Philyra (mythology)

Philyra (pronounced: /ˈfɪlərə/; Greek: Φιλύρα, "linden-tree") is the name of three distinct characters in Greek mythology.
== Oceanid ==
Philyra was an Oceanid, a daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, the second oldest Oceanid according to Callimachus.Callimachus, Hymn 1 to Zeus 30 ff Chiron was her son by Cronus,Tzetzes on Lycophron, 1200Pliny the Elder, Natural History 7. 197 who chased her and consorted with her in the shape of a stallion, hence the half-human, half-equine shape of their offspring;Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 2. 1231 ffScholia on Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 1. 554 this was said to have taken place on Mount Pelion.Callimachus, Hymn 4 to Delos 104 ff When she gave birth to her son, she was so disgusted by how he looked that she abandoned him at birth, and implored the gods to transform her into anything other than anthrpomorphic as she could not bear the shame of having had such a monstrous child; the gods changed her into a linden tree.Hyginus, Fabulae, 138Theoi.com: Philyra Yet in some versions Philyra and Chariclo, the wife of Chiron, nursed the young Achilles;Scholia on Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica, 4. 813Pindar, Pythian Ode 4. 102 ff Chiron's dwelling on Pelion where his disciples were reared was known as "Philyra's cave".Pindar, Nemean Ode 3. 43Nonnus, Dionysiaca, 48. 40Callimachus, Hymn 4 to Delos, 118 Chiron was often referred to by the matronymic Philyrides or the like.Pindar, Pythian Ode 3. 1Hesiod, Theogony, 1002Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 1. 554Argonautica Orphica, 450Virgil, Georgics 3. 549
Two other sons of Cronos and Philyra may have been DolopsHyginus, Fabulae, Preface and Aphrus, the ancestor and eponym of the Aphroi, i.e. the native Africans.Suda s.v. Aphroi
== Wife of Nauplius ==
Another Philyra was married to Nauplius and had with him three sons, Palamedes, Oeax and Nausimedon. She was also known as Clymene or Hesione.Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca, 2. 1. 5, citing the NostoiSource: Papyrus Larousse Britannica.
== Daughter of Asopus ==
Philyra or Phillyra was a daughter of the river Asopus, and the mother of Hypseus by Peneius.Scholia on Pindar, Pythian Ode 9. 27a The same source points out that elsewhere Creusa is given instead of her.
==References==
Category:Greek Mythology