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Coeus

{{Short description|Ancient Greek Titan}}

{{Infobox deity

| type = Greek

| name = Coeus

| member_of = Titans

| abode = Tartarus

| battles = Titanomachy

| consort = Phoebe

| parents = Uranus and Gaia

| script_name = Ancient Greek

| offspring = Leto, Asteria

}}

In Greek mythology, Coeus ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|iː|ə|s}};{{cite book|last1=Gardner|first1=Dorsey|title=Webster's Condensed Dictionary|date=1887|publisher=George Routledge and Sons|page=714|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aU0yAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA714|access-date=19 December 2018}} {{langx|grc|Κοῖος|translit=Koîos}}, "query, questioning" or "intelligence"Robert Graves. The Greek Myths, section 14 s.v. Births of Hermes, Apollo, Artemis, and Dionysus), also called Polus,Hyginus, Fabulae [https://topostext.org/work/206#0.2 Preface] and [https://topostext.org/work/206#140 140] was one of the Titans, one of the three groups of children born to Uranus (Sky) and Gaia (Earth).

Mythology

Coeus was an obscure figure,Ovid in Metamorphoses (VI.185) alludes to Coeus' obscure nature: "Latona, that Titaness whom Coeus sired, whoever he may be." (nescio quoque audete satam Titanida Coeo): M. L. West, in "Hesiod's Titans" (The Journal of Hellenic Studies 105 [1985:174–175]) remarks that Phoibe's "consort Koios is an even more obscure quantity. Perhaps he too had originally to with Delphic divination", and he suspects that Phoebe, Koios and Themis were Delphic additions to the list of Titanes, drawn from various archaic sources. and like most of the Titans he played no active part in Greek mythology—he appears only in lists of TitansSuch as Hesiod, Theogony [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D104 133]; Apollodorus, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DLibrary%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D1%3Asection%3D3 1.1.3]; Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/5D*.html#66.3 5.66.3]; Clement of Alexandria, Recognitions [http://www.theoi.com/Text/ClementRecognitions.html#31 31].—but was primarily important for his descendants.Hesiod included among his descendants Hekate, daughter of Asteriē, as Apostolos N. Athanassakis, noted, correcting the OCD, noted (Athanassakis, "Hekate Is Not the Daughter of Koios and Phoibe" The Classical World 71.2 [October 1977:127]); R. Renehan expanded the note in "Hekate, H. J. Rose, and C. M. Bowra", The Classical World, 73.5 (February 1980:302–304). With his sister, "shining" Phoebe, Coeus fathered two daughters, LetoHomeric Hymn to Delian Apollo, [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0138%3Ahymn%3D3%3Acard%3D47 61]; in the Orphic Hymn to Leto she is Leto Koiantis, "Leto, daughter of Koios".{{Cite web |title=Hymn 3 to Apollo, line 47 |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0138:hymn=3:card=47 |access-date=2024-02-24 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}} and Asteria.Hesiod, Theogony [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+404&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130 404 ff]; Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DLibrary%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D2%3Asection%3D2 1.2.2] Leto copulated with Zeus (the son of fellow Titans Cronus and Rhea) and bore Artemis and Apollo. Asteria became the mother of Hecate by Perses (son of fellow Titan Crius and half-sister Eurybia).

Along with the other Titans, Coeus was overthrown by Zeus and the other Olympians in the Titanomachy. Afterwards, he and all his brothers (sans Oceanus) were imprisoned in Tartarus by Zeus. Coeus, later overcome with madness, broke free from his bonds and attempted to escape his imprisonment, but was repelled by Cerberus.Valerius Flaccus, "Argonautica" 3.224 ff

Tacitus wrote that Coeus was the first inhabitant of the island of Kos, which claimed to be the birthplace of his daughter Leto.{{Cite web |title=Cornelius Tacitus, The Annals, BOOK XII, chapter 61 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0078:book=12:chapter=61 |access-date=2024-02-24 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}} Coeus's name was modified from {{lang|grc|Κοῖος}} (Koîos) to {{lang|grc|Κῶιος}} (Kōios), leading to his association with the island.{{sfn|Herodas|2009| page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=4lbwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA65 65]}}

Eventually Zeus freed the Titans, presumably including Coeus.Pindar, Pythian Odes [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0033.tlg002.perseus-eng1:4 4.289-291]; additionally, Aeschylus' lost play Prometheus Unbound features a chorus of freed Titans.

Genealogy

{{chart top|Coeus's family tree Hesiod, Theogony [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+132 132–138], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+337 337–411], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+453 453–520], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+901 901–906, 915–920]; Caldwell, pp. 8–11, tables 11–14.|collapsed=no}}

{{chart/start}}

{{chart|}}

{{chart| | | | | | | | | | | |URA |y|GAI |~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|y|PON|URA=Uranus|GAI=Gaia|PON=Pontus}}

{{chart|,|-|v|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|-|-|v|-|^|-|v|-|-|-|-|-|-|.| | | |!}}

{{chart|!|OCE |y|TET | | | |HYP |y|THE | | | | |CRI |y|EUR|OCE=Oceanus|TET=Tethys|HYP=Hyperion|THE=Theia|CRI=Crius|EUR=Eurybia}}

{{chart|!| |,|-|^|-|.| | | |,|-|-|-|+|-|-|-|.| | | |,|-|-|^|v|-|-|-|.}}

{{chart|!|RIV | |OCE | |HEL | |SEL | |EOS | |AST | |PAL |F|PER | RIV=The Rivers|OCE=The Oceanids|HEL=Helios|SEL=Selene Although usually the daughter of Hyperion and Theia, as in Hesiod, Theogony [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+371 371–374], in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes (4), [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=HH+4+99&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0138 99–100], Selene is instead made the daughter of Pallas the son of Megamedes.|EOS=Eos|AST=Astraeus|PAL=Pallas|PER=Perses}}

{{chart|!| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |:|}}

{{chart|)|-|-|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|.| | | |:}}

{{chart|!| | | | |CRO |y|RHE | | | | | | | |COE |y|PHO | | |:|COE=COEUS|PHO=Phoebe|CRO=Cronus|RHE=Rhea}}

{{chart|!| |,|-|v|-|v|-|+|-|v|-|-|-|.| | | | | |,|-|^|-|.| | | |:}}

{{chart|!|HES |!|HER |!|POS | |ZEU |~|y|~|LET | |AST |~|y|J|HES=Hestia|HER=Hera|POS=Poseidon|ZEU=Zeus|LET=Leto|AST=Asteria}}

{{chart|!| | | |!| | | |!| | | | | | |,|-|^|-|.| | | | | | | |!}}

{{chart|!| | |DEM | |HAD | | | | |APO | |ART | | | | | |HEC|DEM=Demeter|HAD=Hades|APO=Apollo|ART=Artemis|HEC=Hecate}}

{{chart|!| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |}}

{{chart|`|-|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|.}}

{{chart| | | | |IAP |y|CLY | | | | | |THE |~|y|~|ZEU |~|y|~|MNE |IAP=Iapetus|CLY=Clymene (or Asia) According to Hesiod, Theogony [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+507 507–511], Clymene, one of the Oceanids, the daughters of Oceanus and Tethys, at Hesiod, Theogony [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+351 351], was the mother by Iapetus of Atlas, Menoetius, Prometheus, and Epimetheus, while according to Apollodorus, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DLibrary%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D2%3Asection%3D3 1.2.3], another Oceanid, Asia was their mother by Iapetus.|THE=Themis|ZEU=(Zeus)|MNE=Mnemosyne}}

{{chart| |,|-|-|-|v|-|^|-|v|-|-|-|.| | | | | | |!| | | | | |!}}

{{chart|ATL | |MEN | |PRO | |EPI | | | | |HOR | | | |MUS |ATL=Atlas According to Plato, Critias, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0059.tlg032.perseus-eng1:113d 113d–114a], Atlas was the son of Poseidon and the mortal Cleito.|MEN=Menoetius|PRO=Prometheus In Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 18, 211, 873 (Sommerstein, pp. [http://www.loebclassics.com/view/aeschylus-prometheus_bound/2009/pb_LCL145.445.xml 444–445 n. 2], [http://www.loebclassics.com/view/aeschylus-prometheus_bound/2009/pb_LCL145.467.xml 446–447 n. 24], [http://www.loebclassics.com/view/aeschylus-prometheus_bound/2009/pb_LCL145.539.xml 538–539 n. 113]) Prometheus is made to be the son of Themis.|EPI=Epimetheus|HOR=The Horae|MUS=The Muses}}

{{chart/end}}

{{chart bottom}}

Notes

{{reflist|2}}

References

{{refbegin|30em}}

  • Anonymous, The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White. Homeric Hymns. Cambridge, MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0138%3Ahymn%3D2 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0137 Greek text available from the same website].
  • Pindar, Odes, Diane Arnson Svarlien. 1990. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0162%3Abook%3DO.%3Apoem%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
  • Clement of Alexandria, Recognitions from Ante-Nicene Library Volume 8, translated by Smith, Rev. Thomas. T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh. 1867. [http://www.theoi.com/Text/ClementRecognitions.html Online version at theoi.com.]
  • Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History translated by Charles Henry Oldfather. Twelve volumes. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59–8. [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/home.html Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site]
  • Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888–1890. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0540 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
  • Gaius Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica translated by Mozley, J H. Loeb Classical Library Volume 286. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1928. [http://www.theoi.com/Text/ValeriusFlaccus1.html Online version at theoi.com.]
  • Gaius Valerius Flaccus, Argonauticon. Otto Kramer. Leipzig. Teubner. 1913. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2007.01.0058 Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.]
  • {{cite book | title = Mimiambs | date = 2009 | isbn = 978-0-85668-883-6 | publisher = Oxbow Books | author = Herodas | translator = Graham Zanker}}
  • 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. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0129 Greek text available from the same website].
  • [http://dante.udallas.edu/hutchison/Mythology/Titans/coeus.htm Historiae Romanorum: Coeus] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720082319/http://dante.udallas.edu/hutchison/Mythology/Titans/coeus.htm |date=2011-07-20 }}
  • Hyginus, Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. [https://topostext.org/work/206 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
  • Pseudo-Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0021 Greek text available from the same website].
  • Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses translated by Brookes More (1859-1942). Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0028 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
  • Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses. Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes. 1892. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0029 Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
  • [http://messagenetcommresearch.com/myths/ppt/Coeus_1.html Stewart, Michael. "People, Places & Things: Coeus", Greek Mythology: From the Iliad to the Fall of the Last Tyrant.]
  • Tacitus, Complete Works of Tacitus. Tacitus. Alfred John Church. William Jackson Brodribb. Sara Bryant. edited for Perseus. New York. : Random House, Inc. Random House, Inc. reprinted 1942. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0078%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D1 Online text available at Perseus.tufts].
  • The Hymns of Orpheus. Translated by Taylor, Thomas (1792). University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999. [http://www.theoi.com/Text/OrphicHymns1.html Online version at theoi.com]

{{refend}}

External links

  • [https://www.theoi.com/Titan/TitanKoios.html COEUS from The Theoi Project]
  • [https://mythopedia.com/topics/coeus COEUS from Mythopedia]

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Category:Greek gods

Category:Children of Gaia

Category:Titans (mythology)

Category:Condemned souls in Tartarus

Category:Metamorphoses characters

Category:Kos

Category:Leto