Aglaia (Grace)

File:Canova-Three Graces 0 degree view.jpg

Aglaea (center), as depicted in Antonio Canova’s sculpture, The Three Graces.

In Greek mythology, Aglaia, Aglaïa (Template:IPAc-en), or Aglaea (Template:IPAc-en) (Template:Langx<ref name="brills aglaea">Brill's New Pauly, s.v. Aglaea (1).</ref>) is a goddess, one of the Charites (known as the Graces in Roman mythology).

Family

According to Hesiod and other sources (including Apollodorus), Aglaia was one of the three Charites, along with Euphrosyne (mirth) and Thalia (abundance), who were the daughters of Zeus and the Oceanid Eurynome.<ref>Hesiod, Theogony 907.</ref><ref>Apollodorus, 1.3.1.</ref><ref name="bell">Bell, s.v. Aglaia (1), p. 15.</ref><ref>Brill's New Pauly, s.v. Charites (Graces).</ref> Other sources name the same three Charites (Aglaia, Euphrosyne and Thalia) but give them different parents. The Orphic Hymn to the Graces says they are the daughters of Zeus and Eunomia (goddess of good order and lawful conduct),<ref>Orphic Hymn (60), 2–3.</ref> and Pindar says that they are daughters of the strongest god (i.e. Zeus) without naming their mother.<ref name="pindar">Pindar, Olympian Ode 14.1–20.</ref> Hesiod says also that Aglaia is the youngest of the Charites.<ref name="hesiod 945">Hesiod, Theogony 945.</ref><ref name="brills aglaea"/><ref name="bell"/><ref>Hard, pp. 167, 208.</ref><ref>Smith, s.v. Charis.</ref>

According to the Dionysiaca, Aglaia is one of the "dancers of Orchomenus" (i.e. the Charites, per Pindar<ref name="pindar"/>), along with Pasithea and Peitho, who attend Aphrodite. When Aphrodite jealously attempts to weave better than Athena, the Charites help her do so, with Aglaia passing her the yarn.<ref>Nonnus, Dionysiaca 24.254 ff.</ref> Aglaia also acts as Aphrodite's messenger, and is sent to find and bring a message to Eros, who travels back to Aphrodite much faster because he can fly whereas Aglaia cannot. Aglaia here is referred to as a Charis (singular of Charites), but other characters not of this group are also named Charis, including by Aglaia.<ref>Nonnus, Dionysiaca 33.51 ff.</ref>

Hesiod says that Aglaia was married to Hephaestus.<ref name="hesiod 945"/> (This is often seen as after his divorce from Aphrodite.) The Orphic Fragments compiled by Otto Kern say that by Hephaestus, Aglaia became mother of Eucleia ("Good Repute"), Eupheme ("Acclaim"), Euthenia ("Prosperity"), and Philophrosyne ("Welcome").<ref>Orphic fr. 182 Kern, p. 213.</ref> The Iliad and Dionysiaca refer to the wife of Hephaestus as Charis,<ref>Homer, Iliad 18.382–385.</ref><ref>Nonnus, Dionysiaca 29.317.</ref> and some scholars conclude that these references refer to Aglaia.<ref name="bell"/>

References

• Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
• Bell, Robert E., Women of Classical Mythology: A Biographical Dictionary, ABC-Clio, 1991. Template:ISBN. Internet Archive.
• Brill’s New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World. Antiquity, Volume 1, A-Ari, editors: Hubert Cancik, Helmuth Schneider, Brill, 2002. Template:ISBN. Online version at Brill.
• Grimal, Pierre, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Wiley-Blackwell, 1996. Template:ISBN. Internet Archive.
• Hard, Robin, The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology", Psychology Press, 2004. Template:ISBN. Google Books.
• Hesiod, Theogony from The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Kern, Otto, Orphicorum Fragmenta, Berlin, 1922. Scans at the Internet Archive, English translation at HellenicGods.org.
• Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca translated by William Henry Denham Rouse (1863–1950), from the Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1940. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
• Pindar, Odes translated by Diane Arnson Svarlien. 1990. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Pindar, The Odes of Pindar including the Principal Fragments with an Introduction and an English Translation by Sir John Sandys, Litt.D., FBA. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1937. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Smith, William; Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London (1873). "Charis".