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 ...

, Erinoma () or Erinona () is a beautiful maiden who attracted the attention of both

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 ...

and

Adonis In Greek mythology, Adonis (; ) was the mortal lover of the goddesses Aphrodite and Persephone. He was considered to be the ideal of male beauty in classical antiquity. The myth goes that Adonis was gored by a wild boar during a hunting trip ...

, as well as the wrath of

Hera In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; ; in Ionic Greek, Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women, and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she is queen of the twelve Olympians and Mount Oly ...

and

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 ...

. Her story seems to be a local variant of Adonis's myth originating from the island of

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

, and survives only in the late works of

Servius Servius may refer to: * Servius (praenomen), a personal name during the Roman Republic * Servius the Grammarian (fl. 4th/5th century), Roman Latin grammarian * Servius Asinius Celer (died AD 46), Roman senator * Servius Cornelius Cethegus, Roma ...

, a Latin grammarian who lived during the early fifth century AD.

Family

Erinoma was the daughter of a man named Celes, the son of either

Ion An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by convent ...

or Epiuotasterius, two men who arrived to

from nearby

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Mythology

According to the most common versions,

was the son of

Cinyras In Greek mythology, Cinyras (; – ''Kinyras'') was a famous hero and king of Cyprus. Accounts vary significantly as to his genealogy and provide a variety of stories concerning him; in many sources he is associated with the cult of Aphrodit ...

Theias In Greek mythology, Theias () was the King of Assyria and father of Myrrha and Adonis. The birth of Adonis existed in two different versions: #The most commonly accepted version is that Aphrodite urged Myrrha or Smyrna to commit incest with he ...

by his own daughter

Myrrha Myrrha (; ), also known as Smyrna (), is the mother of Adonis in Greek mythology. She was transformed into a myrrh tree after having intercourse with her father, and gave birth to Adonis in tree form. Although the tale of Adonis has Semitic r ...

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...

, who tricked her father into bedding her in secret. She then ran away once discovered, and transformed into a myrrh tree, causing her infant son, Adonis to be born some months later from the tree trunk. Adonis was greatly loved by

, although he was also made to divide his year between her and

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 ...

. When he was out hunting one day, he was mortally wounded by a boar. In some versions, that boar was

Ares Ares (; , ''Árēs'' ) is the List of Greek deities, Greek god of war god, war and courage. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. The Greeks were ambivalent towards him. He embodies the physical valor necessary for ...

, or

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

, or perhaps it sent by

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 ...

as revenge against the goddess of love. Aphrodite greatly mourned her beloved and transformed his blood into a red

anemone ''Anemone'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. Plants of the genus are commonly called windflowers. They are native to the temperate and subtropical regions of all regions except Australia, New Zealand, and ...

. In what appears to be a localized version in Cyprus however, Erinoma was a Cypriot girl of great beauty and chastity. The virgin goddesses Artemis and

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...

both favoured her for her purity, but

on the other hand disliked her, and she made

fall in love with her, so that she would not escape from the domain of love. But Zeus's wife

was not too pleased about the prospect of her husband cheating on her again, so she bid Aphrodite to make Adonis fall in love with Erinoma as well. Adonis failed to win the girl's affections, so Aphrodite wrapped him in a cloud so he could gain access to Erinoma's bedroom with ease. There he found her and he raped her. Artemis then turned Erinoma into a

peahen Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred to ...

. Zeus, however, was enraged upon finding out what had happened to his beloved, so Adonis fled to Mount Cassius for safety. It was

Hermes Hermes (; ) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology considered the herald of the gods. He is also widely considered the protector of human heralds, travelers, thieves, merchants, and orators. He is able to move quic ...

who lured him out of his hiding with the help of a boar (which was Ares in disguise). Once in the open, Zeus struck Adonis with a lightning bolt, killing him. Aphrodite complained about the murder and greatly lamented Adonis's passing. Hermes then brought back Adonis's shade to his people, but he was only fully restored to life by Zeus when Hera requested so. Artemis, meanwhile, restored the peahen Erinoma back to her human form, who then gave birth to Adonis' son Taleus.

Legacy

Erinome, also known as Jupiter XXV, a retrograde irregular satellite of the planet

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

, was named after this Erinoma.USGS Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature
/ref>

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * *

Maurus Servius Honoratus Servius, distinguished as Servius the Grammarian ( or ), was a late fourth-century and early fifth-century grammarian. He earned a contemporary reputation as the most learned man of his generation in Italy; he authored a set of commentaries o ...