In Greek mythology, Ephyra (Ancient Greek: Ἐφύρα, romanized: Ephýra, lit. "nymph") or Ephyre may refer to two different deities:
- Ephyra, one of the 3,000 Oceanids, water-nymph daughters of the Titans Oceanus[1] and his sister-wife Tethys.[2] Otherwise, she was called the daughter[3] or wife[4][5] of the Titan Epimetheus. Ephyra was the first to dwell in the land of Ephyrae, which was later called Corinth.[6] In some accounts, her father was called Myrmex.[citation needed] Ephyra was sometimes attributed to be the mother of Aeetes by Helios.[7]
- Ephyre, one of the 50 Nereids, sea-nymph daughters of the "Old Man of the Sea" Nereus and the Oceanid Doris.[8][2] She was in the train of Cyrene along with her sister Opis, Deiopea and Arethusa.[9] This Ephyra may be the same to the above Oceanid.[10]
Popular Culture
edit- In the game, Hades II (the sequel to Hades), "Ephyra" is the name of a City-state (a Polis) sacred to Hades & Persephone (parents of the Protagonist, Melinoë), having been founded near an known entrance to the Underworld--now overrun by the Titan of Time, Chronos's, forces (making it a Necropolis). Possibly referring to modern-day Cranon, known as "Ephyra" back then. Here, the 'Helpful-Hand' character for Melinoë while on her quest is her fellow sorceress, Lady Medea, stationed up in Ephyra prior by Lady Hecate to be her eyes and ears there.
Notes
edit- ^ Hyginus, Fabulae 275; Scholiast on Apollonius of Rhodes as cited in Simonides, fr. 596
- ^ a b Bane, Theresa (2013). Encyclopedia of Fairies in World Folklore and Mythology. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. p. 127. ISBN 9780786471119.
- ^ Scholiast on Apollonius of Rhodes, 4.1212
- ^ Scholiast on Apollonius of Rhodes, 4.1212 as cited in Simonides, fr. 596
- ^ Eumelus, fr. 1 Fowler (Fowler 2013, p. 13)
- ^ Pausanias, 2.1.1 with Eumelus in his Korinthian History as the authority
- ^ Epimenides in scholia on Apollonius Rhodius, 3.242
- ^ Hyginus, Fabulae Preface
- ^ Virgil, Georgics 4.343
- ^ This was definitely a misinterpretation of Hyginus in Virgil's Georgics 4.343 which suggests that Ephyra was a naiad, more likely an Oceanides, rather than a Nereid.
References
edit- Fowler, Robert L., Early Greek Mythography. Volume 2: Commentary. Oxford University Press. 2013.
- Gaius Julius Hyginus, Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
- Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. ISBN 0-674-99328-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
- Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Publius Vergilius Maro, Bucolics, Aeneid, and Georgics of Vergil. J. B. Greenough. Boston. Ginn & Co. 1900. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
This article includes a list of Greek mythological figures with the same or similar names. If an internal link for a specific Greek mythology article referred you to this page, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended Greek mythology article, if one exists.