Libya (daughter of Epaphus)
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Libya (Template:Langx) is the daughter of Epaphus, King of Egypt, in both Greek and Roman mythology. She personified the land of Ancient Libya in North Africa, and was considered by the Greeks to be the origin of the name of what is now Libya.
Mythology
As with much of Africa, the region of Libya was viewed in the lens of Greek mythology as a distant place. While Greeks are known to have been in contact with Africa since at least the Bronze Age,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> trade was largely centered on exchange with Egypt, from which it is likely that the term Libya actually originates (specifically in reference to the tribe of Libu).
Personified as an individual, Libya was the daughter of Epaphus, the mythological king of Egypt and alleged founder of the city of Memphis. The mother of Libya is disputed, with some texts declaring her mother to be Memphis, daughter of the river-god Nilus.<ref>Apollodorus, 2.1.4</ref> In Hyginus' Fabulae<ref>Template:Cite wikisource</ref> as well as Isidore of Seville's Etymologies,<ref>Template:Cite wikisource</ref> her mother was called Cassiopeia.
Libya was ravished by the god Poseidon to whom she bore twin sons, Belus<ref>Eusebius, Chronography 63</ref> and Agenor.<ref>Apollodorus, 2.1.4 & 3.1.1; Hyginus, Fabulae 157</ref> Some sources name a third son, named Lelex.<ref>Pausanias, 1.44.3</ref> According to late accounts, Lybee (Libya) consorted instead with Zeus and became the mother of Belus.<ref>Pseudo-Clement, Recognitions 10.21–23</ref>
Libya is also the mother of Calliste by Triton.<ref>Pindar, Pythians 4.20 ff archive</ref>
Argive genealogy in Greek mythology
Template:Argive genealogy in Greek mythology
Notes
References
- Augustine, De civitate dei xviii.12
- Lactantius Placidus, Commentarii in Sattii Thebaida iv.737
- Pseudo-Clement, Recognitions from Ante-Nicene Library Volume 8, translated by Smith, Rev. Thomas. T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh. 1867. Online version at theio.com