Who were these people?
TYRO was a Thessalian princess who fell in love with the river Enipeus. As she was sitting by the banks of the river, Poseidon approached her in the guise of the river-god and seduced her. She bore him twin sons, Pelias and Neleus, which she exposed in the wilderness to die. There they were found and rescued by passing herdsmen who raised them as their own. Tyro's father Salmoneus later married her to his brother Kretheus, King of Iolkos, and she bore him three sons – Aeson, Pheres and Amythaon. Upon reaching manhood the sons of Poseidon returned to their mother, and seized control of their uncle's Kretheus' kingdom. They also slew his second wife Sidero, who had been mistreating Tyro.
ALCMENE was the mother of Hercules and the wife of Amphitryon, but the night she conceived Hercules and his twin brother Iphicles, Alcmene mated with both Zeus, who had disguised himself as her husband, and Amphitryon. As a result, Zeus was Hercules' father, but Amphitryon was the father of Iphicles.
EPICASTE was the daughter of Menoeceus, and wife of Laius, by whom she became the mother of Oedipus, whom she afterwards unwittingly married. She is more commonly called Jocaste.
CHLORIS was married Neleus and become queen in Pylos. They had several sons including Nestor, Alastor and Chromius and a daughter Pero. Chloris also had a son, Periclymenus while married to Neleus, though by some accounts Periclymenus's father was Poseidon (who was himself Neleus's father). Poseidon gave Periclymenus the ability to transform into any animal. Other children include Taurus, Asterius, Pylaon, Deimachus, Eurybius, Phrasius, Eurymenes, Evagoras and Epilaus.
IPHIMEDEIA was the daughter of Triopas, who in his turn was the son of Poseidon and Canace. Iphimedeia was married to Aloeus, but fell desperately in love with her grandfather, and would walk up and down the beach to get him to come to her. She bore twins: Otus and Ephialtes. The twins grew bigger and stronger, and finally were so huge they even worried the gods. They managed to capture Ares and put him in chains, and threatened they would instigate war on the gods. The son of Zeus killed them when they were youths.
PHAEDRA was the daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë, wife of Theseus and the mother of Demophon of Athens and Acamas. Though married to Theseus, Phaedra fell in love with Hippolytus, Theseus' son born by either Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons, or Antiope, her sister. In one story Theseus killed his son and Phaedra committed suicide.
PROCRIS was the daughter of the Athenian king Erechtheus and the wife of the hero Cephalus (Kefalos). The ancient authors give us a romantic story with a tragic ending about this beautiful couple. Their troubles began when the goddess of dawn Eos fell in love with Cephalus and abducted him to the end of the world. According to one version of this myth, Cephalus wanted to go back to his wife and Eos said she would let him, if he agreed to one condition: he had to return to his wife in the image of another person, to make sure that she would stay faithful to her spouse. So Cephalus visited Procris -- who did not know that he was her husband -- and she did not want to hear any of his proposals. Cephalus then tried to bribe her with golden jewelry and at very moment Procris hesitated, Eos changed Cephalus back into his original form. Procris immediately recognized her husband and she was so ashamed of herself that she ran away. She went to live in the mountains with the nymphs attending the goddess Artemis. After some time Cephalus managed to locate Procris and brought her back home, taking along with her the gifts of Artemis -- a hound which never failed to catch his prey and a magical dart that never missed its mark.
ARIADNE was the immortal wife of the wine-god Dionysos. There were several versions of her story. In one, Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos of Krete, assisted Theseus in his quest to slay the Minotaur, and then fled with him aboard his ship. However, when they landed on the island of Naxos, Theseus abandoned her as she was sleeping. It was here that the god Dionysos discovered her and made her his wife. Some say that she was later slain by Artemis at Dia.
MAIRA (or Maera) was the nymph of the dog-star Seirios whose rising in conjunction with the sun brought on the scorching heat of midsummer. Like the Pleiades and Hyades, Maira was a starry daughter of the Titan Atlas. She married a mortal king, the Arkadian Tegeates.
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. CLYMENE 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.
ERIPHYLE was the daughter of Talaus, the mother of Alcmaeon, and the wife of Amphiaraus. Eriphyle persuaded Amphiaraus to take part in the Seven Against Thebes raid, though he knew he would die. She had been persuaded by Polynices, who offered her the necklace of Harmonia for her assistance. Amphiaraus asked his sons Alcmaeon and Amphilochus to avenge his death, and Alcmaeon killed his mother after Amphiaraus died.
None of these women were faithful wives. Did it make O wonder about Penelope?
