Anthion

Anthion phrear ( Greek  Ἄνθιον φρέαρ "flower fountain") or Parthenion phrear ( Παρθένιον φρέαρ "Mermaid Fountain") is the name of a source or a fountain at Eleusis , where in Greek mythology, the goddess Demeter in search of of Hades abducted daughter Persephone rested under an olive tree. There she, who had assumed the shape of an old woman, met Kallidike , Kleisidike , Demo and Kallithoe , the four daughters of King Keleos . The four girls invited the goddess to come to their father's house, where she became the nurse of his son Demophon .

Pamphos , quoted by Pausanias , calls the source Anthion , whereas in Homeric Hymnos the source is called Parthenion . It is believed that they are different names from the same source.

Two other places of the mysteries of Eleusis are named as resting places of Demeter, namely the Kallichoron phrear ( Καλλιχορον φρέαρ "fountain of beautiful dances"), perhaps another name for the Anthion, and with Apollodorus the Agelastos petra , the "stone without laughter" , a stone near Eleusis, on which the grieving Demeter, who no longer knows how to laugh, is said to have rested.

swell

• Homeric Hymn 2 To Demeter 99f
• Pausania's description of Greece 1.39.1
• Callimachos Hymnos 6 To Demeter 15
• Libraries of Apollodorus 1.5.1

literature

• Karl Kerényi : The Mysteries of Eleusis. Rhein Verlag, Zurich 1962, p. 50f
• Otto Rubensohn: Eleusinian contributions. In: Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologische Institut, Athenian Department (1899), pp. 46–54 digitized