Agamede (

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...

: Ἀγαμήδη means ‘very cunning’) was a name attributed to two separate women 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 ...

and

legendary history A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and posses ...

* Agamede ( twelfth century BC) was, according to

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 ...

, a Greek physician acquainted with the healing powers of all the plants that grow upon the earth. She was born in Elis, a princess as the eldest daughter of Augeas, King of the Epeans, and was married to

Mulius This is a list of mythological characters who appear in narratives concerning the Trojan War. Armies * See Catalogue of Ships ** See Trojan Battle Order Individuals Deaths and outcome of war This table lists characters killed during the w ...

, the first man killed in battle by Nestor during a war between Elis and

Pylos Pylos (, ; el, Πύλος), historically also known as Navarino, is a town and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part of the municipality Pylos-Nestoras, of which it is ...

. Hyginus makes her the mother of

Actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

and

Dictys Dictys ( grc, Δίκτυς, ''Díktus'') was a name attributed to four men in Greek mythology. * Dictys, a fisherman and brother of King Polydectes of Seriphos, both being the sons of Magnes and a Naiad, or of Peristhenes and Androthoe, Sch ...

Poseidon Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as ...

. She was called Perimede by both Propertius and Theocritus. By the

Hellenistic period In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

(c. 4th to 1st centuries BC), Agamede had become a sorceress-figure, much like

Circe Circe (; grc, , ) is an enchantress and a minor goddess in ancient Greek mythology and religion. She is either a daughter of the Titan Helios and the Oceanid nymph Perse or the goddess Hecate and Aeëtes. Circe was renowned for her vas ...

Medea In Greek mythology, Medea (; grc, Μήδεια, ''Mēdeia'', perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jaso ...

. * Agamede, a princess of Lesbos as the daughter of King

Macar In Greek mythology, Macar (; Ancient Greek: Μάκαρ ''Makar'') or Macareus (; Μακαρεύς ''Makareus'' means 'happy') or Macareas (, ''Makareas''), is the name of several individuals: * Macareus, an Arcadian prince as one of the 50 son ...

and sister to Methymna, Mytilene, Antissa, Arisbe and Issa eponyms also of the cities at Lesbos. Her brothers were Cydrolaus, Neandrus, Leucippus and

Eresus ''Eresus'', also called ladybird spiders, is a genus of velvet spiders that was first described by Charles Athanase Walckenaer in 1805. Members of the genus formerly called '' Eresus cinnaberinus'' or ''Eresus niger'' are now placed in one of ...

. From Agamede, a place in Lesbos, was believed to have derived its name. The town of Agamede had already disappeared in Pliny's day. Ancient Agamede has been identified recently with the ancient ruins on a small hill called "Vounaros" 3 km north of ancient Pyrrha.Harissis H.V et al. article in Greek in ''Lesviaka'', 19;195-212, Mytilene 2002. https://www.academia.edu/1937262/The_discovery_of_ancient_Agamede_near_Pyrrha_on_Lesbos_island_in_Greek_

Notes

References

* Bell, Robert E., ''Women of Classical Mythology: A Biographical Dictionary''. ABC-Clio. 1991. . *

Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history '' Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which ...

, '' The Library of History'' translated by Charles Henry Oldfather. Twelve volumes. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59–8
Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site
*Diodorus Siculus, ''Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2''. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888-1890
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
*

Gaius Julius Hyginus Gaius Julius Hyginus (; 64 BC – AD 17) was a Latin author, a pupil of the scholar Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Caesar Augustus. He was elected superintendent of the Palatine library by Augustus according to Suetonius' ''De Gramma ...

, ''Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus'' translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
* Graves, Robert, ''The Greek Myths: The Complete and Definitive Edition.'' Penguin Books Limited. 2017. *

, ''The Iliad'' with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
* Homer, ''Homeri Opera'' in five volumes. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 1920
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
*

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...

, '' The Natural History.'' John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
* Pliny the Elder, ''Naturalis Historia.'' Karl Friedrich Theodor Mayhoff. Lipsiae. Teubner. 1906
Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
* Sextus Propertius, ''Elegies'' from ''Charm.'' Vincent Katz. trans. Los Angeles. Sun & Moon Press. 1995
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Latin text available at the same website
* Theocritus, ''Idylls'' from ''The Greek Bucolic Poets t''ranslated by Edmonds, J M. Loeb Classical Library Volume 28. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. 1912
Online version at theoi.com
* Theocritus, ''Idylls'' edited by R. J. Cholmeley, M.A. London. George Bell & Sons. 1901
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agamede Ancient Greek women Greek mythological witches Characters in the Iliad Elean characters in Greek mythology