General Notes

[FAMILY.FTW]

EURYTHOE was a daughter of Danaus and, according to some, the mother of Hippodameia by Oenomaus. Hippodameia's mother was more frequently called Sterope. [Apollonius Rhodius 1.752; Tzetzes on Lycophron 156.]



MAIA was the eldest of the Pleiades. As daughter of Atlas and Pleione, she was sometimes called either Atlantis or Pleias. One account called her a daughter of Atlas and Sterope, his own daughter. She was visited in a cave on Mount Cyllene in Arcadia by Zeus and became the mother of Hermes, one of the Olympian gods. He was surnamed Cyllenius from his birthplace. That is the extent of what we know of Maia. After Zeus had his affair with Callisto and she was changed into a bear, the baby, Arcas, was carried to Maia to be brought up. In a manner of speaking, he was her stepson, but so were scores of other sons of Zeus. Maia is famous through her son, for her presence is felt in the nursery adventures of the god of thieves. Hermes escaped from his cradle and went to Pieria, carrying off some of Apollo's oxen, but was forgiven when he invented the lyre from a tortoise shell. He became the messenger of the other gods, and was notorious for his ingenuity and cunning. We lose sight of Maia after Hermes became adult. She was not even mentioned in the upbringing of Dionysus, in which Hermes took a part. The Romans had a divinity called Maia, or Majesta, who was sometimes considered the wife of Vulcan, largely because a priest of Vulcan offered a sacrifice to her on May 1. Later, she became identified with the Greek Maia and was called the mother of Mercury. [Homeric Hymn to Hermes 3,17; Hesiod, Theogony 938; Apollodorus 3.10.2,8.2; Horace, Odes 1.10.1, 2.42; Macrobius, Saturnalia 1.12; Gellius 13.22; Servius on Virgil's Aeneid 8.130; Pausanias 8.17.1.]

STEROPE was one of the Pleiades, daughter of Atlas and Pleione. Like her sister Merope she married a mortal. He was Oenomaus, son of Ares and Harpinna, and king of Pisa in Elis. Sterope's children by Oenomaus were Leucippus, Hippodameia, and Alcippe. One writer also listed Dysponteus, who founded the city of Dyspontium. Sterope suffered the loss of Leucippus. He fell in love with a nymph who followed Artemis. He could find no other way to be near her, so he dressed as a maiden and became close friends with her. He was found out, however, and killed by her companions. Alcippe married Euenus, who unhappily imitated his father-in-law and forced contenders for the hand of their daughter Marpessa to compete with him in a chariot race. When Hippodameia grew up, reports of her beauty attracted many suitors. Oenomaus took a dim view of the, since he was in love with his daughter. We do not know whether or not Sterope was aware of this development. Onenomaus agreed to give Hippodameia to anyone who could beat him in a chariot race, but the price of losing was death to the contender. In spite of the grim probability of death, about 20 young men came forward and failed. Sterope and her daughters must have been horrified by the severed heads of recent losers strung over the doorway. Finally Pelops defeated Oenomaus, who died in the contest. He married Hippodameia and assumed Oenomaus' kindom. That meant that Sterope had a choice of remaining with them or going elsewhere. It is difficult to consider Sterope's story as Oenomaus' wife together with the story of the collective Pleiades, who were said by some to have been changed into doves when pursued by Orion or into stars as a result of grief for their father's punishment by Zeus. Several other Pleiades had independent lives as well, so their metamorphosis must be considered as having come about after their separate careers had ended. Sterope was called by some the mother of Oenomaus by Ares, which would have concurred with the statement that only one of the Pleiades married a mortal. To support this contention, the wife of Oenomaus was by some called Euarete or Eurythoe. [Apollodorus 3.10.1; Pausanias 5.10.5,22.5, 6.21.6.]