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Polyphonte

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Polyphonte(Ancient Greek:Πολυφόντηmeans 'slayer of many') is a character in Greek mythology, transformed into astrix.

Family[edit]

Polyphonte was the daughter ofHipponousandThrassa;her grandparents on her mother's side were the war godAresandTereine,a daughter of the river godStrymon.[1]

Mythology[edit]

The story of her life is contained in only one source, namelyAntoninus Liberalis'sMetamorphoses. Antonius citesBoeus’second book, ‘The Origin of Birds’ as the source of the story; however, Boeus’ work has been lost.[2]

Wrath of Aphrodite[edit]

Wishing to remain a virgin, Polyphonte fled to the mountains to become a companion ofArtemis.This provoked the ire ofAphrodite,the goddess of love and procreation, who viewed Polyphonte's decision as a personal affront. To punish Polyphonte for failing to honor her womanly duty, Aphrodite drove her mad and caused her to lust after abear.

Artemis was disgusted with Polyphonte and so turned the wild animals against her. Fearing for her life, Polyphonte was forced to return to her father's home.[1]

Birth of the bear twins[edit]

Once at home, Polyphonte gave birth to two humanoid bear-like sons,Agrius and Oreius(the result of her union with the bear). Agrius and Oreius grew into huge men of immense strength. As perhaps befits their feral patronage, the Bear Twins honored neither men nor gods. Indeed, they were cannibals who attacked strangers on the road.

Zeusdespised Agrius and Oreius and so sentHermesto punish them as he saw fit. The brothers almost had their hands and feet severed by the vengeful god were it not for the intervention of their great-grandfather Ares. Despite their monstrous nature, Ares persuaded Hermes to commute the sentence. Together, Hermes and Ares transformed Agrius, Oreius, Polyphonte, and the family's female servant into birds. Polyphonte was transformed into the owl-likestrix,which neither ate nor drank and cried during that night, which portended war and sedition for mankind.[a]As for her sons, Oreius was turned into a "bird calledlagōs"(hypothetically translated as an"eagle owl")[4][8]regarded as ill omen, and Agrius was turned into avulture,a despised carrion-eating bird. In a small act of mercy, Ares and Hermes heeded the female servant's prayer where she had no involvement in the Bear Twins' actions and decided not to transform her into a bird heralding evil for mankind. Instead, she was transformed into awoodpecker(supposedly a sign of good luck if seen before a hunt).[1]

Parallels to other stories[edit]

The story bears strong similarities with the tales ofHippolytus,AtalantaandCallisto.It has been suggested that all these tales deal with the function of Artemis within the rituals ofAncient Greeceand shed light on how they saw a woman's first sexual encounter.[9]In so far as the tale details bestiality as a punishment for offending the gods, the myth is also similar to that ofPasiphaëand theMinotaurwhere Pasiphaë mated with a bull resulting in the Minotaur's birth.

French folkloristPaul Delaruelisted this story as an ancient parallel to the European tale ofJean de l'Ours,a strong hero born of a human woman and a bear.[10]

Explanatory notes[edit]

  1. ^The original Greek readsstyx(ϛύξ / στύξ), but emended tostryx(ϛρίγξ / στρίξ).[3]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^abcAntoninus Liberalis,21.Celoria (1992),pp. 77–78 tr.,Verheyk (1774),pp. 137–143, Greek and Latin
  2. ^Oliphant (1913),pp. 133–134.
  3. ^Verheyk (1774),p. 140 note
  4. ^Nissan, Ephraim (2014).Nativised, Playfully Aetiologised Literary Zoonyms, III.Springer. p. 732.ISBN9783642453274.{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help).It is added that Arnott (2007), p. 129 considerslagōsto be thehouse martin.
  5. ^Hercules Furens,686ff.
  6. ^Thebaid,III. 511: "striges; et feralia bubo" only.
  7. ^Oliphant (1913),p. 140.
  8. ^lagos(λαγῶς), means "hare".Celoria (1992),pp. 163–164, notes. The proposed solution thatlagōsmight bebubo(horned owl or eagle owl) is based on the observation that Ovid, Seneca,[5]and Statius,[6]associate together the three birdsbubo,vultur,andstrix,the latter two being the incarnations of Agrius and Polyphonte.[7]
  9. ^Scanlon, Thomas F.(2002),Eros and Greek Athletics,pg. 161-165
  10. ^DELARUE, Paul. "LES CONTES POPULAIRES DE FRANCE: Inventaire Analytique Et Méthodique". In:Nouvelle Revue Des Traditions Populaires1, no. 4 (1949): 337-338. Accessed June 21, 2021.http:// jstor.org/stable/40991689.

References[edit]

  • Antoninus Liberalis (1992)."21. Polyphonte".InCeloria, Francis(ed.).The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis: A Translation with Commentary.Psychology Press. pp. 77–78.ISBN9780415068963.ISBN0415068967
  • Antoninus Liberalis (1774)."XXI. Polyphonte".In Verheyk, Hendrik (ed.).Antōninou Liberalis Metamorphōseōn Sunagōgē.Wilhelm Xylander,Thomas Muncker. apud Sam. et Joan. Luchtmans. pp. 137–143.
  • Oliphant, Samuel Grant (1913). "The Story of the Strix: Ancient".Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association.44.The Johns Hopkins University Press: 133–149.doi:10.2307/282549.JSTOR28254.
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