In
Greek mythology, Sparta (
Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā'';
Attic Greek
Attic Greek is the Greek dialect of the ancient region of Attica, including the ''polis'' of Athens. Often called classical Greek, it was the prestige dialect of the Greek world for centuries and remains the standard form of the language that ...
:
Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was the ancient Queen of
Sparta, which was named in her honour.
Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to:
* Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium''
*Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC
* Pausanias of Sicily, physician of ...
3.1.2
/ref>
Family
Sparta was one of two daughters of King Eurotas of Laconia and Clete, with the other being Tiasa
In Greek mythology, Tiasa ( Ancient Greek: Τίασα) was a Naiad nymph of a river near Amyclae, Sparta. She was a Laconian princess as the daughter of King Eurotas and Cleta, and thus sister of Sparta.
By the river Tiasa was situated a templ ...
.
By her husband, Lacedaemon
Sparta (Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referred t ...
, Sparta became the mother of Amyclas and Eurydice
Eurydice (; Ancient Greek: Εὐρυδίκη 'wide justice') was a character in Greek mythology and the Auloniad wife of Orpheus, who tried to bring her back from the dead with his enchanting music.
Etymology
Several meanings for the na ...
, wife of King Acrisius
In Greek mythology, Acrisius (; Ancient Greek: Ἀκρίσιος means 'ill-judgment') was a king of Argos. He was the grandfather of the famous Greek demi-god Perseus.
Family
Acrisius was the son of Abas and Aglaea (or Ocalea, depending on th ...
of Argos, and the grandmother of Hyacinthus, who was loved by Apollo
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
and Zephyrus
In ancient Greek religion and myth, the Anemoi (Greek: , 'Winds') were wind gods who were each ascribed a cardinal direction from which their respective winds came (see Classical compass winds), and were each associated with various seasons and ...
. She was also an ancestor of King Tyndareus of Sparta and his brother Icarius In Greek mythology, there were two people named Icarius (; grc, Ἰκάριος ''Ikários'').
* Icarius, a Spartan prince, son of Perieres.
* Icarius, an Athenian who received Dionysus.Apollodorus, 3.14.7
See also
*Icarus
In Greek mytholog ...
and their children Clytemnestra
Clytemnestra (; grc-gre, Κλυταιμνήστρα, ''Klytaimnḗstrā'', ), in Greek mythology, was the wife of Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, and the twin sister of Helen of Troy. In Aeschylus' ''Oresteia'', she murders Agamemnon – said by E ...
, Castor and Penelope.[Pausanias]
3.1.4
/ref>
Mythology
According to traditions recorded by Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to:
* Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium''
*Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC
* Pausanias of Sicily, physician of ...
, Sparta's father having no male heirs bequeathed his kingdom to Lacedaemon. When he became king, he changed the name of the land and the inhabitants to Lacedaemon and Lacedaemonians, respectively, and he founded the City of Sparta, which was named after his wife.
Sparta was represented on a sacrificial tripod at Amyclae
Amyclae or Amyklai ( grc, Ἀμύκλαι) was a city of ancient Laconia, situated on the right or western bank of the Eurotas, 20 stadia south of Sparta, in a district remarkable for the abundance of its trees and its fertility. Amyclae was one ...
.
Family tree
Notes
References
* Apollodorus
Apollodorus (Greek: Ἀπολλόδωρος ''Apollodoros'') was a popular name in ancient Greece. It is the masculine gender of a noun compounded from Apollo, the deity, and doron, "gift"; that is, "Gift of Apollo." It may refer to:
:''Note: A f ...
, ''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
* Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to:
* Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium''
*Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC
* Pausanias of Sicily, physician of ...
, ''Description of Greece'' with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918.
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sparta (Mythology)
Queens in Greek mythology
Spartan princesses
Princesses in Greek mythology
Rulers of Sparta
Women in Greek mythology
Laconian characters in Greek mythology
Characters in Greek mythology
Laconian mythology