User:SpaceVarangian/Tyche

Tyche
Lead: Other ancient Greek sources corroborate Polybius, such as Pindar who claims Tyche could hand victory to a lesser athlete.

Worship
Note: This will be added into the worship section of the article at the end.

According to Matheson, the Goddess Tyche was often worshipped as the personification of a city and its fortune. Matheson also states that there were cults to Tyche all over the Mediterranean. In Athens for instance, citizens would give tribute to Agathe Tyche alongside other gods. Other gods seem to also be presented alongside Tyche including Dionysus at Corinth. There was a Temple of Tyche that contained a figure called Nemesis-Tyche, an aspect of Tyche. According to Edwards Nemesis and Tyche begin to share cults in the Roman period. The mural crown of Tyche of Sparta depicts the Spartans soldiers repelling Amazons. Palagia argues that this depiction is important to Spartan mythology.

Depictions in Theatre/ Mythology
Note: I plan to change the Family section in the original article to the Mythology section. I am debating whether some of these examples count as mythology of depiction.

The poet Pindar alludes to Tyche in his poems as being a goddess of fate who can control the outcome of athletic contests according to Giannopoulou. The play writer Euripides used Tyche as a literary device and personification. Apollo is said to direct Tyche and even the god's plans can be influenced by the concept of Tyche.

According to Matheson the Goddess Tyche is most often considered one of the Oceanids and is considered to be an ocean goddess of some kind, citing how Pindar refers to her in his poems and how she is often depicted holding a ship's rudder.

Note: This is definitely going into Mythology.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Palamedes created the first pair of dice and gave them as an offering to Tyche.

Note: This is going into the depictions section.

The Goddess Tyche is often depicted with a mural crown, a crown in the shape of city walls or towers, and this is used by archeologists and historians to identify a figure in art as Tyche. The mural crown's significance is that it identifies her as the goddess of the city, and in the case of Sparta her mural crown depicted a part of their foundation myth of their city.



Another common depiction of Tyche in the Roman period was Nemesis-Tyche.

Tyche of Rome: In Rome she was referred to as Fortuna.

Tyche in Constantinople: Tyche was still a figure in Constantinople was even depicted on coins and well into early Christian Rome. Matheson argues that the Tyche of Constantinople replaced the one of Antioch as the typical representation.

Tyche of Alexandria: This could be related to how other depictions of Tyche, like the one in Sparta, are seen with ships rudders. This is because she can steer events argues Matheson. Also, Pindar describes her power over ships "At thy bidding, swift ships are steered upon the sea.

Tyche of Antioch: He importance to the river is also strengthened by her being considered an Oceanid, according to Giannopoulou.