Parthenope
nymphA Siren who drowned herself after failing to lure Odysseus, and whose body washed ashore where Naples now stands.
The Myth
Parthenope was one of the Sirens — those dangerous bird-women whose singing lured sailors to their deaths. When Odysseus sailed past their island, he plugged his crew's ears with wax and had himself lashed to the mast so he could hear their song without succumbing. The Sirens, defeated for the first time, were so devastated that they threw themselves into the sea. Parthenope's body washed ashore on the coast of Campania, in southern Italy.
The locals built a settlement around the place where she landed and named it Parthenope. As the town grew, it was eventually refounded as Neapolis — 'new city' — which became Naples. The old name persisted as an alternative: writers throughout antiquity referred to Naples as Parthenope, and Virgil, who is buried there, was called 'the Parthenopean bard.'
The Neapolitans honoured Parthenope with a cult, annual games, and a torch-race. They placed her image on their coins. A Siren who had failed at her only purpose — luring men to destruction — became the founding spirit of one of the Mediterranean's greatest cities.
Children
None
Symbols
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth:
Explore Further
Sirens
creatureDangerous creatures whose irresistible singing lured sailors to shipwreck on the rocky coast of...
Siren Songs
creatureThe Sirens were creatures — part bird, part woman — whose irresistible song lured sailors to crash...
Achelous
godAchelous was the god of the mightiest river in Greece and father of the Sirens — he wrestled...
Muses
conceptNine sister goddesses who inspired all forms of art, literature, and knowledge. Every poet,...
Odysseus
heroThe cleverest of the Greek heroes, whose ten-year journey home from Troy is one of the greatest...
Odysseus (Man of Many Turns)
heroThe craftiest of all Greek heroes, whose ten-year voyage home from Troy tested every human capacity...
Odysseus (Trickster)
heroOdysseus was the most cunning of all Greek heroes — the man of polytropos (many turns), whose...
Beroe
nymphA nymph born to Aphrodite and Adonis, whose hand in marriage was contested by Poseidon and Dionysus.
Eunice
nymphA Nereid whose name means "good victory," one of the fifty sea-nymph daughters of Nereus and Doris.
Thalia (Nereid)
nymphA Nereid whose name means "the blooming one," distinct from the Muse Thalia and the Grace Thalia.
Thetis
nymphThetis was a sea nymph so powerful that both Zeus and Poseidon desired her — until a prophecy...
Thetis (Prophecy)
nymphThetis was the Nereid whose son was destined to surpass his father — a prophecy so threatening that...