Aglaea

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Primary

Apollodorus

1.3.1

... by Eurynome, daughter of Ocean, he had the Graces, to wit, Aglaia, Euphrosyne, and Thalia;⁴ ...

⁴ As to the parentage of the Graces, see Hes. Th. 907ff.; Paus. 9.35.5; Hyginus, Fab. p. 30, ed. Bunte.

Hesiod

Theogony

907–9

And Eurynome, the daughter of Ocean, beautiful in form, bore him three fair-cheeked Charites (Graces), Aglaea, and Euphrosyne, and lovely Thaleia, ...

945–6

And Hephaestus, the famous Lame One, made Aglaea, youngest of the Graces, his buxom wife.

Nonnus

Dionysiaca

24.261–4 (pp. 242, 243)

The dancers of Orchomenos^b who were attendants upon the Paphian had no dancing then to do; but Pasithea made the spindle run round, Peitho dressed the wool, Aglaia gave thread and yarn to her mistress.

^b The Graces. Their names are variously given.

33.55–9 (pp. 470, 471)

Then sweetsmiling Aphrodite put off the wonted laugh from her radiant rosy face, and told her messenger Aglaia to call Eros her son, that swift airy flyer, that guide to the fruitful increase of the human race.

33.105–8 (pp. 472–5)

Now Aglaia stood by him, and she received the prizes from the hands of the prince of heart's delight. She beckoned the boy aside, and with silence their only witness, she whispered into his ear the artful message of her intriguing mistress: ...

Orphic fr.

272 Bernabé, pp. 230–1 [= 182 Kern]

273 Bernabé, pp. 231 [= 182 Kern]

Orphic Hymn to the Graces

2–3 (Athanassakis and Wolkow, p. 49)

... daughters of Zeus and full blossomed Eumonia, Aglaia, Thalia, blessed Euphrosyne, ...

Pausanias

9.35.5

[5] Hesiod in the Theogony¹ (though the authorship is doubtful, this poem is good evidence) says that the Graces are daughters of Zeus and Eurynome, giving them the names of Euphrosyne, Aglaia and Thalia.

¹ Hes. Th. 907.

Secondary

Bell

p. 15

AGLAIA (1) was one of the CHARITES and therefore a daughter of Zeus and Eurynome. Her sisters were Thaleia and Euphrosyne; Aglaia was the youngest of the three. She was a wife of Hephaestus and lived in his palace. [Hesiod, Theogony 945; Homer, Iliad 2.672.]

Brill's New Pauly

s.v. Aglaea

(Ἀγλαΐα, ep. -η; Aglaía/-ē, ‘festive radiance’).

[1] Youngest of the Charites

Youngest of the Charites, married to Hephaestus (Hes. Theog. 945; Pind. Ol. 14,10).

Hard

p. 167

... the Theogony points to another union of opposites, stating that he was married to Aglaia, the youngest of the Graces, ...

p. 208

Two individual Charites are mentioned in the early tradition as marriage-partners; in the Theogony, Hephaistos is said to have married Aglaia, the

youngest of the sisters, ...

Matthews

p. 335

There are two more popular traditions about the parentage of the Charites: a) that they were daughters of Zeus (e.g. Pind. 0. 14.14), although the ...

p. 336

... name of their mother varies, Hera, Eurynome, daughter of Oceanus, or Euanthe, daughter of Uranus;⁸² b) that they were daughters of Dionysus, by Coronis, a Naxian nymph.⁸³

Antimachus may well be original in presenting this genealogy, although the association of the Charites with brightness is at least as early as Hesiod, who named the youngest one [Greek: Aglaea] (Theog. 909; 945), an adjectival name from [Greek].⁸⁴

⁸² See Schol. Callim. F3-7 (Pf.1.13). Callimachus mentioned all three traditions about their mother. For Hera, cf Nonn.31.186; Colluth. 174-5; for Eurynome, Hes. Theof 907; for Euanthe, Comut. de nat. deor. 15.

⁸³ See Schol. Callim. ibid. Callimachus claimed the authority of the Muse Cleo for his story that the Charites were the daughters of Dionysus and Coronis. Nonnus agrees with this parentage at 48.555-6, while at 15.91 and 33.11 he again mentions Dionysus as their father

Verhelst

p. 48 n. 10

In book 33 (28-40), the same Aphrodite tries again to read a sad face, this time Pasithea's, and speculates what has happened to explain the sadness. Afterwards Eros is tricked by Aglaea into helping Aphrodite with a vague distress call.

p. 64 with n. 34

She [Aphrodite] decides to call in the help of Eros, but unlike Apollonius' Aphrodite, Nonnus' Aphrodite, instead of searching for Eros herself, sends Aglaea, Pasithea's sister, to fetch him. ... ³⁴

³⁴ The role of Aglaea as a messenger of Aphrodite is compared by Montenz (2004, 98) to Athena's role in Il. 4.93-103, when she approaches Pandarus on Zeus' orders. Many other examples can, of course, be found. Aglaea finds Eros while he is playing a game of [Greek], in clear imitation of Apollonius 3.111-128, where Aphrodite finds him playing a game of knucklebones. Cf. Gerlaud 2005, 36-47 and Montenz 2004, 98-99.

p. 185

19. Aglaea; 33.109-113 (22); to Eros; goal: make Eros worry about Aphrodite

p. 189

(5) Aglaea (no. 19) lies to Eros that Aphrodite has been abandoned by her companions.

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