Euphrosyne

Euphrosyne
Goddess of good cheer, joy and mirth
Member of The Charites
A statue of Euphrosyne in Achilleion palace, Corfu.
Affiliation	Aphrodite
Major cult centre	Boeotia
Abode	Mount Olympus
Parents	Zeus and Eurynome Erebus and Nyx[1]

In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Euphrosyne (/juːˈfrɒzɪniː/; Ancient Greek: Εὐφροσύνη), is a goddess, one of the three Charites, known in ancient Rome as the Gratiae (Graces). She was sometimes called Euthymia (Ancient Greek: Εὐθυμία, lit. 'good cheer') or Eutychia (Ancient Greek: Εὐτυχία, lit. 'happiness').^[2]

Family

According to Hesiod, Euphrosyne and her sisters Thalia and Aglaea are the daughters of Zeus and the Oceanid nymph Eurynome.^[3] Alternative parentage may be Zeus and Eurydome, Eurymedousa, or Euanthe;^[4] Dionysus and Coronis;^[5] or Helios and the Naiad Aegle.^[6]

The Roman author Hyginus, in his Fabulae, also mentions a figure named Euphrosyne, who is the daughter of Nox (Night) and Erebus (Darkness).^[7]

Mythology

Euphrosyne is a goddess of good cheer, joy and mirth.^[8] Her name is the female version of the word euphrosynos, "merriment". Pindar wrote that these goddesses were created to fill the world with pleasant moments and good will.^[9] The Charites attended the goddess of beauty Aphrodite.^[10]

In art, Euphrosyne is usually depicted with her sisters dancing.^[8]

Cults

Euphrosyne and her sisters' main cult was located in Athens, Sparta, or Boetia.^[8][11]

Legacy

In art and literature

• Euphrosyne is depicted with the other two Graces, Aglaea and Thalia, at the left of the painting in Botticelli's Primavera. The sculptor Antonio Canova made a well-known piece in white marble representing the three Graces, in several copies including one for John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford.^[12]
• Joshua Reynolds painted Mrs. Mary Hale, wife of General John Hale, as Euphrosyne in 1766.
• John Milton invoked her in the poem L'Allegro.^[13]
• Virginia Woolf set her novel The Voyage Out on a ship named Euphrosyne.

In science

• The asteroid 31 Euphrosyne is named after the goddess, as is the Euphrosinidae family of marine worms.
• Augustin Pyramus de Candolle named a genus of plants in the family Asteraceae Euphrosyne.

Notes

References

• Hesiod, Theogony from The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
• Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca translated by William Henry Denham Rouse (1863-1950), from the Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1940. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
• Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca. 3 Vols. W.H.D. Rouse. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1940-1942. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• 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. ISBN 0-674-99328-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
• Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Pindar, Odes translated by Diane Arnson Svarlien. 1990. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Pindar, The Odes of Pindar including the Principal Fragments with an Introduction and an English Translation by Sir John Sandys, Litt.D., FBA. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1937. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White. Homeric Hymns. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.