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Nisos

For other meanings of Nisos, seeNisus (mythology).

InGreek mythology,NisosorNisus(Ancient Greek:Νῖσος) was a King ofMegara.

17th-century engraving of Nisos's daughterScyllafalling in love with his enemyMinos.

Family

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Nisos was one of the four sons ofPandion II,King ofAthens,andPylia,daughter of KingPylasof Megara. He was the brother ofAegeas,Pallas,Lykos[1]and the wife ofSciron.[2]According toHyginus,Nisus's father was the god Ares[3]while other authors affirmed that he was the offspring ofDeion.[4]

Nisos was married toAbrota,sister ofMegareus,and when she died, Nisos commanded that the Megarian women should wear clothes like she had.[5]His daughterEurynome,withPoseidon,had the famous sonBellerophon.[6]The second daughterIphinoemarried Megareus, her maternal uncle.[7]Lastly, the third princessScyllawas responsible for Nisos' death.[4]

Mythology

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Early days

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Metion,the uncle of Nisos, had seized the throne from Pandion II. However, upon their father's death, Nisos and his brothers returned to Athens and took back control. They drove out the sons of Metion, put Aegeus on the throne, and divided the government in four. Aegeas became king of Athens, and Nisos the King of Megara.[8]

War with Minos

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Minos,King ofCrete,attacked Nisos's kingdom during a war with Athens over the death of his sonAndrogeus.Nisos however had a lock of purple hair that kept him safe from harm.[9]Eroscaused his daughterScyllato fall in love with Minos.[10]In one version, Minos tempts Scylla with a golden necklace to betray and kill her father.[11]In another version, she fell in love with Minos from a distance, and after cutting off the purple lock, she presented it to Minos. However, Minos was disgusted with her act, calling her a disgrace. As Minos's ships set sail, Scylla attempted to climb up one of them. But Nisos, who had turned into asea eagleorosprey,attacked her. His daughter transformed into a bird as well. There is also a version with Ares.[12]According to another account Nisos killed himself when he lost his vital lock of hair.[13]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^Apollodorus,3.15.5
  2. ^Pausanias,1.39.6
  3. ^Homer,Odyssey16.393&16.9;Hyginus,Fabulae198&242
  4. ^abHyginus,Fabulae198
  5. ^Plutarch,Moralia4.21.16
  6. ^Hesiod,Ehoiaifr. 7
  7. ^Pausanias,1.39.6
  8. ^Apollodorus,3.15.6
  9. ^Ovid,Metamorphoses8.5
  10. ^Nonnus,25.150
  11. ^Aeschylus,The Libation Bearers610
  12. ^Ovid,Metamorphoses8.90
  13. ^Hyginus,Fabulae242

References

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  • Aeschylus,translated in two volumes. 2.Libation Bearersby Herbert Weir Smyth, Ph. D. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. 1926.Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website.
  • Apollodorus,The Librarywith an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921.ISBN0-674-99135-4.Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website.
  • Gaius Julius Hyginus,Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginustranslated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies.Online version at the Topos Text Project.
  • Hesiod,Catalogue of WomenfromHomeric Hymns, Epic Cycle, Homericatranslated by Evelyn-White, H G. Loeb Classical Library Volume 57. London: William Heinemann, 1914.Online version at theio.com
  • Homer,The Odysseywith an English Translation by A.T. Murray, PH.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919.ISBN978-0674995611.Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website.
  • Nonnus of Panopolis,Dionysiacatranslated by William Henry Denham Rouse (1863–1950), from the Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1940.Online version at the Topos Text Project.
  • Nonnus of Panopolis,Dionysiaca. 3 Vols.W.H.D. Rouse. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1940-1942.Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
  • Pausanias,Description of Greecewith an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918.ISBN0-674-99328-4.Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
  • Pausanias,Graeciae Descriptio.3 vols.Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
  • Publius Ovidius Naso,Metamorphosestranslated by Brookes More (1859–1942). Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922.Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
  • Publius Ovidius Naso,Metamorphoses.Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes. 1892.Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.


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