Megaera

For other uses, see Megaera (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Megara (wife of Heracles).

Megaera
Goddess of jealousy and envy
Member of The Erinyes
"Questa e megera dal sinistro canto", front the Divine Comedy, 1793 printing
Genealogy
Parents	Uranus or Nyx
Siblings	Alecto and Tisiphone

Megaera (/məˈdʒɪərə/ mə-JEER-ə; Ancient Greek: Μέγαιρα, romanized: Mégaira, lit. 'the jealous one'[1]) is one of the Erinyes, Eumenides or "Furies" in Greek mythology. Bibliotheca Classica states "According to the most received opinions, they were three in number, Tisiphone, "Megaera ... daughter of Nyx and Acheron",[2] and Alecto".[3]

In other versions, she and her sisters, as well as the Meliae, were born of the blood of Uranus when Cronus castrated him.[4]

In modern French (mégère), Portuguese (megera), Modern Greek (μέγαιρα), Italian (megera), Polish (megiera), Russian (мегера), Ukrainian (меґера) and Czech (megera), this name denotes a jealous or spiteful woman. She is not to be confused with Megara, the wife of Heracles.

Cultural depictions

Minor planet 464 Megaira is named in her honour.[5]

The 1964 Hammer horror film The Gorgon revolves around the re-emergence of Megaera in a Central European village circa 1910.

Magaera is one of the main characters in the Twilight Zone episode "Ye Gods", which depicts her as the true love of Cupid.

Megaera is a major character in the video game Hades. She is a boss and a potential romance partner to Zagreus, the main character.

Megaera is one of the three antagonists in the video game God of War: Ascension where she is portrayed as a deformed humanoid with spider like appendages.

See also

• Family tree of the Greek gods
• Shrew (archetype)

References

1. Related to μεγαίρω "to grudge, envy" from Proto-Indo-European *meǵh₂- "great" (see Robert S. P. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, Brill, 2009, p. 917).
2. Lamprière's Classical Dictionary of Proper Names mentioned in Ancient Authors, 1949, p. 366
3. Lamprière's Classical Dictionary of Proper Names mentioned in Ancient Authors, 1949, p. 234
4. Graves, Robert (1960). The Greek Myths. London: Penguin Books. pp. 37. ISBN 9780140171990.
5. "(464) Megaira". (464) Megaira In: Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. Springer. 2003. p. 52. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_465. ISBN 978-3-540-29925-7.