Global InformationCeryneian Hind information
 Heracles breaking off the golden antler of the Ceryneian Hind, while Athena (left) and Artemis look on (black-figure amphora, ca. 540–30 BC) | |
| Grouping | Legendary creature |
|---|---|
| Folklore | Greek 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. |
| Country | Greece |
| Region | Keryneia, 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]
- ^ a b c d "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.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "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.
- ^ a b c "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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b c "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.
- ^ a b "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.
- ^ a b "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.