Phialo

Phialo (also known as Phillo) was one of the lovers of the Greek mythological demigod Heracles. She was the daughter of Alcimedon and the mother of Aechmagoras.

Story

When Dionysus had grown up, Hera threw him also into a state of madness, in which he wandered about through many countries of the earth. A tradition in Hyginus (Poet. Astr. ii. 23) makes him go first to the oracle of Dodona, but on his way thither he came to a lake, which prevented his proceeding any further. One of two asses he met there carried him across the water, and the grateful god placed both animals among the stars, and asses henceforth remained sacred to Dionysus. According to the common tradition, Dionysus first wandered through Egypt, where he was hospitably received by king Proteus. He thence proceeded through Syria, where he flayed Damascus alive, for opposing the introduction of the vine, which Dionysus was believed to have discovered (euretês ampelou). He now traversed all Asia. (Strab. xv. p. 687; Eurip. Bacch. 13.) When he arrived at the Euphrates, he built a bridge to cross the river, but a tiger sent to him by Zeus carried him across the river Tigris. (Paus. x. 29; Plut. de Flum. 24.) The most famous part of his wanderings in Asia is his expedition to India, which is said to have lasted three, or, according to some, even 52 years. (Diod. iii. 63, iv. 3.) He did not in those distant regions meet with a kindly reception everywhere, for Myrrhanus and Deriades, with his three chiefs Blemys, Orontes, and Oruandes, fought against him. (Steph. Byz. s.v. Blemues, Gazos, Gêreia, Dardai, Eares, Zabioi, Malloi, Pandai, Sibai.) But Dionysus and the host of Pans, Satyrs, and Bacchic women, by whom he was accompanied, conquered his enemies, taught the Indians the cultivation of the vine and of various fruits, and the worship of the gods; he also founded towns among them, gave them laws, and left behind him pillars and monuments in the happy land which he had thus conquered and civilized, and the inhabitants worshipped him as a god. (Comp. Strab. xi. p. 505; Arrian, Ind. 5; Diod. ii. 38; Philostr. Vit. Apollon. ii. 9; Virg. Aen. vi. 805.)

References

Bibliography

• Bell, Robert E. (1991). "Phialo". Women of classical mythology: a biographical dictionary (2nd ed.). ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9780874365818. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help); Unknown parameter |isbn10= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
• Bell, Robert E. (1991). "Phillo". Women of classical mythology: a biographical dictionary (2nd ed.). ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9780874365818. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help); Unknown parameter |isbn10= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
• Graves, Robert (1992). The Greek Myths. Penguin Books. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Grimal, Pierre (1996). "Aechmagoras". The dictionary of classical mythology. translator A. R. Maxwell-Hyslop. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 9780631201021. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help); Unknown parameter |isbn10= ignored (help)
• Gosson, Stephen (1579). The Ephemerides of Phialo. London: Thomas Dawson. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Howe, George; Harrer, Gustave Adolphus (1970). "Alcimedon". A handbook of classical mythology. Vol. 1947. Gale Research Co. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

Further reading

• Larson, Jennifer Lynn (1995). "Heroines in Familial Relationships". Greek heroine cults. Wisconsin studies in classics. University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 96–97. ISBN 9780299143701. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help); Unknown parameter |isbn10= ignored (help)