In
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
and
Roman mythology
Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans, and is a form of Roman folklore. "Roman mythology" may also refer to the modern study of these representations, and to th ...
, the Messapian shepherds () are the flock-tending inhabitants of
Messapia (southern
Apulia
Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Ot ...
), an ancient region in the
Italian Peninsula. They feature in two similar myths, where they offend local
nymph
A nymph (; ; sometimes spelled nymphe) is a minor female nature deity in ancient Greek folklore. Distinct from other Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature; they are typically tied to a specific place, land ...
s and are punished by them for their impiousness.
Mythology
Shepherd
In one version of the myth, some nymphs, companions of
Pan, lived in Messapia. A shepherd frightened them, and then proceeded to mock them by mimicking their dance with loutish leaps, crude shouts and rustic insults. He would not stop until they turned him into a
wild olive tree, whose bitter berries still bear his sourness to this day.
Group of shepherds
In another variation of the myth, a group of Messapian shepherds declared themselves better dancers than the
Epimelides nymphs (the nymphs that tend to the flocks), not realizing they were goddesses. The shepherds and the nymphs then agreed to settle the issue with a dancing competition. The shepherds danced in a crude and artless manner, while the movements of the nymphs were full of grace and beauty. Naturally the nymphs were proclaimed victors, and after winning they revealed their true identities to the hubristic shepherds. As punishment for their hubris, they turned them all into trees, which still groan and lament their fate to this day.
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 ...
31
/ref>
See also
* Arachne
Arachne (; from , cognate with Latin ) is the protagonist of a tale in classical mythology known primarily from the version told by the Roman poet Ovid (43 BCE–17 CE). In Book Six of his epic poem ''Metamorphoses'', Ovid recounts how ...
* Marsyas
In Greek mythology, the satyr Marsyas (; ) is a central figure in two stories involving music: in one, he picked up the double oboe (''aulos'') that had been abandoned by Athena and played it; in the other, he challenged Apollo to a contest of ...
* Pierides
In Greek mythology, the Pierides (Ancient Greek: Πιερίδες) or Emathides (Ἠμαθίδες) were the nine sisters who defied the Muses in a contest of song and, having been defeated, were turned into birds. The Muses themselves are someti ...
References
Bibliography
* 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 ...
, ''The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis'' translated by Francis Celoria (Routledge 1992)
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
*
*
{{Authority control
Fictional shepherds
Metamorphoses into trees in Greek mythology
People in Greek mythology
Metamorphoses characters