In Greek mythology, Hermione (/hɜːrˈmaɪ.əni/;[1] Ancient Greek: Ἑρμιόνη, romanized: Hermiónē [hermi.ónɛː]) was the daughter of Menelaus, king of Sparta, and his wife, Helen of Troy.[2] Prior to the Trojan War, Hermione had been betrothed by Tyndareus, her grandfather,[3] to her cousin Orestes, son of her uncle, Agamemnon. According to Apollodorus, she was nine years old when her mother eloped with Paris, son of the Trojan king Priam.[4]
During the war, Menelaus promised her to Achilles' son, Neoptolemus.[5] After the war ended, he sent Hermione away to the city of Phthia (the home of Peleus and Achilles), where Neoptolemus was staying. The two were married, yet, soon afterwards, Neoptolemus traveled to Delphi to exact vengeance against Apollo for having caused his father's death, only to be killed there. With Neoptolemus dead, Hermione was free to marry Orestes, with whom she had a son, Tisamenus.
Mythology
Ancient poets disagree over whether Menelaus was involved in both betrothals. Euripides has Orestes say:
In art and literature
Notes
- ↑ "Hermione". Dictionary.com Unabridged (Online). n.d. Retrieved 2016-01-22.
- ↑ Homer, Odyssey 4.2–14
- ↑ "wise Tyndareus, a man of sober life and many long years gave me to you" — Ovid, Heroides 8. Hermione's letter to Orestes.
- ↑ Apollodorus, Bibliotheke, Epitome 3.3
- ↑ Homer, Odyssey 4.5–7
- ↑ "Ovid (43 BC–17) - The Heroides: VIII to XV". poetryintranslation.com.
- ↑ Euripides, Andromache
- ↑ Emilio Suárez de la Torre, "Neoptolemos at Delphi", Kernos, 10 | 1997, 153-176.
- ↑ Apollodorus, Epitome 6.25
- ↑ Homer, Odyssey 4.554-565
- ↑ J.B. Bury, Pindar: Nemean Odes (Amsterdam: Adolf M. Hakkert, 1965), 199.
- ↑ Skolion 894. Taken from Nagy 1999: 197.
References
- 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.
- Euripides, Andromache with an English translation by David Kovacs. Cambridge. Harvard University Press. 1994. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
- Homer, The Odyssey with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, PH.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919. ISBN 978-0674995611. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
- Publius Ovidius Naso, The Epistles of Ovid. London. J. Nunn, Great-Queen-Street; R. Priestly, 143, High-Holborn; R. Lea, Greek-Street, Soho; and J. Rodwell, New-Bond-Street. 1813. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Publius Ovidius Naso. Amores, Epistulae, Medicamina faciei femineae, Ars amatoria, Remedia amoris. Edition by R. Ehwald; Rudolphi Merkelii; Leipzig. B. G. Teubner. 1907. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Ἑρμιόνη, Georg Autenrieth, A Homeric Dictionary, on Perseus project
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