Staphylus
Encyclopedia
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
. 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...
, he was:
- The son of wine-god DionysusDionysusDionysus was the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology. His name in Linear B tablets shows he was worshipped from c. 1500—1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks: other traces of Dionysian-type cult have been found in ancient Minoan Crete...
and AriadneAriadneAriadne , in Greek mythology, was the daughter of King Minos of Crete, and his queen Pasiphaë, daughter of Helios, the Sun-titan. She aided Theseus in overcoming the Minotaur and was the bride of the god Dionysus.-Minos and Theseus:...
. His brothers include OenopionOenopionIn Greek mythology, Oenopion , son of Theseus or Dionysus and Ariadne, was a legendary king of Chios, which was assigned to him by Rhadamanthys, and was said to have brought winemaking to the island. By the nymph Helice, he had one daughter, called Merope in most sources, but "Haero" in Parthenius...
("wine drinker"), ThoasThoas (Tauri king)Thoas was a son of the god Dionysus and Ariadne, the daughter of Cretean king Minos. Some however consider him to be Theseus’s son, together with his brother Oenopion...
, Peparethus, Phanus and Euanthes ("the richly blooming"). Both Staphylus and Phanus are counted among the ArgonautsArgonautsThe 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...
. Staphylus dwelt in Naxos and was married to ChrysothemisChrysothemisChrysothemis or Khrysothemis , is a name ascribed to several characters in Greek mythology.Most prominently among these, Chrysothemis was a daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra...
, by whom he had three daughters: RhoeoRhoeoIn Greek mythology, Rhoeo was a daughter of Staphylus and Chrysothemis, sister to Parthenos and Molpadia or Hemithea. Parthenius relates that she once experienced a great jealosy of her sister Hemithea when Staphylus arranged for the latter to spend a night with Lyrcus, his guest, whom both...
, who was a lover to ApolloApolloApollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
, Parthenos, and Molpadia or HemitheaHemithea (mythology)In Greek mythology, the name Hemithea refers to:* Originally named Molpadia, daughter of Staphylus and Chrysothemis, sister of Parthenos and Rhoeo...
. The latter became the mother of Basileus with LyrcusLyrcusLyrcus is the name of two Greek figures, one a figure in a 1st-century BC Romance by Parthenius of Nicaea, the other the eponymous legendary founder of Lyrceia...
, after Lyrcus had made a journey to the oracleOracleIn Classical Antiquity, an oracle was a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic predictions or precognition of the future, inspired by the gods. As such it is a form of divination....
at DidymaDidymaDidyma was an ancient Ionian sanctuary, the modern Didim, Turkey, containing a temple and oracle of Apollo, the Didymaion. In Greek didyma means "twin", but the Greeks who sought a "twin" at Didyma ignored the Carian origin of the name...
. Staphylus is said to have enticed Lyrcus into too much drinking of wine and then when his senses were dulled by drunkenness united him with Hemithea.PartheniusParthenius of NicaeaParthenius of Nicaea or Myrlea in Bithynia was a Greek grammarian and poet. According to the Suda, he was the son of Heraclides and Eudora, or according to Hermippus of Berytus, his mother's name was Tetha. He was taken prisoner by Cinna in the Mithridatic Wars and carried to Rome in 72 BC. He...
, Love Romances, 1;- The beloved of Dionysus, from the island of ThasosThasosThasos or Thassos is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea, close to the coast of Thrace and the plain of the river Nestos but geographically part of Macedonia. It is the northernmost Greek island, and 12th largest by area...
. It is thanks to Dionysus' love for him that Thasian wine is distinguished. - The son of BacchusDionysusDionysus was the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology. His name in Linear B tablets shows he was worshipped from c. 1500—1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks: other traces of Dionysian-type cult have been found in ancient Minoan Crete...
and ErigoneErigone (daughter of Icarius)In Greek mythology, Erigone was the daughter of Icarius of Athens. Icarius was from Athens. He was cordial towards Dionysus, who gave his shepherds wine. They became intoxicated and killed Icarius, thinking he had poisoned them. His daughter, Erigone, and her dog, Maera, found his body. Erigone...
, where Bacchus assumed the form of a grape which Erigone ate. She immediately realized that she was with child and in time gave birth to a son whom she named Staphylus. - The husband of Methe and father of Botrys. The family held court in their palace at AssyriaAssyriaAssyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
. They received Dionysus as guest and held a banquet in his honor. Staphylus died a sudden death the next morning after the feast; to console his wife and son, Dionysus named grape bunches after Staphylus, drunkenness after Methe, and grapes after Botrys. - Son of OenomausOenomausIn Greek mythology, King Oenomaus of Pisa, the father of Hippodamia, was the son of Ares, either by the naiad Harpina or by Sterope, one of the Pleiades, whom some identify as his consort instead...
, who fought on Dionysus' side against PoseidonPoseidonPoseidon was the god of the sea, and, as "Earth-Shaker," of the earthquakes in Greek mythology. The name of the sea-god Nethuns in Etruscan was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon...
in the conflict of the two gods concerning BeroeBeroeBeroe is a Procurement intelligence company which works for fortune 500 companies.Positioned at the forefront of procurement intelligence operations and customized market research, Beroe is unique in its 100% exclusive focus on procurement....
. - Son of SilenusSilenusIn Greek mythology, Silenus was a companion and tutor to the wine god Dionysus.-Evolution of the character:The original Silenus resembled a folklore man of the forest with the ears of a horse and sometimes also the tail and legs of a horse...
, who introduced the practice of mixing wine with water. - The founder of the colony of Peparethos on the island of SkopelosSkopelosSkopelos , ancient Peparethos or Peparethus , is a Greek island in the western Aegean Sea. Skopelos is one of several islands which comprise the Northern Sporades island group. The island is located east of mainland Greece, northeast of the island of Euboea and is part of the Thessaly Periphery....
in the Northern SporadesSporadesThe Sporades are an archipelago along the east coast of Greece, northeast of the island of Euboea, in the Aegean Sea. It consists of 24 islands, of which four are permanently inhabited: Alonnisos, Skiathos, Skopelos and Skyros.-Administration:...
island chain. He was one of Rhadamanthys' generals.
It can also refer to the Ancient Greek historian Staphylus of NaucratisStaphylus of NaucratisStaphylus of Naucratis was an ancient Greek historian, geographer and mythographer quoted by Strabo , Pliny , and Athenaeus , as well as by the scholiasts. He wrote a work on Thessaly , on Aeolia, Attica Staphylus of Naucratis was an ancient Greek historian, geographer and mythographer quoted by...
. - The beloved of Dionysus, from the island of Thasos