This article is about the mythological figure. For other uses, see Elaea (disambiguation).
In Greek mythology, Elaea (Ancient Greek: Ἐλαία, romanized: Elaia, lit. 'olive') is an Attic girl who won the favour of Athena thanks to her impressive athletic achievements and her beauty, and the envy of the other Atticans for the same reason. Her story shares many elements with that of Myrsine. Her brief tale survives in the works of Nicolaus Sophista, a Greek sophist and rhetor who lived during the fifth century AD.
Elaea was an extremely athletic girl who outdid all girls in beauty and all boys in strength, winning herself the favour of Athena, the virgin goddess of wisdom and patron-goddess of Attica. Elaea beat all her opponents in both the ring and the race, who grew resentful of her. Many of her fellow athletes whom she had beaten then decided to murder her out of envy. But Athena took pity in her favourite, and for Athena's sake Gaia, the goddess of the earth, metamorphosed the dead girl into an olive tree, which was the most sacred tree associated with Athens and Athena.[1][2][3][4] A similar, almost word-for-word, story was also told about another maiden, Myrsine, who was changed into a myrtle shrub.[3]
elaea, mythology, this, article, about, mythological, figure, other, uses, elaea, disambiguation, greek, mythology, elaea, ancient, greek, Ἐλαία, romanized, elaia, olive, attic, girl, favour, athena, thanks, impressive, athletic, achievements, beauty, envy, ot. This article is about the mythological figure For other uses see Elaea disambiguation In Greek mythology Elaea Ancient Greek Ἐlaia romanized Elaia lit olive is an Attic girl who won the favour of Athena thanks to her impressive athletic achievements and her beauty and the envy of the other Atticans for the same reason Her story shares many elements with that of Myrsine Her brief tale survives in the works of Nicolaus Sophista a Greek sophist and rhetor who lived during the fifth century AD Contents 1 Mythology 2 See also 3 References 4 BibliographyMythology editElaea was an extremely athletic girl who outdid all girls in beauty and all boys in strength winning herself the favour of Athena the virgin goddess of wisdom and patron goddess of Attica Elaea beat all her opponents in both the ring and the race who grew resentful of her Many of her fellow athletes whom she had beaten then decided to murder her out of envy But Athena took pity in her favourite and for Athena s sake Gaia the goddess of the earth metamorphosed the dead girl into an olive tree which was the most sacred tree associated with Athens and Athena 1 2 3 4 A similar almost word for word story was also told about another maiden Myrsine who was changed into a myrtle shrub 3 See also edit nbsp Mythology portal nbsp Ancient Greece portal Arachne Myrina MyrmexReferences edit Nicolaus Sophista Progymnasmata 2 3 Westermann 1843 p 369 a b Forbes Irving 1990 p 278 M R Wright A Dictionary of Classical Mythology Summary of Transformations mythandreligion upatras gr University of Patras Archived from the original on December 30 2022 Retrieved January 3 2023 Bibliography editForbes Irving Paul M C 1990 Metamorphosis in Greek Myths Clarendon Press ISBN 0 19 814730 9 Westermann Anton 1843 My8ografoi Scriptores poeticae historiae Graeci Edidit A W Gr nbsp This article relating to Greek mythology is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Elaea mythology amp oldid 1188757366, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
