Pyrrhus (mythology)

In Nonnus's fifth-century AD epic poem the Dionysiaca, Pyrrhus () is a minor figure from Asia Minor who was punished by the goddess Rhea, the mother of the gods, for his attempted assault of her. His short story is only mentioned in passing, without much elaboration.

Etymology The ancient Greek proper name means "fiery" or "red-coloured" and it is derived from the word (pur) meaning fire, flame. It was especially used to denote red hair. In Mycenaean Greek the name is attested in the form pu-wo (Linear B: ).

Mythology The little-known and otherwise unattested Pyrrhus was a mortal man from Phrygia, a region in northwestern Asia Minor, who impiously lusted after the goddess Rhea, the mother of the gods, and tried to assault her. Rhea changed him into a stone immediately as a punishment for his hubris. This happened not far from the site of Niobe's own transformation into a weeping rock after she challenged another goddess, Leto (the mother of Artemis and Apollo).Nonnus, Dionysiaca 12.81-83

Interpretation Pyrrhus's transformation into stone is part of a wider common theme in mythology where a man is punished for his lust that led him to assault a goddess, in this case Rhea; it also belongs to the type of myth where a goddess' favourite oversteps himself and attempts to rape her. He is possibly the same Pyrrhus as the shepherd protagonist of a Clazomenian legend mentioned in passing by Pausanias; the Clazomenians also had a cave dedicated to the mother of Pyrrhus.Pausanias 7.5.11

Pyrrhus (mythology)

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