Graeae
The Graeae, also called the Phorcides after their father Phorcys, are ancient sister-spirits, gray-haired from birth, who share a single eye and a single tooth between them, passing the pair from one sister to another in turn.
Sections on this page
In Practice
Apollodorus names three of them, Enyo, Pephredo, and Deino, daughters of the sea-god Phorcys and his sister-wife Ceto, which makes them close kin to the Gorgons the same union produced. Their best-known appearance is as an obstacle Perseus overcomes on his way to killing Medusa. Needing to find the nymphs who hold the winged sandals, the cap of invisibility, and the wallet he will need for the quest, Perseus tracks down the Graeae and seizes their single shared eye and tooth the moment one sister passes them to another. He refuses to return either one unless the sisters tell him where the nymphs live; once they give him the directions, he makes good on the trade and hands the eye and tooth back. The encounter turns entirely on the sisters' physical dependence on each other, since none of them can see or bite without borrowing what the group owns collectively. Aeschylus's Prometheus Bound gives an independent account of the same figures, describing them as swan-shaped ancient maidens who share one eye and one tooth among them, placed near their Gorgon sisters in Prometheus's warning to Io about the dangerous country she is about to cross. That the detail of the single shared eye and tooth appears in both a genealogical mythographer and a tragedian, in sources otherwise unconnected to each other, is part of why it stands as the Graeae's defining trait across the tradition rather than a detail unique to Perseus's story. The ancient sources do not agree on how many Graeae there were. Hesiod's Theogony, older than Apollodorus's Library, names only two, Pemphredo and Enyo, calling them "fair-cheeked" and gray from birth, and gives no third sister or third name at all. Apollodorus's later account of three sisters, with the added name Deino, is the version that eventually became standard and the one the Perseus story is normally told with, but Hesiod's two-sister count is the earlier and, on its own terms, equally authoritative source for the figures.
What do the Graeae look like and what makes them unusual?
They are three sisters born already gray-haired, and between the three of them they possess only one eye and one tooth, which they pass from sister to sister to share. No single Graea can see or bite on her own; the group depends on that constant hand-off.
Apollodorus, Library 2.4.2
How does Perseus get past the Graeae?
He waits for the moment one sister is handing the shared eye and tooth to another, then seizes both before either sister can take hold of them. Blind and toothless as a group until he returns their property, the Graeae have no way to stop him, and Perseus makes them tell him where to find the nymphs who hold the equipment he needs before he gives the eye and tooth back.
Apollodorus, Library 2.4.2
Do the Graeae appear anywhere besides the Perseus myth?
Yes. Aeschylus's Prometheus Bound describes the same figures, swan-shaped and sharing one eye and one tooth, as part of the dangerous territory Prometheus warns Io she must cross, placing them beside their Gorgon sisters in a context that has nothing to do with Perseus's quest.
Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 790-800
How many Graeae were there, according to the ancient sources?
The sources disagree. Hesiod's Theogony, the earlier account, names only two, Pemphredo and Enyo, with no third sister mentioned at all. Apollodorus's later Library names three, adding Deino, and that three-sister version is the one most retellings of the Perseus story follow, but Hesiod's two-sister count is not a mistake to be corrected, just an earlier and different tradition.
Hesiod, Theogony 270-280
Where Accounts Differ
- whether the Graeae number two or three sisters
- Hesiod's Theogony names only two Graeae (Pemphredo and Enyo) while Apollodorus's Library, followed by most later retellings including the Perseus episode, names three (adding Deino); this entry presents both counts rather than silently following only the later, more familiar version.
Where This Appears
Sources
- Apollodorus, Library 2.4.2
- Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 790-800
- Hesiod, Theogony 270-280