General Notes

    [FAMILY.FTW]

    ACACALLIS was a daughter of Minos and Pasiphae. While she has not shared the fame of her sisters Ariadne and Phaedra, she did lead a most interesting life. She had children by the two handsomest of the Olympian gods and even by the father of the gods. Acacallis was Apollo's first love. With his sister Artemis he came to Tarrha from Aegialae on the mainland for purification after slaying the moster Python. Apollo stayed at the house of Carmanor, where he found Acacallis, a maternal relative of Carmanor; it was not long until he seduced her. Some say Minos banished Acacallis to Libya, where she became the mother of Ammon by Zeus. By Apollo she had two more sons, Amphithemis and Garamas. Amphithemis became the father of Nasamon and Caphaurus, or Cephalion, by the nymph Tritonis. Of Garamas little is known. Some say he was born in Libya when Acacallis fled there, but others say he was the first man ever to be born and therefore from a much earlier era. Acacallis became the mother of Cydon by Hermes (others say the father was Apollo, and still others that it was Tegeates). Cydon grew up to found the town of Cydonia (modern Hania) in Crete. Some say that Acacallis had still another son (no father mentioned), Oaxus, or Oaxes, in Crete. Others say he was a son of Apollo by Anchiale. In Crete Acacallis was a common name for narcissus. Apollodorus (3.1.2) calls this daughter of Minos Acalle. [Pausanias 7.2.3, 8.53.2; Plutarch, Agis 9; Apollonius Rhodius 4.1490; Apollodorus 3.1.2; Stephanus Byzantium, "Oaxos"; Athenaeus 15.681; Hesychius, "Akakallis."]

    ADRASTEIA (1), Adrastea, or Adrastia was a daughter of King Melisseus and Amaltheia of Crete. When Rhea was pregnant with Zeus, she left Arcadia and went to Crete. She delivered him in a cave on Mount Dicte, then gave him to Adrasteia to rear. In this office Adrasteia was assissted by her sister Ida and by the Curetes, whom a commentator on Callimachus called her brothers. They fed the infant Zeus on the milk of the goat Amaltheia, and the bees of the mountain provided him with honey. This would have been an awesome experience and responsibility for two simple mountain nymphs, as they are usually described. Being daughters of a king rather changes the effect, but we have to wonder how they explained their absence from home. Maybe the king was privy to the undertaking, or perhaps his wife Amaltheia wet-nursed the baby and was somehow confused with the goat. The princess role, however, makes more sense when we read in Apollonius Rhodius (3.132) that Adrasteia gave to the infant Zeus a beautiful globe (sphaira) to play with. On some Cretan coins Zeus was represented sitting on a globe.
    [Apollodorus 1.1.6; Callimachus, Hymn to Zeus 47; Diodorus Siculus 5.70; Ovid, Fasti 5.115.]

    AEDON (1) was another case of an evil plan backfiring and plunging its perpetrator into tragedy. Aedon was a daughter of Pandareos of Ephesus. According to Homer (Odyssey 19.517), she was the wife of Zethus, king of Thebes, and the mother of Itylus. Zethus' twin brother, Amphion, was married to Niobe; by her he fathered six sons and six daughters. Aedon was insanely envious of Niobe, since she herself had but one son. She eventually devised a plot to kill Amaleus, one of Niobe's sons, but in the dark mistook her own son for her nephew and killed him. One writer adds that she did kill Amaleus, then killed Itylus from fear of Niobe. It is not further explained how this would make a difference, but it may be that such an action might prove her insane and perhaps spare her own life. In any cas, Aedon was so grief-stricken that Zeus took pity on her and changed her into a nightingale, whose melancholy song recalls her lamentations for Itylus. Aedon was the word for nightingale in Attic Greek. Robert Graves in his Greek Myths calls the intended victim Sipylus, not Amaleus. While Sipylus was said to be the eldest son of Amphion and Niobe, there is no evidence that he was connected with the Aedon story. Graves also refers to Aedon as the sister of Niobe. Astute readers will recognize in this story some of the elements of the myth of Procne and Philomela. The name of the slain son, Itys, is almost the same, and one of the sisters was changed into a nightingale, which to this day mourns the death of Itys.
    [Eustathius on Homer's Odyssey 1875.]

    AEDON (2) was, according to Antoninus Liberalis (11), the wife of Polytechnus, an artist of Colophon. When she boasted that she lived more happily with her husband than Hera with Zeus, in revenge Hera ordered Eris, the goddess of discord, to induce Aedon to enter into a contest with her husband. Polytechnus was at that time engaged in making a chariot and Aedon a piece of embroidery, and they agreed that whoever finished their work first would receive from the other a female slave as the prize. When Aedon won the contest, Polytechnus went to his wife's father and told him that Aedon was eager to see her sister Chelidonis, and took her with him. On his way home he raped her, dressed her in slave's attire, threatened her into absolute silence, and gave her to his wife as the promised prize. After some time, thinking she was alone, Chelidonis lamented her fate. She was overheard by Aedon, and the two sisters conspired against Polytechnus. They killed his son Itys, whom they served to Polytechnus for dinner. Aedon fled with Chelidonis to her father who, when Polytechnus came in pursuit, had him bound, smeared with honey, and exposed to ants and other insects. Aedon then took pity on him, and her relatives were about to kill her for her display of mercy. About this time, Zeus changed Polytechnus into a pelican, her father into a sea eagle, Chelidonis into a swallow, and Aedon herself into a nightingale. This story is almost identical to that of Procne and Philomela.


    CALLIOPE was one of the nine Muses. As Muse of epic poetry she appears with a tablet and stylus, and sometimes with a scroll. Although she shared a great deal in common with her eight sisters and joined them most of the time in dancing and singing on Olympus and in their sacred groves on Mount Helicon, she led a most interesting private life. She was called at one time or another the mother of the Corybantes by Zeus, of Hymen by Apollo, of Ialemus by Apollo, of Linus by Apollo, of Rhesus by the Strymon River, of the Sirens, and of Orpheus by Oeagrus. It makes good sense that she was considered the mother of these famous poets and musicians (except for Rhesus). Hymen was the god of marriage and the author of the songs performed at weddings. Ialemus was the inventor of a special kind of song sung on melancholy occasions. Linus was the personification of lamentation; he invented dirges and songs in general. Orpheus was the most famous poet and musician who ever lived. The Corybantes were the attendants of Rhea Cybele and accompanied her with wild dancing and music. The Sirens, of course, were the women with beutiful voices who lured sailors to their death with their songs. As for Rhesus, the Thracian prince who went to the Trojan War, there is little reason for assigning him a Muse for a mother, and it seems this was done by later writers perhaps to lend poetic enhancement to his early and tragic death. Calliope also took a fancy to Achilles and taught him how to cheer his friends by singing at banquets. She was called by Zeus to mediate the quarrel between Aphrodite and Persephone over possession of Adonis. She settled the dispute by giving them equal time, providing Adonis some much-needed free time to himself. Calliope is somehow easier to picture than the other Muses, with the possible exception of Terpsichore. One can think of a voluptuous woman with a beautiful face and a pleasant manner. In spite of being credited with mournful sons who met unhappy ends, she may even be conceived as light-spirited. [Hesiod, Theogony 77; Philostratus, Heroicus 19.2; Hyginus, Fables 14, Poetic Astronomy 2.7; Catullus 61.2; Nonnos, Dionysiaca 33.67; Apollodorus 1.3.2,4; Pausanias 1.43.7, 2.19.7; Conon, Narrations 45; Apollonius Rhodius 1.23; Servius on Virgil's Aeneid 5.364; Zenobius 4.39.]

    CALYCE was a daughter of Aeolus and Enarete. Her family tree produced some of the greatest heroes and heroines in mythology, since her brothers were Cretheus, Sisyphus, Athamas, Salmoneus, Deion, Magnes, Perieres, and Macareus. She did well in her own right. She married Aethlius, son of Zeus and Protogeneia and grandson of Deucalion. By him she became the mother of the famous Endymion, who was not only the lover of the moon goddess Selene but also king of Elis and ancestor of the Aetolians, Epeians, and Paeonians. By report, she had 50 half-immortal granddaughters by the union of Selene with her sleeping son, but this phenomenon is discussed elsewhere. [Apollodorus 1.7.2,3.5; Pausanias 5.1.2,8.1, 10.31.2.]

    CLYMENE was one of the Oceanides, a daughter of Oceanus and Tethys. By her uncle Iapetus she was the mother of Atlas, Prometheus, Menoetius, and Epimetheus. Iapetus was regarded as the ancestor of the human race, although it was his son Prometheus who fashioned men out of clay. It is to be expected that there was confusion in the genealogies of the beings involved in setting up the world. Clymene was also called the mother by Prometheus of Hellen and Deucalion. This mother/son liason would not be particularly usual in the confusing descent of the gods, but Prometheus' wife was usually called Celaeno. Somewhere along the way, probably after the confinement of Iapetus in Tartarus with other Titans, Clymene married Merops, a king of the Ethiopians. Clymene was unfaithful to him and gave herself to her cousin (and brother-in-law) Helios, the sun. By him she had the Heliades and Phaethon.
    Clymene's children were pivotal in the contest of the gods against the Titans and in the development of the human race. Atlas and Menoetius were both punished for their roles in the conflict with the Olympians. Atlas was condemned to bear the heavens on his head and shoulders, but not before he became father of the Pleiades, the Hyades, the Hesperides, and other beings. Menoetius was struck by Zeus with a thunderbolt and thrown into Tartarus. Prometheus and Epimetheus were the parents of Deucalion and Pyrrha, respectively, and these offspring were responsible for repopulating the earth after the great flood. For going contrary to the will of Zeus in regard to the human race, Prometheus was punished atop Mount Caucasus by having his liver pecked out daily by an eagle and having it restored each successive day. Pandora, the wife of Epimetheus, let loose all the troubles of the world by opening a forbidden chest. Phaethon, the son of Clymene and Helios, almost caused the destruction of the world. He begged his father to let him drive the chariot of the sun across heaven. He proved too weak to handle the dazzling horses, and the chariot fell toward the earth. Zeus struck him from the chariot, and he plummeted to earth. Helios recovered the reins in time to keep the earth from burning to a cinder. Phaethon's mother was also called Merope, Prote, or Rhode. [Hesiod, Theogony 351,507; Hyginus, Fables 156; Apollodorus 1.2.3; Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.763, Tristia 3.4.30.]

    ELECTRA was a daughter of Atlas and Pleione, and one of the seven Pleiades. Her story is a confusing one. Zeus fell in love with her and carried her to Olympus, a rather daring thing to do, considering the perennial jealousy of Hera. He succeeded in raping her, but she managed to escape in midrape and as a suppliant embraced the sacred Palladium, which Athena had establishe. Since she had been sullied, the divinity of her attacker notwithsanding, she was considered a defiler of the sacred object, and it was hurled from Olympus to land in Ilium (Troy), where it was revered as the city's principal security. Through her unwelcome encouter with the father of the gods, she became the mother of Iasion and Dardanus. They must have been twins, although this fact was never particularly emphasized. (According to an Italian version of her story, she was the wife of Corythus, king of Tuscia, and had Iasion by him and Dardanus later by Zeus.) When Dardanus and Iasion migrated to Samothrace from Arcadia (or Italy or Crete), they carried the Palladium with them. This is contrary to the story of its celestial origin, but there might have been two such images. Electra appears to have followed or accompanied her sons, for we find her on Samothrace. She was even said to have been the mother of Harmonia by Zeus in Samothrace, although Harmonia is nearly always called the daughter of Aphrodite and Ares. In keeping, though, with the accounts of the origin of the Samothracian mysteries, the presence of Harmonia appeared to be called for in establishing a connection between the Samothracian and Theban Cabeiri. It seems hardly likely that Electra voluntarily would have submitted Zeus after her first unfortunate experience with him. Thoroughly instructed in the mysteries by Demeter, his lover, Iasion passed on their knowledge to numerous heroes. He later married Cybele, according to some. Dardanus went to the Troad and was hospitably received by Teucer, the king of the region, who gave him part of the kingdom and his daughter Bateia. He built the city of Dardania (later Troy) and initiated the inhabitants into the mysteries of the gods of Samothrace. He introduce3d the cult of Cybele into Phrygia. Electra went with him to the Troad, and she brought the Palladium along from Samothrace. Again we have a conflicting account. Here is the very person who allegedly contaminated the Olympian Palladium, so that it was cast out of heaven, now bringing it to the city whose site was determined by the landing place in the earlier account. Apparently there needed to be an explanation fror the introduction of the mysteries into Troy. Although the Palladium was connected with Athena, who had no strong role in the mysteries, its function of guaranteeing the safety of the city was perhaps given more credibility by having Dardanus and Electra heavily involved in worship of the Cabeiri. Electra remained in Troy until its fall, according to some writers. Even though the Pleiades had a kind of second-class immortality, being daughters of a Titan, this would have made Electra well over 100 years old. According to the story, she watched the city founded by her son perishing in flames and tore out her hair in grief; she was placed among the stars as a comet. Other accounts say she and her sisters were already among the stars as the seven Pleiades and that Electra's brilliancy dimmed when Ilium was destroyed. [Apollodorus 3.10.1, 12.1.3; Servius on Virgil's Aeneid 1.32,384, 2.325, 3.167, 7.207, 10.272; Tzetzes on Lycophron 29; Diodorus Siculus 5.48; Scholiast on Euripides' Phoenician Maidens 1136; Eustathius on Homer's Iliad 1155.]

    HARMONIA, one of the inspired conceptions of some long-forgotten writer, was a tribute to the ability of the Greeks to create an ideal balance. She was the daughter of Love (Aphrodite) and War (Ares). Her brothers were Deimos (Terror) and Phobos (Fear), both mainly thought of in terms of war. Again, as if to balance things, some called Eros and Anteros full brothers as well, but in any case they were half-brothers. After Cadmus founded Thebes, Zeus gave him Harmonia as a wife. This was a union favored by all the gods and goddesses of Olympus, especially Athena, who was the self-appointed protectress of Cadmus. All the Olympians attended the wedding, and rich presents were give, the most opulent being a necklace of exquisite design studded with precious stones. Fashioned for him by Hephaestus, the was the groom's gift to the bride, along with a handsome peplus, or robe. Some said the necklace was presented to her by Aphrodite or Athena. Some said Cadmus had received it from his sister Europa, who had earlier received it from Zeus, but this would make no sense, since Cadmus never saw Europa again after her abduction. In fact, his fruitless search for her had resulted in his founding Thebes. This beautiful jewelry, whatever its origin, came with a curse as it was passed from generation to generation. The results of its attraction culminated in the battle of the Seven against Thebes and the subsequent campaign of the Epigoni. Even in Harmonia's possession, its virulence seemed to spread like poison over the family. The children of Harmonia by Cadmus were Autonoe, Ino, Semele, Agave, and Polydorus. While they were small, Harmonia seemed to lead a rather idyllic life. Undeniably immortal herself, she spent time in the company of other immortals such as the Charites (Graces), Hebe (the goddess of youth), the Horae (Seasons), the Muses, Apollo, and her mother Aphrodite. Some even claimed that the Charites were her daughters by Zeus, who was already her grandfather and later would become her son-in-law as well. The mellow life enjoyed by Harmonia came to an end when her daughters grew up. Ino's husband went insane and tried to kill her, but she leapt into the sea and became a sea divinity. Autonoe married the god Aristaeus, but he left her when their son Actaeon was turned into a stag, then killed and eaten by his hunting dogs. Semele was burned alive when she forced her lover Zeus to appear to her in his full splendor. He managed to save the child she was carrying, which turned out to be Dionysus. This grandchild did not help things when later he converted his aunts to his worship. One day the three of them got drunk and, mistaking him for a wild beast, tore Agave's son, Pentheus, apart with their bare hands. Only Polydorus, the son, turned out reasonably well, if we do not dwell on the fact that he was the great-grandfather of Oedipus. Cadmus and Harmonia left Thebes even before the death of Pentheus. Their leaving has never been explained; perhaps the tragedies of the other daughters caused them to go to a remote place. There was a prophecy among the Enchelean people in northern Greece that if Cadmus would lead them against their enemies, the Illyrians, the would be victorious. Cadmus did so, and the prophecy was fulfilled. He and Harmonia then ruled in Illyria. Although grandparents, they produced another son, Illyrius. Afterward, the gods changed them into dragons and transported them to Elysium, or the Isles of the Blessed. A variation of this account calls Harmonia the daughter of Zeus and Electra, daughter of Atlas. She was therefore sister to Dardanus and Iasion. She and her brothers lived on the island of Samothrace, where they had gone from Arcadia. When Cadmus went there searching for Europa, he fell in love with Harmonia. In this version also, the gods smiled on the marriage and attended the wedding celebration on Samothrace. Then Cadmus took Harmonia to Thebes, and the two stories merged at that point. The second version might have arisen in conjunction with the strong Cabeirian influence in Theban worship (the Cabeiri were the divinities worshipped on the islands of Lemnos and Samothrace). Dardanus and Iasion taught the mysteries in the Aegean and Asia Minor, and it would seem appropriate that Harmonia introduced them on the Greek mainland. [Apollodorus 3.4.2,5.4; Diodorus Siculus 1.68,4.48; Pindar, Pythian Odes 3.94,167; Statius, Thebaid 2.266; Euripides, Bacchanals 1233,1350; Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.562-602; Pausanias 9.5.1,12.3; Hyginus, Fables 6,184,240; Ptolemaeus Hephaestion 1; Apollonius Rhodius 4.517.]

    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.]

    PANDORA over the centuries has become a kind of equivalent of Eve, the first created woman. Much blame was assigned to both because of a foolish mistake (provided we remove the element of destiny). Pandora, whose name literally meant All Gifts, came into being when Zeus had her created by the master artisan Hephaestus to punish Prometheus for stealing fire from heaven. Right there we have an anomaly, since the theft of fire presupposed an already existing population of the earth. But perhaps only males existed at that point, and Zeus had other ideas for propagation. It is interesting that he saw the creation of a woman as a punishment. Whatever the reason, Pandora was created as the first woman, and all the gods came forward to endow her with gifts. Aphrodite gave her beauty, Hermes gave her cunning, and other gods and goddesses gave her various powers that Zeus had calculated to bring about the ruin of man. Finally he had Hermes deliver her to Epimetheus, the not-so-bright brother of Prometheus. Epimetheus was utterly charmed by this marvelous creation, although he had been warned by Prometheus never to accept a gift from Zeus. He forgot his promise to his brother to think before acting, because Aphrodite's gift had certainly included the ability of Pandora to give her husband ultimate sexual pleasure. Life was happy for Pandora and especially so for Epimetheus. But already destiny was at work. In the house was a covered earthen vessel (or box or chest) that either had been placed in the safekeeping of Epimetheus or given to Pandora along with other gifts. In either case it was forbidden to open it. But its unknown contents plagued Pandora (she had been given curiosity along with everything else). One day while Epimetheus was away, she could stand the temptation no longer and peeked into the vessel. She found out soon enough why she should not have opened the pot, for out swarmed all the calamities of mankind--from tidal waves to premature balding. It was too late to stop them as they spread out through the window and across the world. Pandora dropped the lid back in time to prevent the excape of the final occupant of the vessel. This was Elpis, and no matter how bad things became for people then and in the future, there was always hope. Pandora became the mother of Pyrrha by Epimetheus. Pyrrha married Deucalion, son of Prometheus, and these two people repopulated the earth when Zeus, finally disgusted with man, sent a flood to wipe out the human race. There is no record of Pandora's final history. It is not really certain whether or not she was considered immortal. In later writings she became associated with infernal divinities such as Hecate, Persephone, and the Erinyes.
    In one or two versions of the allegory, Pandora brought the fatal vessel Epimetheus and, using her newly fashioned wiles, prevaied upon him to open it. It is interesting to observe the parallel of this story to that of Eve in the garden of Eden urging Adam to taste the forbidden apple. Some said the vessel contained only benefits for mankind, but these were allowed to escape. In any case, the result was intended to be the same. The birth of Pandora was represented on the pedestal of the statue of Athena in the Parthenon. [Hesiod, Theogony 571, Works and Days 30,50,96; Hyginus, Fables 142; Apollodorus 1.7.2; Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.350; Orphica, Argonautica 974.]

    PLEIONE was one of the Oceanides and mother of the Pleiades by Atlas. Atlas was the son of Iapetus and Clymene, and leader of the Titans in the war against Zeus and the Olympians. He was condemned to bear the heavens on his head and shoulders. Pleione had to share him with Aethra, who according to some, became the mother of the Hyades and Hesperides by him. He had children by other women as well. The Pleiades mated with gods for the most part, but interestingly only one of Pleione's grandchildren--Hermes--was one of the immortal Olympian gods. An interesting question might be why he was different, since Zeus, his father, had sons by two of the other Pleiades. [Apollodorus 3.10.1; Diodorus Siculus 4.27; Scholiast on Homer's Iliad 18.486, Odyssey 5.272; Hyginus, Fables 192,248.]

    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.]

    TAYGETE, from whom Mount Taygetus in Laconia derived its name, was one of the Pleiades. By Zeus she became the mother of Lacedaemon, even though she fled from the god's embraces. Artemis tried to help by changing her into a cow, but Zeus found no problem with cows, bears, geese, swans, or other animals, and the question would really be one of whether he was willing to wait for Taygete to resume her original form or go right ahead with what was at hand. Whichever she chose, Lacedaemon was conceived. Still, Taygete felt obliged to Artemis and presented her with the famous Ceryneian hind with golden antlers that Heracles later captured as one of his labors. Lacedaemon became king of the region of his same name. He founded the sanctuary of the Charites between Sparta and Amyclae. Taygete was also called by some the mother of Eurotas by Myles. His mother was more oftern called Cleochareia.
    [Apollodorus 3.10.1,3; Pausanias 3.1.2,18.7,20.2; Stephanus Byzantium, "Taygeton"; Scholiast on Pindar's Olympian Odes 3.53; Hyginus, Fables 9,82; Ovid, Metamorphoses 6.174.]