Arete (mythology)
Arete ( Greek Ἀρήτη ) is a figure from Greek mythology , the queen of the Phaiacs . She was the daughter of Rhexenor (son of Nausithoos , who in turn was a son of Poseidon and Periboia , the daughter of the giant ruler Eurymedon ) and later married his brother - her uncle - Alcinous .
References to Arete can be found, for example, in the Argonauts legend .
In Homer's Odyssey , the hero Odysseus ends up on the journey home from Troy to Ithaca to Scheria , the land of the Phaiacs. His patron goddess Athena advised him to turn to the reigning and respected Queen Arete for help, in Canto 7 - Odysseus' arrival at Alcinous it says about her:
"... But first look for the queen inside the hall.
Her name is Arete, and was
begotten by the same parents from whom King Alcinous was descended.
[...]
newly weds in the palace; Alcinous took
his brother's only daughter, Arete, as his wife:
whoever honors her, as nowhere else is a woman honored,
none of all who now manage the house of men.
So Arete is honored with heartfelt love by Alcinous
himself, and her blossoming children,
and the people who she regards as a goddess ... "
literature
- Karl Tümpel : Arete 1 . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume II, 1, Stuttgart 1895, Col. 677.
Remarks
- ^ Translation after JH Voss, edited by E. Gottwein