Galateia (daughter of Eurytius)

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Galateia ( Greek  Γαλατεία "the milk white") was in Greek mythology the daughter of Eurytius and the wife of Lampros in the Cretan Phaistos .

Lampros ordered his pregnant wife to kill her child after birth if it was not a son. When she actually gives birth to a daughter, Galateia does not obey this cruel command, but raises her daughter as a boy under the name of Leucippus. As Leucippus grows up and the discovery becomes more and more likely, Galateia asks Leto to transform her child into a real boy. The goddess granted this request.

In memory of this, according to Antoninus Liberalis , the Ekdýsia are celebrated in honor of Leto Phytia . During this festival it was customary for young men to put on women's clothes instead of armor and for brides, possibly also grooms, to lie down by a statue of Leucippus.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Antoninus Liberalis Metamorphoses 17.6, after Nikandros from Kolophon