Merope (daughter of Oenopion)
{{Short description|Character in Greek mythology}}
{{Other uses|Merope (Greek myth)}}
{{Infobox noble
| name = Merope
| image =
| alt =
| mother = Helike
| title= Princess of Chios
| spouse= Orion (fiancé)
| father = King Oenopion or King Minos
}}Merope ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|ɛr|ə|p|iː}}; Ancient Greek: Μερόπη Meropê) was a mortal princess in Greek mythology, who was loved by the hunter Orion and was his fiancée. She is called Haero by Parthenius of Nicaea.Parthenius, [https://topostext.org/work/550#20 20]
Family
Merope was a daughter of King Oenopion, who was a legendary ruler of Chios and son of Princess Ariadne. He was said to have brought winemaking to the island. Merope's mother was the nymph Helike. She was a sister to Melas, Talus, Euanthes, Salagus and Athamas.Pausanias, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.++7.4.8&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=sons 7.4.8]
Merope and Orion
The story of Oenopion's daughter differs somewhat in different ancient sources. The hunter Orion married a lovely woman called Side and when she was punished by Hera, he walked to Chios over the Aegean, and Oenopion welcomed him with a banquet.
Merope was beloved by Orion but he did not have the approval of Oenopion. Orion got drunk and slept with or assaulted Merope.Pseudo-Eratosthenes, Catasterismi fr. 32 with Hesiod as the authority In revenge, Oenopion stabbed out Orion's eyes, and then threw him off the island.{{cite book | last = Smith | title = Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology | url = http://ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/2156.html | access-date = 2010-05-26 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101118004657/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/2156.html | archive-date = 2010-11-18 | url-status = usurped }}
Theories
File:Dionysos Oinopion BM B210.jpg and his father, god Dionysus, on an Attic black-figured amphora from Volci (ca. 540-530 BC) by Exekias]]
The story of Orion and Merope varies. One source refers to Merope as the wife of Oenopion and not his daughter. Another refers to Merope as the daughter of King Minos, who was a father of Merope's grandmother.Kerenyi, Gods of the Greeks, pp. 201–204; for Merope as the wife of Oenopion, he cites the scholiast on Nicander, Theriaca 15. Frazer's notes to Apollodorus.
The Hungarian mythographer Károly Kerényi, one of the founders of the modern study of mythology, wrote about Merope in Gods of the Greeks. Kerényi portrays Orion as a giant born outside his mother.Kerényi believes the story of Hyrieus to be original, and that the pun on Orion/ourion was made for the myth, rather than the other way around. He placed great stress on the variant in which Merope is the wife of Oenopion. He sees this as the remnant of a lost form of the myth in which Merope was Orion's mother (converted by later generations to his stepmother).
In popular culture
The 2002 opera Galileo Galilei by American composer Philip Glass includes an opera within an opera piece between Orion and Merope.Strini, Tom (Jun. 29, 2002). [http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=55190 "'Galileo' journeys to the stars"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929140815/http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=55190 |date=2007-09-29 }}. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Notes
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References
- Parthenius, Love Romances translated by Sir Stephen Gaselee (1882-1943), S. Loeb Classical Library Volume 69. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. 1916. [https://topostext.org/work/550 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
- Parthenius, Erotici Scriptores Graeci, Vol. 1. Rudolf Hercher. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1858. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0643 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
- Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. {{ISBN|0-674-99328-4}}. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0160 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library]
- Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0159 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
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