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Atthis (mythology)

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In Greek mythology, Atthis (Ancient Greek: Ἀτθίς) or Attis (Ancient Greek: Ἄττις) was the eponymous heroine of Attica.

Family

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Atthis was an Athenian princess as the daughter of the autochthonous King Cranaus and Pedias, the Lacedaemonian daughter of Mynes. She was the sister of Cranaë and Cranaechme.[1]

Mythology

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When Attis died a virgin, her father Cranaus named in her honour the land Attica which was formerly called Actaea (Acte or Actica) after King Actaeus, its former ruler.

Other use

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The two birds into which Philomele and her sister Procne were metamorphosed, were likewise called Attis.[2]

Notes

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  1. ^ Pausanias, 1.2.5.
  2. ^ Martial, 1.54.9 & 5.67.2

References

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  • Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. ISBN 0-674-99328-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
  • Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.