Tisiphone
Encyclopedia
Tisiphone is the name of two figures in Greek mythology
.
or Furies, and sister of Alecto
and Megaera
. She was the one who punished crimes of murder: parricide
, fratricide
and homicide
. A myth recounts how Tisiphone fell in love with Cithaeron, and caused his death by snakebite, specifically, by one of the snakes from her head. In Book VI of Virgil
's Aeneid
, Tisiphone is recognized as the furious and cruel guardian of the gates of Tartarus
.
Geoffrey Chaucer makes reference to her in his work Troilus and Criseyde
. Alcmaeon accidentally left his children, Tisiphone and Amphilochus
, with Creon
. Creon's wife sold Tisiphone into slavery, envious of her beauty. She didn't realize that Tisiphone's purchaser was acting on behalf of her father. When Alcmaeon returned, he rescued his daughter and recovered his son.
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
.
Erinyes
Tisiphone was one of the ErinyesErinyes
In Greek mythology the Erinyes from Greek ἐρίνειν " pursue, persecute"--sometimes referred to as "infernal goddesses" -- were female chthonic deities of vengeance. A formulaic oath in the Iliad invokes them as "those who beneath the earth punish whosoever has sworn a false oath"...
or Furies, and sister of Alecto
Alecto
Alecto is one of the Erinyes in Greek mythology. According to Hesiod, she was the daughter of Gaea fertilized by the blood spilled from Uranus when Cronus castrated him. She is the sister of Tisiphone and Megaera...
and Megaera
Megaera
Megaera is one of the Erinyes, Eumenides or "Furies" in Greek mythology. Lamprière's Classical Dictionary states "According to the most received opinions, they were three in number, Tisiphone, Megara [sic] and Alecto" and "Megaera .....
. She was the one who punished crimes of murder: parricide
Parricide
Parricide is defined as:*the act of murdering one's father , mother or other close relative, but usually not children ....
, fratricide
Fratricide
Fratricide is the act of a person killing his or her brother....
and homicide
Homicide
Homicide refers to the act of a human killing another human. Murder, for example, is a type of homicide. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English...
. A myth recounts how Tisiphone fell in love with Cithaeron, and caused his death by snakebite, specifically, by one of the snakes from her head. In Book VI of Virgil
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
's Aeneid
Aeneid
The Aeneid is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It is composed of roughly 10,000 lines in dactylic hexameter...
, Tisiphone is recognized as the furious and cruel guardian of the gates of Tartarus
Tartarus
In classic mythology, below Uranus , Gaia , and Pontus is Tartarus, or Tartaros . It is a deep, gloomy place, a pit, or an abyss used as a dungeon of torment and suffering that resides beneath the underworld. In the Gorgias, Plato In classic mythology, below Uranus (sky), Gaia (earth), and Pontus...
.
Geoffrey Chaucer makes reference to her in his work Troilus and Criseyde
Daughter of Manto and Alcmaeon
Tisiphone was the daughter of Alcmaeon and MantoManto (mythology)
There are several distinct figures in Greek mythology named Manto, the most prominent being the daughter of Tiresias. The name Manto derives from Ancient Greek Mantis, "seer, prophet" .-Daughter of Tiresias:...
. Alcmaeon accidentally left his children, Tisiphone and Amphilochus
Amphilochus (son of Alcmaeon)
In Greek mythology, in a myth assigned to Euripides by Apollodorus, Amphilochus is the son of Alcmaeon, one of the Epigoni, and Manto, the daughter of the Theban seer Teiresias....
, with Creon
Creon (disambiguation)
-Greek mythology and history:* Creon, King of Thebes in the legend of Oedipus.* Creon, King of Thebes and father of Megara* Creon, King of Corinth and father of Creusa* Creon, son of Heracles* Creon, the third Archon of Athens-Geography:...
. Creon's wife sold Tisiphone into slavery, envious of her beauty. She didn't realize that Tisiphone's purchaser was acting on behalf of her father. When Alcmaeon returned, he rescued his daughter and recovered his son.
Modern culture
- Between 1790 and 1973 there was a British naval sloopSloopA sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
called Tisiphone.http://www.dukesofbuckingham.org/people/contemporaries/thomas_masterman_hardy.htm - FuryFury (DC Comics)Fury is the codename shared by three DC Comics superheroes, two of whom are mother and daughter, both of whom directly connected with the Furies of mythology, and the third who is an altogether different character.-Pre-Crisis:...
is a DC Comics character empowered by Tisiphone. - Tisiphone appears in Path of the FuryPath of the FuryPath of the Fury, and the later re-issuance with new material and a full prequel novel as the omnibus In Fury Born are both stand-alone science fiction novels by David Weber covering the life and times of sympathetic female protagonist Alicia DeVries.The original Path of the Fury opens with her...
, a 1992 military science fictionMilitary science fictionMilitary science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction in which the principal characters are members of a military service and an armed conflict is taking place, normally in space, or on a planet other than Earth...
book by David WeberDavid WeberDavid Mark Weber is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Weber and his wife Sharon live in Greenville, South Carolina with their three children and "a passel of dogs"....
(reissued with a prequel backstory in 2006 as In Fury Born). There, thousands of years in the future, a fading Tisiphone merges with a dying, former Imperial Cadre drop commando, Alicia DeVries, and helps wreak vengeance on the space pirates who killed DeVries' family. - The Game Boy AdvanceGame Boy AdvanceThe is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
game Golden Sun: The Lost AgeGolden Sun: The Lost Ageis the second installment of a series of role-playing video games developed by Camelot Software Planning and published by Nintendo. The game was released in April 2003 for Nintendo's Game Boy Advance, being a sequel to the Game Boy Advance Golden Sun...
features a weapon named the 'Tisiphone Edge', a light blade that unleashes a special critical attack called 'Vengeance'. - Tisiphone appears as a major supporting character in the WebMage series of CyberpunkCyberpunkCyberpunk is a postmodern and science fiction genre noted for its focus on "high tech and low life." The name is a portmanteau of cybernetics and punk, and was originally coined by Bruce Bethke as the title of his short story "Cyberpunk," published in 1983...
fantasy novels by Kelly McCulloughKelly McCulloughKelly David McCullough is a contemporary American author of Fantasy and Science Fiction novels living in Wisconsin. His critically acclaimed WebMage was released in 2006, followed by Cybermancy in 2007 CodeSpell in 2008, MythOS in 2009, and Spellcrash in 2010...
. - The character Tisiphone featured in the stage play Rough Magic, written by Roberto Aguirre Sacasa. She was portrayed by John Misselwitz at the Hangar Theatre, Ithaca, New YorkIthaca, New YorkThe city of Ithaca, is a city in upstate New York and the county seat of Tompkins County, as well as the largest community in the Ithaca-Tompkins County metropolitan area...
, 2005. - In the video game Tomb Raider: UnderworldTomb Raider: UnderworldTomb Raider: Underworld is the eighth instalment of the Tomb Raider series. The story continues from the events in Tomb Raider: Legend as a direct sequel, but also addresses unexplained plot elements by association with Tomb Raider: Anniversary; the 2007 remake of the original Tomb Raider...
, MegaeraMegaeraMegaera is one of the Erinyes, Eumenides or "Furies" in Greek mythology. Lamprière's Classical Dictionary states "According to the most received opinions, they were three in number, Tisiphone, Megara [sic] and Alecto" and "Megaera .....
and Tisiphone are the names of two sister ships which form part of the game's setting. - In the video game God of War IIIGod of War IIIGod of War III is an action-adventure video game released by Sony Computer Entertainment's Santa Monica division for the PlayStation 3 in March 2010...
, the player must pass the Gates of Tisiphone on his way to Tartarus.