Sinope
A nymph who outwitted Zeus, Apollo, and the river god Halys by making each promise her virginity as a gift before granting her favours — then holding them to it.
The Myth of Sinope
Sinope was a daughter of the river god Asopus (or in some versions, of Ares). She was beautiful, and Zeus desired her. But Sinope was clever. She told Zeus she would yield to him if he granted her one wish — anything she wanted. Zeus, confident, agreed. Sinope's wish was to remain a virgin forever. Zeus, bound by his own oath, had to honour it.
Apollo tried the same approach. Sinope played the same trick. Apollo, trapped by his promise, retreated. Even the river god Halys attempted to court her, and she outsmarted him with identical cunning. Three divine suitors, three defeats, all by the same stratagem.
Zeus, perhaps admiring her nerve, gave her the region of Paphlagonia on the Black Sea coast. The city of Sinope was founded there and became one of the most prosperous Greek colonies in the region. It was the birthplace of the philosopher Diogenes the Cynic, who lived in a barrel and told Alexander the Great to get out of his sunlight. There is something fitting about the city of the cleverest nymph producing the most irreverent philosopher.
Children
None — she died a virgin
Symbols
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Metope
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A river nymph, daughter of the river Ladon, who married the river god Asopus and bore him twenty daughters — many of whom were abducted by gods.
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Thetis was a sea nymph so powerful that both Zeus and Poseidon desired her — until a prophecy warned her son would surpass his father.
Beroe
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A nymph born to Aphrodite and Adonis, whose hand in marriage was contested by Poseidon and Dionysus.
Idaea
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Salmacis
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Water nymph of Caria whose desperate embrace of Hermaphroditus caused the gods to fuse them into a single dual-sexed being.
Arethusa
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Deiopea
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Liriope
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A river nymph who was the mother of Narcissus and the first person to consult the prophet Tiresias.
Stilbe
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Aegle
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