Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...
Antoninus Liberalis
Antoninus Liberalis () was an Ancient Greek grammarian who probably flourished between the second and third centuries AD. He is known as the author of ''The Metamorphoses'', a collection of tales that offers new variants of already familiar myths ...
Gaia
In Greek mythology, Gaia (; , a poetic form of ('), meaning 'land' or 'earth'),, , . also spelled Gaea (), is the personification of Earth. Gaia is the ancestral mother—sometimes parthenogenic—of all life. She is the mother of Uranus (S ...
, who rewarded them with all kinds of goods. However, they were quite impious towards other gods and never participated in religious festivals. Agron was especially disrespectful towards
Athena
Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...
,
Artemis
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Artemis (; ) is the goddess of the hunting, hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, transitions, nature, vegetation, childbirth, Kourotrophos, care of children, and chastity. In later tim ...
and
Hermes
Hermes (; ) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology considered the herald of the gods. He is also widely considered the protector of human heralds, travelers, thieves, merchants, and orators. He is able to move quic ...
, and whenever someone invited him or his sisters to take part in a ritual in honor of one of these gods, he would decline the invitation and scorn the deities.
Eventually, the three gods paid Agron a visit at night, Hermes being disguised as a shepherd, and Athena and Artemis as country maidens. Hermes invited Eumelus and Agron to a ritual feast in honor of himself, and suggested that they send Byssa and Meropis to the sacred grove of Athena and Artemis where other girls were gathering. On hearing this, Meropis began to ridicule the name of Athena, for which the goddess changed her into an owl. Byssa was transformed into a bird known as "''byssa''", sacred to
Leucothea
In Greek mythology, Leucothea (; ), sometimes also called Leucothoe (), was a Water deity, sea goddess. Myths surrounding Leucothea typically concern her original identity, either as Ino (Greek mythology), Ino or Halia of Rhodes, Halia, and her t ...
, and Agron was changed by Hermes into a
plover
Plovers ( , ) are members of a widely distributed group of wader, wading birds of subfamily Charadriinae. The term "plover" applies to all the members of the subfamily, though only about half of them include it in their name.
Species lis ...
. Eumelus began to scold Hermes for doing this to his son and got changed into a night raven, the bird which was believed to announce trouble.
Note
References
*
Antoninus Liberalis
Antoninus Liberalis () was an Ancient Greek grammarian who probably flourished between the second and third centuries AD. He is known as the author of ''The Metamorphoses'', a collection of tales that offers new variants of already familiar myths ...