5 includes (i) Aesyle (or Phaisyle), Coronis, Cleeia (or Cleis), Phaeo and Eudora or (ii) Aesyle (or Phaisyle), Coronis, Eudora, Ambrosia and Polyxo or (iii) Pytho, Synecho, Baccho, Cardie and Niseis
Maia is the daughter of Atlas[3] and Pleione the Oceanid,[4] and is the oldest of the seven Pleiades.[5] They were born on Mount Cyllene in Arcadia,[4] and are sometimes called mountain nymphs, oreads; Simonides of Ceos sang of "mountain Maia" (Maiados oureias) "of the lovely black eyes."[5] Because they were daughters of Atlas, they were also called the Atlantides.[6]
Mythology
Mercury and Maia[7] inside a silver cup dedicated by the freedman P. Aelius Eutychus (late 2nd century AD), from a Gallo-Roman religious site
Birth of Hermes
According to the Homeric Hymn to Hermes, Zeus, in the dead of night, secretly made love to Maia,[8] who avoided the company of the gods, in a cave of Cyllene. She became pregnant with Hermes. After giving birth to the baby, Maia wrapped him in blankets and went to sleep. The rapidly maturing infant Hermes crawled away to Thessaly, where by nightfall of his first day he stole some of his half-brother Apollo's cattle and invented the lyre from a tortoise shell. Maia refused to believe Apollo when he claimed that Hermes was the thief, and Zeus then sided with Apollo. Finally, Apollo exchanged the cattle for the lyre, which became one of his identifying attributes.[9]
Although the Homeric Hymn has Maia as Hermes' caretaker and guardian, in Sophocles's now lost satyr playIchneutae, Maia entrusted the infant Hermes to Cyllene (the local mountain goddess) to nurse and raise, and thus it is her that the satyrs and Apollo confront when looking for the god's missing cattle.[10]
As nurturer
Maia also raised the infant Arcas, the child of Callisto with Zeus. Wronged by the love affair, Zeus' wife Hera in a jealous rage had transformed Callisto into a bear.[11] Arcas is the eponym of Arcadia, where Maia was born.[4] The story of Callisto and Arcas, like that of the Pleiades, is an aition for a stellar formation, the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, the Great and Little Bear.
Her name is related to μαῖα (maia), an honorific term for older women related to μήτηρ (mētēr) 'mother',[citation needed] also meaning "midwife" in Greek.[12]
In an archaic Roman prayer,[15] Maia appears as an attribute of Vulcan, in an invocational list of male deities paired with female abstractions representing some aspect of their functionality. She was explicitly identified with Earth (Terra, the Roman counterpart of Gaia) and the Good Goddess (Bona Dea) in at least one tradition.[16][17] Her identity became theologically intertwined also with the goddesses Fauna, Ops, Juno, Carna, and the Magna Mater ("Great Goddess", referring to the Roman form of Cybele but also a cult title for Maia), as discussed at some length by the lateantiquarian writer Macrobius.[18] This treatment was probably influenced by the 1st-century BC scholar Varro, who tended to resolve a great number of goddesses into one original "Terra".[17] The association with Juno, whose Etruscan counterpart was Uni, is suggested again by the inscription Uni Mae on the Piacenza Liver.[19]
The month of May (Latin Maius) was named for Maia,[20] though ancient etymologists also connected it to the maiores "ancestors", again from the adjective maius, maior, meaning those who are "greater" in terms of generational precedence.[citation needed][21] On the first day of May, the Lares Praestites were honored as protectors of the city,[22] and the flamen of Vulcan sacrificed a pregnant sow to Maia, a customary offering to an earth goddess[23] that reiterates the link between Vulcan and Maia in the archaic prayer formula. In Roman myth, Mercury (Hermes), the son of Maia, was the father of the twin Lares, a genealogy that sheds light on the collocation of ceremonies on the Kalends of May.[24] On May 15, the Ides, Mercury was honored as a patron of merchants and increaser of profit (through an etymological connection with merx, merces, "goods, merchandise"), another possible connection with Maia his mother as a goddess who promoted growth.[13]
^The alternate spelling Maja represents the intervocalic i as j, pronounced similarly to an initial y in English; hence Latin maior, "greater," in English became "major."
^The alternate spelling Maja represents the intervocalic i as j, pronounced similarly to an initial y in English; hence Latin maior, "greater," in English became "major."
^Although the identification of Mercury is secure, based on the presence of the caduceus, the one-shouldered garment called the chlamys, and his winged head, the female figure has been identified variously. The cup is part of the Berthouville Treasure, found within a Gallo-Roman temple precinct; see Lise Vogel, The Column of Antoninus Pius, Loeb Classical Library Monograph (Harvard University Press, 1973), p. 79 f., and Martin Henig, Religion in Roman Britain, Taylor & Francis, 1984, 2005, p. 119 f. In Gaul, Mercury's regular consort is one of the Celtic goddesses, usually Rosmerta. The etymology of Rosmerta's name as "Great Provider" suggests a theology compatible with that of Maia "the Great". The consort on the cup has also been identified as Venus by M. Chabouillet, Catalogue général et raisonné des camées et pierres gravées de la Bibliothéque Impériale, Paris 1858, p. 449. Maia is suggested by the concomitant discovery of a silver bust, not always considered part of the hoard proper but more securely identified as Maia and connected to Rosmerta; see E. Babelon, Revue archéologique 24 (1914), pp. 182–190, as summarized in American Journal of Archaeology 19 (1915), p. 485.
^Nutton, Vivian (2005). Ancient Medicine. London: Routledge. p. 101. ISBN9780415086110.
^ abTurcan, Robert (2001). The Gods of Ancient Rome - Religion in Everyday Life from Archaic to Imperial Times. London: Routledge. p. 70. ISBN9780415929745.
^Grimal, Pierre (1996). The Dictionary of Classical Mythology. Blackwell. p. 270.
^In Mario Torelli's diagram of this haruspicial object, the names Uni and Mae appear together in a cell on the edge of the liver; see Nancy Thompson de Grummond, Etruscan Myth, Sacred History, and Legend, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology, 2006, p. 44 (online).
^British Museum (29 December 2017). "What's in a name? Months of the year". Retrieved 8 May 2022.
^Wiseman, Timothy Peter (1995). Remus: A Roman Myth. Cambridge University Press. p. 71. ISBN9780521483667.
References
Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History translated by Charles Henry Oldfather. Twelve volumes. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59–8. Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site
Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888-1890. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
Hesiod, Theogony from The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
Publius Ovidius Naso, Fasti translated by James G. Frazer. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
Publius Ovidius Naso, Fasti. Sir James George Frazer. London; Cambridge, MA. William Heinemann Ltd.; Harvard University Press. 1933. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White. Homeric Hymns. Cambridge, MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
Further reading
Grimal, Pierre, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Wiley-Blackwell, 1996, ISBN978-0-631-20102-1. "Maia" p. 270
Harry Thurston Peck, Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, 1898
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Maia (mythology).
May 01, 2023
maia, other, uses, disambiguation, ancient, greek, Μαῖα, also, spelled, maie, Μαίη, latin, ancient, greek, religion, mythology, pleiades, mother, hermes, major, greek, gods, zeus, king, olympus, arcadian, pleiad, nymphmember, pleiadeshermes, detail, from, anat. For other uses see Maia disambiguation Maia ˈ m eɪ e Ancient Greek Maῖa also spelled Maie Maih Latin Maia 1 in ancient Greek religion and mythology is one of the Pleiades and the mother of Hermes one of the major Greek gods by Zeus the king of Olympus 2 MaiaThe Arcadian Pleiad NymphMember of the PleiadesHermes and Maia detail from anAttic red figure amphora c 500 BC AbodeMount Cyllene ArcadiaPersonal informationParentsAtlas and Pleione or AethraSiblings a Pleiades ElectraTaygeteAlcyoneCelaenoSteropeMerope b Hyades 1 include Dione or2 includes Thyone and Prodice or3 includes i Coronis Cleeia or Cleis and Philia or ii Aesyle or Phaisyle Eudora and Ambrosia or5 includes i Aesyle or Phaisyle Coronis Cleeia or Cleis Phaeo and Eudora or ii Aesyle or Phaisyle Coronis Eudora Ambrosia and Polyxo or iii Pytho Synecho Baccho Cardie and Niseis c HyasConsortZeusChildrenHermes Contents 1 Family 2 Mythology 2 1 Birth of Hermes 2 2 As nurturer 3 Roman Maia 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 7 Further readingFamily EditMaia is the daughter of Atlas 3 and Pleione the Oceanid 4 and is the oldest of the seven Pleiades 5 They were born on Mount Cyllene in Arcadia 4 and are sometimes called mountain nymphs oreads Simonides of Ceos sang of mountain Maia Maiados oureias of the lovely black eyes 5 Because they were daughters of Atlas they were also called the Atlantides 6 Mythology Edit Mercury and Maia 7 inside a silver cup dedicated by the freedman P Aelius Eutychus late 2nd century AD from a Gallo Roman religious site Birth of Hermes Edit According to the Homeric Hymn to Hermes Zeus in the dead of night secretly made love to Maia 8 who avoided the company of the gods in a cave of Cyllene She became pregnant with Hermes After giving birth to the baby Maia wrapped him in blankets and went to sleep The rapidly maturing infant Hermes crawled away to Thessaly where by nightfall of his first day he stole some of his half brother Apollo s cattle and invented the lyre from a tortoise shell Maia refused to believe Apollo when he claimed that Hermes was the thief and Zeus then sided with Apollo Finally Apollo exchanged the cattle for the lyre which became one of his identifying attributes 9 Although the Homeric Hymn has Maia as Hermes caretaker and guardian in Sophocles s now lost satyr play Ichneutae Maia entrusted the infant Hermes to Cyllene the local mountain goddess to nurse and raise and thus it is her that the satyrs and Apollo confront when looking for the god s missing cattle 10 As nurturer Edit Maia also raised the infant Arcas the child of Callisto with Zeus Wronged by the love affair Zeus wife Hera in a jealous rage had transformed Callisto into a bear 11 Arcas is the eponym of Arcadia where Maia was born 4 The story of Callisto and Arcas like that of the Pleiades is an aition for a stellar formation the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor the Great and Little Bear Her name is related to maῖa maia an honorific term for older women related to mhthr meter mother citation needed also meaning midwife in Greek 12 Roman Maia Edit Vulcan and Maia 1585 by Bartholomaus Spranger In ancient Roman religion and myth Maia embodied the concept of growth 13 as her name was thought to be related to the comparative adjective maius maior larger greater Originally she may have been a homonym independent of the Greek Maia whose myths she absorbed through the Hellenization of Latin literature and culture 14 In an archaic Roman prayer 15 Maia appears as an attribute of Vulcan in an invocational list of male deities paired with female abstractions representing some aspect of their functionality She was explicitly identified with Earth Terra the Roman counterpart of Gaia and the Good Goddess Bona Dea in at least one tradition 16 17 Her identity became theologically intertwined also with the goddesses Fauna Ops Juno Carna and the Magna Mater Great Goddess referring to the Roman form of Cybele but also a cult title for Maia as discussed at some length by the late antiquarian writer Macrobius 18 This treatment was probably influenced by the 1st century BC scholar Varro who tended to resolve a great number of goddesses into one original Terra 17 The association with Juno whose Etruscan counterpart was Uni is suggested again by the inscription Uni Mae on the Piacenza Liver 19 The month of May Latin Maius was named for Maia 20 though ancient etymologists also connected it to the maiores ancestors again from the adjective maius maior meaning those who are greater in terms of generational precedence citation needed 21 On the first day of May the Lares Praestites were honored as protectors of the city 22 and the flamen of Vulcan sacrificed a pregnant sow to Maia a customary offering to an earth goddess 23 that reiterates the link between Vulcan and Maia in the archaic prayer formula In Roman myth Mercury Hermes the son of Maia was the father of the twin Lares a genealogy that sheds light on the collocation of ceremonies on the Kalends of May 24 On May 15 the Ides Mercury was honored as a patron of merchants and increaser of profit through an etymological connection with merx merces goods merchandise another possible connection with Maia his mother as a goddess who promoted growth 13 See also Edit66 Maja asteroid Bona Dea Maia star Maiasaura RosmertaNotes Edit The alternate spelling Maja represents the intervocalic i as j pronounced similarly to an initial y in English hence Latin maior greater in English became major Homer Odyssey 14 435 Apollodorus 3 10 2 Horace Odes 1 10 1 amp 2 42 ff Tzetzes on Lycophron 219 The alternate spelling Maja represents the intervocalic i as j pronounced similarly to an initial y in English hence Latin maior greater in English became major a b c Hesiod Theogony 938 a b Apollodorus 3 10 1 Simonides fr 555 Although the identification of Mercury is secure based on the presence of the caduceus the one shouldered garment called the chlamys and his winged head the female figure has been identified variously The cup is part of the Berthouville Treasure found within a Gallo Roman temple precinct see Lise Vogel The Column of Antoninus Pius Loeb Classical Library Monograph Harvard University Press 1973 p 79 f and Martin Henig Religion in Roman Britain Taylor amp Francis 1984 2005 p 119 f In Gaul Mercury s regular consort is one of the Celtic goddesses usually Rosmerta The etymology of Rosmerta s name as Great Provider suggests a theology compatible with that of Maia the Great The consort on the cup has also been identified as Venus by M Chabouillet Catalogue general et raisonne des camees et pierres gravees de la Bibliotheque Imperiale Paris 1858 p 449 Maia is suggested by the concomitant discovery of a silver bust not always considered part of the hoard proper but more securely identified as Maia and connected to Rosmerta see E Babelon Revue archeologique 24 1914 pp 182 190 as summarized in American Journal of Archaeology 19 1915 p 485 Homeric Hymns 4 5 Apollodorus 3 10 2 Ormand Kirk 2012 A Companion to Sophocles Wiley Blackwell p 163 ISBN 978 1 119 02553 5 Apollodorus 3 8 2 Nutton Vivian 2005 Ancient Medicine London Routledge p 101 ISBN 9780415086110 a b Turcan Robert 2001 The Gods of Ancient Rome Religion in Everyday Life from Archaic to Imperial Times London Routledge p 70 ISBN 9780415929745 Grimal Pierre 1996 The Dictionary of Classical Mythology Blackwell p 270 Aulus Gellius Attic Nights 13 10 2 By Cornelius Labeo as recorded by Macrobius Saturnalia 1 12 20 a b Brouwer H H J 1989 Bona Dea The Sources and a Description of the Cult Brill pp 232 354 ISBN 9789004295773 Macrobius Saturnalia 1 12 16 33 In Mario Torelli s diagram of this haruspicial object the names Uni and Mae appear together in a cell on the edge of the liver see Nancy Thompson de Grummond Etruscan Myth Sacred History and Legend University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology 2006 p 44 online British Museum 29 December 2017 What s in a name Months of the year Retrieved 8 May 2022 Ovid Fasti 5 73 Ovid Fasti 5 73 Turcan The Gods of Ancient Rome p 70 Macrobius Saturnalia 1 12 20 Juvenal Satires 2 86 Festus 68 Wiseman Timothy Peter 1995 Remus A Roman Myth Cambridge University Press p 71 ISBN 9780521483667 References EditApollodorus The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer F B A F R S in 2 Volumes Cambridge MA Harvard University Press London William Heinemann Ltd 1921 ISBN 0 674 99135 4 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library Greek text available from the same website Diodorus Siculus The Library of History translated by Charles Henry Oldfather Twelve volumes Loeb Classical Library Cambridge Massachusetts Harvard University Press London William Heinemann Ltd 1989 Vol 3 Books 4 59 8 Online version at Bill Thayer s Web Site Diodorus Siculus Bibliotheca Historica Vol 1 2 Immanel Bekker Ludwig Dindorf Friedrich Vogel in aedibus B G Teubneri Leipzig 1888 1890 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library Hesiod Theogony from The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G Evelyn White Cambridge MA Harvard University Press London William Heinemann Ltd 1914 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library Greek text available from the same website Publius Ovidius Naso Fasti translated by James G Frazer Online version at the Topos Text Project Publius Ovidius Naso Fasti Sir James George Frazer London Cambridge MA William Heinemann Ltd Harvard University Press 1933 Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G Evelyn White Homeric Hymns Cambridge MA Harvard University Press London William Heinemann Ltd 1914 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library Greek text available from the same website Further reading EditGrimal Pierre The Dictionary of Classical Mythology Wiley Blackwell 1996 ISBN 978 0 631 20102 1 Maia p 270 Harry Thurston Peck Harper s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities 1898 Smith William Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology London 1873 Maia Encyclopaedia Britannica 1911 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Maia mythology Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Maia amp oldid 1151165941, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
