In
Greek mythology, Soter (
Ancient Greek: Σωτήρ means 'saviour, deliverer') was the personification or ''
daimon'' of safety, preservation and deliverance from harm.
Mythology
Suda
Suidas
The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; grc-x-medieval, Σοῦδα, Soûda; la, Suidae Lexicon) is a large 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas (Σούδας) or Souidas ...
makes him the brother and husband of
Praxidike
In Greek mythology, Praxidice (Ancient Greek: Πραξιδίκη, ) may refer to the following characters:
* Praxidice, goddess of judicial punishment and the exactor of vengeance, which were two closely allied concepts in the classical Greek ...
and by her the father of
Ktesios,
Arete and
Homonoia
Homonoia ( gr, Ὁμόνοια) is the concept of order and unity, ''being of one mind together'' or ''union of hearts''. It was used by the Greeks to create unity in the politics of classical Greece. It saw widespread use when Alexander the G ...
. (Note that both Soter and Ktesios were also cult titles of
Zeus).
Praxidike (Exacter of Justice): A deity whose head alone is venerated. Mnaseas in his treatise ''On Europe'' says that Soter (Saviour) and his sister Praxidike (Exacter of Justice) had a son Ctesius (Household) and daughters Homonoia (Concord) and Arete (Virtue), who were called Praxidikai (Exacters of Penalties) after their mother.
Orphic hymn
In the
Orphic Hymns, Praxidike was identified with
Persephone, Soter with Zeus, and their daughters
Praxidikai with the
Erinyes
The Erinyes ( ; sing. Erinys ; grc, Ἐρινύες, pl. of ), also known as the Furies, and the Eumenides, were female chthonic deities of vengeance in ancient Greek religion and mythology. A formulaic oath in the ''Iliad'' invokes ...
.
Aeschylus' account
According to
Aeschylus, Soter as the husband of
Peitharchia
In Greek mythology, Peitharchia (Ancient Greek: Πειθαρχία) was the personification of obedience.
Mythology
According to Aeschylus, Peitharchia was the wife of Soter and mother of Eupraxia.
When you invoke the gods, do not be ill-advis ...
and father of
Eupraxia.
When you invoke the gods, do not be ill-advised. For Peitharkhia (Obedience) is the mother of Eupraxia (Success), wife of Soter (Salvation)--as the saying goes. So she is, but the power of god Zeus is supreme, and often in bad times it raises the helpless man out of harsh misery even when stormclouds are lowering over his eyes.
Soteria
Soteria (Σωτηρία),
personification
Personification occurs when a thing or abstraction is represented as a person, in literature or art, as a type of anthropomorphic metaphor. The type of personification discussed here excludes passing literary effects such as "Shadows hold their b ...
of the abstract concept of safety and salvation, was also worshipped by the Greeks. She had a sanctuary in
Patrae
)
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, ...
, which was believed to have been founded by
Eurypylos of
Thessaly.
[ Pausanias]
7.19.77.21.77.24.3
Notes
References
*
Aeschylus, translated in two volumes. 1. ''Seven Against Thebes'' by Herbert Weir Smyth, Ph.D. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. 1926
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website
* ''The Hymns of Orpheus''. Translated by Taylor, Thomas (1792). University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999
* Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'' with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918.
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Suida
The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; grc-x-medieval, Σοῦδα, Soûda; la, Suidae Lexicon) is a large 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas (Σούδας) or Souidas ...
, ''Suda Encyclopedia'' translated by Ross Scaife, David Whitehead, William Hutton, Catharine Roth, Jennifer Benedict, Gregory Hays, Malcolm Heath Sean M. Redmond, Nicholas Fincher, Patrick Rourke, Elizabeth Vandiver, Raphael Finkel, Frederick Williams, Carl Widstrand, Robert Dyer, Joseph L. Rife, Oliver Phillips and many others
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
{{Greek mythology (deities), state=collapsed
Greek gods
Personifications in Greek mythology
lt:Soteras