Lesson plan
Brimo
In ancient Greek religion and myth, the epithet Brimo ( ; "angry" or "terrifying") may be applied to any of several goddesses with an inexorable, dreaded and vengeful aspect that is linked to the land of the Dead: Hecate, Persephone, Demeter Erinyes—the angry, bereft Demeter —or Cybele. Brimo is the "furious" aspect of the Furies. In the solemn moment when Medea picks the dire underworld root for Jason, she calls seven times upon Brimo, "she who haunts the night, the Nursing Mother [Kourotrophos]. In black weed and murky gloom she dwells, Queen of the Dead". The Thessalian or Thracian word Brimo was foreign in Attica. Brimo-Hecate was worshipped at Pherae in Thessaly and has connections with Orphic religion, in which Persephone was prominent. The Alexandra of Lycophron makes clear that when Hecuba is to be transformed into one of the hounds of the triple Hecate, Brimo is an epithet of the Thessalian goddess of the Underworld. Clement of Alexandria was of the opinion that Brimo was only a title of Demeter at Eleusis. At the Eleusinian Mysteries, the Christian writer Hippolytus reports, the hierophant announced the birth of Brimos: "The Mistress has given birth to a Holy Boy! Brimo has given birth to Brimos! that is, the Strong One to the Strong One" Brimos is thus the child of Persephone, whose epiphany was at the heart of the Eleusinian Mysteries.…
Article summary
In ancient Greek religion and myth, the epithet Brimo ( ; "angry" or "terrifying") may be applied to any of several goddesses with an inexorable, dreaded and vengeful aspect that is linked to the land of the Dead: Hecate, Persephone, Demeter Erinyes—the angry, bereft Demeter —or Cybele. Brimo is the "furious" aspect of the Furies. In the solemn moment when Medea picks the dire underworld root for Jason, she calls seven times upon Brimo, "she who haunts the night, the Nursing Mother [Kourotrophos]. In black weed and murky gloom she dwells, Queen of the Dead". The Thessalian or Thracian word Brimo was foreign in Attica. Brimo-Hecate was worshipped at Pherae in Thessaly and has connections with Orphic religion, in which Persephone was prominent. The Alexandra of Lycophron makes clear that when Hecuba is to be transformed into one of the hounds of the triple Hecate, Brimo is an epithet of the Thessalian goddess of the Underworld. Clement of Alexandria was of the opinion that Brimo was only a title of Demeter at Eleusis. At the Eleusinian Mysteries, the Christian writer Hippolytus reports, the hierophant announced the birth of Brimos: "The Mistress has given birth to a Holy Boy! Brimo has given birth to Brimos! that is, the Strong One to the Strong One" Brimos is thus the child of Persephone, whose epiphany was at the heart of the Eleusinian Mysteries.…
Key claims
No claims recorded.
Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
No sources recorded.
Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.