Libya (mythology)

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Argive genealogy in Greek mythology
Inachus son of Oceanus and Tethys Phoroneus and Io children of Inachus and Melia Epaphus son of Io and Zeus Libya daughter of Epaphus and Memphis Belus and Agenor sons of Lybia and Poseidon Aegyptus and Danaus sons of Belus and Achiroe Hypermnestra daughter of Danaus, mother of Abas grandmother of Proetus Cadmus, Phoenix, Cilix and Europa children of Agenor and Telephassa Polydorus, Agave, Autonoë, Ino and Semele children of Cadmus and Harmonia Dionysus son of Semele and Zeus

Libya is the name given to both a region of North Africa (Ancient Libya) and a daughter of Epaphus, King of Egypt, in both Greek and Roman mythology.

Contents 1 Greek mythology 2 Roman mythology 3 Notes 4 References

[edit] Greek mythology

In Greek mythology, Libya, like Ethiopia or Scythia was one of the mythic outlands that encircled the familiar Greek world of the Hellenes and their "foreign" neighbors.

Personified as an individual, Libya was the daughter of Epaphus — a son of Zeus and King of Egypt — and Memphis. Libya was ravished by the god Poseidon to whom she bore twin sons, Belus and Agenor. Some sources name a third son, named Lelex. Such genealogies, when applied to a personification of a land, were suggestive to Greek audiences, but need some explication for ordinary modern readers.

[edit] Roman mythology

In Roman mythology, Libya was the daughter of Epaphus, King of Egypt, and his wife Cassiopeia. She married Neptune, a foreigner of much power whose real name is unknown. Libya and Neptune had a son called Busiris, whom became a brutal tyrant of Upper Egypt. ^[1]

The territory that she ruled, Ancient Libya, and the country of modern day Libya are named after her.^[2]

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Isidore, Etymologiae xiv.4.1, 5.1
• Augustine, De civitate dei xviii.12
• Lactantius Placidus, Commentarii in Sattii Thebaida iv.737