Taenarus (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Taenarus (Ancient Greek: Ταίναρος) was the eponym of Cape Taenarum, Mount Taenarum and the city Taenarus at Peloponnese. In different accounts, he is given as:
- Taenarus, son of Zeus and brother of Calabrus and Geraestus. The three brothers were said to have sailed to Peloponnese and to have seized a portion of land there, where Taenarus founded a sanctuary of Poseidon known as "Taenarum".[1]
- Taenarus, son of Poseidon.[2]
- Taenarus, son of Elatus, himself son of Icarius, and , daughter of ; was said to have had the city, the mountain, and the harbor named after him.[3] Stephanus (who writes of him as a son rather than a grandson of Icarius) considers him to be a figure distinct from Taenarus, son of Zeus.[1]
Taenaran gateway: Taenarus, at the tip of the middle peninsula at the south of Peloponnese, was a conventional entrance to the underworld.[4]
Notes[]
- ^ a b Stephanus of Byzantium, s.v. Tainaros
- ^ Scholia on Apollonius Rhodius, 1.179
- ^ Scholia on Apollonius Rhodius, 1.102, also quoted in Stephanus of Byzantium
- ^ Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.13
References[]
- 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.
- Stephanus of Byzantium, Stephani Byzantii Ethnicorum quae supersunt, edited by August Meineike (1790-1870), published 1849. A few entries from this important ancient handbook of place names have been translated by Brady Kiesling. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
Categories:
- Children of Zeus
- Children of Poseidon
- Set indices on Greek mythology
- Demigods in classical mythology
- Laconian characters in Greek mythology
- Characters in Greek mythology