In
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 ...
, Arethusa (; ) is a minor figure from
Ithaca
Ithaca most commonly refers to:
*Homer's Ithaca, an island featured in Homer's ''Odyssey''
*Ithaca (island), an island in Greece, possibly Homer's Ithaca
*Ithaca, New York, a city, and home of Cornell University and Ithaca College
Ithaca, Ithaka ...
who kills herself and has a fountain bear her name. Her story survives in scholia on
Homer
Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
's epic poem the ''
Odyssey
The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...
''.
Family
Arethusa was a woman from the island of
Ithaca
Ithaca most commonly refers to:
*Homer's Ithaca, an island featured in Homer's ''Odyssey''
*Ithaca (island), an island in Greece, possibly Homer's Ithaca
*Ithaca, New York, a city, and home of Cornell University and Ithaca College
Ithaca, Ithaka ...
; other than a son, no other family or lineage of hers is preserved. It is unknown whether she was a free woman or a slave.
Mythology
According to an anonymous scholiast on
Homer
Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
, Arethusa had a son named
Corax (meaning "raven") who was a hunter. One day while hunting a hare, Corax did not notice where the hunt was taking him, so he accidentally fell off a cliff and died. Out of grief for losing her son, the inconsolable Arethusa took her life by hanging next to a fountain near the spot where Corax died. The spring was then called Arethusa after her, while the rock itself took the name of the dead son thereafter.
In the ''
Odyssey
The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...
'', after returning home following a long ten-year long journey following the end of the
Trojan War
The Trojan War was a legendary conflict in Greek mythology that took place around the twelfth or thirteenth century BC. The war was waged by the Achaeans (Homer), Achaeans (Ancient Greece, Greeks) against the city of Troy after Paris (mytho ...
and the sacking of the city of
Troy
Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...
, the disguised king
Odysseus
In Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology, Odysseus ( ; , ), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses ( , ; ), is a legendary Greeks, Greek king of Homeric Ithaca, Ithaca and the hero of Homer's Epic poetry, epic poem, the ''Odyssey''. Od ...
finds his slave
Eumaeus
In Greek mythology, Eumaeus (; Ancient Greek: Εὔμαιος ''Eumaios'' meaning 'searching well') was Odysseus' slave, swineherd, and friend. His father, Ctesius, son of Ormenus, was king of an island called Syra (present-day Syros in the Gree ...
tending the swine which graze next to the rock of Corax and the fountain of Arethusa.
Location
Arethusa was a very common name for springs in antiquity, and several others all over Greece bore the same name as the spring in Ithaca. Today, a spring with the same name in
Pera Pigadi on Ithaca can be potentially identified with the mythological one, but much of this is speculative.
See also
*
Hyria
*
Pirene
*
Arethusa (Boeotia)
In Greek mythology, Arethusa (; ) is a minor figure who became a lover of the sea-god Poseidon, before undergoing a transformation at the hands of Hera during a lost episode of Greek myth. She then became the spring of the same name in Chalcis.
...
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
* {{cite book , title = Classical Manual, first = Alexander , last = Pope , date = 1827 , location = London, UK , publisher = A. J. Vaipy, M.A. , url = https://books.google.com/books?id=3bsOAwAAQBAJ
*
Stephanus of Byzantium
Stephanus or Stephen of Byzantium (; , ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD) was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethnica'' (). Only meagre fragments of the dictionary survive, but the epit ...
, ''Ethnica'', edited by August Meineike (1790–1870), published 1849
Online text available at Topos Text.
Women in Greek mythology
Suicides in Greek mythology
Characters in the Odyssey
Mythological Ithacans