In Greek mythology, the Machai or Machae (Ancient Greek: Μάχαi, lit. 'Battles, Wars', from the plural of μάχη) are collectively the personification of battle and war. In Hesiod's Theogony, the Machai are listed among the children of Eris (Strife). Like all of the children of Eris given by Hesiod, the Machai are a personified abstraction, allegorizing the meaning of their name, and representing one of the many harmful things which might be thought to result from discord and strife, with no other identity.
Associations
Hesiod's Theogony, line 228, lists four personified plural abstractions, the Hysminai (Combats), the Machai (Battles), the Phonoi (Murders), and the Androktasiai (Slaughters), as being among the offspring of Eris (Strife):
- Ὑσμίνας τε Μάχας τε Φόνους τ’ Ἀνδροκτασίας τε
These four abstractions were associated in other ancient poetry. The same four, in the same order, occur in a line from Homer's Odyssey, where Odysseus describes the decorations on Heracles' golden belt:
- ὑσμῖναί τε μάχαι τε φόνοι τ᾿ ἀνδροκτασίαι τε.
The abstraction μάχαι (battles) was also associated with ὑσμῖναί (combats) in the Homeric Hymn 5 To Aphrodite, and with ἀνδροκτασίαι (Slaughters) in Homer's, Iliad.
That the Machai, the personification of battle and wars, would be considered to be the sons of Eris, the goddess of strife and discord, is fitting. War is associated with Eris, for example, in Hesiod's works and Days, which says that Eris "fosters evil war and conflict", and in Homer's Iliad, where Eris is called a "sister and comrade" of Ares, and holds in her hands "a portent of war".
See also
Notes
- 'Machai' is variously translated as 'Battles' (Most, p. 21; Hard, p. 31; Gantz, p. 10), 'Wars' (Caldwell, p. 42 on 212–232); compare with LSJ s.v. μάχη.
- Hesiod, Theogony 228 (Caldwell, p. 43).
- Hard, p. 31; Gantz, p. 10.
- Hesiod, Theogony 228.
- West, p. 231 on 228; Homer, Odyssey 11.612. Here the abstractions have nominative case endings, rather than the accusative case endings in Hesiod, and are not capitalized, since they are not considered by the associated editor as being personified.
- West, p. 231 on 228; Homeric Hymn 5 To Aphrodite, 11; Homer, Iliad 7.237, 24.548. For the singular Φόνος (Murder) and Ἀνδροκτασίη (Slaughter) associated, see Hesiod, Shield of Heracles 155.
- Nünlist, s.v. Eris, which describes Eris as the Personification of (often warlike) strife".
- West, p. 231 on 228; Hesiod, Works and Days 14–16; Homer, Iliad 4.440–441 ("sister and comrade"), 11.3–4 ("a portent of war").
References
- Caldwell, Richard, Hesiod's Theogony, Focus Publishing/R. Pullins Company (June 1, 1987). ISBN 978-0-941051-00-2. Internet Archive.
- Gantz, Timothy, Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes: ISBN 978-0-8018-5360-9 (Vol. 1), ISBN 978-0-8018-5362-3 (Vol. 2).
- Hard, Robin, The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology", Psychology Press, 2004, ISBN 9780415186360. Google Books.
- Homer, Iliad, Volume I: Books 1-12, translated by A. T. Murray, revised by William F. Wyatt, Loeb Classical Library No. 170, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1999. Online version at Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-99579-6.
- Homer, Iliad, Volume II: Books 13-24, translated by A. T. Murray, revised by William F. Wyatt, Loeb Classical Library No. 171, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1999. Online version at Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-99580-2.
- Homer, Odyssey, Volume I: Books 1-12, translated by A. T. Murray, revised by George E. Dimock, Loeb Classical Library No. 104, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1998 (first published 1919). ISBN 978-0-674-99561-1. Online version at Harvard University Press.
- Homeric Hymn 5 To Aphrodite, in Homeric Hymns. Homeric Apocrypha. Lives of Homer, edited and translated by Martin L. West, Loeb Classical Library No. 496, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 2003. ISBN 978-0-674-99606-9. 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.
- Most, G.W., Hesiod, Theogony, Works and Days, Testimonia, Edited and translated by Glenn W. Most, Loeb Classical Library No. 57, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 2018. ISBN 978-0-674-99720-2. Online version at Harvard University Press.
- Nünlist, Rene, s.v. Eris, in Brill’s New Pauly Online, Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and, Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry, published online: 2006.
- West, M. L. (1966), Hesiod: Theogony, Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-814169-6.