In Greek mythology, Calyce (Ancient Greek: Καλύκη, romanized Kalyke), sometimes given as Calycia, is the name borne by several distinct figures. The best-known is a Thessalian princess, daughter of King Aeolus and Enarete, who is commonly named as the mother of Endymion. Other bearers of the name include a Nysiad nurse of Dionysus, the mother of Poseidon's son Cycnus, a lovelorn maiden of poetry, and a maenad of vase painting.
Adapted from Wikipedia, "Calyce (mythology)" · CC BY-SA 4.0
I.Overview
Calyce (or Calycia) is a name shared by several characters in Greek mythology, and the surviving sources do not always agree on which woman is meant. The most frequently cited is the Aeolid princess linked to the hero Endymion, but the name also attaches to a nymph who reared the infant Dionysus, to the mother of a son of Poseidon, to a tragic maiden of lyric poetry, and to a maenad attested only in art.
Because the same name recurs across different genealogies, ancient and modern authors sometimes conflate these figures, and a single mythographic notice may combine details that other sources keep separate.
II.Daughter of Aeolus
The most prominent Calyce is a Thessalian princess, daughter of King Aeolus of Aeolia and his wife Enarete. Her many siblings included the brothers Athamas, Cretheus, Deioneus, Magnes, Perieres, Salmoneus and Sisyphus, and the sisters Alcyone, Canace, Peisidice and Perimede — the broad first generation of the Aeolid house.
According to Apollodorus, Calyce married Aethlius and bore Endymion, king of Elis. Pausanias likewise makes her the wife of Aethlius and the mother of Endymion. Some accounts instead name Zeus as the father of Endymion.
A different genealogy, preserved in the Hesiodic tradition, reverses the relationship: there Calyce is the mother, not the wife, of Aethlius (by Zeus), and she is given no role as the mother of Endymion.
III.Mother of Cycnus
Another Calyce is named as the mother, by Poseidon, of Cycnus. In this story the child was born in secret and exposed on the coast to die, but he survived and went on to become a king.
The sources vary on the details of this Calyce: her father is sometimes given as Hecaton, and in place of the name Calyce other authorities call the mother of Cycnus Harpale, Scamandrodice, or an unnamed Nereid.
IV.Nysiad and maenad
A Calyce appears among the Nysiads, the nymphs of Nysa who nursed and raised the infant god Dionysus.
A further Calyce is named as a maenad, known from an ancient vase painting; she may be the same figure as the Nysiad nurse of Dionysus.
V.The maiden in love with Euathlus
In a story drawn from lyric poetry, Calyce was a chaste maiden who fell in love with a youth named Euathlus. She prayed to Aphrodite that she might become his lawful wife rather than his mistress, but her love went unrequited.
When she was rejected, Calyce threw herself from a cliff. The tale is associated with the poet Stesichorus, whose song bearing her name is mentioned by Athenaeus.
VI.Modern references
The name survives in astronomy: a lunar crater called Kalyke is named after the first Calyce, as is a small moon of Jupiter.