Britomartis in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Britomartis

5 passages from 5 ancient authors that tell of Britomartis, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Britomartis was a deity in Ancient Greece that was worshipped in Minoan Crete. She was the goddess of mountains and hunting, and was eventually transf... For the story in one place, read our article on Britomartis.

Callimachus (1)

Callimachus, Hymns 3.1–268Hymn to Artemis: the goddess's childhood wishesAs a small girl on her father's knees, Artemis asks Zeus to let her stay a maiden for ever and to give her a bow, a short tunic, sixty nymphs of Oceanus for her choir and twenty nymphs of Amnisus to tend her hounds, and Zeus smiles and grants it, adding cities. She visits the Cyclopes on Lipara for her arrows, takes hounds from Pan in Arcadia and captures four golden-horned deer for her chariot. The poet praises her favourite places and companions, among them Britomartis, Cyrene and Atalanta, and her shrines at Miletus and Ephesus. He ends with a warning to those who wronged her, such as Oeneus, Otus and Orion.

Pausanias (1)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.30.1–10Aegina’s cults of Hecate and Aphaea; the early history of TroezenPausanias lists Aegina’s temples, Hecate’s mysteries with Myron’s image, the sanctuary of Aphaea and the Cretan legend of Britomartis, and the sanctuary of Panhellenian Zeus, referring readers to Herodotus for the images of Auxesia and Damia. He then turns to Troezenia, giving its legendary kings from Orus and Althepus through Saron, Hyperes and Anthas to Pittheus and Troezen, and notes Dorian rule from Argos and the colonies founded from Troezen.

Nonnus of Panopolis (1)

Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 33.280–387Book 33: Morrheus' sleepless night; Thetis counsels ChalcomedeMorrheus lies sleepless, thinking of the loves of the gods, while Chalcomede, afraid of being forced into marriage, goes to the sea intending to drown herself. Thetis, in the form of a Bacchant, stops her, tells her to feign desire in order to save the army, and promises that a serpent will protect her maidenhood.

Antoninus Liberalis (1)

Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses 40.1–41.10Britomartis and the FoxBritomartis, fleeing Minos and then a fisherman, vanishes in a grove on Aegina and is worshipped as Aphaea. Cephalus and Procris test each other's faithfulness, and Procris receives from Minos a javelin and a hound that cannot miss. The hound pursues the Teumessian fox that cannot be caught, until Zeus turns both to stone.

Strabo (1)

Strabo, Geography 10.4.11–14Gortyna, Cydonia, Dicte and PhaestusStrabo describes Gortyna, Phaestus and Cydonia and the Cretan arsenals, among them Matalum. He tells of the temple of the Dictaean Zeus (Jupiter) at Prasus, and corrects Callimachus on the escape of Britomartis from Minos and the name Dictynna. He also mentions Epimenides of Phaestus, the temple of Britomartis, and the ruin of cities such as Miletus and Lycastus.