Phonoi

The Phonoi, whose name means “Murders” or “Killings”, were the personified acts of murder in Greek mythology. Hesiod names them in the Theogony among the children of Eris (Strife), who was herself a daughter of Night. No myth is told about them: they appear only in his list of the unhappy offspring of Strife.

Origin

Hesiod says that dark Night, lying with no one, bore among others Doom, Death, Sleep, the tribe of Dreams, Blame, Misery, the Hesperides, the Fates, Nemesis, Deceit, Friendship, Old Age and, last of this line, stubborn Strife (Hesiod, Theogony 211–225). Strife in turn “bare painful Toil and Forgetfulness and Famine and tearful Sorrows, Fightings also, Battles, Murders, Manslaughters, Quarrels, Lying Words, Disputes, Lawlessness and Ruin, all of one nature, and Oath” (Theogony 226–232). In the Greek these are Ponos, Lethe, Limos, Algea, the Hysminai, the Machai, the Phonoi, the Androktasiai, the Neikea, the Pseudea Logoi, the Amphillogiai, Dysnomia, Ate and Horkos. Hesiod names no father for them.

The name Phonoi is the plural of the Greek word phonos, “murder” or “slaying”.

Siblings

The Phonoi stand between the Machai (Battles) and the Androktasiai (Manslaughters). Toil, Forgetfulness, Famine and Sorrows come first. Then come the Hysminai (Fightings), Machai, Phonoi and Androktasiai, followed by Quarrels, Lying Words and Disputes, then Lawlessness (Dysnomia) and Ruin (Ate). Last in the line is Oath (Horkos), whom Hesiod describes as the one who most troubles people on earth when anyone willingly swears a false oath (Theogony 231–232). Hesiod lists the Phonoi separately from the Machai and the Androktasiai, but gives them no task or story beyond their name.

Phonoi Sources

Hesiod, Theogony 211–232.

See Also: Eris, Nyx, Ate, Horkos, Ponos, Lethe, Limos