For other uses, see Megaera (disambiguation)

Megaera (disambiguation)

Megaera may refer to:* Megaera, one of the Erinyes in Greek mythology.* 464 Megaira, an asteroid named after the Erinye.* Megara , the oldest daughter of Creon, king of Thebes, in Greek mythology.* A taxonomic synonym for Trimeresurus, a.k.a...

.

Megaera (Ancient Greek: Μέγαιρα, English translation

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

: "the jealous one") is one of the Erinyes, Eumenides or "Furies"

Erinyes

In Greek mythology the Erinyes from Greek ἐρίνειν " pursue, persecute"--sometimes referred to as "infernal goddesses" -- were female chthonic deities of vengeance. A formulaic oath in the Iliad invokes them as "those who beneath the earth punish whosoever has sworn a false oath"...

 in Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

. Lamprière's Classical Dictionary

Lemprière's Bibliotheca Classica

The Bibliotheca Classica , or Classical Dictionary containing a full Account of all the Proper Names mentioned in Ancient Authors is the best-known work of John Lemprière, an English classical scholar. Edited by various later scholars, the dictionary long remained a readable if not absolutely...

 states "According to the most received opinions, they were three in number, Tisiphone, Megara [sic] and Alecto" and "Megaera ... daughter of Nox and Acheron".

Megaera is the cause of jealousy and envy, and punishes people who commit crimes, especially marital infidelity

Infidelity

In many intimate relationships in many cultures there is usually an express or implied expectation of exclusivity, especially in sexual matters. Infidelity most commonly refers to a breach of the expectation of sexual exclusivity.Infidelity can occur in relation to physical intimacy and/or...

. Like her sisters Alecto

Alecto

Alecto is one of the Erinyes in Greek mythology. According to Hesiod, she was the daughter of Gaea fertilized by the blood spilled from Uranus when Cronus castrated him. She is the sister of Tisiphone and Megaera...

 and Tisiphone

Tisiphone

Tisiphone is the name of two figures in Greek mythology.-Erinyes:Tisiphone was one of the Erinyes or Furies, and sister of Alecto and Megaera. She was the one who punished crimes of murder: parricide, fratricide and homicide...

, she was born of the blood of Uranus

Uranus (mythology)

Uranus , was the primal Greek god personifying the sky. His equivalent in Roman mythology was Caelus. In Ancient Greek literature, according to Hesiod in his Theogony, Uranus or Father Sky was the son and husband of Gaia, Mother Earth...

 when Cronus

Cronus

In Greek mythology, Cronus or Kronos was the leader and the youngest of the first generation of Titans, divine descendants of Gaia, the earth, and Uranus, the sky...

 castrated him. In modern French (mégère), Portuguese (megera), modern Greek (μεγαιρα), Italian (megera) and Russian (мегера), this name denotes a jealous or spiteful woman - Google

Google

Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...

 translates all five as "shrew".

Thorne Smith

Thorne Smith

James Thorne Smith Jr. , was an American writer of humorous supernatural fantasy fiction.He is best known today for the three Topper novels, comic fantasy fiction that sold millions of copies in the early 1930s...

includes a character Megaera (mostly referred to as "Meg") in The Night Life of the Gods (1931). Despite the presence in the story of Neptune, Mercury, Venus and other immortals, she does not date from Classical times, was born around 1000, and has a character almost diametrically opposed to that cited for her namesake in the previous paragraph.