Peristera (mythology)
{{short description|Nymph in Greek mythology}}
{{about|the Greek nymph|the village in Achaea|Peristera, Achaea|the Greek island|Peristera}}
In Greek and Roman mythology, Peristera ({{langx|grc|Περιστερά|Peristerá|dove}}) is a nymph who was transformed into a dove, one of Aphrodite's sacred birds and symbols, explaining the bird's connection to the goddess. This myth survives in the works of Latin grammarian Lactantius Placidus and the first of the three anonymous Vatican Mythographers, whose works were discovered in a single manuscript in 1401.
Etymology
The etymology of the Greek word {{lang|grc|περιστερά}}, meaning the common pigeon or dove,{{sfn|Liddell|Scott|1940|loc=s.v. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=peristera/ περιστερά]}} is ultimately unknown, although it could be related to the word {{lang|grc|πελιός}}, meaning "dark, blue."{{sfn|Beekes|2010|page=[https://archive.org/details/etymological-dictionary-of-greek/page/1176/mode/2up?view=theater 1177]}}{{cite web |language=it |first=Ezio |last=Pellizer |title=Dizionario Etimologico della Mitologia Greca| trans-title = Etymological Dictionary of Greek Mythology |url=https://demgol.units.it/pdf/tmp/demgol_it.pdf |format=pdf |access-date=April 10, 2023 | archive-date = April 28, 2018 |page=300 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180428012234/https://demgol.units.it/pdf/tmp/demgol_it.pdf |date = December 10, 2017}} One suggestion is that it may be derived from a Semitic phrase peraḥ Ištar, which means "the bird of Ishtar", a Semitic love-goddess sharing some elements with Aphrodite.{{sfn|Lewis|Llewellyn-Jones|2018|page=335}}{{sfn|Botterweck|Ringgren|1990|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=MCOd-uAEQy0C&pg=PA35 35]}}
Mythology
One day Aphrodite and her son Eros arrived in a bright meadow, and for fun they held a contest on which could gather the most flowers. Eros, bearing swift wings, easily outdid his mother, until Peristera stepped in and handed to Aphrodite the flowers she herself had picked, giving Aphrodite the victory.Lactantius Placidus, On the Thebaid [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_fYj9nL6HlREC/page/206/mode/2up?view=theater 4.226] Eros, in anger over his victory being snatched away from his hands, transformed Peristera into the bird bearing her name, the dove.{{cite web | first = M. Rosemary | last = Wright | title = A Dictionary of Classical Mythology: Summary of Transformations | website = mythandreligion.upatras.gr | url = http://mythandreligion.upatras.gr/english/m-r-wright-a-dictionary-of-classical-mythology/ | access-date = January 3, 2023 | publisher = University of Patras}} Accordingly, the dove came under Aphrodite's protection thereafter.First Vatican Mythographer [https://books.google.com/books?id=sE7WnkLLt2gC&pg=PA76 172]{{sfn|De Gubernatis|1872|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=l1mWysPWjpoC&pg=PA305 305]}}
Interpretation
According to Paul M.C. Forbes Irving, Peristera's tale is a very late one, and is more in line with inventions of a scholar who creates comprehensive narratives than local aetiological myth.{{sfn|Forbes Irving|1990|pages=234-235}} Among Aphrodite's symbols, the dove was one of the most significant and common ones, which came to symbolise affection, peace and love.{{sfn|Cyrino|2010|page=[https://books.google.com/books?&id=7gyVn5GjXPkC&pg=PA121 121]}}
See also
{{portal|Ancient Greece|Ancient Rome|Mythology}}
References
{{reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book | url = https://archive.org/details/etymological-dictionary-of-greek/mode/ | author-link = Robert S. P. Beekes | last = Beekes | first = Robert S. P. | title = Etymological Dictionary of Greek | location = Leiden, the Netherlands | publisher = Brill Publications | date = 2010 | volume = ΙΙ | isbn = 978-90-04-17419-1 | series = Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series | editor = Lucien van Beek}}
- {{citation | last1 = Botterweck | first1 = G. Johannes | last2 = Ringgren | first2 = Helmer | date = 1990 | title = Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=MCOd-uAEQy0C | volume = VI | location = Grand Rapids, Michigan | publisher = Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. | isbn = 0-8028-2330-0}}
- {{cite book | last = Cyrino | first = Monica S. | date = June 25, 2010 | title = Aphrodite | series = Gods and Heroes of the Ancient World | location = New York and London | publisher = Routledge | isbn = 978-0-415-77523-6 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=7gyVn5GjXPkC}}
- {{cite book | title = Zoological Mythology: Or, The Legends of Animals | volume = 2| first = Angelo | last = De Gubernatis | publisher = Trübner & Company| date = 1872 | isbn = 9780598541062| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=l1mWysPWjpoC}}
- {{cite book | title = Metamorphosis in Greek Myths | series = Oxford Classical Monographs | location = Oxford, New York, Toronto | first = Paul M. C. | last = Forbes Irving | publisher = Oxford University Press, Clarendon Press | date = 1990 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=URvXAAAAMAAJ | isbn = 0-19-814730-9}}
- {{Cite book |last=Lactantius Placidus |author-link=Lactantius Placidus |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_fYj9nL6HlREC/page/70/mode/2up?view=theater |title=Lactantii Placidi qvi dicitvr Commentarios in Statii Thebaida it Commentarivm in Achilleida recensvit Ricardvs Jahnke |publisher=Lipsiae : in aedibvs B. G. Tevbneri |year=1898 |at=1.698 (p 71) |language=la |translator-last=Jahnke |translator-first=Richard |trans-title=Lactantius Placidus, On Statius's Thebaid |lccn=06008769 |ol=21778486M}}
- {{citation | last1 = Lewis | first1 = Sian | last2 = Llewellyn-Jones | first2 = Lloyd | date = 2018 | title = The Culture of Animals in Antiquity: A Sourcebook with Commentaries| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=GvJFDwAAQBAJ | location = New York and London | publisher = Routledge | isbn = 978-1-315-20160-3}}
- {{cite book | first1 = Henry George | last1 = Liddell | first2 = Robert | last2 = Scott | title = A Greek-English Lexicon, revised and augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones with the assistance of Roderick McKenzie | location = Oxford | publisher = Clarendon Press | date = 1940 | author1-link = Henry Liddell | author2-link = Robert Scott (philologist)}} [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057 Online version at Perseus.tufts project.]
- {{cite book | title = The Vatican Mythographers | first = Ronald E. | last = Pepin | publisher = Fordham University Press | date = 2008 | location = New York City | isbn = 978-0-8232-2892-8 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=sE7WnkLLt2gC | page = 76}}
{{Metamorphoses in Greco-Roman mythology}}