Thetis and Cheiron in Thessaly

Abstract

This article examines an area of Thessalian mythology and cult surrounding the figures of Thetis the Nereid and Cheiron the centaur. It argues that the pair derive a substantial amount of their characterisation, in ancient narratives, from their mutual association, and that only by studying them together can we receive a full insight into their mythological and religious personae. Thetis and Cheiron are shown to differ significantly with regard to a number of themes, such as their relationship with symbolic topography and the natural landscape of Thessaly and -most strikingly -their kourotrophic roles. Thetis' strong association with ambiguous nurture is argued to connect with her physical conception, especially her association with the shape changing sepia, cuttlefish, an association which involves her in the wider ancient discourse of unreliable female beauty. It is also shown that the Thetis of Homeric epic is significantly different from the Thetis found in other ancient narratives.Résumé : Cet article étudie une partie de la mythologie et du culte thessaliens autour des figures de la Néréide Thétis et du centaure Chiron. Il montre qu'une part importante de leur caractéristiques, dans les récits anciens, provient de leur association et que c'est seulement en les étudiant ensemble qu'on prend la pleine mesure de leur dimension mythologique et religieuse. Thétis et Chiron présentent des différences substantielles sur un certain nombre de plans, tels que leur relation à la topographie symbolique et au paysage naturel de la Thessalie, et, de manière plus surprenante, leur rôle de courotrophes. L'association étroite entre Thétis et l'ambiguïté du nourrissage est mise en relation avec sa constitution physique et avec le sepia protiforme, le poulpe. Cette dernière association l'insère dans un ample discours ancien sur la duplicité de la beauté féminine. En outre, la Thétis de l'épopée homérique est fort différente de la Thétis que l'on trouve dans les autres récits anciens.

Thetis in the ‘Ovens’: A Reconsideration of Herodotus’ Topography of Magnesia

“…He also connects Thetis with the concept of μῆτις, 'wisdom' ((1979) 345). Similar approaches are found in Borgeaud (1995) 23 and Aston (2009) 83, 103-06; these scholars maintain that the cuttlefish imagery fits the myth, in which Thetis tried to escape Peleus by turning into the animal that hides by ejecting a black liquid into the water. It is also felt that the cuttlefish's combination of white and black fits the benign and malevolent actions of Thetis.…”

“…A cave sacred to him was here: a scholion on Il. 16.144 describes it as a west-pointing ἄκρα above the ἄκρα of Sepias; see Aston (2006) for an appraisal of these sites. The wedding of Peleus and Thetis took place in this cave according to Euripides (IA 705-07): he connects the rape and the wedding geographically (earlier the wedding had been located at Pharsalos: Borgeaud (1995) 25).…”

“…The wedding of Peleus and Thetis took place in this cave according to Euripides (IA 705-07): he connects the rape and the wedding geographically (earlier the wedding had been located at Pharsalos: Borgeaud (1995) 25). Aston (2009) 89-94 also suggests that there is an opposition between Thetis, as a 'mobile' sea goddess who does not need a specific cult site, and Cheiron, who was associated with a cave on Mount Pelion. However, whether such vague thematic dichotomies between the cults of Cheiron and Thetis truly existed in Greek thought is questionable; not only is the link between the two mythological figures rather indirect (the wedding of Peleus and Thetis takes place in Cheiron's cave, but this is only one of many myths in which Thetis features), more importantly, as we will see below, Thetis did have a fixed mnemotope.…”

Going to See the Nymphs: Landscape and Religious Experience at the Zar Trypa Cave (Mount Ossa, Thessaly)

“…60.8, p. 262 = Brill's New Jacoby [henceforth BNJ ] 369A F 2). For a discussion of this passage, see for example Mili 2015, 203; Wiznura and Williamson 2020, 91–2; Buxton 1992, 10–11; and Aston 2006, 355–7; 2009, 86, who suggest that the wearing of new fleeces was of symbolic rather than of practical significance.…”