Cleothera

Cleothera was a daughter of Pandareus by his wife Harmothoë, and thus sister to Aëdon and Merope. In some authors, Pandareus is also said to have also been the father of Chelidon and an unnamed son, though those versions do not include Cleothera and Merope. Although Pandareus and his family were said to be from the city of Miletus, sometimes that place was identified with a city in Crete, and not the one in Anatolia, due to Pandareus' Cretan adventures. Furthermore the family is sometimes placed in Ephesus, though those versions do not include Cleothera, and Francis Celoria thinks that the Pandareus from Miletus and the Pandareus from Ephesus were supposed to be different figures. == Mythology ==

Cleothera was born to Pandareus and Harmothoë who were from either in western Asia Minor or Crete, but her parents were soon forced to flee to Athens and then the island of Sicily when her father incurred the wrath of the king of the gods Zeus by trying to steal from him a sacred golden dog that guarded his temple in Crete. They eventually perished there from Zeus' hands. while Aëdon, the eldest daughter, married Zethus, the king of Thebes. Cleothera and her sister both grew to be beautiful women, so when they were of age Aphrodite sought suitable husbands for them. But while she was away in heaven trying to consult Zeus in order to secure them happy marriages, they were kidnapped by the Erinyes with the help of either the winds and were made handmaidens to them, never to be seen again. == Iconography ==

The second-century traveller Pausanias mentions an ancient painting of the myth made by Polygnotus, who has labelled the maidens as Cameiro and Clytie instead, and are depicted crowned with flowers and playing dice. == See also ==