In ancient Greek 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 ...

, Rhodope () is the wife of Haemus and queen of

Thrace Thrace (, ; ; ; ) is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe roughly corresponding to the province of Thrace in the Roman Empire. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Se ...

. She and her husband were punished together by being transformed into mountain ranges after daring to compare themselves to

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 ...

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 ...

, the highest gods. The Rhodope Mountains, shared between

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

and

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, were named after this queen.

Family

Rhodope's parentage is not clear in ancient texts; a scholiast makes a Thracian Rhodope the daughter of the river-god Strymon, but it is not clear whether this is supposed to be the same Rhodope. In the '' Homeric Hymn to Demeter'', a Rhodope is the daughter of

Oceanus In Greek mythology, Oceanus ( ; , also , , or ) was a Titans, Titan son of Uranus (mythology), Uranus and Gaia, the husband of his sister the Titan Tethys (mythology), Tethys, and the father of the River gods (Greek mythology), river gods ...

and Tethys and playmate of

Persephone In ancient Greek mythology and Ancient Greek religion, religion, Persephone ( ; , classical pronunciation: ), also called Kore ( ; ) or Cora, is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the Greek underworld, underworld afte ...

before her abduction. Rhodope married Haemus, and together they had a son named Hebrus, the namesake of the Hebrus river (now more commonly known as

Maritsa Maritsa or Maritza ( ), also known as Evros ( ) and Meriç ( ), is a river that runs through the Balkans in Southeast Europe. With a length of ,

) which now forms one of the northern bounderies of

Mythology

Rhodope married Haemus, king of

, and became queen. She and Haemus had a good marriage that led to them becoming arrogant and insolent against the gods. Eventually they started referring to themselves as

and

, the names of the highest of the gods. As punishent the gods turned them both into icy peaks; Haemus became the Haemus Mons (the modern Balkan Mountains), while Rhodope became the Rhodopes.

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

, '' Metamorphoses'
6.87 ff
/ref> In a parodic or paradoxographic pseudo-Plutarchic text, now known not to have been authored by

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...

, Rhodope and Haemus were in addition brother and sister, and it was the incest along with their hubris that caused Hera and Zeus to punish them. Pseudo-Plutarch, '' De fluviis'
XI.3
/ref> Some time later, the goddess

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 ...

wove Rhodope's tale into her tapestry during her weaving contest with the Lydian maiden Arachne, as a warning against those who dared to challenge the gods.

References

Bibliography

* * * * *

, '' Metamorphoses'', with an English prose translation by A. S. Kline, 2000
Text available online at Poetry in Translation.
* Pseudo-Plutarch, '' De fluviis'' in '' Plutarch's Morals''. Translated from the Greek by several hands. Corrected and revised by. William W. Goodwin, PH. D. Boston. Little, Brown, and Company. Cambridge. Press Of John Wilson and son. 1874. 5
Available in Perseus Digital Library.
* The '' Homeric Hymns and Homerica'' with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White. Homeric Hymns. Cambridge, MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914
Available online at Perseus.tufts Digital Library.

External links

{{Metamorphoses in Greek mythology Queens in Greek mythology Mythological Thracian women Metamorphoses into terrain in Greek mythology Metamorphoses characters Deeds of Zeus Deeds of Hera Rhodope Mountains Mythological people involved in incest

Family

Mythology

See also

References

Bibliography

External links