View source for Alope

{{short description|Ancient Greek mythological figure}}
{{other uses}}

'''Alope''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|l|ə|ˌ|p|iː}} ({{langx|grc|Ἀλόπη|Alópē}}) was in [[Greek mythology]] a mortal woman, the daughter of [[Cercyon of Eleusis|Cercyon]], known for her great beauty.<ref>Smith, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0104:entry=alope-bio-1 s.v. Alope]; [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''Fabulae'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#187 187]</ref>

== Mythology ==
[[Poseidon]], in the guise of a [[kingfisher]], seduced Alope, his granddaughter through Cercyon, and from the union she gave birth to [[Hippothoon]].  Alope left the infant in the open to [[Infanticide|die of exposure]], but a passing mare suckled the child until it was found by shepherds, who fell into a dispute as to who was to have the beautiful royal attire of the boy.  The case was brought before Cercyon, who, on recognizing by the dress whose child the boy was, ordered Alope to be imprisoned in order to be put to death, and her child to be exposed again. The latter was fed and found in the same manner as before, and the shepherds called him Hippothoon. The body of Alope was changed by Poseidon into a spring, which bore the same name.<ref>[[Aristophanes]], ''[[The Birds (play)|Birds]]'' 533; [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], 1.5.2</ref>

The town of [[Alope (Thessaly)|Alope]], in [[ancient Thessaly]], was believed to have derived its name from her,<ref>[[Pherecydes of Athens|Pherecydes]] in [[Stephanus of Byzantium|Stephanus]], s.v. ''[https://topostext.org/work/241#A77.8 Alope (Ἀλόπη)]''</ref> where, however, [[Philonides]] speaks of an Alope as a daughter of [[Actor (mythology)|Actor]]. There was a [[Alope (spring)|monument of Alope]] on the road from [[Eleusis]] to [[Megara]], on the spot where she was believed to have been killed by her father.<ref>Pausanias, 1.39.3</ref>

==Notes==
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== References ==

* [[Aristophanes]], ''Birds''. ''The Complete Greek Drama.'' ''vol. 2''. Eugene O'Neill, Jr. New York. Random House. 1938. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0026 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
* Aristophanes, ''Aristophanes Comoediae'' edited by F.W. Hall and W.M. Geldart, vol. 2. F.W. Hall and W.M. Geldart. Oxford. Clarendon Press, Oxford. 1907. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0025 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Gaius Julius Hyginus]], ''Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus'' translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. [https://topostext.org/work/206 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
* [[Pausanias (geographer)|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. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+1.1.1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library]
* Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.  [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0159 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[William Smith (lexicographer)|Smith, William]], ''[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]]'', London (1873). [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a1999.04.0104 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Stephanus of Byzantium]], ''Stephani Byzantii Ethnicorum quae supersunt,'' edited by August Meineike (1790–1870), published 1849. A few entries from this important ancient handbook of place names have been translated by Brady Kiesling. [https://topostext.org/work/241 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]

{{SmithDGRBM|title= Alope}}

{{Metamorphoses in Greco-Roman mythology}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Women of Poseidon]]
[[Category:Mortal parents of demigods in classical mythology]]
[[Category:Metamorphoses into bodies of water in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Women in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Mythological Eleusinians]]