Galaxy/The codex of Electra

In Greek mythology, Electra (Ancient Greek: Ἠλέκτρα), daughter of Atlas, is the Pleiad who on Samothrace bore to Zeus the sons Dardanus and Iasion — founders of the Trojan royal line and of Samothracian mystic tradition. This atlas hero node carries the catasterism of her grief for Troy; the nymph node electra-pleiad holds genealogical parentage and maternity.

Adapted from Wikipedia, "Electra (Pleiad)" · CC BY-SA 4.0

I.Mother of Dardanus

On Samothrace Electra had by Zeus two sons: Dardanus, who crossed to the Troad and founded Dardania, and Iasion (also called Eetion), killed by a thunderbolt for an outrage against Demeter. Through Dardanus she became progenitor of the Trojan royal house. Later notices also attach Harmonia or Emathion to her maternity in minority traditions.

The atlas splits one mythic figure across two cosmic roles: electra-pleiad (type nymph, kinds Pleiad) carries Atlas–Pleione parentage and the sons' birth; electra-atlas (type hero) carries the star-myth and Trojan grief that Hyginus and the astronomers preserve.

II.Catasterism

Electra and her sisters were transformed into the Pleiades. By some accounts she was the one star among seven not easily seen because she could not bear to look upon the destruction of Troy — she hid her eyes, turned away, or in grief abandoned her sisters and became a comet ("long-haired star"). Apollodorus also connects her with the Palladium, the sacred statue that became Troy's talisman.

III.Homonyms

This atlas entry (electra-atlas) is the Atlas-daughter hero node for the Pleiad's catasterism. Genealogical prose lives on electra-pleiad. Distinct from Electra daughter of Agamemnon (electra), the Oceanid Electra (electra-oceanid), and the Danaid Electra (electra-danaid).

AT A GLANCE

Greek nameĒlektra (Ἠλέκτρα)
Typehero
Domainsdaughter of Atlas · mother of Dardanus and Iasion · the Pleiad
EtymologyAncient Greek Ἠλέκτρα (Ēlektra), often connected with "amber" / "bright."
READ MOREWikipedia