Ilithyia
Encyclopedia
Eileithyia or Ilithyia (icon; ), was the Cretan goddess
adopted into ancient Greek religion and myth
as the goddess of childbirth and midwifery
.
etymology, which for R. F. Willets strengthens her link with Minoan culture. "The links between Eileithyia, an earlier Minoan goddess, and a still earlier Neolithic
prototype are, relatively, firm," Willets wrote. "The explanation is as simple as it is important. The continuity of her cult depends upon the unchanging concept of her function. Eileithyia was the goddess of childbirth; and the divine helper of women in labour has an obvious origin in the human midwife". Others suggest that the name is Greek, from the verb eleutho (ελεύθω), to bring, the goddess thus being The Bringer. On the other hand, the variants "Eleuthia" (Cretan) and "Eleuthō" (used by Pindar
) suggest a possible connection with "eleutheria" (freedom), in which case the word may simply mean "Deliverer", with an obvious association to childbirth. The earliest form of the name is the Mycenaean Greek e-re-u-ti-ja, written in Linear b
syllabic script. Ilithyia is the latinisation
of the Greek Εἰλείθυια.
Hesiod
(c. 700 BC) described Eileithyia as a daughter of Hera by Zeus
(Theogony 921)—and Apollodorus
(c. 180–120 BC) and Diodorus Siculus
(c. 90–27 BC) (5.72.5) agreed. But Pausanias
writing in the 2nd century AD reported another early source (now lost): "The Lycia
n Olen
, an earlier poet, who composed for the Delians
, among other hymns, one to Eileithyia, styles her 'the clever spinner
', clearly identifying her with Fate
, and makes her older than Cronus
.” Being the youngest born to Gaia
, Cronus was a Titan of the first generation and he was identified as the father of Zeus. Likewise, the meticulously accurate mythographer, Pindar
(522–443 BC), also makes no mention of Zeus:
Later, for the Classical Greeks, "She is closely associated with Artemis
and Hera
," Burkert asserts (1985, p 1761) "but develops no character of her own." In the Orphic Hymn
to Prothyraeia, the association of a goddess of childbirth as an epithet of virginal Artemis, making the death-dealing huntress also "she who comes to the aid of women in childbirth," (Graves 1955 15.a.1), would be inexplicable in purely Olympian terms:
Thus Aelian
in the 3rd century AD could refer to "Artemis of the child-bed" (On Animals 7.15).
To Homer she is "the goddess of the pains of birth." The Iliad
pictures Eileithyia alone, or sometimes multiplied, as the Eileithyiai:
The Beauty of Durrës
, a large 4th century BC mosaic showing the head figure of a woman, probably portrays the goddess Eileithyia.
Vase-painters, when illustrating the birth of Athena
from Zeus' head, may show two assisting Eileithyiai, with their hands raised in the epiphany
gesture.
near Amnisos
, the harbor of Knossos
, which the Odyssey
(xix.198) mentions in connection with her cult, was accounted the birthplace of Eileithyia. The Cretan cave has stalactites suggestive of the goddess' double form (Kerenyi 1976 fig. 6), of bringing labor on and of delaying it, and votive offerings to her have been found establishing the continuity of her cult her from Neolithic times, with a revival as late as the Roman period. Here she was probably being worshipped before Zeus arrived in the Aegean, but certainly in Minoan-Mycenaean times (Burkert 1985 p 171; Nilsson 1950:53). The goddess is mentioned as Eleuthia in a Linear B
fragment from Knossos In classical times, there were shrines to Eileithyia in the Cretan cities of Lato and Eleutherna and a sacred cave at Inatos.
On the Greek mainland, at Olympia
, an archaic shrine with an inner cella
sacred to the serpent-savior of the city (Sosipolis) and to Eileithyia was seen by the traveller Pausanias
in the 2nd century AD (Greece vi.20.1–3); in it a virgin-priestess cared for a serpent
that was "fed" on honeyed barley-cakes and water—an offering suited to Demeter. The shrine memorialized the appearance of a crone with a babe in arms, at a crucial moment when Elians
were threatened by forces from Arcadia
. The child, placed on the ground between the contending forces, changed into a serpent, driving the Arcadians away in flight, before it disappeared into the hill.
There were ancient icons of Eileithyia at Athens, one said to have been brought from Crete, according to Pausanias, who mentioned shrines to Ilithyia in Tenea
and Argos
, with an extremely important shrine in Aigion. Ilithyia, along with Artemis and Persephone
, is often shown carrying torches to bring children out of darkness and into light: in Roman mythology
her counterpart in easing labor is Lucina ("of the light").
In Greek shrines, small terracotta votive figures (kourotrophos) depicted an immortal nurse who took care of divine infants, who may be connected with Eileithyia. According to the Homeric Hymn III to Delian Apollo, Hera detained Eileithyia, who was coming from the Hyperboreans in the far north, to prevent Leto
from going into labor with Artemis and Apollo, because the father was Zeus. Hera was very jealous of Zeus's relations with others and went out of her way to make the women suffer. The other goddesses present at the birthing on Delos sent Iris
to bring her. As she stepped upon the island, the birth began.
She was especially worshipped in Crete, in the cities Lato
and doubtless, from its etymological link, Eleutherna
, though no archaeological find has identified her there. Caves were sacred to her: the inescapable association to the birth canal can not be proved beyond a skeptic's doubt.
Minoan civilization
The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization that arose on the island of Crete and flourished from approximately the 27th century BC to the 15th century BC. It was rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century through the work of the British archaeologist Arthur Evans...
adopted into ancient Greek religion and myth
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
as the goddess of childbirth and midwifery
Midwifery
Midwifery is a health care profession in which providers offer care to childbearing women during pregnancy, labour and birth, and during the postpartum period. They also help care for the newborn and assist the mother with breastfeeding....
.
Etymology and cult
According to some authors her name does not have an Indo-EuropeanIndo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major current languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and South Asia and also historically predominant in Anatolia...
etymology, which for R. F. Willets strengthens her link with Minoan culture. "The links between Eileithyia, an earlier Minoan goddess, and a still earlier Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
prototype are, relatively, firm," Willets wrote. "The explanation is as simple as it is important. The continuity of her cult depends upon the unchanging concept of her function. Eileithyia was the goddess of childbirth; and the divine helper of women in labour has an obvious origin in the human midwife". Others suggest that the name is Greek, from the verb eleutho (ελεύθω), to bring, the goddess thus being The Bringer. On the other hand, the variants "Eleuthia" (Cretan) and "Eleuthō" (used by Pindar
Pindar
Pindar , was an Ancient Greek lyric poet. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian described him as "by far the greatest of the nine lyric poets, in virtue of his inspired magnificence, the beauty of his thoughts and figures, the rich...
) suggest a possible connection with "eleutheria" (freedom), in which case the word may simply mean "Deliverer", with an obvious association to childbirth. The earliest form of the name is the Mycenaean Greek e-re-u-ti-ja, written in Linear b
Linear B
Linear B is a syllabic script that was used for writing Mycenaean Greek, an early form of Greek. It pre-dated the Greek alphabet by several centuries and seems to have died out with the fall of Mycenaean civilization...
syllabic script. Ilithyia is the latinisation
Latinisation (literature)
Latinisation is the practice of rendering a non-Latin name in a Latin style. It is commonly met with for historical personal names, with toponyms, or for the standard binomial nomenclature of the life sciences. It goes further than Romanisation, which is the writing of a word in the Latin alphabet...
of the Greek Εἰλείθυια.
Hesiod
Hesiod
Hesiod was a Greek oral poet generally thought by scholars to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. His is the first European poetry in which the poet regards himself as a topic, an individual with a distinctive role to play. Ancient authors credited him and...
(c. 700 BC) described Eileithyia as a daughter of Hera by Zeus
Zeus
In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
(Theogony 921)—and Apollodorus
Apollodorus
Apollodorus of Athens son of Asclepiades, was a Greek scholar and grammarian. He was a pupil of Diogenes of Babylon, Panaetius the Stoic, and the grammarian Aristarchus of Samothrace...
(c. 180–120 BC) and Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus Siculus was a Greek historian who flourished between 60 and 30 BC. According to Diodorus' own work, he was born at Agyrium in Sicily . With one exception, antiquity affords no further information about Diodorus' life and doings beyond what is to be found in his own work, Bibliotheca...
(c. 90–27 BC) (5.72.5) agreed. But Pausanias
Pausanias (geographer)
Pausanias was a Greek traveler and geographer of the 2nd century AD, who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. He is famous for his Description of Greece , a lengthy work that describes ancient Greece from firsthand observations, and is a crucial link between classical...
writing in the 2nd century AD reported another early source (now lost): "The Lycia
Lycia
Lycia Lycian: Trm̃mis; ) was a region in Anatolia in what are now the provinces of Antalya and Muğla on the southern coast of Turkey. It was a federation of ancient cities in the region and later a province of the Roman Empire...
n Olen
Olen (poet)
Olen was a legendary early poet from Lycia who went to Delos, where his hymns celebrating the first handmaidens of Apollo in the island of the god's birth and other "ancient hymns" were still part of the cult at Delos in the time of Herodotus:...
, an earlier poet, who composed for the Delians
Delos
The island of Delos , isolated in the centre of the roughly circular ring of islands called the Cyclades, near Mykonos, is one of the most important mythological, historical and archaeological sites in Greece...
, among other hymns, one to Eileithyia, styles her 'the clever spinner
Weaving (mythology)
The theme of weaving in mythology is ancient, and its lost mythic lore probably accompanied the early spread of this art. In traditional societies today, westward of Central Asia and the Iranian plateau, weaving is a mystery within woman's sphere...
', clearly identifying her with Fate
Moirae
The Moirae, Moerae or Moirai , in Greek mythology, were the white-robed incarnations of destiny . Their number became fixed at three...
, and makes her older than Cronus
Cronus
In Greek mythology, Cronus or Kronos was the leader and the youngest of the first generation of Titans, divine descendants of Gaia, the earth, and Uranus, the sky...
.” Being the youngest born to Gaia
Gaia (mythology)
Gaia was the primordial Earth-goddess in ancient Greek religion. Gaia was the great mother of all: the heavenly gods and Titans were descended from her union with Uranus , the sea-gods from her union with Pontus , the Giants from her mating with Tartarus and mortal creatures were sprung or born...
, Cronus was a Titan of the first generation and he was identified as the father of Zeus. Likewise, the meticulously accurate mythographer, Pindar
Pindar
Pindar , was an Ancient Greek lyric poet. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian described him as "by far the greatest of the nine lyric poets, in virtue of his inspired magnificence, the beauty of his thoughts and figures, the rich...
(522–443 BC), also makes no mention of Zeus:
- Goddess of childbirth, Eileithyia, maid to the throne of the deep-thinking Moirai, child of all-powerful HeraHeraHera was the wife and one of three sisters of Zeus in the Olympian pantheon of Greek mythology and religion. Her chief function was as the goddess of women and marriage. Her counterpart in the religion of ancient Rome was Juno. The cow and the peacock were sacred to her...
, hear my song.
- —Seventh Nemean Ode.
Later, for the Classical Greeks, "She is closely associated with Artemis
Artemis
Artemis was one of the most widely venerated of the Ancient Greek deities. Her Roman equivalent is Diana. Some scholars believe that the name and indeed the goddess herself was originally pre-Greek. Homer refers to her as Artemis Agrotera, Potnia Theron: "Artemis of the wildland, Mistress of Animals"...
and Hera
Hera
Hera was the wife and one of three sisters of Zeus in the Olympian pantheon of Greek mythology and religion. Her chief function was as the goddess of women and marriage. Her counterpart in the religion of ancient Rome was Juno. The cow and the peacock were sacred to her...
," Burkert asserts (1985, p 1761) "but develops no character of her own." In the Orphic Hymn
Orpheus
Orpheus was a legendary musician, poet, and prophet in ancient Greek religion and myth. The major stories about him are centered on his ability to charm all living things and even stones with his music; his attempt to retrieve his wife from the underworld; and his death at the hands of those who...
to Prothyraeia, the association of a goddess of childbirth as an epithet of virginal Artemis, making the death-dealing huntress also "she who comes to the aid of women in childbirth," (Graves 1955 15.a.1), would be inexplicable in purely Olympian terms:
- When racked with labour pangs, and sore distressed
- the sex invoke thee, as the soul’s sure rest;
- for thou Eileithyia alone canst give relief to pain,
- which art attempts to ease, but tries in vain.
- Artemis Eileithyia, venerable power,
- who bringest relief in labour’s dreadful hour.”
- —Orphic Hymn 2, to Prothyraeia, as translated by Thomas Taylor, 1792.
Thus Aelian
Claudius Aelianus
Claudius Aelianus , often seen as just Aelian, born at Praeneste, was a Roman author and teacher of rhetoric who flourished under Septimius Severus and probably outlived Elagabalus, who died in 222...
in the 3rd century AD could refer to "Artemis of the child-bed" (On Animals 7.15).
To Homer she is "the goddess of the pains of birth." The Iliad
Iliad
The Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles...
pictures Eileithyia alone, or sometimes multiplied, as the Eileithyiai:
- "The sharp sorrow of pain descends on a woman in labour, the bitterness that the hard Eileithyiai bring on, Hera’s daughters, who hold the power of the bitter birthpangs.”
- —Iliad XI.270.
The Beauty of Durrës
The Beauty of Durrës
The Beauty of Durrës or The Beautiful Maiden of Durrës is a polychromatic mosaic of the 4th century BC; the most ancient and prominent mosaic discovered in Albania up to date. The mosaic is elliptical in shape and depicts a woman’s head on a black background surrounded by flowers and floral elements...
, a large 4th century BC mosaic showing the head figure of a woman, probably portrays the goddess Eileithyia.
Vase-painters, when illustrating the birth of Athena
Athena
In Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...
from Zeus' head, may show two assisting Eileithyiai, with their hands raised in the epiphany
Epiphany (feeling)
An epiphany is the sudden realization or comprehension of the essence or meaning of something...
gesture.
Cult at Amnisos
The cave of EileithyiaEileithyia Cave
Eileithyia Cave was a Neolithic, Minoan and Mycenaean sacred cave dedicated to the goddess of childbirth, Eileithyia, on the island of Crete.-Mythology:...
near Amnisos
Amnisos
Amnisos, also Amnissos and Amnisus, is a Bronze Age settlement on the north shore of Crete used as a port to the palace city of Knossos. It appears in Greek literature and mythology from the earliest times, but its origin is far earlier, in prehistory. The historic settlement belonged to a...
, the harbor of Knossos
Knossos
Knossos , also known as Labyrinth, or Knossos Palace, is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete and probably the ceremonial and political centre of the Minoan civilization and culture. The palace appears as a maze of workrooms, living spaces, and store rooms close to a central square...
, which the Odyssey
Odyssey
The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second—the Iliad being the first—extant work of Western literature...
(xix.198) mentions in connection with her cult, was accounted the birthplace of Eileithyia. The Cretan cave has stalactites suggestive of the goddess' double form (Kerenyi 1976 fig. 6), of bringing labor on and of delaying it, and votive offerings to her have been found establishing the continuity of her cult her from Neolithic times, with a revival as late as the Roman period. Here she was probably being worshipped before Zeus arrived in the Aegean, but certainly in Minoan-Mycenaean times (Burkert 1985 p 171; Nilsson 1950:53). The goddess is mentioned as Eleuthia in a Linear B
Linear B
Linear B is a syllabic script that was used for writing Mycenaean Greek, an early form of Greek. It pre-dated the Greek alphabet by several centuries and seems to have died out with the fall of Mycenaean civilization...
fragment from Knossos In classical times, there were shrines to Eileithyia in the Cretan cities of Lato and Eleutherna and a sacred cave at Inatos.
On the Greek mainland, at Olympia
Olympia, Greece
Olympia , a sanctuary of ancient Greece in Elis, is known for having been the site of the Olympic Games in classical times, comparable in importance to the Pythian Games held in Delphi. Both games were held every Olympiad , the Olympic Games dating back possibly further than 776 BC...
, an archaic shrine with an inner cella
Cella
A cella or naos , is the inner chamber of a temple in classical architecture, or a shop facing the street in domestic Roman architecture...
sacred to the serpent-savior of the city (Sosipolis) and to Eileithyia was seen by the traveller Pausanias
Pausanias (geographer)
Pausanias was a Greek traveler and geographer of the 2nd century AD, who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. He is famous for his Description of Greece , a lengthy work that describes ancient Greece from firsthand observations, and is a crucial link between classical...
in the 2nd century AD (Greece vi.20.1–3); in it a virgin-priestess cared for a serpent
Serpent (symbolism)
Serpent in Latin means: Rory Collins :&, in turn, from the Biblical Hebrew word of: "saraf" with root letters of: which refers to something burning-as, the pain of poisonous snake's bite was likened to internal burning.This word is commonly used in a specifically mythic or religious context,...
that was "fed" on honeyed barley-cakes and water—an offering suited to Demeter. The shrine memorialized the appearance of a crone with a babe in arms, at a crucial moment when Elians
Elis
Elis, or Eleia is an ancient district that corresponds with the modern Elis peripheral unit...
were threatened by forces from Arcadia
Arcadia
Arcadia is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Peloponnese. It is situated in the central and eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. It takes its name from the mythological character Arcas. In Greek mythology, it was the home of the god Pan...
. The child, placed on the ground between the contending forces, changed into a serpent, driving the Arcadians away in flight, before it disappeared into the hill.
There were ancient icons of Eileithyia at Athens, one said to have been brought from Crete, according to Pausanias, who mentioned shrines to Ilithyia in Tenea
Tenea
Tenea is an ancient city and a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Corinth, of which it is a municipal unit. The seat of the municipality was in Chiliomodi. Ancient Tenea was established approximately 15...
and Argos
Argos
Argos is a city and a former municipality in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Argos-Mykines, of which it is a municipal unit. It is 11 kilometres from Nafplion, which was its historic harbour...
, with an extremely important shrine in Aigion. Ilithyia, along with Artemis and Persephone
Persephone
In Greek mythology, Persephone , also called Kore , is the daughter of Zeus and the harvest-goddess Demeter, and queen of the underworld; she was abducted by Hades, the god-king of the underworld....
, is often shown carrying torches to bring children out of darkness and into light: in Roman mythology
Roman mythology
Roman mythology is the body of traditional stories pertaining to ancient Rome's legendary origins and religious system, as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans...
her counterpart in easing labor is Lucina ("of the light").
In Greek shrines, small terracotta votive figures (kourotrophos) depicted an immortal nurse who took care of divine infants, who may be connected with Eileithyia. According to the Homeric Hymn III to Delian Apollo, Hera detained Eileithyia, who was coming from the Hyperboreans in the far north, to prevent Leto
Leto
In Greek mythology, Leto is a daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe. The island of Kos is claimed as her birthplace. In the Olympian scheme, Zeus is the father of her twins, Apollo and Artemis, the Letoides, which Leto conceived after her hidden beauty accidentally caught the eyes of Zeus...
from going into labor with Artemis and Apollo, because the father was Zeus. Hera was very jealous of Zeus's relations with others and went out of her way to make the women suffer. The other goddesses present at the birthing on Delos sent Iris
Iris (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Iris is the personification of the rainbow and messenger of the gods. As the sun unites Earth and heaven, Iris links the gods to humanity...
to bring her. As she stepped upon the island, the birth began.
She was especially worshipped in Crete, in the cities Lato
Lato
Lato was an ancient city of Crete, the ruins of which are located approximately 3 km from the small town of Kritsa. The Dorian city-state was built in a defensible position overlooking Mirabello Bay between two peaks, both of which became acropolises to the city...
and doubtless, from its etymological link, Eleutherna
Eleutherna
Eleutherna , also called Apollonia, was an ancient city-state in Crete, Greece, which lies 25 km southeast of Rethymno in Rethymno Prefecture...
, though no archaeological find has identified her there. Caves were sacred to her: the inescapable association to the birth canal can not be proved beyond a skeptic's doubt.