Enyo in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Enyo

7 passages from 4 ancient authors that tell of Enyo, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Enyo was a goddess in Greek mythology, sister and companion of the god of war, Ares, and daughter of Zeus and Hera. She was the goddess of war and des... For the story in one place, read our article on Enyo.

Homer (1)

Homer, Iliad 5.519–626Hector and Ares drive the Achaeans backAeneas kills Crethon and Orsilochus, and Menelaus and Antilochus avenge them, killing Pylaemenes and Mydon. Hector, led by Ares and Enyo, drives into the Achaeans, and Diomedes, seeing Ares beside him, tells his men to give ground while keeping their faces to the Trojans. Hector kills Menesthes and Anchialus, and Ajax kills Amphius.

Quintus Smyrnaeus (1)

Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 11.129–282Apollo rouses the TrojansApollo comes to Aeneas and Eurymachus and fills the Trojans with courage, and they leap on the Greeks like wasps on bees. Neoptolemus rallies the Myrmidons and drives back the Trojans, until Aeneas stands against him. Dust fills the air so that friends kill friends, until Zeus clears the plain.

Nonnus of Panopolis (4)

Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 18.196–267Book 18: Dionysos arms; Staphylos' gifts and the tale of CampeDionysos puts on his armour and Staphylos gives him guest-gifts of a golden jar, silver cups and embroidered robes. The king urges him to fight like his father Zeus and tells how Zeus destroyed the monster Campe, with her many animal heads, serpent limbs and scorpion tail, in the war against Cronos and the Titans.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 2.475–630Book 2: Zeus overwhelms Typhon; the mock epitaphZeus and Typhoeus fight on equal terms, with thunder and lightning against the Giant's many hands, and the four winds join in. His heads are scorched and frozen in turn, and his mother Earth begs Helios and the winter winds to ease him. Typhoeus falls, and Zeus mocks him with a speech about the throne he wanted and offers him an empty tomb and an epitaph.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 17.315–397Book 17: The Bacchants rout the Indians; Aristaios heals the wounded; Blemys submitsThe fighting on the Taurus is renewed, and the Bacchic women and Satyrs defeat the armoured Indians with ivy and vine. Aristaios heals the wounded Bassarids with herbs and charms, and Astraeis flees. Blemys, chief of the Erythraian Indians, kneels to Dionysos, who sends him away to Arabia and the Nile to become king of the Ethiopians.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 20.0–119Book 20: Discord rouses Dionysos in a dream; the host marchesAfter the games the company feasts in Botrys' palace, and Dionysos has Methe, Pithos and Botrys put off their mourning. In the night Discord, in the shape of Rheia, reproaches the sleeping god for neglecting the war and compares him unfavourably with Athena, Hermes, Apollo and Artemis. Dionysos wakes, arms and leads his host out, with his followers riding bears, bulls and lions.

Lycophron (1)

Lycophron, Alexandra 406–540Alexandra 406–540: Graves far from home; five exiles settle on an island; a god sows quarrel among the doomedCassandra says that the whole land and even the shore of Acheron will mourn her bridal, since countless men will be devoured by sea-monsters while others find graves in strange lands. She names some of the dead: an old man blinded by his father who will be buried at Eion, three 'sea-gulls' laid in the glades of Cercaphus, and two who kill each other at the mouth of the Pyramus. Five exiles are then said to come to a horned island, among them a kinsman banished by his father's taunts and a countryman who digs for copper and whose father was killed by a tusk. She prays that Zeus never send the Lapersii against her country, and takes hope from a god who will start grievous wrangling when the doomed hosts receive their fatal guest at a banquet.