Jump to content
 







Main menu
    


Navigation  


●Main page
 ●Contents
 ●Current events
 ●Random article
 ●About Wikipedia
 ●Contact us
 ●Donate
  



Contribute  


●Help
 ●Learn to edit
 ●Community portal
 ●Recent changes
 ●Upload file
  







Search  

































●Create account

●Log in
 









●Create account
 ● Log in
  



Pages for logged out editors learn more  


●Contributions
 ●Talk
  


















Contents

   



(Top)
  


1 Names  




2 Etymology  




3 Mythology  




4 Genealogy  




5 Notes  




6 References  




7 Bibliography  




8 External links  













Graeae






●العربية
 ●Български
 ●Brezhoneg
 ●Català
 ●Čeština
 ●Deutsch
 ●Eesti
 ●Ελληνικά
 ●Español
 ●Esperanto
 ●Français
 ●한국어
 ●Hrvatski
 ●Bahasa Indonesia
 ●Italiano
 ●ქართული
 ●Kurdî
 ●Lietuvių
 ●Magyar
 ●Nederlands
 ●日本語
 ●Norsk bokmål
 ●Português
 ●Română
 ●Русский
 ●Simple English
 ●Slovenčina
 ●Српски / srpski
 ●Suomi
 ●Svenska
 ●ไทย
 ●Türkçe
 ●Українська
 ●Tiếng Việt
 ●中文
  
Edit links
  








●Article
 ●Talk
  
















●Read
 ●Edit
 ●View history
  







Tools
    


Actions  


●Read
 ●Edit
 ●View history
  



General  


●What links here
 ●Related changes
 ●Upload file
 ●Special pages
 ●Permanent link
 ●Page information
 ●Cite this page
 ●Get shortened URL
 ●Download QR code
 ●Wikidata item
  



Print/export  


●Download as PDF
 ●Printable version
  



In other projects  


●Wikimedia Commons
  















Appearance
    

 





From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  

Greek deities
series
  • Titans and Olympians
  • Water deities
  • Chthonic deities
    		•
    Personifications

    List
  • t
  • e
    • This article is about Greek mythology. For the British organization, see Graeae Theatre Company.
    Not to be confused with Graea.

    InGreek mythology, the Graeae (Ancient Greek: Γραῖαι; /ˈɡriːiː/; English translation: "old women", alternatively spelled Graiai and Graiae) were three sisters who had gray hair from their birth and shared one eye and one tooth among them.[1] They were also called the Grey Sisters and the Phorcides ("daughters of Phorcys").[2]

    Names[edit]

    Their names were:

    Etymology[edit]

    Perseus Returning the Eye of the GraiaibyHenry Fuseli

    The word Graeae is probably derived from the adjective γραῖα graia "old woman", derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *ǵerh₂- *ǵreh2-, "to grow old" via Proto-Greek: *gera-/grau-iu.[3]

    Mythology[edit]

    The Graeae were daughters of the sea-deities Ceto and Phorcys (from which their name the Phorcydes derived) and sisters to the Gorgons.[4] The Graeae took the form of old, grey-haired women. Their age was so great that a human childhood for them was hardly conceivable. In Theogony, however, Hesiod describes the Graeae as being "fair-cheeked". In Prometheus Bound, the Graeae are described as being swan-shaped ("κυκνόμορφοι").[5]

    Perseus and the GraeaebyEdward Burne-Jones (1892)

    Hesiod names only two Graeae, the "well-clad" Pemphredo (Πεμφρηδώ "alarm") and the "saffron-robed" Enyo (Ἐνυώ).[6] Pseudo-Apollodorus lists Deino (Δεινώ "dread", the dreadful anticipation of horror) as a third.[7] Calling them "Phorcides", Hyginus, in addition to Pemphredo and Enyo, adds Persis, noting that "for this last others say Dino".[8]

    They shared one eye and one tooth, which they took turns using. By stealing their eye while they were passing it among themselves, the hero Perseus forced them to tell the whereabouts of the three objects needed to kill Medusa (in other versions, the whereabouts of Medusa) by ransoming their shared eye for the information.[4]

    Genealogy[edit]

    Main article: Greek sea gods
    Gaia
    Pontus
    NereusThaumasPhorcysCetoEurybia
    EchidnaThe GorgonsThe GraeaeLadonThe HesperidesThoosa[9]
    SthenoDeino
    EuryaleEnyo
    Medusa[a]Pemphredo

    Notes[edit]

    1. ^ Most sources describe Medusa as the daughter of Phorcys and Ceto, though the author Hyginus (Fabulae Preface) makes Medusa the daughter of Gorgon and Ceto.

    References[edit]

    1. ^ Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898), Graeae
  • ^ Sommerstein, p. 260, in Aeschylus. Fragments; Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 790–800 (pp. 530–531) with n. 94; Apollodorus, 1.2.6; Hyginus, Fabulae Preface.
  • ^ R. S. P. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, Brill, 2009, p. 285.
  • ^ a b Harris, Stephen L., and Gloria Platzner. Classical Mythology: Images and Insights (Third Edition). California State University, Sacramento. Mayfield Publishing Company. 2000, 1998, 1995, pp. 273–274, 1039.
  • ^ Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound, 795.
  • ^ Hesiod, Theogony 270-274
  • ^ Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2.4.2; Pemphredo, sometimes also spelled Peuphredo (Πευφρηδώ) or Pephredo (Πεφρηδώ) (see M. Hofinger, Lexicon Hesiodeum cum Indice Inverso, p. 533.
  • ^ Hyginus, Fabulae Preface
  • ^ Homer. Odyssey. 1.70–73. names Thoosa as a daughter of Phorcys, without specifying her mother.

    • Bibliography[edit]

  • Aeschylus. Fragments. Edited and translated by Alan H. Sommerstein. Loeb Classical Library No. 505. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-674-99629-8. Online version at Harvard University Press
  • Aeschylus, Persians. Seven against Thebes. Suppliants. Prometheus Bound. Edited and translated by Alan H. Sommerstein. Loeb Classical Library No. 145. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-674-99627-4. Online version at Harvard University Press
  • Apollodorus, Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
  • Grimal, Pierre, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Wiley-Blackwell, 1996, ISBN 978-0-631-20102-1. "Graeae" p. 175.
  • Hesiod, Theogony, in The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, Massachusetts., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
  • Hyginus, Gaius Julius, The Myths of Hyginus. Edited and translated by Mary A. Grant, Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1960.
  • Smith, William; Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London (1873). "Graeae"

    • External links[edit]

    Wikimedia Commons has media related to Graeae.

    Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Graeae&oldid=1232318663"
    Categories: 
    ●Mythological blind people
     ●Greek goddesses
     ●Greek mythological witches
     ●Mythological trios
     ●Legendary creatures with absent body parts
     ●Sister trios
     Hidden categories: 
    ●Articles with short description
     ●Short description is different from Wikidata
     ●Articles containing Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text
     ●Articles containing Proto-Indo-European-language text
     ●Articles containing Proto-Greek-language text
     ●Commons category link is on Wikidata
      


    ●This page was last edited on 3 July 2024, at 03:44 (UTC).
    ●Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.


    ●Privacy policy
    ●About Wikipedia
    ●Disclaimers
    ●Contact Wikipedia
    ●Code of Conduct
    ●Developers
    ●Statistics
    ●Cookie statement
    ●Mobile view


    Wikimedia Foundation
    Powered by MediaWiki