Despoina
Sign in to saveDespoina or Despoena (; ) was the epithet of a goddess worshipped by the Eleusinian Mysteries in Ancient Greece as the daughter of Demeter and Poseidon and the sister of Arion. Surviving sources refer to her exclusively under the title Despoina ("the Mistress," cognate of "Despot") alongside her mother Demeter, as her real name could not be revealed to anyone except those initiated into her mysteries and was consequently lost with the extinction of the Eleusinian religion.
Key facts
- Deity.image
- Lycosoura-group (cropped).jpg
- Deity.caption
- Sculpture of Demeter, and the veil of Despoina
- Deity.type
- Greek
- Deity.name
- Despoina
- Deity.abode
- Arcadia
- Deity.parents
- Poseidon and Demeter
- Deity.symbols
- Veil
- Deity.siblings
- Arion (twin), several paternal and maternal half-siblings
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
13 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Cult of Despoina
- Sanctuary at Lycosura
- Origins
- Epithet
- Archaeology
- Legacy
- See also
- Notes
- Explanatory notes
- Citations
- General and cited references
- External links
Despoina or Despoena (; ) was the epithet of a goddess worshipped by the Eleusinian Mysteries in Ancient Greece as the daughter of Demeter and Poseidon and the sister of Arion. Surviving sources refer to her exclusively under the title Despoina ("the Mistress," cognate of "Despot") alongside her mother Demeter, as her real name could not be revealed to anyone except those initiated into her mysteries and was consequently lost with the extinction of the Eleusinian religion.
==Etymology== The first element of the name Des-poina is derived from the PIE root meaning "house, household", Sanskrit "house"; Avestan "house"; Greek "house"; Latin "house". Related words "master, lord"; Latin "master of a household"; Armenian "house-lord". The second element is derived from the hypothetical PIE form , "mistress", "lady", "wife", is the feminine counterpart to , "husband"; cf. Latin , "host", Sanskrit , "master", "husband", fem. , "lady", "wife". The Greek female equivalent for was "lady, queen, mistress," source of the fem. proper name Despina. (Etymologically the "mistress of the house".)