Titanis (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Titanis (Ancient Greek: Τιτανίς, romanized: Titanis, lit. 'she-Titan') is an obscure figure who is connected to Artemis, the goddess of the hunt. Her existence and myth is only attested in Euripides, an Athenian playwright of the fifth century BC.

Family

The only thing known about her family is a father named Merops.[1]

Mythology

According to Euripides in his play Helen, the beautiful Titanis was changed by Artemis into a golden-antlered deer and expelled from her group on account of her beauty.[1] The brief passage is very ambiguous, as it is not entirely clear what Euripides meant when he wrote that Artemis kicked her out on account of her beauty; it could be that Titanis bragged about being more beautiful than Artemis, or her beauty attracted the attention of Zeus, or Artemis got jealous of her.[2] The similarity to another myth, that of Artemis turning the nymph Taygete into a doe in order to help her escape from the advances of Zeus, has also been noted.[2] Titanis's own nature is questionable, as Euripides names her father as Merops, but given that her name translates to "female Titan", he could be designating her as a Titaness without naming her.[2]

In the Orphic Hymns, 'Titanis' (there spelled as Τιτηνίς, Titēnís) appears as an epithet of Artemis herself.[3][4]^[non-primary source needed]

See also

• Antigone of Troy
• Callisto
• Gerana

References

1. Euripides, Helen 382
2. Fontenrose 1981, p. 131.
3. Orphic Hymn 36 to Artemis line 2.
4. Athanassakis & Wolkow 2013, p. 32.

Bibliography

• Athanassakis, Apostolos N.; Wolkow, Benjamin M. (July 31, 2013). The Orphic Hymns. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-1-4214-0881-1.
• Euripides (1938). The Complete Greek Drama, edited by Whitney J. Oates and Eugene O'Neill, Jr. Vol. 11: Helen. Translated by E. P. Coleridge. New York: Random House.
• Fontenrose, Joseph Eddy (1981). Orion: The Myth of the Hunter and the Huntress. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-09632-0.