Korkyra (mythology)
| Corcyra | |
|---|---|
 Corcyra (or Hera) on the relief of the Corcyra-Athens alliance, 375 BC, Acropolis Museum | |
| Abode | Corfu |
| Genealogy | |
| Parents | |
| Consort | Poseidon |
| Children | Phaeax |
In Greek mythology and religion, Corcyra (/kɔːrˈsaɪərə/) or Korkyra (/kɔːrˈkaɪərə/; Ancient Greek: Κόρκυρα, romanized: Kórkura) is the naiad daughter of the river-god Asopos[1] and the nymph Metope, herself the daughter of the river-god Ladon.[2] She is the personification and tutelary goddess of the ancient Greek city and island of Korkyra, now better known as Corfu.
Family
[edit]Korykra was the sister of Pelasgus (Pelagon[3]), Ismenus, Chalcis, Cleone, Salamis, Sinope, Aegina, Peirene, Thebe, Tanagra, Thespia, Asopis, Ornea,[4] Harpina,[5] Antiope,[6] Nemea[7] and Plataea[8] (Oeroe[9]).
Mythology
[edit]According to myth, Poseidon fell in love with the beautiful nymph Korkyra, kidnapped her and brought her to a hitherto unnamed island (Scheria[10]) and offered her name to the place: Korkyra or the now-modern Kerkyra (known in English as Corfu, a name that is unrelated by origin).
"Next after them they came to Corcyra, where Poseidon settled the daughter of Asopus, fair-haired Corcyra, far from the land of Phlious, whence he had carried her off through love; and sailors beholding it from the sea, all black with its sombre woods, call it Corcyra the Black."[11]
Together they had a child Phaeax after whom the inhabitants of the island, Phaiakes, were named; their name was later transliterated in Latinate orthography to Phaeacians.[12]
Notes
[edit]- ^ Bacchylides, fr. 9; Corinna, fr. 654 (trans. Campbell); Apollonius Rhodius, 4.568; Pausanias, 2.5.2 & 5.22.6
- ^ Diodorus Siculus, 4.72.1
- ^ Apollodorus, 3.12.6
- ^ Diodorus Siculus, 4.72.1
- ^ Diodorus Siculus, 4.73.1; Pausanias, 5.22.6
- ^ Pausanias, 2.6.1 & 2.6.4
- ^ Pausanias, 2.15.3 & 5.22.6
- ^ Pausanias, 9.1.1–2 & 9.3.1
- ^ Pausanias, 9.4.4
- ^ Pausanias, 2.5.2
- ^ Apollonius of Rhodes, 4.566–571
- ^ Bacchylides, fr. 9; Corinna, fr. 654 (trans. Campbell); Diodorus Siculus, 4.72.3; Pausanias, 5.22.6
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.
- Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica translated by Robert Cooper Seaton (1853-1915), R. C. Loeb Classical Library Volume 001. London, William Heinemann Ltd, 1912. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
- Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica. George W. Mooney. London. Longmans, Green. 1912. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History translated by Charles Henry Oldfather. Twelve volumes. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59–8. Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site
- Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888–1890. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.