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{{short description|Animal from Greek mythology}}
{{short description|Animal from Greek mythology}}
{{Infobox mythical creature
{{Infobox mythical creature
|AKA = doe with the golden horns, Golden-horned hind, Ceryneia hind, Cerynitian hind or hind Cerynitis
|AKA = doe with the golden horns, Golden-horned hind, Ceryneia hind, Cerynitian hind, beast with golden antlers, Parrhasian hind, nimble hind of Maenalus and beast of Maenalus.
|image = Herakles hind BM B231.jpg
|image = Herakles hind BM B231.jpg
|caption = Heracles breaking off the golden antler of the Ceryneian Hind, while Athena (left) and Artemis look on ([[black-figure]] [[amphora]], ca. 540–30 BC)
|caption = Heracles breaking off the golden antler of the Ceryneian Hind, while Athena (left) and Artemis look on ([[black-figure]] [[amphora]], ca. 540–30 BC)
|Mythology = [[Greek mythology]]
|Folklore = [[Greek mythology]]
|Grouping = [[Legendary creature]]
|Grouping = [[Legendary creature]]
|Sub_Grouping =
|Sub_Grouping =
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}}
}}


In [[Greek mythology]], the '''Ceryneian hind''' ({{lang-grc-gre|Κερυνῖτις ἔλαφος}} ''Kerynitis elaphos'', Latin: ''Elaphus Ceryniti''s), was a mythical creature that lived in [[Ceryneia]],<ref name=":3" /> [[Keryneia, Greece|Greece]] and took the form of an enormous female [[deer]], larger than a bull,<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=|first=|title=Callimachus and Lycophron|publisher=William Heinemann; G. R Putnam's Sons|year=1921|isbn=|location=London; New York|pages=69|translator-last=Mair|translator-first=G. R.|chapter=Hymn III (to Artemis). 98 ff.|id=ark:/13960/t7qn6bw6r}}</ref>with golden antlers<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=|first=|title=Apollodorus the Library|publisher=G. P. Putnam's Sons|year=1921|isbn=|volume=1|location=New York|pages=191 with the Scholiast|translator-last=Frazer|translator-first=Sir James George|chapter=The Library 2. 5. 3-4|id=ark:/13960/t00012x9f}}</ref> like a stag,<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|last=|first=|title=Quintus Smyrnaeus The Fall Of Troy|publisher=William Heinemann Ltd; Harvard University Press|year=1984|isbn=|location=London; Cambridge, Massachusetts|pages=271|translator-last=Way|translator-first=A. S.|chapter=The Fall of Troy, Book VI. 223 ff.|id=ark:/13960/t2m61f62d|orig-year=1913}}</ref> hooves of bronze or brass,<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography And Mythology|publisher=Little, Brown, And Company|year=1870|isbn=|editor-last=Smith|editor-first=W.|location=Boston|pages=395|id=ark:/13960/t9f47mp93}}</ref> a "dappled hide",<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=|first=|title=Euripides|publisher=William Heinemann; G. P. Putnam's Sons|year=1930|isbn=|volume=3|location=London; New York|pages=157|translator-last=Way|translator-first=Arthur S.|chapter=Madness Of Hercules. 370 ff.|id=ark:/13960/t6057th3x}}</ref> "excelled in swiftness of foot"<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|last=|first=|title=Diodorus of Sicily|publisher=William Heinemann Ltd; Harvard University Press|year=1967|isbn=|volume=2|location=London; Cambridge, Massachusetts|pages=385|translator-last=Oldfather|translator-first=C. H.|chapter=Book 4. 13|id=ark:/13960/t7qn6bw6r|orig-year=1935}}</ref> and snorted fire.<ref name=":4" /> Other names for it were: '''doe with the golden horns'''<ref name=":6">{{Cite book|last=|first=|title=The Odes of Pindar|publisher=William Heinemann; The Macmillan Co.|year=1915|isbn=|location=London; New York|pages=37 with the Scholiast|translator-last=Sandys|translator-first=Sir John|chapter=Olympian Odes III 28-42. 28 ff.|id=ark:/13960/t02z1h76p}}</ref>, '''Golden-horned hind'''<ref name=":2" />, '''Ceryneia hind''',<ref name=":0" /> '''Cerynitian hind''',<ref name=":1" /> '''beast with golden antlers'''<ref>{{Cite book|last=|first=|title=Seneca's Tragedies|publisher=William Heinemann; G. P. Putnam's Sons|year=1929|isbn=|volume=2|location=London; New York|pages=285|translator-last=Miller|translator-first=Frank Justus|chapter=Hercules Oetaeus 1237 ff|id=ark:/13960/t7fr0065f|orig-year=1917}}</ref>, '''Parrhasian hind'''<ref>{{Cite book|last=|first=|title=Seneca's Tragedies|publisher=William Heinemann; G. P. Putnam's Sons|year=1929|isbn=|volume=2|location=London; New York|pages=69|translator-last=Miller|translator-first=Frank Justus|chapter=Agamemnon 829 ff|id=ark:/13960/t7fr0065f|orig-year=1917}}</ref>, or '''hind''' '''Cerynitis'''. To bring it back alive to [[Eurystheus]] in [[Mycenae]] was the [[Labours of Hercules|third labour of Heracles]].
In [[Greek mythology]], the '''Ceryneian hind''' ({{lang-grc-gre|Κερυνῖτις ἔλαφος}} ''Kerynitis elaphos'', Latin: ''Elaphus Ceryniti''s), was a creature that lived in [[Ceryneia]],<ref name=":3" /> [[Keryneia, Greece|Greece]] and took the form of an enormous female [[deer]], larger than a bull,<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|title=Callimachus and Lycophron|publisher=William Heinemann; G. R Putnam's Sons|year=1921|location=London; New York|pages=69|translator-last=Mair|translator-first=G. R.|chapter=Hymn III (to Artemis). 98 ff.|id=ark:/13960/t7qn6bw6r}}</ref> with golden antlers<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Apollodorus the Library|publisher=G. P. Putnam's Sons|year=1921|volume=1|location=New York|pages=191 with the Scholiast|translator-last=Frazer|translator-first=Sir James George|chapter=The Library 2. 5. 3-4|id=ark:/13960/t00012x9f}}</ref> like a stag,<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|title=Quintus Smyrnaeus The Fall Of Troy|publisher=William Heinemann Ltd; Harvard University Press|year=1984|location=London; Cambridge, Massachusetts|pages=271|translator-last=Way|translator-first=A. S.|chapter=The Fall of Troy, Book VI. 223 ff.|id=ark:/13960/t2m61f62d|orig-year=1913}}</ref> hooves of bronze or brass,<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography And Mythology|publisher=Little, Brown, And Company|year=1870|editor-last=Smith|editor-first=W.|location=Boston|pages=395|id=ark:/13960/t9f47mp93}}</ref> and a "dappled hide",<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=Euripides|publisher=William Heinemann; G. P. Putnam's Sons|year=1930|volume=3|location=London; New York|pages=157|translator-last=Way|translator-first=Arthur S.|chapter=Madness Of Hercules. 370 ff.|id=ark:/13960/t6057th3x}}</ref> that "excelled in swiftness of foot",<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|title=Diodorus of Sicily|publisher=William Heinemann Ltd; Harvard University Press|year=1967|volume=2|location=London; Cambridge, Massachusetts|pages=385|translator-last=Oldfather|translator-first=C. H.|chapter=Book 4. 13|id=ark:/13960/t7qn6bw6r|orig-year=1935}}</ref> and snorted fire.<ref name=":4" /> To bring it back alive to [[Eurystheus]] in [[Mycenae]] was the [[Labours of Hercules|third labour of Heracles]].


Other names and descriptions for it were: doe with the golden horns,<ref name=":6">{{Cite book|title=The Odes of Pindar|publisher=William Heinemann; The Macmillan Co.|year=1915|location=London; New York|pages=37 with the Scholiast|translator-last=Sandys|translator-first=Sir John|chapter=Olympian Odes III 28-42. 28 ff.|id=ark:/13960/t02z1h76p}}</ref> golden-horned hind,<ref name=":2" /> Ceryneia hind,<ref name=":0" /> Cerynitian hind,<ref name=":1" /> beast with golden antlers,<ref name=":7">{{Cite book|title=Seneca's Tragedies|publisher=William Heinemann; G. P. Putnam's Sons|year=1929|volume=2|location=London; New York|pages=285|translator-last=Miller|translator-first=Frank Justus|chapter=Hercules Oetaeus 1237 ff|id=ark:/13960/t7fr0065f|orig-year=1917}}</ref> Parrhasian hind,<ref>{{Cite book|title=Seneca's Tragedies|publisher=William Heinemann; G. P. Putnam's Sons|year=1929|volume=2|location=London; New York|pages=69|translator-last=Miller|translator-first=Frank Justus|chapter=Agamemnon 829 ff|id=ark:/13960/t7fr0065f|orig-year=1917}}</ref> nimble hind of [[Maenalus (Arcadia)|Maenalus]]<ref name=":8">{{Cite book|title=Seneca's Tragedies|publisher=William Heinemann Ltd; Harvard University Press|year=1938|volume=1|location=London; Cambridge, Massachusetts|pages=21|translator-last=Miller|translator-first=Frank Justus|chapter=Hercules Furens 222 ff|id=ark:/13960/t71v5s15x}}</ref> and beast of Maenalus.<ref name=":10">{{Cite book|title=Seneca's Tragedies|publisher=William Heinemann; G. P. Putnam's Sons|year=1939|volume=2|location=London; New York|pages=187|translator-last=Miller|translator-first=Frank Justus|chapter=Hercules Oetaeus 17 ff|id=ark:/13960/t7fr0065f}}</ref> [[James George Frazer|Frazer]] says that the hind took its name from the river Cerynites, "which rises in [[Arcadia (ancient region)|Arcadia]] and flows through [[Achaea|Achaia]] into the sea".<ref name=":1" />
⚫
One tradition says that [[Artemis]] found a mighty herd of five Ceryneian hinds playing on the base of [[Parrhasia (Arcadia)|Parrhasian]] hill far away from the banks of the "black-pebbled [[Anavros|Anaurus]]"<ref name=":3" /> where they always herded. Artemis was so impressed by the hinds that she yoked four of them to her golden chariot with golden bridles, but purposely let one escape to the [[Ceryneia|Ceryneian]] hill to be a future labour for [[Heracles]].<ref name=":3" /> [[James George Frazer|Frazer]] says that the hind took its name from the river Cerynites, "which rises in [[Arcadia]] and flows through [[Achaea|Achaia]] into the sea"<ref name=":1" />. Whilst in Ceryneia, the hind chased farmers from vineyards.<ref name=":4" />


⚫
One tradition says that [[Artemis]] found a mighty herd of five Ceryneian hinds playing on the base of [[Parrhasia (Arcadia)|Parrhasian]] hill far away from the banks of the "black-pebbled [[Anavros|Anaurus]]"<ref name=":3" /> where they always herded. Artemis was so impressed by the hinds that she yoked four of them to her golden chariot with golden bridles, but purposely let one escape to the [[Ceryneia]]n hill to be a future labour for [[Heracles]].<ref name=":3" /> Whilst in Ceryneia, the hind chased farmers from vineyards.<ref name=":4" />
The Ceryneian hind was sacred to Artemis.<ref name=":0" /> "The hind is said to have borne the inscription. '[[Taygete]] dedicated [me] to Artemis.' "<ref name=":1" /> Because of its sacredness, Heracles did not wish to harm the hind and so hunted it for more than a year, from [[Oenoe (Attica)|Oenoe]]<ref name=":1" /> to [[Hyperborea]]<ref name=":6" />, to a mountain called [[Artemisium|Artemisius]], (a range which divides [[Argolis]] from the plain of [[Mantineia|Mantinea]]) before finally capturing the hind near the river [[Ladon (river)|Ladon]].<ref name=":1" />


One tradition says he slew the hind.<ref name=":2" /> Another that he captured it with nets or while it was sleeping or that he ran it down.<ref name=":5" /> While another says he shot and maimed it with an arrow just before it crossed the river Ladon.<ref name=":1" />Once Heracles captured the hind, and only after explaining to Artemis and [[Apollo]] ("who would have wrested the hind from him"<ref name=":1" />) that he had only hurt the sacred hind out of necessity, was he allowed to take it alive to [[Eurystheus]] in [[Mycenae]], thus completing his third labour.<ref name=":1" />
The Ceryneian hind was sacred to Artemis.<ref name=":0" /> "The hind is said to have borne the inscription '[[Taygete]] dedicated [me] to Artemis'."<ref name=":1" /> Because of its sacredness, Heracles did not want to harm the hind and so hunted it for more than a year, from [[Oenoe (Attica)|Oenoe]]<ref name=":1" /> to [[Hyperborea]],<ref name=":6" /> to a mountain called [[Artemisium|Artemisius]], (a range which divides [[Argolis]] from the plain of [[Mantineia|Mantinea]]) before finally capturing the hind near the river [[Ladon (river)|Ladon]].<ref name=":1" />

[[Euripides]] says Heracles slew the hind and brought it to Artemis for [[propitiation]].<ref name=":2" /> Another tradition says he captured it with nets while it was sleeping or that he ran it down,<ref name=":5" /> while another says he shot and maimed it with an arrow just before it crossed the river Ladon.<ref name=":1" /> Once Heracles captured the hind, and only after explaining to Artemis and [[Apollo]] ("who would have wrested the hind from him"<ref name=":1" />) that he had only hurt the sacred hind out of necessity, was he allowed to take it alive to [[Eurystheus]] in [[Mycenae]], thus completing his third labour.<ref name=":1" />


[[File:Corinthian helmet Cdm Paris BB2013 n2.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.25|Heracles and Apollo struggling over the Hind, as depicted on a Corinthian helmet (early 5th century BC)]]
[[File:Corinthian helmet Cdm Paris BB2013 n2.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.25|Heracles and Apollo struggling over the Hind, as depicted on a Corinthian helmet (early 5th century BC)]]

==Art==
==Art==
<gallery>
<gallery>
File:Athenian plate with Heracles and Apollo fighting over the Keryneian hind.jpg|Athenian plate, c. 560 BC
File:Athenian plate with Heracles and Apollo fighting over the Keryneian hind.jpg|Athenian plate, c. 560 BC
File:DSC00179 - Ercole abbatte la cerva di Cerinea - Fontana romana, sec. I a.C. - Foto di G. Dall'Orto.jpg|Roman bronze, 1st century BC
File:DSC00179 - Ercole abbatte la cerva di Cerinea - Fontana romana, sec. I a.C. - Foto di G. Dall'Orto.jpg|Roman bronze, 1st century BC, probably a copy from [[Lysippus]]
File:Herakles hind Staatliche Antikensammlungen SL54.jpg|Roman-era bronze, 1st–2nd centuries AD
File:Herakles hind Staatliche Antikensammlungen SL54.jpg|Roman-era bronze, 1st–2nd centuries AD
File:Mosaico Trabajos Hércules (M.A.N. Madrid) 03.jpg|Mosaic from [[Roman Spain]], 3rd century AD
File:Mosaico Trabajos Hércules (M.A.N. Madrid) 03.jpg|Mosaic from [[Roman Spain]], 3rd century AD
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</gallery>
</gallery>


== Stag or Hind ==
== Stag or Hind or female deer==
"Pindar says that in his quest of the hind with the golden horns Hercules had seen "the far-off land beyond the cold blast of Boreas.[ [[Hyperborea]]]"<ref name=":6" /> Hence, as the reindeer is said to be the only species of deer of which the female has antlers, [[William Ridgeway|Sir William Ridgeway]] argues ingeniously that the hind with the golden horns was no other than the reindeer."<ref name=":1" />
"Pindar says that in his quest of the hind with the golden horns Hercules had seen "the far-off land beyond the cold blast of Boreas. &#91;[[Hyperborea]]&#93;"<ref name=":6" /> Hence, as the reindeer is said to be the only species of deer of which the female has antlers, [[William Ridgeway|Sir William Ridgeway]] argues ingeniously that the hind with the golden horns was no other than the reindeer."<ref name=":1" />


A doe bearing antlers was unknown in Greece, but the story of the hind is suggestive of [[reindeer]], which, unlike other deer, can be harnessed and whose females bear antlers. The myth relates to the Hyperborea<ref name=":6" />, which may have been the archaic origin of the myth itself, as [[Robert Graves]] thought.
A doe bearing antlers was unknown in Greece, but the story of the hind is suggestive of [[reindeer]], which, unlike other deer, can be harnessed and whose females bear antlers. The myth relates to the [[Hyperborea]],<ref name=":6" /> which may have been the archaic origin of the myth itself, as [[Robert Graves]] thought.


Authoritative primary source translations say the creature was a:
Authoritative primary source translations say the creature was a:


* '''doe'''<ref name=":6" />
* '''doe''' [Pindar, ''Olympian Odes III'' 28 ff., (trans. Sandys)]
* '''hind'''<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":8" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":9">{{Cite book|title=Aelian On the Characteristics of Animals|publisher=William Heinemann Ltd|year=1959|volume=2|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|pages=153|translator-last=Scholfield|translator-first=A. F.|chapter=On Animals 7. 39|id=ark:/13960/t7hq6cw1k}}</ref>
* '''hind''' [Euripides, ''The Madness of Hercules'' 370 ff., (trans. Way); Seneca, Hercules Furens 222, (trans. Miller); Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2. 5 3-4, (trans. Frazer); Aelian, On Animals 7. 39, trans. Scholfield)]
* '''deer'''<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":9" />
* '''deer''' [Aelian, On Animals 7. 39, trans. Scholfield; Callimachus, Hymn 3 to Artemis 98 ff., (trans. Mair)]
* '''hart'''<ref name=":5" />
* '''hart''' [Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 4. 12. 13, (trans. Oldfather)]
* '''stag''' [Pseudo-Hyginus, ''Fabulae 30'', (trans. Grant); Quintus Smyrnaeus, ''Fall of Tro''y 6. 223 ff., (trans. Way); Seneca ''Hercules Oetaeus'' 1237 ff. (trans. Miller)]
* '''stag'''<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":7" /> plus Pseudo-Hyginus, ''Fabulae 30'', (trans. Grant)
* '''beast'''<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":10" />


== Classical Literature Sources ==
== Classical Literature Sources ==
Chronological listing of classical literature sources for the Ceryneian Hind:
Chronological listing of classical literature sources for the Ceryneian Hind:


* Pindar, ''Olympian Odes III'' 28 ff. (trans. Sandys) (Greek lyric C5th BC)
* Pindar, ''Olympian Odes III'' 28 ff. (trans. Sandys) (Greek lyric poetry C5th BC)
* Euripides, ''The Madness of Hercules'' 375 ff. (trans. Way) (Greek tragedy C5th BC)
* Euripides, ''The Madness of Hercules'' 375 ff. (trans. Way) (Greek tragedy C5th BC)
* Callimachus, ''Hymn 3 to Artemis'' 98 ff. (trans. Mair) (Greek poet C3rd BC)
* Callimachus, ''Hymn 3 to Artemis'' 98 ff. (trans. Mair) (Greek poetry C3rd BC)
* Diodorus of Sicily, ''Library of History'' 4. 12. 13 (trans. Oldfather) (Greek historian C1st BC)
* Diodorus of Sicily, ''Library of History'' 4. 12. 13 (trans. Oldfather) (Greek history C1st BC)
* Virgil, ''Aeneid'' 6. 801 ff (trans. Dewey) (Roman epic C1st BC):
* Virgil, ''Aeneid'' 6. 801 ff (trans. Dewey) (Roman epic poetry C1st BC)
* Philippus of Thessalonica, ''The Twelve Labors of Hercules'' (''The Greek Classics'' ed. Miller Vol 3 1909 p.&nbsp;397) (Greek epigrams C1st AD)
* Seneca, ''Hercules Furens'' 222 ff. (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st AD)
* Seneca, ''Hercules Furens'' 222 ff. (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st AD)
* Seneca, ''Agamemnon'' 833 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st AD)
* Seneca, ''Agamemnon'' 833 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st AD)
* Seneca, ''Hercules Oetaeus'' 1237 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st AD)
* Seneca, ''Hercules Oetaeus'' 1237 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st AD)
* Pseudo-Apollodorus, ''The Library'' 2. 5. 3-4 (trans. Frazer) (Greek mythographer C2nd AD)
* Pseudo-Apollodorus, ''The Library'' 2. 5. 3-4 (trans. Frazer) (Greek mythography C2nd AD)
* Aelian, On Animals 7. 39 (trans. Scholfield) (Greek natural history C2nd AD):
* Aelian, ''On the Characteristics of Animals'' 7. 39 (trans. Scholfield) (Greek natural history C2nd AD):
* Pseudo-Hyginus, ''Fabulae 30'' (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd AD)
* Pseudo-Hyginus, ''Fabulae 30'' (trans. Grant) (Roman mythography C2nd AD)
* Quintus Smyrnaeus, ''Fall of Troy'' 6. 223 ff. (trans. Way) (Greek epic C4th AD)
* Quintus Smyrnaeus, ''Fall of Troy'' 6. 223 ff. (trans. Way) (Greek epic poetry C4th AD)
* Nonnus, ''Dionysiaca'' 25. 223 ff (trans. Rouse) (Greek epic C5th AD)
* Nonnus, ''Dionysiaca'' 25. 223 ff (trans. Rouse) (Greek epic poetry C5th AD)
* Tzetzes, ''Chiliades'' or ''Book of Histories'' 2. 265 ff (trans.Untila et. al.) (Byzantine historian C12 AD)
* Nonnos, ''Dionysiaca'' 25. 242 ff
* Tzetzes, ''Chiliades'' or ''Book of Histories'' 2. 265 ff (trans. Untila et al.) (Greco-Byzantine history C12 AD)
* Tzetzes, ''Chiliades'' or ''Book of Histories'' 2. 495 ff
* Tzetzes, ''Chiliades'' or ''Book of Histories'' 2. 495 ff


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==References==
==References==
<references />
<references />[[Theoi Project]] digital library about Greek mythology


==External links==
==External links==
{{Commons category inline}}
{{Commons category-inline}}


{{Twelve tasks of Hercules}}
{{Twelve tasks of Hercules}}
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[[Category:Greek legendary creatures]]
[[Category:Greek legendary creatures]]
[[Category:Mythological deer]]
[[Category:Mythological deer]]
[[Category:Deeds of Artemis]]

Revision as of 04:55, 5 September 2023

Ceryneian Hind
Heracles breaking off the golden antler of the Ceryneian Hind, while Athena (left) and Artemis look on (black-figure amphora, ca. 540–30 BC)
GroupingLegendary creature
FolkloreGreek mythology
Other name(s)doe with the golden horns, Golden-horned hind, Ceryneia hind, Cerynitian hind, beast with golden antlers, Parrhasian hind, nimble hind of Maenalus and beast of Maenalus.
CountryGreece
RegionKeryneia, Greece

In Greek mythology, the Ceryneian hind (Greek: Κερυνῖτις ἔλαφος Kerynitis elaphos, Latin: Elaphus Cerynitis), was a creature that lived in Ceryneia,[1] Greece and took the form of an enormous female deer, larger than a bull,[1] with golden antlers[2] like a stag,[3] hooves of bronze or brass,[4] and a "dappled hide",[5] that "excelled in swiftness of foot",[6] and snorted fire.[3] To bring it back alive to Eurystheus in Mycenae was the third labour of Heracles.

Other names and descriptions for it were: doe with the golden horns,[7] golden-horned hind,[5] Ceryneia hind,[4] Cerynitian hind,[2] beast with golden antlers,[8] Parrhasian hind,[9] nimble hind of Maenalus[10] and beast of Maenalus.[11] Frazer says that the hind took its name from the river Cerynites, "which rises in Arcadia and flows through Achaia into the sea".[2]

One tradition says that Artemis found a mighty herd of five Ceryneian hinds playing on the base of Parrhasian hill far away from the banks of the "black-pebbled Anaurus"[1] where they always herded. Artemis was so impressed by the hinds that she yoked four of them to her golden chariot with golden bridles, but purposely let one escape to the Ceryneian hill to be a future labour for Heracles.[1] Whilst in Ceryneia, the hind chased farmers from vineyards.[3]

The Ceryneian hind was sacred to Artemis.[4] "The hind is said to have borne the inscription 'Taygete dedicated [me] to Artemis'."[2] Because of its sacredness, Heracles did not want to harm the hind and so hunted it for more than a year, from Oenoe[2] to Hyperborea,[7] to a mountain called Artemisius, (a range which divides Argolis from the plain of Mantinea) before finally capturing the hind near the river Ladon.[2]

Euripides says Heracles slew the hind and brought it to Artemis for propitiation.[5] Another tradition says he captured it with nets while it was sleeping or that he ran it down,[6] while another says he shot and maimed it with an arrow just before it crossed the river Ladon.[2] Once Heracles captured the hind, and only after explaining to Artemis and Apollo ("who would have wrested the hind from him"[2]) that he had only hurt the sacred hind out of necessity, was he allowed to take it alive to Eurystheus in Mycenae, thus completing his third labour.[2]

Heracles and Apollo struggling over the Hind, as depicted on a Corinthian helmet (early 5th century BC)

Art

  • Athenian plate, c. 560 BC
    Athenian plate, c. 560 BC
  • Roman bronze, 1st century BC, probably a copy from Lysippus
    Roman bronze, 1st century BC, probably a copy from Lysippus
  • Roman-era bronze, 1st–2nd centuries AD
    Roman-era bronze, 1st–2nd centuries AD
  • Mosaic from Roman Spain, 3rd century AD
    Mosaic from Roman Spain, 3rd century AD
  • Statuette by J. M. Félix Magdalena (b. 1941)
    Statuette by J. M. Félix Magdalena (b. 1941)

Stag or Hind or female deer

"Pindar says that in his quest of the hind with the golden horns Hercules had seen "the far-off land beyond the cold blast of Boreas. [Hyperborea]"[7] Hence, as the reindeer is said to be the only species of deer of which the female has antlers, Sir William Ridgeway argues ingeniously that the hind with the golden horns was no other than the reindeer."[2]

A doe bearing antlers was unknown in Greece, but the story of the hind is suggestive of reindeer, which, unlike other deer, can be harnessed and whose females bear antlers. The myth relates to the Hyperborea,[7] which may have been the archaic origin of the myth itself, as Robert Graves thought.

Authoritative primary source translations say the creature was a:

Classical Literature Sources

Chronological listing of classical literature sources for the Ceryneian Hind:

  • Pindar, Olympian Odes III 28 ff. (trans. Sandys) (Greek lyric poetry C5th BC)
  • Euripides, The Madness of Hercules 375 ff. (trans. Way) (Greek tragedy C5th BC)
  • Callimachus, Hymn 3 to Artemis 98 ff. (trans. Mair) (Greek poetry C3rd BC)
  • Diodorus of Sicily, Library of History 4. 12. 13 (trans. Oldfather) (Greek history C1st BC)
  • Virgil, Aeneid 6. 801 ff (trans. Dewey) (Roman epic poetry C1st BC)
  • Philippus of Thessalonica, The Twelve Labors of Hercules (The Greek Classics ed. Miller Vol 3 1909 p. 397) (Greek epigrams C1st AD)
  • Seneca, Hercules Furens 222 ff. (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st AD)
  • Seneca, Agamemnon 833 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st AD)
  • Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus 1237 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st AD)
  • Pseudo-Apollodorus, The Library 2. 5. 3-4 (trans. Frazer) (Greek mythography C2nd AD)
  • Aelian, On the Characteristics of Animals 7. 39 (trans. Scholfield) (Greek natural history C2nd AD):
  • Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 30 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythography C2nd AD)
  • Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 6. 223 ff. (trans. Way) (Greek epic poetry C4th AD)
  • Nonnus, Dionysiaca 25. 223 ff (trans. Rouse) (Greek epic poetry C5th AD)
  • Nonnos, Dionysiaca 25. 242 ff
  • Tzetzes, Chiliades or Book of Histories 2. 265 ff (trans. Untila et al.) (Greco-Byzantine history C12 AD)
  • Tzetzes, Chiliades or Book of Histories 2. 495 ff

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Hymn III (to Artemis). 98 ff.". Callimachus and Lycophron. Translated by Mair, G. R. London; New York: William Heinemann; G. R Putnam's Sons. 1921. p. 69. ark:/13960/t7qn6bw6r.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "The Library 2. 5. 3-4". Apollodorus the Library. Vol. 1. Translated by Frazer, Sir James George. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1921. pp. 191 with the Scholiast. ark:/13960/t00012x9f.
  3. ^ a b c d "The Fall of Troy, Book VI. 223 ff.". Quintus Smyrnaeus The Fall Of Troy. Translated by Way, A. S. London; Cambridge, Massachusetts: William Heinemann Ltd; Harvard University Press. 1984 [1913]. p. 271. ark:/13960/t2m61f62d.
  4. ^ a b c Smith, W., ed. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography And Mythology. Boston: Little, Brown, And Company. p. 395. ark:/13960/t9f47mp93.
  5. ^ a b c d "Madness Of Hercules. 370 ff.". Euripides. Vol. 3. Translated by Way, Arthur S. London; New York: William Heinemann; G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1930. p. 157. ark:/13960/t6057th3x.
  6. ^ a b c "Book 4. 13". Diodorus of Sicily. Vol. 2. Translated by Oldfather, C. H. London; Cambridge, Massachusetts: William Heinemann Ltd; Harvard University Press. 1967 [1935]. p. 385. ark:/13960/t7qn6bw6r.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Olympian Odes III 28-42. 28 ff.". The Odes of Pindar. Translated by Sandys, Sir John. London; New York: William Heinemann; The Macmillan Co. 1915. pp. 37 with the Scholiast. ark:/13960/t02z1h76p.
  8. ^ a b c "Hercules Oetaeus 1237 ff". Seneca's Tragedies. Vol. 2. Translated by Miller, Frank Justus. London; New York: William Heinemann; G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1929 [1917]. p. 285. ark:/13960/t7fr0065f.
  9. ^ "Agamemnon 829 ff". Seneca's Tragedies. Vol. 2. Translated by Miller, Frank Justus. London; New York: William Heinemann; G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1929 [1917]. p. 69. ark:/13960/t7fr0065f.
  10. ^ a b "Hercules Furens 222 ff". Seneca's Tragedies. Vol. 1. Translated by Miller, Frank Justus. London; Cambridge, Massachusetts: William Heinemann Ltd; Harvard University Press. 1938. p. 21. ark:/13960/t71v5s15x.
  11. ^ a b "Hercules Oetaeus 17 ff". Seneca's Tragedies. Vol. 2. Translated by Miller, Frank Justus. London; New York: William Heinemann; G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1939. p. 187. ark:/13960/t7fr0065f.
  12. ^ a b "On Animals 7. 39". Aelian On the Characteristics of Animals. Vol. 2. Translated by Scholfield, A. F. Cambridge, Massachusetts: William Heinemann Ltd. 1959. p. 153. ark:/13960/t7hq6cw1k.

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