Iphis
- For other uses of the name Iphis see Iphis.
Iphis (Ἶφις) was a name attributed to eight individuals in Greek mythology.
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[edit] Daughter of Ligdus
According to the Roman poet Ovid, who wrote about transformations in his Metamorphoses, Iphis (or Iphys) was the daughter of Telethusa and Ligdus in Crete. Ligdus had already threatened to kill his pregnant wife's child if it wasn't a boy. Telethusa despaired, but was visited in the middle of the night by the Egyptian goddess Isis, attended by Anubis and Apis, who assured her that all would be well. When Telethusa gave birth to Iphis, she concealed her daughter's sex from her husband and raised her daughter as a boy. Having reached the age of adolescence, Iphis fell deeply in love with another girl, Ianthe, and prayed to Juno to allow her to marry her beloved. When nothing happened, her mother Telethusa brought her to the temple of Isis and prayed to the goddess to help her daughter. Isis responded by transforming Iphis into a man. The male Iphis married Ianthe and the two lived happily ever after. Their marriage was presided over by Juno, Venus, and Hymenaios, the god of marriage.[1]
The story of Iphis is similar to that of Leucippus from Phaestus, Crete, and could be a variant thereof.
The 17th-century publisher Humphrey Moseley once claimed to possess a manuscript of a play based on the Iphis and Ianthe story, by William Shakespeare. Scholars have treated the claim with intense skepticism; the play has not survived.
[edit] Cypriot shepherd
Ovid also introduces us to another character from Greek mythology, also named Iphis, a Cypriot shepherd who loved a woman named Anaxarete. Anaxarete scorned him and Iphis killed himself in despair. Because Anaxarete was still unmoved, Aphrodite changed her to stone.[2]
[edit] King of Argos
Iphis, son of Alector, was one of the kings in Argos. Polynices came to him for advice on how to get Amphiaraus to join the Seven Against Thebes. He advised him to give Eriphyle the necklace of Harmonia. He was the father of Eteoclus and Evadne, wife of Capaneus.[3] He left his kingdom to his grandson Sthenelus, the son of his son-in-law Capaneus.[4]
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Alector |
King of Argos | Succeeded by Sthenelus |
[edit] Mistress of Patroclus
As recounted in Homer's Iliad, Iphis was the mistress of Patroclus, Achilles' companion-in-arms. A native of Scyros, she had been enslaved by Achilles when the latter conquered her home island, and given by him to Patroclus.[5] Pausanias describes a painting of Iphis, Diomede and Briseis admiring Helen's beauty as the latter has been brought back to the Greek camp from the sacked Troy.[6]
[edit] Other characters
- Iphis, one of the Argonauts, son of Sthenelus and brother of Eurystheus, from Argos. He was killed in battle in Colchis by Aeetes.[7][8]
- Iphis, a Theban warrior, one of the defenders against the Seven Against Thebes. He was killed by Acamas. [10]
- Iphis, variant for Iphigenia or Iphianassa[12][13].
[edit] Modern literature
Ali Smith's 2007 novel Girl Meets Boy is based on Ovid's story of Iphis and Ianthe, and is part of the Canongate Myth Series.
[edit] References
- ^ Ovid. Metamorphoses, Book 9, 666-797.
- ^ Ovid. Metamorphoses, Book 14, 802.
- ^ Apollodorus, The Library, 3.6.2; 3.6.3; 3.7.1 [1]
- ^ Pausanias, Description of Greece. 2.18.5 [2]
- ^ Homer, The Iliad, 9. 667 [3]
- ^ Pausanias, Description of Greece, 10. 25. 4
- ^ Scholia on Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica, 4. 223 & 228
- ^ Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica, 1. 41; 7.407 [4]
- ^ Apollodorus, The Library, 2.7.8 [5]
- ^ Statius, Thebaid, 8.447 [6]
- ^ Hellanicus in scholia on Plato, Symposium, 208 (p. 376)
- ^ Tzetzes on Lycophron, 323 - 324
- ^ Etymologicum Magnum s. v. Amphis
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