In Greek mythology, Euryale (/jʊəˈraɪəli/ yoor-EYE-ə-lee; Ancient Greek: Εὐρυάλη, romanized: Euryálē, lit. 'far-roaming')[1] and Stheno (/ˈsθiːnoʊ/ or /ˈsθɛnoʊ/; Greek: Σθενώ, translit. Sthenṓ, lit. "forceful")[2] were two of the three Gorgons, including Medusa, sisters who were able to turn anyone who looked at them to stone.[3]

Family

According to Hesiod, and Apollodorus, Euryale and Stheno, along with Medusa, were daughters of the primordial sea-god Phorcys and the sea-monster Ceto,[4] while, according to Hyginus, they were daughters of "the Gorgon", an offspring of Typhon and Echidna, and Ceto.[5]

Mythology

Euryale and Stheno were immortal, whereas Medusa was mortal.[6] According to Apollodorus' version of their story, Euryale and Stheno, along with Medusa had the ability to turn to stone anyone who looked upon them. And when Perseus managed to behead Medusa by looking at her reflection in his bronze shield, Euryale and Stheno chased after him, but were unable to see him because he was wearing Hades' cap, which made him invisible.[7]

Euryale's lamenting cry, while chasing Perseus, is noted in two sources. In one of Pindar's victory odes, the poet has Athena create the "many-voiced songs of flutes" to imitate the "shrill cry" of the "fast-moving jaws of Euryale".[8] While Nonnus, in his Dionysiaca, has the fleeing Perseus "listening for no trumpet but Euryale's bellowing".[9]

Iconography

The typical archaic (c. 8th–5th century BC) depiction of a Gorgon is just a full frontal view of a circular scowling face, with large eyes looking directly at the viewer. However some depictions show this same head turned to face the viewer, sitting (seemingly without a neck) atop a running body in profile, with wings on its back and curl-topped boots. Such running Gorgons nearly always depict Euryale and Stheno pursuing the fleeing Perseus. In later depictions the heads shrink in size with respect to their bodies, possess necks, and become less wild looking.[10]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Mayor, p. 433; Bane, s.v. Euryale (or "far-howling" and "wide-leaping"); Daly and Rangel, s.v. Euryale ("wide-stepping" or "Euryale may also mean 'the wide sea,' which would fit her role as a daughter of sea gods.").
  2. ↑ Bane, s.v. Stheno (or "mighty one").
  3. ↑ Brenner, s.v. Gorgo/Medusa; Gantz, p. 20; Grimal, s.v. Gorgons; Tripp, s.v. Gorgons; Daly and Rangel, s.v. Euryale.
  4. ↑ Hesiod, Theogony 270–277; Apollodorus, 1.2.6, 2.4.2.
  5. ↑ Tripp, s.v. Gorgons; Hyginus, Fabulae Preface 9, 35. Euripides, Ion 986–991, has "the Gorgon" being the offspring of Gaia, spawned by Gaia as an ally for her children the Giants in their war against the Olympian gods.
  6. ↑ Hesiod, Theogony 270–277; Apollodorus, 2.4.2.
  7. ↑ Brenner, s.v. Gorgo/Medusa (which calls Apollodorus' version "canonical"); Apollodorus, 2.4.2–3. See also Aeschylus (?), Prometheus Bound 798–800.
  8. ↑ Gantz, p. 20; Pindar, Pythian 12.20.
  9. ↑ Nonnus, Dionysiaca 25.58; see also Dionysiaca 13.77–78, 30.265–266.
  10. ↑ Wilke, pp. 31–35. For images of a running Gorgon, see Hard, p. 59 fig. 2.5 and Wilke p. 33 fig. 3.4 (left).

References

  • Aeschylus (?), Prometheus Bound in Aeschylus, with an English translation by Herbert Weir Smyth, Ph. D. in two volumes. Vol 2. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press. 1926. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
  • Apollodorus, Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. ISBN 9780786471119. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
  • Bane, Theresa, Encyclopedia of Fairies in World Folklore and Mythology, McFarland, 2013.
  • Brenner, J. N., s.v. Gorgo/Medusa, published online 22 December 2015, in the Oxford Classical Dictionary, edited by Tim Whitmarsh, digital ed, New York, Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-938113-5.
  • Daly, Kathleen N., Marion Rangel, Greek and Roman mythology, A to Z, third edition, Chelsea House Publishers, New York, 2009. ISBN 978-1-60413-412-4.
  • Euripides, Ion, translated by Robert Potter in The Complete Greek Drama, edited by Whitney J. Oates and Eugene O'Neill, Jr. Volume 1. New York. Random House. 1938. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
  • Gantz, Timothy, Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes: ISBN 978-0-8018-5360-9 (Vol. 1), ISBN 978-0-8018-5362-3 (Vol. 2).
  • 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.
  • Grimal, Pierre, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Wiley-Blackwell, 1996. ISBN 978-0-631-20102-1. Internet Archive.
  • Hard, Robin (2004), The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology", Psychology Press, 2004, ISBN 9780415186360. Google Books.
  • Hesiod, Theogony from The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
  • Mayor, Adrienne, The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World, Princeton University Press, Feb 9, 2016.
  • Nonnus, Dionysiaca, Volume I: Books 1–15, translated by W. H. D. Rouse, Loeb Classical Library No. 344, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1940 (revised 1984). ISBN 978-0-674-99379-2. Online version at Harvard University Press. Internet Archive (1940).
  • Nonnus, Dionysiaca, Volume II: Books 16–35,, translated by W. H. D. Rouse, Loeb Classical Library No. 345, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1940. ISBN 978-0-674-99391-4. Online version at Harvard University Press. Internet Archive (1940).
  • Nonnus, Dionysiaca, Volume III: Books 36–48, translated by W. H. D. Rouse, Loeb Classical Library No. 346, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1940. ISBN 978-0-674-99393-8. Online version at Harvard University Press. Internet Archive (1940, reprinted 1942).
  • Pindar, Odes, Diane Arnson Svarlien. 1990. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
  • Tripp, Edward, Crowell's Handbook of Classical Mythology, Thomas Y. Crowell Co; First edition (June 1970). ISBN 069022608X.
  • Wilk, Stephen R., Medusa : Solving the Mystery of the Gorgon, Oxford University Press, New York, 2000. ISBN 0-19-512431-6. Internet Archive. Google Books.
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