Mytilene (mythology)
In Greek mythology, the name Mytilene (Ancient Greek: Μυτιλήνη) may refer to one of the following figures, all of whom are counted among possible eponyms of the city Mytilene:
- Mytilene, sister of the Amazon Myrina. She took part in her sister's campaign and had the city named after her.[1]
- Mytilene, a princess as a daughter of King Macareus of Lesbos or of the Pisatian king Pelops. She was the mother of Myton by Poseidon.[2] As daughter of Macareus, Mytilene was the sister of Agamede, Antissa, Arisbe, Issa[3] and Methymna[4] all are eponyms also of the cities at Lesbos. One of the legends about the name of the town of Mytilene, is that it derived its name from her or from her son (another legend is that the town named after a personage of the name of Mytilus).[5] Her brothers were Cydrolaus, Neandrus, Leucippus[6] and Eresus.[7]
Other mythical eponyms of Mytilene include the aforementioned Myton and an inhabitant of the city named Mytilus.[2]
Notes[edit]
- ^ ?Diodorus Siculus, 8.55.7
- ^ a b Stephanus of Byzantium, s.v. Mytilēnē (Μυτιλήνη)
- ^ Stephanus of Byzantium, s.v. Agamede (Ἀγαμήδη); Antissa (Ἄντισσα); Arisbe (Ἀρίσβη) & Issa
- ^ Diodorus Siculus, 5.81.6
- ^ A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, Mytilene
- ^ Diodorus Siculus, 5.81.8
- ^ Stephanus of Byzantium, s.v. Eresos (Ἔρεσος)
References[edit]
- Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History translated by Charles Henry Oldfather. Twelve volumes. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59–8. Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site
- Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888-1890. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Stephanus of Byzantium, Stephani Byzantii Ethnicorum quae supersunt, edited by August Meineike (1790-1870), published 1849. A few entries from this important ancient handbook of place names have been translated by Brady Kiesling. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
This article includes a list of Greek mythological figures with the same or similar names. If an internal link for a specific Greek mythology article referred you to this page, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended Greek mythology article, if one exists.