RHODOPE

RHODOPE was an Oreiad- and Naiad-nymph of Kikonia (Ciconia) in Thrake (north of Greece). She was a daughter of the river-god Hebros and wife of the Kikonian king Haimos (Haemus). She and her husband were transformed into mountains as punishment for impersonating Zeus and Hera.

The couple were similar to the Ourea--minor gods of individual mountain peaks which were not usually the subjects of worship.

PARENTS

[1.1] HEBROS (Lucian The Dance 51)

OFFSPRING

[1.1] HEBROS (by Haimos) (Lucian The Dance 51)
[2.1] KIKON (by Apollon) (Other References)

ENCYCLOPEDIA

RHO′DOPE (Rhodopê), the nymph of a Thracian well, was the wife of Haemus and mother of Hebrus, and is mentioned among the playmates of Persephone. (Hom. Hymn. in Cer. 423; Lucian, de Saltat. 51.)

Source: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.

CLASSICAL LITERATURE QUOTES

Ovid, Metamorphoses 6. 87 ff (trans. Melville) (Roman epic C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) :
"There in one corner of Thrace Rhodope and Haimon, icy mountains now, but once mortals, who claimed the names of gods most high."

R. E. Bell, Women of Classical Mythology :
"Loved by Apollon Rhodope gave birth to Kikon (Cicon) after whom the Kikones (Cicones) tribe of Thrace were named. She married Haimos (Haemus) a son of Boreas and the two initiated a cult in Thrake calling themselves Zeus and Hera. As punishment they were metamorphosed into moutains. Her father's stream was renamed after her son Hebros."

SOURCES

ROMAN

• Ovid, Metamorphoses - Latin Epic C1st B.C. - C1st A.D.

MODERN

• Women of Classical Mythology - English Encyclopedia of Mythology C20th A.D.

OTHER SOURCES

Other references not currently quoted here: Lucian The Dance 51, Scholiast on Virgil's Aeneid 1.321.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A complete bibliography of the translations quoted on this page.