Nicippe

Nicippe is the name of three figures in Greek mythology: a daughter of Thespius who bore a son to Heracles, a daughter of Pelops who became the wife of Sthenelus and mother of Eurystheus, and a priestess of Demeter whose likeness the goddess took in Callimachus’ story of Erysichthon.

Nicippe, Daughter of Thespius

Thespius, king of Thespiae, had fifty daughters by Megamede, the daughter of Arneus. When Heracles came to him in order to hunt a lion, Thespius entertained him for fifty days and, each night as Heracles went out hunting, put one of his daughters to bed with him (Apollodorus, Library 2.4.10). Nicippe was one of these daughters, and by Heracles she had a son, Antimachus (Apollodorus, Library 2.7.8).

Nicippe, Wife of Sthenelus

Another Nicippe was a daughter of Pelops. She married Sthenelus, the son of Perseus, who ruled at Mycenae, and bore him two daughters, Alcyone and Medusa. Later she had a son, Eurystheus, who reigned over Mycenae (Apollodorus, Library 2.4.5). Eurystheus is the king for whom Heracles performed the twelve labours. In Homer his birth is hurried: Hera went to Argos, where the wife of Sthenelus, son of Perseus, was pregnant and in her seventh month, and made her give birth early, so that Eurystheus was born before Heracles, the child of Alcmene (Homer, Iliad 19.114–119). Homer does not name the mother here. Pelops is also the father of Atreus and Thyestes, so this Nicippe belongs to the family of the Pelopids (Apollodorus, Epitome 2.10).

Nicippe, Priestess of Demeter

A third Nicippe was the public priestess of Demeter in Callimachus’ account of Erysichthon. In Callimachus’ Hymn to Demeter, Erysichthon, the son of Triopas, went with twenty attendants armed with axes into the sacred grove of Demeter to cut down a huge poplar where the nymphs played at noon. When Demeter saw her sacred tree in pain, she was angry and asked who was cutting down her trees. She then took the likeness of Nicippe, whom the city had chosen as her priestess, holding the fillets and poppy in her hand and a key on her shoulder, and told him to stop (Callimachus, Hymn to Demeter 43). When Erysichthon would not listen, the goddess showed herself and punished him with a terrible hunger that nothing could satisfy (Callimachus, Hymn 6).

Nicippe Sources

Apollodorus, Library 2.4.5, 2.4.10, 2.7.8 and Epitome 2.10; Homer, Iliad 19.114–119; Callimachus, Hymn to Demeter (Hymn 6).

See Also: Thespius, Heracles, Pelops, Hippodamia, Demeter, Eurystheus