Echo (Greek)

Echo

In Greek mythology, Echo (Greek: Ἠχώ, Ēkhō; "Sound") was an Oread (a mountain nymph) who loved her own voice. Zeus loved consorting with beautiful nymphs and visited them on Earth often. Eventually, Zeus's wife, Hera, became suspicious, and came from Mt. Olympus in an attempt to catch Zeus with the nymphs.

Zeus, the King of the Olympians, was known for his many love affairs. Sometimes the young and beautiful nymph Echo would distract and amuse his wife Hera with long and entertaining stories, while Zeus took advantage of the moment to ravish the other mountain nymphs. When Hera discovered the trickery she punished the talkative Echo by taking away her voice, except in foolish repetition of another's shouted words. Thus, all Echo could do was repeat the voice of another.

Echo fell in love with a vain youth named Narcissus, who was the son of the blue Nymph Liriope of Thespia. The river god Cephisus had once encircled Liriope with the windings of his streams, trapping her, and seduced the nymph. Concerned about her infant son's future, Liriope consulted the seer Teiresias. Teiresias told the nymph that Narcissus "would live to a ripe old age, as long as he never knew himself."

One day when Narcissus was out hunting stags, Echo stealthily followed the handsome youth through the woods, longing to address him but unable to speak first. When Narcissus finally heard footsteps and shouted "Who's there?", Echo answered "Who's there?" And so it went, until finally Echo showed herself and rushed to embrace the lovely youth. He pulled away from the nymph and vainly told her to leave him alone. Narcissus left Echo heartbroken, and she spent the rest of her life in lonely glens pining away for the love she never knew, crying until all that was left was her voice. However, in other versions Echo cries until she is stone and an invisible Echo (probably her ghost/spirit) haunts the Earth.

Ovid's version[1] of the tale states that a girl who had also fallen in love with Narcissus made a prayer to the gods, asking that Narcissus suffer from an unrequited lust just as he had done to others. The prayer was answered by the goddess Nemesis - (she who ruins the proud), makes him fall in love with his own reflection so he stares at himself in the river (as he thinks it is a beautiful person underwater) until he turns pale and eventually dies.

Alternatively, Echo was a nymph who was a great singer and dancer and scorned the love of any man. This angered Pan, a lecherous god, and he instructed his followers to kill her. Echo was torn to pieces and spread all over the Earth. The goddess of the earth, Gaia, received the pieces of Echo, whose voice remains repeating the last words of others. In some versions, Echo and Pan had two children: Iambe and Iynx.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echo_(mythology)

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Nymphs | Greek mythology | Oreads

Daphne (Greek)

Daphne

Alternatvie Names:
Δάφνη, Daphnē, 다프네

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According to Greek myth, Apollo chased the nymph Daphne (Greek: Δάφνη, meaning "laurel"), daughter either of Peneus and Creusa in Thessaly, or of the river Ladon in Arcadia. The pursuit of a local nymph by an Olympian god, part of the archaic adjustment of religious cult in Greece, was given an arch anecdotal turn in Ovid's Metamorphoses, where the god's infatuation was caused by an arrow from Eros, who wanted to make Apollo pay for making fun of his archery skills and to demonstrate the power of love's arrow. Ovid treats the encounter, Apollo's lapse of majesty, in the mode of elegiac lovers, and expands the pursuit into a series of speeches. According to the rendering Daphne prays for help either to the river god Peneus or to Gaia, and is transformed into a laurel (Laurus nobilis): "a heavy numbness seized her limbs, thin bark closed over her breast, her hair turned into leaves, her arms into branches, her feet so swift a moment ago stuck fast in slow-growing roots, her face was lost in the canopy. Only her shining beauty was left." "Why should she wish to escape? Because she is Artemis Daphnaia, the god's sister," observed the Freudian anthropologist Géza Róheim, and Joseph Fontenrose concurs; baldly stating such a one-to-one identity doubtless oversimplifies the picture: "the equation of Artemis and Daphne in the transformation myth itself clearly cannot work", observes Lightfoot. The laurel became sacred to Apollo, and crowned the victors at the Pythian Games. Most artistic impressions of the myth focus on the moment of transformation.

A version of the attempt on Daphne's sworn virginity that has been less familiar since the Renaissance was narrated by the Hellenistic poet Parthenius, in his Erotica Pathemata, "The Sorrows of Love". Parthenius' tale, based on the Hellenistic historian Phylarchus, was known to Pausanias, who recounted it in his Description of Greece (second century AD). In this, which is the earliest written account, Daphne is a mortal girl fond of hunting and determined to remain a virgin; she is pursued by the lad Leucippos ("white stallion"), who assumes girl's outfits in order to join her band of huntresses. He is so successful in gaining her innocent affection, that Apollo is jealous and puts it into the girl's mind to stop to bathe in the river Ladon; there, as all strip naked, the ruse is revealed, as in the myth of Callisto, and the huntresses plunge their spears into Leucippos. At this moment Apollo's attention becomes engaged, and he begins his own pursuit; Parthenius' modern editor remarks on the rather awkward transition, linking two narratives.

A famous rendition of the subject is Gian Lorenzo Bernini's sculpture Apollo and Daphne. In music, the German composer Richard Strauss composed a one-act opera about the legend based on accounts by both Ovid and Euripides.

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Artemis Daphnaia

Artemis Daphnaia, who had her temple among the Lacedemonians, at a place called Hypsoi in Antiquity, on the slopes of Mount Cnacadion near the Spartan frontier, had her own sacred laurel trees.

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Temple of Apollo Daphnephoros, Eretria

At Eretria the identity of an excavated 7th and 6th century temple to Apollo Daphnephoros, "Apollo, laurel-bearer", or "carrying off Daphne", a "place where the citizens are to take the oath", is identified in inscriptions.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daphne
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Daphne_(mythology)

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Dryads | Greek mythology | Metamorphoses in Greek mythology | Nymphs | Shapeshifting | Trees in mythology

Circe (Greek)

Circe

In Greek mythology, Circe (pronounced /ˈsɜrsiː/; Greek Κίρκη Kírkē "falcon") is a minor goddess of magic (or sometimes a nymph, witch, enchantress or sorceress) living on the island of Aeaea.

Circe's father was Helios (or Helius), the god of the sun and the owner of the land where Odysseus' men ate cattle, and her mother was Perse, an Oceanid. She was sister of two kings of Colchis, Æëtes and Perses, and of Pasiphaë, mother of the Minotaur. Circe transformed her enemies, or those who offended her, into animals through the use of magical potions. She was renowned for her knowledge of drugs and herbs.

That Circe also purified the Argonauts for the death of Apsyrtus, as related in Argonautica[1] may reflect early tradition

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circe
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Circe

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Characters in the Odyssey | Greek mythology | Shapeshifting | Greek goddesses | Magic goddesses | Nymphs | Offspring of Helios | Greek mythological witches

Chloris (Greek)

Chloris

There are many stories in Greek mythology about figures named Chloris ("Khloris" or Χλωρίς, from "Khloros" or χλωρός, meaning "greenish-yellow," "pale green," "pale," "pallid" or "fresh"). Some clearly refer to different characters; other stories may refer to the same Chloris, but disagree on details.

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Chloris (Nymph)

Chloris was a Nymph associated with spring, flowers and new growth. Her Roman equivalent was the goddess Flora. She was abducted by (and later married) Zephyr, the god of the west wind.

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Chloris (Meliboea)

Meliboea was one of Niobe and Amphion's fourteen children (the Niobids), and the only one (or one of two) spared when Artemis and Apollo killed the Niobids in retribution for Niobe's insult to their mother Leto, bragging that she had many children and Leto had only two. Meliboea was so frightened by the ordeal, she turned permanently pale, changing her name to Chloris ("pale one"). This Chloris is referred to in Homer's Odyssey (book 11, lines 281-296).

She was later to marry to Neleus and become queen in Pylos. They had several sons including Nestor, Alastor and Chromius and a daughter Pero. Chloris also had a son, Poriclymenus while married to Neleus, though by some accounts Poriclymenus's father was Poseidon (who was himself Neleus's father). Poseidon gave Poriclymenus the ability to transform into any animal. Other children include Taurus, Asterius, Pylaon, Deimachus, Eurybius, Phrasius, Eurymenes, Evagoras and Epilaus.[citation needed]Odysseus is said to have encountered Chloris on his journey to Hades (Homer's Odyssey, 11, 281).

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Chloris (Mother of Mopsus)

Chloris married the seer Ampyx (son of Elatus), with whom she had a child Mopsus who also became a renowned seer and would later join the Argonauts.

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Etymology

The word Chloris is from the Greek Khloros meaning "greenish-yellow," "pale green," "pale," "pallid" or "fresh." Words in modern English derived from this root include:
The name Chloe - a Greek name meaning "green shoot"; another name for Demeter, Greek goddess of agriculture.
Chlorophyll - a green pigment involved in photosynthesis in plants.
Chlorine - a chemical element that as a gas is greenish-yellow in color.
Chlorella - a species of single-celled green algae, used as a source of protein and B vitamins.
Chlorosis - an antiquated term for anemia characterized by a green color to the skin, also known as "greensickness", which would probably be called iron deficiency anemia today.
Chlorosis, in botany is a condition in which plant foliage produces insufficient chlorophyll.

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Greek mythology | Mortal parents of demigods in Classical mythology | Poaceae genera

Calypso (Greek)

Calypso

Calypso (Greek: Καλυψώ Kalypsō) was a sea goddess in Greek mythology. She was the daughter of the Titan Atlas, and is also known as Atlantis (Ατλαντίς[1]) in ancient Greek. Her mother was Tethys. Calypso was confined to the island of Ogygia for supporting her father and the Titans during the Titanomachy.

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Name

The origins of Calypso's name are uncertain. Καλύπτειν (kalyptein, "to cover", from which apocalypse is also derived) suggests that Calypso may originally have been a death goddess. The spelling of Calypso music reflects a later folk-etymological assimilation with the mythological name and is not otherwise related to the goddess.

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Role in the Odyssey

Calypso is remembered most for her role in Homer's Odyssey, in which she imprisons the fabled Greek hero Odysseus on her island in order to make him her immortal husband. Calypso kept Odysseus hostage at Ogygia for seven years. Odysseus, however, wants to return home to his beloved wife Penelope. His patron goddess Athena asks Zeus to order the release of Odysseus from the island, and Zeus sends Hermes to tell Calypso to set Odysseus free.

According to Hesiod, Calypso bore Odysseus two children, Nausithous and Nausinous.

The island of Gozo in the Maltese archipelago has a long tradition that links it with the mythical figure of Calypso.

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Other Appearances

Calypso appears in the "Percy Jackson & the Olympians" series in the fourth book The Battle of the Labyrinth, in which Percy washes up on Ogygia's shore and is cared for by Calypso. Initially, Calypso doesn't want to tell Percy that he has a choice between staying with her and being immortal, or, go and save his friends, but reluctantly does. However, although Percy cares about Calypso he leaves, but claims that she would always be his biggest "what if". In the fifth book "The Last Olympian" Percy wishes that all demigods be claimed and that "friendly titans", such as Calypso, ought to be released.

Calypso also appears in the earth-bound human form of an Obeah witch called Tia Dalma in the film Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calypso_(mythology)

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Characters in the Odyssey | Greek mythology | Greek goddesses | Nymphs | Nereids | Sea and river goddesses

Nymphs (Greek)

Nymphs

Alternative names:
Νύμφη, 님프

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In Greek mythology, a nymph is any member of a large class of female nature entities, either bound to a particular location or landform or joining the retinue of a god, such as Dionysus, Hermes, or Pan, or a goddess, generally Artemis, Nymphs were the frequent target of lusty satyrs. Nymphs live in mountains and groves, by springs and rivers, and in valleys and cool grottoes.

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Wikimedia Category: Nymphs

Eurydice

Christian Gottlieb Kratzenstein, Orpheus and Eurydice, 1806, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen

Eurydice

Eurydice ( /jʊˈrɪdɨsiː/; Εὐρυδίκη, Eurudikē) in Greek mythology, was an oak nymph or one of the daughters of Apollo (the god of light). She was the wife of Orpheus, who loved her dearly; on their wedding day, he played joyful songs as his bride danced through the meadow. One day, a satyr saw and pursued Eurydice, who stepped on a venomous snake, dying instantly. Distraught, Orpheus played and sang so mournfully that all the nymphs and gods wept and told him to travel to the Underworld and retrieve her, which he gladly did. After his music softened the hearts of Hades and Persephone, his singing so sweet that even the Erinyes wept, he was allowed to take her back to the world of the living. In another version, Orpheus played his lyre to put Cerberus, the guardian of Hades, to sleep, after which Eurydice was allowed to return with Orpheus to the world of the living. Either way, the condition was attached that he must walk in front of her and not look back until both had reached the upper world. However, soon he began to doubt that she was there and that Hades had deceived him. Just as they reached the portals of Hades and daylight, he turned around to gaze on her face, and Eurydice vanished back into the Underworld. When Orpheus was later killed by the Maenads on Dionysus' orders, his soul ended up in the Underworld where he was reunited with Eurydice.

The story in this form belongs to the time of Virgil, who first introduces the name of Aristaeus and the tragic outcome. Other ancient writers, however, speak of Orpheus' visit to the underworld in a more negative light; according to Phaedrus in Plato's Symposium, the infernal gods only "presented an apparition" of Eurydice to him. Ovid says that Eurydice's death was not caused by fleeing from Aristaeus but by dancing with naiads on her wedding day. In fact, Plato's representation of Orpheus is that of a coward; instead of choosing to die in order to be with the one he loved, he instead mocked the gods by trying to go to Hades and get her back alive. Since his love was not "true" — meaning he was not willing to die for it — he was actually punished by the gods,[citation needed] first by giving him only the apparition of his former wife in the underworld, and then by being killed by women.

The story of Eurydice may actually be a late addition to the Orpheus myths. In particular, the name Eurudike ("she whose justice extends widely") recalls cult-titles attached to Persephone. The myth may have been derived from another Orpheus legend in which he travels to Tartarus and charms the goddess Hecate.

The story of Eurydice has strong parallels to the Japanese myth of Izanami, as well as to the Mayan myth of Itzamna and Ix Chel, the Indian myth of Savitri and Satyavan, the Akkadian/Sumerian myth of Inanna's descent to the underworld, and the Biblical story of Lot and his wife.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurydice