Theonoe

In Greek mythology, Theonoe is a name that may refer to:

• A daughter of the prophet Thestor, sister to Calchas and Leucippe. Her story, told by Hyginus,^[1] is as follows.

"The prophet Thestor had a son Calchas, and daughters Leucippe and Theonoe. When Theonoe was playing, pirates from the sea stole her and took her to Caria, where King Icarus bought her for a concubine. Thestor, however, went in search of his lost daughter, and as a result of shipwreck, came to the land of Caria, and was cast into chains at the place where Theonoe was staying. Leucippe, now that her father and sister were lost, asked Delphi whether she should search for them. Then Apollo replied: Go throughout the earth as my priest, and you will find them. Lecuippe, on hearing this response, cut her hair, and as a youthful priest went from country to country to find them. When she had come to Caria, Theonoe saw her, and thinking she was a priest, fell in love with him, and bade him be brought that she lie with him. But she, because she was a woman, said it could not be done. Then Theonoe in anger gave orders that the priest be shut in a room and that someone from the servants' quarters come to kill him. The old man Thestor was sent unknowingly to his daughter to do the slaying. Theonoe did not recognize him and gave him a sword, bidding him kill the priest. When he had entered, sword in hand, he said his name was Thestor; he had lost his two daughters, Leucippe and Theonoe, and had come to this pitch of misfortune, that he had been ordered to commit a crime. When he had turned the weapon and was about to kill himself, Leucippe, hearing her father's name, wrested the sword from him. In order to go and kill the queen, she called on her father Thestor to aid her. Theonoe, when she heard her father's name, gave proof she was his daughter. Then Icarus the king, after this recognition, sent him back into his country with gifts".

• A character In Euripides' play Helen, who is the daughter to the Egyptian king Proteus, and sister of Theoclymenus the current king of Egypt. According to Euripides' telling,^[2] Paris only abducted a phantom of the title heroine from her husband Menelaus and the real Helen was taken to Egypt by the gods, where Proteus attempted to marry her, but she would not consent. Theonoe didn't want her brother to marry Helen against the latter's will, and when Menelaus also ended up in Egypt after getting caught in a sea storm on his way home from Troy, she helped them escape together. Theoclymenus accused Theonoe of plotting against him and sentenced her to death, but the Dioscuri (brothers of Helen) intervened and saved her life. According to Conon,^[3] Theonoe fell in love with Canopus, the young and handsome pilot of Menelaus' ship; he, however, did not return her feelings.

References

This article includes a list of Greek mythological figures with the same or similar names. If an internal link for a specific Greek mythology article referred you to this page, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended Greek mythology article, if one exists.