Lysithea (mythology)
Lysithea or Lysithoe ( Greek Λυσιθέα or Λυσιθόη ) is the daughter of Oceanus and a lover of Zeus in Greek mythology .
When Lysithea became pregnant by Zeus, she wanted to keep her pregnancy a secret from him. So she asked a plant, an animal and a stone to help her. The plant and the animal refused to help her, but the stone shut her up until she gave birth. During this time Lysithea wept tears over her lot, which she then gave to the stone and which led to the formation of the rock crystal .
Some authors give Lysithea as another name for Semele , who is also mentioned as the mother of Dionysus. She was later admitted to Mount Olympus , where she lives among the gods under the name Thyone .
In 1938, the Jupiter moon Lysithea (initially referred to as Jupiter X ), discovered by Seth Barnes Nicholson , was named after her.
Historical sources on Lysithea are the Roman politician and writer Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 BC - 43 BC) and the Byzantine official and writer Johannes Lydos (approx. 490-565). Cicero mentions Lysith oe in his work "On the essence of the gods" ( De natura deorum ) as the mother of Heracles, with which she is also the lover of Zeus. The exact original spelling of the entire name has not been preserved and in later copies the stem of Lysith was added by Friedrich Creuzer to Lysith oe . In Johannes Lydos' work “About the Months” ( De mensibus ) there are also genealogical notes on figures from Greek mythology. In Chapter IV seven different origins for Heracles are given, one of which names Zeus and Lysith oe , daughter of Oceanus , as parents. In Chapter VII Dionysus is then referred to as the son of Zeus and Lysith ea . It is controversial whether one can equate Lysithea and Lysithea or whether in principle one has to regard it as different figures.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Micha F. Lindemans: Lysithea ( Memento of the original of July 27, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in the Encyclopedia Mythica
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from September 30, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b "Lysithea (astronomy)," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2009 ( Deeplink ( Memento from April 19, 2009 in the Internet Archive ))
- ↑ Bill Arnett, Gudrun Egert, Michael Wapp: Appendix E1: Details on the mythological background. In: The Nine Planets . Retrieved January 4, 2010 .
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from October 5, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b Jürgen Blunck: Solar System Moons: Discovery and Mythology
- ↑ Marcus Tullius Cicero: De natura deorum . Book III, Chapter 42 ( online copy )
- ↑ a b Pauly-Wissowa
- ^ Ivan M. Linforth : The arts of Orpheus . University of California Press 1941, p. 224
