| Merope | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Pleiades | |
_-_Lost_Pleiad_(1884).jpg) L'Etoile Perdue (The Lost Star, 1884) byWilliam-Adolphe Bouguereau: Merope with her sister Pleiades in the background | |
| Abode | Mt. Cyllene onArcadia or later Corinth orChios |
| Genealogy | |
| Parents | Atlas andPleione orAethra |
| Siblings | (b)Hyades
|
| Consort | Sisyphus |
| Children | Glaukos,Ornytion (Porphyrion),Thersander andAlmus |
InGreek mythology,Merope/ˈmɛrəpiː/[1] (Ancient Greek:Μερόπη) is one of the sevenPleiades, daughters ofAtlas andPleione. Pleione, their mother, is the daughter ofOceanus andTethys and is the protector of sailors.[2] Their transformation into thestar cluster known as thePleiades is the subject of various myths.
| Greek deities series |
|---|
| Nymphs |
In one story, the Pleiades, along with their half sisters theHyades, were virgin companions toArtemis.[3] Artemis was the twin ofApollo and daughter ofLeto andZeus, and a protector of both hunters and wild animals. The Pleiades were nymphs, and along with their half sisters, were called Atlantides, Modonodes, or Nysiades and were the caretakers of the infantBacchus.[4]
Orion pursued the Pleiades namedMaia,Electra,Taygete,Celaeno,Alcyone,Sterope, and Merope after he fell in love with their beauty and grace. Artemis asked Zeus to protect the Pleiades and in turn, Zeus turned them into stars. Artemis was angry because she no longer could see her companions and had her brother, Apollo, send a giant scorpion to chase and kill Orion. Zeus then turned Orion into a constellation to further pursue the Pleiades in the skies.[5]
In another legend, the sisters were transformed by Zeus into stars because Orion fell in love with them and relentlessly pursued their affection for 12 years. At first they were turned into doves, but later, along with Orion, into stars so that forever the hunter Orion would pursue them.[2]
In either legend the Pleiades were turned into stars and now, along with their half sisters, the Hyades (who died weeping for their dead brotherHyas), are part of the star constellationTaurus.
Merope is the faintest of the stars because she was the only of the Pleiades to have married a mortal. Her sisters had relations with gods and bore them sons, but Merope marriedSisyphus and lived on the islandChios. Merope gave birth toOrnytion (Porphyrion[6]),Glaukos,Thersander andAlmus. Thestar Merope is often called the "lost Pleiad" because she was at first not seen by astronomers or charted like her sisters. One myth[7] says that she hid her face in shame because she had an affair with a mortal man.[8][9][10]
The several 18th and 19th century dramas and operas titledMerope deal with a completely different myth. There have been, however, artistic depictions of the stellar Pleiad:
The Lost Pleiade (1874/75), a marble sculpture byRandolph Rogers, was inspired byOvid's Latin poemFasti, which recounts the legend of the seven sisters. The statue, which shows her rising from a cloud in search of her lost siblings, is on display in theArt Institute of Chicago.[11]
L'etoile perdue (The Lost Star, 1884) byWilliam-Adolphe Bouguereau depicts the separated Merope from behind with her sister Pleiades as faint images in the background (see above). The title has also been rendered as "The Lost Pleiad".[12]
Merope role with Atlas.