Asteria (mythology)

For the band, see Asteria (band). For the medieval music ensemble, see Asteria Medievale. For the type of gemstone, see Star stone.

In Greek mythology, Asteria (/əˈstɪəriə/; Ancient Greek: Ἀστερία, "of the stars, starry one") was a name attributed to the following eleven individuals:

• Asteria, a Titaness.
• Asteria or Astris, daughter of Helios and Clymene or Ceto, one of the Heliades. She married the river god Hydaspes (the modern Jhelum River) and became mother of Deriades, king in India.
• Asteria, one of the Danaïdes, daughters of Danaus who, with one exception, murdered their husbands on their wedding nights. She was, briefly, the bride of Chaetus.
• Asteria, one of the Alcyonides, daughters of the giant Alcyoneus. She was the sister of Alkippe, Anthe, Drimo, Pallene, Methone and Phthonia (Phosthonia or Chthonia). When their father Alcyoneus was slain by Heracles, these girls threw themselves into the sea from Kanastraion, which is the peak of Pellene. They were then transformed into halcyons (kingfishers) by the goddess Amphitrite.
• Asteria, daughter of Hydeus, was the mother of Hydissos by Bellerophon. Her son is known for having founded a city in Caria which was named after him.
• Asteria, daughter of Coronus, and Apollo were possible parents of the seer Idmon.
• Asteria or Asterodia, mother of Crisus and Panopeus by Phocus.
• Asteria, daughter of Teucer and Eune of Cyprus.
• Asteria, the ninth Amazon killed by Heracles when he came for Hippolyte's girdle.
• Asteria, an Athenian maiden who was one of the would-be sacrificial victims of Minotaur, portrayed in a vase painting.

In popular culture

Christoph Willibald Gluck gave the name Asteria to a character in his 1765 opera Telemaco, though the name did not appear in Homer's Odyssey, on which the opera is based.

The character Asteria appears in the DC Extended Universe film Wonder Woman 1984. She is depicted as the greatest Amazon warrior. Mankind enslaved the Amazons and Hippolyta (Wonder Woman's mother) freed them. Asteria fought these men, allowing the Amazons to escape into Themiscyra. Asteria, believed to be dead, was venerated by the Amazons as a fallen hero. During the credit sequence at the end of the film, she is seen walking in a crowded street and saves a pedestrian from being hit by an object. Asteria is portrayed by Lynda Carter, who played the role of Wonder Woman in the 1970s TV series Wonder Woman.

See also

• Greek mythology
• Goddess
• List of goddesses

References

• 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. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
• 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.
• Hesiod, Theogony from The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
• Stephanus of Byzantium, Stephani Byzantii Ethnicorum quae supersunt, edited by August Meineike (1790-1870), published 1849. A few entries from this important ancient handbook of place names have been translated by Brady Kiesling. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
• 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. Online version at the Topos Text Project.