Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...

, Physcoa (

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

: Φυσκόα ''Phuskóa'') was a woman from the

deme In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside seem to have existed in the 6th century BC and ear ...

Orthia of

Elis Elis or Ilia ( el, Ηλεία, ''Ileia'') is a historic region in the western part of the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece. It is administered as a regional unit of the modern region of Western Greece. Its capital is Pyrgos. Until 2011 it was ...

. She was credited with a variety of notable deeds, which are recorded in

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC * Pausanias of Sicily, physician of t ...

' ''Description of Greece.'' Physcoa was believed to have belonged to the very first, legendary set of the so-called Sixteen Women. One of the accounts cited by Pausanias relates that the Eleans suffered much harm from Damophon,

tyrant A tyrant (), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to re ...

of Pisa, and that after his death people of both Pisa and Elis chose to no longer associate with his misdeeds and to establish mutual peace. For that purpose, each of the sixteen cities of Elis sent a female envoy, "this woman to be the oldest, the most noble, and the most esteemed of all the women"; one of the delegates was Physcoa. The Sixteen Women performed the establishment of peace, and were subsequently entrusted with management of the

Heraean Games The Heraea was an ancient Greek festival in which young girls competed in a footrace. The race was held every four years at Olympia, and probably took place around the same time as the ancient Olympic Games. Overview Not much is known about t ...

, particularly with ritual weaving of the robe for Hera. Pelops and Hippodamia racing

Another of Pausanias' sources informs that it was Hippodamia who introduced the Heraean Games so as to express gratitude to Hera for arranging her marriage to

Pelops In Greek mythology, Pelops (; ) was king of Pisa in the Peloponnesus region (, lit. "Pelops' Island"). He was the son of Tantalus and the father of Atreus. He was venerated at Olympia, where his cult developed into the founding myth of the O ...

, and assembled the Sixteen Women as co-founders of the tradition. There were two choral dances of which the Sixteen Women were in charge, one of them being named after Physcoa and the other one after Hippodamia. Physcoa was said to have consorted with

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Roma ...

and to have had by him a son Narcaeus. When Narcaeus grew up, it is related, he conquered many neighboring peoples and gained a lot of power; he was also credited with founding the sanctuary of

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded ...

Narcaea. Narcaeus and Physcoa were also reported to be the first people to pay homage to Dionysus as a god. Pausanias mentions that various honors were paid to Physcoa, and these included making her 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 ritual dance.

References

*Pausanias, ''Description of Greece''
5. 16. 4 - 7
Elean mythology Women in Greek mythology Mortal parents of demigods in classical mythology Consorts of Dionysus