Krete (mythology)

Crete ( ancient Greek Κρήτη ) is the eponymous nymph of the island of Crete in Greek mythology .

The tradition in Greek literature is confusing and shows a partly contradicting picture: According to Dosiadas , she was the daughter of one of the Hesperides , Stephanos of Byzantium thought she was a Hesperid himself. The library of Apollodorus calls her daughter of Asterios and wife of Minos , but in another place she is the daughter of Deucalion and sister of Idomeneus . Diodorus calls her on the one hand the daughter of one of the Kouretes who married the Egyptian god Ammon while he sought refuge in Crete and on the other hand of Helios mother of the Pasiphae . The Etymologicum magnum mentions her as a nymph, sister of Aia and finally she names Claudius Aelianus mother of Kar , whom she fathered with Zeus .

The nymph becomes the personification of the island of Crete and is depicted as such on ancient monuments.

literature

• Kurt Latte : Krete. In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XI, 2, Stuttgart 1922, Sp. 1822.
• Heinrich Wilhelm Stoll : Krete 1-8 . In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 2.1, Leipzig 1894, column 1423 ( digitized version ).
• Maria Andreadakis-Vlasakis: Krete , in Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae 6 (1992) pp 133-135.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ FGrHist 458 F 4.
2. ↑ Stephanos of Byzantium sv Κρήτη .
3. ↑ Libraries of Apollodorus 3, 1, 2.
4. ^ Libraries of Apollodorus 3, 3, 1.
5. ^ Diodor Bibliotheke 3, 71, 2.
6. ^ Diodor Bibliotheke 4, 60, 4.
7. ^ Etymologicum magnum sv Aia
8. ^ Claudius Aelianus de natura animalium 12, 30.