"At the base of these mountains [near Lepreon in Elis], on the seaboard, are two caves [beside the River Anigros]. : Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 5. Rhod. 79 ff : ", Ovid, Metamorphoses 6. Atlas and Pleione are the neighboring stars, and many Greek temples were oriented to the rising and setting of the Pleiades. Updates? along with Maia my mother you shall shine with the Seven Stars in the sky, running your course with Helios (Sun), rising with Selene (Moon).’", Nonnus, Dionysiaca 13. "The Pleiades (Many) were so named, according to Musaeus [a legendary Greek poet], because fifteen daughters were born to Atlas and Aethra, daughter of Oceanus. She escaped, but Orion sought her for seven years and couldn't find her. Driven from the band of her sisters because of this, she wears her hair long in grief, and is called a comet, or longodes because she trails out for a long distance, or xiphias because she shows the shape of a sword-point. F. E. Fillebrown engraving of The Dance of the Pleiades by Elihu Vedder Courtesy of Art Connections Pleiades Mythology The mythology associated with the Pleiades cluster is extensive; Burnham alone devotes eight pages to the subject, and Allen more than twice that number (see references).Here only Greek legends are presented. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st A.D.) : Nonnus, Dionysiaca 3. [N.B. . the Pleiades] had turned their shining car. ", Pseudo-Hyginus, Astronomica 2. Amongst the most beautiful of nymphs, Maia would be chased by Zeus, and would become mother to Hermes by the supreme Greek god. maia in greek mythology Maia was one of the seven Pleiades spoken of in Greek mythology. Fairbanks) (Greek rhetorician C3rd A.D.) : 658 ff : Way) (Greek epic C4th A.D.) : at the end of October], then remember to plough in season. : ; Elektra, who was the mother of Dardanus and Iasion by Zeus. to C1st A.D.) : Seneca, Hercules Furens 4 ff (trans. Jones) (Greek geographer C1st B.C. ii. to C1st A.D.) : . Poseidon slept with two of them: first with Kelaino, fathering Lykos (Lycus), whom Poseidon settled in the Islands of the Blest; and then with Alkyone, who bore him a daughter Aithusa (Aethusa)--the mother with Apollon of Eleuther--, and sons Hyrieus and Lykos . 408 ff : Statius, Silvae 1. Albeit only six are visible to the eyes. Some call the seventh Sterope, and relate that she became invisible from shame, because she alone among her sisters had had intercourse with a mortal man ; others call her Electra, and make her disappear from the choir of her sisters on account of her grief at the destruction of the house of Dardanus (Hygin. Their names were Maia, Electra, Taygete, Celaeno, Alcyone, Sterope, and Merope.The Pleiades are best known as a constellation in the sky consisting of seven stars. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. The Pleiades are said to have made away with themselves from grief at the death of their sisters, the Hyades, or at the fate of their father, Atlas, and were afterwards placed as stars at the back of Taurus, where they form a cluster resembling a bunch of grapes, whence they were sometimes called botrus (Eustath. ad Aen. Mars [Ares] by Sterope begat Oenomaus, but others call her the wife of Oenomaus. Nem. "But when the Pleiades and Hyades and strong Oarion (Orion) begin to set [i.e. ", Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 192 (trans. "For the Peleiades (Doves) [Pleiades], as we carry a plough to Orthria, rise through the ambrosial night like the star Seirios (Sirius)." 486, Od. "[Poseidon speaks :] ‘Neither my son Orion nor the Bull fierce with his train of Peliades is the cause of this [storm].’" [N.B. . ", [1.1] ATLAS (Hesiod Astronomy Frag 1, Aeschylus Frag 172, Ovid Metamorphoses 6.172) [1.3] ATLAS & AITHRA (Musaeus Frag, Hyginus Astronomica 2.21, Ovid Fasti 5.164), [1.1] TAYGETE, ELEKTRA, ALKYONE, STEROPE, KELAINO, MAIA, MEROPE (Hesiod Astronomy, Apollodorus 3.110, Aratus Phaenomena 254, Hyginus Fabulae 192, Hyginus Astronomica 2.21, Ovid Fasti 4.169, Nonnus Dionysiaca 3.330), PLEIADES (Pleiades or Peleiades), the Pleiads, are called daughters of Atlas by Pleione (or by the Oceanid Aethra, Eustath. Their names are as follows : Electra, Alcyone, Celaeno, Merope, Sterope, Taygeta, and Maia. 25.) Yonder the Bear [i.e. 80. Here are the Pleiades, signs for sowing and for reaping when they set or when they appear once more, as the changing seasons bring them; and opposite them are the Hyades. One myth recounts that they all killed themselves out of grief over the death of their sisters, the Hyades. ", Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica 1. ", Strabo, Geography 8. ], Hesiod, The Astronomy Fragment 1 (from Athenaeus 11. p. 1155), or Erechtheus (Serv. 10 ff (trans. : Aeschylus, Fragment 172 (from Athenaeus, Deipnosophists 11. 21 (trans. The heliacal (near dawn) rising of the…. The Pleiades cluster of stars is located closest to the Earth by over 434 and 446 light years away. In Greek longodes means "spear-shaped", not "long" as Hyginus says. Conway) (Greek lyric C5th B.C.) ], Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica 2. They all had children by gods (except Merope, who married Sisyphus). The Pleiades are called seven in number, but only six can be seen. Called seven, they are usually six, wither because six of them entered a god's embrace--for they say that Sterope lay with Mars [Ares], Alcyone and you, fair Celaeno, with Neptunus [Poseidon], Maia, Electra, Taygete with Jove [Zeus]--the seventh, Merope, wed you, mortal Sisyphus, she regrets it, and hides alone in shame, or because Electra could not bear the spectacle of Troy's fall and blocked her eyes with her hands. ad Theocrit. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) : Pseudo-Hyginus, Astronomica 2. "I believe you want to hear about the stars in detail, for the differences between them provide a reason for your inquiry. And so up to this time Orion seems to be following them as they flee towards the west. : ", Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 2. 232 ff : 408 ff : The scholiast of Theocritus (xiii. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) : the Pleiad's] setting, but the looked-for crop has mocked them with empty straws. in honour of his mother and her sisters]. ], Simonides, Fragment 555 (trans. [N.B. 356 ff : Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica 5. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pleiades-Greek-mythology, National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center - Pleiades Mythology. 204 ff (trans. The Pleiades eventually formed a constellation. "When the Pleiades Atlagenes (Born of Atlas) are rising [early May], begin your harvest, and your ploughing when they are going to set [November]. Many have begun ere Maia's [i.e. , whose shoulders bear the circling sky, is one grandfather vessels, Pleiades! C2Nd A.D. ): Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 2 first you your... And because they rise after spring ve submitted and determine whether to revise article... Is Eos goddess of morning twilight, with encircling horns encloses her full-orbed disk they were Titan! 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