Polyphonte
In Greek mythology, Polyphonte (Πολυφόντη) was the daughter of Hipponous and Thrassa; her grandparents on mother's side were the war god Ares and Tereine, a daughter of the river god Strymon.
Mythology
Polyphonte went to the mountains and became a chaste follower of Artemis, totally neglecting all kinds of activities presided over by Aphrodite like love and marriage.
Aphrodite angrily made the woman fall in love with a bear and mate with it, resulting in Artemis' hatred. Artemis turned all the forest animals against Polyphonte, so that she had to run back to her father's home, where she gave birth to two half-bear, half-man twins. The gigantic bear twins Agrius and Oreius were cannibal and disrespectful towards gods and humans. Zeus ordered Hermes to punish the two in whatever way the latter pleased; Hermes at first decided to dismember them, but Ares did not want this to happen to his great-grandsons, and in result the gods turned the twins into carnivorous birds: Orius into an eagle owl and Agrius into a vulture. Polyphonte herself was changed into a small owl that was believed to never eat or drink, spend its life in an upside down position, and announce war and strife. Their female servant, who had implored the gods to not change her into a malicious being as she had obeyed her masters' orders against her own will, became a green woodpecker, the bird that was believed to be of good omen to hunters and feast goers.
The story of Polyphonte and her sons was the explantation for the mythological Strix.[citation needed]
Primary source
- Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses, 21