Sinope (mythology)

Sinop in Turkey, Black Sea coast.

In Greek mythology, Sinope (Template:IPAc-en; Ancient Greek: Σινώπη<ref>Σινώπη, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus</ref>) was one of the daughters of Asopus and thought to be an eponym of the city Sinope on the Black Sea.

Family

Sinope's mother was Metope, daughter of the river-god Ladon.<ref>Diodorus Siculus, 4.72.1</ref> In one account, she was called the daughter of Ares and Parnassa.<ref>Scholia on Apollonius, 2.946</ref> In the account of her being the offspring of Ares, Sinope was probably one of the Amazons.<ref>Pseudo-Scymnos, Circuit de la terre 940 ff.</ref>

Mythology

According to Corinna<ref>Frag. 654</ref> and Diodorus Siculus,<ref>Diodorus Siculus, 4.72.2</ref> Sinope was carried away by the god Apollo to the place where later stood the city honouring her name. Diodorus adds that she bore to Apollo a son named Syrus, supposedly afterwards king of the Syrians, who were named after him.<ref>Plutarch, Lucullus 23.6</ref>

However, Apollonius of Rhodes and Valerius Flaccus both relate that Sinope was abducted to the site by Zeus, who, in his passion, swore to fulfil her dearest wish.<ref>Apollonius, Argonautica 2.946-951, on Perseus (Greek text)</ref><ref>Valerius Flaccus, 5.109</ref><ref>Cf. also Dionysius Periegeta 775-779 (eponym)</ref> Sinope declared she wished to remain a virgin, so Zeus had to leave her alone. Sinope later tricked Apollo and the river Halys in the same fashion and remained a virgin all her life.

References

• Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica translated by Robert Cooper Seaton (1853-1915), R. C. Loeb Classical Library Volume 001. London, William Heinemann Ltd, 1912. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
• Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica. George W. Mooney. London. Longmans, Green. 1912. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History translated by Charles Henry Oldfather. Twelve volumes. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59–8. Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site
• Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888–1890. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Gaius Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica translated by Mozley, J H. Loeb Classical Library Volume 286. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1928. Online version at theio.com.
• Gaius Valerius Flaccus, Argonauticon. Otto Kramer. Leipzig. Teubner. 1913. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.

External links

• Template:Commons category-inline
• SINOPE on theoi.com