Antheia

Spring (Alfons Mucha, 1896)

Antheia (Ancient Greek: Ἀνθεία) was one of the Charites, or Graces, of Greek mythology and was the goddess of flowers and flowery wreaths. She was depicted in Athenian vase painting as one of the attendants of Aphrodite.[1]

Her name which is derived from the Ancient Greek word ἄνθος means "flower" or "blossom". Her symbols are gold colored items. She was known to the Romans as Anthea. Her center of worship was on the island of Crete. The name Antheia was also given to Hera and connected to the Horae,[2] under which she had a temple at Argos.[3] It was also an epithet of Aphrodite at Knossos.[4][5] She was the goddess of vegetation, gardens, blossoms, especially worshipped in spring and near lowlands and marshlands, favorable to the growth of vegetation. She was also the goddess of human love.[6]

Antheia is also the Greek name of Ancient Sozopolis in modern Bulgaria, and another Antheia was a village which was later adopted into Patras around 1000 BC.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "Kharities". Theoi Project. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  2. ↑ Joan V. O'Brien (1993). The Transformation of Hera. p. 139.
  3. ↑ Pausanias, Description of Greece ii. 22. § 1.
  4. ↑ R. F. Willetts (1977). The Civilization of Ancient Crete. p. 209.
  5. ↑  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Aphrodite". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  6. ↑ Ramesh Chopra (2005). Academic Dictionary Of Mythology. p. 28.
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