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"For Hyas his mother wept,
and for Hyas his sad sisters, and
Atlas, soon to bow his neck to the
burden of the pole, yet the love of the sisters
exceeded that of both parents: it won for them a
place in the sky, but Hyas gave them their
name." [Ovid,
Fasti
5.170]
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The HYADES 1 were sisters of Hyas, or else his
daughters, and when Hyas died while hunting, killed
by a lion, a boar, or a Lybian lioness, they
grieved his death exceedingly, and turned into the
stars called Hyades which are in the constellation
of Taurus.
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Parentage disputed
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It is said that Atlas
and Aethra 1 had fifteen daughters, out of which
five were called Hyades because they were sisters
of Hyas. When due to continual lamentation they
perished, the remaining ten sisters killed
themselves; and it is said that they were called
PLEIADES because so
many experienced the same grief. But others have
said that the HYADES 1 were so called after their
father Hyas, and the
PLEIADES after their
mother Pleione, wife of
Atlas.
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Among the stars
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For it has also been said that
Atlas had by Pleione
twelve daughters, and a son Hyas, who was killed by
a wild boar or a lion. On his death, the sisters
died of their grief and some of them (Phaesyla,
Ambrosia, Coronis 1, Eudore 1, and Polyxo 2) were
put in the constellation of Taurus between the
horns of the bull, being called Hyades (the
Suculae) after their brother, whom they grieved.
The rest of the sisters, who also died of grief
although for the death of the HYADES 1, were called
PLEIADES, some say
because of their number, others because of their
mother, and still others for other reasons.
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Nurses of Dionysus
2
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Also the HYADES 1, who previously were the
NYMPHS DODONIDES [see
NYMPHS], are called
nurses of Dionysus 2,
and it is said that they, and not
Hermes, delivered the
god, when he still was a defenceless child, to
Athamas 1's wife Ino,
so that she and her husband should rear him. For
this, they say, Zeus
rewarded them by putting them among the
CONSTELLATIONS.
It is also said that these NYMPHS DODONIDES, at a
request of Dionysus 2,
were changed into young girls by
Medea, who put off their
Old Age before they were
consecrated among the stars; for the god had
witnessed the rejuvenation of
Jason's father Aeson,
which the witch had performed, and marvelling at
it, asked Medea that his
nurses might be restored to
Youth.
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MAENADS
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At other times, the HYADES 1 are considered to
be the MAENADS who were
put to flight by Lycurgus 1, the King of the
Edonians (Thrace) or of the island of Naxos, or of
the Arabians, who was the first to oppose and expel
Dionysus 2.
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Others so called
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The HYADES 2 are the
NYMPHS LAMUSIDES [see
NYMPHS].
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[* = nurse of Dionysus 2]
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*Ambrosia.
Ambrosia is named among those who followed
Dionysus 2 in his
Indian campaign. When they came in conflict with
Lycurgus 1, she raised a stone and hurled it at
him. Lycurgus 1 caught her, but she managed to
escape by transforming into a vineshoot and instead
catching him in her long foliage.
Hyg.Ast.2.21; Hyg.Fab.182, 192; Nonn.21.3,
21.26, 21.296.
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Cleeia.
Hes.Ast.2; Hyg.Ast.2.21; Hyg.Fab.192.
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*Coronis 1.
Hyg.Ast.2.21; Hyg.Fab.182, 192.
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*Eudore 1.
Hyg.Ast.2.21; Hyg.Fab.182, 192.
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*Pedile.
Hyg.Ast.2.21; Hyg.Fab.182, 192.
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Phaeo.
Hyg.Ast.2.21; Hyg.Fab.182, 192.
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Phaesyla.
Hyg.Ast.2.21; Hyg.Fab.192.
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*Phyto.
Hyg.Ast.2.21; Hyg.Fab.182, 192.
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*Polyxo 2.
Polyxo 2 is also counted among the
MAENADS who tried to
kill King Lycurgus 1.
Hyg.Ast.2.21; Hyg.Fab.182, 192; Nonn.21.69.
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*Thyone 2.
Hyg.Ast.2.21; Hyg.Fab.182, 192.
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