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 ...
, Carme or Karme (;
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 ...
: Κάρμη ''Karmē'') was the mother of the
Cretan goddess
Britomartis
Britomartis (;) was a Greek goddess of mountains, nets, and hunting who was primarily worshipped on the island of Crete. She was sometimes described as a nymph, but she was more commonly conflated or syncretized with the goddesses Artemis, Athena ...
by
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 ...
. She was either the daughter of
Euboulus, the son of the Cretan priest
Carmanor and a god revered in
mystery religions,
[ Pausanias]
2.30.3
Compare with Diodorus Siculus
5.76.3
which says that Euboulus was the son of Demeter. or the daughter of
Cassiopeia and
Phoenix, the son of
Agenor. She therefore may have been either of Cretan or
Phoenician origin.
Like other members of her family, Carme may have been an agricultural or harvest
demigoddess. In various myths her potential father Euboulus was associated with
Demeter
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Demeter (; Attic Greek, Attic: ''Dēmḗtēr'' ; Doric Greek, Doric: ''Dāmā́tēr'') is the Twelve Olympians, Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over cro ...
,
Persephone
In ancient Greek mythology and Ancient Greek religion, religion, Persephone ( ; , classical pronunciation: ), also called Kore ( ; ) or Cora, is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the Greek underworld, underworld afte ...
, grain, and swine. Some tellings additionally refer to him as the son of Demeter.
[ Diodorus Siculus]
5.76.3
/ref> Chrysothemis, sister of Euboulus, may have been a harvest demigoddess as well.
Notes
References
* Celoria, Francis, ''The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis: A Translation with a Commentary'', Routledge 1992. .
* Cook, Arthur Bernard, ''Zeus: A Study in Ancient Religion, Volume II: Zeus God of the Dark Sky (Thunder and Lightning), Part I: Text and Notes'', Cambridge University Press 1925
Internet Archive
* Diodorus Siculus, ''Library of History, Volume III: Books 4.59-8''. Translated by C. H. Oldfather. 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. 340. 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 ...
, 1939.
Online version by Bill Thayer
* Grimal, Pierre, ''The Dictionary of Classical Mythology'', Wiley-Blackwell, 1996. .
* 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, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918.
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
*Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
* Tripp, Edward, ''Crowell's Handbook of Classical Mythology'', Thomas Y. Crowell Co; First edition (June 1970). .
* Smith, William; '' Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', London (1873)
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
External links
Women in Greek mythology
Mythological Cretans
Mortal women of Zeus
{{Greek-myth-stub