Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities o ...

, Despoina or Despoena (; el, Δέσποινα, Déspoina) was the daughter of

Demeter In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Demeter (; Attic Greek, Attic: ''Dēmḗtēr'' ; Doric Greek, Doric: ''Dāmā́tēr'') is the Twelve Olympians, Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over crops, ...

and

Poseidon Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as ...

and sister of

Arion Arion (; grc-gre, Ἀρίων; fl. c. 700 BC) was a kitharode in ancient Greece, a Dionysiac poet credited with inventing the dithyramb. The islanders of Lesbos claimed him as their native son, but Arion found a patron in Periander, tyrant ...

. She was worshipped under the title ''Despoina'' ("the mistress") alongside her mother

, one of the central figures of the

Eleusinian Mysteries The Eleusinian Mysteries ( el, Ἐλευσίνια Μυστήρια, Eleusínia Mystḗria) were initiations held every year for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at the Panhellenic Sanctuary of Elefsina in ancient Greece. They are t ...

. Her real name could not be revealed to anyone except those initiated to her mysteries. Writing during the second century A.D., Pausanias spoke of Demeter as having two daughters; Kore being born first, before Despoina was born, with

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek relig ...

being the father of Kore and Poseidon as the father of Despoina. Pausanias made it clear that Kore is

Persephone In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Persephone ( ; gr, Περσεφόνη, Persephónē), also called Kore or Cora ( ; gr, Κόρη, Kórē, the maiden), is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the underworld aft ...

, although he did not reveal Despoina's proper name. In the myth, Poseidon saw Demeter and desired her. To avoid him, she took her archaic form of a

mare A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than fo ...

, but he took the form of a

stallion A stallion is a male horse that has not been gelded ( castrated). Stallions follow the conformation and phenotype of their breed, but within that standard, the presence of hormones such as testosterone may give stallions a thicker, "cresty" nec ...

and mated with her. From this union Demeter bore a daughter, Despoina, and a fabulous horse,

. Due to her anger at this turn of events, Demeter also was given the epithet, ''

Erinys The Erinyes ( ; sing. Erinys ; grc, Ἐρινύες, pl. of ), also known as the Furies, and the Eumenides, were female chthonic deities of vengeance in ancient Greek religion and mythology. A formulaic oath in the ''Iliad'' invokes th ...

'' (''raging'').

Etymology

The word, ''Despoina'' ("mistress", ), is derived from ''*des-potnia'', "lady or mistress of the house", from

PIE A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit (as in an apple pie), nuts (pecan pie), brown sugar ( sugar pie), sweete ...

*''dóm(h_a)os'', "house(hold)" ''dem(h_a)-'', "build"and *''potnih_a-'', "lady, mistress";

cf. The abbreviation ''cf.'' (short for the la, confer/conferatur, both meaning "compare") is used in writing to refer the reader to other material to make a comparison with the topic being discussed. Style guides recommend that ''cf.'' be used onl ...

Greek '' domos'' and ''potnia''. The masculine form is ''

Despotes Despot or ''despotes'' ( grc-gre, δεσπότης, despótēs, lord, master) was a senior Byzantine court title that was bestowed on the sons or sons-in-law of reigning emperors, and initially denoted the heir-apparent of the Byzantine emperor ...

'', "master of the house" (); cf. posis. Related attested forms, written in the

Linear B Linear B was a syllabic script used for writing in Mycenaean Greek, the earliest attested form of Greek. The script predates the Greek alphabet by several centuries. The oldest Mycenaean writing dates to about 1400 BC. It is descended from ...

syllabary In the linguistic study of written languages, a syllabary is a set of written symbols that represent the syllables or (more frequently) moras which make up words. A symbol in a syllabary, called a syllabogram, typically represents an (option ...

, are the

Mycenaean Greek Mycenaean Greek is the most ancient attested form of the Greek language, on the Greek mainland and Crete in Mycenaean Greece (16th to 12th centuries BC), before the hypothesised Dorian invasion, often cited as the '' terminus ad quem'' for th ...

, ''po-ti-ni-ja'', (''

potnia Potnia is an Ancient Greek word for "Mistress, Lady" and a title of a goddess. The word was inherited by Classical Greek from Mycenean Greek with the same meaning and it was applied to several goddesses. A similar word is the title Despoina, ...

'') and perhaps , ''po-se-da-o'', and , ''po-se-da-wo-ne'' (''

''), which were inherited into classical Greece with identical or related meanings. ''Demeter'' is possibly a related word, interpreted by some as "mother of the house" (from

*''dems-mater'').

Cult of Despoina

The cult of Despoina is very important in the history of ancient Greek mystery religions. The Arcadian cults come from a more primitive religion. Evidently, the religious beliefs of the first Greek-speaking people who entered the region were mixed with the beliefs of the indigenous population. The figure of a goddess of nature, birth, and death was dominant in both Minoan and Mycenean cults during the Bronze Age.

Wanax (Greek: ; from earlier , ') is an ancient Greek word for "tribal chief, lord, (military) leader".. It is one of the two Greek titles traditionally translated as "king", the other being basileus, and is inherited from Mycenaean Greece. It is nota ...

was her male companion (''paredros'') in the Mycenean cult, and usually, this title was applied to the god

as king of the sea. In the myth of the isolated land of Arcadia, the river spirit of the underworld appears as a horse ( Poseidon Hippios), as was usual in northern

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an folklore. He mates with the mare,

, and from the union she bears the horse, Arion (mythology), and a daughter who originally had the shape of a mare too. It seems that the Greek deities started as powers of nature, and then they were given other attributes. These powers of nature developed into a belief in

nymphs A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label=Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are ...

and in deities with human forms and the heads or tails of animals. Some of them, such as Pan and the Silenoi, survived into the classical age. The two great Arcadian goddesses,

and Despoina (later Persephone), were closely related to the springs and the animals, and especially, to the goddess

Artemis In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified with ...

( Potnia Theron: "The mistress of the animals"), who was the first nymph. On a marble relief at Lycosura is the veil of Despoina, on which human figures are represented with the heads of different animals, seemingly, in a ritual dance. Some of them hold flutes. These could be a procession of women with animal masks or of hybrid creatures. Similar processions of daemons or human figures with animal masks appear on Mycenean frescoes and gold rings. Most of the temples were built near springs, and in some of them there is evidence of a fire which always was kept burning. At Lycosura, a fire burned in front of the temple of Pan, the goat god. The

megaron The megaron (; grc, μέγαρον, ), plural ''megara'' , was the great hall in very early Mycenean and ancient Greek palace complexes. Architecturally, it was a rectangular hall that was surrounded by four columns, fronted by an open, tw ...

of Eleusis is quite similar to the "megaron" of Despoina at Lycosura.

Sanctuary at Lycosura

Despoina was worshipped in a sanctuary at Lycosura, west of the town of

Megalopolis A megalopolis () or a supercity, also called a megaregion, is a group of metropolitan areas which are perceived as a continuous urban area through common systems of transport, economy, resources, ecology, and so on. They are integrated enoug ...

. Although this cult remained regional rather than becoming panhellenic, this is a very important site for the study of ancient

mystery religion Mystery religions, mystery cults, sacred mysteries or simply mysteries, were religious schools of the Greco-Roman world for which participation was reserved to initiates ''(mystai)''. The main characterization of this religion is the secrecy as ...

s. Later, Despoina was conflated with Persephone. Lady of Auxerre Louvre Ma3098 n2

She was known by the additional epithet of Despoine among the general population, just as they surnamed Demeter's daughter by

as Kore (the maiden). Women who worshiped at the site had to adhere to a dress code that prohibited participants from wearing black or purple, possibly because those colours were worn by priestesses.

Origins

In the mysteries Demeter was a second goddess below her daughter, the unnameable "Despoina". It seems that the myths in Arcadia were connected with the first Greek-speaking people who came from the north during the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

. The two goddesses had close connections with the rivers and the springs. They were related to

, the god of the rivers and the springs, and especially to

, who was the first nymph. Her epithet, "the mistress", has its analogue in Mycenean Greek inscriptions found at

Pylos Pylos (, ; el, Πύλος), historically also known as Navarino, is a town and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part of the municipality Pylos-Nestoras, of which it is ...

in southern Greece and at

Knossos Knossos (also Cnossos, both pronounced ; grc, Κνωσός, Knōsós, ; Linear B: ''Ko-no-so'') is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete and has been called Europe's oldest city. Settled as early as the Neolithic period, the na ...

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

. Later, Despoina was conflated with Kore (Persephone), the goddess of the

Eleusinian mysteries The Eleusinian Mysteries ( el, Ἐλευσίνια Μυστήρια, Eleusínia Mystḗria) were initiations held every year for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at the Panhellenic Sanctuary of Elefsina in ancient Greece. They are t ...

, in a life-death-rebirth cycle. Karl Kerenyi asserted that the cult was a continuation of a Minoan goddess, and that her name recalls the Minoan- Mycenaean goddess , ''da-pu₂-ri-to-jo,po-ti-ni-ja'', i.e. the unnamable "Mistress of the

Labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (, ) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by ...

" at

Epithet

"Despoina" was an epithet for several goddesses, especially

Aphrodite Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess . Aphrodite's major symbols incl ...

, and

Hecate Hecate or Hekate, , ; grc-dor, Ἑκάτᾱ, Hekátā, ; la, Hecatē or . is a goddess in ancient Greek religion and mythology, most often shown holding a pair of torches, a key, snakes, or accompanied by dogs, and in later periods depict ...

. Persephone and Demeter are two of the three goddesses of the

. They are perhaps the "Two

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

" referred to in various

inscriptions. At Olympia they were called, ''Despoinai'' (). The epithet, Despoina, is related to the Mycenean title, "potnia" (po-ti-ni-ja), that usually referred to goddesses. This divine title could be the translation of a similar title of Pre-Greek origin, just as the title "Our lady" in Christianity is translated in several languages. It seems that the original title accompanied the Aegean

mother goddess A mother goddess is a goddess who represents a personified deification of motherhood, fertility goddess, fertility, creation, destruction, or the earth goddess who embodies the bounty of the earth or nature. When equated with the earth or t ...

Archaeology

At the time of a visit to the sanctuary at Lycosura by Pausanias in the second century A.D., the sculptures would have been 300 or more years old. In the second century A.D., a statue of the emperor

Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania ...

was dedicated in the temple. Coins from Megalopolis, from the

Severan The Severan dynasty was a Roman imperial dynasty that ruled the Roman Empire between 193 and 235, during the Roman imperial period. The dynasty was founded by the emperor Septimius Severus (), who rose to power after the Year of the Five Empero ...

period in the early third century, appear to depict a statue from the cult group.Jost (1985) ''Sanctuaires et cultes d'Arcadie''. Paris There is a small museum at the archaeological site, housing small finds as well as part of the cult group, while the remains of the cult statues of Despoina and Demeter are displayed at the

National Archaeological Museum of Athens The National Archaeological Museum ( el, Εθνικό Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο) in Athens houses some of the most important artifacts from a variety of archaeological locations around Greece from prehistory to late antiquity. It is ...

. The most significant artifact among its collection is the veil of Despoina, displaying a complex decorative program, probably representative of the types of embroidered woven materials created by contemporary artists. Also displayed are the heads of Artemis, Demeter,

Anytos Anytos or Anytus ( grc, Ἄνυτος) was one of the Titans of Greek mythology.Smiths.v. Anytus Pausania8.37.5 He was supposed to have raised Despoina, and in Arcadia during Pausanias' time the two were represented by statues in a temple near A ...

, and a Tritoness, from the throne in the sanctuary.

Other uses

* In the

Orthodox church Orthodox Church may refer to: * Eastern Orthodox Church * Oriental Orthodox Churches * Orthodox Presbyterian Church * Orthodox Presbyterian Church of New Zealand * State church of the Roman Empire * True Orthodox church See also * Orthodox (d ...

the title "despoina" is given to

Mary, mother of Jesus Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...

. * In

Byzantine Greek Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the Ottoman c ...

''despoina'' was a feminine court title meaning "lady", while the masculine ''despotes'' meant "lord". * In

Modern Greek Modern Greek (, , or , ''Kiní Neoellinikí Glóssa''), generally referred to by speakers simply as Greek (, ), refers collectively to the dialects of the Greek language spoken in the modern era, including the official standardized form of the ...

the title "despoinis" () means "Miss", literally "little mistress" and can be used to address young ladies and waitresses, amongst others. * Despina, a satellite of

Neptune Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the farthest known planet in the Solar System. It is the fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 time ...

, was named after the goddess Despoina.

Notes and references

;Notes ;References

References

* Burkert, Walter, ''Greek Religion'',

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retir ...

, 1985. . *Hard, Robin,

Herbert Jennings Rose Herbert Jennings Rose FBA (5 May 1883, in Orillia – 31 July 1961, in St Andrews) was a Canadian-born British classical scholar, best remembered as the author of ''A Handbook of Greek Mythology'', originally published in 1928, which became fo ...

''The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's Handbook of Greek Mythology''
Routledge; seventh edition, 2004, . pp. 101–102. * Hathorn, Richmond Yancey, ''Crowell's handbook of classical drama'', Thomas Y. Crowell Company (1967). * Kerényi, Karl (1976), ''Dionysos: Archetypal image of indestructible life'', trans. Ralph Manheim, Princeton University Press, 1976. . * Pausanias, ''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, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Smith, William; ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/ biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 ...

'', London (1873)
"Despoena"

External links

{{Authority control Greek goddesses Children of Poseidon Epithets of Demeter Epithets of Aphrodite Epithets of Hecate Children of Demeter Epithets of Persephone Women in Greek mythology Characters in Greek mythology Agricultural goddesses Arcadian mythology Divine twins