InGreek mythology,Pasithea (Ancient Greek:Πασιθέα),Pasithee orPasitheia, was one of theGraces and the wife ofHypnos.[1] In theDionysiaca, the epic poem ofNonnus (fifth century CE), she is one of the three attendant Graces ofAphrodite.[2]
The meaning of the name is obscure and no recent proposals have been made. Benjamin Hederich (1770) states that 'Ihr Namen soll so viel heißen, als die zu allen laufende' ('her name supposedly means "the one who runs to all"'), which he takes to refer to the universal nature and general pleasantness of sleep.[3] Josef Korn, writing under thepseudonym Friedrich Nork, (1843) took it to mean 'die von Allen veherte Göttin' ('the Goddess revered by all'), assuming that it originally referred to Aphrodite.[4]
Although Pasithea is named in theIliad ofHomer, and offered in marriage to Hypnos byHera,[5] no explicit parentage for her is given. In hisPosthomerica, the fourth Century CE Greek poetQuintus Smyrnaeus refers to Hypnos andHera as being related via marriage, thus possibly making Hera Pasithea's mother.[6] In theDionysiaca, her father is named asDionysus,[7] and separately, her mother asHera.[8] Nonnus does not explain how these two, who are opponents throughout the epic, came to be her parents.[9] Later in book 48, Nonnus makes Dionysos and oneCoronis the parents of 'the three Graces', which probably includes Pasithea.[10][11]
In theIliad, Pasithea is one of the younger Charites/Graces. In book 14, Hera approaches Hypnos, the god of sleep, for help in temporarily removingZeus from the action of theTrojan War. In exchange for his aid, Hera swears an oath on theStyx, promising Pasithea in marriage to Hypnos, who, it is stated, had always loved her.[12] The same story is referenced, though not retold, by Quintus Smyrnaeus in thePosthomerica.[6]
She is mentioned briefly by the Roman poetCatullus (c. 84 – c. 54 BCE) inPoem 63, and in anepigram attributed toAntipater of Thessalonica in theGreek Anthology as the consort of Hypnos.[13][14] She is also mentioned passingly by the Roman poetStatius, who, in contrast to Homer, makes her the eldest of the Graces in hisThebaid, but gives no other details about her.[15]
Another brief mention or Pasithea comes from a summary of anelgaic poem by 'Sostratus' (who is otherwise unknown) preserved byEustathius in his commentary on theOdyssey.[16][17] According to Eustathius's summary, part of the poem involves a variation of theJudgement of Paris.[18]Tieresias attends the wedding ofPeleus andThetis, where a beauty contest is held between Aphrodite and the three graces – named as Pasithea,Kale andEuphrosyne – for which Tieresias acts as judge. He announces Kale to be the most beautiful, which incurs the wrath of Aphrodite, who turns him into an old woman. In response Kale makes Tieresias beautiful and takes her toCrete.[19]
Pasithea has a larger role in theDionysiaca than in any other surviving source, albeit still small. The epic relates the story of Dionysus from his birth up to his acceptance as one of theOlympian gods. In book 13 of the poem, Zeus orders Dionysus to "drive out of Asia with his avengingthyrsus the proud race of Indians untaught of justice".[20] A series of protracted battles over many years follow, with Hera always taking the side of Dionysus' opponents. In book 31, Nonnus reuses Homer'sdeception of Zeus episode in a different context. Hera commandsIris to take on the form ofNyx, the mother of Hypnos, and visit him to convince him to make Zeus fall asleep for a day so that Hera can help the opponents of Dionysus. As in Homer, the proffered reward for helping Hera is the hand of Pasithea – explicitly named as Hera's daughter – in marriage. She gives Iris a list of places in which she might find Hypnos, including Pasithea's home,Orchomenus.[21] Again, as in Homer, Hypnos accepts the offer.[22]
In book 32, whilst Zeus is asleep through the machinations of Hera, and thanks to the help of Hypnos, theFuryMegaera, lent to Hera byPersephone, drives Dionysos mad, allowing his opponents to devastate his troops. In book 33, Pasithea, gathering shoots and flowers to make ointment for Aphrodite, sees the madness of Dionysus and returns to Aphrodite saddened by what she has seen.[23] Aphrodite sees Pasithea's sadness and assumes it is due to Hypnos's efforts to woo her, and tells her that she will not force marriage upon her, if that is not what Pasithea wishes. Pasithea confesses that her sorrow is not caused by Hypnos, but by the state of her father. She beseeches Aphrodite, as Dionysus's sister, to go to his aid, and Aphrodite sendsEros to shoot the warrior Morrheus with his arrows, making him fall in love with thebacchant Chalcomedeia and distracting him from the battle.[24]
Pasithea also appears in a self-contained story in book 24 of theDionysiaca, in which the story of Aphrodite trying to use the loom ofAthena is told by rhapsode Leucos at the request of Lapethos.[25] Because Aphrodite is unskilled in weaving and its related tasks, the thread she spins before she begins to weave is coarse and thick, and when she attempts to weave with it her work in uneven and the thickness of the thread causes the warp threads to break. Her attendants, Pasithea,Peitho andAglaea help her by spinning the thread, preparing the wool for spinning, and passing the spun thread to Aphrodite respectively. When Athena discovers what Aphrodite is doing so summons the other gods to see, and their laughter and mockery results in Aphrodite giving up the task and returning to her own domain of affairs, allowing marriages and other aspects of life related to love to resume.
The scene is a clear reference to book 8 of theOdyssey, which contains a story related by the rhapsodeDemodocus.[26][27] The story is that of Aphrodite andAres being caughtin flagrante delicto byHephaestus in a trap of his own design – a skillfully made golden net of thread so fine as to be invisible. Once the two are caught, Hephaestus summons the other gods to the scene, who laugh at the situation the two lovers are in. When the two are finally freed Aphrodite flees toPaphos where the Graces – unnamed – bathe her, anoint her with oil, and clothe her in fine garments.[28]