Polyphonte (

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

: means 'slayer of many') is a character in Greek mythology, transformed into a strix.

Family

Polyphonte was the daughter of

Hipponous In Greek mythology, Hipponous (Ancient Greek: Ἱππόνοος) referred to several people: *Hipponous, the Olenus (Achaea), Olenian father of Capaneus and Periboea by Astynome. He was son of Iocles, grandson of Astacus (mythology), Astacus and g ...

and Thrassa; her grandparents on her mother's side were the war god

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 ...

and Tereine, a daughter of the river god Strymon.

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 ...

21
tr., , Greek and Latin

Mythology

The story of her life is contained in only one source, namely Antoninus Liberalis's Metamorphoses. Antonius cites Boeus’ second book, ‘The Origin of Birds’ as the source of the story; however, Boeus’ work has been lost.

Wrath of Aphrodite

Wishing to remain a virgin, Polyphonte fled to the mountains to become a companion of

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 ...

. This provoked the ire of

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 ...

, the goddess of love and procreation, who viewed Polyphonte's decision as a personal affront. To punish Polyphonte for failing to honor her womanly duty, Aphrodite drove her mad and caused her to lust after a

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family (biology), family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats ...

. Artemis was disgusted with Polyphonte and so turned the wild animals against her. Fearing for her life, Polyphonte was forced to return to her father's home.

Birth of the bear twins

Once at home, Polyphonte gave birth to two humanoid bear-like sons, Agrius and Oreius (the result of her union with the bear). Agrius and Oreius grew into huge men of immense strength. As perhaps befits their feral patronage, the Bear Twins honored neither men nor gods. Indeed, they were cannibals who attacked strangers on the road.

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 ...

despised Agrius and Oreius and so sent

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 ...

to punish them as he saw fit. The brothers almost had their hands and feet severed by the vengeful god were it not for the intervention of their great-grandfather Ares. Despite their monstrous nature, Ares persuaded Hermes to commute the sentence. Together, Hermes and Ares transformed Agrius, Oreius, Polyphonte, and the family's female servant into birds. Polyphonte was transformed into the

owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

-like strix, which neither ate nor drank and cried during that night, which portended war and sedition for mankind. As for her sons, Oreius was turned into a "bird called ''lagōs''" (hypothetically translated as an " eagle owl") regarded as ill omen, and Agrius was turned into a

vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to Nort ...

, a despised carrion-eating bird. In a small act of mercy, Ares and Hermes heeded the female servant's prayer where she had no involvement in the Bear Twins' actions and decided not to transform her into a bird heralding evil for mankind. Instead, she was transformed into a

woodpecker Woodpeckers are part of the bird family (biology), family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar and the extreme ...

(supposedly a sign of good luck if seen before a hunt).

Parallels to other stories

The story bears strong similarities with the tales of Hippolytus,

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

and

Callisto CALLISTO (''Cooperative Action Leading to Launcher Innovation in Stage Toss-back Operations'') is a reusable VTVL Prototype, demonstrator propelled by a small 40 kN Japanese LOX-LH2 rocket engine. It is being developed jointly by the CNES, French ...

. It has been suggested that all these tales deal with the function of Artemis within the rituals of

Ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...

and shed light on how they saw a woman's first sexual encounter. In so far as the tale details bestiality as a punishment for offending the gods, the myth is also similar to that of

Pasiphaë In Greek mythology, Pasiphaë (; , derived from πᾶσι (dative plural) "for all" and φάος/φῶς ''phaos/phos'' "light") was a queen of Crete. The daughter of Helios and the Oceanid nymph Perse (mythology), Perse, Pasiphaë is notable a ...

who mated with the

Cretan Bull In Greek mythology, the Cretan Bull () was the bull Pasiphaë fell in love with, giving birth to the Minotaur. Mythology Background Minos was king in Minoan civilization, Crete. In order to confirm his right to rule, rather than any of his b ...

resulting in the

Minotaur In Greek mythology, the Minotaur (, ''Mīnṓtauros''), also known as Asterion, is a mythical creature portrayed during classical antiquity with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being "par ...

's birth. French folklorist Paul Delarue listed this story as an ancient parallel to the European tale of '' Jean de l'Ours'', a strong hero born of a human woman and a bear.DELARUE, Paul. "LES CONTES POPULAIRES DE FRANCE: Inventaire Analytique Et Méthodique". In: ''Nouvelle Revue Des Traditions Populaires'' 1, no. 4 (1949): 337-338. Accessed June 21, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40991689.

Explanatory notes

Notes

References

* * * {{Metamorphoses in Greco-Roman mythology Women in Greek mythology Metamorphoses into birds in Greek mythology Deeds of Artemis Deeds of Zeus Deeds of Aphrodite Retinue of Artemis Deeds of Hermes Deeds of Ares Owls in culture