ancient Greek religion Religious practices in ancient Greece encompassed a collection of beliefs, rituals, and Greek mythology, mythology, in the form of both popular public religion and Cult (religious practice), cult practices. The application of the modern concept ...

and

mythology Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

, Adrasteia (; , ), also spelled Adrastia, Adrastea, Adrestia, Adrestea, Adastreia or Adrasta, originally a

Phrygia In classical antiquity, Phrygia ( ; , ''Phrygía'') was a kingdom in the west-central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centered on the Sangarios River. Stories of the heroic age of Greek mythology tell of several legendary Ph ...

n mountain goddess, probably associated with

Cybele Cybele ( ; Phrygian: ''Matar Kubileya, Kubeleya'' "Kubeleya Mother", perhaps "Mountain Mother"; Lydian: ''Kuvava''; ''Kybélē'', ''Kybēbē'', ''Kybelis'') is an Anatolian mother goddess; she may have a possible forerunner in the earliest ...

, was later a

Cretan Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

nymph A nymph (; ; sometimes spelled nymphe) is a minor female nature deity in ancient Greek folklore. Distinct from other Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature; they are typically tied to a specific place, land ...

, and daughter of Melisseus, who was charged by Rhea with nurturing the infant

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

in secret, to protect him from his father

Cronus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Cronus, Cronos, or Kronos ( or ; ) was the leader and youngest of the Titans, the children of Gaia (Earth) and Uranus (mythology), Uranus (Sky). He overthrew his father and ruled dur ...

. By at latest the fifth century BC, she became identified with

Nemesis In ancient Greek religion and myth, Nemesis (; ) also called Rhamnousia (or Rhamnusia; ), was the goddess who personified retribution for the sin of hubris: arrogance before the gods. Etymology The name ''Nemesis'' is derived from the Greek ...

, the goddess of divine retribution.

Cult

Adrasteia was the goddess of "inevitable fate", representing "pressing necessity", and the inescapability of punishment. She had a cult at

Cyzicus Cyzicus ( ; ; ) was an ancient Greek town in Mysia in Anatolia in the current Balıkesir Province of Turkey. It was located on the shoreward side of the present Kapıdağ Peninsula (the classical Arctonnesus), a tombolo which is said to have or ...

(with nearby temple), and on the Phrygian Mount Ida. Adrasteia was also the object of public worship in Athens from at least as early as 429 BC. Her name appears in the "Accounts of the Treasurers of the Other Gods", associated with the

Thracian The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared between north-eastern Greece, ...

goddess

Bendis Bendis () was a Thracian goddess associated with hunting and the moon. Worship of the goddess seems to have been introduced into Attica around 430 BC. In Athens, Bendis was identified with the goddess Artemis, but she had a separate temple at ...

, with whom she seems to have shared a treasury or accounts, indicating that in Athens her cult was supported by public funds. Adrasteia was also worshipped, together with Nemesis, at

Kos Kos or Cos (; ) is a Greek island, which is part of the Dodecanese island chain in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Kos is the third largest island of the Dodecanese, after Rhodes and Karpathos; it has a population of 37,089 (2021 census), making ...

. The 2nd-century geographer Pausanias, reports seeing a statue of Adrasteia in a temple of Apollo, Artemis, and Leto at Cirrha, near

Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), was an ancient sacred precinct and the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient Classical antiquity, classical world. The A ...

Mythology

Adrasteia came to be associated with the birth of

. In this context she was said to be a nymph of Cretan Mount Ida. The Titaness Rhea gave her son, the infant Zeus, to the Curetes and the nymphs Adrasteia and Ida, daughters of Melisseus, to nurse, and they fed Zeus on the milk of the goat Amalthea. Adrasteia gave Zeus a wondrous toy ball to play with, later used by

Aphrodite Aphrodite (, ) is an Greek mythology, ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, procreation, and as her syncretism, syncretised Roman counterpart , desire, Sexual intercourse, sex, fertility, prosperity, and ...

to bribe her son

Eros Eros (, ; ) is the Greek god of love and sex. The Romans referred to him as Cupid or Amor. In the earliest account, he is a primordial god, while in later accounts he is the child of Aphrodite. He is usually presented as a handsome young ma ...

. In the Euripidean '' Rhesus'', Adrasteia is said to be the daughter of Zeus.

Associations with other goddesses

Cybele

Adrasteia seems to have originally been a Phrygian mountain goddess, probably associated with

, the mountain mother goddess of

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

Priapus In Greek mythology, Priapus (; ) is a minor rustic fertility god, protector of livestock, fruit plants, gardens, and male genitalia. Priapus is marked by his oversized, permanent erection, which gave rise to the medical term priapism. He becam ...

, and the

Troad The Troad ( or ; , ''Troáda'') or Troas (; , ''Trōiás'' or , ''Trōïás'') is a historical region in northwestern Anatolia. It corresponds with the Biga Peninsula ( Turkish: ''Biga Yarımadası'') in the Çanakkale Province of modern Tur ...

, where Adrasteia's cult was established, were also areas where Cybele was especially worshipped. The two earliest mentions of Adrasteia both suggest an association with Cybele. Adrasteia's description, in a fragment from the lost epic poem ''Phoronis'' as a Phrygian mountain goddess served by the Idaean Dactyls, is hardly distinguishable from Cybele herself, while

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; ; /524 – /455 BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek Greek tragedy, tragedian often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek tragedy is large ...

locates Adrasteia in the "Berecynthan land", also the home of the "Mother of the Gods" (i.e. Cybele).

Nemesis

Although apparently of independent origin, Adrasteia also came to be associated with

, the goddess of divine retribution. Nemesis and Adrasteia were worshipped together at

. In the fifth century BC the two goddesses were often identified, with Adrasteia becoming merely an epithet of Nemesis. The explicit identification of the two goddesses is first found in the writings of the late fifth-century BC poet and grammarian

Antimachus Antimachus of Colophon (city), Colophon (), or of Claros, was a Greece, Greek poet and grammarian, who flourished about 400 BC. Life Scarcely anything is known of his life. The Suda claims that he was a pupil of the poets Panyassis and Stesimb ...

of Colophon.

Artemis

Adrasteia, like Nemesis, was also associated with

Artemis In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Artemis (; ) is the goddess of the hunting, hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, transitions, nature, vegetation, childbirth, Kourotrophos, care of children, and chastity. In later tim ...

. The land of the Berecyntians, where a fragment of

' lost play ''Niobe'' locates the cult of Adrasteia, was also the home of Ephesian Artemis. According to the second-century-BC Greek grammarian Demetrius of Scepsis, a certain Adrastus established Adrasteia as another name for Artemis. As noted above Pausanias saw a statue of Adrasteia in a temple of Artemis near

Others

Adrasteia was also sometimes associated with other goddesses, including 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 ...

Rhea (who was herself associated with Mother goddess Cybele),

Ananke In ancient Greek religion, Ananke (; ), from the common noun ("force, constraint, necessity"), is the Orphic personification of inevitability, compulsion, and necessity. She is customarily depicted as holding a spindle. One of the Greek pr ...

(Necessity), the personification of inevitability, and the Egyptian mother goddess

Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

Name

The name Adrasteia can be understood as meaning "Inescapable". Several ancient writers, regarding 'Adrasteia' as an epithet for the goddess

, derived the epithet from the name 'Adrastus'. Adrasteia was the name of a city and a plain in the

, a name known to

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient 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. Despite doubts about his autho ...

; and according to

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

, the city and plain were said to have been named after a certain "King Adrastus", of

Hellespont The Dardanelles ( ; ; ), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli (after the Gallipoli peninsula) and in classical antiquity as the Hellespont ( ; ), is a narrow, natural strait and internationally significant waterway in northwestern Turkey t ...

ine

, who was said to have built the first temple of Nemesis. Strabo tells us that according to

, Adrastus "was the first to build an altar to

emesis Vomiting (also known as emesis, puking and throwing up) is the forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the nose. Vomiting can be the result of ailments like food poisoning, gastroenteritis, pregna ...

beside the stream of the

Aesepus River The Aesepus River or Aisepos River () was a river of Northern ancient Mysia, Mysia. Description The river was mentioned by Homer in the ''Iliad'' as flowing past Zeleia, at the foot of Mount Ida (Turkey), Ida; and in another passage as one of the ...

", and that according to the fourth-century BC historian

Callisthenes Callisthenes of Olynthus ( /kəˈlɪsθəˌniːz/; Greek: Καλλισθένης; 360 – 327 BCE) was a Greek historian in Macedon with connections to both Aristotle and Alexander the Great. He accompanied Alexander the Great during his Asiati ...

(''

FGrHist ''Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker'', commonly abbreviated ''FGrHist'' or ''FGrH'' (''Fragments of the Greek Historians''), is a collection by Felix Jacoby of the works of those ancient Greek historians whose works have been lost, but o ...

'' 124 F 28), "Adrasteia was named after King Adrastus, who was the first to found a temple of Nemesis". Other ancient writers derived the epithet from the Greek ' ("run away"), interpreting the epithet to mean the goddess "whom none can escape", connecting the epithet with the fate of the mythical

Argive Argos (; ; ) is a city and former municipality in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, and the oldest in Europe. It is the largest city in Argolis and a major center in the same pr ...

King

Adrastus In Greek mythology, Adrastus or Adrestus (Ancient Greek: Ἄδραστος or Ἄδρηστος), (perhaps meaning "the inescapable"), was a king of Argos, and leader of the Seven against Thebes. He was the son of the Argive king Talaus, but w ...

, leader of the doomed

Seven against Thebes ''Seven Against Thebes'' (, ''Hepta epi Thēbas''; ) is the third play in an Oedipus-themed trilogy produced by Aeschylus in 467 BC. The trilogy is sometimes referred to as the ''Oedipodea''. It concerns the battle between an Argive army, led by ...

. The name Adrasteia (perhaps in connection with the Argive Adrastus) also has geographical associations with

Argolis Argolis or Argolida ( , ; , in ancient Greek and Katharevousa) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the modern regions of Greece, region of Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, situated in the eastern part of the Peloponnese penin ...

. Pausanias mentions a spring called Adrasteia at

Nemea Nemea (; ; ) is an ancient site in the northeastern part of the Peloponnese, in Greece. Formerly part of the territory of Cleonae (Argolis), Cleonae in ancient Argolis, it is today situated in the regional units of Greece, regional unit of Corin ...

, and

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 not to have been written by him. Some of these works were included in s ...

, mentions a root called Adraseia produced on a mountaintop in Argolis.

Sources

Early

The earliest surviving references to Adrasteia appear in a fragment from the

epic poem In poetry, an epic is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. With regard to ...

the ''Phoronis'' (c. sixth century BC), and in a fragment from the lost play ''Niobe'' (c. early 5th century BC), by the tragedian

. In both she is a

n mountain goddess associated with

Mount Ida In Greek mythology, two sacred mountains are called Mount Ida, the "Mountain of the Goddess": Mount Ida in Crete, and Mount Ida in the ancient Troad region of western Anatolia (in modern-day Turkey), which was also known as the '' Phrygian Ida' ...

. The ''Phoronis'' describes Adrasteia as a mountain goddess, whose servants were the Idaean Dactyls, Phrygian "wizards (''γόητες'') of Ida", who were the first to discover iron and iron working: :... where the wizards of Ida, Phrygian men, had their mountain homes: Kelmis, great Damnameneus, and haughty Akmon, skilled servants of Adrastea of the mountain, they who first, by the arts of crafty Hephaestus, discovered dark iron in the mountain glens, and brought it to the fire, and promulgated a fine achievement. Aeschylus' ''Niobe'' fragment mentions the "territory of Adrasteia" associating it with the Berecyntians, a Phrygian tribe, and Mount Ida: :The land I anatalussow extends for twelve days’ journey: the country of the Berecyntians, where the territory of Adrasteia and Mount Ida resound with the lowing and bleating of livestock, and all of the Erechthean plain. Once in the Aeschylean ''

Prometheus Bound ''Prometheus Bound'' () is an ancient Greek tragedy traditionally attributed to Aeschylus and thought to have been composed sometime between 479 BC and the terminus ante quem of 424 BC. The tragedy is based on the myth of Prometheus, ...

'', and twice in the Euripidean '' Rhesus'', Adrasteia is invoked as a ward against the consequences of boastful speech (perhaps here being identified with Nemesis as the punisher of boasts). In ''

'', after Prometheus foretells the fall of Zeus, the chorus warns Prometheus that the wise "bow to Adrasteia", a formulaic expression meaning to apologize for a remark which might offend some divinity. In the ''Rhesus'', the chorus, because of the praise they are about to give Rhesus, invoke the goddess saying: :May Adrasteia, daughter of Zeus :shield my words from divine hostility! In a subsequent passage the hero Rhesus invokes her ("may Adrasteia not resent my words") before boasting to the Trojan hero

Hector In Greek mythology, Hector (; , ) was a Trojan prince, a hero and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. He is a major character in Homer's ''Iliad'', where he leads the Trojans and their allies in the defense of Troy, killing c ...

that he will defeat the Greeks at

Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...

and sack all of Greece. Adrasteia was explicitly identified with Nemesis by

of Colophon (late fifth century BC). The geographer

quotes Antimachus as saying: :There is a great goddess Nemesis, who has obtained as her portion all these things from the Blessed. Adrestus was the first to build an altar to her beside the stream of the Aesepus River, where she is worshipped under the name of Adresteia. In a similar vein to the Aeschylean and Euripidean invocations,

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

, in his ''

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

'' (c. 375 BC), has

Socrates Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was a Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the Ethics, ethical tradition ...

invoke Arasteia (i.e. Nemesis?) as a ward against divine retribution for—not a boast—but rather an eccentric idea: :I bow myself down before Adrasteia, Glaucon, because of what I am about to say. You see, I really do suppose it a lesser misdemeanor to become the involuntary murderer of someone than to lead people astray about principles of what is fine and good and just. Plato (followed by the early

Stoics Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy that flourished in ancient Greece and Rome. The Stoics believed that the universe operated according to reason, ''i.e.'' by a God which is immersed in nature itself. Of all the schools of ancient ...

) also equates Adrasteia with Fate, as the judge of reincarnating souls: :And this is a law of drasteia that the soul which follows after God and obtains a view of any of the truths is free from harm until the next period, and if it can always attain this, is always unharmed;

Late

Both the early 3rd-century BC poet

Callimachus Callimachus (; ; ) was an ancient Greek poet, scholar, and librarian who was active in Alexandria during the 3rd century BC. A representative of Ancient Greek literature of the Hellenistic period, he wrote over 800 literary works, most of which ...

, and the mid 3rd-century BC poet

Apollonius of Rhodes Apollonius of Rhodes ( ''Apollṓnios Rhódios''; ; fl. first half of 3rd century BC) was an ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek author, best known for the ''Argonautica'', an epic poem about Jason and the Argonauts and their quest for the Go ...

, name Adrasteia as a nurse of the infant

. According to Callimachus, Adrasteia, along with the ash-tree nymphs, the

Meliae In Greek mythology, the Meliae (also called Meliads) (; or ) were usually considered to be the nymphs of the ash tree, whose name they shared. Mythology According to Hesiod, the Meliae (probably meaning all tree-nymphs) were born from the dr ...

, laid Zeus "to rest in a cradle of gold", and fed him with honeycomb, and the milk of the goat Amaltheia.

, describes a wondrous toy ball which Adrasteia gave the child Zeus, when she was his nurse in the "Idean cave". According to

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 ...

, Adrasteia and Ida were daughters of Melisseus, who nursed Zeus, feeding him on the milk of Amalthea.

Hyginus Hyginus may refer to: People *Hyginus, the author of the '' Fabulae'', an important ancient Latin source for Greek mythology. *Hyginus, the author of the ''Astronomia'', a popular ancient Latin guide on astronomy, probably the same as the author ...

says that Adrasteia, along with her sisters Ida and Amalthea, were daughters of

Oceanus In Greek mythology, Oceanus ( ; , also , , or ) was a Titans, Titan son of Uranus (mythology), Uranus and Gaia, the husband of his sister the Titan Tethys (mythology), Tethys, and the father of the River gods (Greek mythology), river gods ...

, or that according to "others" they were Zeus's nurses, "the ones that are called Dodonian Nymphys (others call them the Naiads)".

Orphic

The story of Adrasteia as one of the nurses of Zeus possibly originated as early as a late-fifth-century Orphic theogony (the Eudemian Theogony). Several possible Orphic sources contain accounts of Zeus being nursed by Adrasteia and Ida (here the daughters of Mellissos and Amalthea) and guarded by the Curetes. These have Adrasteia clashing bronze cymbals in front of the cave of Night ( Nyx) where the infant Zeus was being concealed, from his father

, so that the infant's cries would not be heard. In one she is said to be a "lawgiver" (''νομοθετοῦσα'') outside the cave's entrance. Another later Orphic theogony (the Hieronyman Theogony, c. 200 BC?) has Adrasteia (or Necessity) united with ageless Time (

Chronos Chronos (; ; , Modern Greek: ), also spelled Chronus, is a personification of time in Greek mythology, who is also discussed in pre-Socratic philosophy and later literature. Chronos is frequently confused with, or perhaps consciously identified ...

) at the beginning of the cosmos.West, pp. 178, 194–198; Leeming
s.v. Adrasteia, p. 5
Feibleman
p. 52

Damascius Damascius (; ; 462 – after 538), known as "the last of the Athenian Neoplatonists", was the last scholarch of the neoplatonic Athenian school. He was one of the neoplatonic philosophers who left Athens after laws confirmed by emperor Jus ...

, ''De principiis'' (''On First Principles'') 123.31–80 = Hieronymus of Rhodes fr. 61A (White
pp. 232–233
= Orphi
fr. 54 Kern

Notes

References

(?), ''

'' in ''Aeschylus: Persians, Seven against Thebes, Suppliants, Prometheus Bound'', edited and translated by Alan H. Sommerstein,

Loeb Classical Library The Loeb Classical Library (LCL; named after James Loeb; , ) is a monographic series of books originally published by Heinemann and since 1934 by Harvard University Press. It has bilingual editions of ancient Greek and Latin literature, ...

No. 145. Cambridge, Massachusetts,

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

, 2009.
Online version at Harvard University Press
*

Ammianus Marcellinus Ammianus Marcellinus, occasionally anglicized as Ammian ( Greek: Αμμιανός Μαρκελλίνος; born , died 400), was a Greek and Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from antiquit ...

, ''History, Volume I: Books 14-19'', translated by J. C. Rolfe,

No. 300, Cambridge, Massachusetts,

, 1950.
Online version at Harvard University PressOnline version at the Perseus Digital Library
*

, ''Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes.'' Cambridge, Massachusetts,

; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
*

Apollonius Rhodius Apollonius of Rhodes ( ''Apollṓnios Rhódios''; ; fl. first half of 3rd century BC) was an ancient Greek author, best known for the ''Argonautica'', an epic poem about Jason and the Argonauts and their quest for the Golden Fleece. The poem is ...

, ''

Argonautica The ''Argonautica'' () is a Greek literature, Greek epic poem written by Apollonius of Rhodes, Apollonius Rhodius in the 3rd century BC. The only entirely surviving Hellenistic civilization, Hellenistic epic (though Aetia (Callimachus), Callim ...

'', edited and translated by William H. Race,

No. 1, Cambridge, Massachusetts,

, 2009.
Online version at Harvard University Press
*

, ''Callimachus and Lycophron with an English translation by A. W. Mair; Aratus, with an English translation by G. R. Mair'', London: W. Heinemann, New York: G. P. Putnam 1921
Internet Archive
*

Demosthenes Demosthenes (; ; ; 384 – 12 October 322 BC) was a Greek statesman and orator in ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual prowess and provide insight into the politics and cu ...

, ''Orations, Volume III: Orations 21-26: Against Meidias. Against Androtion. Against Aristocrates. Against Timocrates. Against Aristogeiton 1 and 2'', translated by J. H. Vince,

No. 299, Cambridge, Massachusetts,

, 1935.
Online version at Harvard University Press
*

Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus or Diodorus of Sicily (; 1st century BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek historian from Sicily. He is known for writing the monumental Universal history (genre), universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty ...

, ''Diodorus Siculus: The Library of History''. translated by C. H. Oldfather, twelve volumes,

, Cambridge, Massachusetts:

; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989
Online version by Bill Thayer
*

Euripides Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to ...

, '' Rhesus'' in ''Euripides: Bacchae, Iphigenia at Aulis, Rhesus'', edited and translated by David Kovacs,

No. 495. Cambridge, Massachusetts,

, 2003.
Online version at Harvard University Press
* Farnell, Lewis Richard, '' The Cults of the Greek States'' vol 2,

Clarendon Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, Oxford, 1896
Internet Archive
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Brill Publishers Brill Academic Publishers () is a Dutch international academic publisher of books, academic journals, and Bibliographic database, databases founded in 1683, making it one of the oldest publishing houses in the Netherlands. Founded in the South ...

, 2002. * ''The Greek Anthology, Volume III: Book 9: The Declamatory Epigrams'', translated by W. R. Paton,

No. 84, Cambridge, Massachusetts,

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* ''The Greek Anthology, Volume IV: Book 10: The Hortatory and Admonitory Epigrams. Book 11: The Convivial and Satirical Epigrams. Book 12: Strato's Musa Puerilis'', translated by W. R. Paton,

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* Hard, Robin, ''The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology"'', Psychology Press, 2004, . * Hasluck, F. W., ''Cyzicus'', Cambridge University Press, 1910. *

, ''The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes''. Cambridge, Massachusetts,

; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924
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* Hornum, Michael B., ''Nemesis, the Roman State and the Games'', E.J. BRILL, 1993, * Hyginus, Gaius Julius, ''

Fabulae The ''Fabulae'' is a Latin handbook of mythology, attributed to an author named Hyginus, who is generally believed to have been separate from Gaius Julius Hyginus. The work consists of some three hundred very brief and plainly, even crudely, told ...

'' in ''Apollodorus' ''Library'' and Hyginus' ''Fabulae'': Two Handbooks of Greek Mythology, Translated, with Introductions by R. Scott Smith and Stephen M. Trzaskoma'', Hackett Publishing Company, 2007. . * Kern, Otto. ''Orphicorum Fragmenta'', Berlin, 1922
Internet Archive
* Leaf, Walter, ''Strabo on the Troad: Book XIII, Cap. I, Book 13'', The University Press, 1923. * Leeming, David, ''Oxford Companion to World Mythology'', Oxford University Press, 2005. . * Meisner, Dwayne A., ''Orphic Tradition and the Birth of the Gods'',

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2018. . *

Menander Menander (; ; c. 342/341 – c. 290 BC) was a Greek scriptwriter and the best-known representative of Athenian Ancient Greek comedy, New Comedy. He wrote 108 comedies and took the prize at the Lenaia festival eight times. His record at the Cit ...

, ''Heros. Theophoroumene. Karchedonios. Kitharistes. Kolax. Koneiazomenai. Leukadia. Misoumenos. Perikeiromene. Perinthia'', edited and translated by W. G. Arnott,

No. 459, Cambridge, Massachusetts,

, 1997.
Online version at Harvard University Press
* Munn, Mark, ''The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion'', University of California Press, 2006. . *

Nonnus Nonnus of Panopolis (, ''Nónnos ho Panopolítēs'', 5th century AD) was the most notable Greek epic poet of the Imperial Roman era. He was a native of Panopolis (Akhmim) in the Egyptian Thebaid and probably lived in the 5th century AD. He i ...

, ''

Dionysiaca The ''Dionysiaca'' (, ''Dionysiaká'') is an ancient Greek epic poem and the principal work of Nonnus. It is an epic in 48 books, the longest surviving poem from Greco-Roman antiquity at 20,426 lines, composed in Homeric dialect and dactylic hex ...

''; translated by Rouse, W H D, III Books XXXVI–XLVIII.

No. 346, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1940
Internet Archive
*

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

, '' Ovid's Fasti'', Translated by James G. Frazer. Revised by G. P. Goold,

No. 253, Cambridge, Massachusetts,

, 1931 (first published), 1996 (reprinted with corrections).
Online version at Harvard University Press
* Parada, Carlos, ''Genealogical Guide to Greek Mythology'', Jonsered, Paul Åströms Förlag, 1993. . * Parker, Robert, ''Athenian Religion: A History'', Oxford University Press, 1996. . * Pausanias, ''Pausanias Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes.'' Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Paton, W. R. and E. L. Hicks, ''The Inscriptions of Cos'',

, Oxford, 1891. *

, '' Phaedrus'' in ''Plato in Twelve Volumes'', Vol. 9 translated by Harold N. Fowler, Cambridge, Massachusetts,

; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1925
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*

, ''Republic, Volume I: Books 1-5'', edited and translated by Christopher Emlyn-Jones, William Preddy,

No. 237, Cambridge, Massachusetts,

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Online version at Harvard University Press
*

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...

, ''

Moralia The ''Moralia'' (Latin for "Morals", "Customs" or "Mores"; , ''Ethiká'') is a set of essays ascribed to the 1st-century scholar Plutarch of Chaeronea. The eclectic collection contains 78 essays and transcribed speeches. They provide insigh ...

, Volume VII: On Love of Wealth. On Compliancy. On Envy and Hate. On Praising Oneself Inoffensively. On the Delays of the Divine Vengeance. On Fate. On the Sign of Socrates. On Exile. Consolation to His Wife'', translated by Phillip H. De Lacy, Benedict Einarson,

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, ''

, Volume VIII: Table-Talk, Books 1-6'', translated by P. A. Clement, H. B. Hoffleit,

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Online version at Harvard University Press
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, ''About Rivers and Mountains and Things Found in Them'', translated by Thomas M. Banchich, with Sarah Brill, Emilyn Haremza, Dustin Hummel, and Ryan Post, Canisius College Translated Texts, Number 4, Canisius College, Buffalo, New York, 2010
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* Tripp, Edward, ''Crowell's Handbook of Classical Mythology'', Thomas Y. Crowell Co; First edition (June 1970). . * Tsagalis, Christos, ''Early Greek Epic Fragments I: Antiquarian and Genealogical Epic'', Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG, 2017. . * William Smith (lexicographer), Smith, William; ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', London (1873)
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* Smyth, Herbert Weir, '' Aeschylus, with an English translation by Herbert Weir Smyth, Ph. D. in two volumes'', Volume 1, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

, 1926. * Sommerstein, Alan H. (2009a), ''Aeschylus: Fragments,'' Edited and translated by Alan H. Sommerstein,

No. 505. Cambridge, Massachusetts,

, 2009.
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* Sommerstein, Alan H. (2009b), ''Aeschylus: Persians, Seven against Thebes, Suppliants, Prometheus Bound'', edited and translated by Alan H. Sommerstein,

No. 145. Cambridge, Massachusetts,

, 2009.
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*

, Geographica, ''Geography'', translated by Horace Leonard Jones; Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. (1924)
LacusCurtisOnline version at the Perseus Digital Library, Books 6–14
* Taylor, Thomas (1816), ''The Six Books of Proclus, the Platonic Successor, on the Theology of Plato'', A. J. Valpy, Tooke's Court, Chancery Lane, London, 1816
Online version at Wikisource
* Taylor, Thomas, (1820), ''The Commentaries of Proclus on the Timaeus of Plato'', London, 1820. . * Martin Litchfield West, West, M. L., ''The Orphic Poems'',

Oxford, 1983. . * White, Stephen, "Hieronymus of Rhodes: The Sources, Text and Translation" in ''Lyco of Troas and Hieronymus of Rhodes: Text, Translation, and Discussion'', Volume XII, editors: William Wall Fortenbaugh, Stephen Augustus White, Transaction Publishers, 2004. . {{Authority control Oceanids Greek goddesses Justice goddesses Justice deities Epithets of Greek deities Women of the Trojan war Mythological Cretans Vengeance goddesses Nursemaids in Greek mythology

Cult

Mythology

Associations with other goddesses

Cybele

Nemesis

Artemis

Others

Name

Sources

Early

Late

Orphic

See also

Notes

References