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 ...

, Mycene or Mykene (

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 ...

: Μυκήνη), was a daughter of

Inachus In Greek mythology, Inachus, Inachos or Inakhos (Ancient Greek: Ἴναχος) was the first king of Argos after whom a river was called Inachus River,Apollodorus2.1.1/ref> that drains the western margin of the Argive plain. Biography For m ...

, king of Argos, the sister of

Phoroneus In Greek mythology, Phoroneus (; Ancient Greek: Φορωνεύς means 'bringer of a price') was a culture-hero of the Argolid, fire-bringer,law giver, and primordial king of Argos. Family Phoroneus was the son of the river god Inachus and e ...

, and the wife of

Arestor In Greek mythology, Arestor (Ancient Greek: Ἀρέστωρ, ''gen''.: Ἀρέστορος) may refer to two distinct characters: * Arestor, an Argive prince as the son of Phorbas (possibly by Euboea) or IasusScholion on Euripides, ''Orestes'' 16 ...

. She was said to be the eponym of

Mycenae Mycenae ( ; grc, Μυκῆναι or , ''Mykē̂nai'' or ''Mykḗnē'') is an archaeological site near Mykines in Argolis, north-eastern Peloponnese, Greece. It is located about south-west of Athens; north of Argos; and south of Corinth. ...

Mythology

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the '' Iliad'' and the '' Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of ...

's ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major Ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek Epic poetry, epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by moder ...

'', calling her "Mycene of the fair crown" mentions her in passing, along with

Tyro In Greek mythology, Tyro ( grc, Τυρώ) was an Elean princess who later became Queen of Iolcus. Family Tyro was the daughter of King Salmoneus of Elis and Alcidice, daughter of King Aleus of Arcadia. She married her uncle King Crethe ...

and

Alcmene In Greek mythology, Alcmene () or Alcmena (; Ancient Greek: Ἀλκμήνη or Doric Greek: Ἀλκμάνα, Latin: Alcumena means "strong in wrath") was the wife of Amphitryon by whom she bore two children, Iphicles and Laonome. She is best k ...

, as "women of old ... fair-tressed Achaean women".

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 ...

, citing the ''

Megalai Ehoiai The ''Megalai Ehoiai'' ( grc, Μεγάλαι Ἠοῖαι, ), or ''Great Ehoiai'', is a fragmentary Greek epic poem that was popularly, though not universally, attributed to Hesiod during antiquity. Like the more widely read Hesiodic ''Catalogue o ...

'', says that Mycene was the daughter of Inachus and the wife of Arestor, without naming the mother. However, a scholiast on Homer's ''Odyssey'' says that Mycene was the daughter of Inachus and the

Oceanid In Greek mythology, the Oceanids or Oceanides (; grc, Ὠκεανίδες, Ōkeanídes, pl. of grc, Ὠκεανίς, Ōkeanís, label=none) are the nymphs who were the three thousand (a number interpreted as meaning "innumerable") daughters o ...

nymph

Melia Melia or Melie ( Ancient Greek: Μελία, Μελίη) may refer to: Greek mythology * Melia (mythology), the name of several figures * Melia, the singular form of Meliae, a type of nymph People and fictional characters * Melia (given name) * ...

, and that, according to the

Epic Cycle The Epic Cycle ( grc, Ἐπικὸς Κύκλος, Epikòs Kýklos) was a collection of Ancient Greek epic poems, composed in dactylic hexameter and related to the story of the Trojan War, including the '' Cypria'', the '' Aethiopis'', the so- ...

, Mycene and Arestor were the parents of

Argus Panoptes Argus or Argos Panoptes ( grc, Ἄργος Πανόπτης, All-seeing Argos) is a many-eyed giant in Greek mythology. Mythology Argus Panoptes (), guardian of the heifer-nymph Io and son of Arestor and probably Mycene (in other version so ...

. As the daughter of Inachus, she would have been therefore the sister of Phoroneus, who, according to Argive tradition, was the first man, or first inhabitant of Argos, who lived during the time of the

Great Flood A flood myth or a deluge myth is a myth in which a great flood, usually sent by a deity or deities, destroys civilization, often in an act of divine retribution. Parallels are often drawn between the flood waters of these myths and the primaeva ...

, associated with

Deucalion In Greek mythology, Deucalion (; grc-gre, Δευκαλίων) was the son of Prometheus; ancient sources name his mother as Clymene, Hesione, or Pronoia.A scholium to ''Odyssey'' 10.2 (='' Catalogue'' fr. 4) reports that Hesiod called Deucal ...

. According to Pausanias—among several accounts of how the city

got its name—one was that Mycene gave "her name to the city".

2.16.4
According to Pausanias
2.16.3
Perseus was also said to have named the city after ''myces'', the Greek word for mushroom, which also referred to the cap on the end of a scabbard (see Fowler p. 259); this was because, on the spot where he founded the city, either "the cap (myces) fell from his scabbard, and he regarded this as a sign to found a city" or upon pulling a "mushroom (myces) from the ground" a wonderous spring gushed forth from which he "drank with joy". Pausainas
2.16.4
also mentions (but discounts) the story that the eponym of the city was Myceneus the son of Sparton, son of Phoroneus. For other stories explaining the name of the city, see Fowler, p. 259.

Citations

General and cited references

* Fowler, R. L. (2013), ''Early Greek Mythography: Volume 2: Commentary'', Oxford University Press, 2013. . * Gantz, Timothy, ''Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources'', Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes: (Vol. 1), (Vol. 2). * Hard, Robin, ''The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology"'', Psychology Press, 2004, . *

, ''The Odyssey with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, PH.D. in two volumes''. Cambridge, MA.,

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the reti ...

; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Most, G.W., ''Hesiod: The Shield, Catalogue of Women, Other Fragments'',

Loeb Classical Library The Loeb Classical Library (LCL; named after James Loeb; , ) is a series of books originally published by Heinemann_(publisher), Heinemann in London, but is currently published by Harvard University Press. The library contains important works ...

, No. 503, Cambridge, Massachusetts,

, 2007, 2018.
Online version at Harvard University Press
*

, ''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
* Tripp, Edward, ''Crowell's Handbook of Classical Mythology'', Thomas Y. Crowell Co; First edition (June 1970). {{ISBN, 069022608X. * West, M. L., ''Greek Epic Fragments: From the Seventh to the Fifth Centuries BC''. Edited and translated by Martin L. West.

No. 497. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2003
Online version at Harvard University Press
* Smith, William; ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 p ...

'', London (1867)
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
Argive characters in Greek mythology Children of Inachus Mythology of Argolis Naiads Nymphs Princesses in Greek mythology