In Greek mythology, Periboea (; ), also called Phereboea () or Eriboea (), is an Attic princess and the mother of Ajax the Great by Telamon. In her youth, she was chosen to be one of the sacrificial victims of the Minotaur, but she was saved when Theseus slew him.
Family Periboea was the daughter of Alcathous, one of the sons of Pelops and king of Megara; by Telamon she became the mother of Ajax.Pindar, Isthmian Odes 6.45; Apollodorus 3.12.7 Some authors on the other hand wrote that Periboea/Phereboea became the wife of Theseus.Pherecydes FGrH 5 F 153 (Fowler 2000, p. 354) in Athenaeus, 13. 557a.; Plutarch, Life of Theseus 29.1
Mythology Minotaur Periboea was one of the several youths chosen to become the victims of the Minotaur because the Megarians paid tribute to the Athenians; it was the same year that Theseus joined the doomed youths in order to put an end to the sacrifices.Pausanias 1.42.2 While they were travelling by ship for Crete, Periboea's beauty caused King Minos to take a fancy in her and touch her inappropriately.Bacchylides, Odes 17.1–20 But she called out Theseus to defend her and Minos' advances were thus thwarted.Pausanias 1.17.3 Later Theseus slew the Minotaur, and Periboea along with the rest were saved and returned to their homelands.
Later life Years later, Periboea married Telamon of Salamis.Xenophon, On Hunting 1.9; Diodorus Siculus 4.72.7 According to a pseudo-Plutarchic text, Telamon once visited Alcathous and in his halls he ravished Periboea; afterwards he fled during the night. Alcathous suspected one of the citizens had debauched his daughter, and delivered her to a guard with the order to cast her into the sea. The man pitied her, and instead sold her. She was brought to Salamis where Telamon bought her. In time she bore to him a son, Ajax.Pseudo-Plutarch, Parallela Minora 27
See also
Other Greek mythological princesses punished for promiscuity include:
Aerope Antiope Alope
References
Bibliography 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. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Bacchylides, Odes Translated by Diane Arnson Svarlien. 1991. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Volume III: Books 4.59-8, translated by C. H. Oldfather, Loeb Classical Library No. 340. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1939. Available online at Topos Text.
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. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Pindar, Odes, with an English translation by Diane Arnson Svarlien. 1990. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Plutarch, Life of Theseus in Parallel Lives, translated by Bernadotte Perrin. Loeb Classical Library 46. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1914. Available online on Bill Thayer's site. Plutarch, pseudo-, Parallela Minora in The Moralia, with an English Translation by Frank Cole Babbitt. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. London. William Heinemann Ltd. 1936. 4. Online version at Topos Text. Xenophon, On Hunting in Scripta Minora, translated by E. C. Marchant, G. W. Bowersock. Loeb Classical Library 183. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1925. Available online at Loeb Classical Library.