Aglaea
Aglaea, splendour, is one of the Charites - the Graces - and Hesiod makes the three daughters of Zeus and Eurynome, an Oceanid, naming them Aglaea, Euphrosyne and Thalia (Theogony 907-911). In the same poem she is the youngest of the three and the wife of Hephaestus (945-946).
The Charites are a collective power, cultivated as a triad at Orchomenus (Pindar, Olympian 14; Pausanias 9.38) and in the company of Aphrodite, Apollo and the Muses; Aglaea has no separate temple, priest, festival or myth cycle that we know of, and her name is a quality before it is a person. The marriage to Hephaestus is the only narrative attached to her, and it is a single Hesiodic line. The planetary, zodiacal, tarot and sabbat values here are modern Western overlays with no ancient basis, and the tradition's own account is primary. The Roman Gratiae are the same triad under a Latin name.
Correspondences
- Planetary Correspondence
- Sun
Offerings
- Offerings
- HoneyOlive oilFlowersA thing made wellGold leafThanks given out loud
Sacred timing
Symbols and forms
- Alternate Names
- AglaiaAglaieSplendourOne of the Charites
- Gender Expression
- Feminine
- Titles
- SplendourThe Radiant OneOne of the CharitesWife of HephaestusThe Youngest Grace
- Symbols
- RadianceThe crownThe mirrorGold
Practice
- Invocation Approach
- ToneWarm and formalAddressAglaeaSplendourBright OneRelationshipThe radiance that makes a thing visibleWarningShe is one of three and charis is reciprocal not freeResonanceMakers and those finishing an ornament or a celebration
- Modern Practice
The grace of the finished surface: the light that makes a made thing legible as beautiful. Called on by artisans at the end of work, before something is shown or given, and whenever a gift has to be returned in kind - charis is the reciprocity of favour, not its one-way flow.
Nature and meaning
- Domain
- SplendourRadianceAdornmentBeauty of formThe glory of a thingThe reciprocity of giftsThe light on the made thing
- Mythology Summary
Aglaea, splendour, is one of the Charites - the Graces - and Hesiod makes the three daughters of Zeus and Eurynome, an Oceanid, naming them Aglaea, Euphrosyne and Thalia (Theogony 907-911). In the same poem she is the youngest of the three and the wife of Hephaestus (945-946). Homer knows the Charites only as a group attending Aphrodite, and in Iliad 14 he gives Pasithea as one of them, so both names and number moved before Hesiod fixed them. Their great cult was at Orchomenus in Boeotia, for which Pindar wrote the fourteenth Olympian.
- Related Deities
- AphroditeHephaestusApolloHeraHermes
Details
- Correspondences
- ColorsGoldWhiteYellowScentsFrankincense boswellia sacraRoseMetalsGoldBronzeAnimalsPeacockSwan
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☥ Deities 1
- Eurynome Related Deities
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