Thamyris

Thamyris

In Greek mythology, Thamyris (Greek: Θάμυρις), son of Philammon and the nymph Argiope, was a Thracian singer who was so proud of his skill that he boasted he could outsing the Muses. He competed against them and lost. As punishment for his presumption they blinded him, and took away his ability to make poetry and to play the lyre. This outline of the story is told in the "Iliad". [ "Iliad" 2.594-600.]

This allusion is taken up in Euripides' "Rhesus", in the "Library" attributed to Apollodorus, and in the Scholia on the "Iliad". These later sources add the details that Thamyris had claimed as his prize, if he should win the contest, the privilege of having sex with all the Muses (according to one version) or of marrying one of them (according to another); and that after his death he was further punished in Hades. The story demonstrates that poetic inspiration, a gift of the gods, can be taken away by the gods. [Apollodorus, "Library" 1.3.3; "Scholia on the Iliad" 2.595. See Harvard reference | Surname=Dalby | Given=Andrew | Authorlink=Andrew Dalby | Title=Rediscovering Homer | Publisher=Norton | Place=New York, London | Year=2006 | ISBN=0393057887 , p. 96.]

According to Diodorus the mythical singer Linus took three pupils, Heracles, Thamyris and Orpheus, which neatly settles Thamyris's legendary chronology. [Diodorus Siculus, 3.67.] When Pliny the Elder briefly sketches the origins of music he credits Thamyris with inventing the Dorian mode and with being the first to play the cithara as a solo instrument with no voice accompaniment. [Pliny. "Natural History", 7.207.]

A lost epic, Titanomachy, attributed to the blind Thracian bard Thamyris, himself a legendary figure, was mentioned in passing in an essay On Music that was once attributed to Plutarch.

Thamyris is said to have been a lover of Hyacinthus and thus to have been the first man to have loved another male. [Apollodorus. "Library", 1.3.3.]

Thamyris is another name for the ancient Greek painter Timarete and also the name of a Theban who was killed by Actor.

References

External links

* [http://www.muspe.unibo.it/period/MA/index/number2/restani/thamyris.html Donatella Restani, "Music and myth in ancient Greece"] with literary references to Thamyris


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  • Thamyris — Thámyris (griechisch Θάμυρις) oder Thámyras ist ein berühmter Sänger, Dichter und Kithara Spieler der griechischen Mythologie. Der Sänger war, wie der noch bekanntere Orpheus ein Thraker. Er war Sohn des ebenfalls ausgezeichneten Musikers… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Thámyris — (oder auch Thámyras, griechisch Θάμυρις) war ein berühmter Sänger, Dichter und Kithara Spieler der griechischen Mythologie. Der Sänger war, wie der noch bekanntere Orpheus ein Thraker. Er war Sohn des ebenfalls ausgezeichneten Musikers Philammon… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Thamyris — Thamyris, 1) (Thamyras), thracischer Sänger u. Zitherspieler der mythischen Zeit, Sohn des Philammon u. der Nymphe Agriope (Argiope), Schüler des Linos. Er hatte in den Delphischen Spielen gesiegt u. soll die Musen zum Wettkampfe in Gesang u.… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Thamyris — (Thamyras), im griech. Mythus ein thrakischer Sänger, Sohn des Philammon und der Nymphe Argiope, wurde, weil er sich vermaß, die Musen im Gesange zu überwinden, von diesen des Augenlichts und der Gabe des Gesanges beraubt …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Thamyris — Thamyris, in der griech. Mythe ein thracischer Sänger, neben Orpheus genannt …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • Thamyris — THAMỸRIS, idis, Gr. Θάμυρις, ίδος, (⇒ Tab. XIV.) Philammons und der Argiope, einer Nymphe, Sohn, aus Thracien. Apollod. l. I. c. 3. §. 3. Einige nennen seine Mutter Arsios. Didym. ad Hom. Il. Β. v. 595. Er war sehr schön von Gestalt, und ein… …   Gründliches mythologisches Lexikon

  • THAMYRIS — unus ex Sacarum regulis, quos Darius opugnabat. Vide Polyaen. l. 7. c. 10. in Dario, com. 8 …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • Thamyris — {{Thamyris}} Ein thrakischer Sänger, der sich auf einen Wettstreit mit den Musen* einließ und, von diesen besiegt, des Augenlichts und seiner Kunst beraubt wurde (Ilias II 594–600) …   Who's who in der antiken Mythologie

  • Thamyris — Dans la mythologie grecque, Thamyris (en grec ancien Θάμυρις / Thámyris) est un aède et musicien venant de Thrace. Fils de l aède Philammon, lui même fils d Apollon, et de la nymphe Argiope, il s éprend du jeune Hyacinthe, devenant ainsi, pour le …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Thamyris — ▪ Greek mythology also spelled  Thamyras,         in Greek mythology, a Thracian poet who loved the beautiful youth Hyacinthus. Thamyris attentions, however, were rivaled by those of the god Apollo, who jealously reported to the Muses (Muse) the… …   Universalium

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