Oinone
ALSO KNOWN AS:
Oenone
CLASSIFICATION:
Nymph; Naiad
Cassandra wasn’t Troy’s only prophetess. Helen wasn’t Paris’ only love. Paris met Oinone, daughter of the Kebren River, when he was just a shepherd on Mount Ida, unaware of his true identity as a Trojan prince. He had yet to preside over the contest between goddesses that would result in his being awarded Helen of Troy.
Oinone is a beautiful Nymph possessing tremendous healing, divinatory, and psychic powers. Paris and Oinone married. She bore his son. Paris swore that he would be eternally faithful to Oinone, but she could see the future and warned him of his fate. Paris abandoned his wife and child when he was promised Helen. Oinone begged him not to go to Sparta, warning that he would bring death and disaster to Troy, but she had all the credibility of an ex-wife or a jealous, rejected lover. Oinone warned Paris that only she could heal him if he was ever wounded.
He remembered that part of her prophecy. After he was shot by Philoktetes’ poison arrow, Paris sought Oinone’s help. She may originally have intended to heal him, but at that moment she was so overwhelmed with rage toward him that she refused her help. Her prophecy was true: no one else could heal him and so Paris died. Some myths say that, filled with remorse, she committed suicide by plunging into the sea, but Oinone is an immortal.
Oinone, inconvenient first wife, is omitted from most retellings of the Trojan War. Helen is castigated for abandoning her husband (and possibly child), but there’s rarely similar reproach for Paris. Oinone makes a rare literary appearance in German author Christa Wolf’s novel Cassandra.
Oinone may be invoked for healing and to receive information about the future. Ask her to ensure that someday your ex will need you.
FAVOURED PEOPLE:
Scorned women, ignored prophets, and psychics
SEE ALSO:
Aphrodite; Helen of Troy; Thetis
SOURCE:
Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses– Written by Judika Illes Copyright © 2009 by Judika Illes.