Erinoma: the myth that lost its Greek name

How a Cypriot story survived only in Latin — with three spellings and a reversed plot.

Published 2026-10-23

Most of Jupiter’s moons are named after well-documented figures from Greek myth. Erinome is different.^[1]

Three spellings

The story of Erinoma is known only from Latin sources. The manuscripts give her name as Erinoma, Erinona and Erittoma.^[1]

A missing original

Because the original Greek name is unknown, nobody knows which syllable should be stressed in Latin. One suggestion is that the name is a late corruption of Eurynome.^[1]

Who fell for whom?

The discovery group described Erinoma as a daughter of Celes “compelled by Venus to fall in love with Jupiter.” In the surviving myths, it is Jupiter (Zeus) whom Venus (Aphrodite) makes fall in love with Erinoma, to ruin her.^[1]

From Erinoma to Erinome

The IAU changed the final “a” to “e” to follow the convention for retrograde moons.^[1] For Jupiter, names ending in “e” are reserved for retrograde irregular moons.^[4]

Numbered citations link to the sources list on the Erinome overview page.