Idaea
nymphA nymph of Mount Ida in the Troad who became the second wife of the river god Scamander — or in other versions, of King Phineus.
The Myth
Idaea takes her name from Mount Ida, the great peak that overlooked Troy and from whose summit the gods watched the Trojan War unfold. She was a nymph of that mountain — its forests, its springs, its high meadows where Paris once judged the beauty contest of three goddesses.
In one tradition, she married the river god Scamander, whose river flowed from Ida down to the Trojan plain. Their son Teucer became the first king of the Troad, the ancestor of the royal house that would culminate in Priam, Hector, and the doomed city of Troy. Through Idaea, Mount Ida's wildness became domesticated into royal lineage.
In another version, she was the second wife of King Phineus of Thrace, where she played the villain — falsely accusing her stepsons of assault to get them blinded and imprisoned. The gods punished Phineus by sending the Harpies. This Idaea is harder to love, but she represents a common pattern: the same name carrying utterly different moral weight depending on which author tells the tale.
Parents
A nymph of Mount Ida
Symbols
Explore Further
Mount Ida (Crete)
placeMount Ida was the highest peak in Crete, home to the cave where the infant Zeus was hidden from his...
Hector
heroHector was Troy's greatest warrior, who fought not for glory but to defend his city, wife, and son.
Mount Ida (Troy)
placeMount Ida near Troy was the mountain from which the gods observed the Trojan War and where Paris...
Mount Olympus (Sacred)
placeThe highest mountain in Greece and mythological home of the twelve Olympian gods, whose...
Mount Othrys
titanThe real mountain in central Greece that mythology designated as the Titans' fortress during their...
Mount Parnassus
placeMount Parnassus was the mountain above Delphi sacred to Apollo and the Muses — the symbolic home of...
Paris
heroParis was the Trojan prince whose judgement of three goddesses and abduction of Helen ignited the...
Phineus (Prophet)
heroA blind Thracian king and prophet punished by Zeus for revealing divine secrets, tormented by...
Phineus the Seer
heroBlind Thracian king and prophet cursed by Zeus to have his food snatched by Harpies until the...
Priam
heroPriam was the aged king of Troy, father of fifty sons including Hector and Paris, whose night...
Scamander
godRiver god of the Scamander, the great river of the Trojan plain.
Teucer
heroTeucer was the half-brother of Ajax the Great and the finest archer among the Greeks — he shot from...