Electra (Oceanid)
| Electra | |
|---|---|
| Genealogy | |
| Parents | Oceanus and Tethys |
| Siblings | Oceanids, river gods |
| Consort | Thaumas |
| Children | Iris, the Harpies |
In Greek mythology, Electra (/ɪˈlɛktrə/; Ancient Greek: Ἠλέκτρα, romanized: Ēléktra, lit. 'amber') was one of the 3,000 Oceanids, water-nymph daughters of the Titans Oceanus and his sister-spouse Tethys.[1][2]
Family
[edit]According to Hesiod, she was the wife of Thaumas, and by him, the mother of Iris, the goddess of rainbows and a messenger for the gods, and the Harpies.[3]
The names of Electra's Harpy daughters vary. Hesiod and Apollodorus named them Aello and Ocypete. Virgil named Celaeno as one of the Harpies.[4] The Fabulae describes the Harpies – whom it lists as Celaeno, Ocypete, and Podarce – as daughters of Thaumas and Electra. Later, however, the Harpies are named Aellopous, Celaeno, and Ocypete, and are said to be the daughters of Thaumas and Ozomene.[5] Ozomene, whose name means 'the Foul-smelling One', is not known elsewhere.[6]
The late 4th-early 5th century poet Nonnus gives Electra and Thaumas two children: Iris, and the river god Hydaspes.[7]
Mythology
[edit]Along with her sisters, Electra was one of the companions of Persephone when the daughter of Demeter was abducted by Hades.[8]
Notes
[edit]- ^ Hesiod, Theogony 349 & 362–366; Homeric Hymn to Demeter 5 & 418; Apollodorus, 1.2.2
- ^ Kerényi, Carl (1951). The Gods of the Greeks. London: Thames and Hudson. p. 41.
- ^ Hesiod, Theogony 265–269, 780–381; also Apollodorus, 1.2.6; Hyginus, Fabulae Preface.
- ^ Virgil, Aeneid 3 211–212; Servius on Virgil, Aeneid 3.212
- ^ Hyginus, Fabulae Theogony 35, 14.18 (pp. 96, 102).
- ^ RE, s.v. Ozomenes, citing Rose's commentary.
- ^ Nonnus, Dionysiaca 26.358–362
- ^ Homeric Hymn to Demeter 418; Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio 4.30.4
References
[edit]- Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
- Hesiod, Theogony from The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
- 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. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
- Hyginus, Fabulae in Apollodorus' Library and Hyginus' Fabulae: Two Handbooks of Greek Mythology, Translated, with Introductions by R. Scott Smith and Stephen M. Trzaskoma, Hackett Publishing Company, 2007. ISBN 978-0-87220-821-6.
- Kerényi, Carl, The Gods of the Greeks, Thames and Hudson, London, 1951.
- Nonnus, Dionysiaca; translated by Rouse, W H D, II Books XVI–XXXV. Loeb Classical Library No. 345, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1940. Internet Archive
- Maurus Servius Honoratus, In Vergilii carmina comentarii. Servii Grammatici qui feruntur in Vergilii carmina commentarii; recensuerunt Georgius Thilo et Hermannus Hagen. Georgius Thilo. Leipzig. B. G. Teubner. 1881. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
- 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. ISBN 0-674-99328-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
- Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft, Band XVIII, Halbband 2, edited by Karl Mittelhaus, Stuttgart, J. B. Metzler, 1942. Wikisource.
- Publius Vergilius Maro, Aeneid. Theodore C. Williams. trans. Boston. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1910. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Publius Vergilius Maro, Bucolics, Aeneid, and Georgics. J. B. Greenough. Boston. Ginn & Co. 1900. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Smith, William; Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London (1873). "Electra 1."