BROTEAS IN GREEK MYTHOLOGY
Broteas Son of Tantalus
Broteas was a hunter from Greek mythology, although he is known not for any deed from the chase, for Broteas was a member of the cursed House of Atreus, born into the line of Tantalus.
Broteas was the son of Tantalus, born to either the Hyades nymph Dione, the Naiad Euryanassa, or the Naiad Eurythemista. Thus Broteas was brother to Pelops and Niobe.
The actions of Tantalus would see the king eternally tormented in Tartarus, and a curse would pursue several generations of the family line, taking in the generations of Pelops, Atreus, Agamemnon and Orestes.
Broteas was the son of Tantalus, born to either the Hyades nymph Dione, the Naiad Euryanassa, or the Naiad Eurythemista. Thus Broteas was brother to Pelops and Niobe.
The actions of Tantalus would see the king eternally tormented in Tartarus, and a curse would pursue several generations of the family line, taking in the generations of Pelops, Atreus, Agamemnon and Orestes.
Broteas the Sculptor
Though nominally a hunter, Broteas was proclaimed as a great sculptor, a sculptor who carved the image of Cybele unto a crag called Coddinus upon Mount Sipylus, in the realm of his father. This relief is today equated with the remnants of the Manisa relief in Turkey.
The goddess observed the work of Broteas and asked that he also sculpt a likeness of her upon the mountain. |
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Broteas though refused the goddess’ request, and in retribution, Artemis sent madness down upon the hunter, and thus Broteas threw himself upon a pyre, killing himself.
Broteas was occasionally said to have had a son named Tantalus, by a woman unnamed. This Tantalus would become king of Lydia, and some stated that he was actually the first husband of Clytemnestra, the daughter of King Tyndareus, but was killed by Agamemnon, who then took Clytemnestra as his wife.
Broteas was occasionally said to have had a son named Tantalus, by a woman unnamed. This Tantalus would become king of Lydia, and some stated that he was actually the first husband of Clytemnestra, the daughter of King Tyndareus, but was killed by Agamemnon, who then took Clytemnestra as his wife.
Broteas Reimagined
Broteas would become reinvented in the Renaissance period as Brotheus. Artists and poets would take a single line of text from Ovid’s Ibis to build a new mythology.
For where Ovid stated “may you give your burning limbs to the kindling pyre, as they say Broteas did in his desire for death.”, Brotheus would become a son of Vulcan and Minerva who threw himself upon a pyre (or into Mount Etna) when he was taunted about his ugliness.
For where Ovid stated “may you give your burning limbs to the kindling pyre, as they say Broteas did in his desire for death.”, Brotheus would become a son of Vulcan and Minerva who threw himself upon a pyre (or into Mount Etna) when he was taunted about his ugliness.
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