Britomartis: Difference between revisions

{{About||the butterfly genus|Britomartis (butterfly)|the Senone chief fl. 280s BC|Britomaris|the Gaulish commander fl. 220s BC|Viridomarus}}

'''Britomartis''' ({{IPAc-en||b|r|ɪ|t|oʊ|'|m|ɑːr|t|ɪ|s}};<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/newcenturyclassi00aver/page/226/mode/2up |page=227 |title=New Century Classical Handbook |first=Catherine B. |last=Avery |publisher=Appleton-Century-Crofts |location=New York |year=1962}}</ref>{{lang-grc-gre|Βριτόμαρτις}}) was a [[Greek goddess]] of mountains and hunting, who was primarily worshipped on the island of [[Crete]]. She was sometimes believed to be an [[oread]], or a mountain [[nymph]], but she was often conflated or syncretized with [[Artemis]] and [[Aphaea]], the "invisible" patroness of [[Aegina]].<ref>K. Pilafidis-Williams, ''The Sanctuary of Aphaia on Aigina in the Bronze Age'' (Munich: Hirmer) 1998, describes the distinctive local cult but is cautious in retrojecting the later cult of Aphaia to describe Britomartis at Aigina; the explicit identification of Britomartis and Aphaea is in [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.30.3 2.30.3], and in [[Diodorus Siculus]], v.76.3.</ref> She is also known as '''Dictynna''' (Δίκτυννα; derived by Hellenistic writersor as froma δίκτυαdaughter [''diktya''],of "huntingDictynna nets"(Δίκτυννα).<ref>For example, "...{{nbspcn|date=March 2024}}all but caught, she leapt into the sea from the top of a cliff and fell into the nets of fishermen which saved her. Whence in after days the Kydonians call the Nymphe Diktyna (Lady of the Nets) and the hill whence the Nymphe leaped they call the hill of Nets (Diktaion)," [[Callimachus]], ''Ode 3 to Artemis'', 188ff.</ref>

According to [[Gaius Julius Solinus|Solinus]], the name 'Britomartis' is from a Cretan dialect; he also says that her name means ''virgo dulcis'', or "sweet virgin".<ref>[[Gaius Julius Solinus|Solinus]], ix.8.</ref> Solinus also identifies her explicitly as the Cretan Artemis.<ref>Noted by [[H. J. Rose]], ''A Handbook of Greek Mythology'' (New York) 1959:117, citing [[Theodor Mommsen]]'s edition, 1864.</ref> [[Hesychius of Alexandria]] also equates the Cretan word βριτύ (''britý'') with Greek γλυκύ (''glyký'') 'sweet'.<ref>[http://paleoglot.blogspot.ca/2009/12/deeper-source-of-cretan-britomartis.html "A deeper source of Cretan Britomartis"], on ''paleoglot.blogspot.ca''.</ref> Other scholars have argued that ''Britomartis'' ("sweet maid") is an [[epithet]] that does not reveal the goddess's name,<ref>A Christian parallel may render this observation even clearer: ''Mater dolens'', "grieving mother", identifies the [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Blessed Virgin]], but none of the four attributes—"grieving, mother, blessed, virgin"— gives her name, ''[[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Mary]]''.</ref> nor her character, instead arguing that it may be ana [[noa-name]].<ref>"Her name is supposed to mean the 'Good Maiden' — which like [[Aristaios]] and [[Callisto (mythology)|Kalliste]], may be a euphemism for its opposite, the Maiden of Death." ([[Carl A.P. Ruck]] and [[Danny Staples]], ''The World of Classical Myth'' [Carolina Academic Press], 1994:113).</ref>

*[[HMS Britomart|HMS ''Britomart'']], the nameany of several Royal Navy ships namedof afterthat the goddessname

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== References ==

[[Category:WomenMythological in Greek mythologyCretans]]

[[Category:MinoanMetamorphoses religioninto inanimate objects in Greek mythology]]