Listed 45 sub titles with search on: Mythology for wider area of: "LESVOS Prefecture NORTH AEGEAN" .
LEMNOS (LIMNOS) (Island) NORTH AEGEAN
There (at Naxos) Dionysus fell in love with Ariadne and carried her
off; and having brought her to Lemnos he enjoyed her, and begat Thoas, Staphylus,
Oenopion, and Peparethus.
Commentary
Homer's account of the fate of Ariadne is different. He says (Hom. Od. 11.321-325)
that when Theseus was carrying off Ariadne from Crete to Athens she was slain
by Artemis in the island of Dia at the instigation of Dionysus. Later writers,
such as Diodorus Siculus identified Dia with Naxos, but it is rather the little
island, now Standia, just off Heraclaion, on the north coast of Crete. Theseus
would pass the island in sailing for Athens. Apollodorus seems to be the only
extant ancient author who mentions that Dionysus carried off Ariadne from Naxos
to Lemnos and had intercourse with her there.
These with Jason as admiral put to sea and touched at Lemnos. At that
time it chanced that Lemnos was bereft of men and ruled over by a queen, Hypsipyle,
daughter of Thoas, the reason of which was as follows. The Lemnian women did not
honor Aphrodite, and she visited them with a noisome smell; therefore their spouses
took captive women from the neighboring country of Thrace and bedded with them.
Thus dishonored, the Lemnian women murdered their fathers and husbands, but Hypsipyle
alone saved her father Thoas by hiding him. So having put in to Lemnos, at that
time ruled by women, the Argonauts had intercourse with the women, and Hypsipyle
bedded with Jason and bore sons, Euneus and Nebrophonus.
Commentary
The Lemnian traditions have been interpreted as evidence of a former custom of
gynocracy, or the rule of men by women, in the island. Every year the island of
Lemnos was purified from the guilt of the massacre and sacrifices were offered
to the dead. The ceremonies lasted nine days, during which all fires were extinguished
in the island, and a new fire was brought by ship from Delos. If the vessel arrived
before the sacrifices to the dead had been offered, it might not put in to shore
or anchor, but had to cruise in the offing till they were completed.
You are said to have reached the Thessalian coasts in your returning
bark, enriched with the prize of the golden fleece. I congratulate your safety,
as far as I am permitted: but I ought to have known this by a letter from yourself.
For, though unfavorable winds might have hindered you from landing in my kingdom,
had you even desired it, yet a letter might have been sealed and sent: surely
Hypsipyle deserved this testimony of your love.
Why as fame the first messenger of your success? Why did I first hear
from report, that the bulls sacred to the stern god of war had submitted to the
yoke, -that harvests of armed men sprang from the sowing of the dragon's teeth,
and did not want your right hand to cut them off, - that the yellow fleecy spoils,
though guarded by a vigilant dragon, were yet a prey to your valiant arm? If I
could assure those who believe with diffidence, that all this was confirmed to
me by a letter from yourself, how great would be my happiness! Why do I complain
that my husband by so long an absence has failed in the respect he owes me? If
your heart continues mine, I have still all I ask.
You are said to have brought with you a barbarian enchantress, and
admitted her to a share of that bed which you had promised to me. Love is credulous
and full of fears. I wish it may be found that I have rashly charged my husband
with false crimes. A stranger lately arrived here from Thessaly: scarcely had
he touched the threshold, when I enquired how my Jason was. He, overcome with
shame, stood silent, and fixed his eyes upon the ground. Impatient, I ran up to
him; and in wild distraction tearing his coat from his breast, Tell me, I cried,
does he still live, or has Fate determined also to end my days? He lives, said
he. I forced the intimidated stranger to confirm the statement by an oath, and
could scarcely be convinced of your existence even by the testimony of a God.
After recovering from my surprise, I began to enquire of your exploits. He tells
me how the brazen-footed bulls of Mars turned up the furrowed plain; that the
teeth of the dragon were thrown into the earth for seed, and a sudden crop of
armed men sprang up; and that these earth-born heroes, cut off by civil broils,
had filled up the short span of life allotted to them by Fate. Upon hearing of
the serpent overcome. I again asked if Jason still lived; my heart beating alternately
with hope and fear. While he proceeds in recounting one thing after another, in
the current of his discourse, he at last discovers the wounds made in your heart.
Alas! where is now your promised faith? where are now the nuptial
ties? and Hymen's torch, fitter to have lighted up my funeral pile? I was not
known to you by stealth. Juno was witness to our vows; and Hymen also, having
his temples bound with garlands. But neither Juno nor Hymen, but cruel Erinnys,
bore in procession the inauspicious torch. What concern had I with the Argonauts?
what with the ship of Pallas? Why did your pilot Tiphys think of touching at this
coast? Here was no ram to entice you by his golden spoils; nor had Aeetes his
royal palace at Lemnos. I had determined (but my unhappy destiny overruled me)
to expel the strangers with a female band. The Lemnian ladies have too glaringly
shown themselves an overmatch for men. My life and peace ought to have been defended
by so trusty a band.
I allowed Jason to enter my city, and admitted him into my house and
heart. Here two summers and two winters rolled away. It was now the third harvest,
when, forced to unfold the spreading sails, with tears in your eyes you uttered
these soft and tender words.
"Alas! I am torn from you, Hypsipyle; but, if Heaven grant me a safe
return, as I depart thine, so will I ever remain thine, Let the pledge of our
mutual love, that you now carry about in your teeming womb, be fondly cherished,
that it may prove the joy and blessing of its parents." Thus far you spoke, while,
the tears trickling down you deceitful checks, grief deprived you of the power
to proceed. You were the last to ascend the sacred ship: she flies, and a favorable
wind fills the swelling sails. The sea-green waves recede from before the stemming
prow; your eyes are fixed upon the shore, while mine follow you through the deep.
An adjacent tower opens a prospect on all sides towards the sea. Thither I bend
my course, my face and bosom bedewed with tears. I view you through my tears;
and my eyes, favoring the eagerness of my mind, carry forward my sight beyond
its usual bounds. I address Heaven with chaste prayers and timorous vows,--vows
to the performed, now that you are safe. Must I then pay vows for the triumphs
of Medea? My heart yields to grief, and my love flames into rage. Shall I carry
offerings to the temples, because Jason lives, and lives for another? Are victims
to be slain in return for my disappointments?
I was indeed always diffident, and dreaded that your father might
choose a daughter-in-law from some city of Greece. I feared the Greeks, but suffer
from a barbarian harlot, and am wounded by an unexpected hand. She has not charmed
you by her beauty, or won you by her accomplishments. She holds you by her enchantments,
and cuts the baneful herbs with a magic sickle. She endeavours to charm the reluctant
moon from her orb, and involve the chariot of the sun in darkness. She bridles
the waves, stops the winding currents, and removes from their seats the woods
and banging rocks. She wanders through the tombs with her hair disheveled, and
collects bones from the yet smoking pyres. Her witchcraft affects even the absent;
she moulds the images of wax, and gores the wretched liver with torturing needles.
Add a multiplicity of other magic artifices, which I am better unacquainted with.
Love should be gained by merit and beauty, not by berbs and philtres. How can
you receive her into your embraces, or quietly trust yourself in her treacherous
arms? As formerly the bulls, so has she forced you also to submit to the yoke,
and bound you with the same fetters wherewith she before chained the dragons.
Add that she boasts of having contributed to your success, and that of your companions;
and the fame of the wife eclipses that of the husband. Those of the Pelian faction
ascribe all to sorcery; and the malicious world is too ready to believe them.
"It was not Jason, (say they,) but Medea of Colchis, that bore away the rich fleece
of the consecrated ram."
Commentary
Pelias, the son of Neptune, was warned by an oracle, that his death
would approach, when one barefooted should come to him as he was sacrificing:
it happened that, as he was engaged in the celebration of some annual sacred rites,
Jason the son of Aeson, having left his shoe in the mud of the river Anaurus,
and hastening to be present at the sacrifice, met him. Pelias, mindful of the
oracle, endeavoured to persuade Jason to undertake an expedition to Colchis, in
order to make himself master of the golden fleece, hoping he would never return,
because he had heard it was a work beyond human power to accomplish. Jason, a
youth of great courage and magnanimity, readily engaged in the attempt; and, having
associated with him a great number of gallant adventurers, set sail in the ship
Argo from Thessaly, and soon after arrived at the isle of Lemnos. Not long before
this, the women had with common consent murdered, in one night, all the men in
the island, except one. Hypsipyle, the daughter of Thoas, had saved her father
by the pretence of having killed him, and was at this time queen of the Lemnians.
She, conceiving a passion for Jason, admitted him both to her house and bed. After
continuing here two years, his companions urged him to proceed on the promised
expedition; he left Hypsipyle pregnant, and set sail for Colchis. Medea, the king's
daughter, having an amorous regard for him, by her magic art lulled asleep the
vigilant dragon, and tamed the brazen-footed bulls; by which means he obtained
the golden fleece; and, leaving Colchis, carried off Medea also, who desired to
follow him. Hypsipyle, enraged that Medea was preferred to her, sends this letter,
congratulating Jason on his safe return. Afterwards exposing the cruelty and enchantments
of Medea, she endeavours to bring her into contempt, and make him sensible of
her own superior merit. Lastly, she loads both him and Medea with imprecations.
The story of Jason's quest appears in Pindar's Pythian 4 and in the Argonautica
of Apollonius of Rhodes. The episode of the Lemnian Women is summarized in Apollodorus
1.9.17.
Son of Poeas, suitor of Helen, leader of the Olizonians against Troy, bitten by a snake in Tenedos, put ashore and abandoned by the Greeks in Lemnos.
Editor’s Information:
The plot of "Philoctetes", the tragedy written by Sophocles, of which the e-text(s) is (are) found in Greece (ancient country) under the category Ancient Greek Writings, is taking place in the island of Lemnos.
LESVOS (Island) NORTH AEGEAN
The daughter of Epopeus, king of Lesbos, who unknowingly had intercourse with her father: when she discovered it, she fled in despair to the woods, where she was changed by Minerva into a night owl.
MITHYMNA (Ancient city) LESVOS
The earliest inhabitants of the island were a pre-Greek people whose settlement dates to before 3000 B.C. After c. 1000 B.C. Aeolian Greeks from Thessaly arrived on the island and founded the towns of Mytilene and Methymna.
KAVIRIO (Ancient sanctuary) LEMNOS (LIMNOS)
Sons or grandchildren of Ifestos and Kavero (female goddess, daughter
of Proteus the sea demon). According to the myth, Kavero gave birth to three sons,
the Kaverous and three daughters , the Kaverithes. Their name means "almighty",
"powerful", however according to others "copper-like". The word originates from
the root "kav" that suggests the "harsh" and from the word "ieroi" which means
holy. The Kaveri of Lemnos were the guardians of the trade-union of the metalworkers
who possibly were the richest and most powerful class. Their role was double as
children of the goddess of the sea were guardians of the seamen (Samothace) and
as children of Ifestos guards of the metalworkers (Lemnos).
Cabeiri (Kabeiroi), mystic divinities who occur in various parts of the ancient
world. The obscurity that hangs over them, and the contradictions respecting them
in the accounts of the ancients themselves, have opened a wide field for speculation
to modern writers on mythology, each of whom has been tempted to propound a theory
of his own. The meaning of the name Cabeiri is quite uncertain, and has been traced
to nearly all the languages of the East, and even to those of the North; but one
etymology seems as plausible as another, and etymology in this instance is a real
ignis fatuus to the inquirer. The character and nature of the Cabeiri are as obscure
as the meaning of their name. All that we can attempt to do here is to trace and
explain the various opinions of the ancients themselves, as they are presented
to us in chronological succession. We chiefly follow Lobeck, who has collected
all the passages of the ancients upon this subject, and who appears to us the
most sober among those who have written upon it.
The earliest mention of the Cabeiri, so far as we know, was in a drama
of Aeschylus, entitled Kabeiroi, in which the poet brought them into contact with
the Argonauts in Lemnos. The Cabeiri promised the Argonauts plenty of Lemnian
wine (Plut. Sympos. ii. 1; Pollux, vi. 23). The opinion of Welcker, who infers
from Dionysius (i. 68, &c.) that the Cabeiri had been spoken of by Arctinus, has
been satisfactorily refuted by Lobeck and others. From the passage of Aeschylus
here alluded to, it appears that he regarded the Cabeiri as original Lemnian divinities,
who had power over everything that contributed to the good of the inhabitants,
and especially over the vineyards. The fruits of the field, too, seem to have
been under their protection, for the Pelasgians once in a time of scarcity made
vows to Zeus, Apollo, and the Cabeiri (Myrsilus, ap. Dionys. i. 23). Strabo in
his discussion about the Curetes, Dactyls, &c., speaks of the origin of the Cabeiri,
deriving his statements from ancient authorities, and from him we learn, that
Acusilaus called Camillus a son of Cabeiro and Hephaestus, and that he made the
three Cabeiri the sons, and the Cabeirian nymphs the daughters, of Camillus. According
to Pherecydes, Apollo and Rhytia were the parents of the nine Corybantes who dwelled
in Samothrace, and the three Cabeiri and the three Cabeirian nymphs were the children
of Cabeira, the daughter of Proteus, by Hephaestus. Sacrifices were offered to
the Corybantes as well as the Cabeiri in Lemnos and Imbros, and also in the towns
of Troas. The Greek logographers, and perhaps Aeschylus too, thus considered the
Cabeiri as the grandchildren of Proteus and as the sons of Hephaestus, and consequently
as inferior in dignity to the great gods on account of their origin. Their inferiority
is also implied in their jocose conversation with the Argonauts, and their being
repeatedly mentioned along with the Curetes, Dactyls, Corybantes, and other beings
of inferior rank. Herodotus (iii. 37) says, that the Cabeiri were worshipped at
Memphis as the sons of Hephaestus, and that they resembled the Phoenician dwarf-gods
(Pataikoi) whom the Phoenicians fixed on the prows of their ships. As the Dioscuri
were then yet unknown to the Egyptians (Herod. ii. 51), the Cabeiri cannot have
been identified with them at that time. Herodotus proceeds to say, "the Athenians
received their phallic Hermae from the Pelasgians, and those who are initiated
in the mysteries of the Cabeiri will understand what I am saying; for the Pelasgians
formerly inhabited Samothrace, and it is from them that the Samothracians received
their orgies. But the Samothracians had a sacred legend about Hermes, which is
explained in their mysteries". This sacred legend is perhaps no other than the
one spoken of by Cicero (De Nat. Deor. iii. 22), that Hermes was the son of Coelus
and Dies, and that Proserpine desired to embrace him. The same is perhaps alluded
to by Propertius (ii. 2. 11), when he says, that Mercury (Hermes) had connexions
with Brimo, who is probably the goddess of Pherae worshipped at Athens, Sicyon,
and Argos, whom some identified with Proserpine (Persephone), and others with
Hecate or Artemis. We generally find this goddess worshipped in places which had
the worship of the Cabeiri, and a Lemnian Artemis is mentioned by Galen. The Tyrrhenians,
too, are said to have taken away the statue of Artemis at Brauron, and to have
carried it to Lemnos. Aristophanes, in his " Lemnian Women," had mentioned Bendis
along with the Brauronian Artemis and the great goddess, and Nonnus (Dionys. xxx.
45) states that the Cabeirus Alcon brandished Hekates Diasodea purson, so that
we may draw the conclusion, that the Samothracians and Lemnians worshipped a goddess
akin to Hecate, Artemis, Bendis, or Persephone, who had some sexual connexion
with Hermes, which revelation was made in the mysteries of Samothrace.
The writer next to Herodotus, who speaks about the Cabeiri, and whose
statements we possess in Strabo, though brief and obscure, is Stesimbrotus. The
meaning of the passage in Strabo is, according to Lobeck, as follows: Some persons
think that the Corybantes are the sons of Cronos, others that they are the sons
of Zeus and Calliope, that they (the Corybantes) went to Samothrace and were the
same as the beings who were there called Cabeiri. But as the doings of the Corybantes
are generally known, whereas nothing is known of the Samothracian Corybantes,
those persons are obliged to have recourse to saying, that the doings of the latter
Corybantes are kept secret or are mystic. This opinion, however, is contested
by Demetrius, who states, that nothing was revealed in the mysteries either of
the deeds of the Cabeiri or of their having accompanied Rhea or of their having
brought up Zeus and Dionysus. Demetrius also mentions the opinion of Stesimbrotus,
that the hiera were performed in Samothrace to the Cabeiri, who derived their
name from mount Cabeirus in Berecyntia. But here again opinions differed very
much, for while some believed that the hiera Kabeiron were thus called from their
having been instituted and conducted by the Cabeiri, others thought that they
were celebrated in honour of the Cabeiri, and that the Cabeiri belonged to the
great gods.
The Attic writers of this period offer nothing of importance concerning
the Cabeiri, but they intimate that their mysteries were particularly calculated
to protect the lives of the initiated (Aristoph. Pax, 298). Later writers in making
the same remark do not mention the name Cabeiri, but speak of the Samothracian
gods generally (Diod. iv. 43, 49; Aelian, Fragm.; Callim. Ep. 36; Lucian. Ep.
15; Plut. Marcell. 30). There are several instances mentioned of lovers swearing
by the Cabeiri in promising fidelity to one another (Juv. iii. 144; Himerius,
Orat. i. 12); and Suidas (s. v. Dialamdanei) mentions a case of a girl invoking
the Cabeiri as her avengers against a lover who had broken his oath. But from
these oaths we can no more draw any inference as to the real character of the
Cabeiri, than from the fact of their protecting the lives of the initiated; for
these are features which they have in common with various other divinities. From
the account which the scholiast of Apollonius Rhodius (i. 913) has borrowed from
Athenion, who had written a comedy called The Samothracians (Athen. xiv.), we
learn only that he spoke of two Cabeiri, Dardanus, and Jasion, whom he called
sons of Zeus and Electra. They derived their name from mount Cabeirus in Phrygia,
from whence they had been introduced into Samothrace.
A more ample source of information respecting the Cabeiri is opened
to us in the writers of the Alexandrine period. The two scholia on Apollonius
Rhodius contain in substance the following statement: Mnaseas mentions the names
of three Cabeiri in Samothrace, viz. Axieros, Axiocersa, and Axiocersus; the first
is Demeter, the second Persephone, and the third Hades. Others add a fourth, Cadmilus,
who according to Dionysius that dorus is identical with Hermes. It thus appears
these accounts agreed with that of Stesimbrotus, who reckoned the Cabeiri among
the great gods, and that Mnaseas only added their names. Herodotus, as we have
seen, had already connected Hermes with Persephone; the worship of the latter
as connected with that of Demeter in Samothrace is attested by Artemidorus (ap.
Strab. iv.); and there was also a port in Samothrace which derived its name, Demetrium,
from Demeter (Liv. xlv. 6). According to the authors used by Dionysius (i. 68),
the worship of Samothrace was introduced there from Arcadia; for according to
them Dardanus, together with his brother Jasion or Jasus and his sister Harmonia,
left Arcadia and went to Samothrace, taking with them the Palever, ladium from
the temple of Pallas. Cadmus, however, who appears in this tradition, is king
of Samothrace: he made Dardanus his friend, and sent him to Teucer in Troas. Dardanus
himself, again, is sometimes described as a Cretan (Serv. ad Aen. iii. 167), sometimes
as an Asiatic (Steph. s. v. Dardanos; Eustath. ad Dionys. Perieg. 391), while
Arrian (ap. Eustath.) makes him come originally from Samothrace. Respecting Dardanus'
brother Jasion or Jasus, the accounts likewise differ very much; for while some
writers describe him as going to Samothrace either from Parrhasia in Arcadia or
from Crete, a third account (Dionys. i. 61) stated, that he was killed by lightning
for having entertained improper desires for Demeter; and Arrian says that Jasion,
being inspired by Demeter and Cora, went to Sicily and many other places, and
there established the mysteries of these goddesses, for which Demeter rewarded
him by yielding to his embraces, and became the mother of Parius, the founder
of Paros.
All writers of this class appear to consider Dardanus as the founder
of the Samothracian mysteries, and the mysteries themselves as solemnized in honour
of Demeter. Another set of authorities, on the other hand, regards them as belonging
to Rhea (Diod. v. 51; Schol. ad Aristid.; Strab. Esccrpt. lib. vii.; Lucian, Dc
Dea Syr. 97), and suggests the identity of the Samothracian and Phrygian mysteries.
Pherecydes too, who placed the Corybantes, the companions of the great mother
of the gods, in Samothrace, and Stesimbrotus who derived the Cabeiri from mount
Cabeirus in Phrygia, and all those writers who describe Dardanus as the founder
of the Samothracian mysteries, naturally ascribed the Samothracian mysteries to
Rhea. To Demeter, on the other hand, they were ascribed by Mnaseas, Artemidorus,
and even by Herodotus, since he mentions Hermes and Persephone in connexion with
these mysteries, and Persephone has nothing to do with Rhea. Now, as Demeter and
Rhea have many attributes in common -both are megaloi Deoi- and the festivals
of each were celebrated with the same kind of enthusiasm; and as peculiar features
of the one are occasionally transferred to the other (e. g. Eurip. Helen. 1304),
it is not difficult to see how it might happen, that the Samothracian goddess
was sometimes called Demeter and sometimes Rhea. The difficulty is, however, increased
by the fact of Venus (Aphrodite) too being worshipped in Samothrace (Plin. H.
N. v. 6). This Venus may be either the Thracian Bendis or Cybele, or may have
been one of the Cabeiri themselves, for we know that Thebes possessed three ancient
statues of Aphrodite, which Harmonia had taken from the ships of Cadmus, and which
may have been the Pataaikoi who resembled the Cabeiri (Paus. ix. 16.2; Herod.
iii. 37). In connexion with this Aphrodite we may mention that, according to some
accounts, the Phoenician Aphrodite (Astarte) had commonly the epithet chabar or
chabor, an Arabic word which signifies "the great," and that Lobeck considers
Astarte as identical with the Selene Kabeiria, which name P. Ligorius saw on a
gem.
There are also writers who transfer all that is said about the Samothracian
gods to the Dioscuri, who were indeed different from the Cabeiri of Acusilaus,
Pherecydes, and Aeschylus, but yet might easily be confounded with them; first,
because the Dioscuri are also called great gods, and secondly, because they were
also regarded as the protectors of persons in danger either by land or water.
Hence we find that in some places where the anakes were worshipped, it was uncertain
whether they were the Dioscuri or the Cabeiri (Paus. x. 38.3). Nay, even the Roman
Penates were sometimes considered as identical with the Dioscuri and Cabeiri (Dionys.
i. 67, &c.); and Varro thought that the Penates were carried by Dardanus from
the Arcadian town Pheneos to Samothrace, and that Aeneas brought them from thence
to Italy (Macrob. Sat. iii. 4; Serv. ad Aen. i. 378, iii. 148). But the authorities
for this opinion are all of a late period. According to one set of accounts, the
Samothracian gods were two male divinities of the same age, which applies to Zeus
and Dionysus, or Dardanus and Jasion, but not to Demeter, Rhea, or Persephone.
When people, in the course of time, had become accustomed to regard the Penates
and Cabeiri as identical, and yet did not know exactly the name of each separate
divinity comprised under those common names, some divinities are mentioned among
the Penates who belonged to the Cabeiri, and vice versa. Thus Servius (ad Aen.
viii. 619) represents Zeus, Pallas, and Hermes as introduced from Samothrace;
and, in another passage (ad Aen. iii. 264), he says that, according to the Samothracians,
these three were the great gods, of whom Hermes, and perhaps Zeus also, might
be reckoned among the Cabeiri. Varro (de Ling. Lat. v. 58) says, that Heaven and
Earth were the great Samothracian gods; while in another place (ap. August. De
Civ. Dei, vii. 18) he stated, that there were three Samothracian gods, Jupiter
or Heaven, Juno or Earth, and Minerva or the prototype of things -the ideas of
Plato. This is, of course, only the view Varro himself took, and not a tradition.
If we now look back upon the various statements we have gathered,
for the purpose of arriving at some definite conclusion, it is manifest, that
the earliest writers regard the Cabeiri as descended from inferior divinities,
Proteus and Hephaestus: they have their seats on earth, in Samothrace, Lemnos,
and Imbros. Those early writers cannot possibly have conceived them to be Demeter,
Persephone or Rhea. It is true those early authorities are not numerous in comparison
with the later ones; but Demetrius, who wrote on the subject, may have had more
and very good ones, since it is with reference to him that Strabo repeats the
assertion, that the Cabeiri, like the Corybantes and Curetes, were only ministers
of the great gods. We may therefore suppose, that the Samothracian Cabeiri were
originally such inferior beings; and as the notion of the Cabeiri was from the
first not fixed and distinct, it became less so in later times; and as the ideas
of mystery and Demeter came to be looked upon as inseparable, it cannot occasion
surprise that the mysteries, which were next in importance to those of Eleusis,
the most celebrated in antiquity, were at length completely transferred to this
goddess. The opinion that the Samothracian gods were the same as the Roman Penates,
seems to have arisen with those writers who endeavoured to trace every ancient
Roman institution to Troy, and thence to Samothrace.
The places where the worship of the Cabeiri occurs, are chiefly Samothrace,
Lemnos, and Imbros. Some writers have maintained, that the Samothracian and Lemnian
Cabeiri were distinct; but the contrary is asserted by Strabo. Besides the Cabeiri
of these three islands, we read of Boeotian Cabeiri. Near the Neitian gate of
Thebes there was a grove of Demeter Cabeiria and Cora, which none but the initiated
were allowed to enter; and at a distance of seven stadia from it there was a sanctuary
of the Cabeiri (Paus. ix. 25.5). Here mysteries were celebrated, and the sanctity
of the temple was great as late as the time of Pausanias (Comp. iv. 1.5). The
account of Pausanias about the origin of the Boeotian Cabeiri savours of rationalism,
and is, as Lobeck justly remarks, a mere fiction. It must further not be supposed
that there existed any connexion between the Samothracian Cadmilus or Cadmus and
the Theban Cadmus; for tradition clearly describes them as beings of different
origin, race and dignity. Pausanias (ix. 22.5) further mentions another sanctuary
of the Cabeiri, with a grove, in the Boeotian town of Anthedon; and a Boeotian
Cabeirus, who possessed the power of averting dangers and increasing man's prosperity,
is mentioned in an epigram of Diodorus. A Macedonian Cabeirus occurs in Lactantius.
The reverence paid by the Macedonians to the Cabeiri may be inferred from the
fact of Philip and Olympias being initiated in the Samothracian mysteries, and
of Alexander erecting altars to the Cabeiri at the close of his Eastern expedition
(Plut. Alex. 2; Philostr. de Vit. Apollon. ii. 43). The Pergamenian Cabeiri are
mentioned by Pausanias (i. 4.6), and those of Berytus by Sanchoniathon and Damascius.
Respecting the mysteries of the Cabeiri in general, see Dict. of Ant. s. v. Cabeiria.
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
LEMNOS (LIMNOS) (Island) NORTH AEGEAN
The Lemnian Pallas, so named because it had been dedicated by the Athenian colonists in Lemnos. The attractions of this statue won for it the name of "the Beautiful". It was of bronze; being a representation of Athene as the goddess of peace, it was without a helmet.
Cadmilus, Casmilus or Cadmus (Kadmilos, Kadmilos, or Kadmos), according to Acusilaus (ap. Strab. x.) a son of Hephaestus and Cabeiro, and father of the Samothracian Cabeiri and the Cabeirian nymphs. Others consider Cadmilus himself as the fourth of the Samothracian Cabeiri. (Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. i. 917)
MITHYMNA (Ancient city) LESVOS
I am going on to tell a Lesbian story. Certain fishermen of Methymna found that their nets dragged up to the surface of the sea a face made of olive-wood. Its appearance suggested a touch of divinity, but it was outlandish, and unlike the normal features of Greek gods. So the people of Methymna asked the Pythian priestess of what god or hero the figure was a likeness, and she bade them worship Dionysus Phallen. Whereupon the people of Methymna kept for themselves the wooden image out of the sea, worshipping it with sacrifices and prayers, but sent a bronze copy to Delphi.
LEMNOS (LIMNOS) (Island) NORTH AEGEAN
Aeschylus makes him (Prometheus) son of Themis, by whom he is put in possession of all the secrets of the future. In the war with the Titans, his advice assisted Zeus to victory. But when the god, after the partition of the world, resolved on destroying the rude human race, and to create other beings in their stead, Prometheus alone concerned himself with the fate of wretched mortals, and saved them from destruction. He brought them the fire he had stolen from Hephaestus at Lemnos, the fire that was to become the source of all discoveries and of mastery over nature; and raised them to a higher civilization by his inventive skill and by the arts which he taught mankind. For this he was punished by being chained on a rock beside the sea in the wilds of Scythia.
The blinded hero contrived to reach Lemnos, and came to the forge of Hephaestus, who, taking pity on him, gave him Cedalion (Guardian), one of his men, to be his guide to the abode of the Sun. Placing Cedalion on his shoulder, Orion proceeded to the East; and there, meeting the sun-god, was restored to vision by his beams.
LESVOS (Island) NORTH AEGEAN
LEMNOS (LIMNOS) (Island) NORTH AEGEAN
The blinded hero (Orion) contrived to reach Lemnos, and came to the forge of Hephaestus, who, taking pity on him, gave him Cedalion (Guardian), one of his men, to be his guide to the abode of the Sun. Placing Cedalion on his shoulder, Orion proceeded to the East; and there, meeting the sun-god, was restored to vision by his beams.
Son of Jason by Hypsipyle
Polyxo. The nurse of queen Hypsipyle in Lemnos, and celebrated as a prophetess.
LESVOS (Island) NORTH AEGEAN
Daughter of the Lesbian king Macareus, who is said to have been seduced by Apollo under the form of a shepherd.
The modern Lissa; a small island in the Adriatic Sea, with a town of the same name, off the coast of Dalmatia, said to have derived its name from Issa, daughter of Macareus of Lesbos, who was beloved by Apollo. (Ovid, Met.vi. 124). The island was inhabited by a hardy race of sailors, whose barks (lembi Issaei) were much prized.
ARISVI (Ancient city) LESVOS
Arisbe, a daughter of Macarus, and wife of Paris, from whom the town of Arisbe in Lesbos derived its name. (Steph. Byz. s. v.; Eustath. l.c.)
ERESSOS (Ancient city) LESVOS
Eresus (Eresos), a son of Macar, from whom the town of Eresus in Lesbos derived its name. (Steph. Byz. s. v.) A second otherwise unknown person of this name was painted in the Lesche at Delphi. (Paus. x. 27.)
LEPETYMNOS (Mountain) MYTILINI
Mythical hero, in tradition was husband of Mithymna, the daughter of Makara the King of the island.
LESVOS (Island) NORTH AEGEAN
Lesbus, (Lesbos). A son of Lapithus, grandson of Aeolus, who married Methymna, daughter of Macareus. He succeeded his father-in-law, and gave his name to the island over which he reigned.
Lesbos, according to tradition, was named for son of Lapithos, the descendant of Deucalion and Hellen, and grandson of Aiolos, founder of the Aiolian tribe.
MYRINA (Ancient city) LEMNOS (LIMNOS)
Wife of Thoas, king of Lemnos, mother of Hipsipyle and Sicinus
LESVOS (Island) NORTH AEGEAN
Bastard son of Orestes by Erigone, conquers Lesbos.
King of Lesbos, father of Nyctimene.
MITHYMNA (Ancient city) LESVOS
Hypsipylos occurs only once elsewhere, as the name of a king of Methymna in a fragment of Apollonius Rhodius
LESVOS (Island) NORTH AEGEAN
Aeolian colonization, they say, preceded the Ionian colonization by four generations, but suffered delays and took a longer time; for Orestes, they say, was the first leader of the expedition, but he died in Arcadia, and his son Penthilus succeeded him and advanced as far as Thrace sixty years after the Trojan War, about the time of the return of the Heracleidae to the Peloponnesus; and then Archelaus the son of Penthilus led the Aeolian expedition across to the present Cyzicene near Dascylium; and Gras, the youngest son of Archelaus, advanced to the Granicus River, and, being better equipped, led the greater part of his army across to Lesbos and occupied it. (Strabo 13.1.3)
Gras the son of Echelas the son of Penthilus the son of Orestes was the leader, who was destined to occupy the land between Ionia and Mysia, called at the present day Aeolis; his ancestor Penthilus had even before this seized the island of Lesbos that lies over against this part of the mainland.
The Lesbians say that their people were placed under the command of Pylaeus, the man whom the poet calls the ruler of the Pelasgians, and that it is from him that the mountain in their country is still called Pylaeus.
Dionysius (i. 18) says that the first Pelasgian colony was led by Macar to Lesbos, after the Pelasgi had been driven out of Thessaly.
Diodorus Siculus (v. 81) gives a different account of this colony. He says that Xanthus, the son of Triopus, chief of the Pelasgi from Argos, settled first in Lycia, and afterwards crossed over with his followers into Lesbos, which he found unoccupied, and divided among them. This was seven generations before the flood of Deucalion. When this occurred Lesbos was desolated, and Macareus, grandson of Zeus (according to Hesiod), occupied it a second time, and the island received its name from his son-in-law.
Enalus, (Enalos). The Penthelides, the first settlers in Lesbos, had received an oracle from Amphitrite commanding them to sacrifice a bull to Poseidon and a virgin to Amphitrite and the Nereides, as soon as they should, on their journey to Lesbos, come to the rock Mesogeion. The leaders of the colonists accordingly caused their daughters to draw lots, the result of which was, that the daughter of Smintheus or Phineus was to be sacrificed. When she was on the point of being thrown into the sea, her lover, Enalus, embraced her, and leaped with her into the deep. But both were saved by dolphins. Once the sea all around Lesbos rose in such high billows, that no one ventured to approach it; Enalus alone had the courage to do so, and when he returned from the sea, he was followed by polypi, the greatest of which was carrying a stone, which Enalus took from it, and dedicated in a temple. (Plut Sept. Sapient. Conviv. p. 163, c, de Sollert. animal. p. 984. d.)
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
MYTILINI (Ancient city) LESVOS
The earliest inhabitants of the island were a pre-Greek people whose settlement dates to before 3000 B.C. After c. 1000 B.C. Aeolian Greeks from Thessaly arrived on the island and founded the towns of Mytilene and Methymna.
LEMNOS (LIMNOS) (Island) NORTH AEGEAN
Some of the Pelasgi from Lemnos took up their abode on this peninsula, and they were divided into five cities, Cleonae, Olophyxis, Acrothoi, Dium, Thyssus. (Strabo Fr. 35)
The descendants of the crew of the Argo were driven out by the Pelasgians
who carried off the Athenian women from Brauron;
after being driven out of Lemnos by them, they sailed away to Lacedaemon,
and there camped on Teugetum
and kindled a fire. Seeing it, the Lacedaemonians sent a messenger to inquire
who they were and where they came from. They answered the messenger that they
were Minyae, descendants of the heroes who had sailed in the Argo and put in at
Lemnos and there begot their race. Hearing the story of the lineage of the Minyae,
the Lacedaemonians sent a second time and asked why they had come into Laconia
and kindled a fire. They replied that, having been expelled by the Pelasgians,
they had come to the land of their fathers, as was most just; and their wish was
to live with their fathers' people, sharing in their rights and receiving allotted
pieces of land. The Lacedaemonians were happy to receive the Minyae on the terms
which their guests desired; the chief cause of their consenting was that the Tyndaridae
(Castor and Polydeuces) had been in the ship's company of the Argo; so they received
the Minyae and gave them land and distributed them among their own tribes. The
Minyae immediately married, and gave in marriage to others the women they had
brought from Lemnos.
But in no time these Minyae became imperious, demanding an equal right
to the kingship, and doing other impious things; hence the Lacedaemonians resolved
to kill them, and they seized them and cast them into prison. (When the Lacedaemonians
execute, they do it by night, never by day.) Now when they were about to kill
the prisoners, the wives of the Minyae, who were natives of the country, daughters
of leading Spartans, asked permission to enter the prison and each converse with
her husband; the Lacedamonians granted this, not expecting that there would be
any treachery from them. But when the wives came into the prison, they gave their
husbands all their own garments, and themselves put on the men's clothing; so
the Minyae passed out in the guise of women dressed in women's clothing; and thus
escaping, once more camped on Teugetum.
Now, about this same time, Theras, a descendant of Polynices through
Thersander, Tisamenus, and Autesion, was preparing to lead out colonists from
Lacedaemon. This Theras was of the line of Cadmus and was an uncle on their mother's
side to Aristodemus' sons Eurysthenes and Procles; and while these boys were yet
children he held the royal power of Sparta as regent; but when his nephews grew
up and became kings, then Theras could not endure to be a subject when he had
had a taste of supreme power, and said he would no longer stay in Lacedaemon but
would sail away to his family. On the island now called Thera,
but then Calliste, there were descendants of Membliarus the son of Poeciles, a
Phoenician; for Cadmus son
of Agenor had put in at the place now called Thera during his search for Europa;
and having put in, either because the land pleased him, or because for some other
reason he desired to do so, he left on this island his own relation Membliarus
together with other Phoenicians. These dwelt on the island of Calliste for eight
generations before Theras came from Lacedaemon.
It was these that Theras was preparing to join, taking with him a
company of people from the tribes; his intention was to settle among the people
of Calliste and not drive them out but claim them as in fact his own people. So
when the Minyae escaped from prison and camped on Teugetum, and the Lacedaemonians
were planning to put them to death, Theras interceded for their lives, that there
might be no killing, promising to lead them out of the country himself. The Lacedaemonians
consented to this, and Theras sailed with three thirty-oared ships to join the
descendants of Membliarus, taking with him not all the Minyae but only a few;
for the greater part of them made their way to the lands of the Paroreatae and
Caucones, and after having
driven these out of their own country, they divided themselves into six companies
and established the cities of Lepreum,
Macistus, Phrixae, Pyrgus,
Epium, and Nudium in the
land they had won; most of these were in my time taken and sacked by the Eleans.
As for the island Calliste, it was called Thera after its colonist.
Commentary
The descendants of the Argonauts were Minyae of Thessaly
living near the Pagasaean gulf.
This extract is from: Herodotus. The Histories (ed. A. D. Godley, 1920), Cambridge. Harvard University Press. Cited Dec 2003 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
... But the word has other sources of derivation, either from the people who went
forth with Chloris, the mother of Nestor, from the Minyeian Orchomenus, or from
the Minyans, who, being descendants of the Argonauts, were first driven out of
Lemnos into Lacedaemon, and thence into Triphylia, and took up their abode about
Arene in the country which is now called Hypaesia, though it no longer has the
settlements of the Minyans. Some of these Minyans sailed with Theras, the son
of Autesion, who was a descendant of Polyneices, to the island which is situated
between Cyrenaea and Crete ( "Calliste its earlier name, but Thera its later,"
as Callimachus says), and founded Thera, the mother-city of Cyrene, and designated
the island by the same name as the city.
Receive our daily Newsletter with all the latest updates on the Greek Travel industry.
Subscribe now!
