Cyllene (nymph)
| Greek deities series |
|---|
| Nymphs |
In Greek mythology, Cyllene (/saɪˈliːniː/; Ancient Greek: Κυλλήνη, romanized: Kullḗnē pronounced [kyllɛ̌ːnɛ]), also spelled Kyllene (/kaɪˈliːniː/), is the Naiad nymph and the personification of Mount Cyllene in Arcadia, the region in Greece where the god of travellers and shepherds Hermes was born and brought up. In some versions Cyllene is said to have been Hermes' nurse and caretaker while he was growing up. Cyllene's most prominent appearance in ancient Greek literature is in Ichneutae, a now lost satyr play by Sophocles.
Family
[edit]Cyllene is described as a Naiad nymph,[1] a type of water spirit, perhaps the daughter of a Peloponnesian river-god.
According to Pseudo-Apollodorus, Cyllene and Pelasgus had a son named Lycaon, a king of the Arcadians.[2] Otherwise, the latter's mother was either the Oceanid Meliboea[2] or Deianira, daughter of another Lycaon.[3] According to others she was Lycaon's wife instead,[4] but in others versions of the myth, his wife was called Nonacris, eponym of the Arcadian town of Nonacris.[5]
Mythology
[edit]The ancient Greeks considered Mount Cyllene, the mountain this nymph personified, to be the highest mountain range in the Peloponnese peninsula, and was sacred to Hermes who was worshipped there under the localised epithet Cyllenius.[6][7]
According to the Homeric Hymn to Hermes, the newborn Hermes stayed in a cave with his mother the Pleiad nymph Maia, but in Sophocles's lost satyr play Ichneutae ("the trackers") it was Cyllene who nurtured the infant god.[8][9] The titular satyrs, who are looking for Apollo's missing cattle (that Hermes stole) on the orders of the god, confront Cyllene who gives first an account of Zeus and Maia's amorous relationship,[10] how he deceived his wife Queen Hera in order to meet Maia and how quickly their infant is growing, scaring even her.[11]
As the sound of the lyre echoes, the satyrs marvel at the melody, and Cyllene explains to them the construction of the instrument, leaving them baffled and incredulous.[12] Cyllene, when describing the lyre Hermes invented, offers a humorous riddle, saying that the son of Zeus has granted a new voice to a body that is dead, before revealing she is talking about a dead tortoise that Hermes fashioned into a lyre.[13] The satyrs next accuse Hermes of stealing Apollo's sacred cattle; Cyllene replies that it is unthinkable to accuse a son of Zeus himself of such a petty crime, and defends Hermes by pointing out there is no tendency for theft in either the paternal or maternal side of Hermes' family.[14][a] The papyrus on which the fragmentary play is preserved breaks off as Apollo arrives at the scene, and so what happens next is not clear.
In contemporary culture
[edit]One of planet Jupiter's moons has been named Cyllene after the nymph.[15]
See also
[edit]
Footnotes
[edit]- ^ However Cyllene here forgets to account for Prometheus, Maia's uncle (and thus Hermes' great-uncle) who stole fire from the gods.[14]
Notes
[edit]- ^ Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Antiquitates Romanae 1.13.1; Suda, s.v. Kyllene (Κυλλήνη)
- ^ a b Apollodorus, 3.8.1; Tzetzes on Lycophron, 481
- ^ Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Antiquitates Romanae 1.11.2 & 1.13.1; Greek Papyri III No. 140b
- ^ Smith, s.v. Cyllene
- ^ Pausanias, 8.17.6
- ^ Olshausen, Meyer & Lafond 2006, para. 1.
- ^ Servius ad Virgil, Aeneid 4.252
- ^ Ormand 2012, p. 163.
- ^ Grimal 1987, s.v. Cyllene.
- ^ Vergados 2012, p. 81.
- ^ Vergados 2012, p. 82.
- ^ Vergados 2012, p. 83.
- ^ Shaw 2014, p. 110.
- ^ a b Vergados 2012, p. 84.
- ^ "IAUC 8502: Satellites of Jupiter". March 2005. Retrieved 24 July 2025.
References
[edit]- Apollodorus, The Library with 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. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
- Dionysus of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities. English translation by Earnest Cary in the Loeb Classical Library, 7 volumes. Harvard University Press, 1937-1950. Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site
- Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Antiquitatum Romanarum quae supersunt, Vol I-IV. . Karl Jacoby. In Aedibus B.G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1885. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Grimal, Pierre (1987). The Dictionary of Classical Mythology. Translated by A. R. Maxwell-Hyslop. New York, USA: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-13209-0.
- Maurus Servius Honoratus, In Vergilii carmina comentarii. Servii Grammatici qui feruntur in Vergilii carmina commentarii; recensuerunt Georgius Thilo et Hermannus Hagen. Georgius Thilo. Leipzig. B. G. Teubner. 1881. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Olshausen, Eckart; Meyer, Ernst; Lafond, Yves (2006). "Cyllene". In Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth (eds.). Brill's New Pauly. Translated by Francis G. Gentry. Stuttgart, Zürich, Bochum: Brill Reference Online. doi:10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e625820. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
- Ormand, Kirk (2012). A Companion to Sophocles. Wiley Blackwell. ISBN 978-1-119-02553-5.
- Shaw, Carl (2014). Satyric Play: The Evolution of Greek Comedy and Satyr Drama. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-995094-2.
- Smith, William, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. London. John Murray: printed by Spottiswoode and Co., New-Street Square and Parliament Street.
- Vergados, Athanassios (2012). The "Homeric Hymn to Hermes": Introduction, Text and Commentary. De Gruyter. ISBN 9783110259704.