Alope

For other uses, seeAlope (disambiguation).

Alope/ˈæləˌpiː/(Ancient Greek:Ἀλόπη,romanized:Alópē) was inGreek mythologya mortal woman, the daughter ofCercyon,known for her great beauty.

Mythology

Poseidon,in the guise of akingfisher,seduced Alope, his granddaughter through Cercyon, and from the union she gave birth toHippothoon.Alope left the infant in the open todie of exposure,but a passing mare suckled the child until it was found by shepherds, who fell into a dispute as to who was to have the beautiful royal attire of the boy. The case was brought before Cercyon, who, on recognizing by the dress whose child the boy was, ordered Alope to be imprisoned in order to be put to death, and her child to be exposed again. The latter was fed and found in the same manner as before, and the shepherds called him Hippothoon. The body of Alope was changed by Poseidon into a spring, which bore the same name.

The town ofAlope,inancient Thessaly,was believed to have derived its name from her,where, however,Philonidesspeaks of an Alope as a daughter ofActor.There was amonument of Alopeon the road fromEleusistoMegara,on the spot where she was believed to have been killed by her father.

References

• Aristophanes,Birds.The Complete Greek Drama.vol. 2.Eugene O'Neill, Jr. New York. Random House. 1938.Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Aristophanes,Aristophanes Comoediaeedited by F.W. Hall and W.M. Geldart, vol. 2. F.W. Hall and W.M. Geldart. Oxford. Clarendon Press, Oxford. 1907.Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• 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.
• 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.Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
• Pausanias,Graeciae Descriptio.3 vols.Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Smith, William,Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology,London (1873).Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Stephanus of Byzantium,Stephani Byzantii Ethnicorum quae supersunt,edited by August Meineike (1790–1870), published 1849. A few entries from this important ancient handbook of place names have been translated by Brady Kiesling.Online version at the Topos Text Project.

This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Smith, William,ed. (1870). "Alope".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.