Aethra
(
Αἴθρη).
1.
Daughter of Pittheus, king of Troezen, mother of Theseus by Aegeus or,
according to another account, by Poseidon. While Homer merely mentions her as a servant of
Helen at Troy, later legend adds that when the Dioscuri took Aphidnae and set free their
sister, whom Theseus had carried off, they conveyed Aethra to Sparta as a slave, whence she
accompanied Helen to Troy; and that on the fall of that city they brought her grandsons,
Acamas and Demophoön, back to Athens.
2.
A daughter of Oceanus, by whom Atlas begot the twelve
Hyades (q.v.) and a son, Hyas.