In Classical
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 o ...
, Taygete
el, Ταϋγέτη, , ) was a
nymph
A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label=Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are ...
, one of the
Pleiades
The Pleiades (), also known as The Seven Sisters, Messier 45 and other names by different cultures, is an asterism and an open star cluster containing middle-aged, hot B-type stars in the north-west of the constellation Taurus. At a distance ...
according to the ''
Bibliotheca'' (3.10.1) and a companion of
Artemis
In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified with ...
, in her archaic role as ''
potnia theron'', "Mistress of the animals", with its likely roots in prehistory.
Mount Taygetos in
Laconia
Laconia or Lakonia ( el, Λακωνία, , ) is a historical and administrative region of Greece located on the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparta. The word '' laconic''—to speak in a blunt, c ...
, dedicated to the goddess, was her haunt.
The
Taygetus
The Taygetus, Taugetus, Taygetos or Taÿgetus ( el, Ταΰγετος, Taygetos) is a mountain range on the Peloponnese peninsula in Southern Greece. The highest mountain of the range is Mount Taygetus, also known as "Profitis Ilias", or "Prophet ...
mountain on the
Peloponnese
The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridge which ...
was named after her.
Mythology
As he mastered each of the local nymphs one by one, Olympic Zeus pursued Taygete, who invoked her protectress Artemis. The goddess turned Taygete into a
doe with golden horns, any distinction between the
Titan
Titan most often refers to:
* Titan (moon), the largest moon of Saturn
* Titans, a race of deities in Greek mythology
Titan or Titans may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Fictional entities
Fictional locations
* Titan in fiction, fictiona ...
ess in her human form and in her doe form is blurred: the nymph who hunted the doe in the company of Artemis ''is'' the doe herself. As
Pindar
Pindar (; grc-gre, Πίνδαρος , ; la, Pindarus; ) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar ...
conceived the
myth-element in his third Olympian Ode, "the doe with the golden horns, which once Taygete had inscribed as a sacred dedication to
Artemis Orthosia", ("right-minded" Artemis) was the very
Ceryneian Hind
In Greek mythology, the Ceryneian hind ( grc-gre, Κερυνῖτις ἔλαφος ''Kerynitis elaphos'', Latin: ''Elaphus Ceryniti''s), was a creature that lived in Ceryneia, Greece and took the form of an enormous female deer, larger than a ...
that
Heracles
Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptiv ...
later pursued. For the poet, the transformation was incomplete, and the doe-form had become an offering. Pindar, who was a very knowledgeable mythographer, hints that the mythic doe, even when slain and offered to Artemis, also ''continues to exist'', to be hunted once again (although not killed) by Heracles at a later time.
Karl Kerenyi points out (''The Heroes of the Greeks'') "It is not easy to differentiate between the divine beast, the heroine and the goddess".
According to
Pausanias (3.1.2, etc.) Taygete conceived
Lacedaemon, the mythical founder of Sparta, through Zeus, and
Eurotas
In Greek mythology, Eurotas (; Ancient Greek: Εὐρώτας) was a king of Laconia. Family
Eurotas was the son of King Myles of Laconia and grandson of Lelex, eponymous ancestor of the Leleges. The '' Bibliotheca'' gave a slight variant of ...
. Pausanias noted, 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 ...
, that the rape of Taygete was represented on the throne.
According to
Pseudo-Plutarch Pseudo-Plutarch is the conventional name given to the actual, but unknown, authors of a number of pseudepigrapha (falsely attributed works) attributed to Plutarch but now known to have not been written by him.
Some of these works were included in s ...
, Taygete was the wife of Lacedaemon, sometimes referred to as
Sparta
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 referr ...
, whose name was given to the city of Sparta. Their son was named
Himerus.
In a rare variant of the myth, Taygete was called the daughter of
Agenor
Agenor (; Ancient Greek: Ἀγήνωρ or Αγήνορας ''Agēnor''; English translation: "heroic, manly") was in Greek mythology and history a Phoenician king of Tyre or Sidon. The Doric Greek historian Herodotus (c. 484–425 BC), born in ...
.
Dictys Cretensis
Dictys Cretensis, i.e. Dictys of Crete (, ; grc, Δίκτυς ὁ Κρής) of Knossos was a legendary companion of Idomeneus during the Trojan War, and the purported author of a diary of its events, that deployed some of the same materials wor ...
, 1.9
Notes
References
* Ruck, Carl A.P., and Danny Staples, 1994. ''The World of Classical Myth'' (Carolina Academic Press)
*
Harry Thurston Peck
Harry Thurston Peck (November 24, 1856 – March 23, 1914) was an American classical scholar, author, editor, historian and critic.
Biography
Peck was born in Stamford, Connecticut. He was educated in private schools and at Columbia College, g ...
, ''Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities'', 1898
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library "Taygete"
* Robbins, Emmet. "Heracles, the Hyperboreans, and the Hind: Pindar, "OL. 3", ''Phoenix'' 36.4 (Winter 1982), pp. 295–305.
{{Authority control
Pleiades (Greek mythology)
Divine women of Zeus
Women in Greek mythology
Metamorphoses into animals in Greek mythology
Arcadian characters in Greek mythology
Deeds of Artemis
Mythological deer
Laconian mythology