Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

, Praxithea (;

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

: Πραξιθέα) was a name attributed to five women. * Praxithea, a

Naiad In Greek mythology, the naiads (; ), sometimes also hydriads, are a type of female spirit, or nymph, presiding over fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of fresh water. They are distinct from river gods, who embodied ...

nymph A nymph (; ; sometimes spelled nymphe) is a minor female nature deity in ancient Greek folklore. Distinct from other Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature; they are typically tied to a specific place, land ...

. She married Erichthonius of Athens and by him had a son named Pandion I. Praxithea's sister Zeuxippe married her nephew Pandion, and to them were born Erechtheus, Butes, Procne and Philomela. She was also called Pasithea. * Praxithea, an

Athenian Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

daughter of Phrasimus and Diogeneia, daughter of the river-god Cephissus. She became queen of Athens after marrying King Erechtheus by whom she Cecrops, Pandorus, Metion,

Protogeneia Protogeneia (; Ancient Greek: means "the firstborn"), in Greek mythology, may refer to: *Protogeneia, a Phthian princess as the daughter of King Deucalion of Thessaly and Pyrrha, mythological progenitors of the Hellenes. She was the sister of H ...

Pandora In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first human woman created by Hephaestus on the instructions of Zeus. As Hesiod related it, each god cooperated by giving her unique gifts. Her other name—inscribed against her figure on a white-ground '' ky ...

Procris In Greek mythology, Procris (, ''gen''.: Πρόκριδος) was an Athenian princess, the third daughter of Erechtheus, king of Athens and his wife, Praxithea. Homer mentions her in the ''Odyssey'' as one of the many dead spirits Odysseus sa ...

, Creusa, Oreithyia and Chthonia. Praxithea's other possible children were Orneus, Thespius,

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 ...

4.29.2
/ref> Eupalamus,

Sicyon Sicyon (; ; ''gen''.: Σικυῶνος) or Sikyōn was an ancient Greek city state situated in the northern Peloponnesus between Corinth and Achaea on the territory of the present-day regional unit of Corinthia. The ruins lie just west of th ...

and Merope. * Praxithea, the woman that cried out when she saw

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 cro ...

holding Metanira's son Demophon in the fires, thus preventing him from becoming immortal. * Praxithea (or Phrasithea), daughter of Leos. Along with her sisters, Theope and Eubule, she sacrificed herself in order to save

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. In another version, their father was the one who offered them up to sacrifice. A precinct called the Leocorium was dedicated to the worship of these three maidens at Athens. * Praxithea, a Thespian princess as one of the 50 daughters of King Thespius and MegamedeApollodorus, 2.4.10; Tzetzes, ''Chiliades'' 2.222 or by one of his many wives.Diodorus Siculus, 4.29.2 When Heracles hunted and ultimately slayed the Cithaeronian lion, Praxithea with her other sisters, except for one, all laid with the hero in a night, a week or for 50 days as what their father strongly desired it to be. Praxithea bore

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 ...

a son, Nephus.Apollodorus
2.7.8
/ref>

Notes

References

Apollodorus Apollodorus ( Greek: Ἀπολλόδωρος ''Apollodoros'') was a popular name in ancient Greece. It is the masculine gender of a noun compounded from Apollo, the deity, and doron, "gift"; that is, "Gift of Apollo." It may refer to: :''Note: A ...

, ''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
* Athenaeus of Naucratis, ''

The Deipnosophists The ''Deipnosophistae'' (, ''Deipnosophistaí'', lit. , where ''sophists'' may be translated more loosely as ) is a work written in Ancient Greek by Athenaeus of Naucratis. It is a long work of Greek literature, literary, Ancient history, h ...

or Banquet of the Learned.'' London. Henry G. Bohn, York Street, Covent Garden. 1854
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Athenaeus of Naucratis, ''Deipnosophistae''. Kaibel. In Aedibus B.G. Teubneri. Lipsiae. 1887
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
*

Claudius Aelianus Claudius Aelianus (; ), commonly Aelian (), born at Praeneste, was a Roman author and teacher of rhetoric who flourished under Septimius Severus and probably outlived Elagabalus, who died in 222. He spoke Greek so fluently that he was called "h ...

, ''Varia Historia'' translated by Thomas Stanley (d.1700) edition of 1665
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
*Claudius Aelianus, ''Claudii Aeliani de natura animalium libri xvii, varia historia, epistolae, fragmenta, Vol 2''. Rudolf Hercher. In Aedibus B.G. Teubneri. Lipsiae. 1866
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
*

, '' The Library of History'' translated by

Charles Henry Oldfather Charles Henry Oldfather (13 June 1887 – 20 August 1954) was an American professor of Greek and Ancient History at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He was born in Tabriz, Qajar dynasty, Persia. Parentage Oldfather's parents, Jeremiah and Feli ...

. Twelve volumes.

Loeb Classical Library The Loeb Classical Library (LCL; named after James Loeb; , ) is a monographic series of books originally published by Heinemann and since 1934 by Harvard University Press. It has bilingual editions of ancient Greek and Latin literature, ...

. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59–8
Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site
*Diodorus Siculus, ''Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2''. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888-1890
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
*James, Vanessa, 2003. ''The Genealogy of Greek Mythology''. Penguin Group (USA) Inc. * Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus, ''Lives'' with an English Translation by Bernadotte Perrin. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. London. William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. 1
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website
*

Marcus Tullius Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

, ''Nature of the Gods from the Treatises of M.T. Cicero'' translated by Charles Duke Yonge (1812-1891), Bohn edition of 1878
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
*Marcus Tullius Cicero, ''De Natura Deorum.'' O. Plasberg. Leipzig. Teubner. 1917.
Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library
* 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
*

Stephanus of Byzantium Stephanus or Stephen of Byzantium (; , ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD) was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethnica'' (). Only meagre fragments of the dictionary survive, but the epit ...

, ''Stephani Byzantii Ethnicorum quae supersunt,'' edited by August Meineike (1790-1870), published 1849. A few entries from this important ancient handbook of place names have been translated by Brady Kiesling
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
*

Suida The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; ; ) is a large 10th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine encyclopedia of the History of the Mediterranean region, ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas () or Souidas (). It is an ...

, ''Suda Encyclopedia'' translated by Ross Scaife, David Whitehead, William Hutton, Catharine Roth, Jennifer Benedict, Gregory Hays, Malcolm Heath Sean M. Redmond, Nicholas Fincher, Patrick Rourke, Elizabeth Vandiver, Raphael Finkel, Frederick Williams, Carl Widstrand, Robert Dyer, Joseph L. Rife, Oliver Phillips and many others
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
* Tzetzes, John, ''Book of Histories,'' Book II-IV translated by Gary Berkowitz from the original Greek of T. Kiessling's edition of 1826
Online version at theio.com
Naiads {{Greek myth index Princesses in Greek mythology Queens in Greek mythology Women of Heracles Mythological people from Attica