Aithra
Demophon (?) Freed Aithra, white-ground Attic kylix , 470 - 460V. Chr. , State Collections of Antiquities (Inv. 2687)
Aithra ( Greek Αἴθρα ) is in Greek mythology the daughter of King Pittheus of Troizen , as the wife of Ageus (according to others through Poseidon ) mother of Theseus . He had kidnapped Helena with the help of Peirithoos and then handed her over to his mother. When the Dioscuri went out to free their sister Helena, Aithra was captured by them and brought to Troy as a slave . After the city was conquered, she was recognized here among the prisoner-of-war female slaves by her grandchildren, the sons of Theseus, Demophon and Akamas , and at their request, Helena released her. According to Hygin , she later took her own life out of grief over the death of her sons. Her story was edited several times by Greek tragedians.
literature
- Konrad Wernicke : Aithra 1 . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume I, 1, Stuttgart 1893, Col. 1107-1109.
- Roscher: Aithra 2 . In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 1.1, Leipzig 1886, Col. 200 f. ( Digitized version ).
Web links
Commons : Aithra - collection of images, videos and audio files
- Aithra in the Greek Myth Index (English)