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Titan goddess of renown, fame and infamy

KLYMENE (or Clymene) was the Titan goddess of renown, fame and infamy. She was one of the elder Okeanides, wife of the Titan Iapetos, mother of the Titanes Prometheus and Atlas and the ancestress of all mankind.

Like the Titan-wives she was probably an earth-goddess, her name bringing to mind "Klymenos," a common euphemistic title of the god Haides.

Klymene was also named Asia, and in this guise portrayed as the eponymous goddess of the region of Anatolia (i.e. Asia Minor). It should be noted that it was only later that geographers applied this name to the continent.

Klymene was also depicted as a handmaiden of the goddess Hera. In the vase-painting right she stands beside Hera at the judgement of Paris, and probably symbolises the fame of rulership which Hera promises the prince in return for the golden apple.

Asia-Klymene was frequently confounded with Asia-Hesione the wife of Prometheus. It is also unlikely that she was ever identified with the nymph Klymene loved by the god Helios, despite their common name and parentage.

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Clymene - the mortal woman

There is another famous woman that goes by the name of Clymene. She was not a Goddess, nor Titan, but a mortal; specifically, she was a daughter of King Catreus of Crete.

As stated, Clymene was a daughter of King Catreus of Crete by a woman unnamed. Catreus was father to a son, Althaemenes, and three daughters Apemosyne, Aerope and Clymene.

Catreus would live for a while under the cloud of a prophecy, for it was foretold that the king of Crete was destined to die by the hand of one of his children. Catreus did not tell his children of the prophecy but eventually his son Althaemenes found out, and deciding that he did not wish to be the cause of his father’s death left Crete, taking Apemosyne with him.

Aerope and Clymene were not given the freedom to make a decision about their own future though, for Catreus, upon the departure of his son, decided to take action to avoid the prophecy. Clymene and Aerope were thus given to the long-lived Argonaut Nauplius, with the presumption that the daughters of Catreus would be sold into slavery in some far away land.

Nauplius took Clymene and Aerope, but he did not sell them into slavery, for Aerope was given to Atreus in Mycenae, and became the future king’s wife, and became mother to Menelaus and Agamemnon.

Nauplius then decided to make Clymene his wife.

Clymene then primarily become famous for her children, for she bore 3 or 4 sons for Nauplius; the most famous of the sons of Clymene being the wronged Achaean hero Palamedes, with other sons potentially being Nausimedon, Oeax and Proetus.

Clymene was not involved in the death of Catreus, but the prophecy about Clymene’s father did become true, for Catreus was accidentally killed by Althaemenes


Clymene in Greek Mythology

In Greek mythology, the name Clymene or Klymene (Ancient Greek: Κλυμένη) may refer to:

Clymene, an Oceanid, wife of the Titan Iapetus, and mother of Atlas, Epimetheus, Prometheus, and Menoetius; other authors relate the same of her sister Asia. A less common genealogy makes Clymene the mother of Deucalion by Prometheus. The Oceanid Clymene is also given as the wife to King Merops of Ethiopia and, by Helios, mother of Phaëton and the Heliades. She may also be the Clymene referred to as the mother of Mnemosyne by Zeus (see below the Nereid Clymene).

Clymene, name of one or two Nereid(s).

Clymene, an Amazon.

Clymene, an "ox-eyed" (implying beautiful eyes) servant of Helen. She was a daughter of Aethra by Hippalces, thus half-sister to Theseus and a distant relative to Menelaus. She and her mother were taken by Helen to Troy as handmaidens, and were released by Acamas and Demophon after the fall of Troy.

Clymene, daughter of Catreus, a king of Crete, and the son of Minos. She and her sister Aerope were given to Nauplius to be sold away, as Catreus feared the possibility of being killed by one of his children. Nauplius took Clymene to wife, and by him she became mother of Palamedes, Oeax and Nausimedon.

Clymene, daughter of Minyas, wife of either Cephalus or Phylacus, and mother of Iphiclus and Alcimede. Some sources call her Periclymene or Eteoclymene, while according to others, Periclymene and Eteoclymene were the names of her sisters. Alternately, this Clymene was the wife of Iasus and mother by him of Atalanta.

Clymene, wife of Merops of Miletus, and mother of Pandareus.

Clymene, possible mother of Myrtilus by Hermes.

Clymene, a nymph, mother of Tlesimenes by Parthenopaeus.

Clymene, one of the Trojan women taken captive at the end of the Trojan War. She might or might not be the same as the servant of Helen mentioned above.

Clymene and Dictys were honored in Athens as the saviors of Perseus and had an altar dedicated to them.