Canace

A princess of Thessaly, the daughter of Aeolus and Enarete, whence she is called Aeolis.1 She was loved by Poseidon who seduced her in the form of a bull. Her sons with Poseidon became kings of Sycion and Thessaly.

When she confessed of incest with her own brother, Macareus, Aeolus sent her a sword by which she was to kill herself. Her brother took his own life, and Aeolus threw the fruit of their love to the dogs.2

The story of Poseidon seducing Canace in the form of a bull was depicted by Arachne.3

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Italian playwright Sperone Speroni used the story in the tragedy verse Canace (1588).

References

Notes

  1. Callimachus. Hymn to Demeter, 100.
  2. Higynus. Fabulae, 238, 242 ff.; Ovid. Heroides, 11.
  3. Ovid. Metamorphoses vi, 103-128.

Sources

  • Aken, Dr. A.R.A. van. (1961). Elseviers Mythologische Encyclopedie. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
  • Bartelink, Dr. G.J.M. (1988). Prisma van de mythologie. Utrecht: Het Spectrum.