View source for Anticlea

{{short description|Mother of Odysseus}}
{{About|a character in Greek mythology|the genus of [[geometer moth]]s|Anticlea (moth)|the genus of flowering plants|Anticlea (plant)|other characters named Anticlea|Anticlea (mythology)}}
[[File:Anticlea in the Underworld.jpg|thumb|A painting of Anticlea in the underworld by [[Henry Fuseli]].]]
In [[Greek mythology]], '''Anticlea''' or '''Anticlia''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|æ|n|t|ᵻ|ˈ|k|l|iː|ə}}; [[Ancient Greek]]: ''Ἀντίκλεια'', (literally "against fame") was a queen of [[Homer's Ithaca|Ithaca]] as the wife of King [[Laertes (father of Odysseus)|Laërtes]].

== Family ==
Anticlea was the daughter of [[Autolycus]]<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Odyssey]]'' 11.85; [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''[[Fabulae]]'' 243</ref> and [[Amphithea]].<ref>Homer, ''Odyssey'' 19.416</ref> The [[Trickster|divine trickster]] and messenger of the gods, [[Hermes]], was her paternal grandfather. Anticlea was the mother of [[Odysseus]]<ref>Hyginus, ''[[Fabulae]]'' 243; [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], 10.29.8</ref> by [[Laertes (father of Odysseus)|Laërtes]]<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [[Epitome]] 3.12; Hyginus, ''[[Fabulae]]'' 97</ref> (though some say by [[Sisyphus]]<ref name=":0">Hyginus, ''[[Fabulae]]'' 201; [[Plutarch]], ''Quaestiones Graecae'' 43; [[Suda|Suida]], s.v. ''[https://topostext.org/work/240#si.490 Sisyphus] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225005003/https://topostext.org/work/240#si.490 |date=2021-02-25 }}''</ref>). [[Ctimene]] was also her daughter by her husband Laertes.<ref>Homer, ''Odyssey'' 15.363–364</ref>

== Mythology ==

=== Early years ===
According to [[Callimachus]], when she was young, Anticlea served the goddess [[Artemis]], and accompanied her in hunting, bearing arrow and quiver.<ref>[[Callimachus]], ''Hymn 3 to Artemis'' 184 ff</ref>

According to some later sources, including a fragment of [[Aeschylus]]' lost tragedy ''The Judgment of Arms'', Odysseus was the child of Anticlea by [[Sisyphus]], not Laërtes. In this version of the story, Autolycus, an infamous trickster, stole Sisyphus' cattle. At some point, Sisyphus recognized his cattle while on a visit to Autolycus and subsequently seduced Anticlea, Autolycus' daughter. Odysseus was the result of this union, which took place before Anticlea's marriage to Laërtes.<ref name=":0" /> When Anticlea was brought to a place about the [[Alalcomenae (Boeotia)|Alalcomeneum]] in [[Boeotia]], she delivered Odysseus. Later on, her son called the city of Ithaca by the same name, to renew the memory of the place in which he had been born.<ref>[[Plutarch]], ''Quaestiones Graecae'' 43 with Ister the Alexandrian as the authority</ref>

===''Odyssey''===
In Book XI of the ''[[Odyssey]]'', Odysseus makes a trip to the [[Greek underworld|underworld]] to seek the advice of the dead prophet [[Tiresias]]. In the underworld, he encounters many spirits, among them is that of his mother, Anticlea.<ref>Apollodorus, Epitome 7.17; Hyginus, ''[[Fabulae]]'' 125</ref> Initially, he rebuffs her since he is waiting for the prophet to approach.

After speaking with Tiresias, however, Odysseus allows his mother to come near and lets her speak. She asks him why he is in the underworld while alive, and he tells her about his various troubles and failed attempts to get home. Then he asks her how she died and inquires about his family at home. She tells him that she died of grief, longing for him while he was at [[Trojan War|war]]. Anticlea also says that Laërtes (Odysseus' father) "grieves continually" for Odysseus and lives in a hovel in the countryside, clad in rags and sleeping on the floor. Anticlea further describes the condition of Odysseus' wife [[Penelope]] and son [[Telemachus]].

Penelope has not yet remarried but is overwhelmed with sadness and longing for her husband while Telemachus acts as magistrate for Odysseus' properties. Odysseus attempts to embrace his mother three times but discovers that she is incorporeal, and his arms simply pass through her. She explains that this is how all ghosts are, and he expresses great sorrow.

In some accounts, Anticleia killed herself on hearing a false report about her son from [[Nauplius (mythology)|Nauplius]].<ref>Hyginus, ''[[Fabulae]]'' 243</ref>

The encounter between [[Odysseus]] and his mother in the [[underworld]] is also the concept of a work by the Northern Irish poet [[Michael Longley]], titled ''Anticleia''.

== Notes ==
<references />

==References==
*[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], ''The Library'' with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0021 Greek text available from the same website].
*[[Gaius Julius Hyginus]], ''Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus'' translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. [https://topostext.org/work/206 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
*[[Homer]], [[Odyssey|''The Odyssey'']] with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919. {{ISBN|978-0674995611|}}. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0136 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0135 Greek text available from the same website].
*Homer. ''The Odyssey''. "Book XI". Trans. [[Stanley Lombardo|Lombardo, Stanley]]. Indianapolis, USA: Hackett, 2000.
*[[Plutarch|Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus]], ''Moralia'' with an English Translation by Frank Cole Babbitt. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. London. William Heinemann Ltd. 1936. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0215 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library]. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0213 Greek text available from the same website].
*[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Description of Greece'' with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. {{ISBN|0-674-99328-4}}. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0160 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library]
*Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.  [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0159 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
*[[Suda|Suida]], ''Suda Encyclopedia'' translated by Ross Scaife, David Whitehead, William Hutton, Catharine Roth, Jennifer Benedict, Gregory Hays, Malcolm Heath Sean M. Redmond, Nicholas Fincher, Patrick Rourke, Elizabeth Vandiver, Raphael Finkel, Frederick Williams, Carl Widstrand, Robert Dyer, Joseph L. Rife, Oliver Phillips and many others. [https://topostext.org/work/240 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]

==External links==
* [http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9011363#84652.hook Encyclopædia Britannica on Autolycus and the disputed parentage of Odysseus]
* [http://www.timelessmyths.com/classical/aeolids.html#Sisyphus Odysseus as the child of Sisyphus and Anticlea]

{{wikisource|The Odyssey/Book XI}}
{{Characters in the Odyssey}}

[[Category:Queens in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Characters in the Odyssey]]
[[Category:Mythological Phocians]]
[[Category:Suicides in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Retinue of Artemis]]
[[Category:Mythological archers]]