In Greek mythology, the Graeae (; Graiai, , alternatively spelled Graiai), also called the Grey Sisters and the Phorcides (),[Sommerstein, p. 260, in Aeschylus. Fragments; Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 790–800 (pp. 530–531) with n. 94; Apollodorus, 1.2.6; Hyginus, Fabulae Preface.] were three sisters who had gray hair from their birth and shared one eye and one tooth among them.[ Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898), Graeae] They were the daughters of the primordial sea gods Phorcys and Ceto and, among others, sisters of the Gorgons. Their names were Deino (Δεινώ), Pemphredo (Πεμφρηδώ), and Enyo (Ἐνυώ; not to be confused with the war goddess, Enyo). The Graeae are best known from their encounter with Perseus, who, after capturing their eye, forced them to reveal information about the Gorgons.
Etymology
The word
Graeae is probably derived from the adjective γραῖα "old woman", derived from the Proto-Indo-European root ǵreh
2-, "to grow old" via .
[R. S. P. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, Brill, 2009, p. 285.]
Mythology
The Graeae were daughters of the sea-deities
Ceto and
Phorcys (from which their name the Phorcydes derived) and sisters to the
.
[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.] 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 "ancient maidens of swan-like aspect" (κυκνόμορφοι; perhaps here meaning "white-haired").
[Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound, 795 with n. 95.]
Hesiod names only two Graeae, the "well-clad" "Pemphredo" (Πεμφρηδώ "alarm")[Sometimes also spelled Peuphredo (Πευφρηδώ) or Pephredo (Πεφρηδώ) (see M. Hofinger, Lexicon Hesiodeum cum Indice Inverso, p. 533). Alternatively, the name could be derived from πεμφρηδών, a kind of wasp living in hollow oaks or underground.] and the "saffron-robed" Enyo (Ἐνυώ),[Hesiod, Theogony 270-274] while Apollodorus lists Deino (Δεινώ "dread", the dreadful anticipation of horror) as a third.[Apollodorus, 2.4.2.] Calling them "Phorcides", Hyginus, in addition to Pemphredo and Enyo, adds Persis, noting that "for this last others say Dino".[Hyginus, Fabulae Preface]
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.
Genealogy
Notes
Bibliography
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Aeschylus, (?), Prometheus Bound in 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. . Online version at Harvard University Press.
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Aeschylus. Fragments. Edited and translated by Alan H. Sommerstein. Loeb Classical Library No. 505. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2009. . Online version at Harvard University Press
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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. . Online version at Harvard University Press
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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.
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Grimal, Pierre, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Wiley-Blackwell, 1996, . "Graeae" p. 175.
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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.
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Hyginus, Gaius Julius, The Myths of Hyginus. Edited and translated by Mary A. Grant, Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1960.
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Smith, William; Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London (1873). "Graeae"
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