Eukarpia (theonym)

For the place in Phrygia, see Eucarpia.
Eukarpia on a mosaic from Antioch (Worcester Art Museum)

In ancient Greek religion and myth, Eukarpia ("well-fruited" or "She of the rich harvest") was a divine personification of fertility, or an epithet or cult title for a deity. It is also found as a personal name for women (as Eukarpides for men).[1]

In poetry, the name is an epithet of Aphrodite, Demeter, and Dionysus.[2] In Gonnoi, Thessaly, Eukarpia appears as a name for invoking Ge (Earth).[3]

In a mosaic from the Tomb of Mnemosyne, Antioch, she is wearing earrings and an arm-baring tunic formed from tesserae of blue-green glass. On her head is a wreath of red and yellow fruit.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Fritz Graf, "Gods in Greek Inscriptions: Some Methodological Questions," in The Gods of Ancient Greece: Identities and Transformations (Edinburgh University Press, 2010), p. 68.
  2. ↑ Graf, "Gods in Greek Inscriptions," pp. 68.
  3. ↑ Graf, "Gods in Greek Inscriptions," p. 68.
  4. ↑ Sheila Campbell, The Mosaics of Antioch (Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1988), p. 77.