Psamathe (Crotopus)
Psamathe (Ancient Greek: Ψάμαθη, from ψάμαθος "sand of the sea-shore"), sometimes given only as the daughter of Crotopus, was daughter of King Crotopus of Argos, who became the lover of the god Apollo. Fearing her father, she exposed the child (Linus) which was killed by shepherd dogs, and she herself was condemned to death by her father, according to some tellings.
Apollo then punished the city of Argos with a plague, and/or a monster (variously called Poena, or Ker, or Lamia, that ate the city's children, until it was slain by a hero named Coroebus of Argos. The God could not be appeased until the King (or the hero) expelled himself from the city, and go dwell in the vicinity of Megara.
Contents
1 Etymology
2 Mythology
2.1 Monster
2.2 Coroebus, the Argive
3 Explanatory notes
4 References
Etymology
Psmathe was theorized to be a sea-nymph (nereid) by Karl Bernhard Stark (1863) and a peronsification of "sand of the sea-shore" (Greek: ψάμαθος psamathos), from which she derived her name.[2]
Mythology
In one version (Conon), Psamathe abandoned the child, and although shepherds reared the foundling who was then named Linus, the child was torn apart by the shepherd's dogs. In the interim, Psamathe was ordered to be killed by her father. Apollo avenged her murder by sending a plague to Argos. When consulted, Apollo demanded that Psamathe and Linus be propitiated with due honors and festivities. The Argives complied but the plague persisted. And by oracular decree, the king was forced to leave in order to found the city of Tripodiscium near Megara, where he would live out his life.[3][1]
In an alternate version (Pausanias), Psamanthe exposed the unnamed child, which was torn apart by the king's sheepdogs. Apollo then sent Poena (Greek: Poinē), the personification of punishment, upon the city. Poine would steal children from their mothers until Coroebus killed her. A hero Coroebus emerged from Argos to slay it, but Apollo then brought upon a plague. This [4]
A version by Statius tells this story, but does not name Psmanthe, whom he only records as Crotopos's daughter.[5]
Monster
The monster is called also Poine, the personification of punishment, in Pausanias's version of the tale.[4] It is a female monster with a snake protruding from her forehead in Statius's version, possibly having snake-feet (anguipedal form) as well.[6]
The monster is also called a Kēr (Greek: Κήρ "death-demon") in one poem,[8] and a late source (9th to 11th century) labels her as one of the Lamiai.[9] It is also supposed to have a human head upon a serpent's body, according to a scholiast to Ovid.[10] The poem indicates that the ker was entombed in the city of the tripod (Tripodiscium) to stand as a monument to commemorate Psamanthe, and that its slayer Coroebus is interred right underneath the monster.[8]
Coroebus, the Argive
Coroebus of Argos slew Poine, in Pausanias's version. Thereupon Apollo struck the city with plague. Coroebus decided to go to Delphi to ask to be punished to befall only him, so that the city didn't have to suffer. The Pythia told him to never return home, but to take up a tripod and carry it until he would drop it, then settle on the spot where it would happen. The tripod slipped out of his hands as he had reached the Geraneian Mountains, where he founded a town known as Tripodiskoi ("Little Tripods"). The tomb of Coroebus was shown in Megara.[4]
The hero named Coroebus does not appear in the version according to Conon.[1]
Explanatory notes
References
- Citations
^ abc Frazer, J. G. (tr.), ed. (1898). Pausanias's Description of Greece. II. London: Macmillan. p. 536..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ Frazer,[1] citing Stark, Karl Bernhard (1863), Niobe und die Niobiden in ihrer literarischen, künstlerischen und mythologischen Bedeutung, W. Engelmann, pp. 347ff.
^ Conon, Narrationes, 19, paraphrased in
^ abc Pausanias, translated by Jones, W.H.S.; Ormerod, H.A., Description of Greece, 1. 43. 7 - 8
^ Ogden (2013b), p. 103.
^ Ogden, Daniel (2013-05-30). "10 Lamia, Slain by Eurybatus and Others". Dragons, Serpents, and Slayers in the Classical and Early Christian Worlds: A Sourcebook. Oxford University Press. pp. 100–101.
ISBN 0199323747
^ Ogden (2013a)pp. 87–88, note 1014
^ ab Greek Anthology 7.154, quoted and translated by Pache (2004), pp. 72–73. Also cited as Palatine Anthology 7.154[7]
^ First Vatican Mythographer, c. 9th to 11th century, cited by Ogden (2013a), p. 87
^ Fontenrose (1959), p. 104.
- Bibliography
.mw-parser-output .refbegin{font-size:90%;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ul{list-style-type:none;margin-left:0}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ul>li,.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>dl>dd{margin-left:0;padding-left:3.2em;text-indent:-3.2em;list-style:none}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-100{font-size:100%}
Fontenrose, Joseph Eddy (1959). Python: A Study of Delphic Myth and Its Origins. University of California Press.
Ogden, Daniel (2013-02-28). Drakon: Dragon Myth and Serpent Cult in the Greek and Roman Worlds. Oxford University Press.
ISBN 0199557322
Ogden, Daniel (2013-05-30). "10 Lamia, Slain by Eurybatus and Others". Dragons, Serpents, and Slayers in the Classical and Early Christian Worlds: A Sourcebook. Oxford University Press. pp. 99–.
ISBN 0199323747
Pache, Corinne Ondine, ed. (2004). "Linos and Demophone". Baby and Child Heroes in Ancient Greece. University of Illinois Press. pp. 66–77.
ISBN 9780252029295
