In Greek legendary history, Lampsace or Lampsake (Λαμψάκη) was the

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

of the city

Lampsacus Lampsacus (; grc, Λάμψακος, translit=Lampsakos) was an ancient Greek city strategically located on the eastern side of the Hellespont in the northern Troad. An inhabitant of Lampsacus was called a Lampsacene. The name has been transmitte ...

, honored as a

heroine A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''hero ...

and later deified. The story concerning her, known from the works of

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...

and

Polyaenus Polyaenus or Polyenus ( ; see ae (æ) vs. e; grc-gre, Πoλύαινoς, Polyainos, "much-praised") was a 2nd-century CE Greek author, known best for his ''Stratagems in War'' ( grc-gre, Στρατηγήματα, Strategemata), which has been pr ...

, is as follows. Lampsace was the daughter of Mandron, king of the

Bebryces The Bebryces ( el, Βέβρυκες) were a tribe of people who lived in Bithynia. According to Strabo they were one of the many Thracian tribes that had crossed from Europe into Asia, although modern scholars have rather argued for a Celtic origin ...

in Pityussa (the older name for Lampsacus). Her father was assisted by Phobus of

Phocaea Phocaea or Phokaia (Ancient Greek: Φώκαια, ''Phókaia''; modern-day Foça in Turkey) was an ancient Ionian Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia. Greek colonists from Phocaea founded the colony of Massalia (modern-day Marseille, in ...

in a military conflict against the neighboring people, and, in reward, assigned to Phobus a part of his kingdom, to where the latter led a colony from Phocaea. The colonists subsequently led several successful military campaigns and obtained plenty of trophies, which made the barbarian population of Pityussa fear and envy them. Thereupon the Bebrycians devised a plot to drive the Greeks out of their land in the absence of Mandron. Lampsace became aware of the plot and reported it to the Greeks, who then forestalled the barbarians by developing a stratagem of their own: they invited the Bebrycians to a sacrificial banquet and when those got drunk, one half of the Greeks massacred them while the other half was taking control over the city walls. The Greeks then invited Mandron to reign over them but he chose to leave, taking wives and children of those slain away with him. Lampsace was greatly honored for having informed the Greeks of the imminent threat, but she fell sick and died. The citizens gave magnificent burial to her and went on to worship her as a heroine, renaming Pityussa to Lampsacus in her honor; later on a vote was held to promote her to the status of a goddess. As such she was venerated as late as the times of Plutarch. Stephanus of Byzantium s. v. ''Lampsakos'': "Lampsacus, a city in

Propontis The Sea of Marmara,; grc, Προποντίς, Προποντίδα, Propontís, Propontída also known as the Marmara Sea, is an inland sea located entirely within the borders of Turkey. It connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea via the ...

, amedafter Lampsace, a local girl"

References

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Sources

* Grimal, Pierre. A Concise Dictionary of Classical mythology. Basil Blackwell Ltd, 1990. - p. 236
Lyons, Deborah. Gender and Immortality: Appendix - A Catalogue of Heroines, Princeton University Press, 1996, under ''Lampsake''
Accessed 7 April 2012 Deified women Greek goddesses Women in ancient Greek warfare