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Goddesses of Ancient Greece - S
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Salmacis
The nymph of the spring of that name near Halicarnassus in Asia Minor.
She loved Hermaphroditus and was granted her request to be united with
him, but the gods put the both of them in one body. Hence the dual sexuality
of Hermaphroditus and the legend that the spring Salmacis rendered effeminate
those who bathed or drank of its waters.
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Scylla
In Greek mythology, a sea monster who lived underneath a dangerous rock
at one side of the Strait of Messia, opposite the whirlpool Charybdis.
She threatened passing ships and in the Odyssey ate six of Odysseus'
companions. Scylla was a nymph, daughter of Phorcys. The fisherman-turned-sea-god
Glaucus fell madly in love with her, but she fled from him onto the
land where he could not follow. Dispair filled his heart. He went to
the sorceress Circe to ask for a love potion to melt Scylla's heart.
As he told his tale of love to Circe, she herself fell in love with
him. She wooed him with her sweetest words and looks, but the sea-god
would have none of her. Circe was furiously angry, but with Scylla and
not with Glaucus. She prepared a vial of very powerful poison and poured
it in the pool where Scylla bathed. As soon as the nymph entered the
water she was transformed into a frightful monster with twelve feet
and six heads, each with three rows of teeth. Below the waist her body
was made up of hideous monsters, like dogs, who barked unceasingly.
She stood there in utter misery, unable to move, loathing and destroying
everything that came into her reach, a peril to all sailors who passed
near her. Whenever a ship passed, each of her heads would seize one
of the crew. Scylla in also the name of a daughter of King Nisus of
Megara.
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Selene
Selene was an early Greek Moon Goddess, also known as Phoebe, who drove
a chariot drawn by two white horses across the sky at night with the moon
in tow (derived from a root meaning "light, gleam") Goddess
of the Moon, the Lunar Disc. Closely associated with Hekate, and often
conflated with her. The most famous of her loves is the shepard Endymion.
Other affairs of Selene's include involvement with Zeus with whom she
had three daughters, and Pan who gave her a herd of white oxen. Some sources
report that the Nemean lion, which fell to the earth from the moon was
the result of an affair of Zeus and Selene. She was involved in many love
affairs, however, not as many as her sister, Eos, the dawn. She resembles
a young woman with an extremely white face who travels on a silver chariot
drawn by two horses. She is often shown riding a horse or a bull. Selene
is said to wear robes, carry a torch, and wear a half moon on her head.
She was not one of the twelve great gods on Olympus, however she is the
moon goddess. After her brother Helios completes his journey across the
sky, she begins hers. Before Selene's journey across the night sky she
bathes in the sea.
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Semele
Semele was the daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia, and the mother, by Zeus,
of the god Dionysus. Because Zeus slept with Semele secretly, Hera only
found out about the affair after the girl was pregnant. Bent on revenge,
Hera disguised herself and persuaded Semele to demand that Zeus come to
her in all the splendor with which he visited Hera. As a result, Semele
asked Zeus to grant an unspecified favor, and got him to swear by the
river Styx that he would grant it. Unable to break his oath, Zeus came
to her armed in his thunder and lightning, and Semele was destroyed. However,
Zeus rescued the unborn child from the mother's ashes and sewed it in
his thigh until it was ready to be born. Thus Dionysus is sometimes called
"the twice-born." Dionysus was raised at first by Semele's sister
and brother-in-law, Ino and Athamus, and later by the nymphs of Nysa.
As an adult, he retrieved his mother from Hades and made her a goddess;
she was called Thyone.
Semnai
"The venerable ones". A euphemistic Greek term for the Erinyes
(Furies).
Sinope
The daughter of Asopus and Metope. She was so beautiful that Apollo abducted
her and brought her to Paphlagonien where she bore a son, Syrus. The city
Syrus was named after him.
Sirens
In Greek mythology, the Sirens are creatures with the head of a female
and the body of a bird. They lived on an island (Sirenum scopuli; three
small rocky islands) and with the irresistible charm of their song they
lured mariners to their destruction on the rocks surrounding their island
(Virgil V, 846; Ovid XIV, 88).
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Sothis
(Sopdet)Feminine Greek name for the star Sirius, which very early meshed
with Isis (being the consort of Sahu-Osiris, which was Orion). Also associated
with Hathor. The star Sirius, which appears above the horizon at just
the time of the summer inundation of the Nile. Thus, She is Herald and
Harbinger of this most vital seasonal occurance.
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Sthenno
One of the three Gorgons. Literally, "forceful".
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Styx
("hate") The Greek goddess of the river of death in the underworld.
She was usually said to be the daughter of Erebus and Nyx. She was married
to Pallas by whom she had Zelus, Nike, Cratos and Bia. The gods swore
their oaths by this river, for violating such an oath would result in
the loss of their immortality.
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Suadela
The goddess of persuasion, and especially in love. She is a follower of
Venus.
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Syrinx
Syrinx was an Arcadian river-nymph who was pursued by Pan. To escape him
she fled into the waters of her river where she pleaded the gods for help,
and they changed her into a reed. Disappointed, Pan cut the reed into
pieces of gradually decreasing lengths, fastened them together with wax
and thus produced the shepherd's flute, or "pipes of Pan", upon
which he plays.
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