Nyctimene (mythology)

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Nyctimene ( Greek : Νυκτιμένη, the "nocturnal") is the daughter of King Epopeus of Lesbos in Greek mythology .

Epopeus had intimate contact with his beautiful daughter. This then hides out of shame in the woods. The goddess Minerva takes pity on her and turns her into an owl. In this form, too, she shies away from daylight and only shows herself at night. Since that time the owl has been the companion of Athena or Minerva. In this role she follows Coronis, who has been transformed into a crow . This story explains as an aition why the owl is a night bird and the companion of Athene or Minerva. A genus of the tube-nosed bat and an asteroid are named after Nyctimene .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. Hyginus Mythographus , Fabulae 204 and 253
  2. Hyginus Mythographus, Fabulae 204: “compressit” suggests rape.
  3. ^ Ovid , Metamorphoses 2,594; Hyginus Mythographus, Fabulae 204
  4. ^ Hyginus Mythographus, Fabulae 204; Ovid, Metamorphoses 2,594
  5. Ovid, Metamorphoses 2.589 to 590