[theoihalioistuff]

Photios s.v. 'Titanic Land' (Τιτανίδα γῆν): Some [use this to mean] the entire world, though others Attica. It is named after Titenios, one of the elder Titans, who lived around Marathon and was the only one who did not march against the gods, [according to] Philochoros in his Tetrapolis. But Istros in book one of his Attika ** "to call upon the Titans" (Τιτᾶνας βοᾶν), for they used to come to the aid of humans when they were called upon, as Nikandros says in book one of his Aitolika. They were reckoned to be among the Priapic gods.

**something appears to have fallen out of the text

[theoihalioistuff]

It should be known that the myth is prone to dog-like phantoms; it even turned Hekabe into a dog, and it also portrays Hekate as having the head of a dog. And Kallimachos in his Commentaries says that Artemis was once a guest of Ephesos, the son of Kaystros, and that when she was driven out by his wife, she first transformed her into a dog; and later, out of pity, restored her into a human. She, however, felt such shame over what had happened that she hanged herself. The goddess then placed her own raiment on her and named her Hecate. (Kallimachos fr. 461 = Eust. ad Od. 12. 85)

"That Hecate was drawn into the role of dying maiden makes sense. When she arrived in Greece with the same interests in women’s transitions as Artemis, the sensibilities of the Greek mythic imagination would have demanded that this situation be tidied up, for however much cult might tolerate a number of divinities sharing the same functions, myth strove to articulate the differences between them, and to impose some clearly defined, recognizable relationship—sister and brother, parent and child, lover and beloved, victimizer and victim. The result was often more than just a matter of tidying up, of course. The less important divinity frequently acquired both a symbolic value in myth, where he or she served as a prototype for others who would interact with the divinity, and a “heroic” role in cult, where he or she was worshipped alongside the stronger divinity." — Johnston, S. I. (1999). Restless dead: encounters between the living and the dead in ancient Greece. p. 245.

[theoihalioistuff]

Schol. T Il. 16. 222a. daidaleēs (cunningly wrought): They used to call intricate works daidala after Daidale, the mother of Metis, by whom Athena was reared.

Eustath. 1056. 53: The daidaleē chest, and generally all things called daidaleia or daidalea or daidala, [derive their name] not only from Daidalos the Cretan, but also, as is shown elsewhere, from the mythical Daidale, the mother of Metis, by whom, they say, Athena was reared.

Etym. M. 250. 56: Daidalos: The proper name of the hero; from [the verb] daiō (meaning "to know/be skilled"), [hence] daialos, the skilled one, which by the doubling of the [letter] d [becomes] daidalos. Or from daiō, [meaning] "to learn"; and daidala, [meaning] intricate works, which come from learning and experience; or from daēnai, things born from instruction. Or from Daidalos, one who decorates his works. Or from Daidale, Athena's grandmother or nurse. And everything created by the virgin [Athena] is attributed to her.

I find this last sentence particularly lovely: anything Athena makes (i.e. anything made beautifully or cleverly) is ultimately credited to the person who raised her, her grandma.

<3

[theoihalioistuff]

Did you not hear she died at sea? I am now sailing over Leukippe’s grave. Perhaps, even now, her shade is circling round the ship. They say the souls of those who die at sea never go down to Hades, but have their hauntings there, about the waters; she might appear to us while we are embracing. (Ach. Tat. 5.16.2)

[libationbearers]

is it controversial to say that some people have too much vitriol when it comes to retellings / adaptations? ‘this is unfaithful to the source material!!!!!’ okay. but if you wanted to read the source material you could have read… the source material? i don’t really think it’s fair to hold every writer/filmmaker/whatever to the standard of ‘holds up when critically examined by an expert in the field’. sometimes things are just. creative endeavours. made for entertainment. not an academic analysis of a text

[littlesparklight]

Obviously, modern engagement with Greek myth isn't going to be very/at all tuned in to ancient Greek cultural ideas or mores, etc. And it doesn't necessarily have to be, either! But, when it comes to desire/love and Aphrodite and Eros' influence, sometimes it seems to me it probably be a good thing if there was more awareness about it.

Not because it's straightforward and/or simple, but given how mired the community is in various ships (divine and mortal, plus divine with mortal) it would probably be helpful.

Since the basic rule is all (absolutely all, no exceptions) desire/love/attraction/what have you, originate from and is sparked in others by Aphrodite and Eros. There is not a single couple (consensual or not) where the spark doesn't come because of/from/by Aphrodite and/or Eros. This is how it is in myth, and this is how it was viewed to be in real life. And as we know, Aphrodite (and Eros) and her power are irresistible.

On the other hand, that "irresistible" has caveats. Not just in the form of Artemis, Hestia and Athena, as the fifth Homeric Hymn tells us, but in the form of that while the desire in itself might be impossible to avoid feeling once struck with it, you can choose to fight it. To (try to) not act upon it. The version of Euripides' Hippolytus that has survived down to us has Phaedra fight the desire Aphrodite has struck her with; as the play starts she's already been resisting for quite a while. (She goes to her death without once giving in.)

Both mortals and gods are thus responsible for their own actions under desire, even if/regardless of as that desire might "veil their wits" and they act in ways they wouldn't if they weren't desiring. (But isn't that how love always works?) Zeus in the fifth Homeric Hymn turns Aphrodite's power on herself, because she's "made him" lie with mortal women. Being that Aphrodite('s power) is "irresistible", do we suddenly decide Zeus isn't responsible for any of his escapades? Yes? No? Why not? Any given mortal punished by Aphrodite striking them with desire is no different from Zeus - by how the Ancient Greek mythical cosmos works, they're all equally helpless, equally responsible.

And if all desire is from Aphrodite and Eros, can we ever know if any given character who is "actively" struck by desire would not have felt it anyway?

[theoihalioistuff]

Hermione's exemption from Charon's ferry-fee.

Plouton fell in love with Persephone and with the help of Zeus carried her off secretly. But Demeter went about seeking her all over the earth with torches by night and day, and learning from the people of Hermione that Plouton had carried her off, she was wroth with the gods and quitted heaven, and came in the likeness of a woman to Eleusis. — Apollodoros 1.5.1 (cf. Zenobios. Cent. 1.7; Schol. Aristoph. Kn. 785)

It is commonly reported that there is a shortcut to the descent to Hades in the land of the Hermionians; and this is why they do not place the ferry-fee in the mouths of their dead. — Strabo 8.6.12.

Porthmeion: the pay of a sailor. Kallimachos [writes]: "therefore even as corpses they do not carry the boat-fare ." For at Aigialos (Sea-shore) there is a way down to Hades, which Demeter came to and learned from the locals about Kore and, as he says, granted them exemption from the boat-fare. — Suda s.v. Πορθμήϊον (Π2072)

Danakēs: this is the name of a foreign coin, worth more than an obol, which they placed in the mouths of the dead. Kallimachos [writes]: “Therefore only in this city corpses do not carry the ferryman's fee, which by custom others carry in their desiccated mouths.” The danakēs is the ferry-fee of the Acherousian ship. Acherousia is a lake in Hades, which the dead cross, and as they do so they give the aforementioned coin to the ferryman. — Et. Gen. AB s.v. δανάκης (Kallimachos F 278 Pfeiffer)

(4) The ob­ject most wor­thy of men­tion is a sanc­tu­ary of Deme­ter on Pron. This sanc­tu­ary is said by the Hermio­ni­ans to have been founded by Kly­menos, son of Phoroneos, and Chtho­nia, sis­ter of Kly­menos. But the Ar­give ac­count is that when Deme­ter came to Ar­go­lis, while Atheras and My­sios af­forded hos­pi­tal­ity to the god­dess, Kolon­tas nei­ther re­ceived her into his home nor paid her any other mark of re­spect. His daugh­ter Chtho­nia dis­ap­proved of this con­duct. They say that Colon­tas was pun­ished by be­ing burnt up along with his house, while Chtho­nia was brought to Hermion by Deme­ter, and made the sanc­tu­ary for the Hermio­ni­ans. (5) At any rate, the god­dess her­self is called Chtho­nia, and Chtho­nia is the name of the fes­ti­val they hold in the sum­mer of every year. The man­ner of it is this ... [there follows an amazing description of the festival] (9) There is also an­other tem­ple, all round which stand stat­ues. This tem­ple is right op­po­site that of Chtho­nia, and is called that of Kly­menos, and they sac­ri­fice to Kly­menos here. I do not be­lieve that Kly­menos was an Ar­give who came to Hermion “Kly­menos” is the sur­name of the god, who­ever leg­end says is king in the un­der­world. (10) Be­side this tem­ple is an­other; it is of Ares, and has an im­age of the god, while to the right of the sanc­tu­ary of Chtho­nia is a por­tico, called by the na­tives the Stoa of Echo. It is such that if a man speaks it re­ver­ber­ates at least three times. Be­hind the tem­ple of Chtho­nia are three places, which the Hermio­ni­ans call that of Kly­menos, that of Plou­ton, and the Acherou­sian Lake. All are sur­rounded by fences of stones, while in the place of Kly­menos there is also a chasm in the earth. Through this, ac­cord­ing to the leg­end of the Hermio­ni­ans, Her­a­kles brought up the hound of Hades. — Paus. 2.35.4-10. Presumably the chasm was also the place where local myth said Demeter was shown the site of Persephone's abduction.

[theoihalioistuff]

Laodike. The name of Odysseus' "war-prize".

We do actually have a name given to Odysseus' enslaved war-prize (mentioned in passing by Agamemnon in Il. 1. 138) in the Scholia ad loc.

Odysseus' prize] He means Laodike, the daughter of Kyknos. Λαοδίκην λέγει τὴν Κύκνου θυγατέρα — Schol. AD Iliad. 1. 138.

Kyknos, king of Kolonai in the south-western Troad, is a well attested figure whose first appearance dates back to the Kypria. Laodike is otherwise unknown (as far as I'm aware), though the scholium proves that she at least became a named character at some point. Perhaps the Laodike mentioned by Pausanias in Polygnotos' painting, who claims to be otherwise unaware of any captive woman by that name (Paus. 10. 26. 7), is not the better-known daughter of Priam as Pausanias assumes, but this Laodike (he also claims to be unfamiliar with several other named captives in 10. 26. 1-2).

[theoihalioistuff]

Are there male childbirth gods in Greek religion?

Hmmm. Not to my knowledge.

Deific domains aren't that cut and dry though, so I wouldn't be too surprised if mentions existed of male deities assisting in childbirth. Maybe medical gods like Asklepios or Paian. Mythologically speaking, Eileithyia, Hera and Artemis are the foremost goddesses concerned with labour, but when it came to cult people mostly interacted with local deities, e.g. someone from Eleusis might propitiate Demeter or someone from Locri Persephone. Childbirth and kourotrophy were also prominent elements in Nymph and Heroine cults.

Apotropaic figures of so-called "paunchy daimones" have been found, mainly in the Heraion of Samos and Rhodes during the 6th century BC, that are thought to derive from images of Bes and Ptah (Pataikos), so it's possible that, like their counterparts, their spheres of influence extended to the care pregnant women and children.

[theoihalioistuff]

There is actually Genethlios/the Genethlioi, Birth-god(s), who are very well attested, and also Amphidromos, "a daimon: as in the birth-spirit (γενέθλιος)" mentioned in Aischylos' Semele (Fr 222) that was connected to the Amphidromia. So I guess there is a plethora of male birth-gods (thought they seem more connected to the notion of birth rather than the actual physical act of labour, but that might be an unnecessary distinction on my part)

[theoihalioistuff]

Just so people know, mullets were named after Hektor:

Σ Lykophron 1133: Ἑκτόρειος κόμη λέγεται ἡ τὰ ὀπίσω καθειμένα ἔχουσα, τὰ δὲ ἔμπροσθε κεκαρμένα. By “Hektor's hairstyle” is meant one with the back let loose, but the front shorn.

For the further intrigued: Austin RG. Hector’s Hair-Style. The Classical Quarterly. 1972; 22(2):1-1.