Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...

, Pero (; grc, Πηρώ) was a princess of Pylos.

Family

Pero was the daughter of King Neleus and Chloris, daughter of the Minyan king

Amphion There are several characters named Amphion in Greek mythology: * Amphion, son of Zeus and Antiope, and twin brother of Zethus (see Amphion and Zethus). Together, they are famous for building Thebes. Pausanias recounts an Egyptian legend accor ...

of Orchomenus. She was the wife of her cousin

Bias Bias is a disproportionate weight ''in favor of'' or ''against'' an idea or thing, usually in a way that is closed-minded, prejudicial, or unfair. Biases can be innate or learned. People may develop biases for or against an individual, a group ...

, and by him, bore her sons including Areius, Leodocus, and Talaus. In some accounts, her sons were called

Aretus Aretus (; Ancient Greek: Ἄρητος, ''Árētos'') was one of several characters in Greek mythology: *Aretus, son of Bias and Pero, and brother of Perialces and Alphesiboea, wife of King Pelias of Iolcus. *King Aretus of Pylos, son of Nestor ...

and Perialces. Pero had a daughter named Alphesiboea who married King

Pelias Pelias ( ; Ancient Greek: Πελίας) was king of Iolcus in Greek mythology. He was the one who sent Jason on the quest for the Golden Fleece. Family Pelias was the son of Tyro and Poseidon. His wife is recorded as either Anaxibia, daughte ...

Iolcus Iolcus (; also rendered ''Iolkos'' ; grc, Ἰωλκός and Ἰαωλκός; grc-x-doric, Ἰαλκός; ell, Ιωλκός) is an ancient city, a modern village and a former municipality in Magnesia, Thessaly, Greece. Since the 2011 local gove ...

Mythology

The story of Pero is mentioned in Book XI of Homer's ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Iliad'', th ...

''. Pero's beauty attracted many suitors, but Neleus, her father, refused to give his daughter to any man unless he could raid the cattle of

Iphicles In Greek mythology, Iphicles ( or ; grc, Ἰφικλῆς ''Iphikles''), also called Iphiclus, was the maternal half-brother of Heracles and one of the Calydonian boar hunters. Family Iphicles was the son of Alcmene and her human husband Am ...

from Phylace. In this version of the story, an unnamed seer volunteers to undertake the task. The cowherds capture him and keep him for a year, until he makes a prophecy. In the ''Odyssey'', the story is told by the seer Theoklymenos about his ancestor

Melampous In Greek mythology, Melampus (; grc, Μελάμπους, ''Melampous'') was a legendary soothsayer and healer, originally of Pylos, who ruled at Argos. He was the introducer of the worship of Dionysus, according to Herodotus, who asserted tha ...

. Melampous was a wealthy man from Pylos, but he left Pylos fleeing Neleus who held his possessions by force for a year. During that year, Melampous was held prisoner in the house of Phylakos because of the daughter of Neleus, Pero, and an ''

atë In Greek mythology, Atë, Até or Aite (; Ancient Greek: Ἄτη) was the goddess of mischief, delusion, ruin, and blind folly, rash action and reckless impulse who led men down the path of ruin. She also led both gods and men to rash and incons ...

'' sent by the Erinyes. Melampous escaped death and drove the cattle back to Pylos. He took Pero home as a wife for his brother. According to Pherecydes, Melampous overhears two woodworms saying that a beam in the ceiling of his prison is about to collapse. He asks the guards to carry him out, and as they step outside, the ceiling collapses, killing another female guard who treated Melampous badly. One of the surviving guards informs Phylakos and Phylakos tells Iphiklos. The two agree to give Melampous the sought after cattle if Melampous can cure Iphiklos' inability to beget children. Melampous makes the appropriate sacrifices to Zeus and asks the birds to whom he distributes portions of the sacrifice for help. The birds bring Melampous a vulture who tells him that Phylakos chased Iphiklos with a knife, presumably because Iphiklos had seen Phylakos do something mischievous. Phylakos, upon failing to catch Iphiklos, planted the knife in a wild pear tree and the bark grew over it. Melampous retrieved the knife and mixed the rust from the knife with wine. Iphiklos drank the wine for 10 days. Eventually a child, Podarkes, is born and the cattle are given to Melampous, who takes the cattle to Neleus as the

bride price Bride price, bride-dowry ( Mahr in Islam), bride-wealth, or bride token, is money, property, or other form of wealth paid by a groom or his family to the woman or the family of the woman he will be married to or is just about to marry. Bride dow ...

for Pero. He gives Pero to Bias to wed. Apollodoros tells the same story but with some additions. According to Apollodoros, Amythaon is married to his brother Pheres' daughter, Eidomene. Melampous and Bias are their sons. Melampous gains the ability to understand the speech of animals after he saves the young of some snakes a servant killed, and the snake licks his ear. In Pero's story, the cattle belong to the father Phylakos and not Iphiklos. The incident that disallows Iphiklos from having children resulted from Iphiklos seeing Phylakos gelding rams, causing Phylakos to chase him with a knife.Gantz, T. (1993). ''Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources'' (Vol. I). Baltimore, Maryland, US: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Notes

References

* Apollodorus, ''The Library'' with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website
* Gantz, Timothy, ''Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources'', Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes: (Vol. 1), (Vol. 2). *

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a 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. Homer is considered one of the ...

, ''The Odyssey'' with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, PH.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919. {{ISBN, 978-0674995611}
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website
Princesses in Greek mythology Neleides Women in Greek mythology Pylian characters in Greek mythology Characters in Greek mythology