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In Greek mythology, the Androktasiai (Ancient Greek: Ἀνδροκτασίαι ('Manslaughters', 'Manslayings', 'Slayings of Men'), from the plural of ἀνδροκτασία) are collectively the personification of the slaughter of men in battle. The Androktasiai are named in line 228 of Hesiod's Theogony, which lists four personified plural abstractions, the Hysminai (Battles), the Machai (Wars), the Phonoi (Murders), and the Androktasiai (Manslaughters), as being among the several offspring of Eris (Strife):

Ὑσμίνας τε Μάχας τε Φόνους τ’ Ἀνδροκτασίας τε

The nearly identical line, listing the same four abstractions (without capitalizations, and with different case endings), in the same order, occurs in Homer's Odyssey, where Odysseus describes the decorations on Heracles' golden belt:

ὑσμῖναί τε μάχαι τε φόνοι τ᾿ ἀνδροκτασίαι τε.

Like all of the children of Eris given by Hesiod, the Phonoi are a personified abstraction, allegorizing the meaning of their name, and representing one of the many harmful things which might be thought to result from discord and strife, with no other identity.

The singular personification of manslaughter, Androktasia, also occurred in ancient poetry. The Hesiodic Shield of Heracles (lines 144–319) describes the many dozens of things depicted on Heracles' elaborately decorated shield. In one section of this long description, Androktasia is mentioned along with other personifications associated with battle:

Upon it were wrought Pursuit and Rally ; upon it burned Tumult and Murder Phonos and Slaughter ; upon it was Strife , upon it rushed Battle-Din , upon it deadly Fate was dragging men by the feet through the battle, holding one who was alive but freshly wounded, another who was unwounded, another who had died. Around her shoulders she wore a cloak, purple with the blood of men, and she glared terribly and bellowed with a clanging sound.

Notes

1. 'Androktasiai' is variously translated as 'Manslaughters' (Caldwell, p. 42 on 212–232), 'Manslayings' (Hard, p. 31), or 'Slayings of Men' (Gantz, p. 10); compare LSJ s.v. ἀνδροκτασία.
2. Caldwell, p. 43.
3. Hesiod, Theogony 228.
4. West, p. 231 on 228; Homer, Odyssey 11.612.
5. Hard, p. 31; Gantz, p. 10.
6. Hesiod, Shield of Heracles 154–160.

References

• Caldwell, Richard, Hesiod's Theogony, Focus Publishing/R. Pullins Company (June 1, 1987). ISBN 978-0-941051-00-2. Internet Archive.
• Gantz, Timothy, Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes: ISBN 978-0-8018-5360-9 (Vol. 1), ISBN 978-0-8018-5362-3 (Vol. 2).
• Hard, Robin, The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology", Psychology Press, 2004, ISBN 9780415186360. Google Books.
• Hesiod, Theogony, in The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, Massachusetts., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Liddell, Henry George, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, revised and augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones with the assistance of Roderick McKenzie, Clarendon Press Oxford, 1940. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Most, G.W. (2018a), Hesiod, Theogony, Works and Days, Testimonia, Edited and translated by Glenn W. Most, Loeb Classical Library No. 57, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 2018. ISBN 978-0-674-99720-2. Online version at Harvard University Press.
• Most, G.W. (2018b), Hesiod: The Shield, Catalogue of Women, Other Fragments, Loeb Classical Library, No. 503, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 2007, 2018. ISBN 978-0-674-99721-9. Online version at Harvard University Press.

• Personifications in Greek mythology
• Children of Eris (mythology)
• Manslaughter