Ceryneian Hind

Common card · No. 253694

In Greek mythology, the Ceryneian hind (Ancient Greek: Κερυνῖτις ἔλαφος Kerynitis elaphos, Latin: Elaphus Cerynitis), was the enormous hind of Ceryneia, larger than a bull, with golden antlers like a stag, hooves of bronze or brass, and a "dappled hide", that "excelled in swiftness of foot", and snorted fire. To bring her back alive to Eurystheus in Mycenae was the third labour of Heracles. Other names and descriptions for her were: doe with the golden horns, golden-horned hind, Ceryneia hind, Cerynitian hind, beast with golden antlers, Parrhasian hind, nimble hind of Maenalus and beast of Maenalus. Frazer says that the hind took her name from the river Cerynites, "which rises in Arcadia and flows through Achaia into the sea". One tradition says that Artemis found a mighty herd of five Ceryneian hinds playing on the base of Parrhasian hill far away from the banks of the "black-pebbled Anaurus" where they always herded. Artemis was so impressed by the hinds that she yoked four of them to...

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