Maera (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Maera or Maira (Ancient Greek: Μαῖρα means "the sparkler") may refer to the following personages:

Humans

• Maera or Mera,^[1] one of the 50 Nereids, sea-nymph daughters of the "Old Man of the Sea" Nereus and the Oceanid Doris.^[2] She and her other sisters appear to Thetis when she cries out in sympathy for the grief of Achilles at the slaying of his friend Patroclus.^[3]
• Maera, daughter of Atlas and ancestor of the below Maera.^[4] She was the mother by Tegeates, of Leimon, Scephrus, Archedius, Gortys, and Cydon.^[5]
• Maera, descendant of the above Maera.^[6]
• Maera, daughter of Proetus, son of Thersander, son of Sisyphus, was still a maid when she died.^[7] Otherwise, she was the mother of Locrus by Zeus.^[8] In some accounts, Locrus' mother was Megaclite, daughter of Macareus.^[9] Maera's shade appeared to Odysseus when the hero visited the underworld.^[10]
• Maera, one of the Erasinides, Argive naiad daughters of the river-god Erasinus. She and her sisters, Anchiroe, Byze and Melite, received Britomartis.^[11]
• Maera, priestess of Aphrodite, and mother of two sons killed by Tydeus during the war of the Seven Against Thebes.^[12]

Animal

• Maera, name of Hecabe when she was changed into the black bitch of Hecate to spread terror among the Thracians with her howling.^[13]
• Maera, hound of Erigone.^[14]

• Antoninus Liberalis, The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis translated by Francis Celoria (Routledge 1992). Online version at the Topos Text Project.
• 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.
• Gaius Julius Hyginus, Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
• Homer, The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. ISBN 978-0674995796. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Homer, Homeri Opera in five volumes. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 1920. ISBN 978-0198145318. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• 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. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
• Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses translated by Brookes More (1859–1942). Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses. Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes. 1892. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Publius Papinius Statius, The Thebaid translated by John Henry Mozley. Loeb Classical Library Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1928. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
• Publius Papinius Statius, The Thebaid. Vol I-II. John Henry Mozley. London: William Heinemann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1928. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.

• Aken, Dr. A.R.A. van. (1961). Elseviers Mythologische Encyclopedie. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
• Bartelink, Dr. G.J.M. (1988). Prisma van de mythologie. Utrecht: Het Spectrum.
• Völcker, K. H. W. (1824). Die Mythologie Des Japetischen Geschlechtes, p. 114.

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.