In Greek mythology, Zeuxippe was a naiad nymph of Athens and the wife of King Pandion I. By him she became the mother of the twin sons Erechtheus and Butes and the daughters Procne and Philomela, and possibly also of Teuthras. She was the sister of Praxithea, the naiad who had married Erichthonius and borne Pandion, so that Zeuxippe wedded her own nephew. Her name, from the Greek Zeuxíppē, means "she who yokes horses."
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I.Overview
In Greek mythology, Zeuxippe was a naiad nymph of Athens. She is best known as the wife of Pandion I, king of Athens, and as the mother of the principal figures of the next generation of the Athenian royal house.
The name Zeuxippe was borne by several women in Greek myth; the Athenian naiad is the most prominent of these. The name derives from the Ancient Greek Ζευξίππη (Zeuxíppē), meaning 'she who yokes horses.'
II.Family
Zeuxippe was the sister of Praxithea (also called Pasithea), the naiad who married Erichthonius of Athens and bore him a son, Pandion I. Praxithea's sister Zeuxippe in turn married her nephew Pandion, so that the bride of the king was also his mother's sister.
By Pandion I, Zeuxippe was the mother of two sons and two daughters: the twins Erechtheus and Butes, and the daughters Procne and Philomela. Some accounts also name her as the mother of Teuthras.
III.Mythology
Through her children, Zeuxippe stands at the head of two of the most consequential strands of Athenian myth. Her daughters Procne and Philomela were caught up in the tragedy of the Thracian king Tereus, the husband of Procne, an episode that ended with the three principals transformed into birds.
Her sons divided their father's inheritance after Pandion's death: Erechtheus took the kingship of Athens, while Butes received the hereditary priesthood of Athena and of Poseidon Erechtheus. Through Erechtheus the royal line of Athens continued.
IV.Etymology
The name Zeuxippe is the Ancient Greek Ζευξίππη (Zeuxíppē), literally 'she who yokes horses.' It is formed from zeugos, meaning a 'yoke of beasts' or 'pair of horses,' and hippos, meaning 'horse.'