In Greek mythology, Polyxo (/pəˈlɪksoʊ/; Ancient Greek: Πολυξώ, romanized: Poluxṓ), also known as Philozoe (Ancient Greek: Φιλοζώη, romanized: Philozṓē, lit. 'animal-loving' or 'life-loving'), is the wife of the Trojan War hero Tlepolemus, and later the queen of Rhodes, an island in the southeastern Aegean sea. Following her husband's death during the war, Polyxo took revenge against Helen, whom she blamed for all the sorrows she had suffered.
Family
editPolyxo was born in Argos, of unclear line. She married a son of Heracles called Tlepolemus, and had an unnamed son by him.[1]
Mythology
editAfter her marriage to Tlepolemus and his subsequent exile due to the murder of Licymnius, Polyxo followed him to the island of Rhodes, where they had a son.[2][3] But Tlepolemus had been one of the suitors of Helen of Troy,[4] so when Paris took her with him to Troy, Tlepolemus left to join the expendition that would bring Helen back to her husband Menelaus.[3] Tlepolemus fought and was killed by Sarpedon, leaving Polyxo a widow and their son an orphan.[5] Mourning greatly, Polyxo organised funerary games for her deceased husband in which children competed and the victors were crowned with wreaths of poplar leaves.[6]
Years later, after Menelaus had died, his illegitimate sons drove Helen out of Sparta, and she came to Rhodes, requesting shelter from her old friend Polyxo who was ruling as queen at the time.[7] Polyxo still desired to take revenge for her slain husband, so she pretended to receive Helen warmly. But while Helen was relaxing in a bath, she sent her some handmaidens dressed up like the Erinyes, goddesses of justice, retribution and revenge.[3][8] The servants seized Helen and hanged her on a tree, killing her.[9][10] The Rhodians would build a sanctuary to worship Helen of the Tree (Helene Dendritis), as they dubbed her.[2][11] This version, rather contrary to the usual happy traditions about Helen's post-Troy fate, was probably invented to explain the Rhodian tree cult.[12]
In another version, Menelaus and Helen landed at Rhodes on their way back from Egypt. Polyxo, wanting to avenge Tlepolemus, sent a large host of Rhodians armed with stones and fire to the ships. Menelaus hid Helen under the deck, and made one of his wife's most beautiful attendants wear her crown and garment.[9] The Rhodians killed the servant then, mistaking her for Helen.[8] Satisfied that justice had been served, Polyxo and the Rhodians withdrew, and troubled the Spartan royal couple no more.[13] Dedications to the goddess Athena are recorded in the Lindos Chronicle to have been offered by Helen and Menelaus.[11]
See also
edit
- Callidice of Thesprotia, queen of Thesprotia
- Aëdon, who failed to kill her intended victim
- Otrera, queen of the Amazons
References
edit- ^ Smith 1873, s.v. Polyxo 5.
- ^ a b Pausanias 3.19.10
- ^ a b c Bell 1991, pp. 378–79.
- ^ Hyginus, Fabulae 81
- ^ Homer, Iliad 5.572
- ^ Tzetzes on Lycophron, 911.
- ^ Pausanias 3.19.9
- ^ a b Käppel, Lutz (October 1, 2006). "Polyxo". In Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth (eds.). Brill's New Pauly. Kiel: Brill Reference Online. doi:10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e1002640. ISSN 1574-9347. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
- ^ a b Grimal 1987, s.v. Polyxo 2.
- ^ Seyffert 1901, p. 273.
- ^ a b Edmunds 2016, pp. 169–170.
- ^ March 2014, s.v. Polyxo (2).
- ^ Polyaenus 1.13
Bibliography
edit- Bell, Robert E. (1991). Women of Classical Mythology: A Biographical Dictionary. ABC-Clio. ISBN 9780874365818.
- Edmunds, Lowell (2016). Stealing Helen: The Myth of the Abducted Wife in Comparative Perspective. UK, US: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-16512-7.
- Gaius Julius Hyginus, Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
- Grimal, Pierre (1987). The Dictionary of Classical Mythology. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-13209-0.
- Homer, the Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. ISBN 978-0674995796. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
- March, Jennifer R. (May 31, 2014). Dictionary of Classical Mythology. Oxbow Books. ISBN 978-1-78297-635-6.
- Pausanias, 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. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Polyaenus, Stratagems of War, with an English translation by E. Shepherd, 1793. Online text at attalus.org
- Seyffert, Oskar (1901). A Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, Mythology, Religion, Literature and Art. Swan Sonnenschein and Co.
- Smith, William (1873). A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. London, UK: John Murray, printed by Spottiswoode and Co. Online version at the Perseus.tufts library.
- Tzetzes, John, Lycophronis Alexandra. Vol. II: Scholia Continens, edited by Eduard Scheer, Berlin, Weidmann, 1881. Internet Archive.