Eumolpus
| Eumolpus | |
|---|---|
King of Eleusis | |
| Parents | Poseidon and Chione or Apollo and Astycome |
| Consort | (1) Daeira (2) Selene |
| Offspring | (1 Immaradus (2) Musaeus; Ceryx; ?Phorbas |
In Greek Mythology, Eumolpus (/juˈmɒlpəs/; Ancient Greek: Εὔμολπος Eúmolpos, "good singer" or "sweet singing", derived from εὖ eu "good" and μολπή molpe "song", "singing") was a legendary king of Thrace. He was described as having come to Attica either as a bard, a warrior, or a priest of Demeter and Dionysus
Family
Eumolpus was the son of Poseidon (Neptune in Roman tradition) and Chione.[1] In the legend he is described as neither Greek, nor Thracian or Roman, but Libyan and a native of North Africa,[2] though his mother Chione is said to be a Thracian princess.[3] An alternative genealogy also stated that Eumolpus was born to the god Apollo and the nymph Astycome.[4] He was the father of Immarados by the Oceanid Daeira.[5]
Mythology
Early years
According to the mythographer
In Eleusis, Eumolpus became one of the first priests of
War with Athens
The traditions about this Eleusinian war, however, differ very much. According to some, the Eleusinians under Eumolpus attacked the Athenians under Erechtheus, but were defeated, and Eumolpus with his two sons,
Eleusis lost the battle with Athens but the
Other feats
Mythology regards Eumolpus as the founder of the Eleusinian mysteries, and as the first priest of Demeter and Dionysus; the goddess herself taught him, Triptolemus, Diocles, and Celeus, the sacred rites, and he is therefore sometimes described as having himself invented the cultivation of the vine and of fruit-trees in general.[13][14][15]
Eumolpus was an excellent musician and singer; he played the aulos and the lyre. He won a musical contest in the funereal games of Pelias. Eumolpus was regarded as an ancient priestly bard, poems and writings on the mysteries were fabricated and circulated at a later time under his name. One hexameter line of a Dionysiac hymn, ascribed to him, is preserved in Diodorus.[16][17] The legends connected him also with Heracles, whom he is said to have instructed in music, or initiated into the mysteries.[18][19][20]
According to
The tomb of Eumolpus was shown both at Eleusis and Athens.[23] The difference in the traditions about Eumolpus led some of the ancients to suppose that two or three persons of that name ought to be distinguished.[24][25][26]
Legacy
Vinzenz Brinkmann and Ulrike Koch-Brinkmann have identified a 5th-century bronze statue called Riace B as being a representation of Eumolpus.[27] The fingers of the well-preserved statue indicate that the figure was originally carrying a bow and arrow, typical of Thracian warriors.
Notes
- ^ "A Classical Dictionary". 1831.
- ISBN 9780875867731.
- ISBN 9781317800248.
- Photius, Lexicon s.v. Eumolpidai
- ^ Clement of Alexandria, Exhortations 45.1
- ^ Apollodorus, 3.15.4.
- ^ Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio 1.38.2
- ^ Homeric Hymn to Demeter, 147, 474.
- ^ Apollodorus, 3.15.4.
- ^ Thucydides. ii. 15; Plutarch. Menex. p. 239; Isocrates, Panathenaicus 193; Plutarch, Parallela minora 20; Scholia ad Euripides, Phoenissae 854.
- ^ Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio 1.38.3
- ^ Hyginus, Fabulae 46; compare: Strabo, Geographica 7, p. 321
- ^ Homeric Hymn to Demeter 476
- ^ Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia 7.53
- ^ Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.93
- ^ Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica 1.11
- ^ Suida, Suda Encyclopedia s.v.
- ^ Hyginus, Fabulae 273
- ^ Theocritus, Idylls 24.108
- ^ Apollodorus, 2.5.12.
- ^ Diogenes Laërtius, Lives Introduction
- ^ Smith, s.v. Musaeus (literary 1); Philochorus FHG fr. 200 (Müller) [= Scholia on Aristophanes's Frogs 1033].
- ^ Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio 1.38.2
- ^ Hesychius s.v. Eumolpidai
- ^ Scholia on Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 1051
- ^ Photius, Lex. s. v. Eumolpidai
- S2CID 226784786.
References
- Anonymous, The ISBN 0-674-99063-3
- 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.
- Graves, Robert. The Greek Myths. Volume 1, Penguin Books, Revised Edition (1960), Reprinted 1986.
- Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus, Moralia with an English Translation by Frank Cole Babbitt. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. London. William Heinemann Ltd. 1936. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
- Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
- .
- 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.
- Strabo, The Geography of Strabo. Edition by H.L. Jones. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Strabo, Geographica edited by A. Meineke. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
- The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White. Homeric Hymns. Cambridge, MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
- Titus Flavius Clemens, Exhortation against the Pagans translated by Butterworth, G W. Loeb Classical Library Volume 92. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. 1919. Online version at theio.com
- William Smith. A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. s.v. Eumolpus. London (1848)