Nemea (mythology)

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Archemoros vase (Naples) with the "Death of Archemoros", detail: Nemea (right) in conversation with Zeus (tracing)

Nemea ( Greek  Νεμέα ) is a nymph of Greek mythology . She is the goddess of the Nemean games and the eponymous (name-giving) goddess of the place Nemea in the Argolis . Like her two sisters Pandia and Ersa, she was a daughter of Zeus and Selene . She is said to have been the mother of the hero Archemoros , in whose honor the Nemean Games were held. According to other sources, Archemoros' mother was called Eurydice and the father was Lycurgus , king of Nemea.

iconography

The iconographic inventory is comparatively sparse. In addition to some lost works of art mentioned by ancient authors, a number of ancient vases and a gem depicting Heracles 'battle with the Nemean lion are known, and it is believed that Nemea is in Herakles' entourage on these works. It is difficult to prove these assumptions because Nemea cannot be assigned any clear attributes.

On one of the two Archemoros vases (see below) Nemea is indicated by an inscription. Since both vases come from Ruvo in Apulia , it is not unlikely that Nemea is also depicted on the other vase.

Picture frieze (tracing)
 Archemoros Vase (Naples)
literature LIMC , Volume 2.1, Page 474, No. 10, Volume 2.2, Page 358, No. 10 (Fig.), Volume 6.1, Page 732, No. 15, Volume 6.2, Page 430, No. 15 (fig.), Overbeck , pages 114–119 [1] (No. 26)
year around 340 BC Chr.
description Red-figure volute crater from Ruvo (Apulia). The frieze shows the laying out of the dead Archemorus. Zeus and Nemea are shown in conversation at the top right next to the naiskos (see cover picture). The naming of Nemeas is secured by the inscription NEMEA.
place Naples, Museo Nazionale, 81394 (H 3255)
No image available
 Archemoros vase (St. Petersburg)
literature LIMC , Volume 2.1, Page 474, No. 8, Volume 2.2, Page 357, No. 8 (Fig.), Volume 6.1, Page 732, No. 14, Volume 6.2, Page 430, No. 14 (fig.), Overbeck , pages 112–114 [2] (No. 24)
year around 350 BC Chr.
description Red-figure volute crater from Ruvo (Apulia). The frieze below shows the dead Archemoros between Hypsipyle (left) and Nemea, above the battle of four heroes against the snake that Archemoros killed.
place St. Petersburg, Hermitage , Б 1714

literature

  • Hans Christoph Ackermann (Red.): Lexicon iconographicum mythologiae classicae (LIMC) , Düsseldorf 1981–2009.
  • Anders Bjørn Drachmann (ed.): Scholia vetera in Pindari carmina , Stuttgart 1997, Volume 3: Scholia in Nemeonicas .
  • Johannes Overbeck: Gallery of heroic images of ancient art , Braunschweig 1853, Volume 1 [3] .
  • Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (ed.): Detailed Lexicon of Greek and Roman Mythology , Leipzig 1897–1909, Volume 2.2: Laas - Myton , Column 3124-3125, 3172.
  • Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (ed.): Detailed Lexicon of Greek and Roman Mythology , Leipzig 1897–1909, Volume 3.1: Nabaiothes - Pasicharea , column 115.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Roscher names the daughter of Zeus, Nemea ( Roscher, volume 2.2 , column 3172) as the namesake , and another time Nemea , the daughter of Asopus ( Roscher, volume 3.1 ).
  2. ↑ Scholien zu Pindar's Nemean Oden, Drachmann , page 3, lines 21-22.
  3. ↑ Aeschylus , Nemea [lost drama], see Scholien zu Pindar's Nemean Odes, Drachmann , page 3, lines 9-10.
  4. ↑ See Opheltes .
  5. ^ LIMC , Volume 6.1, pages 731-733.