Graeae

This article is about Greek mythology. For the British organization, see Graeae Theatre Company.
Not to be confused with Graea.
"Deino" redirects here. For the Pokémon, see Deino (Pokémon). For the prefix "deino-", see List of commonly used taxonomic affixes.
Perseus Returning the Eye of the Graiai by Henry Fuseli

In Greek mythology the Graeae (/ˈɡri/; English translation: "old women", "grey ones", or "grey witches"; alternatively spelled Graiai (Γραῖαι) and Graiae), also called the Grey Sisters, and the Phorcides ("daughters of Phorcys"),[1] were three sisters who shared one eye and one tooth among them. Their names were Deino (or Dino), Enyo, and Pemphredo (or Pephredo).

Etymology

The word Graeae is probably derived from the adjective γραῖα graia "old woman", derived from the PIE root *ǵerh2-/*ǵreh2-, "to grow old" via Proto-Greek *gera-/grau-iu.[2]

Mythology

The Graeae were daughters of the sea-deities Phorcys and Ceto, (from which their name the Phorcydes derived), and sisters to the Gorgons.[3] The Graeae took the form of old grey-haired women; though, at times poets euphemistically described them as "beautiful." In other legends they are described as being half-swan. Their age was so great that a human childhood for them was hardly conceivable.

Hesiod names only two Graeae, the "well-clad" Pemphredo (Πεμφρηδώ "alarm") and the "saffron-robed" Enyo (Ἐνυώ "horror" the "waster of cities" who also had an identity separate from this sisterhood);[4] Pseudo-Apollodorus added Deino (Δεινώ "dread", the dreadful anticipation of horror) as a third.[5] Calling them Phorcides, Hyginus, in addition to Pemphredo and Enyo, adds Persis noting that "for this last others say Dino".[6]

They shared one eye and one tooth, which they took turns using. By stealing their eye while they were passing it amongst themselves, the hero Perseus forced them to tell the whereabouts of the three objects needed to kill Medusa (in other versions the whereabouts of Medusa herself), by ransoming their shared eye for the information.[3] One might compare the Graeae with the three spinners of Destiny, (the Moirai); the northern European Norns; or the Baltic goddess Laima and her two sisters; though all are distinct trios.

Family Tree

Main article: Greek sea gods
Gaia
PontusThalassa
NereusThaumasPhorcysCetoEurybiaThe TelchinesHaliaAphrodite [7]
EchidnaThe GorgonsThe GraeaeLadonThe HesperidesThoösa
SthenoDeino
EuryaleEnyo
Medusa[8]Pemphredo

Modern depictions

Notes

  1. Sommerstein, p. 260, in Aeschylus. Fragments; Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 790800 (pp. 530531) with n. 94; Apollodorus, 1.2.6; Hyginus, Fabulae Preface.
  2. R. S. P. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, Brill, 2009, p. 285.
  3. 1 2 Harris, Stephen L., and Gloria Platzner. Classical Mythology: Images and Insights (Third Edition). California State University, Sacramento. Mayfield Publishing Company. 2000, 1998, 1995, pp. 273–274, 1039.
  4. Hesiod, Theogony, 270-274.
  5. Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2.4.2; Pemphredo, sometimes also spelled Peuphredo (Πευφρηδώ) or Pephredo (Πεφρηδώ) (see M. Hofinger, Lexicon Hesiodeum cum Indice Inverso, p. 533.
  6. Hyginus, Fabulae Preface.
  7. There are two major conflicting stories for Aphrodite's origins: Hesiod (Theogony) claims that she was "born" from the foam of the sea after Cronus castrated Uranus, thus making her Uranus' daughter; but Homer (Iliad, book V) has Aphrodite as daughter of Zeus and Dione. According to Plato (Symposium 180e), the two were entirely separate entities: Aphrodite Ourania and Aphrodite Pandemos.
  8. Most sources describe Medusa as the daughter of Phorcys and Ceto, though the author Hyginus (Fabulae Preface) makes Medusa the daughter of Gorgon and Ceto.

References

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