In Greek mythology, the Titans were the second generation of divine beings, born before the Olympians, the main gods of the Greek pantheon. According to the Greeks, Atlas, the strongest of all the Titans, and an ocean nymph named Pleione, had seven mountain nymph daughters. Their names were Maia, Alcyone, Celaeno, Taygete, Merope, Electra and Sterope.
One story states that the sisters, also goddesses, were followers of the goddess of hunt, Artemis. Much like Artemis herself, the sisters were never meant to be married. The demigod Orion wanted the sisters and chased them; fearing for their safety, Zeus, the king of the gods, turned them into stars. Unfortunately, not even Zeus could truly spare the sisters from Orion’s desires, as Orion also became a star as Orion’s Belt and chased the sisters through the night sky.
All together, they were called the Pleiades, which is a real star system, or constellation. The stars are still named after the sisters even today. In ancient times, the appearance of the star system Pleiades came in November, which meant it was time for the yearly harvest.
It is interesting that today, everything from the stars in the sky to companies and their products carry the name of mythological figures from the distant past.
Another story is that the god of war, Ares, was especially fond of the nymph Sterope. Sterope and Ares had a child together named Oenomaus. As the myth goes, he was the founding king of the southern Greek city Pisa of Elis. As the mother of the famous king, Sterope is associated with this town and considered its goddess.
Link/cite this page
If you use any of the content on this page in your own work, please use the code below to cite this page as the source of the content.
Link will appear as Sterope: https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net - Greek Gods & Goddesses, October 20, 2019