Dendritis

The goddess of the tree, occurs as a surname of Helen at Rhodes, and the following story is related to account for it. After the death of Menelaus, Helen was driven from her home by two natural sons of her husband. She fled to Rhodes, and sought the protection of her friend Polyxo, the widow of Tlepolemus. But Polyxo bore Helen a grudge, since her own husband Tlepolemus had fallen a victim in the Trojan war. Accordingly, once while Helen was bathing, Polyxo sent out her servants in the disguise of the Erinyes, with the command to hang Helen on a tree. For this reason the Rhodians afterwards built a sanctuary to Helena Dendritis.

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References

Sources

  • Pausanias. Description of Greece iii, 19.10.
  • Smith, William. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. London: Taylor, Walton, and Maberly.

This article incorporates text from Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) by William Smith, which is in the public domain.