Cyrene

Species: Human

Appearances: XWP: S1: Sins of the Past; S2: Intimate Stranger; S3: The Furies; S4: Takes One to Know One; S5: Lyre, Lyre, Hearts on Fire, Amphipolis Under Siege; S6: The Haunting of Amphipolis

Family: late husband, Atrius; sons, Toris and Lyceus; daughter, Xena; grandson, Solan; granddaughter, Eve; descendant, Melinda 'Mel' Pappas

Bio: Cyrene had been a tavernkeeper in the village of Amphipolis, and the mother of three, including to the legendary Xena. For whatever reason, when Xena had been seven years old, Cyrene's husband Atrius had come home from the temple of Ares one night in a drunken rage, and had tried to kill little Xena. Cyrene, of course, had protected her daughter, killing her husband to keep Xena safe. Years later, however, after their village had been attacked by Cortese, Xena had tried to mount a defense that had gotten Cyrene's youngest son Lyceus, as well as several others, killed. Taking things a step further, Xena had sought to ensure that neither she nor their village would be vulnerable to attack ever again, leading Xena down a dark path and bringing shame to Cyrene and her remaining son Toris. About ten years later, though, Xena had had a run-in with Hercules, changing her for the better. As part of her path to redemption, Xena had returned home to make amends, and she and Cyrene had reconciled. However, when it had later come out that Cyrene had killed Atrius to protect Xena, the Furies had punished Xena for failing to avenge her father by cursing her with madness and persecution. Seemingly, the only way out for Xena would've been to kill Cyrene, but then, Xena's friend Gabrielle had learned that one man, Orestes, had been in a similar situation and had wound up cursed with madness anyway for killing his mother to avenge his father. Thankfully, Xena had become lucid enough to come up with a plan: she'd argued that Ares, posing as Atrius at the time, had been the one to father her. In the end, the Furies had been convinced, Cyrene had been saved, and Xena's sanity had been restored. A couple of years later, Cyrene had even gotten to meet her granddaughter, Eve, during the Siege of Amphipolis. However, about twenty-five years after that, whilst Xena and Gabrielle had been encased in icy coffins and Eve was being raised by Caesar Augustus, Cyrene's tavern had been overtaken by evil spirits sent by Mephistopheles, King of Hell, and she'd been driven mad. Then, when the crops had failed, the villagers had blamed her, and burnt her at the stake as a witch.

Played By: Darien Takle