View source for Pyrrha

{{short description|Goddess, daughter of Epimetheus and Pandora in Greek mythology}}
{{Other uses|Pyrrha (mythology)|Pyrrha (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Virgil Solis - Deucalion Pyrrha.jpg|thumb|16th-century woodcut by [[Virgil Solis]], illustrating lines 347&ndash;415 of [[Ovid]]'s ''[[Metamorphoses]]'']]
In [[Greek mythology]], '''Pyrrha''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|ɪ|r|ə}}; {{langx|grc|Πύῤῥα|Pýrrha}}) was the daughter of [[Epimetheus (mythology)|Epimetheus]] and [[Pandora]] and wife of [[Deucalion]] of whom she had three sons, [[Hellen]], [[Amphictyon]], [[Orestheus]]; and three daughters [[Protogeneia]], [[Pandora (daughter of Deucalion)|Pandora]] and [[Thyia of Thessaly|Thyia]]. According to some accounts, Hellen<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+1.7.2&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%20:book=0:chapter=0&highlight=Pyrrha 1.7.2]</ref> or [[Helmetheus]]<ref>[[Clementine literature|Pseudo-Clement]], ''Recognitions'' [https://web.archive.org/web/20040822053941/http://compassionatespirit.com/Recognitions/Book-10.htm 10.21]</ref> was credited to be born from Pyrrha's union with [[Zeus]].

== Etymology ==
In [[Latin]], the word ''pyrrhus'' means red from the Greek adjective πυρρός, ''purrhos'', meaning "flame coloured", or simply "red", referring in particular to people with red hair,<ref name="LSJ">{{LSJ|purro/s|πυρρός|ref}}</ref> as Pyrrha is described by both [[Horace]]<ref>[[Horace]], ''[[Odes (Horace)|Odes]]'' 1.5.</ref> and [[Ovid]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ovidius Naso |first=Publius |title=Metamorphoses: a new verse translation |last2=Feeney |first2=Denis |date=2004 |publisher=Penguin books |isbn=978-0-14-044789-7 |series=Penguin classics |location=London |translator-last=Raeburn |translator-first=David}}</ref>

== Mythology ==
{{unreferenced section|date=December 2022}}
When [[Zeus]] decided to end the [[Ages of Man|Bronze Age]] with the great [[Ancient Greek flood myths|deluge]], Pyrrha and her husband, [[Deucalion]], were the only survivors.  Even though he was imprisoned, [[Prometheus]] who could see the future and had foreseen the coming of this flood,<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Project Gutenberg eBook of Old Greek Stories, by James Baldwin. |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/11582/11582-h/11582-h.htm |access-date=2024-08-23 |website=www.gutenberg.org}}</ref> told his son, Deucalion, to build an ark and, thus, they survived.  During the flood, they landed on [[Mount Parnassus]], the only place spared by the flood.

Once the deluge was over and the couple were on land again, Deucalion consulted the [[oracle]] of [[Themis]] about how to repopulate the earth. He was told to throw the bones of his mother behind his shoulder. Deucalion and Pyrrha understood the "mother" to be [[Gaia (mythology)|Gaia]], the mother of all living things, and the "bones" to be rocks. They threw the rocks behind their shoulders, which soon began to lose their hardness and change form.  Their mass grew greater, and the beginnings of human form emerged.  The parts that were soft and moist became skin, the veins of the rock became people's veins, and the hardest parts of the rocks became bones.  The stones thrown by Pyrrha became women;  those thrown by Deucalion became men.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

The story of Deucalion and Pyrrha is also retold in the Roman poet [[Ovid]]'s famous collection ''[[Metamorphoses]]''. In this retelling, [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jove]] (the Roman equivalent of Zeus) takes pity on the couple, recognizing them to be devout worshipers. He parts the clouds and ends the deluge specifically to save Deucalion and Pyrrha, who are floating aimlessly on a raft. When the storm has cleared and the waters have subsided, Deucalion and Pyrrha are taken aback by the desolate wreckage of the land, and understand that they are now responsible for repopulating the earth. Confused on how to carry out their destiny, they go to see the goddess Themis. Themis tells Pyrrha that she must cast the bones of her mother to successfully reproduce. Pyrrha is distraught at the idea of desecrating her mother's honor by digging up her bones, but Deucalion correctly reasons that Themis is referring to great mother earth, as Themis would never advise someone to commit a crime. Both Pyrrha and Deucalion throw a stone over their shoulder – Pyrrha's turning into a woman, Deucalion's turning into a man.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ovid |title=Metamorphoses |publisher=G. Bell & Sons LTD. |year=1919 |location=London |pages=21–26}}</ref>

Once the land has been repopulated with humans, mother earth follows suit and begins to produce all other forms of life. Ovid uses this opportunity to inform his audience that heat and water are the sources of all life, "because when heat and moisture blend in due balance, they conceive: these two, these are the origin of everything. Though fire and water fight, humidity and warmth create all things; that harmony".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ovid |title=Metamorphoses |publisher=G. Bell & Sons LTD. |year=1919 |location=London |pages=15}}</ref>

== Genealogy of Hellenes ==
{{chart top|'''Genealogy'''<ref>Grimal, [https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofclas0000grim/page/530/mode/2up?view=theater p. 531]; Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA702 p. 702].</ref>|collapsed=no}}
{{tree chart/start}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | IAP |y| CLY | IAP = [[Iapetus]] | CLY=[[Clymene (mythology)|Clymene]] }}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | |,|-|^|-|.|}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | PRO | | EPI |y| PAN | PRO=[[Prometheus]] | CLY=[[Clymene (mythology)|Clymene]] | EPI=[[Epimetheus (mythology)|Epimetheus]] | PAN=[[Pandora]]}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | |!| | | |,|-|'|}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | DEU |y| PYR | DEU=[[Deucalion]] | PYR='''PYRRHA'''}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | |,|-|'| | | }}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | HEL |y| ORS |HEL=[[Hellen]] | ORS=[[Orseis]]}}
{{tree chart| | | |,|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|+|-|-|-|-|-|-|.| }}
{{tree chart| | | DOR | | | | | | XUT | | | | | AEO | DOR=[[Dorus]] | XUT=[[Xuthus]] | AEO=[[Aeolus (son of Hellen)|Aeolus]]}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | |,|-|^|-|.| | | | |!|}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | ACH | | ION | | | |!| AEG=[[Aegimius]] | ACH=[[Achaeus (son of Xuthus)|Achaeus]] | ION=[[Ion (mythology)|Ion]]}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |!|}}
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{{tree chart| CRE | | SIS | | ATH | | SAL | | DEI | | MAG | | PER | |!| CRE=[[Cretheus]] | SIS=[[Sisyphus]] | ATH=[[Athamas]] | SAL=[[Salmoneus]] | DEI=Deion | MAG=[[Magnes (son of Aeolus)|Magnes]] | PER=[[Perieres (king of Messenia)|Perieres]] |}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |!|}}
{{tree chart| | | | | |,|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|-|-|-|'|}}
{{tree chart| | | | | CAN | | ALC | | PIS | | CAL | | PER | CAN=[[Canace]] | ALC=[[Alcyone]] | PIS=[[Pisidice]] | CAL=[[Calyce (mythology)|Calyce]] | PER=[[Perimede (mythology)|Perimede]]}}
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==See also==
*[[Noah's Ark]]

==Note==
{{reflist}}

== 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].
* [[Pierre Grimal|Grimal, Pierre]], ''The Dictionary of Classical Mythology'', Wiley-Blackwell, 1996. {{ISBN|978-0-631-20102-1}}. [https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofclas0000grim/page/n3/mode/2up?view=theater Internet Archive].
* Hard, Robin, ''The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology"'', Psychology Press, 2004. {{ISBN|978-0-415-18636-0}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC Google Books].
*[[Clementine literature|Pseudo-Clement]], ''Recognitions'' from [[Ante-Nicene Period|Ante-Nicene]] Library Volume 8'','' translated by Smith, Rev. Thomas. T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh. 1867. [https://www.theoi.com/Text/ClementRecognitions.html Online version at theio.com]
* [[Ovid|Publius Ovidius Naso]], ''Metamorphoses'' translated by Brookes More (1859-1942). Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0028 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
* Publius Ovidius Naso, ''Metamorphoses.'' Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes. 1892. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0029 Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Horace|Quintus Horatius Flaccus]], ''The Odes and Carmen Saeculare of Horace.'' Edition by John Conington. London. George Bell and Sons. 1882. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0025 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
* [[Horace|Quintus Horatius Flaccus]], ''Odes and Epodes''. Edition by Paul Shorey and Gordon J. Laing. Chicago. Benj. H. Sanborn & Co. 1919. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0029 Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library].

==External links==
*[https://archive.org/stream/iiibooksofodesof00hora#page/89/mode/1up Phyrrha], Three translations in English
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=3xGfiqR5rjAC&dq=Pyrrha&pg=PA37 The Library of Greek Mythology] ([[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]]), translated by Robin Hard
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[[Category:Progenitors in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Queens in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Mortal women of Zeus]]
[[Category:Mythological Thessalians]]
[[Category:Thessalian mythology]]
[[Category:Deeds of Zeus]]
[[Category:Flood myths]]
[[Category:Pandora]]