Aganippe

Aganippe

Aganippe

Name or epithet of several figures in Greek mythology

For other uses, see Aganippe (disambiguation).

Aganippe (/æɡəˈnɪpiː/; Ancient Greek: Ἀγανίππη means 'mare who kills mercifully'[1]) was a name or epithet of several figures in Greek mythology:

  • Aganippe, a naiad of the spring Aganippe.[2]
  • Aganippe, wife of King Acrisius of Argos,[3] and according to some accounts the mother of Danaë[4] and possibly Evarete.[5] Although in some accounts, Eurydice was wife of Acrisius and the mother of Danae.[6][7]
  • Aganippe, daughter of Termesus river.[8]
  • Aganippe, an aspect of Demeter. In this form she was a black winged horse worshiped by certain cults. In this aspect her idols (such as one found in Mavrospelya, the Black Cave, in Phigalia) she was portrayed as mare-headed with a mane entwined with Gorgon Snakes. This aspect was also associated with Anion (or Arion) whom Heracles rode, who later inspired tales of Pegasus.[9]

Aganippis, a name used by Ovid as an epithet of Hippocrene;[10] its meaning however is not quite clear. It is derived from Aganippe, the well or nymph, and as "Aganippides" is used to designate the Muses, Aganippis Hippocrene may mean nothing more than "Hippocrene, sacred to the Muses".[11]

Namesake

Aganippe, a genus of trapdoor spiders

Notes

  1. [1]
    Graves, Robert (2017). The Greek Myths - The Complete and Definitive Edition. Penguin Books Limited. pp. Index s.v. Aganippe. ISBN 9780241983386.
  2. [2]
    Pausanias, 9.29.5
  3. [3]
    Smith, "Aganippe" 2.
  4. [4]
    Scholiast ad Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4.1091; Hyginus, Fabulae 63
  5. [5]
    Hyginus, Fabulae 84
  6. [6]
    Apollodorus, 2.2.2
  7. [7]
    Bell, Robert E. (1991). Women of Classical Mythology: A Biographical Dictionary. ABC-CLIO. p. 14. ISBN 9780874365818.
  8. [8]
    Perseus Encyclopedia, Aganippe
  9. [9]
    Walker, B. G. The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets, pg 219
  10. [10]
    Ovid, Fasti 5.7
  11. [11]
    Smith, "Aganippis".

References


 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Aganippe". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.

This article includes a list of Greek mythological figures with the same or similar names. If an internal link for a specific Greek mythology article referred you to this page, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended Greek mythology article, if one exists.
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