Eris - Revision history

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2006-03-23T10:34:53Z

Greek Mythology

Irlandos at 10:33, March 23, 2006

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Irlandos at 10:33, March 23, 2006

2006-03-23T10:33:39Z

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'''Eris''' ([[Greek language|Greek]] '''Ἒρις''', "Strife") is the goddess personifying that quality, her name being translated into Latin as '''Discordia'''. Her Greek opposite is [[Harmonia]], whose Latin counterpart is Concordia.

==Greek Mythology==

In [[Hesiod]]'s ''Works and Days'' 11–24, two different goddesses named Eris 'Strife' are distinguished:

:So, after all, there was not one kind of Strife alone, but all over the earth there are two. As for the one, a man would praise her when he came to understand her; but the other is blameworthy: and they are wholly different in nature.

:For one fosters evil war and battle, being cruel: her no man loves; but perforce, through the will of the deathless gods, men pay harsh Strife her honour due.

:But the other is the elder daughter of dark Night ([[Nyx]]), and the son of [[Cronus]] who sits above and dwells in the aether, set her in the roots of the earth: and she is far kinder to men. She stirs up even the shiftless to toil; for a man grows eager to work when he considers his neighbour, a rich man who hastens to plough and plant and put his house in good order; and neighbour vies with his neighbour as he hurries after wealth. This Strife is wholesome for men. And potter is angry with potter, and craftsman with craftsman, and beggar is jealous of beggar, and minstrel of minstrel.

In Hesiod's ''Theogony'' (226–232) Strife the daughter of Night is less kindly spoken of as she brings forth other personifications as her children:

:But abhorred ''Eris'' ('Strife') bare painful ''Ponos'' ('Toil/Labor'), ''[[Lethe]]'' ('Forgetfulness') and ''Limos'' ('Famine') and tearful ''Algea'' (''Pains/Sorrows''), ''Hysminai'' ('Fightings/Combats') also, ''Malchai'' ('Battles'), ''Phonoi'' ('Murders/Slaughterings'), ''Androctasiai'' ('Manslaughters'), ''Neikea'' ('Quarrels'), ''Pseudea'' ('Lies/Falsehoods'), ''Amphillogiai'' ('Disputes'), ''Dysnomia'' ('Lawlessness') and ''[[Ate]]'' ('Ruin/Folly'), all of one nature, and ''Horkos'' ('Oath') who most troubles men upon earth when anyone wilfully swears a false oath.

The other Strife is presumably she who appears in [[Homer]]'s ''[[Iliad]]'' Book 4 as sister of [[Ares]] and so presumably daughter of [[Zeus]] and [[Hera]]:

:Strife whose wrath is relentless, she is the sister and companion of murderous Ares, she who is only a little thing at the first, but thereafter grows until she strides on the earth with her head striking heaven. She then hurled down bitterness equally between both sides as she walked through the onslaught making men's pain heavier. She also has a son whom she named Strife.

Zeus sends her to rouse the [[Achaean]]s in Book 11 of the same work.

The most famous tale of Eris ('Strife') recounts her initiating the [[Trojan War]]. The goddesses [[Hera]], [[Athena]] and [[Aphrodite]] had been invited along with the rest of [[Olympus]] to the forced wedding of [[Peleus]] and [[Thetis]], who would become the parents of [[Achilles]], but Eris had been snubbed because of her troublemaking inclinations.

She therefore (in a fragment from the ''[[Kypria]]'' as part of a plan hatched by Zeus and [[Themis]]) tossed into the party the Apple of Discord, a golden apple inscribed ''Kallisti'' – "For the most beautiful one", or "To the Prettiest One" – provoking the goddesses to begin quarreling about the appropriate recipient. The hapless [[Paris]], Prince of [[Troy]], was appointed to [[Judgement of Paris|select the most beautiful]]. Greek mythological morality being what it was, each of the three goddesses immediately attempted to bribe Paris to choose her. [[Hera]] offered political power; [[Athena]] promised skill in battle; and [[Aphrodite]] tempted him with the most beautiful woman in the world: [[Helen]], wife of [[Menelaus]] of [[Sparta]]. [[Paris (mythology)| Paris]] was a red-blooded young man, and while the length of time he meditated on this problem is not recorded, he did eventually award the apple to Aphrodite.

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[[Category:Greek goddesses]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:34, March 23, 2006
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	The most famous tale of Eris ('Strife') recounts her initiating the [[Trojan War]]. The goddesses [[Hera]], [[Athena]] and [[Aphrodite]] had been invited along with the rest of [[Olympus]] to the forced wedding of [[Peleus]] and [[Thetis]], who would become the parents of [[Achilles]], but Eris had been snubbed because of her troublemaking inclinations.		The most famous tale of Eris ('Strife') recounts her initiating the [[Trojan War]]. The goddesses [[Hera]], [[Athena]] and [[Aphrodite]] had been invited along with the rest of [[Olympus]] to the forced wedding of [[Peleus]] and [[Thetis]], who would become the parents of [[Achilles]], but Eris had been snubbed because of her troublemaking inclinations.

−	She therefore (in a fragment from the ''[[Kypria]]'' as part of a plan hatched by Zeus and [[Themis]]) tossed into the party the Apple of Discord, a golden apple inscribed ''Kallisti'' – "For the most beautiful one", or "To the Prettiest One" – provoking the goddesses to begin quarreling about the appropriate recipient. The hapless [[Paris]], Prince of [[Troy]], was appointed to [[Judgement of Paris\|select the most beautiful]]. Greek mythological morality being what it was, each of the three goddesses immediately attempted to bribe Paris to choose her. [[Hera]] offered political power; [[Athena]] promised skill in battle; and [[Aphrodite]] tempted him with the most beautiful woman in the world: [[Helen]], wife of [[Menelaus]] of [[Sparta]]. [[~~Paris (mythology)\|~~ Paris]] was a red-blooded young man, and while the length of time he meditated on this problem is not recorded, he did eventually award the apple to Aphrodite.	+	She therefore (in a fragment from the ''[[Kypria]]'' as part of a plan hatched by Zeus and [[Themis]]) tossed into the party the Apple of Discord, a golden apple inscribed ''Kallisti'' – "For the most beautiful one", or "To the Prettiest One" – provoking the goddesses to begin quarreling about the appropriate recipient. The hapless [[Paris]], Prince of [[Troy]], was appointed to [[Judgement of Paris\|select the most beautiful]]. Greek mythological morality being what it was, each of the three goddesses immediately attempted to bribe Paris to choose her. [[Hera]] offered political power; [[Athena]] promised skill in battle; and [[Aphrodite]] tempted him with the most beautiful woman in the world: [[Helen]], wife of [[Menelaus]] of [[Sparta]]. [[Paris]] was a red-blooded young man, and while the length of time he meditated on this problem is not recorded, he did eventually award the apple to Aphrodite.

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:33, March 23, 2006
Line 1:		Line 1:
−	'''Eris''' ([[Greek language\|Greek]] '''~~Ἒρις~~''', "Strife") is the goddess personifying that quality, her name being translated into Latin as '''Discordia'''. Her Greek opposite is [[Harmonia]], whose Latin counterpart is Concordia.	+	'''Eris''' ([[Greek language\|Greek]] '''Έρις''', "Strife") is the goddess personifying that quality, her name being translated into Latin as '''Discordia'''. Her Greek opposite is [[Harmonia]], whose Latin counterpart is Concordia.

	==Greek Mythology==		==Greek Mythology==