Stheno and Euryale

In Greek mythology, Stheno (/ˈsθiːnoʊ, ˈsθɛnoʊ/; Ancient Greek: Σθενώ, romanized: Sthenṓ, lit. 'forceful')^[1] and Euryale (/jʊəˈraɪəli/ yuu-RY-ə-lee; Ancient Greek: Εὐρυάλη, romanized: Euryálē, lit. 'far-roaming')^[2] were two of the three Gorgons, along with Medusa, sisters who were able to turn anyone who looked at them to stone.^[3] When Perseus beheaded Medusa, the two Gorgons pursued him but were unable to catch him.

Family[edit]

According to Hesiod, and Apollodorus, Stheno and Euryale, along with Medusa, were daughters of the primordial sea-god Phorcys and the sea-monster Ceto,^[4] while, according to Hyginus, they were daughters of "the Gorgon", an offspring of Typhon and Echidna, and Ceto.^[5]

Mythology[edit]

Stheno and Euryale were immortal, whereas Medusa was mortal.^[6] The Hesiodic The Shield of Heracles describes the two Gorgons chasing Perseus:

Perseus himself, Danae’s son, was outstretched, and he looked as though he were hastening and shuddering. The Gorgons, dreadful and unspeakable, were rushing after him, eager to catch him; as they ran on the pallid adamant, the shield resounded sharply and piercingly with a loud noise. At their girdles, two serpents hung down, their heads arching forward; both of them were licking with their tongues, and they ground their teeth with strength, glaring savagely. Upon the terrible heads of the Gorgons rioted great Fear.^[7]

While, the "great Fear" rioting upon the heads of the Gorgon, in the passage from the Shield quoted above, might possibly be a vague reference to hair made of snakes, the poet Pindar makes such a physical feature explicit, describing the two Gorgons, just like their sister Medusa, as having "horrible snakey hair" (ἀπλάτοις ὀφίων κεφαλαῖς).^[8]

According to Apollodorus' version of their story, all three Gorgons had the ability to turn to stone anyone who looked upon them. And when Perseus managed to behead Medusa by looking at her reflection in his bronze shield, Stheno and Euryale chased after him, but were unable to see him because he was wearing Hades' cap, which made him invisible.^[9]

Euryale's lamenting cry, while chasing Perseus, is noted in two sources. Pindar has Athena create the "many-voiced songs of flutes" to imitate the "shrill cry" of the "fast-moving jaws of Euryale".^[10] While Nonnus, in his Dionysiaca, has the fleeing Perseus "listening for no trumpet but Euryale's bellowing".^[11]

Iconography[edit]

The typical archaic (c. 8th–5th century BC) depiction of a Gorgon is just a full frontal view of a circular scowling face, with large eyes looking directly at the viewer. However some depictions show this same head turned to face the viewer, sitting (seemingly without a neck) atop a running body in profile, with wings on its back and curl-topped boots. Such running Gorgons nearly always depict Stheno and Euryale pursuing the fleeing Perseus. In later depictions the heads shrink in size with respect to their bodies, possess necks, and become less wild looking.^[12]

See also[edit]

• Cultural depictions of Medusa and Gorgons

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

• Aeschylus (?), Prometheus Bound in Aeschylus, with an English translation by Herbert Weir Smyth, Ph. D. in two volumes. Vol 2. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press. 1926. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Apollodorus, Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. ISBN 9780786471119. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Bane, Theresa, Encyclopedia of Fairies in World Folklore and Mythology, McFarland, 2013.
• Bremmer, Jan N., s.v. Gorgo/Medusa, published online 22 December 2015, in the Oxford Classical Dictionary, edited by Tim Whitmarsh, digital ed, New York, Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-938113-5.
• Daly, Kathleen N., Marion Rangel, Greek and Roman mythology, A to Z, third edition, Chelsea House Publishers, New York, 2009. ISBN 978-1-60413-412-4.
• Euripides, Ion, translated by Robert Potter in The Complete Greek Drama, edited by Whitney J. Oates and Eugene O'Neill, Jr. Volume 1. New York. Random House. 1938. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Gantz, Timothy, Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes: ISBN 978-0-8018-5360-9 (Vol. 1), ISBN 978-0-8018-5362-3 (Vol. 2).
• 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.
• Grimal, Pierre, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Wiley-Blackwell, 1996. ISBN 978-0-631-20102-1. Internet Archive.
• Hard, Robin (2004), The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology", Psychology Press, 2004, ISBN 9780415186360. Google Books.
• Hesiod, Theogony from The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Mayor, Adrienne, The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World, Princeton University Press, Feb 9, 2016.
• Most, G.W. (2018b), Hesiod: The Shield, Catalogue of Women, Other Fragments, Loeb Classical Library, No. 503, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 2007, 2018. ISBN 978-0-674-99721-9. Online version at Harvard University Press.
• Nonnus, Dionysiaca, Volume I: Books 1–15, translated by W. H. D. Rouse, Loeb Classical Library No. 344, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1940 (revised 1984). ISBN 978-0-674-99379-2. Online version at Harvard University Press. Internet Archive (1940).
• Nonnus, Dionysiaca, Volume II: Books 16–35,, translated by W. H. D. Rouse, Loeb Classical Library No. 345, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1940. ISBN 978-0-674-99391-4. Online version at Harvard University Press. Internet Archive (1940).
• Nonnus, Dionysiaca, Volume III: Books 36–48, translated by W. H. D. Rouse, Loeb Classical Library No. 346, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1940. ISBN 978-0-674-99393-8. Online version at Harvard University Press. Internet Archive (1940, reprinted 1942).
• Pindar, Odes, Diane Arnson Svarlien. 1990. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Tripp, Edward, Crowell's Handbook of Classical Mythology, Thomas Y. Crowell Co; First edition (June 1970). ISBN 069022608X.
• Wilk, Stephen R., Medusa : Solving the Mystery of the Gorgon, Oxford University Press, New York, 2000. ISBN 0-19-512431-6. Internet Archive. Google Books.