This article is about the transformed woman. For other uses, see
Side (mythology).
In
Greek mythology, Side (/saɪdɪ/,
SYE-dee;
Ancient Greek: Σίδη,
romanized: Sídē,
lit. 'pomegranate', pronounced[sǐːdɛː]) is a minor figure who tried to escape her enamored father and was transformed into a tree, in part of an aetiological myth that attempts to explain the nature of trees and birds. Her brief tale survives in the works of
Dionysius Periegetes, an ancient Greek author who is believed to have been born in the city of
Alexandria, and to have lived around the time of Roman Emperor
Hadrian (reigned 117–138 AD).
Etymology
The
ancient Greek noun σίδη translates to "pomegranate",[1] and refers to both the tree and its fruit.[2]Robert Beekes and Furnée suggest that all of its variant spellings (such as σίβδηsíbdē, ξίμβαxímba, and σίβδαsíbda) point to a
Pre-Greek origin of the word,[3] and Witczak says specifically a Western
Anatolian one.[4]
Family
The only known member of Side's family is a father named
Ictinus.[5] Nothing more is known about their family, nor is the land her myth takes place ever named, as most likely both Side and Ictinus were invented for the sake of this story.[6]
Mythology
According to the myth, Side's father Ictinus developed an incestuous desire for his daughter, and chased her down with the intention to rape her.[7][8] Side fled from him until she reached the gravestone of her dead mother, and killed herself on it to avoid his ravenous advances.[9] Her red blood spilt on the ground and gave rise to a
pomegranate tree, while her father himself was transformed into a
kite,[6][10][11] a bird of prey which, according to
Oppian, hates to rest on pomegranate trees.[12][13]
Symbolism
Karl Kerenyi compared this story to both the goddess
Persephone, who was abducted to the
Underworld by its king
Hades and forced to stay there for several months a year thanks to her consumption of pomegranate fruit, and the hunter
Orion's first wife
Side, who angered
Hera and was cast in
Tartarus as punishment. All three stories have in common the theme of a pomegranate-related maiden who dies, either literally or metaphorically, and is led to the Underworld. In this Side's case, her father Ictinus supplants the subterranean god who seduces/rapes the maiden. Kerenyi summarized the theme as a woman who has to go down to the Underworld for the benefit of her community.[14]
The pomegranate fruit was seen as a symbol of fertility and
Aphrodite, the goddess of love and fertility, possibly because its numerable red seeds suggest procreation and sexuality; it was also used as birth-control.[15] Most significantly when it comes to this myth, other than the connection it has to kites, it has a bright red colour that resembles blood, as Side spilt her own when she took her life, which then gave rise to the tree.[6]
An ancient Greek colony in the region of
Pamphylia (on the southern coast of Anatolia/Asia Minor, now in
Turkey) was called
Side, and coins from that city displayed pomegranate fruits on them.[16][17] Other Anatolian cities called Side include
one in
Caria and
another in
Pontus.
Side's myth has also similar elements with those of
Nyctaea[18][19] and
Nyctimene,[20][21] two other women who were transformed into something else in their effort to escape the embraces of their rapacious fathers.
Lactantius Placidus (1898). Lactantii Placidi qui dicitur Commentarios in Statii Thebaida it Commentarium in Achilleida recensuit. Translated by Ricahrd Jahnke. Lipsiae: B. G. Tevbneri.