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Listed 39 sub titles with search on: Mythology  for wider area of: "STYMFALIA Municipality CORINTHIA" .


Mythology (39)

Ancient myths

Ischys & Coronis

KYLLINI (Mountain) CORINTHIA
Ischus, a son of Elatus, and the beloved of Coronis at the time when she was with child (Asclepius) by Apollo. The god wishing to punish her faithlessness, caused Artemis to kill her, together with Ischys.

The Sixth Labor of Heracles-The Stymphalian Birds

STYMFALIA (Lake) CORINTHIA
  After Hercules returned from his success in the Augean stables, Eurystheus came up with an even more difficult task. For the sixth Labor, Hercules was to drive away an enormous flock of birds which gathered at a lake near the town of Stymphalos.
  Arriving at the lake, which was deep in the woods, Hercules had no idea how to drive the huge gathering of birds away. The goddess Athena came to his aid, providing a pair of bronze krotala, noisemaking clappers similar to castanets. These were no ordinary noisemakers. They had been made by an immortal craftsman, Hephaistos, the god of the forge.
  Climbing a nearby mountain, Hercules clashed the krotala loudly, scaring the birds out of the trees, then shot them with bow and arrow, or possibly with a slingshot, as they took flight.
  Some versions of the legend say that these Stymphalian birds were vicious man-eaters. The 2nd century A.D. travel writer, Pausanias, trying to discover what kind of birds they might have been, wrote that during his time a type of bird from the Arabian desert was called "Stymphalian," describing them as equal to lions or leopards in their fierceness. He speculated that the birds Hercules encountered in the legend were similar to these Arabian birds.
"These fly against those who come to hunt them, wounding and killing them with their beaks. All armor of bronze or iron that men wear is pierced by the birds; but if they weave a garment of thick cork, the beaks of the Stymphalian birds are caught in the cork garment... These birds are of the size of a crane, and are like the ibis, but their beaks are more powerful, and not crooked like that of the ibis" (Pausanias, Description of Greece, 8.22.5)
Pausanias also saw and described the religious sanctuary built by the Greeks of Stymphalos and dedicated to the goddess Artemis. He reported that the temple had carvings of the Stymphalian birds up near its roof. Standing behind the temple, he saw marble statues of maidens with the legs of birds.

This text is cited July 2004 from Perseus Project URL bellow, which contains interesting hyperlinks


Heracles. 6. The Stymphalian birds. They were an innumerable swarm of voracious birds, the daughters of Stymphalus and Ornis. They had brazen claws, wings, and beaks, used their feathers as arrows, and ate human flesh. They had been brought up by Ares, and were so numerous, that with their secretions and feathers they killed men and beasts, and covered whole fields and meadows. From fear of the wolves, these birds had taken refuge in a lake near Stymphalus, from which Heracles was ordered by Eurvstheus to expel them. When Heracles undertook the task, Athena provided him with a brazen rattle, by the noise of which he startled the birds, and, as they attempted to fly away, he killed them with his arrows. According to some accounts, he did not kill the birds, but only drove them away, and afterwards they appeared again in the island of Aretias, whither they had fled, and where they were found by the Argonauts. (Apollod. ii. 5.6; Hygin. Fab. 30; Paus. viii. 22.4, &c.; Serv. ad Aen. viii. 300; Apollon. Rhod. ii. 1037, with the Schol.)

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


Stymphalian birds

STYMFALOS (Ancient city) CORINTHIA
Perseus Encyclopedia

Temenus & Hera

The story has it that in the old Stymphalus dwelt Temenus, the son of Pelasgus, and that Hera was reared by this Temenus, who himself established three sanctuaries for the goddess, and gave her three surnames when she was still a maiden, Girl; when married to Zeus he called her Grown-up; when for some cause or other she quarrelled with Zeus and came back to Stymphalus, Temenus named her Widow.
This extract is from: Pausanias Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Harvard University Press
Cited Sept. 2002 from Perseus Project URL bellow, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.

Constellations

Pleiad(e)s

They were the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione, that Zeus turned into doves so that they could escape from Orion, who fell in love with them. The doves flew and became a constellation. Pleiades are also mentioned by Homer (Il. 18.486, Od. 5.272).

Founders

Temenos

STYMFALOS (Ancient city) CORINTHIA

Gods & demigods

Pan

KYLLINI (Mountain) CORINTHIA
National god of Arcadia, one of the "youngest" Greek gods, identified with the Egyptian Mendes, son of Zeus and Hybris, said to have been borne by Penelope to Hermes, hunts on mountains, invents pipe, heard piping on Mount Maenalus, represented with pipe, gives oracles, causes panic fears, discovers mourning Demeter in cave, appears to Philippides, his cult at Athens, sacrifices to Pan and Dionysus, caves sacred to, mountains sacred to, oak-tree sacred to, tortoises sacred to, his herd of goats, his altars, images, sanctuaries, temple, Pans, Titles—Deliverer, Nomian, Oenois, Scolitas.

Surnames of Pan

Pan Aegocerus

Aegocerus (Aigokeros), a surname of Pan, descriptive of his figure with the horns of a goat, but is more commonly the name given to one of the signs of the Zodiac. (Lucan, ix. 536; Lucret. v. 614; C. Caes. Germ. in Arat. 213.)

Pan Agreus

Agreus, a hunter, occurs as a surname of Pan and Aristaeus. (Pind. Pyth. ix. 115; Apollon. Rhod. iii. 507; Diod. iv. 81; Hesych. s.v.)

Aegipan

Aegipan (Aigipan), that is, Goat-Pan, was according to some statements a being distinct from Pan, while others regard him as identical with Pan. His story appears to be altogether of late origin. According to Hyginus (Fab. 155) he was the son of Zeus and a goat, or of Zeus and Aega, the wife of Pan, and was transferred to the stars (Hygin. Poct. Astr. ii. 13.28). Others again make Aegipan the father of Pan, and state that he as well as his son was represented as half goat and half fish (Eratosth. Catast. 27). When Zeus in his contest with the Titans was deprived of the sinews of his hands and feet, Hermes and Aegipan secretly restored them to him and fitted them in their proper places (Apollod. i. 6.3; Hygin. Poet. Astr. l. c.). According to a Roman tradition mentioned by Plutarch (Parallel. 22), Aegipan had sprung from the incestuous intercourse of Valeria of Tusculum and her father Valerius, and was considered only a different name for Silvanus.

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


Atlantides or Pleiades

Pleiades. The seven daughters of Atlas and the Ocean-nymph Pleione, born on the Arcadian mountain Cyllene, sisters of the Hyades. The eldest and most beautiful, Maia, became the mother of Hermes by Zeus; Electra and Taygete, of Dardanus and Lacedaemon by the same; Alcyone, of Hyrieus by Poseidon; Celaeno, of Lycus and Nycteus by the same; Sterope or Asterope, of Oenomaus by Ares; Merope (i. e. "the mortal"), of Glaucus by Sisyphus. Out of grief, either for the fate of Atlas or for the death of their sisters, they killed themselves and were placed among the constellations. According to another legend, they were pursued for five years by the giant hunter Orion, until Zeus turned the distressed nymphs and their pursuer into neighbouring stars. As the constellation of the seven stars, they made known by their rising (in the middle of May) the approach of harvest, and by their setting (at the end of October) the time for the new sowing. Their rising and setting were also looked upon as the sign of the opening and closing of the sailing season. One of the seven stars is invisible; this was explained to be Merope, who hid herself out of shame at her marriage with a mortal. The constellation of the Pleiades seems also to have been compared to a flight of doves (peleiades). Hence the Pleiades were supposed to be meant in the story told by Homer of the ambrosia brought to Zeus by the doves, one of which is always lost at the Planctae Rocks, but is regularly replaced by a new one. Among the Romans, the constellation was called Vergiliae, the stars of spring. As being the daughters of Atlas, the name Atlantides is often used of them.

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


Pleione, mother of the Pleiads

A daughter of Oceanus, and mother of the Pleiades by Atlas.

Maia. The daughter of Atlas and Pleione, one of the Pleiades, and mother of Hermes by Zeus. The Romans identified her with an old Italian goddess of spring, Maia Maiestas (also called Fauna, Bona Dea, Ops), who was held to be the wife of Vulcan, and to whom the flamen of that god sacrificed a pregnant sow on the first of May.

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


Maia or Maias, a daughter of Atlas and Pleiono (whence she is called Atlantis and Pleias), was the eldest of the Pleiades, and in a grotto of mount Cyllene in Arcadia she became by Zeus the mother of Hermes. Areas, the son of Zeus by Callisto, was given to her to be reared. (Hom. Od. xiv. 435, Hymn. in Merc. 3; Hes. Theog. 938; Apollod. iii. 10. 2, 8. 2; Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 219; Horat. Carm. i. 10. 1, 2. 42, &c. )
  Maia is also the name of a divinity worshipped at Rome, who was also called Majesta. She is mentioned in connection with Vulcan, and was regarded by some as the wife of that god, though it seems for no other reason but because a priest of Vulcan offered a sacrifice to her on the first of May, while in the popular superstition of later times she was identified with Maia, the daughter of Atlas. It is more probable that Maia was an ancient name of the bona dea, who was also designated by the names of Ops, Fauna, and Fatua. (Macrob. Sat. i. 12; Gellius, xiii. 22; Fest. p. 134, ed. Muller.)

This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2006 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks


Pleias Celaeno

Celaeno (Kelaino), a Pleiad, daughter of Atlas and Pleione, and by Poseidon the mother of Lycus and Eurypylus, or, according to others, of Lycus and Chimaereus by Prometheus (Apollod. iii. 10.1; Ov. Her. xix. 135; Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. iv. 1561; Tzetz. ad Lycoph 132).
  There are several other mythological beings of this name : namely, a Harpy (Virg. Aen. iii. 211), a daughter of Ergeus (Hygin. Fab. 157), a daughter of Hyamus (Paus. x. 6.2), a Danaid (Strab. xii.; Apollod. ii. 1. 5), and an Amazon. (Diod. iv. 16.)

Pleias Merope

Pleias Sterope

Daughter of Atlas and Pleione, one of the Pleiades, wife of Oenomaus.

Pleias Taygete

Gave her name to the mount Taygetus in Peloponnese

Pleias Alcyone

Alcyone or Halcyone (Alkuone). A Pleiad, a daughter of Atlas and Pleione, by whom Poseidon begot Aethusa, Hyrieus and Hyperenor (Apollod. iii. 10.1; Hygin. Praef. Fab.; Ov. Heroid. xix. 13..) To these children Pausanias (ii. 30.7) adds two others, Hyperes and Anthas.

Zeus Agoraeus

Agoraea and Aoraeus (Agoraia and Agoraios), are epithets given to several divinities who were considered as the protectors of the assemblies of the people in the agora, such as Zeus (Paus. iii. 11.8, v. 15.3), Athena (iii. 11.8), Artemis (v. 15.3), and Hermes (i. 15.1, ii. 9.7, ix. 17.1). As Hermes was the god of commerce, this surname seems to have reference to the agora as the market-place.

Hermes Cyllenius

Cyllenius (Kullenios), a surname of Hermes, which he derived from mount Cyllene in Arcadia, where he had a temple (Paus. viii. 17.1), or from the circumstance of Maia having given birth to him on that mountain. (Virg. Aen. viii. 139, &c.)

Hera Chera (the window)

STYMFALOS (Ancient city) CORINTHIA
Chera, a surname of Hera, which was believed to have been given her by Temenus, the son of Pelasgus. He had brought up Hera, and erected to her at Old Stymphalus three sanctuaries under three different names. To Hera, as a maiden previous to her marriage, he dedicated one in which she was called pais; to her as the wife of Zeus, a second in which she bore the name of teleia; and a third in which she was worshipped as the chera, the widow, alluding to her separation from Zeus. (Paus. viii. 22.2)

Heroes

Agamedes

Son of Stymphalus, brother or Gortynus. (see more at Ancient Orchomenus of Boeotia)

Historic figures

Cyllen

KYLLINI (Mountain) CORINTHIA
Cyllen (Kullen), a son of Elatus, from whom mount Cyllene in Arcadia was believed to have received its name. (Paus. viii. 4.3)

Stymphalus

STYMFALOS (Ancient city) CORINTHIA
Perseus Encyclopedia

Kings

Elatus

KYLLINI (Mountain) CORINTHIA
Son of Arcas, joint ruler of Arcadia, father of Stymphalus and Pereus, father of Ischys, founds Elatea, likenesses of.

Agelaus

STYMFALOS (Ancient city) CORINTHIA
Son of Stymphalus.

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