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Libya (mythology)

 

 
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Libya is the name given to both a region of North Africa
North Africa

North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the United Nations subregion of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories:...
 (Ancient Libya
Ancient Libya

Ancient Libya was the region west of the Nile Valley. It corresponds to what is now generally called Northwest Africa. Its people were the ancestors of the modern Berber people....
) and a daughter of Epaphus
Epaphus

In Greek mythology, Epaphus , also called Apis, was the son of Zeus and Io and a king of Egypt.The name/word Epaphus means "Touch-born". This refers to the manner in which he was conceived, by the touch of Zeus' hand....
, King of Egypt, in both Greek
Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the Ancient Greece concerning their List of Greek mythological figures#Immortals and Greek hero cult, Cosmology#Metaphysical cosmology, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices....
 and Roman mythology
Roman mythology

Roman mythology, or more appropriately, Latin mythology, refers to the mythology beliefs of the Italic people inhabiting the region of Latium and its main city, Rome....
.
a class="link1" onMouseover='showByLink("m2285846",this)' onMouseout='hide("m2285846")'href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Greek_mythology">Greek mythology
Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the Ancient Greece concerning their List of Greek mythological figures#Immortals and Greek hero cult, Cosmology#Metaphysical cosmology, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices....
, Libya, like Ethiopia
Ethiopia (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Ethiopia , literally meaning 'the land of burnt faces', was the name given to a kingdom based at Joppa in Phoenicia. Aethiopia also referred to an ancient Egyptian military colony in the Caucasus mountains on the river Alazani ....
 or Scythia
Scythia

The Scythians or Scyths were an Eastern Iranian languages of Equestrianism nomadic pastoralists who dominated the Pontic steppe throughout Classical Antiquity....
 was one of the mythic outlands that encircled the familiar Greek world of the Hellenes and their "foreign" neighbors.

Personified as an individual, Libya was the daughter of Epaphus
Epaphus

In Greek mythology, Epaphus , also called Apis, was the son of Zeus and Io and a king of Egypt.The name/word Epaphus means "Touch-born". This refers to the manner in which he was conceived, by the touch of Zeus' hand....
 — a son of Zeus
Zeus

Zeus in Greek mythology is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky father and List of thunder gods. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull , and oak....
 and King of Egypt — and Memphis
Memphis (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Memphis was the wife to Epaphus, mother of Libya and sometimes the daughter of Nilus . She and her husband were the legendary founders of Memphis, Egypt, which bears her name....
.






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Libya is the name given to both a region of North Africa
North Africa

North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the United Nations subregion of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories:...
 (Ancient Libya
Ancient Libya

Ancient Libya was the region west of the Nile Valley. It corresponds to what is now generally called Northwest Africa. Its people were the ancestors of the modern Berber people....
) and a daughter of Epaphus
Epaphus

In Greek mythology, Epaphus , also called Apis, was the son of Zeus and Io and a king of Egypt.The name/word Epaphus means "Touch-born". This refers to the manner in which he was conceived, by the touch of Zeus' hand....
, King of Egypt, in both Greek
Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the Ancient Greece concerning their List of Greek mythological figures#Immortals and Greek hero cult, Cosmology#Metaphysical cosmology, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices....
 and Roman mythology
Roman mythology

Roman mythology, or more appropriately, Latin mythology, refers to the mythology beliefs of the Italic people inhabiting the region of Latium and its main city, Rome....
.

Greek mythology


In Greek mythology
Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the Ancient Greece concerning their List of Greek mythological figures#Immortals and Greek hero cult, Cosmology#Metaphysical cosmology, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices....
, Libya, like Ethiopia
Ethiopia (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Ethiopia , literally meaning 'the land of burnt faces', was the name given to a kingdom based at Joppa in Phoenicia. Aethiopia also referred to an ancient Egyptian military colony in the Caucasus mountains on the river Alazani ....
 or Scythia
Scythia

The Scythians or Scyths were an Eastern Iranian languages of Equestrianism nomadic pastoralists who dominated the Pontic steppe throughout Classical Antiquity....
 was one of the mythic outlands that encircled the familiar Greek world of the Hellenes and their "foreign" neighbors.

Personified as an individual, Libya was the daughter of Epaphus
Epaphus

In Greek mythology, Epaphus , also called Apis, was the son of Zeus and Io and a king of Egypt.The name/word Epaphus means "Touch-born". This refers to the manner in which he was conceived, by the touch of Zeus' hand....
 — a son of Zeus
Zeus

Zeus in Greek mythology is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky father and List of thunder gods. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull , and oak....
 and King of Egypt — and Memphis
Memphis (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Memphis was the wife to Epaphus, mother of Libya and sometimes the daughter of Nilus . She and her husband were the legendary founders of Memphis, Egypt, which bears her name....
. Libya was ravished by the god Poseidon
Poseidon

In Greek mythology, Poseidon was the god of the sea and, as "Earth-Shaker," of earthquakes. The name of the god Nethuns in Etruscan mythology was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon....
 to whom she bore twin sons, Belus
Belus (Egyptian)

In Greek mythology, Belus was the son of Poseidon and Libya . He was a king of Egypt and father of Aegyptus and Danaus and brother to Agenor and Phoenix....
 and Agenor. Some sources name a third son, named Lelex
Lelex

In Greek mythology, Lelex was a King of Laconia . He was married to the Naiads nymph, Cleochareia. He had several sons, including Myles, Polycaon, Pterelaus, and Cteson....
. Such genealogies, when applied to a personification of a land, were suggestive to Greek audiences, but need some explication for ordinary modern readers.

Roman mythology


In Roman mythology
Roman mythology

Roman mythology, or more appropriately, Latin mythology, refers to the mythology beliefs of the Italic people inhabiting the region of Latium and its main city, Rome....
, Libya was the daughter of Epaphus, King of Egypt, and his wife Cassiopeia. She married Neptune
Neptune (mythology)

Neptune is the Water deity in Roman mythology, a brother of Jupiter and Pluto . He is analogous with but not identical to the god Poseidon of Greek mythology.....
, a foreigner of much power whose real name is unknown. Libya and Neptune had a son called Busiris
Abusir

Abusir is the name given to an Egyptian archaeological locality ? specifically, an extensive necropolis of the Old Kingdom period, together with later additions ? in the vicinity of the modern capital Cairo....
, whom became a brutal tyrant of Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt

File:Ancient Egypt map-en.svgUpper Egypt is a narrow strip of land that extends from the Cataracts of the Nile section of Upper Egypt, between El-Ayait and Asyut is sometimes known as Middle Egypt....
.

The territory that she ruled, Ancient Libya
Ancient Libya

Ancient Libya was the region west of the Nile Valley. It corresponds to what is now generally called Northwest Africa. Its people were the ancestors of the modern Berber people....
, and the country of modern day Libya
Libya

Libya , officially the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya , is a country located in North Africa. Bordering the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Libya lies between Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
 are named after her.

Argive genealogy in Greek mythology