Metanira

In Greek mythology, Metanira (/ˌmɛtəˈnaɪrə/; Ancient Greek: Μετάνειρα Metáneira) or Meganira[1] was a queen of Eleusis and wife of Celeus.

Demeter and Metanira, detail of an Apulian red-figure hydria, Antikensammlung Berlin (1984.46)

Mythology

While Demeter was searching for her daughter, having taken the form of an old woman called Doso, she received a hospitable welcome from Celeus, the King of Eleusis in Attica. He asked her to nurse Demophoon, his son by Metanira. As a gift to Celeus, because of his hospitality, Demeter planned to make Demophoon immortal by burning his mortal spirit away in the family hearth every night. She was unable to complete the ritual because Metanira walked in on her one night and screamed at seeing her child in flames, which distracted the goddess. Some say that Demophoon, as a result, was destroyed by the flames, but in other sources he suffered no harm. In Ovid's Fasti,[2] the baby was Triptolemus and not Demophoon, although in most other versions he was an adult by the time; some sources state that even his parentage was different. However, all versions agree that Demeter chose to teach Triptolemus the art of agriculture and, from him, the rest of Greece learned to plant and reap crops. He flew across the land on a winged chariot while Demeter and Persephone cared for him, and helped him complete his mission of educating the whole of Greece on the art of agriculture.[3][4][5] Some mythological traditions tell that Metanira's son Abas mocked Demeter and as punishment was turned into a lizard;[6] others, however, relate this of Ascalabus, son of Misme.[7]

gollark: What exactly are its speqs?
gollark: 0.38 time units.
gollark: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_Card
gollark: > Modern SIM cards allow applications to load when the SIM is in use by the subscriber. These applications communicate with the handset or a server using SIM Application Toolkit, which was initially specified by 3GPP in TS 11.14. (There is an identical ETSI specification with different numbering.) ETSI and 3GPP maintain the SIM specifications. The main specifications are: ETSI TS 102 223 (the toolkit for smartcards), ETSI TS 102 241 (API), ETSI TS 102 588 (application invocation), and ETSI TS 131 111 (toolkit for more SIM-likes). SIM toolkit applications were initially written in native code using proprietary APIs. To provide interoperability of the applications, ETSI choose Java Card.[11] A multi-company collaboration called GlobalPlatform defines some extensions on the cards, with additional APIs and features like more cryptographic security and RFID contactless use added.[12]
gollark: Yes.

References
  1. Pausanias, Description of Greece, 1. 39. 1
  2. book 4, lines 508-560
  3. Homeric Hymn to Demeter, 5
  4. Bibliotheca 1. 5. 1-2
  5. Hyginus, Fabulae, 147
  6. Ovid, Metamorphoses, 5. 450 ff
  7. Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses, 24


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.