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 ...

, Psophis (

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 ...

: Ψῶφις) was the name of four characters (one male and three female), all of whom were considered possible

eponyms An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

for the city of Psophis. They are enlisted in one passage of Pausanias' ''Description of Greece''. ''Male:'' *Psophis, a descendant of Nyctimus, son of King Lycaon of Arcadia. The lineage is as follows: Nyctimus - Periphetes - Parthaon - Aristas - Erymanthus - Arrhon - Psophis. Pausanias
8.24.1
/ref> ''Female:'' *Psophis, an Arcadian princess as the daughter of King Lycaon, is mentioned as the possible eponym of the city by

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 ...

. *Psophis, daughter of Xanthus and granddaughter of Erymanthus (son of

Arcas In Greek mythology, Arcas (; Ancient Greek: Ἀρκάς) was a hunter who became king of Arcadia. He was remembered for having taught people the arts of weaving and baking bread and for spreading agriculture to Arcadia. Family Arcas was the ...

). *Psophis, daughter of Eryx, a Sicilian despot. She was made pregnant 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 ...

, who then entrusted her to his friend

Lycortas Lycortas of Megalopolis, Greece, Megalopolis ( ''Lykórtas''), son of Thearidas, was a politician of the Achaean League active in the first half of the 2nd century BC. He was the father of the historian Polybius. A political ally of Philopoemen, ...

, a native of the city of Phegeia (older name for the city of Psophis). She gave birth to two sons, Echephron and

Promachus In Greek mythology and history, Promachus (; Ancient Greek: Πρόμαχος; English translation: "who leads in battle" or "champion") is a name that refers to several different people. ''Mythology'' *Promachus, son of Aeson. King of Iolcus, an ...

, who were brought up in Phegeia and renamed it Psophis after their mother.Pausanias
8.24.2
/ref>

Notes

References

* 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
*

, ''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.
{{Greek myth index Women of Heracles Women in Greek mythology Arcadian mythology