In Greek mythology, Timandra () was a Spartan princess and later queen of Arcadia. Her name is derived from two ancient Greek root words: timē (meaning honor or respect) and aner or andros (meaning man).

Family Timandra was one of the daughters of King TyndareusHesiod, Ehoiai fr. 23(a) 7–9 and Leda,Apollodorus, 3.10.6 daughter of King Thestius of Pleuron, Aetolia. Thus, she was the sister of the twins Castor and Pollux, Helen, Clytemnestra, Phoebe and Philonoe.

Timandra married Echemus, the king of Arcadia and bore him a son Ladocus.Hesiod, Ehoiai fr. 23(a) 31–5; Pausanias, 8.5.1 & 8.44.1 By Phyleus, son of King Augeas of Elis, she was one of the possible mothers of Meges,Eustathius ad Homer, Iliad p. 305.17 an Achaean Leader during the Trojan War. Timandra might be the mother of Phyleus’ daughter Eurydameia who begot Euchenor and Cleitus by the seer Polyeidus.Pherecydes in Scholia ad Homer, Iliad 13.663

Mythology Like Clytemnestra, she was also unfaithful and deserted Echemus for Phyleus, the king of Dulichium.

This can be explained by the following account with Stesichorus and Hesiod as the authorities:

"Steischorus says that while sacrificing to the gods Tyndareus forgot Aphrodite and that the goddess was angry and made his daughters twice and thrice wed and deserters of their husbands . . . And Hesiod also says: "And laughter-loving Aphrodite felt jealous when she looked on them and cast them into evil report. Then Timandra deserted Echemus and went and came to Phyleus, dear to the deathless gods; and even so Clytaemnestra deserted god-like Agamemnon and lay with Aegisthus and chose a worse mate; and even so Helen dishonoured the couch of golden-haired Menelaus."Scholia ad Euripides, Orestes 249 = Hesiod, Ehoiai fr. 176 (no. 46 in the Loeb edition, 1914)

Notes

References

Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website. Hesiod, Catalogue of Women from Homeric Hymns, Epic Cycle, Homerica translated by Evelyn-White, H G. Loeb Classical Library Volume 57. London: William Heinemann, 1914. Online version at theio.com Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. . Online version at the Perseus Digital Library Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.

Further reading

March, J. Cassell's Dictionary Of Classical Mythology. London, 1999.