Eileithyia
Eileithyia ( ancient Greek Εἰλείθυια , also Ilithyia , Mycenaean ????? E-re-u-ti-ja , Doric Ἐλευθ (υ) ία Eleuth (y) ia “the [to help]] coming”, or from a pre-Greek name, often also in the plural appearing as Eileithyiai ) was the goddess of childbirth in Greek mythology .
myth
Eileithyia is the daughter of Zeus and Hera , her siblings were Hebe and Ares . According to Homer, the Eileithyiai were daughters of Hera. The place of birth of Eileithyia was in the cave of Amnissos in Crete .
When Alkmene was expecting a child from Zeus, Eileithyia was obliged by Zeus' wife Hera to prevent the childbirth. Burning jealousy was the reason. She hated the infant Heracles from the beginning, and even later when he was the classic hero. Eileithyia sat down in front of Alcmene's room and crossed her fingers, arms and legs. This made it impossible to give birth, and Alkmene suffered agony for seven days because she could not give birth. Her maid Galanthis, however, noticed something and exclaimed: “The child is here, it is a boy!” Eileithyia jumped up in horror to see how this could have happened, thereby loosening her spell and finally making the birth of Heracles possible. As a punishment for cheating on the goddess, Galanthis was turned into a weasel or ichneumon .
During Leto's delivery , when she was to give birth with Artemis and Apollon , Hera, out of jealousy, instructed Eileithyia to extend the birth.
cult
She was venerated as the protector of women giving birth, especially in Crete in the Eileithyia cave near Amnissos and in Laconia . Also in Hermione in the Peloponnese there are said to have been sanctuaries for Eileithyia. According to a report by Pausanias , sacrifices were offered to her there with consecration gifts and incense every day . No one except the priestesses of these shrines were allowed to see the cult image.
Eileithyia corresponds to the Roman Lucina .
literature
- R. Olmos: Eileithyia . In: Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC). Volume III, Zurich / Munich 1986, pp. 534-540.
- Semeli Pingiatoglu: Eileithyia . Königshausen and Neumann, Würzburg 1981.
- Ludwig von Sybel: Eileithyia . In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 1,1, Leipzig 1886, Col. 1219-1221 ( digitized version ).
- RF Willetts: Cretan Eileithyia . In: The Classical Quarterly , 52, 1958, pp. 221-223.
Web links
- Eileithyia in the Theoi Project (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Pierre Chantraine : Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque. Volume 1. Klincksieck, Paris 1968, p. 318 ( digitized version ).
- ^ Hesiod Theogony 921. Library of Apollodor 1.13
- ↑ Homer Iliad 11,270
- ↑ Pausanias 1,18,5
- ↑ Ovid Metamorphosen 9,281 ff. Antoninus Liberalis Metamorphosen 29
- ↑ Homeric Hymn 3.89 ff