Limos

For the French municipality known as Limós in Occitan, see Limoux. For the plural of limo, see limousine. For the Greek island, see Limnos.

In Greek mythology, Limos (Ancient Greek: Λιμός, romanized: Līmós, lit. 'Famine, Hunger, Starvation')[1] is the personification of famine or hunger. Of uncertain sex, Limos was, according to Hesiod's Theogony, the offspring of Eris (Strife), with no father mentioned.[2] Like all of the children of Eris given by Hesiod, Limos is a personified abstraction allegorizing the meaning of the Greek word limos, and represents one of the many harmful things which might be thought to result from discord and strife, with no other identity.[3]

Limos was held in particular regard at Sparta. The equivalent in Roman mythology is Fames.

  1. ^ 'Limos' is variously translated as 'Famine' (Hard, p. 31; Gantz, p. 10), 'Hunger' (Most, p. 21) or 'Starvation' (Caldwell, p. 42 on 212–232); compare LSJ s.v. λιμός.
  2. ^ Grimal. s.v. Limos; Hesiod, Theogony 227 (Caldwell, p. 43).
  3. ^ Hard, p. 31; Gantz, p. 10.