Megapenthes (son of Menelaus)
In Greek mythology, Megapenthes (Ancient Greek: Μεγαπένθης),[1] the illegitimate son of Menelaus, king of Mycenaean Sparta, by a slave. He married Alector's daughter, Iphiloche (or Echemela).[2] His name means 'great sorrow'.[3]
Mythology
Megapenthes was mentioned as early as Homer's Odyssey, where Menelaus marries him to the Spartan Alector's daughter, and is described as:
- stalwart Megapenthes, who was his [Menelaus's] son well-beloved, born of a slave woman;[4]
The mythographer Apollodorus, says that the name of his slave mother was Pieris or Tereis:
- Menelaus had ... by a female slave Pieris, an Aetolian, or, according to Acusilaus, by Tereis, he had a son Megapenthes;"[5]
According to the geographer
Clytemenestra), Nicostratus and Megapenthes drove out Helen, who found refuge on Rhodes with Polyxo.[7]
Pausanias reports seeing Megapenthes and Nicostratus depicted riding a single horse, on the sixth century BC Doric-Ionic temple complex at Amyclae known as the throne of Apollo, designed by Bathycles of Magnesia.[8]
Notes
- ^ Parada, s.v. Megapenthes 1.
- ^ Grimal, s.v. Megapenthes 1; Tripp, s.v. Megapenthes (2); Hard, p. 441; Fowler, p. 529.
- ^ Hard, p. 441, Grimal, s.v. Megapenthes 1.
- ^ Homer, Odyssey 4.10–12. See also Homer, Odyssey 15.99–125.
- ^ Apollodorus, 3.11.1. Fowler, p. 529, notes that the name 'Tereis' is unique and possibly "corrupt".
- ^ Hard, p. 441; Fowler, p. 529; Pausanias, 2.18.6.
- ^ Grimal, s.vv. Megapenthes 1, Menelaus; Pausanias, 2.18.6, 3.19.9.
- ^ Gardner, p. 78; Pausanias, 3.18.13.
References
- .
- Fowler, R. L., Early Greek Mythography: Volume 2: Commentary, Oxford University Press, 2013. ISBN 978-0198147411.
- Gardner, Ernest Arthur, A Handbook of Greek Sculpture, Macmillan and Co,. Limited, London, 1911.
- Grimal, Pierre, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Wiley-Blackwell, 1996. ISBN 978-0-631-20102-1.
- Hard, Robin, The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology", Psychology Press, 2004, ISBN 9780415186360. Google Books.
- Homer, The Odyssey with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, PH.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Pausanias, 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, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Parada, Carlos, Genealogical Guide to Greek Mythology, Jonsered, Paul Åströms Förlag, 1993. ISBN 978-91-7081-062-6.
- Tripp, Edward, Crowell's Handbook of Classical Mythology, Thomas Y. Crowell Co; First edition (June 1970). ISBN 069022608X.