Listed 56 sub titles with search on: Mythology for wider area of: "EGYPT Country MIDDLE EAST" .
EGYPT (Country) MIDDLE EAST
Son of Min, the first king of Egypt; lament for his early death identified with the Greek Linus-song.
Gerana, a Pygmean woman, and wife of their king, Nicodamas, by whom she became the mother of Mopsus (according to Boeus, ap. Athen. ix., of a tortoise). Being highly esteemed and praised for her beauty among the Pygmies, she despised the gods, especially Artemis and Hera, who in revenge metamorphosed her into a crane. In this state she always fluttered about the place in which her son Mopsus dwelt, until she was killed by the Pygmies. This is said to have been the origin of the war between the Cranes and the Pygmies. (Anton. Lib. 16, who calls her Oenoe; Eustath. ad Hom. p. 1322; Ov. Met. vi. 90.)
Gerana. Pygmy woman of great beauty who lived in Egypt, or perhaps India.
According to the myth, she despised the gods, and had a special aversion to Artemis
and Hera.
Gerana married a pygmy man called Nicodemos, and the couple had a
son: Mopsos. Hera then turned Gerana into a stork, as a punishment for the woman's
hatred of her. From then on, Gerana's only concern was to get her baby back.
When the pygmies saw that the bird was trying to abduct Mopsos, they
drove it away. From then on the storks and the pygmies were at constant war.
It is from this myth we get the vision of the stork carrying a baby.
This text is cited Sept 2003 from the In2Greece URL below.
ARCHANDROS (Ancient city) EGYPT
Son of Achaeus, an Egyptian town called after him.
Epaphus, (Epaphos). A son of Zeus and Io. This mythological personage is the instrument by which Grecian myth derived the rulers of more ancient countries from its own gods and princes. Epaphus, according to the legend, was born in Egypt, and married Memphis, the daughter of the Nile, by whom he had a daughter named Libya. The same fable made him the founder of the city of Memphis. Libya bore to Poseidon Agenor, the father of Cadmus and Europa, and also Belus, who had by another daughter of the Nile, named Anchinoe, two sons, Danaus and Aegyptus.
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
Epaphus (Epaphos), a son of Zeus and Io, who was born on the river Nile, after the long wanderings of his mother. He was then concealed by the Curetes, by the request of Hera, but Io sought and afterwards found him in Syria. Epaphus, who subsequently became king of Egypt, married Memphis, the daughter of Nilus, or according to others, Cassiopeia, and built the city of Memphis. He had one daughter Libya, from whom Libya (Africa) received its name, and another bore the name of Lysianassa. (Apollod. ii. 1.3, 4, 5.11; Hygin. Fab. 145, 149, 275; comp. Herod. iii. 27, 28). Another mythical being of this name is mentioned by Hyginus. (Fab. init.)
NILOS (River) EGYPT
Mythological bird from Egypt. The Egyptian mythology and its Greek interpretations
must be distinguished.
In Egyptian mythology, the bird benu (or purple heron) played an important
role. During the flood of the Nile, this beautiful, bluish bird rests on high
places and resembles the sun floating over the waters. Therefore this bird, sometimes
called 'the ascending one', was associated with the sun god Ra, whose ba (soul)
it was thought to be. The benu was especially venerated in the town that is usually
called Heliopolis ('city of the Sun').
According to the Heliopolitan myth, the benu had created itself from
a fire that was burned on the holy jsd-tree in one of the sacred precincts of
the temple of Ra. It had rested on a pillar that was known as the bnbn-stone.
The priests showed this pillar to visitors, who considered this the most holy
place on earth. In another myth, it was associated with the god Osiris, who had
once renewed itself. The bird had sprung from the god's heart.
Because the benu was associated with creation and renewal, it was
easily connected with the calendar. Indeed, the temple of the benu was well-known
for its time-keeping devices (clepsydrae) and the priest who was responsible for
the calendar.
The first Greek known to have mentioned the phoenix ('the 'brilliant
one'), was the poet Hesiod (c.700 BCE), who in The precepts of Chiron stresses
the phoenix's longevity of almost 100,000 years.
A chattering crow lives out nine generations of aged men, but a stag's life
is four time a crow's, and a raven's life makes three stags old, while the phoenix
outlives nine ravens, but we, the rich-haired Nymphs, daughters of Zeus the aegis-holder,
outlive ten phoenixes.
The next step in the development of the myth can be found in section
2.73 of the Histories of the Greek researcher Herodotus of Halicarnassus.
There is also another sacred bird called the phoenix, which I did not myself
see except in painting, for in truth he comes to the Egyptians very rarely, at
intervals, as the people of Heliopolis say, of five hundred years. They say that
he comes regularly when his father dies; and if he be like the painting, he is
of this size and nature, that is to say, some of his feathers are of gold color
and others red, and in outline and size he is as nearly as possible like an eagle.
This bird, they say (but I cannot believe the story), contrives as follows.
Setting forth from Arabia he conveys his father, they say, to the temple of the
Sun plastered up in myrrh, and buries him in the temple of the Sun. He conveys
him thus. He forms first an egg of myrrh as large as he is able to carry, and
then he makes trial of carrying it, and when he has made trial sufficiently, then
he hollows out the egg and places his father within it and plasters over with
other myrrh that part of the egg where he hollowed it out to put his father in,
and when his father is laid in it, it proves (they say) to be of the same weight
as it was; and after he has plastered it up, he conveys the whole to Egypt to
the temple of the Sun. Thus they say that this bird does.
Later sources tell us that the phoenix burned itself, and was born
again from the flames. This is the Greek myth that became most popular in our
own time; we can still say that something rises "like a phoenix from the
flames". The Jewish playwright Ezekiel (second century BCE) mentions the
bird in his play about Moses.
Another living creature we saw, full wondrous, such as man has never seen;
'twas near in scope to twice the eagle's size, with plumage iridescent, rainbow-hued.
Its breast appeared deep-dyed with purple's shade, its legs were red like ochre,
and its neck was furnished round with tresses saffron-hued; like a coxcomb did
its crest appear, with amber-tinted eye it gazed about, the pupil like some pomegranate
seed. Exceeding all, its voice pre-eminent; of every winged thing, the king, it
did appear. For all the birds, as one, in fear did haste to follow after him,
and he before, like some triumphant bull went striding forth with rapid step apace.
The Roman author Tacitus mentions an appearance of the phoenix in
34 CE, and during the reign of Nero (54-68), a phoenix was shown in Rome.
A generation later, the poet Martial used the phoenix as symbol of Rome's eternity.
Jona Lendering, ed.
This text is cited July 2003 from the Livius Ancient History Website URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks.
BUTOS (Ancient city) EGYPT
Buto (Bouto), an Egyptian divinity, whom the Greeks identified with their Leto, and
who was worshipped principally in the town of Buto, which derived its name from
her. Festivals were celebrated there in her honour, and there she had also an
oracle which was in high esteem among the Egyptians. (Herod. ii. 59, 83, 111,
133, 152, 155; Aelian, V. H. ii. 41; Strab. xvii.). According to Herodotus, she
belonged to the eight great divinities; and in the mythus of Osiris and Isis she
acts the part of a nurse to their children, Horus and Bubastis. Isis entrusted
the two children to her, and she saved them from the persecutions of Typhon by
concealing them in the floating island of Chemnis, in a lake near the sanctuary
at Buto, where afterwards Bubastis and Horus were worshipped, together with Buto
(Herod. ii. 156; Plut. de Is. et Os. 18, 38). Stephanas of Byzantium appears (s.
v. Letons polis) to speak of an earlier worship of Buto (Leto) at Letopolis near
Memphis; but Letopolis was in later times known only by its name, and was destroyed
long before the time of Cambyses (Joseph. Ant. Jud. ii. 15.1). As regards the
nature and character of Buto, the ancients, in identifying her with Leto, transferred
their notions of the latter to the former, and Buto was accordingly considered
by Greeks as the goddess of night. (Plut. ap. Euseb. Praep. Ev. iii. 1). This
opinion seemed to be confirmed by the peculiar animal which was sacred to Buto,
viz. the shrew-mouse (mugale) and the hawk. Herodotus (ii. 67) states, that both
these animals were, after their death, carried to Buto; and, according to Antoninus
Liberalis (28), Leto (Buto) changed herself into a shrew-mouse in order to escape
the persecution of Typhon. About this mouse Plutarch (Sympos. iv. 5) relates,
that it was believed to have received divine honours in Egypt because it was blind,
and because darkness preceded light. This opinion of the ancients respecting the
nature of Buto has been worked out with some modifications by modern writers on
Egyptian mythology.
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
EGYPT (Country) MIDDLE EAST
Ammon, originally an Aethiopian or Libyan divinity, whose worship subsequently
spread all over Egypt, a part of the northern coast of Africa, and many parts
of Greece. The real Egyptian name was Amun or Ammun (Herod. ii. 42; Plut. de Is.
et Os. 9); the Greeks called him Zeus Ammon, the Romans Jupiter Ammon, and the
Hebrews Amon. That in the countries where his worship was first established he
was revered in certain respects as the supreme divinity, is clear from the fact,
that the Greeks recognised in him their own Zeus, although the identity of the
two gods in later times rests upon philosophical speculations, made at a period
when the original character of Ammon was almost lost sight of, and a more spiritual
view of him substituted in its place.
The most ancient seat of his worship appears to have been Meroe, where
he had a much revered oracle (Herod. ii. 29); thence it was introduced into Egypt,
where the worship took the firmest root at Thebes in Upper Egypt, which was therefore
frequently called by the Greeks Diospolis, or the city of Zeus (Herod. ii. 42;
Diod. i. 15). Another famous seat of the god, with a celebrated oracle, was in
the oasis of Ammonium (Siwah) in the Libyan desert; the worship was also established
in Cyrenaica (Paus. x. 13.3). The god was represented either in the form of a
ram, or as a human being with the head of a ram; but there are some representations
in which he appears altogether as a human being with only the horns of a ram.
Tertullian (de Pall. 3) calls him dives ovium. If we take all these circumstances
into consideration, it seems clear that the original idea of Ammon was that of
a protector and leader of the flocks. The Aethiopians were a nomadic people, flocks
of sheep constituted their principal wealth, and it is perfectly in accordance
with the notions of the Aethiopians as well as Egyptians to worship the animal
which is the leader and protector of the flock. This view is supported by various
stories about Ammon. Hyginus (Poet. Astr. i. 20) whose account is only a rationalistic
interpretation of the origin of the god's worship, relates that some African of
the name of Ammon brought to Liber, who was then in possession of Egypt, a large
quantity of cattle In return for this, Liber gave him a piece of land near Thebes,
and in commemoration of the benefits he had conferred upon the god, he was represented
as a human being with horns. What Pausanias (iv.23.5) and Eustathius (ad Dionys.
Perieg. 212) remark, as well as one of the many etymologies of the name of Ammon
from the Egyptian word Amoni, which signifies a shepherd, or to feed, likewise
accord with the opinion that Ammon was originally the leader and protector of
flocks. Herodotus relates a story to account for the ram's head (ii. 42): Heracles
wanted to see Zeus, but the latter wished to avoid the interview; when, however,
Heracles at last had recourse to entreaties, Zeus contrived the following expedient
: he cut off the head of a ram, and holding this before his own head, and having
covered the remaining part of his body with the skin of the ram, he appeared before
Heracles. Hence, Herodotus adds, the Thebans never sacrifice rams except once
a year, and on this one occasion they kill and flay a ram, and with its skin they
dress the statue of Zeus (Ammon); by the side of this statue they then place that
of Heracles. A similar account mentioned by Servius (ad Aen. iv. 196) may serve
as a commentary upon Herodotus. When Bacchus, or according to others, Heracles,
went to India and led his army through the deserts of Libya, he was at last quite
exhausted with thirst, and invoked his father, Jupiter. Hereupon a ram appeared,
which led Heracles to a place where it opened a spring in the sand by scraping
with its foot. For this reason, says Servius, Jupiter Ammon, whose name is derived
from ammos (sand), is represented with the horns of a ram.There are several other
traditions, with various modifications arising from the time and place of their
origin; but all agree in representing the ram as the guide and deliverer of the
wandering herds or herdsmen in the deserts, either in a direct way, or by giving
oracles. Ammon, therefore, who is identical with the ram, is the guide and protector
of man and of all his possessions ; he stands in the same relation to mankind
as the common ram to his flock.
The introduction of the worship of Ammon from Aethiopia into
Egypt was symbolically represented in a ceremony which was performed
at Thebes once in every year. On a certain day, the image of the god was carried
across the river Nile into Libya, and after some days it was brought back, as
if the god had arrived from Aethiopia (Diod. i. 97). The same account is given
by Eustathius (ad Hom. Il. v.), though in a somewhat different form ; for he relates,
that according to some, the Aethiopians used to fetch the images of Zeus and other
gods from the great temple of Zeus at Thebes. With these images they went about,
at a certain period, in Libya, celebrated a splendid festival for twelve days--for
this, he adds, is the number of the gods they worship. This number twelve
contains an allusion to the number of signs in the zodiac, of which the
ram (caper) is one. Thus we arrive at the second phasis in the character of Ammon,
who is here conceived as the sun in the sign of Caper (Zeus disguised in the skin
of a ran. See Hygin. Fab. 133, Poet. Astr. i. 20; Macrob. Sat. i. 21. 18; Aelian,
V. H. x. 18). This astronomical character of Ammon is of later origin, and perhaps
not older than the sixth century before Christ. The speculating Greeks of still
later times assigned to Ammon a more spiritual nature. Thus Diodorus, though in
a passage (iii. 68, &c.) he makes Ammon a king of Libya, describes him (i. 11,
&c.) as the spirit pervading the universe, and as the author of all life in nature.
The new Platonists perceived in Ammon their demiurgos, that is, the creator and
preserver of the world. As this subject belongs more especially to the mythology
of Egypt, we cannot here enter into a detailed discussion about the nature and
character which the later Greeks assigned to him, or his connexion with Dionysus
and Heracles.
The worship of Ammon was introduced into Greece at an early period,
probably through the medium of the Greek colony in Cyrene, which must have formed
a connexion with the great oracle of Ammon in the Oasis soon after its establishment.
Ammnon had a temple and a statue, the gift of Pindar, at Thebes (Paus. ix. 16.1),
and another at Sparta, the inhabitants of which, as Pausanias (iii. 18.2) says,
consulted the oracle of Ammon in Libya from early times more than the other Greeks.
At Aphytis, Ammon was worshipped, from the time of Lysander, as zealously as in
Ammonium. Pindar the poet honoured the god with a hymn. At Megalopolis the god
was represented with the head of a ram (Paus. viii. 32.1), and the Greeks of Cyrenaica
dedicated at Delphi a chariot with a statue of Ammmon (x. 13.3). The homage which
Alexander paid to the god in the Oasis is well known.
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
Ammon or Hammon (Egyptian Amun, the hidden or veiled one). A god native to Libya and Upper Egypt. He was represented sometimes in the shape of a ram with enormous curving horns, sometimes in that of a ram-headed man, sometimes as a perfect man standing up or sitting on a throne. On his head were the royal emblems, with two high feathers standing up, the symbols of sovereignty over the upper and under worlds; in his hands were the sceptre and the sign of life. In works of art his figure is coloured blue. Beside him is usually placed Muth (the "mother," the "queen of darkness," as the inscriptions call her), wearing the crown of Upper Egypt or the vulture-skin. His chief temple, with a far-famed oracle, stood in an oasis of the Libyan desert, twelve days' journey from Memphis. Between this oracle and that of Zeus at Dodona a connection is said to have existed from very ancient times, so that the Greeks early identified the Egyptian god with their own Zeus, as the Romans did afterwards with their Iupiter; and his worship found an entrance at several places in Greece--at Sparta, Thebes, and also Athens--whence festal embassies were regularly sent to the Libyan sanctuary. When the oracle was consulted by visitors, the god's symbol, made of emerald and other stones, was carried round by women and girls, to the sound of hymns, on a golden ship hung round with votive cups of silver. His replies were given in tremulous shocks communicated to the bearers, which were interpreted by a priest.
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
Ammon (Egyptian Amun or Amen, “the hidden one”. Hebrew Amon,
Greek Ammon).
The supreme divinity of the Egyptian pantheon. He was originally only
the chief god of the city of Thebes,
but later his worship became predominant in Egypt and extended even to Lybia
and Ethiopia. Thebes,
however, always remained the centre of his worship, whence it was called Ne amun,
“the city of Amun”.
Ammon was worshipped under several names with different attributes.
As Ammon-Ra, he was the sun god, with his chief temple at Thebes;
as Khem or Min, he was the god of reproduction; as Khnum, he was the creator of
all things, “the maker of gods and men”. In the latter character he
was represented with the head of a ram, the animal sacred to him, or simply with
ram's horns; under this form Ammon was best known to classical writers, who always
attribute horns to him.
The chief temple of Khnum was in the oasis of Ammon (now Siwah),
where Alexander the Great worshipped him. The Greeks and Romans identified Ammon
with Zeus or Jupiter (Zeus Ammon, Jupiter Ammon), whence the name Diospolis, City
of Zeus, given to Thebes
by the Greeks.
F. Bechtel, ed.
Transcribed by: Annie Amos
This text is cited June 2003 from The Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent online edition URL below.
Ammon: Greek name of an Egyptian oracle god. Ammon became famous because
Alexander the Great claimed to be his son.
The oracle was situated in the Siwa oasis, some 500 kilometers west of
Memphis, the capital of Egypt. Originally, this was the place where the Libyan
desert tribes worshiped a god who had the shape of a ram. He may have been related
to Baal Hammon, a god venerated by the Semitic peoples (e.g., the Phoenicians
and Carthaginians).
The cult was taken over by the Egyptians, who identified the god with
their supreme god Amun; they called god of the oracle 'Amun of Siwa, lord of good
counsel'. The first pharaoh said to have sacrificed to this god was Bocchoris
(718-712), but the report, which was written in the second century CE by the Roman
author Tacitus, is late and is belongs to a rather suspect text; as a consequence,
we can not be certain that it is true. It is quoted here.
A new shrine was dedicated to the desert god by pharaoh Amasis (570-526).
This was probably a political act, intended to gain support from the Libyan tribes
who had played a role during the accession of Amasis. The building has been excavated
and is remarkable because it does not look like an Egyptian temple. The cult seems
to have remained Libyan in character, something that is more or less confirmed
by the fact that the local ruler is not depicted as Amasis' subject but his equal.
In the fifth century, the Greek researcher Herodotus of Halicarnassus
stated in his Histories that the Lydian king Croesus (560-546) offered sacrifices
to Ammon. It is possible that Herodotus is right; after all, Croesus was allied
to Amasis.
The first Greeks to visit the shrine were people from Cyrenaica. They
called the god Zeus Ammon. Actually, Ammon is a bad rendering of Amun, but the
name was nonetheless very fitting: ammos was the Greek word for 'sand' - in other
words, the Greeks called the god Sandy Zeus. His cult spread to the Greek world,
and was especially propagated by the poet Pindar (522-445), who was the first
Greek to dedicate an ode to the god and one of the first Greeks to erect a statue
to the god.
One of the new centers of this cult was Athens, where a temple was
built in the harbor of Piraeus. The Athenian commander Cimon visited Siwa in the
460s, and shortly before the Athenians invaded Sicily, they sent an embassy to
consult the oracle in the Libyan desert.
Another center was the Macedonian town Aphythis, where the young Macedonian
crown prince Alexander must have seen the statue. When he had become king, he
visited Siwa (February 331). According to Arrian, Alexander did this because he
wanted to imitate his legendary ancestors Perseus and Heracles. This is an odd
couple: Perseus never played a role in Alexander's propaganda. However, since
the fifth century, Perseus was regarded as the ancestor of the Achaemenids, the
Persian royal house; and everybody knew that the Macedonian kings descended from
Heracles. Following in the footsteps of Heracles and Perseus was therefore, in
a sense, a religious preliminary to the conquest of the Achaemenid empire.
It is possible that Alexander had already started to venerate Ammon,
because during the sack of the Greek town of Thebes, he ordered that the house
of Pindar had to be spared. On the other hand, there is no evidence that Alexander
worshipped the ram-god before he visited Siwa.
However this may be, the result was important: Alexander was greeted
as Ammon's son, and started to believe that he was a demi-god indeed. According
to an admittedly hostile source, Ephippus of Olynthus, Alexander sometimes wore
the horns of his divine father Ammon on public occasions. We can not establish
the truth of this story, but it is certain that immediately after his death, he
was depicted in this fashion. In the Zoroastrian tradition, Alexander
was considered to be an associate of the evil spirit, the eternal rival of the
Persian supreme god Ahuramazda. Ever since, the devil is depicted with ram's legs
and horns. Hammon of Lechenich (Rheinisches Landesmuseum, Bonn) Another
famous visitor was the Carthaginian general Hannibal, who received the oracle
that he would be buried at Libyssa, which Hannibal knew to be a town in Africa.
However, it turned out that there was a town in Bithynia with the same name, and
this was indeed Hannibal's burial place.
In the Roman age, the oracle was forgotten, but the god, now known
as Jupiter-Hammon, was still extremely popular. The emperor Augustus used images
of the god in the forum he dedicated to Mars the Avenger in Rome, and the soldiers
of the Third legion Cyrenaica were especially fond of Ammon. The cult had now
spread as far as the Rhineland, far away from the god's Egyptian place of birth.
This can be illustratrated by the bust of Ammon, which was discovered at Lechenich
near Bonn in Germany.
Jona Lendering, ed.
This text is cited July 2003 from the Livius Ancient History Website URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks.
Anubis (Anoubis), an Egyptian divinity, worshipped in the form of a dog, or of
a human being with a dog's head. In the worship of this divinity several phases
must be distinguished, as in the case of Ammon. It was in all probability originally
a fetish, and the object of the worship of the dog, the representative of that
useful species of animals. Subsequently it was mixed up and combined with other
religious systems, and Anubis assumed a symbolical or astronomical character,
at least in the minds of the learned. The worship of dogs in Egypt is sufficiently
attested by Herodotus (ii. 66), and there are traces of its having been known
in Greece at an early period; for a law ascribed to the mythical Rhadamanthys
of Crete commanded, that men should not swear by the gods, but by a goose, a dog,
or a ram (Eustath. ad Odyss.). The fact that Socrates used to swear by a dog is
so well known, that we scarcely need mention it (Athen vii.; Porphyr. de Abstin.
iii.). It is however a remarkable fact, that, notwithstanding this, the name of
Anubis is not expressly mentioned by any writer previous to the age of Augustus;
but after that time, it frequently occurs both in Greek and Roman authors (Ov.
Met. ix. 690, Amor. ii. 13. 11; Propert. iii. 9. 41; Virg. Aen. viii. 698; Juven.
xv. 8; Lucian, Jup. trag. 8, Concil. Deor. 10, 11, Toxar, 28). Several of the
passages here referred to attest the importance of the worship of this divinity,
and Strabo expressly states, that the dog was worshipped throughout Egypt; but
the principal and perhaps the original seat of the worship appears to have been
in the nomos of Cynopolis in middle Egypt (Strab.). In the stories about Anubis
which have come down to us, as well as in the explanations of his nature, the
original character -that of a fetish- is lost sight of, probably because the philosophical
spirit of later times wanted to find something higher and loftier in the worship
of Anubis than it originally was. According to the rationalistic view of Diodorus
(i. 18), Anubis was the son of king Osiris, who accompanied his father on his
expeditions, and was covered with the skin of a dog. For this reason he was represented
as a human being with the head of a dog. In another passage (i. 87) the same writer
explains this monstrous figure by saying, that Anubis performed to Osiris and
Isis the service of a guard, which is performed to men by dogs. He mentions a
third account, which has more the appearance of a genuine mythus. When Isis, it
is said, sought Osiris, she was preceded and guided by dogs, which defended and
protected her, and expressed their desire to assist her by barking. For this reason
the procession at the festival of Isis was preceded by dogs. According to Plutarch
(Is. et Os.) Anubis was a son of Osiris, whom he begot by Nephthys in the belief
that she was his wife Isis. After the death of Osiris, Isis sought the child,
brought him up, and made him her guard and companion under the name of Anubis,
who thus performed to her the same service that dogs perform to men. An interpretation
of this mythus, derived from the physical nature of Egypt, is given by Plutarch.
(Is. et Os. 38.) Osiris according to him is the Nile, and Isis the country of
Egypt so far as it is usually fructified by the river. The districts at the extremities
of the country are Nephthys, and Anubis accordingly is the son of the Nile, which
by its inundation has fructified a distant part of the country. But this only
explains the origin of the god, without giving any definite idea of him. In another
passage (l. c. 40) Plutarch says, that Nephthys signified everything which was
under the earth and invisible, and Isis everything which was above it and visible.
Now the circle or hemisphere which is in contact with each, which unites the two,
and which we call the horizon, is called Anubis, and is represented in the form
of a dog, because this animal sees by night as well as by day. Anubis in this
account is raised to the rank of a deity of astronomical import (Clem. Alex. Strom.v.).
In the temples of Egypt be seems always to have been represented as the guard
of other gods, and the place in the front of a temple (dromos) was particularly
sacred to him (Strab. xvii.; Stat. Sylv. iii. 2. 112).
We only add a few remarks respecting the notions of the Greeks and
Romans about Anubis, and his worship among them. The Greeks identified the Egyptian
Anubis with their own Hermes (Plut. Ibid. 11), and thus speak of Hermanuphis in
the same manner as of Zeus Ammon (Plut. 61). His worship seems to have been introduced
at Rome towards the end of the republic, as may be inferred from the manner in
which Appian (Bell. Civ. iv. 47; comp. Val. Max. vii. 3. Β 8) describes the escape
of the aedile M. Volusius. Under the empire the worship of Anubis became very
widely spread both in Greece and at Rome.
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
Hermanubis, (Hermanoubis), a son of Osiris and Nephthys, was represented as a human being with a dog's head, and regarded as the symbol of the Egyptian priesthood, engaged in the investigation of truth. (Plut. de Is. et Os. 61; Diod. i. 18, 87.)
Horus, (Horos), the Egyptian god of the sun, whose worship was established very extensively in Greece, and afterwards even at Rome, although Greek astronomy and mystic philosophy greatly modified the original idea of Horus. He was compared with the Greek Apollo, and identified with Harpocrates, the last-born and weakly son of Osiris. (Plut. de Is. et Os. 19.) Both were represented as youths, and with the same attributes and symbols. (Artemid. Oneir. ii. 36; Macrob. Sat. i. 23; Porphyr. ap. Euseb. Praep. Exang. v. 10; Iamblich. de Myster. vii. 2.) He was believed to have been born with his finger on his mouth, as indicative of secrecy and mystery; and the idea of something mysterious in general was connected with the worship of Horus-Harpocrates; the mystic philosophers of later times therefore found in him a most welcome subject to speculate upon. In the earlier period of his worship at Rome he seems to have been particularly regarded as the god of quiet life and silence (Varr. (Varr. de L. L. iv., Bip. ; Ov. Met. ix. 691; Auson. Epist. ad Paul. xxv. 27), and at one time the senate forbade his worship at Rome, probably on account of excesses committed at the mysterious festivals; but the suppression was not permanent. His identification with Apollo is as old as the time of Herodotus (ii. 144, 156; comp. the detailed mythuses in Diod. i. 25, &c.; Plut. de Is. et Os. 12, &c.) The god acts a prominent part also in the mystic works attributed Hermes Trismegistus; but we cannot enter here into an examination of the nature of this Egyptian divinity, and refer the reader to Jablonsky, Panth. Acgypt. i.; Bunsen, Aegyptens Stelle in der Weltgesch. vol. i., and other works on Egyptian mythology.
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
Isis, one of the principal Egyptian divinities. The ideas entertained about her
and her worship underwent the greatest changes and modifications in antiquity.
She is described as the wife of Osiris and the mother of Horus. As Osiris, the
[p. 631] god of the Nile, taught the people the use of the plough, so Isis invented
the cultivation of wheat and barley, which were carried about in the processions
at her festival. (Diod. i. 14, 27, v. 69, &c.). She was the goddess of the earth,
which the Egyptians called their mother (Diod. i. 12; Serv. ad Aen. viii. 696;
Isid. Orig. viii. 11), whence she and Osiris were the only divinities that were
worshipped by all the Egyptians (Herod. ii. 42). Being married to Osiris, Isis
is the land fertilised by the Nile (Plut. de Is. et Osir. 32). This simple and
primitive notion of the Egyptians was modified at an early period through the
influence of the East, with which Egypt came into contact, and at a later time
through the influence of the Greeks. Thus Osiris and Isis came gradually to be
considered as divinities of the sun and the moon; and while some of the Greeks
fabled that the worship of Isis had been introduced into Egypt by Ogyges and his
wite Thebe (Schol. ad Aristid. Symb. iii. 128), the Egyptian priests described
the principal religious institutions of Greece as derived from Egypt; and after
the time of Herodotus, this belief became firmly established in Greece. Hence
Isis was identified with Demeter, and Osiris with Dionysus, and the sufferings
of Isis were accordingly modified to harmonise with the myths of the unfortunate
Demeter. Diodorus, Plutarch, and others, treat the stories about Isis according
to the principles of Euhemerus, and represent her, as well as Osiris, as rulers
of Egypt: but in these, as well as the mystical accounts of other writers, the
original character of Isis may yet be discerned. We cannot enter here into an
examination of the development which the worship of Isis underwent in Egypt in
the course of centuries, but must confine ourselves to some remarks respecting
her worship in Greece, at Rome, and other European parts of the ancient world.
Her worship in all parts of Greece is amply attested by express statements of
ancient writers and numerous inscriptions. Under the names of Pelagia (the ruler
of the sea) and Aegyptia, she had two sanctuaries on the road to Acrocorinthus
(Paus. ii. 4. Β 7), and others at Megara (i. 41. Β 4), Phlius (ii. 13. Β 7), Tithorea
in Phocis (x. 32. Β 9), Methana and Troezene (ii. 32. Β 6, 34. Β 1), Hermione
(ii. 34. Β 10), and Andros (see the hymn to Isis, lately discovered there, in
the Class. Mus. vol. i. p. 34, &c.). In the western parts of Europe the worship
of Isis became likewise established, and many places in Sicily, Italy, and Gaul,
are known to have been the seats of it. According to Appuleius (Met. xi.), it
was introduced at Rome in the time of Sulla: at a later time her statue was removed
from the capitol by a decree of the senate (Tertull. ad Nation. i. 10, Apolog.
6; Arnob. adv. Gent. ii. 73); but the populace and the consuls Piso and Gabinius,
in B. C. 58, resisted the decree. A further decree of B. C. 53 forbade the private
worship of Isis, and ordered the chapels dedicated to her to be destroyed. Subsequently,
when the worship was restored, her sanctuaries were to be found only outside the
pomoerium (Dion Cass. xl. 47). This interference on the part of the government
was thought necessary on account of the licentious orgies with which the festivals
of the goddess were celebrated. In B. C. 50, the consul, L. Aemilius Paulus himself,
was the first to begin the destruction of her temples, as no one else ventured
to do so (Val. Max. i. 3. Β 3). But these decrees do not appear to have quite
succeeded in destroying the worship of Isis, for in B. C. 47 a new decree was
issued to destroy the temple of Isis and Serapis. By a mistake, the adjoining
temple of Bellona was likewise pulled down, and in it were found pots filled with
human flesh (Dion Cass. xlii. 26). As it had thus become evident that the people
were extremely partial to the worship of those foreign divinities, the triumvirs
in B. C. 43 courted the popular favour by building a new temple of Isis and Serapis
in the third region, and sanctioning their worship (Dion Cass. xlvii. 15). It
would appear that after this attempts were made to erect sanctuaries of Isis in
the city itself, for Augustus forbade her worship in the city, while outside of
it there seem to have been several temples, which were subjected to government
inspection (Dion Cass. liii. 2; comp. liv. 6). The interference of the government
was afterwards repeatedly required (Tac. Ann. ii. 85; Suet. Tib. 36; Joseph. Ant.
Jud. xviii. 3. Β 4; Hegesipp. ii. 4); but from the time of Vespasian the worship
of Isis and Serapis became firmly established, and remained in a flourishing condition
until the general introduction of Christianity. The most important temple of Isis
at Rome stood in the Campus Martius, whence she was called Isis Campensis (Juven.
vi. 329; Appul. Met. xi.). An Isium Metellinum is mentioned by Trebellius Pollio
(Trig. Tyr. 25); and other temples and chapels of Isis occur in many Latin inscriptions.
The priests and servants of the goddess wore linen garments (othonai), whence
she herself is called linigera (Ov. Ep. ex Pont. i. 1, 51, Amor. ii. 2, 25; comp.
Tac. Hist. iii. 74; Martial, xii. 29, 19 ; Juven. vi. 533). Those initiated in
her mysteries wore in the public processions masks representing the heads of dogs
(Appian, B. C. iv. 47; Suet. Domit. 1). As a specimen of the manner in which the
festival of Isis was celebrated in Greece, the reader may be referred to that
of Tithorea, which is described by Pausanias (x. 32), and the naval sacrifice
offered to her at Corinth, as described by Appuleius in his Golden Ass. Isis was
frequently represented in works of art (Tibull. i. 3, 27; Juven. xii. 28); and
in those still extant she usually appears in figure and countenance resembling
Hera : she wears a long tunic, and her upper garment is fastened on her breast
by a knot: her head is crowned with a lotus flower, and her right hand holds the
sistrum. Her son Horus is often represented with her as a fine naked boy. holding
the fore-finger on his mouth, with a lotus flower on his head, and a cornucopia
in his left hand.
It should be remarked that Tacitus (Germ. 9) speaks of the worship
of Isis among the ancient Germans, but he there applies the name Isis only on
account of the analogy existing between the German divinity and the Isis of his
own countrymen ; and the German goddess whom he had in view was probably no other
than Hertha (Comp. c. 39).
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
ERMONTHIS (Ancient city) EGYPT
Bacis or Pacis, is only another name for the Egyptian Onuphis, the sacred bull, who was worshipped at Hermonthis in Upper Egypt, just as Apis was at Memphis. In size Bacis was required to excel all other bulls, his hair to be bristly, and his colour to change every day. (Macrob. Sat. i. 21; Aelian, Hist. An. xii. 11)
LUXOR (Ancient city) EGYPT
Cnuphis (Knouphis), an Egyptian divinity, so called by Strabo (xvii.); while other writers,
such as Plutarch, probably more in conformity with the genuine Egyptian name,
call him Cneph (Kneph). Plutarch (de Is. et Os. 21) states, that all the Egyptians
contributed to the maintenance of the sacred animals, with the exception of the
inhabitants of Thebais, who did not worship any mortal divinity, but an unborn
and an immortal one, whom they called Cneph. This statement would lead us to the
belief, that the inhabitants of Thebais worshipped some spiritual divinity to
the exclusion of all others, and that consequently their religion was of a purer
and more refined nature than that of the other Egyptians; but we know front other
sources, that in Thebais, as well as in other places, animals were worshipped,
such as the crocodile (Herod. ii. 69), the eagle (Diod. i. 87; Strab. xvii. p.
559), the ram, and a kind of harmless snake (Herod. ii. 74). The god Cneph himself
was worshipped in the form of a serpent, as we learn from Strabo and Eusebius
(Praep. Ev. i. 10), the latter of whom states, that Cneph was called by the Phoenicians
Agathodaemon, a name which occurs also in coins and inscriptions of the time of
the Roman empire, in which the god himself is represented in the form of a serpent.
It was probably the idea of which the serpent is the symbol, that gave rise to
the opinion of Plutarch and others, that Cneph was a spiritual divinity; and when
this notion had once become established, the symbol of the god became a matter
of less importance, and was changed. Thus Eusebius (Praep. Ev. iii. 11) informs
us, that the Egyptians called the creator and ruler of the world (demiourgos)
Cneph, and that he was represented in the form of a man, with dark complexion,
a girdle, and a sceptre in his hand. Cneph produced an egg, that is, the world,
from his mouth, and out of it arose the god Phtha, whom the Greeks called Hephaestus.
Most modern writers entertain about Cneph the same or nearly the same views as
were propounded by the Greek philosophers, and accordingly regard him as the eternal
spirit, and as the author of all that is in the world. Cnuphi is said to signify
in the Coptic language the good spirit, like Agathodaemon. (Jablonsky, Panth.
Aegypt. i. 4)
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
MEMPHIS (Ancient city) EGYPT
Apis. The divine bull of the Egyptian capital Memphis, a manifestation of
the god Ptah.
Already in the most ancient times, the Egyptians venerated bulls, animals
that represented fertility. ('Strong bull' was a common title for creator gods
and kings.) Examples are the white Mnevis bull and the Bouchis of Hermonthis,
which was also white but had a black head. The Apis is described by the Greek
researcher Herodotus of Halicarnassus.
The Apis is the calf of a cow which is never afterwards able to have another.
The Egyptian belief is that a flash of light descends upon the cow from heaven,
and this causes her to conceive Apis. The Apis-calf has distinctive marks: it
is black, with a white square on its forehead, the image of an eagle on its back,
the hair on its tail double, and a scarab under its tongue. [Herodotus, Histories
3.28; tr. Aubrey de Selincourt]
The animal was venerated in Memphis, where a special shrine was built.
It sometimes served as an oracle.
[Pharaoh] Psammetichus built the southern gateway of the temple of Ptah at Memphis,
and opposite it a court for Apis [...]. Apis is kept in this court whenever he
appears; it has a colonnade round it, with statues six meters high instead of
pillars, and is richly carved with figures. [Herodotus, Histories 2.153; tr. Aubrey
de Selincourt]
The Apis was considered to be a manifestation of the Memphite creation
god Ptah; it was the 'soul (Ba) Ptah' and 'herald (whm) of Ptah'. The bull was
therefore a kind of servant, who was himself divine. Sometimes, it was shown to
the populace; during this procession, its walk was considered to be the blessing
of the country.
When the Apis died, it was buried in a necropolis at Saqqara, which
was first used by Nebmaatra Amenhotep III (1391-1353). The died bull had become
identical to the god of the Underworld, Osiris. Therefore, he was known as Osiris-Apis.
During the reign of the Ptolemaic kings (323-30 BCE), the god Osirapis or Serapis
became the most important god of Egypt.
The Apis is usually depicted as a black bull with, between his horns,
a sun disk and an uraeus snake. An example can be found on the tomb of the Apis
that died in September 524, which shows the Cambyses, the Persian king who had
conquered Egypt but behaved like a normal pharaoh, venerating the bull.
The Greeks identified the Apis with their demi-god Epaphus, a son
of their supreme god Zeus and his lover Io, who had been transformed into a cow.
The cult for Apis still existed in Roman times, but disappeared when
Egypt was christianized.
Apis, the Bull of Memphis, which enjoyed the highest honours as a god among the
Egyptians (Pomp. Mela, i. 9; Aelian, Hist. An. xi. 10; Lucian, de Sacrif. 15).
He is called the greatest of gods, and the god of all nations, while others regard
him more in the light of a symbol of some great divinity; for some authorities
state, that Apis was the bull sacred to the moon, as Mnevis was the one sacred
to the sun (Suid. s. v.; Ammian. Marcell. xxii. 14; Aelian, l. c.; Lutatins, ad
Stat. Theb. iii. 478). According to Macrobius (Sat. i. 21), on the other hand,
Apis was regarded as the symbol of the sun. The most common opinion was, that
Apis was sacred to Osiris, in whom the sun was worsllipped; and sometimes Apis
is described as the soul of Osiris, or as identical with him (Diod. i. 21; Plut.
de Is. et Os. 20, 33, 43; Strab. xvii.).
In regard to the birth of this divine animal Herodotus (iii. 28) says,
that he was the offspring of a young cow which was fructified by a ray from heaven,
and according to others it was by a ray of the moon that she conceived him (Suid.,
Aelian, ll. cc.; Plut. de Is. et Os. 43). The signs by which it was recognised
that the newly born bull was really the god Apis, are described by several of
the ancients. According to Herodotus, it was requisite that the animal should
be quite black, have a white square mark on the forehead, on its back a figure
similar to that of an eagle, have two kinds of hair in its tail, and on its tongue
a knot resembling an insect called kantharos. Pliny (H. N. viii. 71), who states,
that the cantharus was under the tongue, adds, that the right side of the body
was marked with a white spot resembling the horns of the new moon. Aelian says,
that twenty-nine signs were required ; but some of those which he mentions have
reference to the later astronomical and physical speculations about the god. When
all the signs were found satisfactory in a newly born bull, the ceremony of his
consecration began. This solemnity is described by Aelian, Pliny, Ammianus Marcellinus,
and Diodorus (i. 85). When it was made known, says Aelian, that the god was born,
some of the saered seribes, who possessed the secret knowledge of the signs of
Apis, went to the place of his birth, and built a house there in the direction
towards the rising sun. In this house the god was fed with milk for the space
of four months, and after this, about the time of the new moon, the scribes and
prophets prepared a ship sacred to the god, in which he was conveyed to Memphis.
Here he entered his splendid residence, containing extensive walks and courts
for his amusement. A number of the choicest cows, forming as it were the harem
of the god, were kept in his palace at Memphis. The account of Diodorus, though
on the whole agreeing with that of Aelian, contains some additional particulars
of interest. Pliny and Ammianus Marcellinus do not mention the god's harem, and
state that Apis was only once in every year allowed to come in contact with a
cow, and that this cow was, like the god himself, marked in a peculiar way. Apis,
moreover, drank the water of only one particular well in his palace, since the
water of the Nile was believed to be too fattening. The god had no other occupation
at Memphis, than to receive the services and homage of his attendants and worshippers,
and to give oracles, which he did in various ways. According to Pliny, his temple
contained two thalami, and accordingly as he entered the one or the other, it
was regarded as a favourable or unfavourable sign. Other modes in which oracles
were derived from Apis are mentioned in the following passages: Lutat. ad Stat.
Theb. iii. 478; Diog. Laert. viii. 9 ; Paus. vii. 22.2; Plin., Aelian, Solinus,
ll. cc.; Plut. de Is. et Os. 14.
As regards the mode in which Apis was worshipped, we know, from Herodotus
(ii. 38, 41), that oxen, whose purity was scrupulously examined before, were offered
to him as sacrifices. His birthday, which was celebrated every year, was his most
solemn festival; it was a day of rejoicing for all Egypt. The god was allowed
to live only a certain number of years, probably twenty-five (Lucan, Phars. viii.
477; Plut. de Is. et Os. 56). If he had not died before the expiration of that
period, he was killed and buried in a sacred well, the place of which was unknown
except to the initiated, and he who betrayed it was severely punished. If, however,
Apis died a natural death, he was buried publicly and solemnly, and, as it would
seem, in the temple of Scrapis at Memphis, to which the entrance was left open
at the time of Apis' burial (Paus. i. 18.4; Clem. Alex. Strom. i.; Plut. de Is.
et Os. 29). The name Serapis or Sarapis itself is said to signify "the tomb of
Apis". Respecting the particular ceremonies and rites of the burial, its expenses,
and the miracles which used to aecompany it, see Diod. i. 84, 96; Plut. l. c.
29, 35. As the birth of Apis filled all Egypt with joy and festivities, so lis
death threw the whole country into grief and mourning; and there was no one, as
Lucian says, who valued his hair so much that he would not have shorn his head
on that occasion (Lucian, de Sacrif. 15, de Dea Syr. 6; Tibull. i. 8; Ammian.
Marc., Solin. ll. cc.). However, this time of mourning did not usually last long,
as a new Apis was generally kept ready to fill the place of his predecessor; and
as soon as he was found, the mourning was at an end, and the rejoicings began
(Diod. i. 85; Spartian. Hadr. 12).
The worship of Apis was, without doubt, originally nothing but the
simple worship of the bull, and formed a part of the fetish-worship of the Egyptians;
but in the course of time, the bull, like other animals, was regarded as a symbol
in the astronomical and physical systems of the Egyptian priests. How far this
was carried may be seen from what Aelian says about the twenty-nine marks on the
body of Apis, which form a complete astronomical and physical system. For further
details respecting these late speculations, the reader is referred to the works
on Egyptian mythology by Jablonsky, Champollion, Pritchard, and others.
The Persians, in their religious intolerance, ridiculed and scorned
the Egyptian gods, and more especially Apis. Cambyses killed Apis with his some
own hand (Herod iii. 29), and Ochus had him slaughtered (Plut. l. c. 31). The
Greeks and Romans on the other hand, saw nothing repugnant to their feelings in
the worship of Apis, and Alexander the Great gained the good will of the Egyptians
by offering sacrifices to Apis as well as to their other gods (Arrian, Anab. iii.
1). Several of the Roman emperors visited and paid homage to Apis, and his worship
seems to have maintained itself nearly down to the extinction of paganism (Suet.
Aug. 93, Vespas. 5; Tacit. Annal. ii. 59; Plin. l. c.; Spartian. l. c., Sept.
Sever. 17).
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
EGYPT (Country) MIDDLE EAST
Egyptian admiral, brings fleet to relieve Athens when besieged by Antigonus, Island of Patroclus.
An Egyptian, colossal image of him at Thebes in Egypt.
CANOPUS (Ancient city) EGYPT
Canobus or Canopus (Kanobos or Kanopos), according to Grecian story, the helmsman
of Menelaus, who on his return from Troy died in Egypt, in consequence of the
bite of a snake, and was buried by Menelaus on the site of the town of Canobus,
which derived its name from him (Strab. xvii.; Conon, Narrat. 8; Nicand. Ther.
309, &c.; Schol. ad Aelian. V. H. xv. 13; Steph. Byz. s. v.; Tac. Annual. ii.
60; Dionys. Perieg. 13; Amm. Marcell. xxii. 16; Serv. ad Virg. Georg. iv. 287).
According to some accounts, Canobus was worshipped in Egypt as a divine being,
and was represented in the shape of a jar with small feet, a thin neck, a swollen
body, and a round back (Epiphan. Ancorat.108; Rufin. Hist. Eccles. ii. 26; Suid.
s. v. Kanopos). The identification of an Egyptian divinity with the Greek hero
Canobus is of course a mere fiction, and was looked upon in this light even by
some of the ancients themselves. On the Egyptian monuments we find a number of
jars with the head either of some animal or of a human being at the top, and adorned
with images of gods and hieroglyphics. Such jars are also seen on Egyptian, especially
Canobian, coins. They appear to have been frequently used by the Egyptians in
performing religious rites and sacrifices, and it may be that some deities were
symbolically represented in this manner; but a particular jar-god, as worshipped
at Canobus, is not mentioned by any writer except Rufinus, and is therefore exceedingly
doubtful. Modern critics accordingly believe, that the god called Canobus may
be some other divinity worshipped in that place, or the god Serapis, who was the
chief deity of Canobus. But the whole subject is involved in utter obscurity.
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
EGYPT (Country) MIDDLE EAST
Aegyptus (Aiguptos), a son of Belus and Anchinoe or Achiroe, and twin-brother of Danaus (Apollod. ii. l.4; Tzetz. ad Lycophr. 382, 1155). Euripides represented Cepheus and Phineus likewise as brothers of Aegyptus. Belus assigned to Danaus the sovereignty of Libya, and to Aegyptus he gave Arabia. The latter also subdued the country of the Melampodes, which he called Aegypt after his own name. Aegyptus by his several wives had fifty sons, and it so happened that his brother Danaus had just as many daughters (Apollod. ii. 1.5; Hygin. Fab. 170). Danaus had reason to fear the sons of his brother, and fled with his daughters to Argos in Peloponnesus. Thither he was followed by the sons of Aegyptus, who demanded his daughters for their wives and promised faithful alliance. Danaus complied with their request, and distributed his daughters among them, but to each of them he gave a dagger, with which they were to kill their husbands in the bridal night. All the sons of Aegyptus were thus murdered with the exception of Lynceus, who was saved by Hypermnestra. The Danaids buried the heads of their murdered husbands in Lerna, and their bodies outside the town, and were afterwards purified of their crime by Athena and Hermes at the command of Zeus. Pausanias (ii. 24.3), who saw the monument under which the heads of the sons of Aegyptus were believed to be buried, says that it stood on the way to Larissa, the citadel of Argos, and that their bodies were buried at Lerna. In Hyginus (Fath. 168) the story is somewhat different. According to him, Aegyptus formed the plan of murdering Danaus and his daughters in order to gain possession of his dominions. When Danaus was informed of this he fled with his daughters to Argos. Aegyptus then sent out his sons in pursuit of the fugitives, and enjoined them not to return unless they had slain Danaus. The sons of Aegyptus laid siege to Argos, and when Danaus saw that further resistance was useless, he put an end to the hostilities by giving to each of the besiegers one of his daughters. The murder of the sons of Aegyptus then took place in the bridal night. There was a tradition at Patrae in Achaia, according to which Aegyptus himself came to Greece, and died at Aroe with grief for the fate of his sons. The temple of Serapis at Patrae contained a monument of Aegyptus (Paus. vii. 21.6).
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Sep 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Aegyptus. Son of Belus and twinbrother of Danaus, who subdued the land of the Melampodes, and named it after himself. Ignorant of the fate of his fifty sons, he came to Argos and there died of grief at their death; another account represents his only surviving son as reconciling him to his brother.
MEMPHIS (Ancient city) EGYPT
Daughter of the Nile, wife of Epaphus.
EGYPT (Country) MIDDLE EAST
First king of Egypt
An Egyptian queen; her revenge for her brother's death
King of Egypt, his conquests, his monuments, his life attempted by his brother, canals made by him, colossus said to represent.
Perseus Project Index. Total results on 18/7/2001: 61 for Sesostris.
Pheros was succeeded by a man of Memphis, whose name in the Greek tongue was Proteus.
The son of Libya, granddaughter of Io and Poseidon, and father of Aegyptus, Danaus, Cepheus, and Phineus, to each of whom the patronymic Belides is applied. The daughters of Danaus are known as Belides.
Achiroe, or according to Apollodorus (ii. 1.4) Anchinoe, which is perhaps a mistake for Anchiroe, was a daughter of Nilus, and the wife of Belus, by whom she became the mother of Aegyptus and Danaus. According to the scholiast on Lycophron (583 and 1161), Ares begot by her a son, Sithon, and according to Hegesippus (ap. Steph. Byz. s. v. Pallene), also two daughters, Pallenaea and Rhoetea, from whom two towns derived their names.
King of Egypt, after Proteus
Cheops. The Greek form of the Egyptian Khufu, a king of Memphis in Egypt, of the Fourth Dynasty (cir. B.C. 3000), and famous as the builder of the largest of the pyramids by the forced labour of the people. He was succeeded by his brother Chephren (Khafra), who built the next largest pyramid.
Cheops, an early king of Egypt, godless and tyrannical, who, according to Herodotus and Diodorus, reigned for fifty years, and built the first and largest pyramid by the compulsory labour of his subjects. Diodorus calls him Chembes or Chemmis. His account agrees with that of Herodotus, except that he supposes seven generations to have intervened between Remphis or Rhampsinitus and Cheops. (Herod. ii. 124-127; Larcher, ad loc.; Diod. i. 63)
Cephren (Kephren) is the name, according to Diodorus, of the Egyptian king whom Herodotus calls Chephren. He was the brother and successor of Cheops, whose example of tyranny he followed, and built the second pyramid, smaller than that of Cheops, by the compulsory labour of his subjects. His reign is said to have lasted 56 years. The pyramids, as Diodorus tells us, were meant for the tombs of the royal builders; but the people, groaning under their yoke, threatened to tear up the bodies, and therefore both the kings successively desired their friends to bury them elsewhere in an unmarked grave. In Herodotus it is said that the Egyptians so hated the memory of these brothers, that they called the pyramids, not by their names, but by that of Philition, a shepherd who at that time fed his flocks near the place. We are told by Diodorus that, according to some accounts, Chembes (the Cheops of Herodotus) was succeeded by his son Chabryis, which name is perhaps only another form of Cephren. In the letter in which Synesius, bishop of the African Ptolemais, announces to his brother bishops his sentence of excommunication against Andronicus, the president of Libya, Cephren is classed, as an instance of an atrocious tyrant, with Phalaris and Sennacherib. (Herod. ii. 127, 128; Diod. i. 64; Synes. Epist. 58.)
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
Chephren. A king of Egypt, the brother and successor of Cheops, whose
example of tyranny he followed, reigned fifty-six years, and built the second
pyramid. The Egyptians so execrated the memory of the two brothers that they called
the pyramids not by their names, but by the name of a poor shepherd, Philition,
who lived near by.
Anysis (Anusis), an ancient king of Egypt, who, according to Herodotus, succeeded Asychis. He was blind, and in his reign Egypt was invaded by the Ethiopians under their king Sabaco, and remained in their possession for fifty years. Anysis in the meanwhile took refuge in the marshes of Lower Egypt, where he formed an island which afterwards remained unknown for upward of seven centuries, until it was discovered by Amyrtaeus. When after the lapse of fifty years the Ethiopians withdrew from Egypt, Anysis returned from the marshes and resumed the government. (Herod. ii. 137, 140.)
Asychis (Asuchis), a king of Egypt, who, according to the account in Herodotus (ii. 136), succeeded Mycerinus (about B. C. 1012 according to Larcher's calculation), and built the propylaea on the east side of the temple of Hephaestus which had been begun by Menes, and also a pyramid of brick. Herodotus likewise mentions some laws of his for the regulation of money transactions.
Busiris (Bousiris). A reputed king of Egypt, son of Poseidon and Lysianassa, daughter of Epaphus, or (as Plutarch states, from the Samian Agatho) of Poseidon and Anippe, daughter of the Nile. This king, in consequence of an oracle, offered up strangers on the altar of Zeus; for Egypt having been afflicted with a dearth for nine years, a native of Cyprus named Thrasius, a great soothsayer, came thither, and said that it would cease if they sacrificed a stranger every year to Zeus. Busiris sacrificed the prophet himself first of all, and then continued the practice. When Heracles, in the course of his wanderings, came into Egypt, he was seized and dragged to the altar; but he burst his bonds, and slew Busiris, his son Amphidamas, and his herald Chalbes. Historically, there is no such king as Busiris, and the myth is in all probability only a legend of the former sacrifice of human victims to Osiris, of which name Busiris is only a corruption.
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
Busiris (Bousiris), according to Apollodorus (ii. 1.5), a son of Aegyptus, who was killed by the Danaid Automate; but according to Diodorus (i. 17), he was the governor whom Osiris, on setting out on his expedition through the world, appointed over the north eastern portion of Egypt, which bordered on the sea and Phoenicia. In another place (i. 45) he speaks of Busiris as an Egyptian king, who followed after the 52 successors of Menas, and states that Busiris was succeeded by eight kings, who descended from him, and the last of whom likewise bore the name of Busiris. This last Busiris is described as the founder of the city of Zeus, which the Greeks called Thebes. Apollodorus, too (ii. 5.11), mentions an Egyptian king Busiris, and calls him a son of Poseidon and Lysianassa, the daughter of Epaphus. Concerning this Busiris the following remarkable story is told : - Egypt had been visited for nine years by uninterrupted scarcity, and at last there came a soothsayer from Cyprus of the name of Phrasius, who declared, that the scarcity would cease if the Egyptians would sacrifice a foreigner to Zeus every year. Busiris made the beginning with the prophet himself, and afterwards sacrificed all the foreigners that entered Egypt. Heracles on his arrival in Egypt was likewise seized and led to the altar, but he broke his chains and slew Busiris, together with his son Amphidamas or Iphidamas, and his herald Chalbes. (Apollod. l. c.; Schol. ad Apollon. iv. 1396; comp. Herod. ii. 45; Gell. ii. 6; Macrob. Sat. vi. 7; Hygin. Fab. 31.) This story gave rise to various disputes in later times, when a friendly intercourse between Greece and Egypt was established, both nations being anxious to do away with the stigma it attached to the Egyptians. Herodotus (l. c.) expressly denies that the Egyptians ever offered human sacrifices, and Isocrates (Bus. 15) endeavours to upset the story by shewing, that Heracles must have lived at a much later time than Busiris. Others again said, that it was a tale invented to shew up the inhospitable character of the inhabitants of the town of Busiris, and that there never was a king of that name. (Strab. xvii.) Diodorus (i. 88) relates on the authority of the Egyptians themselves that Busiris was not the name of a king, but signified the tomb of Osiris, and that in ancient times the kings used to sacrifice at this grave men of red colour (the colour of Typhon), who were for the most part foreigners. Another story gives a Greek origin to the name Busiris, by saying that when Isis had collected the limbs of Osiris, who had been killed by Typhon, she put them together in a wooden cow (bous), whence the name of the town of Busiris was derived (Diod. i. 85), which contained the principal sanctuary of Isis. (Herod. ii. 59.) If we may judge from the analogy of other cases, the name of the town of Busiris was not derived from a king of that name; and indeed the dynasties of Manethon do not mention a king Busiris, so that the whole story may be a mere invention of the Greeks, from which we can scarcely infer anything else than that, in ancient times, the Egyptians were hostile towards all foreigners, and in some cases sacrificed them. Modern scholars, such as Creuzer and G. Hermann, find a deeper meaning in the mythus of Busiris than it can possibly suggest.
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
Receive our daily Newsletter with all the latest updates on the Greek Travel industry.
Subscribe now!
