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 ...

, the Graeae (; ''Graiai'', , alternatively spelled Graiai), also called the Grey Sisters and the Phorcides (), were three sisters who had gray hair from their birth and shared one eye and one tooth among them. They were the daughters of the primordial sea gods

Phorcys In Greek mythology, Phorcys or Phorcus (; ) is a primordial sea god, generally cited (first in Hesiod) as the son of Pontus and Gaia (Earth). Classical scholar Karl Kerenyi conflated Phorcys with the similar sea gods Nereus and Proteus. His w ...

and

Ceto Ceto (; ) is a primordial sea goddess in Greek mythology, the daughter of Pontus and his mother, Gaia. As a mythological figure, she is considered to be one of the most ancient deities, and bore a host of monstrous children fathered by Pho ...

and, among others, sisters of the

Gorgons The Gorgons ( ; ), in Greek mythology, are three monstrous sisters, Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa, said to be the daughters of Phorcys and Ceto. They lived near their sisters the Graeae, and were able to turn anyone who looked at them to stone ...

and the

Hesperides In Greek mythology, the Hesperides (; , ) are the nymphs of evening and golden light of sunsets, who were the "Daughters of the Evening" or "Nymphs of the West". They were also called the Atlantides () from their reputed father, Atlas (mytholog ...

. Their names were Deino (), Pemphredo (), and Enyo (; not to be confused with the war god, Enyo). The Graeae are best known from their encounter with

Perseus In Greek mythology, Perseus (, ; Greek language, Greek: Περσεύς, Romanization of Greek, translit. Perseús) is the legendary founder of the Perseid dynasty. He was, alongside Cadmus and Bellerophon, the greatest Greek hero and slayer of ...

, who, after capturing their eye, forced them to reveal information about the

Etymology

The word ''Graeae'' is probably derived from the adjective "old woman", derived from the

Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-Euro ...

root , "to grow old" via .

Mythology

The Graeae were daughters of the sea-deities

and

(from which their name the Phorcydes derived) and sisters to the

Gorgon The Gorgons ( ; ), in Greek mythology, are three monstrous sisters, Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa, said to be the daughters of Phorcys and Ceto. They lived near their sisters the Graeae, and were able to turn anyone who looked at them to sto ...

s.Harris, Stephen L., and Gloria Platzner. ''Classical Mythology: Images and Insights'' (Third Edition). California State University, Sacramento. Mayfield Publishing Company. 2000, 1998, 1995, pp. 273–274, 1039. The Graeae took the form of old, grey-haired women. Their age was so great that a human childhood for them was hardly conceivable. In ''

Theogony The ''Theogony'' () is a poem by Hesiod (8th–7th century BC) describing the origins and genealogy, genealogies of the Greek gods, composed . It is written in the Homeric Greek, epic dialect of Ancient Greek and contains 1,022 lines. It is one ...

'', however,

Hesiod Hesiod ( or ; ''Hēsíodos''; ) was an ancient Greece, Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer.M. L. West, ''Hesiod: Theogony'', Oxford University Press (1966), p. 40.Jasper Gr ...

describes the Graeae as being "fair-cheeked". In ''Prometheus Bound'', the Graeae are described as being "ancient maidens of swan-like aspect" (; perhaps here meaning "white-haired").

names only two Graeae, the "well-clad" "Pemphredo" ( "alarm") and the "saffron-robed" Enyo (), while

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 ...

lists Deino ( "dread", the dreadful anticipation of horror) as a third. Calling them "Phorcides",

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 ...

, in addition to Pemphredo and Enyo, adds Persis, noting that "for this last others say Dino".

, ''

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 ...

'
Preface
/ref> They shared one eye and one tooth, which they took turns using. By stealing their eye while they were passing it among themselves, the hero

forced them to tell the whereabouts of the three objects needed to kill

Medusa In Greek mythology, Medusa (; ), also called Gorgo () or the Gorgon, was one of the three Gorgons. Medusa is generally described as a woman with living snakes in place of hair; her appearance was so hideous that anyone who looked upon her wa ...

(in other versions, the whereabouts of Medusa) by ransoming their shared eye for the information.

Genealogy

Notes

References

Bibliography

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 ...

, (?), ''

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, ...

'' 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
*

. ''Fragments.'' Edited and translated by Alan H. Sommerstein.

No. 505. Cambridge, Massachusetts:

, 2009.
Online version at Harvard University Press
*

, ''Persians. Seven against Thebes. Suppliants. Prometheus Bound.'' Edited and translated by Alan H. Sommerstein.

No. 145. Cambridge, Massachusetts:

, 2009.
Online version at Harvard University Press
*

, ''Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes.'' Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Grimal, Pierre
''The Dictionary of Classical Mythology''
Wiley-Blackwell, 1996, . "Graeae" p. 175. *

, ''

'', in ''The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White'', Cambridge, Massachusetts., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Hyginus, Gaius Julius
''The Myths of Hyginus''
Edited and translated by Mary A. Grant, Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1960. * Smith, William; ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' is a biographical dictionary of classical antiquity, edited by William Smith (lexicographer), William Smith and originally published in London by John Taylor (English publisher), Tayl ...

'', London (1873)
"Graeae"
* {{Greek mythology (deities), state=collapsed Mythological blind people Greek goddesses Greek mythological witches Mythological trios Legendary creatures with absent body parts Sister trios Crones and hags