What is "althaea"

Althaea \Al*th[ae]"a\, ||Althea \Al*the"a\, n. [althaea, Gr. ?.] (Bot.)

1. A genus of plants of the Mallow family. It includes the officinal marsh mallow, and the garden hollyhocks.

2. An ornamental shrub ( Hibiscus Syriacus) of the Mallow family.

n. any of various plants of the genus Althaea; similar to but having smaller flowers than genus Alcea [syn: althea, hollyhock]

Althaea or Althea (, Althaía) was, in Greek mythology, the daughter of King Thestius and Eurythemis, and was sister to Leda, Hypermnestra, Iphiclus, Euippus. She was also the wife of Oeneus, king of Calydon, and mother of five sons, Meleager, Melanippe (one of the Meleagrids), Toxeus, Thyreus, Clymenus, and two daughters, Deianeira and Gorge. According to some writers, Meleager was the result of a liaison with the Greek god Ares, and Deianeira the progeny of Althaea and the god Dionysus.

Althaea is especially celebrated in ancient story about the fate of her son Meleager; they became the cause of each other’s deaths. When Meleager was born, the Moirai (the Fates) predicted he would only live until a brand, burning in the family hearth, was consumed by fire.

Oeneus and Mars both slept one night with Althaea, daughter of Thestius. When Meleager was born from them, suddenly in the palace the Fates, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, appeared. They thus sang his fate: Clotho said that he would be noble, Lachesis that he would be brave, but Atropos looking at a brand burning on the hearth and said, “He will live only as long as this brand remains unconsumed.” When Althaea, the mother, heard this, she leaped from the bed, put out the fatal brand, and buried it in the midst of the palace, so that it shouldn’t be destroyed by fire.

In Aeschylus' Libation Bearers Althaea is mentioned by the Chorus of captive slaves, serving women of Clytemnestra, in a recollection of 'hatreds that stopped at nothing'.

Let anyone whose mind is steady remember this, once he has learned the story of Thestius' daughter, ruthless Althaea, who killed her own son. She contrived a plot to burn the brand that fate assigned to span his life; it had been kept since the day he came out crying from his mother's loins. Deliberately, deceitfully, she set on fire what was to have kept pace with him from birth to death. It glowed bright red before the fire blackened it.

Meleager grew to be a well-respected prince. One spring Oeneus sacrificed the first fruits of the seasons to all the gods, omitting Artemis by mistake. Enraged by the slight, Artemis sent a boar of unnatural size and strength to ruin the land of Calydon. Meleager was one of the warriors who hunted the boar, along with the famous huntress Atalanta and Althaea’s brothers. Meleager killed the boar, but gave the skin to Atalanta both because he had fallen in love with her and because she had landed the first blow on the animal. When Althaea's brothers, “thinking scorn that a woman should get the prize in the face of men, took the skin from her, alleging that it belonged to them by right of birth if Meleager did not choose to take it,” Meleager flew into a rage and killed both of his uncles.

When Althaea learned what had happened, she retrieved the brand from where she had concealed it and placed the brand back upon the fire, killing him. Some say that she and Meleager’s wife Cleopatra later hanged themselves, others that she killed herself with a dagger.

Althaea is a genus of 6–12 species of perennial herbs native to Europe and western Asia. It includes Althaea officinalis, also known as the marshmallow plant, whence the fluffy confection got its name. They are found on the banks of rivers and in salt marshes, preferring moist, sandy soils. The stems grow to 1–2 m tall, and flower in mid summer. The leaves are palmately lobed with 3–7 lobes. Althaea species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Bucculatrix quadrigemina.

Althaea is the Latin rendering of Greek Althaia, which may be related to Greek althos "healing". It can refer to:

• Althaea (mythology), the daughter of Thestius and mother of Meleager
• Althaea (plant), a genus of up to a dozen species of perennial herbs, native to Europe and western Asia, that includes the marshmallow plant
• 119 Althaea, an asteroid
• Althaea is also the name of several nymphs in Greek mythology
• "Shrub Althea", "Shrub Althaea" and "Rose of Althea" are names applied to Hibiscus syriacus, which is South Korea's national flower

Althea, an English variation of the Greek name, can refer to:

• Althea, a female first name
• EUFOR Althea, a European Union military operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina
• "Althea", a Grateful Dead song
• Althea, a fictional pulsar from the science-fiction novel The Hercules Text by Jack McDevitt
• Althea, an English frigate in the Napoleanic wars.
• U.S. Navy ships of the name include:

  • , a collier that served during the Civil War.

  • , a tugboat that served during the Civil War.

  • , a motorboat built in 1907.

Altea, a Spanish variation of the Greek name, can refer to:

• Altea, a town in Spain