Eileithyia or Ilithyia (; ; (''Eleuthyia'') in

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

, also (''Eleuthia'') or (''Elysia'') in

Laconia Laconia or Lakonia (, , ) is a historical and Administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece located on the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparti (municipality), Sparta. The word ...

and

Messene Messene (Greek language, Greek: Μεσσήνη 𐀕𐀼𐀙 ''Messini''), officially Ancient Messene, is a local community within the regional unit (''perifereiaki enotita'') of Messenia in the region (''perifereia'') of Peloponnese (region), P ...

, and (''Eleuthō'') in literature)Nilsson Vol I, p. 313 was the Greek goddess of

childbirth Childbirth, also known as labour, parturition and delivery, is the completion of pregnancy, where one or more Fetus, fetuses exits the Womb, internal environment of the mother via vaginal delivery or caesarean section and becomes a newborn to ...

and

midwifery Midwifery is the health science and health profession that deals with pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period (including care of the newborn), in addition to the sexual and reproductive health of women throughout their lives. In many cou ...

, and the daughter of

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

and

Hera In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; ; in Ionic Greek, Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women, and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she is queen of the twelve Olympians and Mount Oly ...

. In the cave of Amnisos (

) she was related with the annual birth of the divine child, and her cult is connected with ''Enesidaon'' (the earth shaker), who was the

chthonic In Greek mythology, deities referred to as chthonic () or chthonian () were gods or spirits who inhabited the underworld or existed in or under the earth, and were typically associated with death or fertility. The terms "chthonic" and "chthonian" ...

aspect of the god

Poseidon Poseidon (; ) is one of the twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and mythology, presiding over the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 He was the protector of seafarers and the guardian of many Hellenic cit ...

. It is possible that her cult is related with the cult of

Eleusis Elefsina () or Eleusis ( ; ) is a suburban city and Communities and Municipalities of Greece, municipality in Athens metropolitan area. It belongs to West Attica regional unit of Greece. It is located in the Thriasio Plain, at the northernmost ...

. In his ''Seventh Nemean Ode'',

Pindar Pindar (; ; ; ) was an Greek lyric, Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes, Greece, Thebes. Of the Western canon, canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar i ...

refers to her as the maid to or seated beside the Moirai (Fates) and responsible for the creation of offspring. Her son was Sosipolis, who was worshiped at Elis.

Etymology

The earliest form of the name is the

Mycenaean Greek Mycenaean Greek is the earliest attested form of the Greek language. It was spoken on the Greek mainland and Crete in Mycenaean Greece (16th to 12th centuries BC). The language is preserved in inscriptions in Linear B, a script first atteste ...

, ''e-re-u-ti-ja'', written in the

Linear B Linear B is a syllabary, syllabic script that was used for writing in Mycenaean Greek, the earliest Attested language, attested form of the Greek language. The script predates the Greek alphabet by several centuries, the earliest known examp ...

syllabic script. Ilithyia is the latinisation of '. The etymology of the name is uncertain, but debated among scholars. R. S. P. Beekes suggests a non-

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...

etymology, and Nilsson believed that the name is

Pre-Greek The pre-Greek substrate (or substratum) consists of the unknown pre-Greek language or languages (either Pre-Indo-European or other Indo-European languages) spoken in prehistoric Greece prior to the emergence of the Proto-Greek language in the r ...

.Nilsson Vol I, p. 313 19th-century scholars suggested that the name is Greek, derived from the verb ''eleutho'' ''()'', "to bring", the goddess thus meaning ''The Bringer''.

Walter Burkert Walter Burkert (; 2 February 1931 – 11 March 2015) was a German scholar of Greek mythology and cult. A professor of classics at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, he taught in the UK and the US. He has influenced generations of student ...

believed that ''Eileithyia'' is the Greek goddess of birth and that her name is pure Greek.Walter Burkert (1985) '' Greek Religion''. Harvard University Press
p.171
/ref> However, the relation with the Greek prefix ' is uncertain, because the prefix appears in some pre-Greek toponyms like ' ( Eleutherna); therefore it is possible that the name is pre-Greek. Her name ' (''Elysia'') in

and

probably relates her with the month ''Eleusinios'' and

. Nilsson also believed that the name "Eleusis" is pre-Greek.

Origins

According to F. Willets, the goddess shows a clear connection to a preexisting Minoan goddess, as well as an earlier Neolithic concept. Eileithyia's guidance in childbirth may give influence of the first midwife. To

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

, she is "the goddess of childbirth". The ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

'' pictures Eileithyia alone, or sometimes multiplied, as the Eileithyiai:

Hesiod Hesiod ( or ; ''Hēsíodos''; ) was an ancient Greece, Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer.M. L. West, ''Hesiod: Theogony'', Oxford University Press (1966), p. 40.Jasper Gr ...

(c. 700 BC) described Eileithyia as a daughter of Hera by

(''Theogony'' 921)Hesiod, ''Theogony'
912–923
—and the '' Bibliotheca'' (Roman-era) and

Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus or Diodorus of Sicily (; 1st century BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek historian from Sicily. He is known for writing the monumental Universal history (genre), universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty ...

(c. 90–27 BC) (5.72.5) agreed. Also, a poem at the

Greek Anthology The ''Greek Anthology'' () is a collection of poems, mostly epigrams, that span the Classical Greece, Classical and Byzantine periods of Greek literature. Most of the material of the ''Greek Anthology'' comes from two manuscripts, the ''Palatine ...

Book 6, mention Eileithyia as Hera's daughter. But Pausanias, writing in the 2nd century AD, reported another early source (now lost): "The

Lycia Lycia (; Lycian: 𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊖 ''Trm̃mis''; , ; ) was a historical region in Anatolia from 15–14th centuries BC (as Lukka) to 546 BC. It bordered the Mediterranean Sea in what is today the provinces of Antalya and Muğ ...

n Olen, an earlier poet, who composed for the Delians, among other hymns, one to Eileithyia, styles her as ' the clever spinner', clearly identifying her with the

Fates The Fates are a common motif in European polytheism, most frequently represented as a trio of goddesses. The Fates shape the destiny of each human, often expressed in textile metaphors such as spinning fibers into yarn, or weaving threads on a ...

, thus making her older than

Cronus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Cronus, Cronos, or Kronos ( or ; ) was the leader and youngest of the Titans, the children of Gaia (Earth) and Uranus (mythology), Uranus (Sky). He overthrew his father and ruled dur ...

." Pausanias
6.20.
/ref> Being the youngest born to

Gaia In Greek mythology, Gaia (; , a poetic form of ('), meaning 'land' or 'earth'),, , . also spelled Gaea (), is the personification of Earth. Gaia is the ancestral mother—sometimes parthenogenic—of all life. She is the mother of Uranus (S ...

, Cronus was a Titan of the first generation and he was identified as the father of Zeus. Likewise, the meticulously accurate mythographer

(522–443 BC) also makes no mention of Zeus: Later, for the Classical Greeks, "She is closely associated with

Artemis In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Artemis (; ) is the goddess of the hunting, hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, transitions, nature, vegetation, childbirth, Kourotrophos, care of children, and chastity. In later tim ...

and

," Burkert asserts, "but develops no character of her own". In the ''

Orphic Hymn The ''Orphic Hymns'' are a collection of eighty-seven ancient Greek hymns addressed to various deities, which were attributed in antiquity to the mythical poet Orpheus. They were composed in Asia Minor (located in modern-day Turkey), most likel ...

'' to Prothyraia, virginal Artemis is given an epithet relating to the goddess of childbirth, making the divine huntress also "she who comes to the aid of women in childbirth": Eileithyia is commonly in classical Greek art most often depicted assisting childbirth. Vase-painters, when illustrating the birth of

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...

from Zeus' head, may show two assisting Eileithyiai, with their hands raised in the epiphany gesture. The Beauty of Durrës, a large 4th-century B.C.E. mosaic shows the head figure of a woman, probably portrays the goddess Eileithyia. A fragment by

Callimachus Callimachus (; ; ) was an ancient Greek poet, scholar, and librarian who was active in Alexandria during the 3rd century BC. A representative of Ancient Greek literature of the Hellenistic period, he wrote over 800 literary works, most of which ...

has Eileithyia assist her full-sister Hebe in her labour, presumably when she gave birth to Alexiares and Anicetus, her sons by

Heracles Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through ...

Cult

Near the Painter of the Nicosia Olpe - ABV 454 extra - hen between cocks - Zeus between winged goddesses - Rhodos AM 10593 - 03

As the primary goddess of childbirth along with

, Eileithyia had numerous shrines in many locations in Greece dating from Neolithic to Roman times, indicating that she was extremely important to pregnant women and their families. People would pray for and leave offerings for aid in fertility, safe childbirth, or give appreciation for a successful birth. Archaeological evidence of terracotta votive figurines depict children found at shrines, and holy sites dedicated to Eileithyia suggest that she was a kourotrophic divinity, whom parents would have prayed to for protection and care of their children. Midwives had an essential role in ancient Greek society, with women of all classes participating in the profession - many being slaves with only empirical training or some theoretical training in obstetrics and gynecology. More highly educated midwives, typically from higher classes, were referred to as or doctors of women's diseases and would be respected as physicians. She was invoked by women in labour, to ease the pain of labour, and to further the birth.

recorded the hymn: She was strongly connected with the goddesses Artemis and Hekate, sharing with the latter strong chthonic elements in her cult.

Achaea

Pausanias described a sanctuary to the goddess in the city of Aigion, and the cult associated with it: "At Aigion n Akhaiais an ancient sanctuary of Eileithyia, and her image is covered from head to foot with finely-woven drapery; it is of wood except the face, hands and feet, which are made of Pentelic marble. One hand is stretched out straight; the other holds up a torch. One might conjecture that torches are an attribute of Eileithyia because the pangs of women are just like fire. The torches might also be explained by the fact that it is Eileithyia who brings children to the light." Aside from the sanctuary in the city of Aigion, Pausanias also noted that there were temples to the goddess in the towns of Boura and

Pellene Pellene (; ; ) was a city and polis (city-state) of ancient Achaea, the most easterly of the twelve Achaean cities (the Achaean League). Its territory bordered upon that of Sicyon on the east and upon that of Aegeira on the west. Pellene was s ...

in Achaea.

Arcadia

Pausanias described two sanctuaries to the goddess in Arcadia, one in the town of

Kleitor Kleitor or Cleitor (Greek: Κλείτωρ) is a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Gortynia, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area ...

Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'' 8. 21. 3 and the other one in Tegea. In Kleitor, she was worshipped as one of the most important deities, along with Demeter and Asklepios, and her sanctuary the most important one alongside the other two.

Argos

Offerings were often given to the goddess Eileithyia within the ten days following a child's birth Pausanias describes a sanctuary to her in the city of Argos, and the myth associated with it: "Near the Lords anctuary of the Dioskouroi at Argosis a sanctuary of Eilethyia, dedicated by Helene when, Theseus having gone away with Peirithous to Thesprotia, Aphidna had been captured by the Dioskouroi and Helen was being brought to Lakedaimon. For it is said that she was with child, was delivered in Argos, and founded the sanctuary of Eilethyia, giving the daughter she bore to Klytaimnestra, who was already wedded to Agamemnon." Pausanias noted a shrine to her in Mycenae, and an important shrine in Mases in Argolis: " t Mases, Argosthere is a sanctuary of Eileithyia within the wall. Every day, both with sacrifices and with incense, they magnificently propitiate the goddess, and, moreover, there is a vast number of votive gifts offered to Eileithyia. But the image no one may see, except, perhaps, the priestesses."

Athens

There were ancient icons of Eileithyia at Athens, one said to have been brought from Crete, according to Pausanias, who mentioned shrines to Eileithyia in

Tegea Tegea (; ) was a settlement in ancient Arcadia, and it is also a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the Tripoli municipality, of which it is a municipal unit with an area o ...

and Argos, with an extremely important shrine in Aigion. Eileithyia, along with Artemis and

Persephone In ancient Greek mythology and Ancient Greek religion, religion, Persephone ( ; , classical pronunciation: ), also called Kore ( ; ) or Cora, is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the Greek underworld, underworld afte ...

, is often shown carrying torches to bring children out of darkness and into light: in

Roman mythology Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans, and is a form of Roman folklore. "Roman mythology" may also refer to the modern study of these representations, and to th ...

her counterpart in easing labor is Lucina ("of the light"). Pausanias noted:

Corinth

Pausanias noted a sanctuary in Corinth: "When you have turned from the Akrokorinthos t Korinthosinto the mountain road you see the Teneatic gate and a sanctuary of Eileithyia."

Crete

The Cave of Eileithyia near Amnisos, the harbor of

Knossos Knossos (; , ; Linear B: ''Ko-no-so'') is a Bronze Age archaeological site in Crete. The site was a major centre of the Minoan civilization and is known for its association with the Greek myth of Theseus and the minotaur. It is located on th ...

, mentioned in the ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...

'' (xix.189) in connection with her cult, was accounted the birthplace of Eileithyia. In the river nearby also named Amnisos, lived nymphs that were sacred to Eileithyia named Amnisades and Amnisabes. The Cretan cave has stalactites suggestive of the goddess' double form (Kerenyi 1976 fig. 6), of bringing labor on and of delaying it, and votive offerings to her have been found establishing the continuity of her cult from Neolithic times, with a revival as late as the Roman period. Here she was probably being worshipped before Zeus arrived in the Aegean, but certainly in Minoan–Mycenaean times. The goddess is mentioned as Eleuthia in a

fragment from Knossos, where it is stated that her temple is given an amphora of honey.Walter Burkert (1985). ''Greek Religion''. Harvard University Press
p. 26
/ref> In the cave of Amnisos (Crete) the god Enesidaon (the "earth shaker", who is the chthonic

) is related to the cult of Eileithyia. She was related with the annual birth of the divine child. The goddess of nature and her companion survived in the Eleusinian cult, where the following words were uttered: "Mighty Potnia bore a strong son." In classical times, there were shrines to Eileithyia in the Cretan cities of

Lato Lato () was an ancient city of Crete, the ruins of which are located approximately 3 km from the village of Kritsa. History The Dorian city-state was built in a defensible position overlooking Mirabello Bay between two peaks, both of ...

and Eleutherna and a sacred cave at Inatos. At a sanctuary in Tsoutsouros Inatos, two small terracotta figures, one breastfeeding and the other pregnant, have been dated to the 7th century.

Delos

According to the

Homeric Hymn The ''Homeric Hymns'' () are a collection of thirty-three ancient Greek hymns and one epigram. The hymns praise deities of the Greek pantheon and retell mythological stories, often involving a deity's birth, their acceptance among the gods ...

III to Delian Apollo, Hera detained Eileithyia, who was coming from the

Hyperborea In Greek mythology, the Hyperboreans (, ; ) were a mythical people who lived in the far northern part of the Ecumene, known world. Their name appears to derive from the Greek , "beyond Boreas (god), Boreas" (the God of the north wind). Some schol ...

ns in the far north, to prevent

Leto In ancient Greek mythology and Ancient Greek religion, religion, Leto (; ) is a childhood goddess, the daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe (Titaness), Phoebe, the sister of Asteria, and the mother of Apollo and Artemis.Hesiod, ''Theogony' ...

from going into labor with Artemis and Apollo, since the father was her husband Zeus. Hera was jealous of Zeus's affairs and tended to enact revenge upon the women. The other goddesses present at the birthing on Delos had sent Iris to bring Eileithyia forth. As she stepped upon the island, the birth began. This hymn is contradicted by

Theogony The ''Theogony'' () is a poem by Hesiod (8th–7th century BC) describing the origins and genealogy, genealogies of the Greek gods, composed . It is written in the Homeric Greek, epic dialect of Ancient Greek and contains 1,022 lines. It is one ...

, where Apollo and Artemis are born before Hera's marriage to Zeus, and therefore neither Hera or Eileithyia are mentioned interfering with the birth of the twins. On Delos, a shrine was dedicated to Eileithyia, and was worshipped in a mid-winter festival the named ''Eileithyaea''. It was said by

that the hymn sung during festival was the same as that sung by nymphs at Apollo's birth. This cult likely goes back to the Archaic period, and the cult was associated with other local Delian childbirth deities associated with Artemis, Upis and Arge.

Eretria

Archaeologists uncovered a sanctuary dedicated to Eileithyia at

Eretria Eretria (; , , , , literally 'city of the rowers') is a town in Euboea, Greece, facing the coast of Attica across the narrow South Euboean Gulf. It was an important Greek polis in the 6th and 5th century BC, mentioned by many famous writers ...

. The sanctuary had been placed in the northwestern section of a gymnasium.

Messene

Pausanias noted that "The Messenians have a temple erected to Eileithyia t Messene, Messeniawith a stone statue."

Olympia

On the Greek mainland, at Olympia, an archaic shrine with an inner

cella In Classical architecture, a or naos () is the inner chamber of an ancient Greek or Roman temple. Its enclosure within walls has given rise to extended meanings: of a hermit's or monk's cell, and (since the 17th century) of a biological cell ...

sacred to the serpent-savior of the city ( Sosipolis) and to Eileithyia was seen by the traveler Pausanias in the 2nd century AD (''Description of Greece'' vi.20.1–3); in it, a virgin-priestess cared for a serpent that was fed on honeyed barley-cakes and water—an offering suited to Demeter. The shrine memorialized the appearance of a crone with a babe in arms, at a crucial moment when Elians were threatened by forces from Arcadia. The child, placed on the ground between the contending forces, changed into a serpent, driving the Arcadians away in flight, before it disappeared into the hill.

Paros

Eileithyia had a cult south of the Mount Kounados on the Cycladic Island of

Paros Paros (; ; ) is a Greek island in the central Aegean Sea. Part of the Cyclades island group, it lies to the west of Naxos (island), Naxos, from which it is separated by a channel about wide. It lies approximately south-east of Piraeus. The Co ...

, where a cave with a natural spring functioned as an informal sanctuary. Numerous artifacts have been found, such as pottery, bronze pieces, and marble plaques, which indicate use of the site from the Geometric period to the

Roman period The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

. It has been theorized that the site was used for prayers for both female and male fertility, based on the type of offerings that have been found.

Sparta

There was a sanctuary dedicated to Eileithyia near the

Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia The Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia, an Archaic Greece, Archaic site devoted in Classical times to Artemis, was one of the most important religious sites in the Ancient Greece, Greek Polis, city-state of Sparta, and continued to be used into the fou ...

, which Pausanias noted: "Not far from Orthia

he temple of Artemis in Sparta, Lakedaimon He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

is a sanctuary of Eileithyia. They say that they built it, and came to worship Eileithyia as a goddess, because of an oracle from Delphoi."

Syria

Lucian, in

On the Syrian Goddess ''On the Syrian Goddess'' (; ) is a Ancient Greek, Greek treatise of the second century AD which describes religious cults practiced at the temple of Hierapolis Bambyce, now Manbij, in Syria. The work is written in a Herodotus, Herodotean styl ...

Lucian, On the Syrian Goddess section 38 said that there was a statue of Eilithyia in the temple of

Hierapolis Bambyce Manbij (; ; ) is a city in the northeast of Aleppo Governorate in northern Syria, west of the Euphrates. The 2004 census gives its population as nearly 100,000.

, at

Manbij Manbij (; ; ) is a city in the northeast of Aleppo Governorate in northern Syria, west of the Euphrates. The 2004 census gives its population as nearly 100,000.

, in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

Genealogy

Notes

References

* Baur, Paul Victor Christopher, 1872. (1902). ''Eileithyia''. University of Missouri, 1902. * Beekes, R. S. P., ''Etymological Dictionary of Greek'', Brill, 2009. * Burkert, Walter, ''Greek Religion'', 1985. * Bury, R. G., The Symposium of Plato. Cambridge. W. Heffer and Sons. 1909
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
*

. Works. A.W. Mair. London: William Heinemann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1921
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Gantz, Timothy, ''Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources'', Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes: (Vol. 1), (Vol. 2). * Graves, Robert, ''

The Greek Myths ''The Greek Myths'' (1955) is a mythography, a compendium of Greek mythology, with comments and analyses, by the poet and writer Robert Graves. Many editions of the book separate it into two volumes. Abridged editions of the work contain only ...

'', 1955. *

Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...

, ''The Histories'' ''with an English translation by A. D. Godley''. Cambridge.

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

. 1920
Online Version at the Perseus Digital Library
*

, ''

'', in ''The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White'', Cambridge, Massachusetts., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* ''

, Homeric Hymn to Apollo, in The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White.'' Homeric Hymns. Cambridge, MA.,

; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
*

, ''The Iliad with an English Translation by A. T. Murray, Ph.D., in two volumes''. Cambridge, Massachusetts., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
*

; ''The Odyssey with an English Translation by A. T. Murray, Ph.D., in two volumes''. Cambridge, Massachusetts., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Kerenyi, Karl, ''Dionysus: Archetypal Image of Indestructible Life'', English translation 1976. *

Lucian Lucian of Samosata (Λουκιανὸς ὁ Σαμοσατεύς, 125 – after 180) was a Hellenized Syrian satirist, rhetorician and pamphleteer who is best known for his characteristic tongue-in-cheek style, with which he frequently ridi ...

. Works. with an English Translation by. A. M. Harmon. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. London. William Heinemann Ltd. 1925
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Nilsson, Martin P. (1927) 1950. ''The Minoan-Mycenaean Religion and Its Survival in Greek Religion'' 2nd ed. (Lund"Gleerup). * Olmos, Ricardo, "Eileithyia", in '' Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC). III.1: Atherion – Eros'', Zürich and Munich, Artemis Verlag, 1986.
Internet Archive
* 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
*

, ''Odes, Nemean 7 for Sogenes of Aegina Boys' Pentathlon with an English Translation by Diane Arnson Svarlien''. 1990
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
*

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

. Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vols. 10 & 11 translated by R.G. Bury. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1967 & 1968
Online Version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Smith, William, ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography,'' LLD. London. Walton and Maberly, 1854
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
*

Sophocles Sophocles ( 497/496 – winter 406/405 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. was an ancient Greek tragedian known as one of three from whom at least two plays have survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or contemporary with, those ...

: The Plays and Fragments, with critical notes, commentary, and translation in English prose. Part VI: The Electra. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1894
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Willetts, R. F. "Cretan Eileithyia" ''The Classical Quarterly'' New Series, 8.3/4 (November 1958), pp. 221–223

External links

{{subject bar , wikt=y, wikt-search= Eileithyia , commons=y , commons-search= Eileithyia Greek goddesses Childhood goddesses Children of Zeus Children of Hera Deities in the Iliad Health goddesses Midwifery Metamorphoses characters Characters in the Odyssey Kourotrophoi Olympian deities