EUNOSTOS & PROMYLAIA
Greek Name
Ευνοστος
Προμυλαια
Transliteration
Eunostos
Promylaia
Latin Spelling
Eunostus
Promylaea
Translation
Good Yield (nostos)
Before the Mill (mylê)
EUNOSTOS (Eunostus) and PROMYLAIA (Promylaea) were demi-goddesses of the flour mill. It is unclear if they were distinct deities or simply titles of the goddess Demeter.
PARENTS
Nowhere stated
ENCYCLOPEDIA
EUNOSTUS (Eunostos). A goddess of mills, whose image was set up in mills, and who was believed to keep watch over the just weight of flour. (Hesych. s. v.; Eustath. ad Hom. pp. 214, 1383.)
Source: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
CLASSICAL LITERATURE QUOTES
Suidas s.v. Nostos (trans. Suda On Line) (Byzantine Greek lexicon C10th A.D.) :
"Nostos : In common use ‘sweetening’, in the case of foods . . . But from nostos in the customary usage comes nostimon, ‘pleasant’, and Eunostos (Eunostus), a certain god, they say, of milling."
Suidas s.v. Promylaia :
"Promylaia (Promylaea) : A goddess presiding over milling, whom they worshipped in mills, like Eunostos."
SOURCES
BYZANTINE
- Suidas, The Suda - Byzantine Greek Lexicon C10th A.D.
OTHER SOURCES
Other references not currently quoted here: Hesychius s.v. Eunostus (Eunostos), Eustathius 214.18 & 1283.42 (Eunostos), Pollux 1.180 (Promylaia).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A complete bibliography of the translations quoted on this page.