Briseis

See also: briseis

Translingual

Proper noun

Briseis f

1. (taxonomy, obsolete) Synonym of Allium.

English

The Abduction of Briseis from the Tent of Achilles by Johann Heinrich Tischbein dem Älteren (Kasseler Tischbein), 1773

Alternative forms

• Briseida, Briseide (in mediaeval romances)
• Briseïs

Etymology

Borrowing from Ancient Greek Βρισηΐς (Brisēḯs, “daughter of Briseus/Brises”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /bɹaɪˈsiːɪs/

Proper noun

Briseis

1. (Greek mythology) A legendary figure who features in the Iliad; a princess granted as concubine to Achilles after the sacking of her city, Lyrnessus, before the beginning of the story.
   • 1991, Mark W. Edwards, The Iliad: A Commentary: Volume V, books 17–20, Cambridge University Press, published 1995, page 234:

     So Akhilleus calls an assembly — any oddness in his doing so at this juncture is mitigated by Thetis' instructions (34–6) — and much of the Book is occupied with the speeches of reconciliation and the handing over of Briseis and Agamemnon's gifts.

   • 1993 [Random House (Knopf)], Tim Parks (translator), Roberto Calasso, The Marriage Of Cadmus And Harmony, 1994, Random House (Vintage), page 90,

     And the Iliad was founded on a play of words, the substitution of a couple of letters in a name. Briseis, Chryseis. The bone of contention that triggers the poem is Briseis kallipárēos, Briseis “of the lovely cheeks”: Agamemnon wants her exchanged with, or substituted for, Chryseis kallipárēos, Chryseis “of the lovely cheeks." In Greek only two letters separate the two girls.

   • 2012, Marco Fantuzzi, Achilles in Love: Intertextual Studies, Oxford University Press, page 99:

     The character of Briseis and the story of her relationship with Achilles stand in the background of the entire Iliad: the poem opens, literally, with Achilles' anger, which at 1.298–9 turns out to be caused by Briseis’ abduction on Agamemnon's order, and ends shortly after Achilles sleeps with her once again in his tent (24.675-6).

2. (astronomy) The minor planet 655 Briseïs.

Usage notes

(legendary figure):

• Briseis is a patronymic. Her given name, according to other poets, is Hippodameia (Ἱπποδάμεια).
• In his Heroides, Ovid presents a letter from Briseis to Achilles.
• In Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Roman de Troie (The Romance of Troy) and later mediaeval romances, the name is rendered as Briseida; moreover, her father is identified as Calchas (a change from the etymologically linked Briseus of the Iliad) and she is in love with Troilus (and then Diomedes).
• Briseis/Briseida was later conflated with Chryseis; under variations of that name the character continued to evolve, eventually becoming William Shakespeare's Cressida.
  • (According to the Iliad, Chriseis had been Agamemnon's war prize; when forced to return her, he had demanded Briseis in recompense, offending Achilles.)

Synonyms

• (legendary figure): Hippodameia

Translations

legendary figure featured in the Iliad

• French: Briséis f
• Italian: Briseide f
• Polish: Bryzejda (pl) f
• Russian: Брисеида f (Briseida)

Further reading

• Briseis (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Category:Briseis on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Anagrams

• Brissie