View source for Phthonus

{{Short description|Deity in Greek mythology}}
[[File:Phthonos.jpg|thumb|[[Armento]] vase painting 375–350 BC]]

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In [[Greek mythology]], '''Phthonus''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|θ|oʊ|n|ə|s}}; [[Ancient Greek]]: Φθόνος ''Phthónos''), {{citation needed span|date=March 2026|or sometimes '''[[Zelus]]''',}} was the personification of jealousy and envy,<ref>{{harvp|Bernert|1941}}; {{harvp|Pötscher|1972}}; {{harvp|Gisler|1997}}; {{harvp|Käppel|2007}}.</ref> {{citation needed span|date=March 2026|most prominently in matters of romance.}} In [[Nonnus]]'s ''[[Dionysiaca]]'', he is by proxy the cause of [[Semele]]'s death, having informed [[Hera]] of [[Zeus]]'s affair with the princess.<ref>{{harvp|Verhelst|2016|pp=164–165}}; {{harvp|Verhelst|2017|pp=199–207}}.</ref> He also appears in [[Callimachus]]'s Hymn to [[Apollo]],<ref>{{harvp|Miguélez-Cavero|2013|p=361}}; {{harvp|Stephens|2015|p=73}}.</ref> goading the god into an argument.{{efn|{{ws|[[s:el:Ύμνοι_(Καλλίμαχος)/Β΄_Ύμνος_εις_Απόλλωνα|Callimachus, ''Hymn'' 2.105–113]]}}}} {{cn span|He is often compared and linked to the goddess of chaos and discord, [[Eris (mythology)|Éris]], for always causing the same effects as the goddess, using and abusing jealousy and envy to create fights between everyone.|date=March 2026}} Furthermore, they are both [[Daimon|Daemons]].

His female counterpart was [[Nemesis]], personification of revenge. In contrast to Phthonus’ domain being closely tied to romantic and sexual jealousy, Nemesis was more closely related to violent retribution.{{cn|date=November 2024}}

This deity, already envious of Dionysus before his birth, incited jealousy in Athena by displaying an image of Ares clad in fake blood-drenched armor.{{efn|name=nonnus|{{ws|[[s:el:Διονυσιακά/8|Nonnus of Panopolis, ''Dionysiaca'' 8.34–49]]}}}} Additionally, this provoked Hera’s envy, leading her to seek another celestial spouse as she suspected Zeus would remain with [[Semele]].{{efn|Nonnus of Panopolis, ''Dionysiaca'' 8.50–60.}} The deity persisted in provoking Hera and Athena, recalling Zeus’s various affairs and foretelling heroic feats for Dionysus.{{efn|name=nonnus}}

According to [[Irenaeus]], [[Gnostics]] believed that the first angel and Authadia conceived the children [[Kakia]] (wickedness), [[Zelus|Zelos]] (emulation), Phthonus (envy), [[Erinyes|Erinnys]] (fury), and Epithymia (lust).{{efn|Irenaeus, ''Against Heresies'' 1.29.4, in {{ws|[[s:Ante-Nicene_Fathers/Volume_I/IRENAEUS/Against_Heresies:_Book_I#Chapter_XXIX|''Ante-Nicene Fathers'' 1]]}}}}
==References==
===Classical sources===
{{notelist|30em}}

===Modern citations===
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Works cited===
{{ref begin|50em|indent=yes}}
* {{cite book |last1=Bernert |first1=Ernst |title=Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft  |volume=XX.1 |date=1941 |pages=|at=cols. 961–964. |language=de |chapter=Phthonos}}
* {{cite book |last1=Gisler |first1=Jean-Robert |title=Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologicae Classicae |volume=VII.1 |date=1997 |publisher=Artemis Verlag |location=Zürich |isbn=3-7608-8758-9 |pages=992-996 |language=fr |chapter=Phthonos}}
* {{cite book |last1=Käppel |first1=Lutz |title=Brill's New Pauly: Antiquity |volume=11 |date=2007 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden |isbn=978-90-04-14216-9 |page=204 |chapter=Phthonos |doi=10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e924440}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Miguélez-Cavero |first1=Laura |title=Cosmic and Terrestrial Personifications in Nonnus' ''Dionysiaca'' |journal=Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies |date=2013 |volume=53 |issue=2 |pages=350–378 |url=https://grbs.library.duke.edu/index.php/grbs/article/view/14711}}
* {{cite book |last1=Pötscher |first1=Walter |title=Der Kleine Pauly |volume=IV |date=1972 |publisher=Alfred Druckenmüller Verlag |location=München |page=|at=col. 832, ll. 41–51 |language=de |chapter=Phthonos}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Stephens |editor1-first=Susan A. |title=Callimachus: The Hymns |date=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-026678-3 |chapter=The Hymn to Apollo |pages=72–99}}
* {{cite book |last1=Verhelst |first1=Berenice |title=Direct Speech in Nonnus' ''Dionysiaca'': Narrative and Rhetorical Functions of the Characters' "Varied" and "Many-Faceted" Words |date=2017 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden |isbn=978-90-04-32589-0 |doi=10.1163/9789004334656}}
* {{cite book |editor-last1=Accorinti |editor-first1=Domenico |title=Brill's Companion to Nonnus of Panopolis |date=2016 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden| doi=10.1163/9789004310698_009 |isbn=978-9004-31011-7 |last=Verhelst |first=Berenice |chapter=Minor Characters in the ''Dionysiaca'' |pages=152–172}}
{{ref end}}

==Further reading==
{{ref begin|50em|indent=yes}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Brommer |first1=Frank |title=Phthonos |journal=Archäologischer Anzeiger |date=1974 |volume=88 |pages=169–170 |ref=none}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Dunbabin |first1=K.M.C. |last2=Dickie |first2=M.W. |title=''Invida rumpantur pectora'': The Iconography of ''Phthonos''/''Invidia'' in Graeco-Roman Art |journal=Jahrbuch für Antike und Christentum |date=1983 |volume=26 |pages=7–37|ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last1=Shapiro |first1=Alan |editor1-last=Cipolla |editor1-first=Nicholas |editor2-last=LaGatta |editor2-first=Anne F. |editor3-last=Livingston |editor3-first=Candace Weddle |editor4-last=Schertz |editor4-first=Peter J.M. |editor5-last=Spinelli |editor5-first=Ambra |editor6-last=Yeomans |editor6-first=Sarah K. |title=Why Ancient Objects Matter: Greek and Roman Art and Materiality from Antiquity to the Present |date=2025 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |location=Berlin |isbn=978-3-11-115182-3 |doi=10.1515/9783111182919-007 |pages=97–110 |chapter=Peleus and the φθόνος θεῶν |ref=none}}
{{ref end}}

{{Ancient Greek personifications}}
{{Greek mythology (deities)|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Gnostic deities]]
[[Category:Greek love and lust gods]]
[[Category:Personifications in Greek mythology]]


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