In Greek mythology, Macaria (Ancient Greek: Μακαρία, romanized: Makaría, lit. 'blessed one, blessedness') is a daughter of the divine hero Heracles. After his immolation, Eurystheus hunted down the descendants of the hero, eventually besieging them in Athens. Macaria offered herself as sacrifice in order to save her kin and the city.
Etymology
editThe ancient Greek noun μακαρία translates to "happiness" or "bliss", but it can also mean "foolishness".[1]
Family
editMacaria was the daughter of Heracles, the Theban divine hero, and Deianira, his third wife.[2]
Mythology
editEuripides
editIn the play Children of Heracles by Euripides, Macaria,[a] along with her siblings, Alcmene and Iolaus flees from King Eurystheus, who is determined the kill all the children of Heracles, to Athens where they find shelter in the court of King Demophon, who refused to hand them over when Eurystheus gave him an ultimatum of war upon Athens unless he surrendered the Heraclidae.[3] As Eurystheus prepares to attack, an oracle dictates that the Athenians will only be victorious if a maiden of noble birth is sacrificed to the goddess Persephone, the queen of the Underworld.[2]
Macaria approaches Iolaus, and he informs her of the oracle's orders. Hearing that, Macaria willingly volunteers to be sacrificed, reasoning that dying on the altar is more noble than living a life as a coward who doomed a city and its inhabitants.[4] Iolaus, admiring her courage, suggests they draw lots instead, but Macaria declines and insists she is the one who should die.[5] As Iolaus cannot force himself to do the deed, it is Demophon who leads Macaria away to be sacrificed as she says her final farewells, leaving the others to mourn her.[6]
Other versions
editIn other authors, Heracles moved with his family to Trachis, ruled by the amicable king Ceyx, where they lived until his death and Eurystheus forced them to flee to Athens, where they were offered shelter by Theseus, rather than his son.[7]
After Macaria's death, the Athenians honoured her with expensive funeral rites during her burial, for she had died to save them.[8] A spring in Marathon was named Macaria after her.[7][3]
Culture
editEuripides is the oldest testimony of Macaria's tale, although he might have sourced the myth from local Athenian legend, or even Aeschylus, an earlier Athenian playwright.[9]
The 10th-century Byzantine lexicon Suda mentions a proverbial phrase connected to Macaria, "be gone in blessedness", that is into misery and destruction, said as a euphemism since the dead were called the 'blessed ones'.[8] This ancient Greek phrase is equivalent to modern curses like "go to hell".[10] It was used for those whose courage endangered them,[11] but according to Greek sophist Zenobius it was originally said for those who sacrificed themselves with valor, like Macaria did.[12]
See also
edit
Footnotes
edit- ^ In Euripides' play, Macaria actually goes unnamed, and is only referred to as "maiden".
References
edit- ^ Liddell & Scott 1940, s.v. μακαρία.
- ^ a b Bell 1991, s.v. Macaria.
- ^ a b Grimal 1987, pp. 207, 268.
- ^ Euripides, Children of Heracles 474–519
- ^ Euripides, Children of Heracles 520–566
- ^ Euripides, Children of Heracles 567–607
- ^ a b Pausanias 1.32.6
- ^ a b Sudas (January 24, 2004). "Macaria". Suda OnLine. Translated by Katrina Ball. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
- ^ Käppel, Lutz (October 1, 2006). "Macaria". In Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth (eds.). Brill's New Pauly. Kiel: Brill Reference Online. doi:10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e718630. ISSN 1574-9347. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
- ^ "βάλλ' ἐς μακαρίαν". lsj.gr. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
- ^ Sudas (April 13, 2002). "Ball' es Makarian". Suda OnLine. Translated by Jennifer Benedict. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
- ^ Zenobius 2.61
Bibliography
edit- Bell, Robert E. (1991). Women of Classical Mythology: A Biographical Dictionary. ABC-Clio. ISBN 9780874365818.
- E. L. von Leutsch; F. W. Schneidwein, eds. (1839). Corpus Paroemiographorum Graecorum. Vol. 1. Vandenhoeck et Ruprecht. p. 48.
- Euripides, Children of Heracles in Euripides, with an English translation by David Kovacs. Cambridge. Harvard University Press. Online text available at Perseus Digital Library.
- Grimal, Pierre (1987). The Dictionary of Classical Mythology. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-13209-0.
- Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1940). A Greek-English Lexicon, revised and augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones with the assistance of Roderick McKenzie. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Online version at Perseus.tufts project.
- Pausanias, Pausanias Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.