# Macris

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{{short description|Nurse of Hera and Dionysus}}
{{for|the island once called Macris|Euboea}}{{for|the island of Attica|Makronisos}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Greek
| name = Macris
| image = 
| caption = 
| deity_of = Eponym of [Macris](/source/Corfu)
| abode = [Euboea](/source/Euboea), later [Corfu](/source/Corfu)
| symbol = 
| consort = 
| parents = [Aristaeus](/source/Aristaeus)
| siblings = [Actaeon](/source/Actaeon)
}}

In [Greek mythology](/source/Greek_mythology), '''Macris''' ({{langx|grc|Μακρἰς|Makrís|long}} a reference to the elongated shape of Euboea) also called '''Nysa''' ({{langx|grc|Νύσα|Núsa}}), is a daughter of [Aristaeus](/source/Aristaeus) who reared the goddess [Hera](/source/Hera) in her youth, before incurring the wrath of the goddess and being banished by her.

== Family ==
Macris was a daughter of [Aristaeus](/source/Aristaeus), a rustic god and son of [Apollo](/source/Apollo). She was also called Nysa.<ref name="dio"/>

== Mythology ==
Macris became the nursemaid of the young goddess [Hera](/source/Hera), who was brought up in [Euboea](/source/Euboea), an island off the coast of [Boeotia](/source/Boeotia). One day Hera was carried off by her brother [Zeus](/source/Zeus) who concealed themselves in Mount [Cithaeron](/source/Cithaeron).{{sfn|Gifford|1903|page=[https://archive.org/details/eusebius-preparation-for-the-gospel-full-work-gifford-1903-trans/page/91/mode/2up 92]}} Macris crossed over the mainland looking for her young ward, but when she attempted to search the place and in particularly the spot the two were hiding, the mountain king-god Cithaeron prevented her from doing so, lying that Zeus was taking his pleasure with [Leto](/source/Leto) there, so Macris went away and Hera escaped discovery. Later Hera shared an altar with Leto in gratitude.<ref>[Plutarch](/source/Plutarch) frag. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/plutarch-moralia_fragments_other_named_works_lives/1969/pb_LCL429.289.xml 157.3] [= ''[FGrHist](/source/FGrHist)'' 388 F1 = [Eusebius](/source/Eusebius), ''[Praeparatio evangelica](/source/Praeparatio_evangelica)'' 3.1.3].</ref>

Some time later, [Hermes](/source/Hermes) or Zeus himself took the infant [Dionysus](/source/Dionysus) and brought him to Macris, who nursed him and fed him honey.<ref name="dio">[Diodorus Siculus](/source/Diodorus_Siculus) [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/3E*.html#70 3.70.1]</ref> As punishment, Hera exiled Macris who fled to the island of [Corcyra](/source/Corfu),<ref name="ar2">[Apollonius of Rhodes](/source/Apollonius_of_Rhodes), ''[Argonautica](/source/Argonautica)'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/apollonius_rhodes-argonautica/2009/pb_LCL001.421.xml 4.1135]</ref> where [Demeter](/source/Demeter) taught the [Titans](/source/Titans) the art of agriculture for Macris' sake.<ref>[Apollonius of Rhodes](/source/Apollonius_of_Rhodes), ''[Argonautica](/source/Argonautica)'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/apollonius_rhodes-argonautica/2009/pb_LCL001.371.xml 4.540], [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/apollonius_rhodes-argonautica/2009/pb_LCL001.409.xml 4.990]</ref> The island was called Macris ("long") after her,<ref>Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius 1131</ref> and the cave she chose to dwell in later beheld the wedding and consummation of [Jason](/source/Jason) and [Medea](/source/Medea), so it was called ''Medea's Cave'' thereafter.<ref name="ar2"/>

Macris, along with the rest of Dionysus' retinue, is said to have lamented [Lycurgus](/source/Lycurgus_(son_of_Dryas))' violent rejection and expulsion of Dionysus and his rites from [Thrace](/source/Thrace).<ref>[Nonnus](/source/Nonnus), ''[Dionysiaca](/source/Dionysiaca)'' [https://archive.org/details/dionysiaca02nonnuoft/page/160/mode/2up? 21.193]</ref>

== Symbolism ==
The island of Euboea was sacred to Hera, and thus one of the several—but far from only—places that claimed to be the site of Zeus and Hera's first prenuptial union.{{sfn|Hard|2004|page=[https://archive.org/details/routledgehandboo0000hard/page/136/mode/2up 137]}}

== See also ==
{{portal|Mythology|Ancient Greece}}

Other nurses in Greek mythology:

* [Melissa](/source/Melissa_(mythology))
* [Cyllene](/source/Cyllene_(nymph))
* [Ino](/source/Ino_(mythology))

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* [Apollonius of Rhodes](/source/Apollonius_of_Rhodes), ''[Argonautica](/source/Argonautica)'', edited and translated by William H. Race, [Loeb Classical Library](/source/Loeb_Classical_Library) No. 1, Cambridge, Massachusetts, [Harvard University Press](/source/Harvard_University_Press), 2009. {{ISBN|978-0-674-99630-4}}. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL001/2009/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press].
* [Diodorus Siculus](/source/Diodorus_Siculus), ''Library of History, Volume III: Books 4.59-8'', translated by [C. H. Oldfather](/source/Charles_Henry_Oldfather), [Loeb Classical Library](/source/Loeb_Classical_Library) No. 340. Cambridge, Massachusetts, [Harvard University Press](/source/Harvard_University_Press), 1939. {{ISBN|978-0-674-99375-4}}. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL340/1939/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press]. [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/home.html Online version by Bill Thayer].
* {{cite book | last = Gifford | first = E. H. | date = 1903 | title = Eusebii Pamphyli Evangelicae Praeparationis | volume = III | publisher = Oxford, E. Typographeo Academico | url = https://archive.org/details/eusebius-preparation-for-the-gospel-full-work-gifford-1903-trans/mode/2up?view=theater}}
* {{cite book | last = Hard | first = Robin | title = The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H. J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology" | publisher = Routledge | date = 2004 | isbn = 9780415186360 | url = https://archive.org/details/routledgehandboo0000hard/}}
* [Nonnus](/source/Nonnus), ''[Dionysiaca](/source/Dionysiaca)''; translated by [Rouse, W H D](/source/W._H._D._Rouse), II Books XVI-XXXV. [Loeb Classical Library](/source/Loeb_Classical_Library) No. 345, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1940. [https://archive.org/stream/dionysiaca02nonnuoft/ Internet Archive.]
* [Plutarch](/source/Plutarch), ''[Moralia](/source/Moralia)'', Volume XV: Fragments. Translated by F. H. Sandbach. Loeb Classical Library 429. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1969. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL429/1969/volume.xml Available at Loeb Digital Library.]

== External links ==
* [https://www.theoi.com/Nymphe/NympheMakris.html MACRIS on the Theoi Project.]

Category:Nursemaids in Greek mythology
Category:Mythology of Dionysus
Category:Characters in the Argonautica
Category:Deeds of Demeter
Category:Deeds of Hera
Category:Corcyraean mythology
Category:Mythological Euboeans

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Macris](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macris) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macris?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.