KHIONE
Greek Name
Χιονη
Transliteration
Khionê
Latin Spelling
Chione
Translation
Of Chios (island), Snow (khiôn)
KHIONE was the Naiad-nymph of a spring, well or fountain of the town of Khios (Chios) on the Aegean island of the same name. She was loved by the god Poseidon and, during a snowfall (khios), bore him a son named Khios--the eponymous first king of the island.
Another Khian Nymph was mother by Poseidon of Melos and Agelos, eponyms of the island's two other towns.
PARENTS
Perhaps the daughter of a local or mainland RIVER-GOD
OFFSPRING
KHIOS (by Poseidon) (Pausanias 7.4.8)
CLASSICAL LITERATURE QUOTES
Pausanias, Description of Greece 7. 4. 8 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) :
"Ion the tragic poet [C5th B.C.] says in his history that Poseidon came to the island [of Khios (Chios)] when it was uninhabited; that there he had intercourse with a Nymphe, and that when she was in her pains there was a fall of snow (khion), and that accordingly Poseidon called his son Khios (Chios). Ion also says that Poseidon had intercourse with another [Chian] Nymphe, by whom he had Agelos and Melas."
Pliny the Elder, Natural History 5. 136 (trans. Rackham) (Roman encyclopedia C1st A.D.) :
"This island [Chios] Ephorus [Greek historian C4th B.C.] designates by its ancient name of Aethalia, while Metrodorus and Cleobulus [Greek philosopher C6th B.C.] call it Khia (Chia) after the Nympha Chione, though some say that name is derived from the Greek word for snow."
SOURCES
GREEK
- Pausanias, Description of Greece - Greek Travelogue C2nd A.D.
ROMAN
- Pliny the Elder, Natural History - Latin Encyclopedia C1st A.D.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A complete bibliography of the translations quoted on this page.