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Aphrodite Apollo Ares Artemis Athena Atlas Coeus Crius Cronus Demeter Dionysus Gaia Hades Hephaestus Hera Hermes Hestia Hyperion Iapetus Mnemosyne Oceanus Phobos Phoebe Poseidon Prometheus Rhea Tethys Themis Uranus Zeus
Bacchus Ceres Diana Juno Jupiter Mars Mercury Minerva Neptune Pluto Venus Vesta Vulcan
Amun Anubis Aten Atum Babi Bastet Bes Geb Hapi hathor heqet Horus Isis Khepri Khnum Khonsu Maat Nephthys Nut Osiris Ptah Ra Seshat Seth Shu Sobek Thoth
Alfheim Baldur Freya Freyr Frigg Heimdallr Helheim Idun Jotunheim Loki Nerthus Njord Odin Thor Tyr
Aengus Arawn Badb Brigid Cailleach Ceridwen Cernunnos Cu Chulainn Dagda Danu Gwydion Herne the Hunter Lugh Medb Morrigan Neit Nuada Taliesin Taranis
Chalchiuhtlicue Coatlicue Huitzilopochtli Mictlantecuhtli Mixcoatl Ometeotl Quetzalcoatl Tezcatlipoca Tlaloc Tonatiuh Xipe Totec Xochiquetzal Xolotl
Amaterasu Ame no Uzume Benzaiten Bishamonten Daikokuten Ebisu Fujin Fukurokuju Inari Izanagi Kagutsuchi Raijin Susanoo Tsukuyomi
Caishen Cangjie Dragon King Eight Immortals Erlang Shen Fuxi Guanyin Hou Yi Huxian Jade Emperor King Yama Leizi Lu-ban Mazu Nezha Nuwa Pangu Shennong Sun Wukong Xiwangmu Yue Lao Zhong Kui
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  3. Minoan Crete
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  4. Nisus and Scylla

Nisus and Scylla

During Minos' campaign against Athens, the Cretan army attacked Megara, a kingdom in the Corinthian Isthmus that was allied with Athens.

At the time of the siege, Megara's king was Nisus (Νἳσος), the son of Pandion, who was formerly a king of Athens. Nisus' mother was Pylia, daughter of Pylas, king of Megara. Nisus had a daughter named Scylla (Σκύλλη).

According to the legend, Nisus had a lock of purple hair on his head. As long as his hair was on his head, Nisus could not die and he would not lose his kingdom to any invaders. But the king never suspected treachery from his own daughter.

Scylla watched the besieging army from the high walls of Megara. When Scylla first saw Minos, she fell in love with her father's enemy. Scylla betrayed her father by pulling the purple hair out of his head, which instantly killed him. With Nisus' death, the city of Megara surrendered to Minos.

However, Minos did not reward Scylla for her treachery or his victory over Megara. Minos had the girl tied to the prow of his ship by her feet, so that Scylla drowned

Related Information

Sources

Library was written by Apollodorus.

Metamorphoses was written by Ovid.

Description of Greece was written by Pausanias.

Libation Bearers was written by Aeschylus.

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Minos.

Jimmy Joe Timeless Myths

By Jimmy Joe

Minoan Crete:

  • • Tectamus
  • • Abduction of Europa
  • • Minos and his Brothers
  • • Pasiphaë and the Minotaur
  • • Nisus and Scylla
  • • Polyeidus and Glaucus
  • • Daedalus
  • • Catreus
  • • Idomeneus
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Nauplia was a seaport city on the Gulf of Argolis, was founded by Nauplius. There is some confusion, because there are two Nauplius. Nauplius was the son of Poseidon and Amymone, the daughter of King Danaus of Argos. Nauplius was a great seaman, a...

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