Megaera
{{Short description|One of the Erinyes or Furies in Ancient Greek mythology}}
{{For other uses|Megaera (disambiguation)}}{{Distinguish|Megara (wife of Heracles)}}
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{{Infobox deity
| type = Greek
| name = Megaera
| image = Questa e megera dal sinistro canto at cornell insight.jpg
| caption = "Questa e megera dal sinistro canto", front the Divine Comedy, 1793 printing
| deity_of = Goddess of jealousy and envy
| member_of = The Erinyes
| abode =
| symbol =
| consort =
| siblings = Alecto and Tisiphone
| children =
| mount =
| Roman_equivalent =
| Canaanite_equivalent =
}}
Megaera ({{IPAc-en|m|ə|ˈ|dʒ|ɪər|ə}} {{respell|mə|JEER|ə}}; {{langx|grc|Μέγαιρα|Mégaira|the jealous one}}Related to μεγαίρω "to grudge, envy" from Proto-Indo-European *meǵh2- "great" (see Robert S. P. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, Brill, 2009, p. 917).) is one of the Erinyes, Eumenides or "Furies" in Greek mythology. Bibliotheca Classica states "According to the most received opinions, they were three in number, Tisiphone, "Megaera ... daughter of Nyx and Acheron",Lamprière's Classical Dictionary of Proper Names mentioned in Ancient Authors, 1949, p. 366 and Alecto".Lamprière's Classical Dictionary of Proper Names mentioned in Ancient Authors, 1949, p. 234
In other versions, she and her sisters, as well as the Meliae, were born of the blood of Uranus when Cronus castrated him.{{cite book | title=The Greek Myths | url=https://archive.org/details/greekmythsvolume00robe | url-access=registration | publisher=Penguin Books | author=Graves, Robert | year=1960 | location=London | pages=[https://archive.org/details/greekmythsvolume00robe/page/37 37] | isbn=9780140171990}}
In modern French ({{lang|fr|mégère}}), Portuguese ({{lang|pt|megera}}), Modern Greek ({{lang|el|μέγαιρα}}), Italian ({{lang|it|megera}}), Polish ({{lang|pl|megiera}}), Russian ({{lang|ru|мегера}}), Ukrainian ({{lang|uk|меґера}}) and Czech ({{lang|cs|megera}}), this name denotes a jealous or spiteful woman. She is not to be confused with Megara, the wife of Heracles.
Cultural depictions
Minor planet 464 Megaira is named in her honour.{{cite book|title=(464) Megaira In: Dictionary of Minor Planet Names |pages = 52|publisher=Springer |date=2003 |isbn=978-3-540-29925-7 |doi=10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_465|chapter = (464) Megaira}}
The 1964 Hammer horror film The Gorgon revolves around the re-emergence of Megaera in a Central European village circa 1910.
Magaera is one of the main characters in the Twilight Zone episode "Ye Gods", which depicts her as the true love of Cupid.
Megaera is a major character in the video game Hades. She is a boss and a potential romance partner to Zagreus, the main character.
Megaera is one of the three antagonists in the video game God of War: Ascension where she is portrayed as a deformed humanoid with spider like appendages.
See also
References
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{{Greek mythology (deities)|state=collapsed}}
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