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 of ...

, the name Cleoboea (

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 ...

: Κλεόβοια) refers to: *Cleoboea, daughter of

Criasus In Greek mythology, Criasus (; Ancient Greek: Κρίασος ''Kriasos'') was a king of Argos. Family Criasus was the son of Argus and Evadne (daughter of Strymon) or the Oceanid Peitho. He had five brothers who were named Ecbasus, Jasus, Pe ...

and

Melantho In Greek mythology, Melantho (; Ancient Greek: Μελανθώ) may refer to the following women: * Melantho, also called Melanthea, a Phthian princess as the daughter of King Deucalion and Pyrrha, daughter of Epimetheus and Pandora. She was n ...

, sister of

Phorbas In Greek mythology, Phorbas (; Ancient Greek: Φόρβας ''Phórbās'', gen. Φόρβαντος ''Phórbantos'' means "giving pasture"), or Phorbaceus , may refer to: * Phorbas of Elis, son of Lapithes and Orsinome, and a brother of Periphas. ...

and

Ereuthalion In Greek mythology, the name Ereuthalion (Ancient Greek: Ἐρευθαλίων) may refer to: *Ereuthalion, son of Criasus, founder and eponym of the city Ereuthalia. *Ereuthalion, an Arcadian who fought in the battle against the Pylians "benea ...

. *Cleoboea, mother of

Eurythemis In Greek mythology, the name Eurythemis (Ancient Greek: Εὐρυθέμιδος) may refer to the following women: *Eurythemis, daughter of Cleoboea. She was the wife of King Thestius of Pleuron and mother of Althaea, Leda (possibly), Hypermn ...

. Her daughter was married to King

Thestius In Greek mythology, Thestius (; Ancient Greek: Θέστιος) was a king of Pleuronians in Aetolia. He is not to be confused with Thespius, who was sometimes referred to as "Thestius". The patronymic "Thestias" may refer to one of his daughters, ...

of Pleuron in

Aetolia Aetolia ( el, Αἰτωλία, Aἰtōlía) is a mountainous region of Greece on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, forming the eastern part of the modern regional unit of Aetolia-Acarnania. Geography The Achelous River separates Aetolia ...

. Cleoboea herself is otherwise unknown. *Cleoboea, mother of Philonis by

Eosphoros Phosphorus () is one of the '' Astra Planeta'', specifically the god of the planet Venus in its appearance as the Morning Star. Another Greek name for the Morning Star is "Eosphorus" ( grc, Ἑωσφόρος, Heōsphoros, link=no), which means ...

. Philonis, in her turn, became the mother of

Philammon In Greek mythology, Philammon (Ancient Greek: Φιλάμμων) was an excellent musician, a talent he received from his father Apollo. Family Philammon's mother was either Chione (or Philonis), daughter of Daedalion, or Leuconoe, daughter of ...

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

. *Cleoboea, who was said to have been the first to have brought the

orgies In modern usage, an orgy is a sex party consisting of at least five members where guests freely engage in open and unrestrained sexual activity or group sex. Swingers' parties do not always conform to this designation, because at many swin ...

of Demeter to

Thasos Thasos or Thassos ( el, Θάσος, ''Thásos'') is a Greek island in the North Aegean Sea. It is the northernmost major Greek island, and 12th largest by area. The island has an area of and a population of about 13,000. It forms a separate r ...

from

Paros Paros (; el, Πάρος; Venetian: ''Paro'') is a Greek island in the central Aegean Sea. One of the Cyclades island group, it lies to the west of Naxos, from which it is separated by a channel about wide. It lies approximately south-east of ...

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: * Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC * Pausanias of Sicily, physician of ...

describes a painting which portrays her and Tellis, grandfather of the poet

Archilochus Archilochus (; grc-gre, Ἀρχίλοχος ''Arkhilokhos''; c. 680 – c. 645 BC) was a Greek lyric poet of the Archaic period from the island of Paros. He is celebrated for his versatile and innovative use of poetic meters, and is the ...

, both as young people, on board the boat, with a chest in Cleoboea's hands which is supposed to contain some objects sacred to Demeter. *Cleoboea or Philaechme, wife of Phobius (son of Hippocles and a descendant of

Neleus Neleus (; Ancient Greek: Νηλεύς) was a mythological king of Pylos. In some accounts, he was also counted as an Argonaut instead of his son, Nestor. Family Neleus was the son of Poseidon and Tyro. According to Pausanias, Neleus was the s ...

). Her husband ruled over Miletus. A noble young man named

Antheus In Greek mythology, Antheus (Ancient Greek: Ἀνθεύς derived from ἀνθέω a''ntheō'' "to blossom, to bloom") may refer to: *Antheus of Lyctus, son of Agelaus Agelaus or Agelaos (Ancient Greek: Ἀγέλαος) is, in Greek mythology, ...

was sent to Phobius from

Halicarnassus Halicarnassus (; grc, Ἁλικαρνᾱσσός ''Halikarnāssós'' or ''Alikarnāssós''; tr, Halikarnas; Carian: 𐊠𐊣𐊫𐊰 𐊴𐊠𐊥𐊵𐊫𐊰 ''alos k̂arnos'') was an ancient Greek city in Caria, in Anatolia. It was located ...

as hostage. He was so handsome that Cleoboea immediately fell in love with the young man and tried to seduce him, but he rejected her advances. Her passion then took an evil turn and she plotted vengeance on him. She chased a tame partridge (or threw a pot of gold) down a deep well and asked Antheus to fetch it out for her. When he was inside, she pushed a large stone down the well and killed him. Soon after that, overcome with remorse, she hanged herself. Parthenius, 14

Notes

References

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 ...

, ''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.
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website
*

Conon Conon ( el, Κόνων) (before 443 BC – c. 389 BC) was an Athenian general at the end of the Peloponnesian War, who led the Athenian naval forces when they were defeated by a Peloponnesian fleet in the crucial Battle of Aegospotami; later he ...

'', Fifty Narrations, surviving as one-paragraph summaries in the Bibliotheca (Library) of Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople'' translated from the Greek by Brady Kiesling
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
* Parthenius, ''Love Romances'' translated by Sir Stephen Gaselee (1882-1943), S. Loeb Classical Library Volume 69. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. 1916.
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
* Parthenius, ''Erotici Scriptores Graeci, Vol. 1''. Rudolf Hercher. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1858
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
*

, ''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
{{Greek myth index Women in Greek mythology Aetolian characters in Greek mythology