Neis (mythology)

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In Greek mythology Neis (Ancient Greek: Νηίς, romanized: Nēís) is a princess from the city-kingdom of Thebes and the namesake of the Neitian Gate, one of the seven gates of Thebes. Neis is the daughter of either one of Thebes’ twin kings, Amphion and Zethus, by their wives Niobe or Aëdon respectively.

Family

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Neis was a princess of Thebes. She was either the daughter of Queen Niobe and King Amphion (thus one of the numerous Niobids),[1] or Queen Aëdon and King Zethus, Amphion's twin brother.[2][3][4] Although the Aëdon-Zethus parentage is more common,[2][5] usually Aëdon and Zethus have just one child, Itylus.[6]

Mythology

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The Theban princess Neis gave her name to the Neitian Gate of seven-gate Thebes.[7] The traveller Pausanias also confirms the tale, but refers to Neis as a boy rather than a girl.[8]

Neis' mother Aëdon was jealous of Niobe's vast progeny compared to her own, so she tried to kill Niobe's firstborn Amaleus, but accidentally killed her own son Itylus instead. In the versions where Neis is included in the family of Zethus, Aëdon is a direct parallel of the goddess Leto; both mothers of two children, a boy and a girl, who feel threatened by Niobe's many children and punish the queen by harming said children.[9]

If a daughter of Niobe and Amphion, then she perished along with all her brothers and sisters when the Olympians Artemis and Apollo shot all the Niobids dead in punishment for their mother boasting that she was a better mother than Leto on account of the number of children she produced.[10][11]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Bell 1991, p. 319.
  2. ^ a b Schmitz 1867, s.v. Neis.
  3. ^ Levaniouk 2011, p. 348, n. 8.
  4. ^ Pherecydes fragment 138
  5. ^ Johansen 2006, para. 1.
  6. ^ Avery 1962, p. 610.
  7. ^ Schol. ad Eurip. Phoen. 1104
  8. ^ Pausanias 9.8.4
  9. ^ Fontenrose 1948, pp. 129, 153.
  10. ^ Harder 2006, para. 1.
  11. ^ Hard 2004, p. 157.

Bibliography

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  • Abbattista, Alessandra; Blanco, Chiara; Haley, Maria; Savani, Giacomo, eds. (August 22, 2025). Tereus Through the Ages: Reassembling the Myth of Tereus. De Gruyter. ISBN 9783110728705.
  • Avery, Catherine B., ed. (1962). New Century Classical Handbook. New York, US: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
  • Bell, Robert E. (1991). Women of Classical Mythology: A Biographical Dictionary. ABC-Clio. ISBN 9780874365818.
  • Fontenrose, Joseph Eddy (1948). "The Sorrows of Ino and Procne". Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association. 79. Johns Hopkins University Press: 125–167. doi:10.2307/283358. JSTOR 283358.
  • Hard, Robin (2004). The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology". Routledge. ISBN 9780415186360.
  • Harder, Ruth Elisabeth (October 1, 2006). "Niobe". In Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth (eds.). Brill's New Pauly. Translated by Christine F. Salazar. Zurich: Brill Reference Online. ISSN 1574-9347. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
  • Johannsen, Nina (October 1, 2006). "Zethus". In Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth (eds.). Brill's New Pauly. Translated by Christine F. Salazar. Kiel: Brill Reference Online. ISSN 1574-9347. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
  • Levaniouk, Olga (2011). "12: Aëdon". Eve of the Festival: Making Myth in Odyssey 19. Hellenic Studies Series 46. Washington, DC: Center for Hellenic Studies.
  • 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. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
  • Schmitz, Leonhard (1867). Smith, William (ed.). A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Boston. Retrieved 2025-09-03.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)