Poena Explained

In Greek mythology, Poena or Poine ("recompense, punishment") is the spirit of punishment^[1] and the attendant of punishment to Nemesis,^[2] the goddess of divine retribution. Sometimes mentioned as one being, and sometimes in the plural as Poenai (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Ποιναί) and are akin to the Erinyes.^[3] Her Roman equivalent may have been Ultio.

The Greek word poinḗ means a recompense or a punishment. From this word the Latin poena meaning "pain, punishment, penalty" is derived, which in turn gave rise to English words such as "subpoena" and "pain".^[4]

External links

• LacusCurtius – Poena
• Georg Autenrieth, A Homeric Dictionary
• Poine: a study in ancient Greek blood-vengeance. By Hubert Joseph Treston, published in the United Kingdom, by Longmans, Green and Co., in 1923.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Poine . Theoi Project . 2013-04-08 . Atsma, Aaron.
2. Web site: Nemesis . University of Oxford . 2013-04-08 . Irwin, Patrick . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20101002053525/http://www.atm.ox.ac.uk/user/irwin/nemesis.html . 2010-10-02 .
3. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0104:entry=poena-bio-1 A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, Poena
4. Web site: Penal - Etymology . Online Etymology Dictionary . 2013-04-08 . Harper, Douglas.