Comaetho of Cilicia
InGreek mythology,Comaetho(Ancient Greek:Κομαιθώ,romanized:Komaithṓ,lit. 'bright-haired'[1]) is a queen orNaiadnymph ofCiliciawho fell in love with the local river-godCydnus.The goddessAphroditethen transformed her into a spring, and the queen was acquatically joined with her beloved for the rest of time.
Family
[edit]The fifth-century poetNonnusdescribes Comaetho as a daughter ofCydnus,though elsewhere he simply describes her as his lover.[2]Like Cydnus, now known as theBerdan River,Comaetho was fromCilicia,a region located in southernAsia Minor.Comaetho is both described as a mortal woman and a Naiad nymph.
Mythology
[edit]The maid Comaetho ruled over the Cilicians. As she approached marriage age, the girl fell in love with the river-god Cydnus and pined for him until the goddessAphroditeturned her into a spring, presumably in order to unite the two.[3][4]Thereafter Comaetho was glad to join him in wedlock and mingle her newly-formed waters with those of Cydnus.[2][5]
Background
[edit]The earliest attestment for this story comes from aPartheniusfragment, preserved byEustathius of Thessalonicawho is in turn quoted byStephanus of Byzantium;in this case the story would be the earliest example of a full metamorphosis into a body of sweet water.[4]
The myth might have arisen as a geographical, aetiological narrative in order to describe a spring nearGlaphyrae,a town in Cilicia, and thus could be traced back to Parthenius's ownMetamorphoseswork.[5]Some doubts have been cast over this assertment, as it is most likely that that work was written in hexameters.[6]
The story of Comaetho has been compared to that of the river-godAlpheusand the nymphArethusa,owing to their shared theme of contrast of the water and the fire of love.[4]It also bears similarities with another fragmentary text by Parthenius regarding the story ofByblis;both myths feature maidens sufffering from their incestuous passions, if Cydnus is taken to be Comaetho's father.[5]
See also
[edit]
Other maidens and their fathers linked incestuously:
References
[edit]- ^Graves 1955,p.310.
- ^abNonnus,Dionysiaca2.143,40.141
- ^Partheniusfrag28[=EustathiusOn the Iliad2.712.]
- ^abcForbes Irving 1990,p. 307.
- ^abcKlooster 2012,pp. 319–321.
- ^Partheniusfrag 28, footnote28byStephen Gaselee.
Bibliography
[edit]- Forbes Irving, Paul M. C. (1990).Metamorphosis in Greek Myths.Clarendon Press.ISBN0-19-814730-9.
- Graves, Robert(1955).The Greek Myths.Vol. I. Baltimore, US: Penguin Books.
- Klooster, Jacqueline J.H. (2012).""εις έπη και ελεγείας ανάγειν": the Erotika Pathemata of Parthenius of Nicaea "(PDF).In Baumbach, M.; Bär, S. (eds.).Brill's companion to Greek and Latin epyllion and its reception.Brill's companions in classical studies. Leiden: Brill Publications.ISBN9789004214323.
- Nonnus,Dionysiaca;translated byRouse, W H D,I Books I-XV.Loeb Classical LibraryNo. 344, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1940.Internet Archive
- Nonnus,Dionysiaca;translated byRouse, W H D,III Books XXXVI-XLVIII.Loeb Classical LibraryNo. 346, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1940.Internet Archive.
- Parthenius of NicaeainHellenistic Collection: Philitas. Alexander of Aetolia. Hermesianax. Euphorion. Parthenius.Edited and translated by J. L. Lightfoot.Loeb Classical Library508. Cambridge, MA:Harvard University Press,2010.
