In Greek mythology, Iphimedeia (also called Iphimede) was a Thessalian princess attested in Homer's Odyssey, where she appears among the mortal women of the Catalogue of Women. She fell in love with the sea-god Poseidon and bore him the twin giants Otus and Ephialtes, known as the Aloadae after her husband Aloeus. Her spirit was among the heroines Odysseus encountered at the entrance of the Underworld, and her name appears to be attested in Mycenaean Linear B.
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I.Family
Iphimedeia was the daughter of Triopas of Thessaly (a son of Poseidon and Canace), probably by Hiscilla, a daughter of King Myrmidon of Phthia. Her possible brothers were Erysichthon and Phorbas.
By Poseidon, Iphimedeia had the twins Otus and Ephialtes, who were called the Aloadae after their stepfather Aloeus. One account named these men's natural father as Aloeus, the husband and paternal uncle of Iphimedeia. She also bore Pancratis (or Pancrato) to Aloeus, and was probably the mother as well of Elate and Platanus, the sisters of the Aloadae.
II.Mythology
Early years: Iphimedeia fell in love with Poseidon, god of the sea, and would often come to the sea shore where she poured the sea water in her lap, until the god came and answered her feelings, a story comparable to that of Tyro.
Thracian abduction: Iphimedeia's daughter Pancratis was renowned for her beauty. When the two took part in the orgies of Dionysus near Drius in Achaea Phthiotis, they were carried off by the companions of the Thracian king Butes and brought to the island of Strongyle (later Naxos), where Pancratis was given in marriage to the new king Agassamenus and Iphimedeia to a friend and lieutenant of his. Two other leaders, Sicelus and Hecetorus, had fought over Pancratis and killed each other (or else they were Scellis and Agassamenus themselves). Soon after, Otus and Ephialtes, sent by Aloeus, defeated the Thracians and rescued their mother and sister, but Pancratis died not much later.
Connection with Hekate: Iphimedeia was one of the heroines whose spirits Odysseus encountered at the entrance of the Underworld. According to the scholar Pietro Scarpi, Iphimedeia should be placed in the chthonic realm as a double of Hekate.
III.Ancient cults
Her name seems to be attested in Mycenaean Greek in the Linear B syllabic script at Pylos, in the form i-pe-me-de-ja. Pausanias mentions a painting of Iphimedeia by Polygnotus and remarks that she was honored by the Carians in Mylasa. The tomb of Iphimedeia and her sons was shown at Anthedon in Boeotia.