The Graces in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / The Graces

25 passages from 10 ancient authors that tell of The Graces, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. The Charites (singular Charis) or Graces were three or more minor deities in Greek mythology, daughters of Zeus and Eurynome according to the prevalen... For the story in one place, read our article on The Graces.

Hesiod (3)

Hesiod, Theogony 900–929tZeus's marriages and children; the birth of Athena (900-929)Zeus marries Themis (the Hours and the Fates), Eurynome (the Graces), Demeter (Persephone), Mnemosyne (the Muses), Leto (Apollo and Artemis) and lastly Hera, whose children are Hebe, Ares and Eileithyia. Zeus bears Athena from his own head, and Hera bears Hephaestus without Zeus. The section recounts again how Zeus swallowed Metis, who conceived Athena, and how she was born by the river Trito.
Hesiod, Theogony 60–99The Muses on Olympus and their gifts to kings and singers (60-99)The Muses have their dancing places and fair homes on Olympus beside the Graces and Himerus, and they sing the laws of the gods and Zeus's overthrow of Cronus. The nine are named, with Calliope the chief because she attends on princes. Kings favoured by the Muses speak with persuasive words and settle quarrels fairly, and singers who serve the Muses make a sorrowing man forget his troubles.
Hesiod, Works and Days 40–104Prometheus, fire and Pandora (40-104)The gods keep the means of life hidden from men, and Zeus hides fire because Prometheus deceived him; Prometheus steals it back in a fennel-stalk. As the price for fire Zeus has Hephaestus mould a maiden, whom Athena, Aphrodite, Hermes and the Graces equip with skills, charm and a deceitful nature. She is named Pandora and sent to Epimetheus, who accepts her despite Prometheus's warning, and she lifts the lid of the jar and scatters evils among men, while Hope alone stays inside.

Homer (3)

Homer, Iliad 14.224–360Hera and Sleep: the deception of Zeus on IdaHera goes to Lemnos and asks Sleep to lull Zeus once she has lain with him, promising him the young Grace Pasithea as his wife. They go to Ida, where Sleep perches in a fir-tree in the likeness of a bird, and Hera approaches Zeus, who is seized with desire for her. He persuades her to lie with him at once, hiding them in a golden cloud, and Sleep binds him, then goes to tell Poseidon to help the Danaans while Zeus sleeps.
Homer, The Homeric Hymns 5.1–104Hymn 5 to Aphrodite (1): Zeus makes Aphrodite love AnchisesThe hymn sings of Aphrodite's power over gods, men, beasts and birds, and says that only Athena, Artemis and Hestia escape it. Zeus, who has been made to lie with mortal women by her, puts into her heart a longing for the Trojan herdsman Anchises. She dresses at Paphos and goes to Mount Ida, where Anchises is playing the lyre alone, and she appears to him as a maiden; he greets her and prays for a long life.
Homer, The Homeric Hymns 26.1–29.14Hymns 26 to 29: Dionysus, Artemis, Athena, Hestia and HermesFour hymns of moderate length. Dionysus is reared by nymphs in the dells of Nysa and roams the wooded glens, Artemis hunts over the mountains and goes to Delphi to lead the Muses and Graces in their dance, and Athena springs from the head of Zeus, shaking her spear, so that all Olympus reels. The last hymn honours Hestia, who has a place in every house, and Hermes.

Apollodorus (1)

Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 1.3.1–6Zeus's children, the Muses, Orpheus and the birth of AthenaZeus marries Hera and has children by many goddesses, among them the Seasons, the Fates, the Graces, Persephone and, by Mnemosyne, the nine Muses. The Muses' sons include Linus and Orpheus, who goes down to Hades for Eurydice and loses her by looking back, as well as Hyacinth (loved by Thamyris and by Apollo), Rhesus and the Corybantes; Thamyris is blinded by the Muses and the Sirens are born of Melpomene. Hephaestus is born to Hera (alone, or by Zeus, in Homer's version) and thrown out of heaven, and Athena springs from the head of Zeus after he swallows Metis.

Pindar (3)

Pindar, Olympian Odes 14.1–24Olympian 14: for Asopichus — the Graces of OrchomenusPindar calls on the Graces of Orchomenus, by the Cephisus, to attend the victory song for Asopichus, boys' foot-race winner, and names Aglaia, Euphrosyne and Thalia. He says that all that is good for gods and men comes from the Graces, and asks Echo to carry the news of the victory to Cleodamus in the dark house of Persephone.
Pindar, Pythian Odes 9.1–125Pythian 9: for Telesicrates — Cyrene and ApolloPindar praises Telesicrates of Cyrene, victor in the race in armour, and tells how Apollo fell in love with the nymph Cyrene, daughter of Hypseus, who wrestled with lions, and asked Cheiron whether he might take her. Cheiron foretells that Apollo will bring her to Libya, where she will bear Aristaeus, whom Hermes will entrust to Gaia and the Horae. The ode ends with the victories of Telesicrates' family and the stories of Danaüs, who married off his daughters by a race, and of the Libyan bride, the daughter of Antaeus, won in a race.
Pindar, Nemean Odes 10.1–90Nemean 10: for Theaeus — Castor and PolydeucesPindar praises Argos, the city of Danaüs and Hera, and its famous heroes, among them Proetus, and the victories of Theaeus in wrestling. He tells how Idas killed Castor in a quarrel over cattle, how Polydeuces prayed to Zeus to die with his brother, and how Zeus allowed them to share their fate by living alternately under the earth and on Olympus.

Euripides (3)

Euripides, Heracles 637–700Second choral song: youth, old age and the glory of HeraclesThe Chorus says that youth is always dear, but that old age is a burden heavier than the crags of Aetna, and wishes that it might have both, since the gods have given no sign to separate the good from the bad. It sings of the Muses and the Graces, and says that the son of Zeus has shown that noble spirit wins its reward.
Euripides, Helen 1278–1368Theoclymenus agrees; choral song on the Mother of the godsTheoclymenus lets the stranger and Helen go inside to prepare the funeral gifts. Menelaus tells Helen to accept her new husband, and she promises kindness. The Chorus sings of the Mountain Mother's search for her daughter, of the famine that followed, and of how the gods' dance and the Graces soothed her.
Euripides, Cyclops 576–623Fourth episode: the Cyclops carries off SilenusThe Cyclops, reeling with wine, takes Silenus for Ganymede and drags him inside, while Silenus protests. Odysseus tells the satyrs that the Cyclops is sunk in slumber and the brand is already smoking in the cave. He prays to Hephaestus and Sleep, and the Chorus longs to see Bromius again.

Theocritus (1)

Theocritus, Idylls 16.1–109Idyll 16: The Graces, or HieroThe poet complains that no one will receive the Graces or pay the singers, and that rich men no longer honour song. He praises Hiero of Syracuse, before whose arms the Phoenicians of Libya shudder, and asks for his patronage. He ends by saying that he will not leave the Muses or the Graces.

Pausanias (7)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.35.1–7Orchomenus: the Graces, how many there were and how they were representedPausanias discusses the Graces: Eteocles of Orchomenus first sacrificed to them, the Lacedaemonians and Athenians recognise two, and Homer, Hesiod, Onomacritus, Antimachus and Hermesianax give differing numbers, parents and names. He notes that older artists such as Bupalus, Apelles and Socrates represented the Graces draped, and says he does not know who first showed them naked.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 3.18.1–16Sparta to Amyclae: Ammon, Cnagian Artemis and the throne of ApolloPausanias lists images and shrines near the statues of Pausanias, including Athena Ophthalmitis, the sanctuary of Ammon and Cnagian Artemis, and then follows the road to Amyclae by the river Tiasa and the sanctuary of the Graces. At Amyclae he describes the tripods and dedications and Bathycles’ throne of the Amyclaean Apollo, listing its mythological reliefs on the front and underneath.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 6.24.1–10Elis: the market-place and the Umpires' HallPausanias leaves the gymnasium of Elis for the market-place, built in the old style with separate colonnades, and describes the Umpires' Hall where the umpires-elect live for ten months. He mentions the Corcyraean Colonnade, built from a tithe of spoils taken from Corcyra, and the statue of the sceptic Pyrrho. The finest things in the market-place include a temple of Healing Apollo, images of the Sun and Moon, a sanctuary of the Graces, a temple of Silenus, a building that may be the tomb of Oxylus, and the hall of the Sixteen women who weave the robe for Hera.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.22.1–8Athens: Propylaea, Wingless Victory and the picture gallery of the AcropolisBelow the Acropolis are the temple of Themis, the barrow of Hippolytus with the Troezenian version of Phaedra’s love, and shrines of Vulgar Aphrodite, Earth and Green Demeter. Pausanias describes the single approach, the white marble Propylaea and the temple of Wingless Victory, where Aegeus is said to have thrown himself down. In the chamber of pictures he lists Polygnotus’ paintings of Diomede, Ulysses, Orestes and Polyxena, a portrait of Musaeus, and Hermes and the Graces by Socrates.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.17.1–7The Argive Heraeum: the temple of Hera and Polyclitus’ statueFifteen furlongs from Mycenae lies the Heraeum, on the slope of Mount Euboea, with the Water of Freedom and the plant asterion. Pausanias describes the temple, its sculptures and fore-temple offerings, Polyclitus’ gold and ivory Hera with pomegranate and cuckoo, the old wooden image from Tiryns, Hadrian’s peacock and Nero’s crown and robe. Above it stand the remains of the earlier temple burnt through the priestess Chryseis’ lamp.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.11.1–11Olympia: Phidias’ gold and ivory statue of Zeus and its thronePausanias describes the seated gold and ivory Zeus, its Victory, sceptre, sandals and robe, and the throne with its Victories, sphinxes, Niobids and painted barriers by Panaenus. He notes the reliefs on the footstool and pedestal, the unrecommended measurements, the thunderbolt that answered Phidias’ prayer, and the oil that preserves the ivory, comparing the water at Athens and the well under the Aesculapius at Epidaurus.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.38.1–10Orchomenus: the sanctuary of the Graces, the treasury of Minyas, Hesiod's bones and ActaeonPausanias describes the oldest sanctuary at Orchomenus, that of the Graces, with its sacred natural stones, and the circular treasury of Minyas. He gives the graves of Minyas and Hesiod, and how a crow showed the envoys where the bones of Hesiod lay at Naupactus. He tells how the Orchomenians bound a bronze spectre of Actaeon to a rock on the Delphic god's advice. He also describes the temple of Hercules, the river Melas and the Cephisian Lake, and the abandonment of Aspledon for lack of water.

Nonnus of Panopolis (2)

Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 16.71–227Book 16: Dionysos woos Nicaia and is refusedDionysos sees Nicaia's colours in the flowers of a meadow and offers to carry her hunting gear, spread her bed with fawnskins under a vine, and give her dogs, handmaids and the Graces as servants. Nicaia answers that he must first win Athena or Artemis, her comrades, and threatens to chain him as the sons of Iphimedeia chained Ares. Left behind, Dionysos talks to the hound Pan gave him and promises to make it a star near Seirios if it will track the girl.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 34.0–88Book 34: Morrheus confesses his love to HyssacosMorrheus, sleepless with love for Chalcomede, wanders by the river and debates what to do, until his guard Hyssacos asks what troubles him. Morrheus admits that he loves her and fears that Aphrodite and Dionysos are fighting together against him.

Bacchylides (1)

Bacchylides, Epinicians (Odes of Victory) 9.1–104Ode 9: Automedes of Phlius, pentathlon at NemeaThe poet calls on the Graces to help him sing of Phlius and of Nemea, where Hera reared the lion that Heracles was to overcome and the Argive heroes held the first games in memory of Archemorus. He praises Automedes, who outshone his rivals in the pentathlon, and sings the river Asopus and its daughters, the brides of gods. The middle of the ode is restored from fragments. It ends with the city that Zeus granted to the people of Phlius and with Automedes, son of Timoxenus.

Orpheus (attributed) (1)

Orpheus (attributed), Orphic Hymns 57–61Hymns 57-61: the Terrestrial Hermes, Cupid, the Fates, the Graces, NemesisHermes of the earth is invoked as the god whom Fate set to dwell on the dread path that leads to deepest hell, and Cupid as the pure and lovely source of sweet delight. The Fates are addressed as the daughters of Night and are named Atropos, Lachesis and Clotho. The Graces are called on as the descendants of Jove, with Eunomia, and Nemesis as the almighty queen by whom the deeds of mortal life are seen.