Editing Leucothea

{{Short description|Greek sea goddess}}
{{hatnote|For the genus of ctenophores, see [[Leucothea (ctenophore)]]. For the ancient Cypriot city sometimes known as Leucothea, see [[Nicosia]].}}
[[File:Leukothea, Goddess of Sailors, from the Goddesses of the Greeks and Romans series (N188) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co. MET DPB871036.jpg|thumb|"Leukothea, Goddess of Sailors," a [[cigarette card]] issued by William S. Kimball & Co.]]
In [[Greek mythology]], '''Leucothea''' ({{IPAc-en|lj|uː|ˈ|k|oʊ|θ|i|ə}}; {{langx|grc|Λευκοθέα|Leukothéa|white goddess}}), sometimes also called '''Leucothoe''' ({{langx|grc|Λευκοθόη|Leukothóē}}), was a [[Water deity|sea goddess]]. Myths surrounding Leucothea typically concern her original identity, either as [[Ino (Greek mythology)|Ino]] or [[Halia of Rhodes|Halia]], and her transformation into a goddess.

== Mythology ==

==== Ino's transfiguration into Leucothea ====
In more common versions of the story, the [[Boeotia|Boetian]] queen [[Ino (Greek mythology)|Ino]], daughter of [[Cadmus]] and [[Harmonia]], was transformed into Leucothea.<ref>[[Aristotle]], [[Rhetoric (Aristotle)|Rhetoric]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0060:book=2:chapter=23&highlight=leucothea#note46 2.23]</ref><ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''[[Description of Greece]]'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0160:book=1:chapter=42&highlight=leucothea 1.42.7]</ref><ref>[[Pindar]], ''[[Pythian 1]]'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0162:book=P.:poem=11&highlight=leucothea 11]</ref> Ino's sister, [[Semele]], was the mother of [[Dionysus]] by [[Zeus]]. After Semele's death, Ino and her husband [[Athamas]] helped raise the young Dionysus.<ref name=":0">[[Apollodorus of Athens|Apollodorus]], ''[[Bibliotheca (Apollodorus)|Library]]'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022:text=Library:book=3:chapter=4&highlight=leucothea 3.4]</ref> This action invoked Hera's wrath and jealousy, and she struck Ino with [[insanity]], causing her to boil her son [[Melicertes]] alive. When she finally came to her senses, she was horrified and leapt into the sea with the body of her dead son. Zeus took pity, and transformed Melicertes into [[Melicertes|Palaemon]], the patron of the [[Isthmian Games]], and Ino into Leucothea.<ref name=":0" />

In another version of the myth, Ino's husband [[Athamas]] was instead the one Hera struck with insanity. Athamas began to hunt his family, first killing their son [[Learchus]], before setting out to find and kill Ino and Melicertes. To escape Athamas, Ino and Melicertes leapt into the sea, and were transformed.

As a goddess, Leucothea had a temple and [[oracle]] in [[Colchis]], which was said to be founded by [[Phrixus]].<ref>[[Strabo|''Strabo'']], [[Geographica|''Geography'']], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0198:book=11:chapter=2&highlight=leucothea 11.2]</ref> She was also celebrated at the Roman festival of ''[[Matralia]]'', as she was often conflated with the Roman goddess [[Mater Matuta]].<ref>[[Plutarch]], ''Camillus'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0012:chapter=5&highlight=leucothea 5.2]</ref> During the festival, parents would nurse, care for, and pray for their nieces and nephews instead of their own children, emulating how Ino cared for her nephew, Dionysus.<ref>[[Plutarch]], ''De Fraterno Amore'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0272:section=21&highlight=leucothea 21.]</ref><ref>Plutarch, ''Quaestiones Romanae'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0212%3Asection%3D17 17]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), MATRA´LIA |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0063:entry=matralia-cn&highlight=leucothea |access-date=2025-05-21 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref>

In the ''[[Odyssey]]'', [[Homer]] makes Leucothea the transfiguration of [[Ino (Greek mythology)|Ino]].<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Odyssey]]'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0136:book=5:card=313&highlight=leucothea 5.313]</ref> When [[Odysseus]] is stranded at sea on a broken ship, Leucothea suddenly appears and tells Odysseus to discard the garments that [[Calypso (mythology)|Calypso]] had given him, wind her veil{{efn|"veil" is a translation of {{langx|grc|κρήδεμνον|krḗdemnon}} }} around himself, discard his raft, and begin to swim instead, claiming that it will bring him to land. While Odysseus doesn't believe the goddess at first,<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Odyssey]]'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0136%3Abook%3D5%3Acard%3D365 5.365]</ref> he eventually does so, and after three days, washes up upon the shores of [[Scheria]].<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Odyssey]]'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0136%3Abook%3D6%3Acard%3D1 6.1]</ref>

==== Halia's transfiguration into Leucothea ====
In the version of the myth from [[Rhodes]], a [[nymph]] or minor goddess named [[Halia of Rhodes|Halia]]{{efn| [[Halia]] means "salty" or "of the sea"; perhaps a personification of the saltiness of the sea.}} was the one who became Leucothea. Before her transformation, Halia was a [[Telchines|telechine]] as a daughter of the [[Titans|titan]]s [[Thalassa (mythology)|Thalassa]] and [[Pontus (mythology)|Pontus]] (or [[Uranus (mythology)|Uranus]]). [[Poseidon]] became enamored with Halia and together they had seven children: a daughter, [[Rhodos]],<ref>According to other traditions, Rhodos was the daughter not of Halia/Leucothea but rather [[Aphrodite]] ([[Pindar]] [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Pind.%20O.%207&lang=original O.7.14]) or [[Amphitrite]] ([[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]] [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DLibrary%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D4%3Asection%3D5 1.4.5]).</ref> and six sons. One day, when [[Aphrodite]] was sailing past Rhodes and attempted to stop at the island, their sons prevented the goddess from doing so. In anger, Aphrodite caused them to go mad, and they [[Rape|raped]] their mother. In anguish, Halia threw herself into the sea and became Leucothea. When Poseidon learned of what had happened, the sons were imprisoned beneath the island.<ref>[[Diodorus Siculus]], ''[[Bibliotheca historica]]'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/5D*.html#55 5.55.4–7]</ref> The people of Rhodes traced their mythic descent from Rhodos and the [[sun god]] [[Helios]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Graves |first=Robert |year=1955 |title=[[The Greek Myths]]}}</ref>

It is possible that Leucothea is the "Leucothoe" that [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]] makes the mother of [[Thersanon]] by Helios, although he could be referring to [[Leucothoe (daughter of Orchamus)|another woman]] by the same name.<ref>[[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''Fabulae'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#125 125]; Smith, s.v. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DL%3Aentry+group%3D12%3Aentry%3Dleucothoe-bio-1 Leucothoe]</ref>

==References in art and popular culture==
* Leucothea is mentioned by [[John Milton]] in the ''[[Paradise Lost]]'' scene where archangel Michael descends to Adam and Eve to declare that they must no longer abide in Paradise (second edition, 1674, book XI, lines 133–135):{{quote|Meanwhile,<br>To re-salute the world with sacred light,<br>Leucothea waked;…<ref>John Milton, ''The English Poems'' (Wordsworth Poetry Library, 2004).</ref>}}
* Leucothea is mentioned by [[Robert Graves]] in ''[[The White Goddess]]''.
* In [[Ezra Pound]]'s [[Cantos]], she is one of the goddess figures who comes to the poet's aid in ''Section: Rock-Drill'' (Cantos 85–95). She is introduced in Canto 91 as "Cadmus's daughter":{{quote|As the sea-gull Κάδμου θυγάτηρ said to Odysseus<br>KADMOU THUGATER<br>"get rid of parap[h]ernalia"}}
* She returns in Cantos 93 ("Κάδμου θυγάτηρ") and 95 ("Κάδμου θυγάτηρ/ bringing light ''per diafana''/ λευκὁς Λευκόθοε/ white foam, a sea-gull… 'My bikini is worth yr/ raft'. Said Leucothae… Then Leucothea had pity,/'mortal once/ Who now is a sea-god…'"), and reappears at the beginning of Canto 96, the first of the ''Thrones'' section ("Κρήδεμνον…/ κρήδεμνον…/ and the wave concealed her,/ dark mass of great water.").
* Leucothea appears twice in ''Dialoghi con Leucò'' (Dialogues with Leucò) by [[Cesare Pavese]].
* ''[[Leucothoé]]'' was the first work by the Irish playwright [[Isaac Bickerstaffe]] published in 1756.
* Leucothea becomes a metaphor, in [[Marcel Proust]]'s ''In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower'', for the mist that covers a young man's gaze when looking on the beauty of young women: "…a cloud that had re-formed a few days later, once I had met them, muting the glow of their loveliness, often passing between them and my eyes, which saw them now dimmed, as through a gentle haze, reminiscent of Virgil's Leucothea."<ref>Marcel Proust, ''In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower'', trans. James Grieve (New York: Penguin Books, 2002), 526.</ref>
* Leukothea is a poem by Keith Douglas.<ref>Keith Douglas, ''The Complete Poems'' with introduction by Ted Hughes (Oxford University Press, 2011).</ref>

== Namesake ==
*[[35 Leukothea]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== General references ==
{{Commons category|Leucothea}}
*{{cite book|last=Burkert|first=Walter|author-link=Walter Burkert|date=1985|title=Greek Religion|url=|location=|publisher=|page=|isbn=}}
* Cooper, J.C., ed. (1997). ''Brewer's Book of Myth and Legend''. Oxford: Helicon Publishing Ltd.
*{{cite book|last=Kerenyi|first=Karl|author-link=Karl Kerenyi|date=1951|title=The Gods of the Greeks|url=|location=|publisher=|page=|isbn=}}
*{{cite book|last=Russo|first=Sergio|author-link=Sergio Russo|date=2017|title=Quando il mare profuma di ambrosia. Leucotea e Palemone nel Mediterraneo|url=|location=|publisher=|page=|isbn=}}

{{Greek mythology (deities)}}

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[[Category:Metamorphoses in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Characters in the Odyssey]]
[[Category:Greek sea goddesses]]
[[Category:Metamorphoses characters]]
[[Category:Sea and river goddesses]]
[[Category:Women of Helios]]
[[Category:Rhodian mythology]]
[[Category:Boeotian mythology]]
[[Category:Corinthian mythology]]