Misplaced Pages

#211788

45-475: Glaucus's parentage is different in the different traditions: (i) Nereus ; (ii) Copeus ; (iii) Polybus , son of Hermes , and Euboea , daughter of Larymnus ; (iv) Anthedon and Alcyone ; or Poseidon and the nymph Naïs . The story of Glaucus's apotheosis was dealt with in detail by Ovid in Metamorphoses and briefly referenced by many other authors. According to Ovid, Glaucus began his life as

90-619: A Pre-Greek (pre-Indo-European) origin, as is suggested by the suffix ‑εύς ,   ‑eús . Another view is that of Apostolos Athanassakis (1983), who suggested an Illyrian origin for the name, and compared it to the Albanian word njeri ' man ' . According to August Fick (1890), the closest Indo-European relative of Nereus, as well as the Nereids, is the Lithuanian verb nérti ' to dive ' ; also,

135-410: A deal with Augeias, Heracles proposed a payment of a tenth of Augeias' cattle if the labour was completed successfully. Not believing the task feasible, Augeias agreed, asking his son Phyleus to witness. Heracles rerouted two nearby rivers ( Alpheis and Peneios ) through the stable, clearing out the dung rapidly. When Augeias learned of Heracles' bargain for the task, he refused payment. Heracles brought

180-504: A derivation from Ἔρις Eris ' Discord ' with the negative prefix νη‑ ne‑ added to it; namely Ne-Eris ' Not-Discord ' , which evolved to Νηρεύς (< νη-ερ(ι)-ευς ). Furthermore, Hesiod also played with the verbal likeness between Nereus and his last daughter Νημερτής Nemertes ' Unerring ' , whose name also bears the negative prefix νη‑ . Another possible etymology could be from νηρόν , nerón ' (fresh) water or fish ' , which

225-571: A field by his home. For his sixth labour, Heracles had to drive the Stymphalian Birds off the marshes they plagued. He did so, shooting down several birds with his Hydra-poisoned arrows and bringing them back to Eurystheus as proof. For his seventh labour, Heracles captured the Cretan Bull . He used a lasso and rode it back to his cousin. Eurystheus offered to sacrifice the bull to Hera his patron, who hated Heracles. She refused

270-545: A mortal fisherman living in the Boeotian city of Anthedon . He found a magical herb which could bring the fish he caught back to life, and decided to try eating it. The herb made him immortal, but also caused him to grow fins instead of arms and a fish's tail instead of legs (though some versions say he simply became a merman -like being), forcing him to dwell forever in the sea. Glaucus was initially upset by this side-effect, but Oceanus and Tethys received him well and he

315-783: A naval battle between the Argonauts and the Etruscans , he fell into the sea and by the will of Zeus became a sea god. Alexander of Aetolia , cited in Athenaeus, related that the magical herb grew on the island Thrinacia sacred to Helios and served as a remedy against fatigue for the sun god's horses. Aeschrion of Samos informed that it was known as the "dog's-tooth" and was believed to have been sown by Cronus . Athenaeus, referring to Aristotle 's non-extant Constitution of Delos , related that Glaucus settled in Delos together with

360-488: A result did not count towards the ten labours set for him. Eurystheus' third task did not involve killing a beast, but capturing one alive—the Ceryneian Hind , a golden-horned hind or doe sacred to Artemis . Heracles knew that he had to return the hind, as he had promised, to Artemis, so he agreed to hand it over on the condition that Eurystheus himself come out and take it from him. Eurystheus did come out, but

405-411: A spring and rubbed it with a bunch of grass that was growing about. The herb brought the hare back to life. Glaucus then tasted it himself and fell into a state of "divine madness", in which state Zeus made him fling himself into the stormy sea. Athenaeus also informs that in yet another version followed by Possis of Magnesia, Glaucus (rather than Argus ) was the builder and the pilot of Argo . During

450-461: A staff of authority. He was also shown in scenes depicting the flight of the Nereides as Peleus wrestled their sister Thetis. In Aelian 's natural history, written in the early third century, Nereus was also the father of a watery consort of Aphrodite and lover of Poseidon named Nerites who was transformed into "a shellfish with a spiral shell, small in size but of surpassing beauty." Nereus

495-411: A terrible monster with twelve feet and six heads. Euanthes and Theolytus of Methymna also recorded an affair between Glaucus and Ariadne : according to Athenaeus who cites these authors, Glaucus seduced Ariadne as she was abandoned by Theseus on Dia ( Naxos ). Dionysus then fought Glaucus over Ariadne and overpowered him, binding his hands and feet with grape vines; he, however, released Glaucus when

SECTION 10

#1732776411212

540-557: Is a contraction of the Greek adjective νεαρός , nearós ' new, fresh, young ' . It is commonly believed that the contraction of νεαρός to νηρός happened later than Hesiod; however, the contraction of ε and α to η is quite old, and is widespread over many Greek dialects. The name could also be related to the Hesychian glosses νηρίδας ' hollow rocks ' or νηρόν ' low-lying ' . Robert S. P. Beekes (2010) favors

585-409: Is much less important than his daughters, mentioning that Herodotus offered "the Nereids, not Nereus, as an example of a divine name not derived from Egypt". In Hesiod's Theogony , which is where the name was first attested, Nereus is presented in immediate juxtaposition to Eris ; something that also extends to their children. First of all, there exists a feminine-masculine opposition. Also, Eris

630-617: Is not known whether the name Nereus was known to Homer or not, but the name of the Nereids is attested before it, and can be found in the Iliad. Since Nereus only has relevance as the father of the Nereids, it has been suggested that his name could actually be derived from that of his daughters; while the derivation of the Nereids from Nereus, as a patronymic, has also been suggested. According to Martin Litchfield West (1966), Nereus

675-420: Is the oldest and most important child of Nyx , while Nereus is Pontus 's oldest and most important son. Another example is Hesiod's choice of verbs and adjectives used to describe Nereus in juxtaposition to Eris's children; such as ἀ-ψευδέα ' does-not-lie ' and ἀ-ληθέα ' does-not-forget ' , as opposed to Ψευδέα ' Lies ' and Λήθη ' Forgetfulness ' . This has prompted scholars to propose

720-547: The Argolid , although other authors including Homer and Euripides cast him as ruler of Argos . Eurystheus was the son of King Sthenelus and Nicippe (also called Antibia or Archippe ), and he was a grandson of the hero Perseus . His sisters were Alcyone and Medusa ( Astymedusa ). Eurystheus married Antimache , daughter of Amphidamas of Arcadia . Their children were Admete , Alexander , Eurybius , Mentor , Perimedes , Iphimedon , and Eurypylus . In

765-508: The Nereids and would give prophecies to whoever asked for them. He also mentions, this time with reference to Nicander, that Apollo was believed to have learned the art of prophecy from Glaucus. An encounter of Glaucus with the Argonauts was described by Diodorus Siculus and Philostratus the Elder . When the Argonauts were caught in a storm, Orpheus addressed the Cabeiroi with prayer;

810-561: The Old Man of the Sea is the father of Nereids, though Nereus is not directly named. He was never more manifestly the Old Man of the Sea than when he was described, like Proteus , as a shapeshifter with the power of prophecy, who would aid heroes such as Heracles who managed to catch him even as he changed shapes. Nereus and Proteus (the "first") seem to be two manifestations of the god of

855-545: The Twelve Labors imposed on Heracles by Eurystheus. The immediate necessity for the Labours of Heracles is as penance for Heracles' murder of his own family, in a fit of madness, which had been sent by Hera; however, further human rather than mythic motivation is supplied by mythographers who note that their respective families had been rivals for the throne of Mycenae . Details of the individual episodes may be found in

900-516: The Lithuanian noun nėrõvė ' mermaid ' has been associated with the Nereids. Papachristophorou (1998) supported a derivation from the aforementioned Lithuanian verb, citing Pierre Chantraine (1968), while Tsantsanoglou (2015) considered the relation plausible. The name of the Nereids has survived in modern Greek folklore as νεράιδες , neráides ' fairies ' . In the Iliad ,

945-459: The article on the Labours of Heracles , but Hera was connected with all of the opponents Heracles had to overcome. Heracles' human stepfather Amphitryon was also a grandson of Perseus, and since Amphitryon's father ( Alcaeus ) was older than Eurystheus' father ( Sthenelus ), he might have received the kingdom, but Sthenelus had banished Amphitryon for accidentally killing (a familiar mytheme )

SECTION 20

#1732776411212

990-621: The belt of Hippolyte , queen of the Amazons , was Heracles' ninth task. This task was at the request of Eurystheus' daughter, Admete. For the tenth labour, he stole the cattle of the giant Geryon , which Eurystheus then sacrificed to Hera. To extend what may have once been ten Labours to the canonical dozen, it was said that Eurystheus didn't count the Hydra, as he was assisted, nor the Augean stables, as Heracles received payment for his work. For

1035-416: The case to court, and Phyleus testified against his father. Enraged, Augeias banished both Phyleus and Heracles from the land before the court had cast their vote. However, Eurystheus refused to credit the labour to Heracles, as he had performed it for payment. So Heracles went and drove Augeias out of the kingdom and installed Phyleus as king. Heracles then took his tenth of the cattle and left them to graze in

1080-456: The combination of ἅλιος γέρων and Πρωτεύς ' Proteus ' . Besides Nereus and Proteus, the descriptive "Old Man of the Sea" was also used for other water deities in Greek mythology , who share several traits; such as Phorcys , Glaucus , and perhaps Triton . It is suggested that the "Old Man of the Sea" had at one time played a cosmogonic role comparable to that of Oceanus , and could have received different names in different places. It

1125-508: The contest of wills between Hera and Zeus over whose candidate would be hero , fated to defeat the remaining creatures representing an old order and bring about the reign of the Twelve Olympians , Eurystheus was Hera's candidate and Heracles —though his name implies that at one archaic stage of myth-making he had carried "Hera's fame"—was the candidate of Zeus. The arena for the actions that would bring about this deep change are

1170-471: The dog with him. After Heracles died, Eurystheus remained bitter over the indignity the hero had caused him. He attempted to destroy Heracles' many children (the Heracleidae , led by Hyllus ), who fled to Athens . He attacked the city but was soundly defeated, and Eurystheus and his sons were killed. Though it is widely told that Hyllus killed Eurystheus, the stories about the killer of Eurystheus and

1215-477: The eldest son in the family ( Electryon ). When, shortly before his son Heracles was born, Zeus proclaimed the next-born descendant of Perseus should get the kingdom, Hera thwarted his ambitions by delaying Alcmene 's labour and having her candidate Eurystheus born prematurely at seven months. Heracles' first task was to slay the Nemean Lion and bring back its skin, which Heracles decided to wear. Eurystheus

1260-706: The eleventh labour, Heracles had to obtain the Apples of the Hesperides ; he convinced their father, the Titan Atlas , to help him, but did his share of work by temporarily holding up the sky in the Titan's stead. For his final labour, he was to capture Cerberus , the three-headed hound that guarded the entrance to Hades . When he managed to bring the struggling animal back, the terrified Eurystheus hid in his jar one more time, begging Heracles to leave for good and take

1305-525: The fate of his corpse vary, but the Athenians believed the burial site of Eurystheus remained on their soil and served to protect the country against the descendants of Heracles, who traditionally included the Spartans and Argives . After Eurystheus' death, the brothers Atreus and Thyestes , whom he had left in charge during his absence, took over the city, the former exiling the latter and assuming

1350-557: The kingship, while Tiryns returned to the kingship of Argos . Eurystheus was a character in Heracleidae , a play by Euripides . Macaria , one of the daughters of Heracles , and her brothers and sisters hid from Eurystheus in Athens , which was ruled by King Demophon . As Eurystheus prepared to attack, an oracle told Demophon that he would win if and only if a noble woman was sacrificed to Persephone . Macaria volunteered for

1395-496: The latter disclosed his own name and origin. According to Mnaseas , cited by Athenaeus in his Deipnosophistae , Glaucus named the island of Syme after his wife , when they settled the island; according to Aeschrion of Samos, Glaucus was the lover of the semi-historical Hydne . Glaucus was reported to have had male lovers as well: Nicander in Europia mentioned Nereus as one, while Hedylus of Samos (or Athens) wrote that it

Glaucus - Misplaced Pages Continue

1440-481: The moment Heracles let the hind go, she sprinted back to her mistress, and Heracles departed, saying that Eurystheus had not been quick enough. When Heracles returned with the Erymanthian Boar , Eurystheus was again frightened and hid in his jar, begging Heracles to get rid of the beast; Heracles obliged. The fifth labour proposed by Eurystheus was to clear out the numerous stables of Augeias . Striking

1485-423: The point when Telamon quarreled with Jason over Heracles and Polyphemus being left behind on the coast of Bithynia where Hylas had been lost. Glaucus reconciled the two by letting them know that it had been ordained for Heracles to return to Eurystheus 's court and complete his Twelve Labours , and for Polyphemus to found Cius , while Hylas had been abducted by a nymph and married her. Cf. also above for

1530-585: The sacrifice because it reflected glory on Heracles. The bull was released and wandered to Marathon, becoming known as the Marathonian Bull . When Heracles brought back the man-eating Mares of Diomedes successfully, Eurystheus dedicated the horses to Hera and allowed them to roam freely in the Argolid. Bucephalus , Alexander the Great 's horse, was said to be descended from these mares. To acquire

1575-510: The sea who was supplanted by Poseidon when Zeus overthrew Cronus . The earliest poet to link Nereus with the labours of Heracles was Pherekydes , according to a scholion on Apollonius of Rhodes . During the course of the 5th century BC, Nereus was gradually replaced by Triton , who does not appear in Homer, in the imagery of the struggle between Heracles and the sea-god who had to be restrained in order to deliver his information that

1620-468: The version that made Glaucus an Argonaut himself. In Euripides 's play Orestes , Glaucus appeared in front of Menelaus on the latter's voyage home, announcing to him the death of his brother Agamemnon by the hand of Clytaemnestra . According to Ovid and Hyginus , Glaucus fell in love with the beautiful nymph Scylla and wanted her for his wife, but she was appalled by his fish-like features and fled onto land when he tried to approach her. He asked

1665-529: The waves." Nereus was known for his truthfulness and virtue: But Pontos, the great sea, was father of truthful Nereus who tells no lies, eldest of his sons. They call him the Old Gentleman because he is trustworthy, and gentle, and never forgetful of what is right, but the thoughts of his mind are mild and righteous. The Attic vase-painters showed the draped torso of Nereus issuing from a long coiling scaly fishlike tail. Bearded Nereus generally wields

1710-573: The wind ceased, and Glaucus appeared. He followed the Argo for two days and prophesied to Heracles and the Dioscuri their future adventures and eventual deification. He addressed other members of the crew individually as well, especially noting that he was sent to them thanks to Orpheus's prayer, and instructing them to further pray to the Cabeiroi. In Apollonius Rhodius 's version, Glaucus appeared at

1755-446: The witch Circe for a potion to make Scylla fall in love with him, but Circe fell in love with him instead. She tried to win his heart with her most passionate and loving words, telling him to scorn Scylla and stay with her. But he replied that trees would grow on the ocean floor and seaweed would grow on the highest mountain before he would stop loving Scylla. In her anger, Circe poisoned the pool where Scylla bathed, transforming her into

1800-478: Was employed by the vase-painters, independent of any literary testimony. In a late appearance, according to a fragmentary papyrus , Alexander the Great paused at the Syrian seashore before the climacteric battle of Issus (333 BC), and resorted to prayers, "calling on Thetis , Nereus and the Nereids, nymphs of the sea, and invoking Poseidon the sea-god, for whom he ordered a four-horse chariot to be cast into

1845-408: Was father to Thetis , one of the Nereids, who in turn was mother to the great Greek hero Achilles , and Amphitrite , who married Poseidon . Eurystheus In Greek mythology , Eurystheus ( / j ʊəˈr ɪ s θ i ə s / ; ‹See Tfd› Greek : Εὐρυσθεύς , lit.  "broad strength", IPA: [eu̯rystʰěu̯s] ) was king of Tiryns , one of three Mycenaean strongholds in

Glaucus - Misplaced Pages Continue

1890-639: Was out of love for Melicertes that Glaucus threw himself into the sea. Yet according to Nicanor of Cyrene 's Change of Names , Glaucus and the deified Melicertes were one and the same. It is not known if Glaucus had any children, but Pausanias mentions Glaucus of Carystus as an alleged descendant of Glaucus the sea god. Virgil seems to indicate the Cumaean Sibyl , Deiphobe, as a daughter of Glaucus. Nereus In Greek mythology , Nereus ( / ˈ n ɪər i ə s / NEER -ee-əs ; Ancient Greek : Νηρεύς , romanized :  Nēreús )

1935-460: Was quickly accepted among the deities of the sea, learning from them the art of prophecy . John Tzetzes adds to the above story that Glaucus became "immortal, but not immune to aging". In an alternate, non-extant version cited in Athenaeus (with reference to Nicander 's Aetolian History ), Glaucus chased a hare on Mount Oreia until the animal fell down almost dead, then carried his prey to

1980-496: Was so scared by Heracles' fearsome guise that he hid in a subterranean bronze winejar , and from that moment forth all labors were communicated to Heracles through a herald , Copreus . For his second labour, to slay the Lernaean Hydra , Heracles took with him his nephew, Iolaus , as a charioteer. When Eurystheus found out that Heracles' nephew had helped him he declared that the labour had not been completed alone and as

2025-674: Was the eldest son of Pontus (the Sea ) and Gaia ( the Earth ), with Pontus himself being a son of Gaia. Nereus and Doris became the parents of 50 daughters (the Nereids ) and a son ( Nerites ), with whom Nereus lived in the Aegean Sea . The name Nereus is absent from Homer 's epics; the god's name in the Iliad is the descriptive ἅλιος γέρων ' Old Man of the Sea ' , and in the Odyssey

#211788