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 ...

, Harmothoë () is a minor character, the wife of

Pandareus In Greek mythology, Pandareus () is the son of Merops and a nymph. His residence is usually given as either EphesusAntoninus Liberalis11as cited in Boeus' ''Ornithogonia'' or Miletus. Pausanias10.30.2/ref> Pandareus married Harmothoë and had s ...

and the mother of his children. Harmothoë usually joins Pandareus in his demise when he angers the gods.

Family

Harmothoë's parentage and homeland are unknown. She married

, who hailed from

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

, and had three daughters by him;

Aëdon Aëdon () was in Greek mythology, the daughter of Pandareus of Ephesus. According to Homer, she was the wife of Amphion and Zethus, Zethus, and the mother of Itylus.Homer, ''Odyssey'19.517/ref> Aëdon features in two different stories, one set i ...

, Cleothera and Merope.

Eustathius Eustathius or Eustathios (Greek Εὐστάθιος) is a Greek masculine given name, in English rendered Eustace. It may refer to: * Saint Eustace, martyr (d. 118) * Sint Eustatius, Dutch island in the Caribbean * Eustathius of Antioch, Patriarch ...

on Homer's ''Odyssey'
19.517
/ref> Pausanias calls the later two Cameiro and

Clytie In Greek mythology, the name Clytie (Ancient Greek: Κλυτίη, Ionic) or Clytia (, Attic and other dialects) may refer to: *Clytie (Oceanid), known for her unrequited love for Helios. Out of jealousy, Clytie arranged the death of Leucothoe, ...

, while

Antoninus Liberalis Antoninus Liberalis () was an Ancient Greek grammarian who probably flourished between the second and third centuries AD. He is known as the author of ''The Metamorphoses'', a collection of tales that offers new variants of already familiar myths ...

writes that Pandareus and his wife (whom he does not name) had two daughters named Aëdon and

Chelidon Chelidon (fl. 74 BC) was a Roman courtesan, famed for her influence during the praetorship of Gaius Verres. She was a freedwoman and a successful professional high class courtesan. She was introduced to Gaius Verres by the courtesan Pippa and ...

and an unnamed son.

11
as cited in Boeus' ''Ornithogonia''

Mythology

After her husband failed to steal a golden dog from

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 ...

, he and Harmothoë fled to

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

where they perished miserably. Following their deaths,

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 ...

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

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 ...

took care of their daughters Cleothera and Merope, but when Aphrodite tried to find them husbands, strong winds carried them away and they became handmaidens to the

Furies The Erinyes ( ; , ), also known as the Eumenides (, the "Gracious ones"), are chthonic goddesses of vengeance in ancient Greek religion and mythology. A formulaic oath in the ''Iliad'' invokes them as "the Erinyes, that under earth take v ...

; Aëdon meanwhile was wed to Zethus and bore him a son named

Itylus In some stories from Greek mythology, Itylus or Itylos (Ancient Greek: Ἴτυλος) was the son of Aedon, who was the daughter of Pandareus of Ephesus and the wife of King Zethus of Thebes. In others, Itys was the son of Procne and Tereus. ...

. In a myth preserved by Antoninus Liberalis (who does not confirm the identity of Pandareus's wife as Harmothoë), Aëdon's husband

Polytechnus In Greek mythology, Polytechnus () is a carpenter from Colophon, in an Anatolian variant of the story of Tereus. He is the husband of Aëdon and brother-in-law of Chelidon. Mythology Polytechnus was a carpenter, and at some point he was given ...

rapes and forces the virgin Chelidon into slavedom. The two sisters manage to escape and find shelter with their parents, while their servants tie up Polytechnus, smear him with honey and leave him to the insects. Aëdon however pitied him so she kept the flies at bay. Pandareus, the wife and the brother perceived this as betrayal, and tried to attack Aëdon.

then transformed the entire family and Polytechnus into birds, with the wife becoming a kingfisher.

References

Bibliography

, ''The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis'' translated by Francis Celoria (Routledge 1992)
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
* * *

Eustathius of Thessalonica Eustathius of Thessalonica (or Eustathios of Thessalonike; ; ) was a Byzantine Greek scholar and Archbishop of Thessalonica and is a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church. He is most noted for his stand against the sack of Thessalonica by the No ...

, ''Scholia Antiqua in Homeri Odysseam'', ed. Angelo Mai, Libraria Myliana, 1821
Available at google books.
* * Pausanias, ''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
*
Online version at the Perseus.tufts library.
{{Metamorphoses in Greco-Roman mythology Metamorphoses into birds in Greek mythology Deeds of Zeus Greek mythology of Anatolia Women in Greek mythology

Family

Mythology

See also

References

Bibliography