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Myia (mythology)

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In Lucian of Samosata's works, Myia (Greek: Μυῖα, translit. Muîa, lit. "fly") is a young girl who fell in love with Endymion and was transformed by the lunar goddess Selene into a fly, a small insect bearing her name.

Etymology

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The ancient Greek noun μυῖα translates to 'fly',[1] and is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *mus-ih2, thus being cognate with the Latin musca.[2]

Mythology

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In his satirical second-century work Praising a Fly (Latin: Muscae Encomium, Ancient Greek: Μυίας ἐγκώμιον), author Lucian of Samosata (modern Samsat) related the—otherwise unattested—myth of Myia, an exceedingly fair but also very chatty young maiden who fell in love with Endymion, a very handsome mortal man who had been granted immortality via eternal slumber.[3] With her endless chatter Myia would wake up Endymion, irritating him and enraging the moon goddess Selene, his lover.[4] Selene then transformed the talkative girl into a fly, who annoys sleeping people to this day, in memory of her love and her deeds in her previous life.[5][6][7][8] An ancient Greek proverb was μυίης θάρσος (literally 'the fly's boldness'), said for those who were of excessive boldness.[1]

Similarly to the myth of the boy Alectryon (also surviving in the works of Lucian) Myia's story is an aetiological myth which nonetheless does not link its protagonist to a specific Greek place or lineage, with a starting point in another, more popular myth, rather than an animal-based cult.[7] Likewise, it is impossible to say whether the myth is just an invention of Lucian's or a genuine popular fable about animals.[7]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b Liddell & Scott 1940, s.v. μυῖα.
  2. ^ Beekes 2010, p. 976.
  3. ^ Hünemörder, Christian (2006). "Fly". In Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth (eds.). Brill's New Pauly. Translated by Christine F. Salazar. Hamburg: Brill Reference Online. doi:10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e412950. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  4. ^ Wright, M. Rosemary. "A Dictionary of Classical Mythology: Summary of Transformations". mythandreligion.upatras.gr. University of Patras. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  5. ^ Lucian, The Fly 10
  6. ^ Lucian 2022, p. 13.
  7. ^ a b c Forbes Irving 1990, p. 315.
  8. ^ Lucian & C. D. N. Costa 2005, p. 5.

References

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