Athos (mythology)
{{Short description|Giant in Greek mythology}}
In Greek mythology, Athos ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|θ|ɒ|s}}; {{langx|grc|Ἄθως}}, {{IPA|el|ˈatʰɔːs|pron}}) was a giant that Poseidon fought. He is best known for the creation of Mount Athos, a mountain and peninsula in Chalcidice, northern Greece, which is now an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism. In Greek it is commonly called {{Lang|el|Άγιον Όρος}}, meaning 'Holy Mountain'.
Family
In one account however, he was said to be the son of Poseidon himself by the Naiad nymph Rhodope, daughter of the river-god Strymon (the modern Struma).Scholia on Theocritus, Idylls [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZgUd8TCc6UYC&pg=PA87 7.76]{{sfn|Larson|2001|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=wNgJCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA173 173]}}
Mythology
The mountain took its name after this Athos, who was attacked by Poseidon, the god of the sea.Scholia on the Iliad [https://books.google.com/books?id=1EQVAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA173 14.229b] The citation is incomplete, as it fails to establish that the mountain was named from the giant.{{sfn|Nicander|1953|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=MRvyxRQpklQC&pg=PA204 204]}} Stephanus of Byzantium attributed the story to some lost work by Nicander, where he apparently described Poseidon hurling two blocks with his hands against the gigantic Athos.{{sfn|Stephanus of Byzantium|2006|loc=s.v [https://archive.org/details/STEPHANUSBYZANTIUSETHNICAvol.AALPHAGAMMA2006ByMargaretheBillerbeck/page/70/mode/2up?view=theater Athos]}} Eustathius of Thessalonica says that then Poseidon trapped Athos under the mountain.{{sfn|Nicander|1953|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=MRvyxRQpklQC&pg=PA204 204]}}
{{portal|Mythology|Ancient Greece}}
References
{{reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book | location = Paris, France | publisher = Hachette | volume = 1 | author = Anonymous | title = Scholia eis tēn Homērou Iliada | trans-title = Scholia on Homer's Iliad | language = Greek | editor = Jules Nicole | date = 1891 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=1EQVAAAAQAAJ}}
- {{cite book | title = Theocritus, Bion et Moschus | editor1 = Kiessling, T. | editor2 = Heindorfius, L. F. Τ | volume = II | location = London, United Kingdom | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ZgUd8TCc6UYC | date = 1826}}
- {{cite book | title = Greek Nymphs: Myth, Cult, Lore | first = Jennifer | last = Larson | publisher = Oxford University Press | date = June 28, 2001 | location = Oxford, New York | isbn = 0-19-512294-1 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=wNgJCAAAQBAJ}}
- {{cite book | title = Poems and Poetical Fragments | author = Nicander | author-link = Nicander | editor1 = Gow, A. S. F. | editor2 = Scholfield A. F. | publisher = Cambridge University Press | date = 1953 | location = New York-Melbourne-Madrid | isbn = 978-0-521-05822-3 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=MRvyxRQpklQC}}
- {{cite book | author = Stephanus of Byzantium | author-link = Stephanus of Byzantium | date = 2006 | translator = Margarethe Billerbeck | volume = 1 (Alpha-Sigma) | title= Ethica | publisher = De Gruyter | isbn = 978-3-11-017449-6 | location = Berlin, Germany | url = https://archive.org/details/STEPHANUSBYZANTIUSETHNICAvol.AALPHAGAMMA2006ByMargaretheBillerbeck}}
{{Gigantes}}
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