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Taenarus (mythology)

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In Greek mythology, Taenarus (Ancient Greek: Ταίναρος) was the eponym of Cape Taenarum, Mount Taenarum and the city Taenarus at Peloponnese. In different accounts, he is given as:

  • Taenarus, son of Zeus and brother of Calabrus and Geraestus. The three brothers were said to have sailed to Peloponnese and to have seized a portion of land there, where Taenarus founded a sanctuary of Poseidon known as "Taenarum".[1]
  • Taenarus, son of Poseidon.[2]
  • Taenarus, son of Elatus, himself son of Icarius, and Erymede, daughter of Damasiclus; was said to have had the city, the mountain, and the harbor named after him.[3] Stephanus (who writes of him as a son rather than a grandson of Icarius) considers him to be a figure distinct from Taenarus, son of Zeus.[1]

Taenaran gateway: Taenarus, at the tip of the middle peninsula at the south of Peloponnese, was a conventional entrance to the underworld.[4]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b Stephanus of Byzantium, s.v. Tainaros
  2. ^ Scholia ad Apollonius Rhodius, 1.179
  3. ^ Scholia ad Apollonius Rhodius, 1.102
  4. ^ Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.13

References

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