the TITANS & early Greek Mythology

[Crystal Thielkien]

rockessence

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I have several....

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"Illigitimi non carborundum!"
All knowledge is to be used in the manner that will give help and assistance to others, and the desire is that the laws of the Creator be manifested in the physical world. E.Cayce 254-17

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[Crystal Thielkien]

Rich

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http://phoenicia.org/theomythology.html
'But when Hypsuranius and Ousous were dead, those who were left, he says, consecrated staves to them, and year by year worshipped their pillars and kept festivals in their honour. But many years afterwards from the race of llypsuranius were born Agreus and Halieus, the inventors of hunting and fishing, from whom were named huntsmen and fishermen: and from them were bom two brethren, discoverers of iron and the mode of working it; the one of whom, Chrysor, practised oratory, and incantations, and divinations: and that he was Hephaestus, and invented the hook, and bait, and line, and raft, and was the first of all men to make a voyage: wherefore they reverenced him also as a god after his death. And he was also called Zeus Meilichios. And some say that his brothers invented walls of brick. Afterwards there sprang from their race two youths, one of whom was called Technites (Artificer), and the other Geinos Autochthon (Earth-born Aboriginal). These devised the mixing of straw with the clay of bricks, and drying them in the sun, and moreover invented roofs. From them others were born, one of whom was called Agros, and the other Agrueros or Agrotes; and of the latter there is in Phoenicia a much venerated statue, and a shrine drawn by yokes of oxen; and among the people of Byblos he is named pre-eminently the greatest of the gods.

'These two devised the addition to houses of courts, and enclosures, and caves. From them came husbandmen and huntsmen. They are also called Aletae and Titans. From these were born Amynos and Magus, who established villages and sheepfolds. From them came Misor and Suduc, that is to say "Straight " and "Just": these discovered the use of salt.

'From Misor was born Taautus, who invented the first written alphabet; the Egyptians called him Thoyth, the Alexandrians Thoth, and the Greeks Hermes.

'From Suduc came the Dioscuri, or Cabeiri, or Corybantes, or Samothraces: these, he says, first invented a ship. From them have sprung others, who discovered herbs, and the healing of venomous bites, and charms. In their time is born a certain Elioun called "the Most High," and a female named Beruth, and these dwelt in the neighbourhood of Byblos.

'And from them is born Epigeius or Autochthon, whom they afterwards called Uranus; so that from him they named the element above us Uranus because of the excellence of its beauty. And he has a sister born of the aforesaid parents, who was called Ge (earth), and from her, he says, because of her beauty, they called the earth by the same name. And their father, the Most High, died in an encounter with wild beasts, and was deified, and his children offered to him libations and sacrifices.

'And Uranus, having succeeded to his father's rule, takes to himself in marriage his sister Ge, and gets by her four sons, Elus who is also Kronos, and Baetylus, and Dagon who is Siton, and Atlas. Also by other wives Uranus begat a numerous progeny; on which account Ge was angry, and from jealousy began to reproach Uranus, so that they even separated from each other.

'But Uranus, after he had left her, used to come upon her with violence, whenever he chose, and consort with her, and go away again; he used to try also to destroy his children by her; but Ge repelled him many times, having gathered to herself allies. And when Kronos had advanced to manhood, he, with the counsel and help of Hermes Trismegistus (who was his secretary), repels his father Uranus, and avenges his mother.

'To Kronos are born children, Persephone and Athena. The former died a virgin: but by the advice of Athena and Hermes Kronos made a sickle and a spear of iron. Then Hermes talked magical words to the allies of Kronos, and inspired them with a desire of fighting against Uranus on behalf of Ge. And thus Kronos engaged in war, and drove Uranus from his government, and succeeded to the kingdom. Also there was taken in the battle the beloved concubine of Uranus, being great with child, whom Kronos gave in marriage to Dagon. And in his house she gave birth to the child begotten of Uranus, which she named Demarus.

' After this Kronos builds a wall round his own dwelling, and founds the first city, Byblos in Phoenicia.

'Soon after this he became suspicious of his own brother Atlas, and, with the advice of Hermes, threw him into a deep pit and buried him. At about this time the descendants of the Dioscuri put together rafts and ships, and made voyages; and, being cast ashore near Mount Cassius, consecrated a temple there. And the allies of Elus, who is Kronos, were surnamed Eloim, as these same, who were surnamed after Kronos, would have been called Kronii.

'And Kronos, having a son Sadidus, dispatched him with his own sword, because he regarded him with suspicion, and deprived him of life, thus becoming the murderer of his son. In like manner he cut off the head of a daughter of his own; so that all the gods were dismayed at the disposition of Kronos.

'But as time went on Uranus, being in banishment, secretly sends his maiden daughter Astarte with two others her sisters, Ehea and Dione, to slay Kronos by craft. But Kronos caught them, and though they were his sisters, made them his wedded wives. And when Uranus knew it, he sent Eimarmene and Hora with other allies on an expedition against Kronos. and these Kronos won over to his side and kept with him.

'Further, he says, the god Uranus devised the Baetylia, having contrived to put life into stones. And to Kronos there were born of Astarte seven daughters, Titanides or Artemides: and again to the same there were born of Rhea seven sons, of whom the youngest was deified at his birth; and of Dione females, and of Astarte again two males, Desire and Love. And Dagon, after he discovered corn and the plough, was called Zeus Arotrios.

'And one of the Titanides united to Suduc, who is named the Just, gives birth to Asclepius.

'In Peraea also there were born to Kronos three sons, Kronos of the same name with his father, and Zeus Belus, and Apollo. In their time are born Pontus, and Typhon, and Nereus father of Pontus and son of Belus.

'And from Pontus is born Sidon (who from the exceeding sweetness of her voice was the first to invent musical song) and Poseidon. And to Demarus is born Melcathrus, who is also called Hercules.

'Then again Uranus makes war against Pontus, and after revolting attaches himself to Demarus, and Demarus attacks Pontus, but Pontus puts him to flight; and Demarus vowed an offering if he should escape.

'And in the thirty-second year of his power and kingdom Elus, that is Kronos, having waylaid his father Uranus in an inland spot, and got him into his hands, emasculates him near some fountains and rivers. There Uranus was deified: and as he breathed his last, the blood from his wounds dropped into the fountains and into the waters of the rivers, and the spot is pointed out to this day.'

This, then, is the story of Kronos, and such are the glories of the mode of life, so vaunted among the Greeks, of men in the days of Kronos, whom they also affirm to have been the first and 'golden race of articulate speaking men,' 15 that blessed happiness of the olden time!

Again, the historian adds to this, after other matters:

'But Astarte, the greatest goddess, and Zeus Demarus, and Adodus king of gods, reigned over the country with the consent of Kronos. And Astarte set the head of a bull upon her own head as a mark of royalty; and in travelling round the world she found a star that had fallen from the sky, which she took up and consecrated in the holy island Tyre. And the Phoenicians say that Astarte is Aphrodite.

'Kronos also, in going round the world, gives the kingdom of Attica to his own daughter Athena. But on the occurrence of a pestilence and mortality Kronos offers his only begotten son as a whole burnt-offering to his father Uranus, and circumcises himself, compelling his allies also to do the same. And not long after another of his sons by Rhea, named Muth, having died, he deifies him, and the Phoenicians call him Thanatos and Pluto. And after this Kronos gives the city Byblos to the goddess Baaltis, who is also called Dione, and Berytus to Poseidon and to the Cabeiri and Agrotae and Halieis, who also consecrated the remains of Pontus at Berytus.

'But before this the god Tauthus imitated the features of the gods who were his companions, Kronos, and Dagon, and the rest, and gave form to the sacred characters of the letters. He also devised for Kronos as insignia of royalty four eyes in front and behind . . . but two of them quietly closed, and upon his shoulders four wings, two as spread for flying, and two as folded.

'And the symbol meant that Kronos could see when asleep, and sleep while waking: and similarly in the case of the wings, that he flew while at rest, and was at rest when flying. But to each of the other gods he gave two wings upon the shoulders, as meaning that they accompanied Kronos in his flight. And to Kronos himself again he gave two wings upon his head, one representing the all-ruling mind, and one sensation.

'And when Kronos came into the South country he gave all Egypt to the god Tauthus, that it might be his royal dwelling-place. And these things, he says, were recorded first by Suduc's seven sons the Cabeiri, and their eighth brother Asclepius, as the god Tauthus commanded them.

'All these stories Thabion, who was the very first hierophant of all the Phoenicians from the beginning, allegorized and mixed up with the physical and cosmical phenomena, and delivered to the prophets who celebrated the orgies and inaugurated the mysteries: and they, purposing to increase their vain pretensions from every source, handed them on to their successors and to their foreign visitors: one of these was Eisirius the inventor of the three letters, brother of Chna the first who had his name changed to Phoenix.'

Then again afterwards he adds:

'But the Greeks, surpassing all in genius, appropriated most of the earliest stories, and then variously decked them out with ornaments of tragic phrase, and adorned them in every way, with the purpose of charming by the pleasant fables. Hence Hesiod and the celebrated Cyclic poets framed theogonies of their own, and battles of the giants, and battles of Titans, and castrations; and with these fables, as they travelled about, they conquered and drove out the truth.

'But our ears having grown up in familiarity with their fictions, and being for long ages pre-occupied, guard as a trust the mythology which they received, just as I said at the beginning; and this mythology, being aided by time, has made its hold difficult for us to escape from, so that the truth is thought to be nonsense, and the spurious narrative truth.'

Let these suffice as quotations from the writings of Sanchuniathon, translated by Philo of Byblos, and approved as true by the testimony of Porphyry the philosopher.

The same author, in his History of the Jews, further writes thus concerning Kronos:

'Tauthus, whom the Egyptians call Thoyth, excelled in wisdom among the Phoenicians, and was the first to rescue the worship of the gods from the ignorance of the vulgar, and arrange it in the order of intelligent experience. Many generations after him a god Sourmoubelos and Thuro, whose name was changed to Eusarthis, brought to light the theology of Tauthus which had been hidden and overshadowed, by allegories.'

And soon after he says:

'It was a custom of the ancients in great crises of danger for the rulers of a city or nation, in order to avert the common ruin, to give up the most beloved of their children for sacrifice as a ransom to the avenging daemons; and those who were thus given up were sacrificed with mystic rites. Kronos then, whom the Phoenicians call Elus, who was king of the country and subsequently, after his decease, was deified as the star Saturn, had by a nymph of the country named Anobret an only begotten son, whom they on this account called ledud, the only begotten being still so called among the Phoenicians; and when very great dangers from war had beset the country, he arrayed his son in royal apparel, and prepared an altar, and sacrificed him.'
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[Crystal Thielkien]

Polaris

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ANCIENT ROME @ HADRIANS

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Mithraism
Mithraism - (Article from The Ecole Initiative)


http://www.hadrians.com/rome/romans/religion/roman_mithraism.html

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Mithraism is the ancient Roman mystery cult of the god Mithras. Roman worship of Mithras began sometime during the early Roman empire, perhaps during the late first century of the Common Era (hereafter CE), and flourished from the second through the fourth centuries CE. While it is fairly certain that Romans encountered worship of the deity Mithras as part of Zoroastrianism in the eastern provinces of the empire, particularly in Asia Minor (now modern Turkey), the exact origins of cult practices in the Roman cult of Mithras remain controversial (see below). The evidence for this cult is mostly archaeological, consisting of the remains of mithraic temples, dedicatory inscriptions, and iconographic representations of the god and other aspects of the cult in stone sculpture, sculpted stone relief, wall painting, and mosaic. There is very little literary evidence pertaining to the cult.

The Deity: Mitra, Mithra, Mithras

Mithras is the Roman name for the Indo-Iranian god Mitra, or Mithra, as he was called by the Persians. Mitra is part of the Hindu pantheon, and Mithra is one of several yazatas (minor deities) under Ahura-Mazda in the Zoroastrian pantheon. Mithra is the god of the airy light between heaven and earth, but he is also associated with the light of the sun, and with contracts and mediation. Neither in Hinduism nor in Zoroastrianism did Mitra/Mithra have his own cult. Mitra is mentioned in the Hindu Vedas, while Mithra is is the subject of Yashts (hymns) in the Zoroastrian Avesta, a text compiled during the Sassanian period (224-640 CE) to preserve a much older oral tradition. Cumont himself recognized possible flaws in his theory. The most obvious is that there is little evidence for a Zoroastrian cult of Mithra (Cumont 1956), and certainly none that suggests that Zoroastrian worship of Mithra used the liturgy or the well-devoloped iconography found in the Roman cult of Mithras. Moreover, few monuments from the Roman cult have been recovered from the very provinces which are thought to have inspired worship of Mithras (namely the provinces of Asia Minor). Finally, Cumont was aware that the earliest datable evidence for the cult of Mithras came from the military garrison at Carnuntum in the province of Upper Pannonia on the Danube River (modern Hungary). Indeed, the largest quantity of evidence for mithraic worship comes from the western half of the empire, particularly from the provinces of the Danube River frontier and from Rome and her port city, Ostia, in Italy. To explain this phenomenon, Cumont proposed that soldiers stationed in western provinces and transferred to eastern provinces for short periods of time learned of the deity Mithra and began to worship and dedicate monuments to a god they called Mithras when they returned to their customary garrison. It is true that soldiers from the Roman legion XV Apollinaris stationed at Carnuntum in the first century CE were called to the East in 63 CE to help fight in a campaign against the Parthians and further to help quell the Jewish revolt in Jerusalem from 66-70 CE. Members of the legion made mithraic dedications back in Carnuntum after their return from these campaigns, possibly as early as 71 or 72 CE. Once these Roman soldiers and the camp-followers of the legions, who included merchants, slaves, and freedmen, started to worship Mithras, argued Cumont, their further movements around the empire served to spread the cult to other areas.

Cumont's scholarship was so influential that it founded mithraic studies as an area of inquiry in its own right. Cumont's student, Maarten J. Vermaseren, was a scholar equally as prolific as his mentor. Among Vermaseren's greatest contributions was an up-dated English language catalogue of mithraic monuments (Vermaseren 1956, 1960).

Structure and Liturgy of the Roman mystery cult of Mithras

The Roman cult of Mithras is known as a "mystery" cult, which is to say that its members kept the the liturgy and activities of the cult secret, and more importantly, that they had to participate in an initiation ceremony to become members of the cult. As a result, there is no surviving central text of Mithraism analogous to the Christian Bible, and there is no intelligible text which describes the liturgy. Whether such texts ever existed is unknown, but doubtful. Worship took place in a temple, called a mithraeum, which was made to resemble a natural cave. Sometimes temples were built specifically for the purpose, but often they were single rooms in larger buildings which usually had another purpose (for example, a bath house, or a private home). There are about one hundred mithraea preserved in the empire. Mithraea were longer than they were wide, usually around 10-12m long and 4-6m wide, and were entered from one of the short sides. Roman dining couches, called klinai or podia, lined the long sides of the mithraeum, leaving a narrow aisle in between. At the end of this aisle, opposite the entrance, was the cult image showing Mithras sacrificing a bull (see below) and also to symbolize the dome of heaven, or the cosmos.

We surmise from the structure of mithraea and from paintings which are preserved in certain mithraea that mithraists gathered for a common meal, initiation of members, and other ceremonies. The details of the liturgy are uncertain, but it is worth noting that most mithraea have room for only thirty to forty members, and only a few are so large that a bull could actually be sacrificed inside.

The structure of the cult was hierarchical. Members went through a series of seven grades, each of which had a special symbol and a tutelary planet. From lowest to highest these grades were Corax (raven, under Mercury), Nymphus (a made-up word meaning male bride, under Venus), Miles (the soldier, under Mars), Leo (the lion, under Jupiter), Perses (the Persian, under Luna, the moon), Heliodromus (the Sun's courier, under Sol, the sun), and finally Pater (father, under Saturn). Those who reached the highest grade, Pater, could become the head of a congregation. Because mithraea were so small, new congregations were probably founded on a regular basis when one or more members reached the highest grade.

Two aspects of mithraic initiation offer important insight into the cult. First, it was possible for a mithraic initiate to be a member of more than one cult, and second, women were not permitted to become members. These facts are critical to understanding the cult of Mithraism in relation to other Roman cults, to official Roman state religion, and to the cult of Christianity (see below).

Mithraic Iconography

Mithraic monuments have a rich and relatively coherent iconography, chronologically and geographically speaking. In each mithraic temple there was a central scene showing Mithras sacrificing a bull (often called a tauroctony). Mithras is clad in a tunic, trousers, cloak, and a pointed cap usually called a Phrygian cap. He faces the viewer while half-straddling the back of a bull, yanks the bull's head back by its nostrils with his left hand, and plunges a dagger into the bull's thoat with his right. Various figures surround this dramatic event. Under the bull a dog laps at the blood dripping from the wound and a scorpion attacks the bull's testicles. Often the bull's tail ends in wheat ears and a raven is perched on the bull's back. On the viewer's left stands a diminutive male figure named Cautes, wearing the same garb as Mithras and holding an upraised and burning torch. Above him, in the upper left corner, is the sun god, Sol, in his chariot. On the viewer's left there is another diminutive male figure, Cautopates, who is also clad as Mithras is and holds a torch that points downards and is sometimes, but not always, burning. Above Cautopates in the upper right corner is the moon, Luna. This group of figures is almost always present, but there are variations, of which the most common is an added line of the signs of the zodiac over the top of the bull-sacrificing scene.

For a long time the meaning of the bull-sacrificing scene and its associated figures was unclear, but a long series of studies beginning with one by K. B. Stark in 1869 and culminating in studies by Roger Beck (1984 and 1988), David Ulansey (1989) and Noel Swerdlow (1991) has revealed a comprehensible astrological symbolism. Each figure and element in the scene correlates to specific constellations, to the seven planets recognized by the ancient Romans, and to the position of these in relation to the celestial equator and the ecliptic, particularly at the time of the equinoxes and the solstices.

The bull-sacrificing scene is usually carved in stone relief or painted on stone and placed in mithraea in a visible location. In addition to this central scene there can be numerous smaller scenes which seem to represent episodes from Mithras' life. The most common scenes show Mithras being born from a rock, Mithras dragging the bull to a cave, plants springing from the blood and semen of the sacrificed bull, Mithras and the sun god, Sol, banqueting on the flesh of the bull while sitting on its skin, Sol investing Mithras with the power of the sun, and Mithras and Sol shaking hands over a burning altar, among others. These scenes are the basis for knowledge of mithraic cosmology. There is no supporting textual evidence.

The Popularity of Mithraism Geographically, Socially, and Chronologically

The archaeological evidence for Mithraism, consisting mostly of monuments, inscribed dedications, and the remains of mithraea, indicates that the cult was most popular among the legions stationed in frontier areas. The Danube and Rhine river frontier has the highest concentration of evidence, but a significant quantity of evidence amply demonstrates that Mithraism was also popular among the troops stationed in the province of Numidia in North Africa and along Hadrian's wall in England. The inscriptions on dedications found in all these areas support Cumont's assertion that Mithraism was most popular among legionaries (of all ranks), and the members of the more marginal social groups who were not Roman citizens: freedmen, slaves, and merchants from various provinces (see above).

The area where the concentration of evidence for Mithraism is the most dense is the capital, Rome, and her port city, Ostia. There are eight extant mithraea in Rome of as many as seven hundred (Coarelli 1979) and eighteen in Ostia. In addition to the actual mithraea, there are approximately three hundred other mithraic monuments from Rome and about one hundred from Ostia. This body of evidence reveals that Mithraism in Rome and Ostia originally appealed to the same social strata as it did in the frontier regions. The evidence also indicates that at least some inhabitants knew about Mithraism as early as the late first century CE, but that the cult did not enjoy a wide membership in either location until the middle of the second century CE.

As the cult in Rome became more popular, it seems to have "trickled up" the social ladder, with the result that Mithraism could count several senators from prominent aristocratic families among its adherents by the fourth century CE. Some of these men were initiates in several cults imported from the eastern empire (including those of Magna Mater and Attis, Isis, Serapis, Jupiter Dolichenus, Hecate, and Liber Pater, among others), and most had held priesthoods in official Roman cults. The devotion of these men to Mithraism reflects a fourth-century "resurgence of paganism," when many of these imported cults and even official Roman state religion experienced a surge in popularity although, and perhaps because, their very existence was increasingly threatened by the rapid spread of Christianity after the conversion of the emperor Constantine in 313 CE.

Mithraism had a wide following from the middle of the second century to the late fourth century CE, but the common belief that Mithraism was the prime competitor of Christianity, promulgated by Ernst Renan (Renan 1882 579), is blatantly false. Mithraism was at a serious disadvantage right from the start because it allowed only male initiates. What is more, Mithraism was, as mentioned above, only one of several cults imported from the eastern empire that enjoyed a large membership in Rome and elsewhere. The major competitor to Christianity was thus not Mithraism but the combined group of imported cults and official Roman cults subsumed under the rubric "paganism." Finally, part of Renan's claim rested on an equally common, but almost equally mistaken, belief that Mithraism was officially accepted because it had Roman emperors among its adherents (Nero, Commodus, Septimius Severus, Caracalla, and the Tetrarchs are most commonly cited). Close examination of the evidence for the participation of emperors reveals that some comes from literary sources of dubious quality and that the rest is rather circumstantial. The cult of Magna Mater, the first imported cult to arrive in Rome (204 BCE) was the only one ever officially recognized as a Roman cult. The others, including Mithraism, were never officially accepted, and some, particularly the Egyptian cult of Isis, were periodically outlawed and their adherents persecuted.

Scholarly Debate

Cumont's large scholarly corpus and his opinions dominated mithraic studies for decades. A series of conferences on Mithraism beginning in 1970 and an enormous quantity of scholarship by numerous individuals in the last quarter century has demonstrated that many of Cumont's theories were incorrect (see especially Hinnells 1975 and Beck 1984). At the same time this recent work has greatly increased modern understanding of Mithraism, and it has opened up new areas of inquiry. Many questions, particularly those concerning the origins of the Roman cult of Mithras, are still unresolved and may always remain so. Even so, recent studies such as Mary Boyce's and Frantz Grenet's History of Zoroastrianism (1991) approach the relationship between Zoroastrianism and Mithraism in an entirely new light. Iconographic studies, especially those focused on the astrological aspects of the cult, abound, while other scholars examine the philosophical and soteriological nature of the cult (Turcan 1975 and Bianchi 1982). The field of mithraic studies is one which remains active and dynamic and one for which serious attention to the recent work greatly repays the effort to tackle this vast body of exciting new work.

Sources

Beck, R. "Mithraism since Franz Cumont," Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt, II.17.4., 1984.

Beck, R. Planetary Gods and Planetary Orders of the Mysteries of Mithras (Etudes préliminaires aux religions orientales dans l'empire romain. Vol. 9). Leiden, 1988.

Bianchi, U., ed. Mysteria Mithrae. Leiden, 1979.

Bianchi, U. and Vermaseren, M. J., eds. La soteriologia dei culti orientali nell'impero romano. Leiden, 1982.

Boyce, M. and Grenet, F. A History of Zoroastrianism, III: Zoroastrianism under Macedonian and Roman Rule. Leiden, 1991.

Clauss, M. Mithras: Kult und Mysterien. Munich, 1990.

Coarelli, F. "Topografia Mitriaca di Roma." In U. Bianchi, ed. Mysteria Mithrae. Leiden, 1979.

Cumont, F. Textes et monuments figurés relatifs aux mystères de Mithra. 2 vols. Brussels, 1896, 1899.

Cumont, F. The Mysteries of Mithra. Trans. T. J. McCormack. London, 1903, reprint New York, 1956.

Hinnells, J., ed. Mithraic Studies. 2 vols. Manchester, 1975.

Merkelbach, R. Mithras. Königstein, 1984.

Renan, E. Marc-Aurèle et la fin du monde antique. Paris, 1882.

Stark, K. B. "Die Mithrasstein von Dormagen," Jahrbücher des Vereins von Altertumsfreunden im Rheinlande 46 (1869): 1-25.

Swerdlow, N. "Review Article: On the Cosmical Mysteries of Mithras," Classical Philology 86 (1991): 48-63.

Turcan, R. Mithras Platonicus. Leiden, 1975.

Ulansey, D. The Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries. New York and Oxford, 1989.

Vermaseren, M. J. Corpus inscriptionum et monumentorum religionis mithriacae. 2 vols. The Hague, 1956, 1960.

Alison B. Griffith
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[Crystal Thielkien]

Rich

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithras
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithraism
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[Crystal Thielkien]

THE PLEIADES

Greek SIngular:
Greek Plural:
PleiaV
PleiadeV
PeleiadeV Transliteration: Pleias
Pleiades
Peleiades Translation: The Many /
Daughters of Pleione /
Doves
Other Names: AtlantideV Transliteration: Atlantides
Dodonidai Translation: Daughters of Atlas
Ladies of Dodona
Roman Name: Vergiliae

THE PLEIADES were seven beautiful mountain NYMPHE daughters of Atlas with violet-coloured hair. All but one of these sisters were loved by gods and they became the ancestresses of many of the royal families of Greece.
In their greatest hour of need, when pursued relentlessly by the lusty giant Orion, they were transported to the heavens and placed amongst the stars as the constellation Pleiades.

Parents

(1) ATLAS (Homerica The Astronomy, Metamorphoses 6.172)
(2) ATLAS & PLEIONE (Apollodorus 3.110, Hygins Fab 192, Hyginus Astronomy 2.21, Ovid Fasti 4.169 & 5.79)

Names

TAYGETE, ELEKTRA, ALKYONE, ASTEROPE, KELAINO, MAIA, MEROPE (Homerica Astronomy, Apollodorus 3.110, Phaenomena 254, Hyginus Fab 192, Hyginus Astronomy 2.21, Ovid Fasti 4.169, Dionysiaca 3.330)

"[The author of the Astronomy] always calls them [the Pleiades] Peleiades:' but mortals call them Peleiaides .. the stormy Peleiades go down .. then the Peleiades hide away [The Pleiades whose stars are these:] Lovely Teygeta, and dark-faced Elektra, and Alkyone, and bright Asterope, and Kelaino, and Maia, and Merope, whom glorious Atlas begot." -Homerica The Astronomy Frag 1

"When the Pleiades, daughters of Atlas, are rising [early May], begin your harvest, and your ploughing when they are going to set [November]. Forty nights and days they are hidden and appear again as the year moves round, when first you sharpen your sickle." -Works & Days 383f

"But when the Pleiades and Hyades and strong Orion begin to set [end of October], then remember to plough in season." "But if desire for uncomfortable sea-faring seize you; when the Pleiades plunge into the misty sea [end of October] to escape Orion's rude strength, then truly gales of all kinds rage." -Works & Days 618

"When the Pleiades, the daughters of Atlas, begin to rise begin the harvest, and begin ploughing ere they set. For forty nights and days they are hidden, but appear again as the year wears round, when first the sickle is sharpened." -Homerica Of the Origin of Homer and Hesiod and of their Contest Frag 1

"These [the twelve Horai] came down from heaven, for Memnon [son of Eos killed at Troy] wailing wild and high; and mourned with these the Pleiades. Echoed round far-stretching mountains, and Aisepos' stream. Ceaseless uprose the keen, and in their midst, fallen on her son and clasping, wailed Eos." -Quintus Smyrnaeus 2.549

"Nor Eos (the Dawn-queen) forgat her daily course ... Before her went her Pleiades-harbingers, then she herself flung wide the ethereal gates, and, scattering spray of splendour, flashed there-through." -Quintus Smyrnaeus 2.658

"The Pleiades, fleeing adread from glorious Orion, plunge beneath the stream of tireless Okeanos." -Quintus Smyrnaeus 5.367

"Elektra's self withal, the Star-queen lovely-robed, shrouded her form in mist and cloud, and left the Pleiad-band, her sisters, as the olden legend tells. Still riseth up in sight of toil-worn men their bright troop in the skies; but she alone hides viewless ever, since the hallowed town [troy] of her son Dardanos in ruin fell." -Quintus Smyrnaeus 13.545

“The Pleiades, those mountain maids, needs must Orion follow close behind [among the constellations].” –Pindar Nemean 2 str3

“For the Peleiades, as we carry a plough to Orthria [Goddess of the Morning Twilight name for Eos], rise through the ambrosial night like the star Sirius.” -Greek Lyric II Alcman Frag 1

"Mountain (oureias) Maias ... : Atlas fathered her, outstanding in beauty among his seven dear violet-haired daughters who are caled the heavenly Peleiades." -Greek Lyric III Simonides Frag 555

"Lamprocles, sid expressly that the Pleiades have the same name as the pigeons in these lines:' you who are set in the sky, bearing the same name as the winged doves (peleiasin)." -Greek Lyric IV Lamprocles Frag 736 (from Athenaeus, Scholars at dinner)

"To Atlas and Okeanos’ daughter Pleione were born (on Arkadian Kyllene) seven daughters called the Pleiades, whose names are Alkyone, Merope, Kelaino, Elektra, Sterope, Taygete, and Maia. Of these, Oinomaus married Sterope, and Sisyphos married Merope. Poseidon slept with two of them: first with Kelaino, fathering Lykos, whom Poseidon settled in the Islands of the Blest; and then with Alkyone, who bore him a daughter Aithusa (the mother with Apollon of Eleuther), and sons Hyrieus and Lykos … Zeus also slept with the other Atlantides." -Apollodorus 3.110-111

"At the base of these mountains [in the vicinity of Lepreon in Elis], on the seaboard, are two caves [by the River Anigros]. One is the cave of the nymphs called Anigriades; the other is the scene of the stories of the daughters of Atlas [Pleiades] and of the birth of [the Pleias Elektra's son] Dardanos." -Strabo 8.3.19

”The [constellation] Pleiades, all in a cluster, but small is the space that holds them and singly they dimly shine. Seven are they in the songs of men. Albeit only six are visible to the eyes. Yet not a star, I ween, has perished from the sky unmarked since the earliest memory of man, but even so the tale is told. Those seven are called by name Halkyone, Merope, Kelaino, Elektre, Sterope, Taygete, and queenly Maia. Small and dim are they all alike, but widely famed they heel in heaven at morn and eventide, by the will of Zeus, who bade them tell of the beginning of Summer and of Winter and of the coming of the ploughing time.” – Phaenomena 254

“Atlas by Pleione or an Oceanitide had twelve daughters, and a son, Hyas. The son was killed by a wild boar or a lion, and the sisters, grieving for him, died of this grief. The five of them first put among the stars have their place between the horns of the bull .. and are called, from their brother’s name, Hyades ...
The rest of the sisters, later dying from grief, were made stars, and because they were many, were called Pleiades. Some think they were so named because they are joined together, that is, 'plesion', for they are so close together that they can scarcely be counted, nor can anyone be sure whether they are six or seven in number. Their names are as follows: Electra, Alcyone, Celaeno, Merope, Sterope, Taygeta, and Maia. Of these, they say Electra does not appear, because of the death of Dardanus and the loss of Troy. Others think that Merope appears to blush because she had a mortal as husband, though the others had gods. Driven from the band of her sisters because of this, she wears her hair long in grief, and is called a comet, or longodes because she trails out for a long distance, or xiphias because she shows the shape of a sword-point. This star, too, portends grief.” –Hyginus Fabulae 192

“Hyas, son of Atlas and Pleione, [was killed] by a boar, or by a lion.” –Hyginus Fabulae 248

“Others say that when Mercurius first made the lure on Mount Cyllene in Arcadia, he made it with seven strings to correspond to the number of Atlantides, since Maia, his mother, was of their company.” –Hyginus Astronomica 2.7

“The Pleiades were so named, according to Musaeaus, because fifteen daughters were born to Atlas and Aethra, daughter of Oceanus. Five of them are called Hyades, he shows, because their brother was Hyas, a youth dearly beloved by his sisters. When he was killed in a lion hunt, the five we have mentioned, given over to continual lamentation, are said to have perished. Because they grieved exceedingly at his death, they are called Hyades.
The remaining ten brooded over the death of their sisters, and brought death on themselves; because so may experienced the same grief, they were called Pleiades. Alexander says they were called Hyades because they were daughters of Hyas and Boeotia, Pleiades, because born of Pleio, daughter of Oceanus, and Atlas.
The Pleiades are called seven in number, but only six can be seen. This reason has been advanced, that of the seven, six mated with immortals (three with Jove, two with Neptunus, and one with Mars); the seventh was said to have been the wife of Sisyphus. From Electra and Jove, Dardanus was born; from Maia and Jove, Mercurius; from Taygete and Jove, Ladedaemon; from Alcyone and Neptunus, Hyrieus; from Celaeno and Neptunus, Lycus and Nycteus. Mars by Sterope begat Oenomaus, but others call her the wife of Oenomaus. Merope, wed to Sisyphus, bore Glaucus, who, as many say, was the father of Bellerophon. On account of her other sisters she was placed among the constellations, but because she married a mortal, her star is dim. Others say Electra does not appear because the Pleiades are thought to lead the circling dance for the stars, but after Troy was captured and her descendants through Dardanus overthrown, moved by grief she left them and took her place in the circle called Arctic. From this she appears, in grief for such a long time, with her hair unbound, that, because of this, she is called a comet.
But ancient astronomers placed these Pleiades, daughters of Pleione and Atlas, as we have said, apart from the Bull. When Pleione once was travelling through Boeotia with her daughters, Orion, who was accompanying her, tried to attack her. She escaped, but Orion sought her for seven years and couldn’t find her. Jove, pitying the girls, appointed a way to the stars, and later, by some astronomers, they were called the Bull’s tail. And so up to this time Orion seems to be following them as they flee towards the west. Our writers call these stars Vergiliae, because they rise after spring. They have still greater honour than the others, too, because their rising is a sign of summer, their setting of winter – a thing is not true of the other constellations.” –Hyginus Astronomica 2.21

"My [Niobe's] mother ranks as sister of the Pleiades. That great giant, Atlas, whose shoulders bear the circling sky, is one grandfather." -Metamorphoses 6.172

“April 2. The Pleiades will start relieving their sire’s [Atlas’] shoulders. Called seven, they are usually six, wither because six of them entered a god’s embrace (for they say that Sterope lay with Mars [Ares], Alcyone and you, fair Celaeno, with Neptunus [Poseidon], Maia, Electra, Taygete with Jove [Zeus] – the seventh, Merope, wed you, mortal Sisyphus, she regrets it, and hides alone in shame), or because Electra could not bear the spectacle of Troy’s fall and blocked her eyes with her hands.” –Ovid Fasti 4.169

“Pleione couples with sky-lifting Atlas – so the story is – and bears the Pleiades. Of these, Maia surpassed (they say) the beauty of her sisters and lay with supreme Jove [Zeus] ... You [Hermes] gave the lyre, it’s thought, seven strings, the Pleiades number [in honour of his mother and her sisters].” –Ovid Fasti 5.79

“[Poseidon:] ‘Neither my son Orion nor the Bull fierce with his train of Peliades is the cause of this [storm] [the setting of these constellations in autumn marked beginning of the stormy season].” –Valerius Flaccus 1.646

“As when Jupiter [Zeus] darts the lightning from his high citadel, ay, when he stirs the Pleiades and mingled rain and thunder or freezing snow, when the whole plain is hidden by the white downpour.” –Valerius Flaccus 5.304

“There [depicted on the walls of the palace] iron Atlas stands in Oceanos, the wave swelling and breaking on his knees; but the god himself [Helios the Sun] on high hurries his shining steeds across the old man’s body ... behind with smaller wheel follows his sister [Selene the Moon] and the crowded Pleiades and the fires whose tresses are wet with dripping rain [the Hyades].” –Valerius Flaccus 5.408

“By heaven’s law Jove [Zeus] had drawn the Pleiades stormy constellation down from the firmament as he rolled the earth upon its everlasting course, and straightway rain stream everywhere [the setting of the Pleiades in November marked the beginning of the stormy season].” –Valerius Flaccus 2.356

“With such torrents do stormy Hyades o’erwhelm the earth of Pleiades dissolved in rain.” –Silvae 1.6.21

"But when they spied vessels, the billows swelled with rage, and the hurricane arose against man. Then the Pleiades and the Olenian Goat [the star Capella whose rising denoted the beginning of stormy weather] grew dark with storm, and Orion was more wrathful than his wont.” –Silvae 3.2.1

“[The Pleaid Elektra to Kadmos:] ‘I was ever born myself one of those Pleiades, seven girls whom our mother once carried under her heart in labour, seven times having called Eileithyia at her lying-in to lighten the pangs of birth after birth – I am witness! For my house if far from my father’s; no Sterope is near me, no Maia my companion, nor sister Kelaino beside me at my hearth; I have not danced up and down sister Taygete’s Lakedaimon at my breast nor held the merry boy on my cherishing arm; I do not see Alkyone’s house hard by, or hear Merope herself speak some heart-warming word! … I feed a comfortable hope, by the promises of Zeus, that with my other sisters I shall pass from the earth to the stars’ Atlantean vault, and dwell in heaven myself a star with my sisters six.” –Dionysiaca 3.330

“[Hermes to his aunt the Pleaid Elektra:] ‘Good be with you, my mother’s sister [Maia], bed-fellow of Zeus! … along with Maia my mother you shall shine with the Seven Stars in the sky, running your course with Helios (Sun), rising with Selene (Moon).” –Dionysiaca 3.425

“As the armed host gathered to Dionysos [for his war against the Indians] with his thyrsus, Elektra’s star rose with her six sisters in the sky in happy augury of the conflict; and the echoing voice of the Pleiades resounded for victory, doing gave to Dionysos who shared their sister’s blood [the Pleiad Elektra was the foster mother of Harmonia, grandmother of Dionysos], giving equal confidence to the host.” –Dionysiaca 13.411

Sources:

Homerica, The Astronomy - Greek Epic BC
Hesiod, Works & Days - Greek Epic C8th-7th BC
Homerica, Of the Origin of Homer & Hesiod and their Contest - Greek Epic BC
Pindar, Odes - Greek Lyric C5th BC
Greek Lyric II Alcman, Fragments - Greek Lyric C7th BC
Greek Lyric III Simonides, Fragments - Greek Lyric C6th-5th BC
Greek Lyric IV Lamprocles, Fragments - Greek Lyric BC
Apollodorus, The Library - Greek Mythography C2nd BC
Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy - Greek Epic C4th AD
Strabo, Geography - Greek Geography C1st BC - C1st AD
Aratus, Phaemomena - Greek Astronomy C3rd BC
Hyginus, Fabulae - Latin Mythography C2nd AD
Hyginus Astronomica - Latin Mythography C2nd AD
Ovid, Metamorphoses - Latin Epic C1st BC - C1st AD
Ovid, Fasti - Latin Epic C1st BC - C1st AD
Valerius Flaccus, The Argonautica – Latin Epic C1st AD
Statius, Silvae - Latin Epic C1st AD
Nonnos, Dionysiaca - Greek Epic C5th AD
Other references not currently quoted here: Servius on Virgil's Aeneid 8.130


http://www.theoi.com/Ouranos/Pleiades.html#Merope

[Crystal Thielkien]

ALKYONE

Greek: Alkuonh Transliteration: AlkyonÍ Translation: Strong-Help
Latin Spelling: Alcyone

ALKYONE was a PLEIAD loved by Poseidon. She was the ancestress of the kings of Orchomenos in Boiotia.

Parents

(1) ATLAS (Homerica The Astronomy, Pausanias 2.31.
(2) ATLAS & PLEIONE (Apollodorus 3.110, Hygins Fab 192, Hyginus Astronomy 2.21, Ovid Fasti 4.169 & 5.79)

Offspring

(1) HYRIEUS, LYKOS, AITHUSA (by Poseidon) (Apollodorus 3.110)
(2) HYPERES, ANTHAS (by Poseidon) (Pausanias 2.30.8 & 9.22.5)
(3) HYRIEUS, EPHOKEUS (by Poseidon) (Hyginus Fab 157)

"Alkyone ... whom glorious Atlas begot." -Homeric The Astronomy Frag 1

"To Atlas and Okeanos’ daughter Pleione were born (on Arkadian Kyllene) seven daughters called the Pleiades, whose names are Alkyone ... Poseidon slept with two of them: first with Kelaino ... and then with Alkyone, who bore him a daughter Aithousa (the mother with Apollon of Eleuther), and sons Hyrieus and Lykos." -Apollodorus 3.110-111

”Later kings [of Troizenos, Argos] Hyperes and Anthas. These they assert to be sons of Poseidon and of Alkyone, daughter of Atlas, adding that they founded in the country the cities of Hyperea and Anthea.” –Pausanias 2.30.8

“[Illustrated on the throne of the statue of Aphrodite at Amyklai, Lakedaimon] To describe the reliefs … Poseidon and Zeus are carrying Taygete, daughter of Atlas, and her sister Alkyone. There are also reliefs of Atlas.” –Pausanias 3.18.10-16

“Some say that the city [of Anthedon, Boiotia] received its name from a nymphe called Anthedon, while others say that one Anthas was despot here, a son of Poseidon by Alkyone, the daughter of Atlas.” -Pausanias 9.22.5

“Sons of Neptunus. Hyrieus by Alcyone, daughter of Atlas. ... Ephoceus by Alcyone, daughter of Atlas.” –Hyginus Fabulae 157

“The Pleiades are called seven in number, but only six can be seen. This reason has been advanced, that of the seven, six mated with immortals (three with Jove, two with Neptunus, and one with Mars) ... from Alcyone and Neptunus, Hyrieus.” –Hyginus Astronomica 2.21

“The Pleiades will start relieving their sire’s [Atlas’] shoulders. Called seven, they are usually six, wither because six of them entered a god’s embrace ... Alcyone and you, fair Celaeno, [lay] with Neptunus [Poseidon].” –Ovid Fasti 4.169

Sources:

Homerica, The Astronomy - Greek Epic BC
Pausanias, Guide to Greece - Greek Geography C2nd AD
Hyginus, Fabulae - Latin Mythography C2nd AD
Ovid, Fasti - Latin Epic C1st BC - C1st AD
http://www.theoi.com/Ouranos/Pleiades.html#Merope

[Crystal Thielkien]

MEROPE

Greek: Meroph Transliteration: MeropÍ Translation: Eyes or Face-Turned / Human

MEROPE was a PLEIAD who married a mortal king Sisyphos of Korinthos and became the ancestress of the royal family of this polis.

Parents

(1) ATLAS (Homerica The Astronomy)
(2) ATLAS & PLEIONE (Apollodorus 3.110, Hygins Fab 192, Hyginus Astronomy 2.21, Ovid Fasti 4.169 & 5.79)

Offspring

GLAUKOS (by Sisyphos) (Apollodorus 1.85, Hyginus Astronomica 2.21)

"Merope, whom glorious Atlas begot." -Homerica The Astronomy Frag 1

"Sisyphos settled Ephyra and married Merope, the daugher of Atlas. To them was born a son Glaukos." -Apollodorus 1.85

"To Atlas and Okeanos’ daughter Pleione were born (on Arkadian Kyllene) seven daughters called the Pleiades, whose names are Alkyone, Merope ... Sisyphos married Merope." -Apollodorus 3.110-111

"Thersander, the son of Sisyphos [presumably his mother was Merope, though not stated so here]." -Pausanias 9.34.7

“Atlas by Pleione or an Oceanitide had twelve daughters ... Their names are as follows: Electra, Alcyone, Celaeno, Merope ... Of these, they say Electra does not appear, because of the death of Dardanus and the loss of Troy. Others think that Merope appears to blush because she had a mortal as husband, though the others had gods. Driven from the band of her sisters because of this, she wears her hair long in grief, and is called a comet, or 'longodes' because she trails out for a long distance [Greek 'longodes' means 'spear-shaped', not 'long', an error of Hyginus], or 'xiphias' because she shows the shape of a sword-point. This star, too, portends grief.” –Hyginus Fabulae 192

“The Pleiades are called seven in number, but only six can be seen. This reason has been advanced, that of the seven, six mated with immortals (three with Jove, two with Neptunus, and one with Mars); the seventh was said to have been the wife of Sisyphus ... Merope, wed to Sisyphus, bore Glaucus, who, as many say, was the father of Bellerophon. On account of her other sisters she was placed among the constellations, but because she married a mortal, her star is dim.” –Hyginus Astronomica 2.21

“The Pleiades will start relieving their sire’s [Atlas’] shoulders. Called seven, they are usually six, wither because six of them entered a god’s embrace ... the seventh, Merope, wed you, mortal Sisyphus, she regrets it, and hides alone in shame).” –Ovid Fasti 4.169

Sources:

Homerica, The Astronomy - Greek Epic BC
Apollodorus, The Library - Greek Mythography C2nd BC
Hyginus, Fabulae - Latin Mythography C2nd AD
Hyginus, Astronomica - Latin Mythography C2nd AD
Ovid, Fasti - Latin Epic C1st BC - C1st AD
.
KELAINO

Greek: Lelainw Transliteration: KelainÙ Translation: Black
Latin Spelling: Celaeno

KELAINO was a PLEIAD loved by Poseidon.

The mother of Lykos and Nykteus, regents of Thebes, appear to have been the sons of another Kelaino (the daughter of Ergeus). The Lykos (transferred to Elysium) was probably another man with the same name, and the son of the Pleiad.

Parents

(1) ATLAS (Homerica The Astronomy)
(2) ATLAS & PLEIONE (Apollodorus 3.110, Hygins Fab 192, Hyginus Astronomy 2.21, Ovid Fasti 4.169 & 5.79)

Offspring

(1) LYKOS (by Poseidon) (Apollodorus 3.110)
(2) LYKOS, NYKTEUS (by Poseidon) (Hyginus Astronomica 2.21)
(3) EUPHEMOS, LYKOS, NYKTEUS (by Poseidon) (Hyginus Fabulae 157)

"Kelaino ... whom glorious Atlas begot." -Homerica The Astronomy Frag 1

"To Atlas and Okeanos’ daughter Pleione were born (on Arkadian Kyllene) seven daughters called the Pleiades, whose names are Alkyone, Merope, Kelaino ... Poseidon slept with two of them: first with Kelaino, fathering Lykos, whom Poseidon settled in the Islands of the Blest." -Apollodorus 3.110-111

“Sons of Neptunus [Poseidon] ... Euphemus, Lycus and Nycteus by Celaeno daughter of Ergeus.” –Hyginus Fabulae 157

“The Pleiades are called seven in number, but only six can be seen. This reason has been advanced, that of the seven, six mated with immortals (three with Jove, two with Neptunus, and one with Mars) ... from Celaeno and Neptunus, Lycus and Nycteus.” –Hyginus Astronomica 2.21

“The Pleiades will start relieving their sire’s [Atlas’] shoulders. Called seven, they are usually six, wither because six of them entered a god’s embrace ... Alcyone and you, fair Celaeno, [lay] with Neptunus [Poseidon].” –Ovid Fasti 4.169

Sources:

Homerica, The Astronomy - Greek Epic BC
Apollodorus, The Library - Greek Mythography C2nd BC
Hyginus, Astronomica - Latin Mythography C2nd AD
Ovid, Fasti - Latin Epic C1st BC - C1st AD
http://www.theoi.com/Ouranos/Pleiades.html#Merope

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http://atlantisonline.smfforfree2.com/index.php

[Crystal Thielkien]

Rich

Member
Member # 2265

Member Rated:
   posted 07-27-2005 02:31 PM                       
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Lycus 2 dwells in the Islands of the Blest by the favour of his father Poseidon. Lycus 2's mother is Celaeno 2, one of the PLEIADES [Apd.3.10.1; Hyg.Ast.2.21].

Lycus 5, brother of Nycteus 2, usurped the government in Thebes and reigned for 20 years. He and his brother had fled from Euboea because they had killed Phlegyas 1, and they lived first at Hyria coming later to Thebes, where they were enrolled as citizens through their friendship with Pentheus 1. When Nycteus 2 was about to die, he asked Lycus 5 to punish Epopeus 1 and Antiope 3 (the daughter of Nycteus 2), who had by then gave birth to twins: Amphion 1 and Zethus. So Lycus 5 marched with an army against Sicyon, subdued the city, slew Epopeus 1, and led Antiope 3 away captive. But since Lycus 5 and his wife Dirce imprisoned her and treated her spitefully, Antiope 3, having escaped and reunited with her sons, returned to Thebes as her sons slew both Lycus 5 and Dirce. Yet some have said that Hermes forbade the brothers to kill the usurper, while ordering Lycus 5 to yield the kingdom to Amphion 1. Lycus 5 was son either of Chthonius 2 (one of the SPARTI) or of Hyrieus (son of Poseidon) and Clonia (one of the NYMPHS). He is also said to have raped his niece Antiope 3, this being the reason for her fleeing to Sicyon [see also Amphion 1, and Robe & Necklace of Harmonia 1] [Apd.3.5.5, 3.10.1; Eur.Her.27; Hyg.Fab.7, 8].


Nycteus 1. Son of Poseidon and Celaeno 2, one of the PLEIADES. Nycteus 1 is father of Callisto [Apd.3.8.2; Hyg.Ast.2.21].

Nycteus 2. King in Boeotia. To him was entrusted the care of Labdacus 1, still a child, along with the government of Thebes at the death of Polydorus 2, son of Cadmus. At that time his daughter Antiope 3, married Epopeus 1, whom Nycteus 2 disliked. So, when Antiope 3 fled to Sicyon, where Epopeus 1 ruled, a war broke up between Thebes and Sicyon and Nycteus 2 died, probably of a wound received in battle, but some say that he killed himself. When he died Lycus 5, brother of Nycteus 2 usurped the government in Thebes and reigned for 20 years. His other daughter, Nycteis, is mother of Labdacus 1, king of Thebes. Nycteus 2 was son either of Hyrieus (son of Poseidon) and Clonia (one of the NYMPHS), or of Chthonius 2 (one of the SPARTI), and was married to Polyxo 3 [see relevant Theban links at Thebes, Oedipus, and Robe & Necklace of Harmonia 1] [Apd.3.5.5, 3.10.1; Hyg.Fab.8; Pau.2.6.2, 9.5.4].
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Posts: 2387 | From: Parts Unknown, USA | Registered: Dec 2004   

[Crystal Thielkien]

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  posted 07-28-2005 12:37 PM                       
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'Further, he says, the god Uranus devised the Baetylia, having contrived to put life into stones. And to Kronos there were born of Astarte seven daughters, Titanides or Artemides: and again to the same there were born of Rhea seven sons, of whom the youngest was deified at his birth; and of Dione females, and of Astarte again two males, Desire and Love. And Dagon, after he discovered corn and the plough, was called Zeus Arotrios. What is "The Baetylia?" Does anyone know? I sure would like to. Thanks.

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It's not how smart are you ,it's how are you smart.

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Posts: 220 | Registered: Mar 2004   

[Crystal Thielkien]

Rich

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Member # 2265

Member Rated:
   posted 07-28-2005 12:53 PM                      
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I have found "stones with souls", "moving stones", and "meteor rocks". Maybe stone sculptures of the Gods? Maybe stone Pillars?

Also:

http://internetloge.de/massym/massym30.htm
"Others have sought to find the origin of stone-worship in the stone that was set up and anointed by Jacob at Bethel, and the tradition of which had extended into the heathen nations and become corrupted. It is certain that the Phoenicians worshipped sacred stones under the name of Baetylia, which word is evidently derived from the Hebrew Bethel; and this undoubtedly gives some appear ance of plausibility to the theory."

http://www.godrules.net/library/clarke/clarkegen28.htm
"From Beth-El came the Baetylia, Bethyllia, baitulia, or animated stones, so celebrated in antiquity, and to which Divine honours were paid. The tradition of Jacob anointing this stone, and calling the place Beth-El, gave rise to all the superstitious accounts of the Baetylia or consecrated stones, which we find in Sanchoniathon and others. These became abused to idolatrous purposes, and hence God strongly prohibits them, Lev. xxvi. 1; and it is very likely that stones of this kind were the most ancient objects of idolatrous worship; these were afterwards formed into beautiful human figures, male and female, when the art of sculpture became tolerably perfected, and hence the origin of idolatry as far as it refers to the worshipping of images, for these, being consecrated by anointing, &c., were supposed immediately to become instinct with the power and energy of some divinity. Hence, then, the Bactylia or living stones of the ancient Phoenicians, &c. "

http://7.1911encyclopedia.org/P/PH/PHOENICIA.htm
"Stone or bronze images of the gods were set up in the sanctuaries (NSI. Nos. 13 seq., 2327, 30, &c.); and besides these the baetylia (meteoric stones) which were regarded as symbols of the gods. Pillars, again, had a prominent place in the court or before the shrine (nca~ab, ibid. pp. 102 seq.) ; but it is not known whether the sacred pole (ashrah), an invariable feature of a Canaanite sanctuary, was usual in a Phoenician temple (ibid. pp. 50 seq.). The 6 See Frazer, Adonis, Attis, Osiris, 44 seq."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethel_god
"Sanchuniathon mentions the god Baitylos as a brother of the gods El and Dagon. He later says that the god Sky devised the baitylia, having contrived to put life into stones. The reference would seem to be to Bethels in the plural, that is to many stones like the stone in the Israelite city of Bethel which served a housing for God in Israelite belief."

http://www.spirit-net.ca/sermons/c-or15-js.php
"The sanctuary of Bethel had been an ancient Canaanite holy place set on a
high hill. In Israelite religious traditions it had been associated with
the patriarch Jacob. It had been fought over many times during the period
of the Judges (12th to 11th centuries BCE) and during the reigns of both
David and Solomon (10th century)."

http://www.secret-teachings.com/OralTea/Page2.html
"The earlier name of the chief sanctuary in Israel, called Bethel, was Luz, or the
Almond Tree. Bethel was the place of the stone pillar, as the abode of the God, and
Luz, the locality of the tree. These are two primary and universal “types” of the
feminine abode, represented by the Two Divine Sisters in Egypt."

http://bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Def.show/RTD/ISBE/ID/1447
"King Josiah completed the demolition of the sanctuary at Bethel, destroying all the instruments of idolatry, and harr ying the tombs of the idolaters. The monument of the man of God from Judah he allowed to stand (2 Kings 23:4, 2 Kings 23:25). "

[ 07-28-2005, 01:13 PM: Message edited by: Rich ]
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Posts: 2387 | From: Parts Unknown, USA | Registered: Dec 2004  

[Crystal Thielkien]

Ideopraxist
Member
Member # 1905

  posted 07-28-2005 03:25 PM                       
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Thank you ever so largely, you certainly have made my day. I appreciate your time for the research, I need them all you see. Thank you again for the kindness.

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It's not how smart are you ,it's how are you smart.

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Posts: 220 | Registered: Mar 2004

[Crystal Thielkien]

Ideopraxist
Member
Member # 1905

  posted 07-28-2005 03:28 PM                       
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"Stones with Souls". I think possibly recorded history, Genesis in stone so to speak with pictures of a people so beautifull and noble in appereance they were copied into sculptures for all to see and lament a great fall but instead revered them. A jealous God just might hide them away till mankind would be able to discerne between the creator and that which he created and destroyed. Not to mention the age of "The Mega Pixel" of course. Thank you again and if you run across any more info, its very appreciated.

[ 07-29-2005, 03:28 PM: Message edited by: Ideopraxist ]

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It's not how smart are you ,it's how are you smart.

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Posts: 220 | Registered: Mar 2004 

[Crystal Thielkien]

 
Rich

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   posted 08-03-2005 05:55 PM                       
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http://www.kjvuser.com/twobabylons/sect225.htm

One of the names by which this swaddled and anointed stone was called is very strikingly confirmatory of the above conclusion. That name is Baitulos. This we find from Priscian, who, speaking of "that stone which Saturn is said to have devoured for Jupiter," adds, whom the Greeks called "Baitulos." Now, "B'hai-tuloh" signifies the "Life-restoring child." *

* From Tli, Tleh, or Tloh, "Infans puer" (CLAVIS STOCKII, Chald.), and Hia, or Haya, "to live, to restore life." (GESENIUS) From Hia, "to live," with digamma prefixed, comes the Greek "life." That Hia, when adopted into Greek, was also pronounced Haya, we have evidence in he noun Hiim, "life," pronounced Hayyim, which in Greek is represented by "blood." The Mosaic principle, that "the blood was the life," is thus proved to have been known by others besides the Jews. Now Haya, "to live or restore life," with the digamma prefixed, becomes B'haya: and so in Egypt, we find that Bai signified "soul," or "spirit" (BUNSEN), which is the living principle. B'haitulos, then, is the "Life-restoring child." P'haya-n is the same god

The Baitulos, or swaddled stone, was a round or globular stone. This globular stone is frequently represented swathed and bound, sometimes with more, sometimes with fewer bandages.
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Posts: 2387 | From: Parts Unknown, USA | Registered: Dec 2004   
 

[Crystal Thielkien]

Rich

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   posted 08-03-2005 07:05 PM                       
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http://trisagionseraph.tripod.com/Texts/Cicero3.html
there are three Jupiters; the first and second of whom were born in Arcadia; one of whom was the son of Aether, and father of Proserpine and Bacchus; the other the son of Coelus, and father of Minerva, who is called the Goddess and inventress of war; the third one born of Saturn in the isle of Crete, where his sepulchre is shown. The sons of Jupiter ('Dioskouroi') also, among the Greeks, have many names; first, the three who at Athens have the title of Anactes, Tritopatreus, Eubuleus, and Dionysus, sons of the most ancient king Jupiter and Proserpine; the next are Castor and Pollux, sons of the third Jupiter and Leda; and, lastly, three others, by some called Alco, Melampus, and Tmolus, Sons of Atreus, the son of Pelops.

As to the Muses, there were at first four -- Thelxiope, Aoede, Arche, and Melete -- daughters of the second Jupiter; afterward there were nine, daughters of the third Jupiter and Mnemosyne

Though Sol (the sun) is so called, you say, because he is solus (single); yet how many suns do theologists mention? There is one, the son of Jupiter and grandson of Aether; another, the son of Hyperion; a third, who, the Egyptians say, was of the city Heliopolis, sprung from Vulcan, the son of Nilus; a fourth is said to have been born at Rhodes of Acantho, in the times of the heroes, and was the grandfather of Jalysus, Camirus, and Lindus; a fifth, of whom, it is pretended, Aretes and Circe were born at Colchis.

There are likewise several Vulcans. The first (who had of Minerva that Apollo whom the ancient historians call the tutelary God of Athens) was the son of Coelus; the second, whom the Egyptians call Opas, and whom they looked upon as the protector of Egypt, is the son of Nilus; the third, who is said to have been the master of the forges at Lemnos, was the son of the third Jupiter and of Juno; the fourth, who possessed the islands near Sicily called Vulcaniae, was the son of Menalius.

One Mercury had Coelus for his father and Dies for his mother; another, who is said to dwell in a cavern, and is the same as Trophonius, is the son of Valens and Phoronis. A third, of whom, and of Penelope, Pan was the offspring, is the son of the third Jupiter and Maia. A fourth, whom the Egyptians think it a crime to name, is the son of Nilus. A fifth, whom we call, in their language, Thoth, as with them the first month of the year is called, is he whom the people of Pheneum worship, and who is said to have killed Argus, to have fled for it into Egypt, and to have given laws and learning to the Egyptians.
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Posts: 2387 | From: Parts Unknown, USA | Registered: Dec 2004   

[Crystal Thielkien]

Rich

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   posted 08-11-2005 01:42 PM                       
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Here are a couple of quotes:

THE THEOLOGY OF THE PHŒNICIANS:
FROM SANCHONIATHO.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/af/af01.htm
"But Ouranus, succeeding to the kingdom of his father, contracted a marriage with his sister Ge, and had by her four sons, Ilus who is called Cronus, and Betylus, and Dagon, which signifies Siton (Bread-corn,) and Atlas."

"Cronus gave the city of Byblus to the goddess Baaltis, which is Dione, and Berytus to Poseidon, and to the Caberi who were husbandmen and fishermen: and they consecrated the remains of Pontus at Berytus."

"But to Demarous was born Melicarthus, who is also called Heracles."

[ 08-13-2005, 07:04 AM: Message edited by: Rich ]
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Posts: 2387 | From: Parts Unknown, USA | Registered: Dec 2004