Editing Apemosyne

In [[Greek mythology]], '''Apemosyne''' ([[Ancient Greek]]: {{lang|grc|Ἀπημοσύνη}}) was a [[Crete|Cretan]] princess as the daughter of King [[Catreus]] of Crete, the son of [[Minos]].<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+3.2.1 3.2.1]; Diodorus Siculus, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/4D*.html#60 4.60.4]. [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]],  [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+8.53.4 8.53.4]</ref> She had a brother [[Althaemenes]], and two sisters, [[Aerope]] and [[Clymene (mythology)|Clymene]].

== Mythology ==
Apemosyne was mentioned in the account of [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]].<ref>Apollodorus, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+3.2 3.2]</ref> According to Apollodorus, Catreus received an oracle saying that he would be killed by one of his children, and although Catreus hid the oracles, his son Althaemenes found out. Fearing that he would be the one to kill Catreus, Althaemenes took Apemosyne and fled with her to [[Rhodes]].

There, [[Hermes]] fell in love with Apemosyne, but Apemosyne fled from him. Hermes could not catch her, because she ran faster than him. On her way back from a spring, Apemosyne slipped on freshly skinned hides that Hermes had laid across her path. Hermes then caught and raped her. Later, when Apemosyne told her brother what had happened, he became angry, thinking that she was lying about being molested by the god. In his anger, he kicked her to death.

== Interpretation ==
[[Arthur Bernard Cook]],<ref>Cook, [https://archive.org/stream/p2zeusstudyinanc02cookuoft#page/922/mode/2up 923&ndash;924]</ref> saw in the myth of Apemosyne an historical element reflecting the relationship between Minoan Crete and Rhodes, as well as a possible etiological aspect explaining an ancient Rhodian custom involving human sacrifice.

== See also ==
* [[Io (mythology)|Io]]
* [[Aerope]]
* [[Pasiphaë]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], ''Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes.'' Cambridge, Massachusetts, [[Harvard University Press]]; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Arthur Bernard Cook|Cook, Arthur Bernard]], ''Zeus: A Study in Ancient Religion, Volume II: Zeus God of the Dark Sky (Thunder and Lightning), Part II: Appendixes and Index'', Cambridge University Press 1925. [https://archive.org/stream/p2zeusstudyinanc02cookuoft#page/n7/mode/2up Internet Archive]
* [[Diodorus Siculus]], ''Diodorus Siculus: The Library of History''. Translated by C. H. Oldfather. Twelve volumes. [[Loeb Classical Library]]. Cambridge, Massachusetts: [[Harvard University Press]]; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/home.html Online version by Bill Thayer]
*[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Pausanias Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes.'' Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+1.1.1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].

[[Category:Princesses in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Women of Hermes]]
[[Category:Mythological rape victims]]
[[Category:Mythological Cretans]]
[[Category:Rhodian mythology]]

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