Talk:Eileithyia

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Comments[edit]

I've made such radical changes I thought I should display the former text here, in case anything has been lost (Wetman 08:19, 8 Mar 2005 (UTC)):

Ilithyia was the Greek goddess of childbirth and midwives, daughter of Zeus and Hera. She was later identified with Hera and Artemis. According to Homer, there were several called Eileithyiai while Hesiod and Pausanias always claimed there was only one, known as Ilithyia. She was always the daughter of Zeus and Hera, but was sometimes said to come from Hyperborea, to the north of Greece, in order to aid Leto in giving birth to Artemis and Apollo, and other times she was born in Amnisos on Crete.

Hera kidnapped Ilithyia to prevent Leto from going into labor with Artemis and Apollo because the father was her husband, Zeus. The other gods forced Hera to let her go.

She was especially worshipped in Crete, in the cities Lato and Eleuthernia. Caves were believed to be sacred to her (perhaps a reference to the birth canal) and offerings to her have been found at caves in Amnisos and Inatos. In Amnisos, a stalagmite in one cave was probably an icon of Ilithyia. While the record of her worship on mainland Greece is spotty at best, kourotrophos (small, terracotta figures) depicted an immortal nurse who took care of divine infants. Two women, Eileithyiai, attended to Zeus while he gave birth to Athena in some artwork. Pausanias mentioned shrines to Ilithyia in Athens, 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.

Alternative: Eilithia, Eilythia, Ilithia, Eileithyia, Eileithyiai, Eleuthia (Cretan dialect)

The following text combined a dubious "etymology" ("hope" is not indicated at all in Eileithya) with a tongue-in-cheek "disambiguation" as needless as it is frivolous: "Eileithya (Ειλείθυα) is an ancient Greek female name which means "I am coming, I am hoping, I am bringing hope". It should not be confused with the Greek word Ilithia (Ηλίθια) which is pronounced exactly the same way, but it means silly." I've moved them here. --Wetman 09:34, 23 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Speaking of which, what etymological link to Eleuthernia, which is patently from eleutheros, or is this a typo?

That eleutheros is related to Eileithyia is plausible in meaning, less so in form. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 16:25, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Willetts (article mentioned) states that “on etymological grounds it is possible to suppose a connexion between the Cretan goddess Eleuthuia and the Cretan city of Eleutherna”; he refers to Nilsson's Minoan-Mycenaean Religion (2nd edition) p.519 and 521. Chantraine also acknowledges this hypothesis. Jastrow (Λέγετε) 12:33, 20 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

pronunciation[edit]

can someone put the pronunciation here?
Thanks.
Padalkar.kshitij (talk) 09:08, 29 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

IlithIa. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Euzen (talk • contribs) 20:46, 23 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Etymology[edit]

I added some references, but I believe that the section must be rewritten. It seems impossible that an earlier Minoan godess had a Greek name.Jestmoon(talk) 14:25, 9 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]