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Ate (mythology)

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Mythology

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In his third-century BC epic poem the Argonautica about the adventures of Jason and the Argonauts, Apollonius of Rhodes has Hera say that "even the gods are sometimes visited by Ate".

In Nonnus's Dionysiaca, Ate, in order to gratify Hera, persuades the boy Ampelus whom Dionysus passionately loves, to impress Dionysus by riding on a bull from which Ampelus subsequently falls and breaks his neck.

Among the tragic writers, Ate appears in a somewhat different light than she does in the Iliad: she avenges evil deeds and inflicts just punishments upon the offenders and their posterity, so that her character here is almost the same as that of Nemesis and Erinnys. She appears most prominent in the dramas of Aeschylus, and least in those of Euripides, with whom the idea of Dike (justice) is more fully developed.

A fragment from Empedocles refers to the "Meadow of Ate", which probably signifies the mortal world.

References

• Aeschylus, Libation Bearers in Aeschylus, with an English translation by Herbert Weir Smyth, Ph. D. in two volumes, Vol 2, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1926, Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica, edited and translated by William H. Race, Loeb Classical Library No. 1, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-674-99630-4. Online version at Harvard University Press.
• Liddell, Henry George, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, revised and augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones with the assistance of Roderick McKenzie, Clarendon Press Oxford, 1940. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Nonnus, Dionysiaca, Volume I: Books 1–15, translated by W. H. D. Rouse, Loeb Classical Library No. 344, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1940 (revised 1984). ISBN 978-0-674-99379-2. Online version at Harvard University Press. Internet Archive (1940).
• Oxford Classical Dictionary, second edition, Hammond, N.G.L. and Howard Hayes Scullard (editors), Oxford University Press, 1992. ISBN 0-19-869117-3.

Sources

Ancient

Aeschylus

Agamennon

385–386

No, miserable Temptation forces her way in,

the unendurable child of scheming Ruin;

Herbert Weir Smyth translation

[385] Perverse Temptation, the overmastering child of designing Destruction, drives men on;

Libation Bearers

382–385

Zeus, Zeus,⁸⁵ who sends up from below

avenging ruin, soon or late,

against audacious, reckless

human violence!

85 Presumably addressing “the Zeus of the underworld”, i.e. Hades (see on Ag. 1386–7).

Herbert Weir Smyth translation

O Zeus, O Zeus, who send long-deferred retribution up from below onto the reckless and wicked deeds done by the hands of mortals.

Apollodorus

3.12.3

But Ilus went to Phrygia, and finding games held there by the king, he was victorious in wrestling. As a prize he received fifty youths and as many maidens, and the king, in obedience to an oracle, gave him also a dappled cow and bade him found a city wherever the animal should lie down; so he followed the cow. And when she was come to what was called the hill of the Phrygian Ate, she lay down; there Ilus built a city and called it Ilium.¹ ...

...But afterwards Electra, at the time of her violation, took refuge at the image, and Zeus threw the Palladium along with Ate⁶ into the Ilian country; ...

...

1 This legend of the foundation of Ilium by Ilus is repeated by Tzetzes, Scholiast on Lycophron 29. ... As to the hill of Ate, compare Stephanus Byzantius, s.v. Ἴλιον.

...

6 Homer tells （Hom. Il. 19.126-131） how Zeus in anger swore that Ate should never again come to Olympus, and how he seized her by the head and flung her from heaven.

Homer

Iliad

9.502–512

[Agamemnon:] For Prayers are the daughters of great Zeus, halting and wrinkled and of eyes askance, and they are ever mindful to follow in the steps of Sin. [505] Howbeit Sin is strong and fleet of foot, wherefore she far out-runneth them all, and goeth before them over the face of all the earth making men to fall, and Prayers follow after, seeking to heal the hurt. Now whoso revereth the daughters of Zeus when they draw nigh, him they greatly bless, and hear him, when he prayeth; [510] but if a man denieth them and stubbornly refuseth, then they go their way and make prayer to Zeus, son of Cronos, that Ate may follow after such a one to the end that he may fall and pay full atonement.

19.90–113

But what could I do? It is God that bringeth all things to their issue. Eldest daughter of Zeus is Ate that blindeth all—a power fraught with bane; delicate are her feet, for it is not upon the ground that she fareth, but she walketh over the heads of men, bringing men to harm, and this one or that she ensnareth. [95] Aye, and on a time she blinded Zeus, albeit men say that he is the greatest among men and gods; yet even him Hera, that was but a woman, beguiled in her craftiness on the day when Alcmene in fair-crowned Thebe was to bring forth the mighty Heracles. [100] Zeus verily spake vauntingly among all the gods: ‘Hearken unto me, all ye gods and goddesses, that I may speak what the heart in my breast biddeth me. This day shall Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth, bring to the light a man that shall be the lord of all them that dwell round about, [105] even one of the race of those men who are of me by blood.’ But with crafty mind the queenly Hera spake unto him:‘Thou wilt play the cheat, and not bring thy word to fulfillment. Nay, come, Olympian, swear me now a mighty oath that in very truth that man shall be lord of all them that dwell round about, [110] whoso this day shall fall between a woman's feet, even one of those men who are of the blood of thy stock.’ So spake she; howbeit Zeus in no wise marked her craftiness, but sware a great oath, and therewithal was blinded sore. ”

19.114–138

“But Hera darted down and left the peak of Olympus, [115] and swiftly came to Achaean Argos, where she knew was the stately wife of Sthenelus, son of Perseus, that bare a son in her womb, and lo, the seventh month was come. This child Hera brought forth to the light even before the full tale of the months, but stayed Alcmene's bearing, and held back the Eileithyiae. [120] And herself spake to Zeus, son of Cronos, to bear him word: ‘Father Zeus, lord of the bright lightning, a word will I speak for thy heeding. Lo, even now, is born a valiant man that shall be lord over the Argives, even Eurystheus, son of Sthenelus, the son of Perseus, of thine own lineage; not unmeet is it that he be lord over the Argives.’ [125] So spake she, and sharp pain smote him in the deep of his heart, and forthwith he seized Ate by her bright-tressed head, wroth in his soul, and sware a mighty oath that never again unto Olympus and the starry heaven should Ate come, she that blindeth all. [130] So said he, and whirling her in his hand flung her from the starry heaven, and quickly she came to the tilled fields of men. At thought of her would he ever groan, whenso he beheld his dear son in unseemly travail beneath Eurystheus' tasks. Even so I also, what time great Hector of the flashing helm [135] was making havoc of the Argives at the sterns of the ships, could not forget Ate, of whom at the first I was made blind. Howbeit seeing I was blinded, and Zeus robbed me of my wits, fain am I to make amends and to give requital past counting.

Nonnus

Dionysiaca

11.113–134

But Ate, the deathbringing spirit of Delusion, saw the bold youth straying on the mountains away from Lyaios during the hunt; and taking the charming form of one of his agemate boys, she addressed Ampelos with a coaxing deceitful speech—all to gratify the stepmother of Phrygian Dionysos.^b

^b Hera.

118 “Your friend, fearless boy, is called Dionysos for nothing! What honour have you got from your friendship? You do not guide the divine car of Lyaios, you do not drive a panther! Your Bromios’s chariot has fallen to Maron’s lot,c his hand manages the beast-ruling whip and the jewelstudded reins. What gift like that have you gotten from Lyaios of the thyrsus? The Pans have their cithern and their melodious tootling pipes; the Satyrs have the round loudrattling tomtom from your patron Dionysos; even the mountainranging Bassaridsd ride on the backs of lions. What gifts have you received worthy of your love, you, loved for nothing by Bacchos the driver of panthers? Atymniose has often been seen on high in the chariot of Phoibos cutting the air; Abarisf also you have heard of, whom Phoibos sped through the air perched on his winged roving arrow. Ganymedes

11.135–159

also rode an eagle in the sky, a changeling Zeus with wings, the begetter of your Lyaios. But Bacchos never became a lovebird or carried Ampelos, lifting your body with talons that would not tear. The Trojan winepourer had the better of you—he is at home in the court of Zeus. Now my boy, look here: but you are still kept waiting for the chariot, so just refuse to drive a nervous colt on the road—a horse goes rattling along like a tempest on a whirlwind of legs, and shakes out the driver. Glaucos’s horses went mad and threw him out on the ground.a Quickwing Pegasosb threw Bellerophontes and sent him headlong down from the sky, although he was of the seed of Earthshaker and the horse himself shared the kindred blood of Poseidon.

147 “Come this way, do, to the herd, where are the clear-piping drovers and lovely cattle—get on a bull, and I will make you conspicuous on his back as the man who can ride a wild bull! Then your bull-body king Dionysos will applaud you more loudly, if he sees you with a bull between your knees! There is nothing to fear in such a run; Europa was a female, a young girl, and she had a ride on bull-back, held tight to the horn and asked for no reins.”

155 This appeal persuaded him, and the goddess flew up into the air. And there was a stray bull suddenly running down from the rocks! His lips were open, and the tongue hung out over his jaws to show his thirst. He drank, then stood looking at

Modern

Gantz

p. 10

[Hesiod's] account goes on to list Eris' own children, born with no father mentioned and virtually all alegorizations: Ponos (Labor), Lethe (Forgetfulness), Limos (Famine), Algea (Pains), Hysminai (Comats), Machai (Battles), Phonoi (Slaughterings), Androktasai (Slayings of Men), Neikea (Quarrels), Pseudea (Falsehoods), Logoi (Words), Ampillogai (Unclear words), Dysnomia (Bad Government), Horkos (Oath), and Ate (Folly) (Th 226-32). Of this list, only the last has any identity, and she, when she appears in the Iliad to deceive Zeus (in the matter of Heracles' birthright: Il 19.91-133), is a daughter of Zeus himself (no mother mentioned). With regard to that story it may be noted that Hera is the one who actually carries out the deception by rearraging the order of births; Ate merely clouds Zeus' mind so that he does not notice the trick.

Grimal

s.v. Ate

(Ἄτη) The personification of Error. A goddess of lightness whose feet rested only on the heads of mortals, and that without their knowing it. When Zeus made the oath in which he pledged himself to give pre-eminence to the first descendant of Perseus to be born, and in this way exalted Eurystheus above Heracles, Ate deceived him. Zeus took his revenge on her by casting her down from the summit of Olympus. Ate fell to earth in Phrygia, on the hill which took the name of Hill of Error. That was the spot where Ilus built the fortress of Ilium (Troy). When Zeus cast Ate down from high heaven he forbade her ever to stay in Olympus and that is why Error is the sad lot of mankind. [Hom. Il. 9,503 ff.; 10,391; 19.85ff.; Lyc. Alex. 29 with Tzetzes on Lyc. ad loc.; Apollod. Bibl. 13.12.3; Steph. Byz s.v. Ἲλιον.

LSJ

s.v. ἄτη

A.bewilderment, infatuation, caused by blindness or delusion sent by the gods, mostly as the punishment of guilty rashness

2. Ἄτη personified, the goddess of mischief, author of rash actions, “πρέσβα Διὸς θυγάτηρ, Ἄτη, ἣ πάντας ἀᾶται” Il.19.91, cf. 9.504, Hes. Th.230, Pl.Smp.195d; “Ἄτης ἂν λειμῶνα” Emp.121.4; coupled with Ἐρινύς, A.Ag.1433

II. of the consequences of such visitations, either,

1. Act., reckless guilt or sin, “Ἀλεξάνδρου ἕνεκ᾽ ἄτης” Il.6.356: in pl., deceptions, 10.391: or,

2. Pass., bane, ruin, 24.480, Hdt.1.32; ἐγγύα, πάρα δ᾽ ἄτα prov. in Thales ap.Stob.3.1.172: τὸ πῆμα τῆς ἄτης the anguish of the doom, S.Aj.363 (lyr.); “ὕβρις γὰρ ἐξανθοῦσ᾽ ἐκάρπωσε σταχὺν ἄτης” A.Pers.822; “Πειθὼ προβουλόπαις . . ἄτης” Id.Ag.386 (lyr.): pl., Id.Pers.653 (lyr.), 1037 (lyr.), S.Aj.848, etc.; strokes of fate, “ἀνδρείη τὰς ἄτας μικρὰς ἔρδει” Democr.213.

3. Trag., of persons, bane, pest, “δίκην ἄτης λαθραίου” A.Ag.1230; “δύ᾽ ἄτα” S.Ant.533.

b. ill-fated person, A.Ag.1268 codd.—Not in Comedy (unless read for αὐτῆς, Ar.Pax605) nor in Att. Prose (exc. as pr.n.and in quotations of “ἐγγύα, πάρα δ᾽ ἄτα” Cratin. Jun.12, Pl.Chrm.165a), but found in Arist.VV1251b20; “κῆρας καὶ ἄτας” D.H.8.61; τοιαύτας κακὰς ἄτας such abominations, of certain Epicurean expressions, Cleom.2.1.

III. fine, penalty, or sum lost in a lawsuit, Leg.Gort.11.34, al. (From ἀάω, q. v.: orig. ἀϝάτη, Aeol. “αὐάτα” Alc. Supp.23.12, Pi.P.2.28, 3.24, Lyr.Adesp.123.) [α^α^τη, α_τη; α^τη is dub. in Archil.73.]

Oxford Classical Dictionary

s.v. Ate

the personification of infatuation or moral blindness, in which right and wrong, advatageous and ruinous conduct cannot be distinguished. She is the subject of an elaborate alegory in Il. 119. 90 ff., the earliest in Greek where she is the daughter of Zeus (an early instance of the moral responsibility of Deity). She is daughter of Strife and sister of Lawlessness (Hes.) Theog. 230).

Tripp

s.v. Ate

The personification of moral blindness. Homer called her the eldest daughter of Zeus but added that Zeus flung her from Olympus when she helped Hera trick him into a vow that led to Eurystheus' birth before that of Heracles. Ate fell, it was later said, on the hill of Phrygian Ate, near Troy. Hesiod called Ate a child of Eris (Strife). [Homer, Iliad 9.502–512, 19.91–136; Apollodorus 3.12.3.]

Parada

s.v. Ate

Ἄτη.

Delusion, ruinous conduct. Zeus held her responsible for the blindness with which he took a solemn oath, and in his rage he seized Ate by her hair and whirling around his head cast her down to the world swearing that she should never set foot in Olympus again.

•a)Eris,-

•b)Zeus ∞

1)ABSTRACTIONS. 2)ZEUS OFFSPRING 3)ERIS' OFFSPRING

D..Hom.Il.19.100ff., Hom Il.9.504. •a)Hes.The.230. •b)Hom.Il.19.90.

Smith

s.v. Ate

（Ἄτη), according to Hesiod (Hes. Th. 230), a daughter of Eris, and according to Homer (Hom. Il. 19.91) of Zeus, was an ancient Greek divinity, who led both gods and men to rash and inconsiderate actions and to suffering. She once even induced Zeus, at the birth of Heracles, to take an oath by which Hera was afterwards enabled to give to Eurystheus the power which had been destined for Heracles. When Zeus discovered his rashness, he hurled Ate from Olympus and banished her for ever from the abodes of the gods. (Hom. Il. 19.126, &c.) In the tragic writers Ate appears in a different light: she avenges evil deeds and inflicts just punishments upon the offenders and their posterity (Aeschyl. Choeph. 381), so that her character here is almost the same as that of Nemesis and Erinnys. She appears most prominent in the dramas of Aeschylus, and least in those of Euripides, with whom the idea of Dike (justice) is more fully developed. (Blünmer, Ueber Idee die des Schicksals, &c., p.64, &c.)