Asteria
Encyclopedia
In Greek mythology
, Asteria (Greek
: Ἀστερία, "of the star
s, starry one") was a name attributed to the following eight individuals:
and Phoebe
and sister of Leto
. According to Hesiod
, by Perses
she had a daughter Hecate
.
The Titan goddess of prophetic dreams, astrology and necromancy, Asteria flung herself into the Aegean Sea
in the form of a quail in order to escape the advances of Zeus
. She became the "quail island" of Ortygia
. which became identified with Delos
, which was the only piece of earth to give refuge to the fugitive Leto when, pregnant with Zeus's children, she was pursued by vengeful Hera.
According to a lost poem of Eudoxus of Cnidus
(c. 355 BCE) by Zeus she became the mother of the Heracles
in the form in which Hellenes thought they recognized him (by interpretatio graeca
) as he was worshipped among Phoenicia
ns at Tyre.
killed by Heracles
when he came for Hippolyte's girdle.
was a daughter of Helios
and Clymene
or Ceto
, one of the Heliades
. She married the river god Hydaspes (the modern Jhelum River
) and became mother of Deriades, king in India.
who, with one exception, murdered their husbands on their wedding nights. She was, briefly, the bride of Chaetus.
. Along with her sisters, she flung herself into the sea and was transformed into a kingfisher
.
. Her son is known for having founded a city in Caria
which was named after him.
, and Apollo
were possible parents of the seer Idmon
.
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
, Asteria (Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
: Ἀστερία, "of the star
Star
A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...
s, starry one") was a name attributed to the following eight individuals:
Daughter of Coeus
Asteria was the daughter of the Titans CoeusCoeus
In Greek mythology, Coeus was one of the Titans, the giant sons and daughters of Uranus and Gaia . His equivalent in Latin poetry—though he scarcely makes an appearance in Roman mythology— was Polus, the embodiment of the celestial axis around which the heavens revolve...
and Phoebe
Phoebe (mythology)
In Greek mythology "radiant" Phoebe , was one of the original Titans, who were one set of sons and daughters of Uranus and Gaia. She was traditionally associated with the moon , as in Michael Drayton's Endimion and Phœbe, , the first extended treatment of the Endymion myth in English...
and sister of Leto
Leto
In Greek mythology, Leto is a daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe. The island of Kos is claimed as her birthplace. In the Olympian scheme, Zeus is the father of her twins, Apollo and Artemis, the Letoides, which Leto conceived after her hidden beauty accidentally caught the eyes of Zeus...
. According to Hesiod
Hesiod
Hesiod was a Greek oral poet generally thought by scholars to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. His is the first European poetry in which the poet regards himself as a topic, an individual with a distinctive role to play. Ancient authors credited him and...
, by Perses
Perses (Titan)
Perses was the son of Titan siblings, Kreios and Eurybia, and was the Titan god of destruction in mythology. He was wed to Asteria, his cousin, daughter of Titans Phoebe and Coeus. They had one child noted in mythology, Hecate, honoured by Zeus above all others as the goddess of wilderness,...
she had a daughter Hecate
Hecate
Hecate or Hekate is a chthonic Greco-Roman goddess associated with magic, witchcraft, necromancy, and crossroads.She is attested in poetry as early as Hesiod's Theogony...
.
The Titan goddess of prophetic dreams, astrology and necromancy, Asteria flung herself into the Aegean Sea
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
in the form of a quail in order to escape the advances of Zeus
Zeus
In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
. She became the "quail island" of Ortygia
Ortygia
Ortygia is a little island and it is the historical centre of the city of Syracuse, Sicily. The island, also known as Città Vecchia , contains many historical landmarks...
. which became identified with Delos
Delos
The island of Delos , isolated in the centre of the roughly circular ring of islands called the Cyclades, near Mykonos, is one of the most important mythological, historical and archaeological sites in Greece...
, which was the only piece of earth to give refuge to the fugitive Leto when, pregnant with Zeus's children, she was pursued by vengeful Hera.
According to a lost poem of Eudoxus of Cnidus
Eudoxus of Cnidus
Eudoxus of Cnidus was a Greek astronomer, mathematician, scholar and student of Plato. Since all his own works are lost, our knowledge of him is obtained from secondary sources, such as Aratus's poem on astronomy...
(c. 355 BCE) by Zeus she became the mother of the Heracles
Heracles
Heracles ,born Alcaeus or Alcides , was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus...
in the form in which Hellenes thought they recognized him (by interpretatio graeca
Interpretatio graeca
Interpretatio graeca is a Latin term for the common tendency of ancient Greek writers to equate foreign divinities to members of their own pantheon. Herodotus, for example, refers to the ancient Egyptian gods Amon, Osiris and Ptah as "Zeus", "Dionysus" and "Hephaestus", respectively.-Roman...
) as he was worshipped among Phoenicia
Phoenicia
Phoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...
ns at Tyre.
Amazon
Asteria was the ninth AmazonAmazons
The Amazons are a nation of all-female warriors in Greek mythology and Classical antiquity. Herodotus placed them in a region bordering Scythia in Sarmatia...
killed by Heracles
Heracles
Heracles ,born Alcaeus or Alcides , was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus...
when he came for Hippolyte's girdle.
Heliad
Asteria or AstrisAstris
In Greek mythology, Astris was one of the Heliades, daughters of Helios, either by the Oceanid Clymene or the Oceanid Ceto. She married the river god Hydaspes and became mother of Deriades, king in India....
was a daughter of Helios
Helios
Helios was the personification of the Sun in Greek mythology. Homer often calls him simply Titan or Hyperion, while Hesiod and the Homeric Hymn separate him as a son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia or Euryphaessa and brother of the goddesses Selene, the moon, and Eos, the dawn...
and Clymene
Clymene
Clymene or Klymenê may refer to*104 Klymene, an asteroid*Clymene dolphin , a dolphin endemic to the Atlantic Ocean*Clymene Moth*In Greek mythology:...
or Ceto
Ceto (Oceanid)
Ceto was one of the Oceanids, daughter of Oceanus and Tethys. She was also considered to be a naiad or sea nymph. Ceto consorted with Helios and bore a daughter, Astris, also known as Asteria....
, one of the Heliades
Heliades
In Greek mythology, the Heliades were the daughters of Helios and Clymene the Oceanid.According to one source, there were three of them: Aegiale, Aegle, and Aetheria. According to another source, there were five: Helia, Merope, Phoebe, Aetheria, and Dioxippe...
. She married the river god Hydaspes (the modern Jhelum River
Jhelum River
Jehlum River or Jhelum River , ) is a river that flows in India and Pakistan. It is the largest and most western of the five rivers of Punjab, and passes through Jhelum District...
) and became mother of Deriades, king in India.
Danaid
Asteria was one of the Danaids, daughters of DanausDanaus
In Greek mythology Danaus, or Danaos , was the twin brother of Aegyptus and son of Achiroe and Belus, a mythical king of Egypt. The myth of Danaus is a foundation legend of Argos, one of the foremost Mycenaean cities of the Peloponnesus...
who, with one exception, murdered their husbands on their wedding nights. She was, briefly, the bride of Chaetus.
Alkyonides
Asteria was one of the AlkyonidesAlkyonides
The Alkyonides were, in Greek mythology, the seven daughters of Alcyoneus. When their father was slain by Heracles, they threw themselves into the sea, and were transformed into halcyons by Amphitrite...
. Along with her sisters, she flung herself into the sea and was transformed into a kingfisher
Kingfisher
Kingfishers are a group of small to medium sized brightly coloured birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species being found in the Old World and Australia...
.
Consort of Bellerophon
Asteria, daughter of Hydeus, was the mother of Hydissos by BellerophonBellerophon
Bellerophon or Bellerophontes is a hero of Greek mythology. He was "the greatest hero and slayer of monsters, alongside of Cadmus and Perseus, before the days of Heracles", and his greatest feat was killing the Chimera, a monster that Homer depicted with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a...
. Her son is known for having founded a city in Caria
Caria
Caria was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionian and Dorian Greeks colonized the west of it and joined the Carian population in forming Greek-dominated states there...
which was named after him.
Daughter of Coronus
Asteria, daughter of CoronusCoronus
-Greek mythology:*Coronus' the son of Caeneus. He was one of the Lapiths and was killed by Heracles.*Coronus, king of Sicyon, son of Apollo and Chrysorthe, and father of Lamedon and Corex. He was deposed by Epopeus.*Coronus, son of Thersander...
, and Apollo
Apollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
were possible parents of the seer Idmon
Idmon
In Greek mythology, Idmon was an Argonaut seer. His father is said to have been Apollo but his mortal father was Abas . His mother was Asteria, daughter of Coronus, or Cyrene, or else Antianeira, daughter of Pheres. By Laothoe he had a son Thestor...
.