Kourotrophos

thumb|Late Mycenaean Kourotrophe phi-figurine (circa 1360 B.C.E.) (Louvre) |294x294px|alt=

Kourotrophos ( 'child nurturer') is the name that was given in ancient Greece to gods and goddesses whose properties included their ability to protect young people. Numerous gods are referred to by the epithet such as Athena, Leto, Apollo, Hermes, Hecate, Aphrodite, Artemis, Eileithyia, Demeter, Gaia, Cephissus and Asclepius. They were usually depicted holding an infant in their arms. Deianeria and Ariadne were occasionally shown on vases with their children, Hyllus and Staphylos and Oenopion respectively, but there is no evidence that there was a cult around them as kourotrophic figures.