Editing Eileithyia (section)

==Cult==
[[File:Near the Painter of the Nicosia Olpe - ABV 454 extra - hen between cocks - Zeus between winged goddesses - Rhodos AM 10593 - 03.jpg|thumb|Zeus with two goddesses, perhaps two Eileithyiae, on a black-figure [[hydria]] from [[Rhodes]], c. 530 BC<ref>Olmos, p. 691.</ref>]]

As the primary goddess of childbirth along with [[Artemis]], Eileithyia had numerous shrines in many locations in Greece dating from Neolithic to Roman times, indicating that she was extremely important to pregnant women and their families.<ref name=":42">{{Cite book|last=Dillon|first=Matthew|title=Girls and Women in Classical Greek Religion|publisher=Routledge|year=2002|location=Milton Park, Oxfordshire|pages=230}}</ref> People would pray for and leave offerings for aid in fertility, safe childbirth, or give appreciation for a successful birth.<ref name=":23">{{cite thesis|last=Wise|first=Susan|title=Childbirth Votives and Rituals in Ancient Greece|date=2007|publisher=University of Cincinnati|type=PhD}}</ref> Archaeological evidence of terracotta votive figurines depict children found at shrines, and holy sites dedicated to Eileithyia suggest that she was a [[Kourotrophos|kourotrophic]] divinity, whom parents would have prayed to for protection and care of their children.<ref name=":23"/> Midwives had an essential role in ancient Greek society, with women of all classes participating in the profession - many being slaves with only empirical training or some theoretical training in obstetrics and gynecology.<ref name=":32">{{Cite journal|last1=Tsoucalas|first1=G.|last2=Karamanou|first2=M.|last3=Sgantzos|first3=M.|date=2014|title=Midwifery in ancient Greece, midwife or gynaecologist-obstetrician?|journal=Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology|volume=34|issue=6|pages=547|doi=10.3109/01443615.2014.911834|pmid=24832625|s2cid=207435300}}</ref> More highly educated midwives, typically from higher classes, were referred to as {{lang|grc-Latn|iatrenes}} or doctors of women's diseases and would be respected as physicians.<ref name=":32" />

She was invoked by women in labour, to ease the pain of labour, and to further the birth. [[Callimachus]] recorded the hymn:<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Callimachus|date=1921|title=Epigrams|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4159/dlcl.callimachus-epigrams.1921|access-date=2021-12-05|website=Digital Loeb Classical Library|doi=10.4159/dlcl.callimachus-epigrams.1921}}</ref>

{{quote|text=Even so again, Eileithyia, come thou when Kykainis calls, to bless her pains with easy birth; so may thy fragrant shrine have, as now this offering for a girl, some other offering hereafter for a boy.|author=Callimachus|title=Epigrams 54|source=translated by Mair{{fcn|date=February 2023}}}}

She was strongly connected with the goddesses Artemis and [[Hecate|Hekate]], sharing with the latter strong chthonic elements in her cult.<ref name=":23"/>

===Achaea===
Pausanias described a sanctuary to the goddess in the city of [[Aigion]], and the cult associated with it: "At Aigion [in Akhaia] is an ancient sanctuary of Eileithyia, and her image is covered from head to foot with finely-woven drapery; it is of wood except the face, hands and feet, which are made of Pentelic marble. One hand is stretched out straight; the other holds up a torch. One might conjecture that torches are an attribute of Eileithyia because the pangs of women are just like fire. The torches might also be explained by the fact that it is Eileithyia who brings children to the light."<ref>Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'' 7. 23. 5</ref>

Aside from the sanctuary in the city of Aigion, Pausanias also noted that there were temples to the goddess in the towns of [[Bura (Achaea)|Boura]]<ref>Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'' 7. 25. 9</ref>  and [[Pellene]] in Achaea.<ref>Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'' 7. 27. 7</ref>

===Arcadia ===
Pausanias described two sanctuaries to the goddess in Arcadia, one in the town of [[Kleitor]]<ref name="ReferenceA">Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'' 8. 21. 3</ref> and the other one in Tegea.<ref>Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'' 8. 48. 7</ref> In Kleitor, she was worshipped as one of the most important deities, along with Demeter and Asklepios, and her sanctuary the most important one alongside the other two.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

=== Argos ===
Offerings were often given to the goddess Eileithyia within the ten days following a child's birth<ref>{{Cite book|author=Sophocles |translator-first=Richard C. |translator-last=Jebb|title=The Plays and Fragments|at=Part VI: The Electra|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1894|location=Cambridge}}</ref> Pausanias describes a sanctuary to her in the city of Argos, and the myth associated with it: "Near the Lords [sanctuary of the Dioskouroi at Argos] is a sanctuary of Eilethyia, dedicated by Helene when, Theseus having gone away with Peirithous to Thesprotia, Aphidna had been captured by the Dioskouroi and Helen was being brought to Lakedaimon. For it is said that she was with child, was delivered in Argos, and founded the sanctuary of Eilethyia, giving the daughter she bore to Klytaimnestra, who was already wedded to Agamemnon."<ref>Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'' 2. 22. 6</ref> Pausanias noted a shrine to her in Mycenae, and an important shrine in Mases in Argolis: "[At Mases, Argos] there is a sanctuary of Eileithyia within the wall. Every day, both with sacrifices and with incense, they magnificently propitiate the goddess, and, moreover, there is a vast number of votive gifts offered to Eileithyia. But the image no one may see, except, perhaps, the priestesses."<ref>Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'' 2. 35. 11</ref>

=== Athens ===
There were ancient icons of Eileithyia at Athens, one said to have been brought from Crete, according to [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], who mentioned shrines to Eileithyia in [[Tegea]]<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+8.48.7 8.48.7] .</ref> and [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]], with an extremely important shrine in [[Aigion]]. Eileithyia, 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 (goddess)|Lucina]] ("of the light").{{cn|date=April 2025}}

[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] noted: 

{{quote|[Near the Prytaneion or Town Hall of Athens] is a temple of Eileithyia, who they say came from the Hyperboreans to Delos and helped Leto in her labour; and from Delos the name spread to other peoples. The Delians sacrifice to Eileithyia and sing a hymn of Olen. But the Kretans suppose that Eileithyia was born at Amnisos in the Knossian territory [in Krete], and that Hera was her mother. Only among the Athenians are the wooden figures of Eileithyia draped to the feet. The women told me that two are Kretan, being offerings of Phaidra [daughter of the mythical King Minos of Krete], and that the third, which is the oldest, Erysikhthon [an early king of Athens] brought from Delos.<ref>Pausanias, Description of Greece 1. 18. 5 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.)</ref>}}

===Corinth===
[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] noted a sanctuary in Corinth: "When you have turned from the Akrokorinthos [at Korinthos] into the mountain road you see the Teneatic gate and a sanctuary of Eileithyia."<ref>Pausanias, Description of Greece 2. 5. 4</ref>

=== Crete ===
The [[Eileithyia Cave|Cave of Eileithyia]] near [[Amnisos]], the harbor of [[Knossos]], mentioned in the ''[[Odyssey]]'' (xix.189) in connection with her cult, was accounted the birthplace of Eileithyia.<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Odyssey]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng1:19.148-19.189 19.189].</ref> In the river nearby also named Amnisos, lived nymphs that were sacred to Eileithyia named Amnisades and Amnisabes.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Smith|first=William|title=Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography; Amni'sus|publisher=Walton and Maberly|year=1854|language=English}}</ref> 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 from Neolithic times, with a revival as late as the Roman period.<ref>For the proceedings and findings of the archaeology, see [[Amnisos]].</ref> Here she was probably being worshipped before Zeus arrived in the Aegean, but certainly in Minoan–Mycenaean times.<ref name=":123"/> The goddess is mentioned as '''Eleuthia''' in a [[Linear B]] fragment from Knossos, where it is stated that her temple is given an amphora of honey.<ref name=":14">Walter Burkert (1985). ''Greek Religion''. Harvard University Press. [https://books.google.com/books?id=sxurBtx6shoC&pg=PA26 p. 26]</ref> In the cave of [[Amnisos]] (Crete) the god Enesidaon (the "earth shaker", who is the chthonic [[Poseidon]]) is related to the cult of Eileithyia.<ref>Dietrich, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=rgWHB3QMB3sC&pg=PA220 220]–[https://books.google.com/books?id=rgWHB3QMB3sC&pg=PA221 221].</ref> She was related with the annual birth of the divine child.<ref>Dietrich, [https://books.google.com/books?id=rgWHB3QMB3sC&pg=PA109 p. 109].</ref> The goddess of nature and her companion survived in the [[Eleusinian mysteries|Eleusinian cult]], where the following words were uttered: "Mighty [[Potnia]] bore a strong son."<ref>Dietrich, [https://books.google.com/books?id=rgWHB3QMB3sC&pg=167 p. 167]</ref>

In classical times, there were shrines to Eileithyia in the Cretan cities of [[Lato]] and [[Eleutherna]] and a sacred cave at [[Inatos]]. At a sanctuary in [[Inatos|Tsoutsouros Inatos]], two small terracotta figures, one breastfeeding and the other pregnant, have been dated to the 7th century.<ref name=":42"/>

=== Delos ===
According to the [[Homeric Hymn]] III to [[Delos|Delian]] Apollo, Hera detained Eileithyia, who was coming from the [[Hyperborea]]ns in the far north, to prevent [[Leto]] from going into labor with Artemis and Apollo, since the father was her husband Zeus. Hera was jealous of Zeus's affairs and tended to enact revenge upon the women. The other goddesses present at the birthing on Delos had sent [[Iris (mythology)|Iris]] to bring Eileithyia forth. As she stepped upon the island, the birth began. This hymn is contradicted by [[Hesiod]]'s [[Theogony]], where Apollo and Artemis are born before Hera's marriage to Zeus, and therefore neither Hera or Eileithyia are mentioned interfering with the birth of the twins.<ref name="912–923"/> On Delos, a shrine was dedicated to Eileithyia, and was worshipped in a mid-winter festival the named ''Eileithyaea''.<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal|last=Robertson|first=N.|date=1974|title=Greek Ritual Begging in Aid of Women's Fertility and Childbirth|journal=Transactions of the American Philological Association|volume=113|pages=143–169|doi=10.2307/284008|jstor=284008}}</ref> It was said by [[Callimachus]] that the hymn sung during festival was the same as that sung by nymphs at Apollo's birth. This cult likely goes back to the Archaic period, and the cult was associated with other local Delian childbirth deities associated with Artemis, [[Upis (mythology)|Upis]] and Arge.<ref name=":02" />

===Eretria===
Archaeologists uncovered a sanctuary dedicated to Eileithyia at [[Eretria]]. The sanctuary had been placed in the northwestern section of a [[Gymnasium (ancient Greece)|gymnasium]].<ref>[https://www.archaeology.org/news/7078-181017-greece-eretria-palaestra "Ancient Gymnasium Uncovered on Greek Island of Evia"]</ref>{{fcn|date=February 2023}}

===Messene===
Pausanias noted that "The Messenians have a temple erected to Eileithyia [at Messene, Messenia] with a stone statue."<ref>Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'' 4. 31. 9</ref>

===Olympia===
On the Greek mainland, at [[Olympia, Greece|Olympia]], an archaic shrine with an inner [[cella]] sacred to the serpent-savior of the city ([[Sosipolis (god)|Sosipolis]]) and to Eileithyia was seen by the traveler Pausanias in the 2nd century AD (''Description of Greece'' vi.20.1–3); in it, a virgin-priestess cared for a [[Serpent (symbolism)|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 [[Ancient Elis|Elians]] were threatened by forces from [[Arcadia (ancient region)|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.<ref name="6.20"/>

=== Paros ===
Eileithyia had a cult south of the Mount Kounados on the [[Cycladic Island]] of [[Paros]], where a cave with a natural spring functioned as an informal sanctuary.<ref name=":23"/> Numerous artifacts have been found, such as pottery, bronze pieces, and marble plaques, which indicate use of the site from the [[Greek Dark Ages|Geometric period]] to the [[Roman Empire|Roman period]].<ref name=":23" /> It has been theorized that the site was used for prayers for both female and male fertility, based on the type of offerings that have been found.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=MacLachlan|first=B|date=2009|title=Ritual and the Performance of Identity: Women and Gender in the Ancient World|journal=Journal of Women's History|volume=23|issue=4|pages=176–186|doi=10.1353/jowh.2011.0052|s2cid=144513687}}</ref>

=== Sparta ===
There was a sanctuary dedicated to Eileithyia near the [[Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia]],<ref name=":42"/> which Pausanias noted: "Not far from Orthia [the temple of Artemis in Sparta, Lakedaimon] is a sanctuary of Eileithyia. They say that they built it, and came to worship Eileithyia as a goddess, because of an oracle from Delphoi."<ref>Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'' 3. 17. 1</ref>

=== Syria ===
Lucian, in [[On the Syrian Goddess]]<ref>Lucian, On the Syrian Goddess section 38</ref> said that there was a statue of Eilithyia in the temple of [[Hierapolis Bambyce]], at [[Manbij]], in [[Syria]].