Oenone
nymphMountain nymph of Mount Ida who was Paris's first wife before Helen.
The Myth
Oenone was a healer nymph married to Paris when he was still an unknown shepherd on Mount Ida. She prophesied that his voyage to Sparta would bring ruin to Troy, but he abandoned her for Helen. Years later, when Paris was mortally wounded by Philoctetes' poisoned arrow, he was carried back to Oenone — the only healer who could save him. She refused. But as he died, grief overwhelmed her and she threw herself onto his funeral pyre.
Parents
Cebren (river god)
Symbols
Fun Fact
Oenone represents the road not taken — ancient writers used her story to argue that the entire Trojan War could have been avoided had Paris stayed faithful.
Explore Further
Paris
heroParis was the Trojan prince whose judgement of three goddesses and abduction of Helen ignited the...
Helen
heroThe most beautiful woman in the world, daughter of Zeus. Her elopement with Paris of Troy triggered...
Helen of Troy
heroHelen was the most beautiful woman in the world, daughter of Zeus and Leda, whose abduction by...
Mount Ida (Crete)
placeMount Ida was the highest peak in Crete, home to the cave where the infant Zeus was hidden from his...
Mount Ida (Troy)
placeMount Ida near Troy was the mountain from which the gods observed the Trojan War and where Paris...
Mount Parnassus
placeMount Parnassus was the mountain above Delphi sacred to Apollo and the Muses — the symbolic home of...
Philoctetes
heroPhiloctetes inherited Heracles' bow and was essential to Troy's fall, yet the Greeks abandoned him...
Sparta
placeSparta was the austere military state whose warriors were the most feared in Greece — whose stand...
Trojan Horse
conceptThe hollow wooden horse used by the Greeks to infiltrate and destroy Troy. Devised by Odysseus, it...
Trojan War
conceptThe Trojan War was the central event of Greek mythology — a ten-year siege of Troy by a Greek...
Troy
placeThe legendary city in Asia Minor besieged by the Greeks for ten years in the Trojan War. Troy's...
Troy (Hisarlik)
placeHisarlik in Turkey is the archaeological site identified as Homer's Troy — multiple cities layered...