In Greek mythology, Demonassa or Demonassae (Ancient Greek: Δημώνασσα) was a name attributed to five women.
- Demonassa, mother of Eurydamas and Eurytion, king of Phthia, by Irus.[1] Otherwise, Eurydamas parentage was given as Ctimenus from Dolopian Ctimene.[2]
- Demonassa, wife of King Poeas of Meliboea, by whom she bore Philoctetes.[3] Otherwise, the mother of the hero was called Methone.[4]
- Demonassa, mother of Aegialeus by Adrastus.[5]
- Demonassa, daughter of Amphiaraus, king of Argos and Eriphyle, and thus, sister to Alcmaeon, Amphilochus, Eurydice, Alcmena[6] and Alexida.[7] She married Thersander and had a son, Tisamenus.[8]
Namesake
In his Περί Τύχης Δεύτερος (On Fortune II) discourse, Greek orator, Dion Chrysostom, tells the story of a Cypriot stateswoman and lawgiver by that name. She enacted three strict laws, the first, if a woman was guilty of adultery her hair should be cut off and she should become a prostitute, the second, whoever commits suicide shall be cast out without a burial and the third law forbade the slaughter of a plough-ox with death of the perpetrator as punishment. Demonassa had three children, a daughter and two sons and each of them transgressed one of the laws their mother had enacted. Unable to live with her grief but also respecting her own laws, she leaped into molten copper [9][10]
Notes
- ^ Hyginus, Fabulae 14
- ^ Apollonius Rhodius, 1.67
- ^ Hyginus, Fabulae 102
- ^ Eustathius ad Homer, p. 323
- ^ Hyginus, Fabulae 71
- ^ Pausanias, 5.17.8
- ^ Plutarch, Quaestiones Graecae 23
- ^ Pausanias, 9.5.15
- ^ "LacusCurtius • Dio Chrysostom — Discourse 64". penelope.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2019-01-11.
- ^ "Dio Chrysostom, Orationes, *p*e*r*i *t*u*x*h*s *d*e*u*t*e*r*o*s., section 2". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2019-01-11.
References
- 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.
- Gaius Julius Hyginus, Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
- Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus, Moralia with an English Translation by Frank Cole Babbitt. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. London. William Heinemann Ltd. 1936. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
- Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. ISBN 0-674-99328-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
- Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.