Mestra
In Greek mythology, Mestra (Ancient Greek: Μήστρα, Mēstra)[1] was a daughter of Erysichthon of Thessaly.[2] Antoninus Liberalis called Mestra as Hypermestra while Erysichthon as Aethon.[3]
Mythology[]
Mestra had the ability to change her shape at will, a gift of her rapist Poseidon according to Ovid.[4] Erysichthon exploited this gift in order to sate the insatiable hunger with which he had been cursed by Demeter for violating a grove sacred to the goddess.[5] The father would repeatedly sell his daughter to suitors for the bride prices they would pay, only to have the girl return home to her father in the form of various animals.[6][7][8] Mestra's great-granduncle Sisyphus also hoped to win her as a bride for his son Glaucus although that marriage did not take place.[9][10]
According to Ovid, Mestra married the thief Autolycus.[11]
Notes[]
- ^ She is also occasionally referred to as Mnestra in modern sources, though the form is not anciently attested; cf. Clytemnestra, whose name does appear with and without the n in ancient authors. The Pseudo-Apollodoran Bibliotheca (2.1.5) uses the form for one of Danaus' daughters who marries and then murders Aegius, son of Aegyptus.
- ^ Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.739; cf. Hesiod, Ehoiai fr. 43a
- ^ Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses 17
- ^ Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.850–54
- ^ Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.741–842; cf. Callimachus, Hymn to Demeter 24–69
- ^ Hesiod, Ehoiai fr. 43a (Berlin papyrus 7497)
- ^ Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.871–74
- ^ Tzetzes on Lycophron, Alexandra 1395
- ^ Hesiod, Ehoiai frg. 43a 2–83; cf. West (1985a, p. 64)
- ^ Hard, Robin (2004). The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology. 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001: Taylor & Francis Group. pp. 433, 663. ISBN 0-203-44633-X.CS1 maint: location (link)
- ^ Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.739
References[]
- Antoninus Liberalis, The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis translated by Francis Celoria (Routledge 1992). Online version at the Topos Text Project.
- Callimachus, Callimachus and Lycophron with an English translation by A. W. Mair ; Aratus, with an English translation by G. R. Mair, London: W. Heinemann, New York: G. P. Putnam 1921. Internet Archive
- Callimachus, Works. A.W. Mair. London: William Heinemann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1921. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Hesiod, Catalogue of Women from Homeric Hymns, Epic Cycle, Homerica translated by Evelyn-White, H G. Loeb Classical Library Volume 57. London: William Heinemann, 1914. Online version at theio.com
- Pseudo-Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
- Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses translated by Brookes More (1859-1942). Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses. Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes. 1892. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
Bibliography[]
- Fantham, E. (1993), "Sunt quibus in plures ius est transire figuras: Ovid's Self-Transformers in the Metamorphoses", CW, 87: 21–36, JSTOR 4351453.
- Hopkinson, N. (1984), Callimachus: Hymn to Demeter, Cambridge, ISBN 978-0-521-60436-9.
- Ormand, K. (2004), "Marriage, Identity, and the Tale of Mestra in the Hesiodic Catalogue of Women", American Journal of Philology, 125: 303–38, JSTOR 1562169.
- Robertson, N. (1983), "Greek Ritual Begging in Aid of Women's Fertility and Childbirth", TAPA, 113: 143–69, JSTOR 284008.
- Robertson, N. (1984), "The Ritual Background of the Erysichthon Story", American Journal of Philology, 105: 369–408, JSTOR 294833.
- Metamorphoses in Greek mythology
- Family of Canace
- Women in Greek mythology
- Characters in Greek mythology