Enarete

Enarete was the wife of Aeolus, the son of Hellen who ruled Thessaly, and the mother of the Aeolian royal houses. Apollodorus calls her the daughter of Deimachus and gives her seven sons and five daughters, among them Sisyphus, Athamas, Salmoneus and Cretheus. Through them, she stands at the start of many of the best-known families of Greek myth.

Husband and Parentage

Apollodorus says that Hellen had three sons, Dorus, Xuthus and Aeolus; Aeolus ruled the regions about Thessaly and named the people Aeolians. He married Enarete, daughter of Deimachus (Library 1.7.3). In myth she appears only as the mother of her children, and no story is told of her own deeds.

Enarete’s Children

Apollodorus lists seven sons: Cretheus, Sisyphus, Athamas, Salmoneus, Deion, Magnes and Perieres. He also lists five daughters: Canace, Alcyone, Peisidice, Calyce and Perimede (Library 1.7.3).

The Sons

• Cretheus founded Iolcus and married Tyro, daughter of Salmoneus. Their sons were Aeson, Amythaon and Pheres (Library 1.9.11).
• Sisyphus founded Ephyra, later called Corinth, and married Merope, daughter of Atlas. He is punished in Hades by rolling a stone (Library 1.9.3).
• Athamas ruled Boeotia and by Nephele had a son Phrixus and a daughter Helle (Library 1.9.1).
• Salmoneus first lived in Thessaly, then came to Elis and founded a city there. He is punished for putting himself on an equal footing with Zeus (Library 1.9.7).
• Deion ruled Phocis and, with Diomede, daughter of Xuthus, had Asterodia and the sons Aenetus, Actor, Phylacus and Cephalus (Library 1.9.4).
• Magnes married a Naiad nymph; their sons Polydectes and Dictys colonised Seriphus (Library 1.9.6).
• Perieres took Messene and married Gorgophone, daughter of Perseus, who bore him Aphareus, Leucippus, Tyndareus and Icarius. Apollodorus adds that many say Perieres was not a son of Aeolus but of Cynortas (Library 1.9.5).

The Daughters

• Canace bore Poseidon the sons Hopleus, Nireus, Epopeus, Aloeus and Triops (Library 1.7.4).
• Alcyone married Ceyx, son of Lucifer. Both were punished for their pride, since he called his wife Hera and she called her husband Zeus, and Zeus turned them into birds: she a kingfisher, he a gannet (Library 1.7.4).
• Calyce and Aethlius had a son, Endymion, who led Aeolians from Thessaly and founded Elis (Library 1.7.5).
• Perimede bore Hippodamas and Orestes to the river Achelous, and Peisidice bore Antiphus and Actor to Myrmidon (Library 1.7.3).

Not to Be Confused With

Homer knows another Aeolus, son of Hippotes, who lived on a floating island with a wall of bronze and had twelve children, six daughters and six sons, whom he married to one another (Odyssey 10.1–8). That Aeolus is the one Zeus made keeper of the winds (Odyssey 10.21), and Homer does not name his wife. He is not the husband of Enarete.

Enarete Sources

Apollodorus, Library 1.7.3–5, 1.9.1–11; Homer, Odyssey 10.1–8, 10.21.

See Also: Aeolus, Sisyphus, Athamas, Salmoneus, Cretheus, Alcyone, Peisidice, Canace, Endymion