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 ...

, the name Crete (

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 p ...

: Κρήτη) may refer to several figures, all of whom are associated with the homonymous island of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

, and may have been considered its eponyms: *Crete, daughter of

Hesperus In Greek mythology, Hesperus (; grc, Ἕσπερος, Hésperos) is the Evening Star, the planet Venus in the evening. He is one of the '' Astra Planeta''. A son of the dawn goddess Eos ( Roman Aurora), he is the half-brother of her other son, ...

and one of the

Hesperides In Greek mythology, the Hesperides (; , ) are the nymphs of evening and golden light of sunsets, who were the "Daughters of the Evening" or "Nymphs of the West". They were also called the Atlantides () from their reputed father, the Titan At ...

and another possible eponym of Crete. *Crete, daughter of one of the Cretan Curetes, who married Ammon. She was actually said to have given her name to the island Crete, which was believed to have previously been called

Idaea Idaea or Idaia (Ancient Greek: Ἰδαία) is the name of several figures in Greek mythology, it means "she who comes from Ida" or "she who lives on Ida", and is often associated with Mount Ida in Crete, and Mount Ida in the Troad. Figures Tho ...

. *Crete, possible mother of

Pasiphaë In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, Pasiphaë (; grc-gre, Πασιφάη, Pasipháē, lit=wide-shining derived from πάσι (archaic dative plural) "for all" and φάος/φῶς ''phaos/phos'' "light") was a queen of Crete, and wa ...

by Helios. *Crete, daughter of

Asterion In Greek mythology, Asterion ( Greek: , gen.: , literally "starry") or Asterius () may refer to the following figures: * Asterion, one of the Potamoi. * Asterius, one of the Giants. * Asterion, an attendant of the starry-god Astraeus. * As ...

(Asterius), who married Minos, in one version. In this regard, she was considered the mother of Acacallis,

Ariadne Ariadne (; grc-gre, Ἀριάδνη; la, Ariadne) was a Cretan princess in Greek mythology. She was mostly associated with mazes and labyrinths because of her involvement in the myths of the Minotaur and Theseus. She is best known for havi ...

, Androgeus,

Deucalion In Greek mythology, Deucalion (; grc-gre, Δευκαλίων) was the son of Prometheus; ancient sources name his mother as Clymene, Hesione, or Pronoia.A scholium to ''Odyssey'' 10.2 (='' Catalogue'' fr. 4) reports that Hesiod called Deucal ...

, Phaedra,

Glaucus In Greek mythology, Glaucus (; grc, Γλαῦκος, Glaûkos, glimmering) was a Greek prophetic sea-god, born mortal and turned immortal upon eating a magical herb. It was believed that he came to the rescue of sailors and fishermen in storms ...

, Catreus and Xenodice. *Crete, daughter of

(son of Minos), sister of

Idomeneus In Greek mythology, Idomeneus (; el, Ἰδομενεύς) was a Cretan king and commander who led the Cretan armies to the Trojan War, in eighty black ships. He was also one of the suitors of Helen, as well as a comrade of the Telamonian Ajax. ...

and half-sister of Molus.Apollodorus
3.3.1
/ref>

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
* Diodorus Siculus, ''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
* Stephanus of Byzantium, ''Stephani Byzantii Ethnicorum quae supersunt,'' edited by August Meineike (1790-1870), published 1849. A few entries from this important ancient handbook of place names have been translated by Brady Kiesling
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
* Tzetzes, John, ''Book of Histories,'' Book II-IV translated by Gary Berkowitz from the original Greek of T. Kiessling's edition of 1826
Online version at theio.com
{{Greek myth index Hesperides Princesses in Greek mythology Queens in Greek mythology Cretan characters in Greek mythology Women of Helios

See also

Notes

References