Oreithyia
Encyclopedia
Erechtheus
Erechtheus in Greek mythology was the name of an archaic king of Athens, the re-founder of the polis and a double at Athens for Poseidon, as "Poseidon Erechtheus"...
of Athens and his wife, Praxithea
Praxithea
- Wife of Erichthonius :Praxithea was a Naiad nymph. According to Apollodorus Praxithea married Erichthonius of Athens and by him had a son named Pandion I...
, in Greek mythology
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...
. Her brothers were Cecrops
Cecrops
This name may refer to two legendary kings of Athens:* Cecrops I* Cecrops IIIt more often refers to Cecrops I, who was the better known....
, Pandorus
Pandorus
In Greek mythology, Pandorus was a son of Erichthonius II of Athens and Praxithea. Pandorus was also the sibling of Metion and Cecrops.Pandorus was a very accomplished archer who fought in Homer's Iliad. Typically archers were seen as inferior soldiers compared to swordsmen. In Book IV, he was...
, and Metion
Metion
In Greek mythology, Metion was a son of King Erechtheus of Athens or of Eupalamus, son of King Erechtheus. His sons later drove King Pandion II out of Athens into exile. Among these sons were Eupalamus, Sicyon, and Daedalus, though they are sometime credited with other parentages. These usurping...
, and her sisters were Procris
Procris
In Greek mythology, Procris was the daughter of Erechtheus, king of Athens and his wife, Praxithea. She married Cephalus, the son of Deioneus. Procris had at least two sisters, Creusa and Orithyia...
, Creusa
Creusa
In Greek mythology, four people had the name Creusa ; the name simply means "princess".-Naiad:According to Pindar's 9th Pythian Ode, Creusa was a naiad and daughter of Gaia who bore Hypseus, King of the Lapiths to the river god Peneus. Hypseus had one daughter, Cyrene. When a lion attacked her...
, and Chthonia.
Boreas, the north wind, fell in love with her. At first he attempted to woo her, but after failing at that he decided to take her by force, as violence felt more natural to him. While she was playing by the Ilissos
Ilissos
The Ilissos or Ilissus is a river in Athens, Greece. Originally a tributary of the Kifissos River, it is now largely channeled underground.-Ancient Athens:...
River she was carried off to Sarpedon’s Rock, near the Erginos River in Thrace
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
. There she was wrapped in a cloud and raped. Aeschylus
Aeschylus
Aeschylus was the first of the three ancient Greek tragedians whose work has survived, the others being Sophocles and Euripides, and is often described as the father of tragedy. His name derives from the Greek word aiskhos , meaning "shame"...
wrote a satyr play
Satyr play
Satyr plays were an ancient Greek form of tragicomedy, similar in spirit to burlesque. They featured choruses of satyrs, were based on Greek mythology, and were rife with mock drunkenness, brazen sexuality , pranks, sight gags, and general merriment.Satyric drama was one of the three varieties of...
about the abduction called Orithyia which has been lost.
Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
writes somewhat mockingly that there may have been a rational explanation for her story. She may have been killed on the rocks of the river when a gust of northern wind came, and so she was said to have been 'taken by Boreas'. He also mentions in another account she was taken by Boreas not along the Ilissos
Ilissos
The Ilissos or Ilissus is a river in Athens, Greece. Originally a tributary of the Kifissos River, it is now largely channeled underground.-Ancient Athens:...
, but from the Areopagus
Areopagus
The Areopagus or Areios Pagos is the "Rock of Ares", north-west of the Acropolis, which in classical times functioned as the high Court of Appeal for criminal and civil cases in Athens. Ares was supposed to have been tried here by the gods for the murder of Poseidon's son Alirrothios .The origin...
, a rock outcropping near the Acropolis where murderers were tried. However, many scholars regard this as a later gloss.
She bore Boreas two daughters, Chione
Chione (daughter of Boreas)
In Greek mythology Chione, or Khione, , the nymph or minor goddess of snow, was the daughter of Boreas, the North Wind, and Oreithyia, an Athenian princess whom he abducted. Her siblings included Zetes, Calaides and Cleopatra. She was loved by Poseidon and had with him a son Eumolpus...
and Cleopatra
Cleopatra (disambiguation)
Cleopatra VII was the last pharaoh of Egypt, famed lover of Mark Antony and Julius Caesar.Cleopatra may also refer to:- Historic people :...
, and two winged sons, Calais and Zetes, both known as the Boreads
Boreads
The Boreads, in Greek mythology, were Calaïs and Zetes . They were the sons of Boreas and Oreithyia, daughter of King Erechtheus of Athens...
. These sons grew wings like their father and joined the Argonauts
Argonauts
The Argonauts ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology who, in the years before the Trojan War, accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, the Argo, which was named after its builder, Argus. "Argonauts", therefore, literally means...
in the quest for the golden fleece
Golden Fleece
In Greek mythology, the Golden Fleece is the fleece of the gold-haired winged ram, which can be procured in Colchis. It figures in the tale of Jason and his band of Argonauts, who set out on a quest by order of King Pelias for the fleece in order to place Jason rightfully on the throne of Iolcus...
. Because she was in Thrace with Boreas, she did not die when her sisters either committed suicide or were sacrificed so that Athens could win a war against Eleusis.
Orithyia was later made into the goddess of cold mountain winds. It is said that prior to the destruction of a large number of barbarian ships due to weather during the Persian War
Persian War
Several wars are termed "Persian" or called simply "the Persian War:"* Greco-Persian Wars* Roman-Persian Wars* Russo-Persian Wars**Russo-Persian War **Russo-Persian War **Russo-Persian War **Russo-Persian War...
, the Athenians offered sacrifices to Boreas and Oreithyia, praying for their assistance.
Other people
Orithyia is also the name of four other minor people in Greek mythology:- Orithyia, the Nereid.
- Orithyia, a nymphNymphA nymph in Greek mythology is a female minor nature deity typically associated with a particular location or landform. Different from gods, nymphs are generally regarded as divine spirits who animate nature, and are usually depicted as beautiful, young nubile maidens who love to dance and sing;...
, called by some the grandmother of AdonisAdonisAdonis , in Greek mythology, the god of beauty and desire, is a figure with Northwest Semitic antecedents, where he is a central figure in various mystery religions. The Greek , Adōnis is a variation of the Semitic word Adonai, "lord", which is also one of the names used to refer to God in the Old...
.
- Orithyia, a daughter of CecropsCecropsThis name may refer to two legendary kings of Athens:* Cecrops I* Cecrops IIIt more often refers to Cecrops I, who was the better known....
, wife of MakednosMakednosMakedon, also Macedon or Makednos , was the eponymous mythological ancestor of the ancient Macedonians according to various ancient Greek fragmentary narratives...
and mother of Europus.
- Orithyia (Amazon)