Pyrrha in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Pyrrha

9 passages from 5 ancient authors that tell of Pyrrha, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Pyrrha was the daughter of Epimetheus and Pandora in Greek mythology, and the wife of Deucalion. When Zeus, king of the gods, decided it was time to ... For the story in one place, read our article on Pyrrha.

Apollodorus (1)

Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 1.7.1–10Prometheus, Deucalion's flood and the family of HellenPrometheus moulds men from water and earth, steals fire for them and is nailed to Mount Caucasus, where an eagle eats his liver until Heracles frees him. His son Deucalion survives Zeus's flood in a chest with Pyrrha and makes new people from stones; their son Hellen gives the Greeks their name and divides the country among Dorus, Xuthus and Aeolus. The section then follows Aeolus's children: the Aloads Otus and Ephialtes who pile Ossa and Pelion on Olympus, Endymion, Aetolus, Evenus and Marpessa, and the house of Thestius.

Pindar (1)

Pindar, Olympian Odes 9.1–112Olympian 9: for Epharmostus — Deucalion and OpusPindar praises Epharmostus of Opus, wrestling victor, and Opus, mother-city of the Locrians, and begs his lips to speak no ill of the gods, recalling Heracles' battles with Poseidon, Phoebus and Hades at Pylos. He tells how Deucalion and Pyrrha made a people from stones, and how Zeus took the daughter of Opus of Elis to Locrus, who named her son Opus after her father. The ode ends with Epharmostus' other victories and a tribute to his skill.

Ovid (2)

Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.313–415Deucalion and PyrrhaThe flood drowns beasts and men, and starvation takes those it spares. Only Deucalion and his wife Pyrrha, who have always worshipped the gods, are saved when their boat comes to rest on Parnassus. Zeus (Jupiter) calms the waters, and the two, alone in the silent world, seek the oracle of Themis, who tells them to throw behind them the bones of their great mother. They understand that she means the stones of the earth, and the stones they throw turn into men and women.
Ovid, Heroides 15.1–220Heroides 15: Sappho to PhaonSappho writes to Phaon, who has left Lesbos for Sicily. She says grief has stopped her lyric songs, that she has lost interest in the Lesbian girls, and that she is not beautiful but famous. She recalls their love, her family troubles, and a nymph's advice to leap from the Leucadian cliff, and she asks him to return or at least to write.

Strabo (4)

Strabo, Geography 9.5.5–9Phthia and Hellas: the land of AchillesStrabo examines Homer for the territory of Achilles, with the Myrmidons, Hellenes and Achaeans and the Dolopian forces of Phoenix. He debates whether Pelasgic Argos, Phthia and Hellas are cities or regions, citing the tomb of Hellen, son of Deucalion and Pyrrha, at Melitaea. He also discusses Protesilaus and Philoctetes, Halus founded by Athamas, and the Spercheius, to which Achilles vowed his hair.
Strabo, Geography 9.5.10–14Phthiotic towns, the Dolopes and the Malian coastStrabo lists the Phthiotic towns subject to Achilles, such as Lamia, Pharsalus, Echinus and Thebae Phthiotides, and the Oetaean district with Dryopis. He places Peleus's Dolopes near Pindus and the neighbouring tribes absorbed into Thessaly and Macedonia. He then follows the coast from Thermopylae to Antron, with Protesilaus's lands, the grove of Demeter (Ceres) at Pyrasus and the islands Pyrrha and Deucalion.
Strabo, Geography 9.4.1–9Locris: Opus, Cynus and the Locri OzolaeStrabo describes the Locrians, from Opus and the Opuntian bay to Cynus, where Deucalion lived and the tomb of Pyrrha is shown. He recalls Patroclus fleeing from Opus to Peleus after killing Aeanes, and the coast of the Epicnemidii and Thronium. He then turns to the western Locri, with Naupactus, the hill Taphiassus where the Centaurs including Nessus are said to lie, and the explanation of the name Ozolae.
Strabo, Geography 9.5.21–23The Magnetes, Sepias and the names of ThessalyStrabo discusses the Magnetes, Gyrton and Crannon, and the old names Phlegyae and Ephyri, together with the Aenianes in the Dotian plain, where Hesiod's lines set a virgin bathing in the lake Boebias. He describes the Magnesian coast, Sepias, where the Persian fleet was wrecked, and distances of the circuit. He closes with the names of Thessaly from Pyrrha, Deucalion, Haemon and Thettalus.

Virgil (1)

Virgil, Eclogues 6.1–86Eclogue 6: the song of SilenusThe poet says the Cynthian god warned him to sing slender songs, and he dedicates this one to Varus. The young Chromis and Mnasyllos find Silenus asleep, drunk, and bind him with garlands, and Aegle smears his face with mulberry juice. Laughing, he agrees to sing of the world's making from seeds, of Pyrrha's stones, the reign of Kronos (Saturn) and Prometheus, of Pasiphae and her bull, and of Gallus among the Muses. He sings until the evening star bids the shepherds fold their sheep.