Source Verification: Maia
Every claim below is either what a named ancient source attests, in its own line or section, or a point where the sources themselves disagree.
What the Sources Attest
Who was Maia in Greek mythology?
The eldest of the seven Pleiades, daughters of Atlas and Pleione, and the mother of Hermes by Zeus. The Homeric Hymn describes her as a shy nymph who kept away from the company of the gods and lived in a deep cave on Mount Kyllene in Arcadia. She has almost no independent narrative: her appearances are the conception of Hermes, his birth, and one scene where she warns him about his behaviour.
Source: Homeric Hymn to Hermes 1-19
Where was Hermes born?
In a cave on Mount Kyllene in Arcadia, where Maia lived apart from the other gods. The Homeric Hymn is specific about the setting because it matters to the story: Hermes is born far from Olympos, invents the lyre and steals Apollo's cattle within his first day, and has to argue his way into the company of gods he was not born among. Hesiod names the parentage without the place.
Source: Homeric Hymn to Hermes 1-19
Where Accounts Differ
- origin of the month name
- Greek and Roman Maia
- The Greek Pleiad and the Roman goddess Maia are distinct figures joined by a later identification; the naming of the month rests on that equation and on an etymology Ovid himself leaves open.
- Maia's placement among the Pleiades and her role as the mother of Hermes come from separate strands of tradition and are rarely told together.
Sources
- Hesiod, Theogony 938-939
- Homeric Hymn to Hermes 1-19
- Apollodorus, Library 3.10.2