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Listed 22 sub titles with search on: Mythology  for wider area of: "CHANIA Prefecture CRETE" .


Mythology (22)

Eponymous founders or settlers

Catreus

KATRI (Ancient city) KANDANOS
Son of Tegeates from Arcadia

Cydon, Kydon

KYDONIA (Ancient city) CHANIA
It is also said that all the surviving sons of Tegeates, namely, Cydon, Archedius and Gortys, migrated of their own free will to Crete, and that after them were named the cities Cydonia, Gortyna and Catreus.(Paus.8.53.4)

Cydon (Kudon), the founder of the town of Cydonia in Crete. According to a tradition of Tegea, he was a son of Tegeates or of Hermes by Acacallis, the daughter of Minos, whereas others described him as a son of Apollo by Acacallis. (Paus. viii. 53.2; Steph. Byz. s. v. Kudonia ; Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. iv. 1491)

Founders

Archedius

KATRI (Ancient city) KANDANOS
Son of Tegeates.

Archedius

TEGEA (Ancient city) CHANIA
Son of Tegeates.

Gods & demigods

Britomartis, Dictynna

DIKTINA (Ancient sanctuary) KOLYMBARI
The Cretans say (the story of Aphaea is Cretan ) that Carmanor, who purified Apollo alter he had killed Pytho, was the father of Lubulus, and that the daughter of Zeus and of Carme, the daughter of Eubulus, was Britomartis. She took delight, they say, in running and in the chase, and was very dear to Artemis. Fleeing from Minos, who had fallen in love with her, she threw herself into nets which had been cast (aphemena ) for a draught of fishes. She was made a goddess by Artemis, and she is worshipped, not only by the Cretans, but also by the Aeginetans, who say that Britomartis shows herself in their island. Her surname among the Aeginetans is Aphaea; in Crete it is Dictynna (Goddess of Nets ).

This extract is from: Pausanias. Description of Greece (ed. W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., & H.A. Ormerod, 1918). Cited Nov 2003 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.


Britomartis, appears to have originally been a Cretan divinity of hunters and fishermen. Her name is usually derived from britus, sweet or blessing, and martis, i. e. marna, a maiden, so that the name would mean, the sweet or blessing maiden. (Paus. iii. 14.2; Solin. 11.) After the introduction of the worship of Artemis into Crete, Britomartis, between whom and Artemis there were several points of resemblance, was placed in some relation to her: Artemis, who loved her, assumed her name and was worshipped under it, and in the end the two divinities became completely identified, as we see from the story which lakes Britomartis a daughter of Leto. (Callim. Hymn. in Dian. 189, with the Schol.; Paus. ii. 30.3; Schol. ad Aristoph. Ran. 1402; Eurip. Iphig. Taur. 126; Aristoph. Ran. 1358; Virg. Cir. 305.) The myths of Britomartis is given by some of the authorities just referred to. She was a daughter of Zeus and Carme, the daughter of Eubulus. She was a nymph, took great delight in wandering about hunting, and was beloved by Artemis. Minos, who likewise loved her, pursued her for nine months, but she fled from him and at last threw herself into the nets which had been set by fishermen, or leaped from mount Dictynnaeum into the sea, where she became entangled in the nets, but was saved by Artemis, who now made her a goddess. She was worshipped not only in Crete, but appeared to the inhabitants of Aegina, and was there called Aphaea, whereas in Crete she received the surname Dictymna or Dictynna (from diktuon, a net; comp. Diod. v. 76). According to another tradition, Britomartis was fond of solitude, and had vowed to live in perpetual maidenhood. From Phoenicia (for this tradition calls her mother Carme, a daughter of Phoenix) she went to Argos, to the daughters of Erasinus, and thence to Cephallenia, where she received divine honours from the inhabitants under the name of Laphria. From Cephallenia she came to Crete, where she was pursued by Minos; but she fled to the sea-coast, where fishermen concealed her under their nets, whence she derived the surname Dictynna. A sailor, Andromedes, carried her from Crete to Aegina, and when, on landing there, he made an attempt upon her chastity, she fled from his vessel into a grove, and disappeared in the sanctuary of Artemis. The Aeginetans now built a sanctury to her, and worshipped her as a goddess. (Anton. Lib. 40.) These wanderings of Britomartis unquestionably indicate the gradual diffusion of her worship in the various maritime places of Greece mentioned in the legend. Her connexion and ultimate identification with Artemis had naturally a modifying influence upon the notions entertained of each of them. As Britomartis had to do with fishermen and sailors, and was the protectress of harbours and navigation generally, this feature was transferred to Artemis also, as we see especially in the Arcadian Artemis; and the temples of the two divinities, therefore, stood usually on the banks of rivers or on the sea-coast. As, on the other hand, Artemis was considered as the goddess of the moon, Britomartis likewise appears in this light: her disappearance in the sea, and her identification with the Aeginetan Aphaea, who was undoubtedly a goddess of the moon, seem to contain sufficient proof of this, which is confirmed by the fact, that on some coins of the Roman empire Dictynna appears with the crescent. Lastly, Britomartis was like Artemis drawn into the mystic worship of Hecate, and even identified with her. (Eurip. Hippol. 141, with the Schol.; comp. Miiller, Aeginet., &c.; Hock, Kreta, ii., &c.; Dict. of. Ant.s. v. Diktunnia.)

This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks


   Britomartis, "sweet maid". A Cretan goddess, supposed to dispense happiness, and whose worship extended throughout the islands and along the coasts of the Mediterranean. Like Artemis, with whom she was sometimes identified, she was the patroness of hunters, fishermen, and sailors, and also goddess of birth and of health. Her sphere was Nature in its greatness and its freedom. As goddess of the sea she bore the name of Dictynna, the supposed derivation of which from the Greek diktuon, "a net," was explained by the following legend. She was the danghter of a huntress much beloved by Zeus and Artemis. Minos loved her, and followed her for nine months over valley and mountain, through forest and swamp, till he nearly overtook her, when she leaped from a high rock into the sea. She was saved by falling into some nets, and Artemis made her a goddess.

This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks


  The daughter of Zeus and Carme, who became the Cretan goddess of fishermen and hunters. Artemis loved her deeply, but Britomartis had no relationships with men. King Minos wanted her, but she refused him. He then started chasing her, and when he had almost caught up with her she leapt from Mt. Dictynnaeus into the sea. There she got caught in a fishing net and was rescued the last minute by Artemis who made her a goddess.
  Later Britomartis was also worshipped on Aegina where her temple, Aphaea, can still be seen.
  Another version tells us she was Phoenician, and that she lived on Cephalonia, where she was worshipped as Laphria, before she went to Crete.

This text is cited Sept 2003 from the In2Greece URL below.


Gods & heroes related to the location

Menelaus

KATRI (Ancient city) KANDANOS
For nine days he (Paris) was entertained by Menelaus; but on the tenth day, Menelaus having gone on a journey to Crete to perform the obsequies of his mother's father Catreus, Alexander persuaded Helen to go off with him. And she abandoned Hermione, then nine years old, and putting most of the property on board, she set sail with him by night

Heroes

Phylacides & Philander

ELYROS (Ancient city) ANATOLIKO SELINO
On the mountains of Crete there is still in my time a city called Elyrus. Now the citizens sent to Delphi a bronze goat, which is suckling the babies, Phylacides and Philander. The Elyrians say that these were children of Apollo by the nymph Acacallis, and that Apollo mated with Acacallis in the house of Carmanor in the city of Tarrha.

Carmanor

TARRA (Ancient city) SFAKIA
Carmanor (Karmanor), a Cretan of Tarrha, father of Eubulus and Chrysothemis. He was said to have received and purified Apollo and Artemis, after they had slain the monster Python, and it was in the house of Carmanor that Apollo formed his connexion with the nymph Acacallis. (Paus. ii. 7.7, 30.3, x. 16.2, 7.2)

Chrysothemis, the poet, son of Carmanor

Chrysothemis (Chrusothemis) There are four mythical females of this name (Hygin. Fab. 170, Poet. Astr. ii. 25; Diod. v. 22; Hom. Il. ix. 287), and one male, a son of Carmanor, the priest of Apollo at Tarrha in Crete. He is said to have been a poet, and to have won the first victory in the Pythian games by a hymn on Apollo. (Paus. x. 7.2)

Eubulus

Eubulus, (Euboulos), a son of Carmanor and father of Carme. (Paus. ii. 30. § 3.) This name likewise occurs as a surname of several divi nities who were regarded as the authors of good counsel, or as well-disposed; though when applied to Hades, it is, like Eubuleus, a mere euphemism. (Orph. Hymn. 17. 12, 29. 6, 55. 3)

Heroines

Carme

DIKTINA (Ancient sanctuary) KOLYMBARI
Carme (Karme), a daughter of Eubulus, who became by Zeus the mother of Britomartis (Paus. ii. 30.2). Antoninus Liberalis (40) describes her as a grand-daughter of Agenor, and daughter of Phoenix.

Carme

TARRA (Ancient city) SFAKIA
Carme (Karme), a daughter of Eubulus, who became by Zeus the mother of Britomartis (Paus. ii. 30.2). Antoninus Liberalis (40) describes her as a grand-daughter of Agenor, and daughter of Phoenix.

Historic figures

Pteras

APTERA (Ancient city) SOUDA
Another story is current, that the temple was set up by a Delphian, whose name was Pteras, and so the temple received its name from the builder. After this Pteras, so they say, the city in Crete was named, with the addition of a letter, Apterei.

Catreus

KATRI (Ancient city) KANDANOS
son of Minos: Apollod. 3.1.2

Remarkable selections

Clymenus

KYDONIA (Ancient city) CHANIA
In this district (of Pisa in Elis) is a hill rising to a sharp peak, on which are the ruins of the city of Phrixa, as well as a temple of Athena surnamed Cydonian. This temple is not entire, but the altar is still there. The sanctuary was founded for the goddess, they say, by Clymenus, a descendant of Idaean Heracles, and he came from Cydonia in Crete and from the river Jardanus. The Eleans say that Pelops too sacrificed to Cydonian Athena before he set about his contest with Oenomaus.

This extract is from: Pausanias. Description of Greece (ed. W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., & H.A. Ormerod, 1918). Cited Oct 2003 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.


Clymenus, a son of Cardis in Crete, who is said to have come to Elis in the fiftieth year after the flood of Deucalion, to have restored the Olympic games, and to have erected altars to Heracles, from whom he was descended. (Paus. v. 8.1, 14.6, vi. 21.5)

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