Scamander
Part of a series on |
Ancient Greek religion |
---|
Scamander (.
Etymology
The meaning of this name is uncertain. The second element looks like it is derived from Greek ἀνδρός (andrós), meaning "of a man", but there are sources who doubt this. The first element is more difficult to pinpoint; it could be derived from σκάζω (skázō), "to limp, to stumble (over an obstacle)", or from σκαιός (skaiós), meaning "left(-handed), awkward". The meaning of the name might then perhaps be "limping man" or "awkward man".[1] This would refer to the many bends and winds (meanders) of the river, which does not run straight, but "limps" its way along.[2]
Geography
The Scamander River was named after the river god Scamander. The Scamander River was the river that surrounded Troy. The god Scamander took the side of the Trojans in the Trojan War.[citation needed]
Family
According to
Mythology
Scamander fought on the side of the
, had set up their camp near its mouth, and their battles with the Trojans were fought on the plain of Scamander. In Iliad XXII (149ff), Homer states that the river had two springs: one produced warm water; the other yielded cold water, regardless of the season.According to Homer, he was called Xanthos by gods and Scamander by men, which might indicate that the former name refers to the god and the latter one to the river itself.[8]
In a story by Pseudo-Plutarch,[9] Scamander went mad during the mysteries of Rhea and flung himself into the river Xanthus, which was then renamed to Scamander.
Trojan descendants
See also
Notes
- ^ "Skamandros". Behind the Name.
- ^ "Scamander". Mythology Names.
- ^ Hesiod, Theogony 345.
- ^ Philostratus the Elder, Imagines 2.8
- ^ Ptolemy Hephaestion, New History Book 4 (summary from Photius, Myriobiblon 190)
- ^ Scholia on Euripides, Orestes, 11
- ^ Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3.12.3
- ^ Homer, Iliad 20.74, 21.146.
- ^ Pseudo-Plutarch. "XIII. Scamander". De fluviis. Translated by Goodwin.
References
- Hesiod, Theogony, in The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, Massachusetts., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Homer, The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, Massachusetts., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Tsotakou-Karveli. Lexicon of Greek Mythology. Athens: Sokoli, 1990.