In
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...
, Antimache (
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
: Ἀντιμάχη) was the queen of
Tiryns as wife of King
Eurystheus, who tasked
Heracles
Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through ...
with his
Labors.
Mythology
Antimache was of
Arcadian descent as the daughter of
Amphidamas and the sister of
Melanion, husband of the heroine
Atalanta
Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology.
There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...
. Together with her husband Eurystheus, Antimache bore the following children:
Admete
Admete ( means 'the unbroken, unwedded, untamed') or Admeta, was in Greek mythology, a Mycenaean princess. She was the daughter of King Eurystheus and Antimache Apollodorus2.5.9/ref> and sister to Alexander, Iphimedon, Eurybius, Mentor, Pe ...
,
Alexander
Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.
Variants listed here ar ...
,
Iphimedon,
Eurybius,
Mentor,
Perimedes,
[Apollodorus]
2.8.1
/ref> and possibly, Eurypylus.Athenaeus
Athenaeus of Naucratis (, or Nαυκράτιος, ''Athēnaios Naukratitēs'' or ''Naukratios''; ) was an ancient Greek rhetorician and Grammarian (Greco-Roman), grammarian, flourishing about the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd century ...
, '' Deipnosophistae'
4.158
(p. 219) All of her sons were killed in battle by the Athenians
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
in the war that ensued when Athens refused to deliver the Heracleidae
The Heracleidae (; ) or Heraclids were the numerous descendants of Heracles, especially applied in a narrower sense to the descendants of Hyllus, the eldest of his four sons by Deianira (Hyllus was also sometimes thought of as Heracles' son ...
up to Eurystheus. Alternatively, during a sacrificial meal in honor of his Twelve Labors being completed, Heracles
Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through ...
himself slain Antimache's children: Eurybius, Perimedes and Eurypylus when they served him a smaller portion of meat than they did for themselves.
Antimache appears in the 2014 film '' Hercules'', played by Barbara Palvin.
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
* Athenaeus of Naucratis, ''The Deipnosophists or Banquet of the Learned.'' London. Henry G. Bohn, York Street, Covent Garden. 1854
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Athenaeus of Naucratis, ''Deipnosophistae''. Kaibel. In Aedibus B.G. Teubneri. Lipsiae. 1887
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
Queens in Greek mythology
Arcadian mythology
Mythology of Argolis
Mythological Arcadians
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