Nicippe, also Nikippe () is a name attributed to several women in Greek mythology.
Nicippe, a priestess of Demeter in Dotion, Thessaly. Demeter assumes her shape to try to stop Erysichthon from cutting down the sacred grove.Callimachus, Hymn 5 to Demeter 42 ff. Nicippe, a Pisatian princess as daughter of King Pelops and Hippodamia, daughter of the earlier king Oenomaus. She became queen of Mycenae after marrying King Sthenelus by whom she bore Alcyone, Medusa (Astymedusa) and Eurystheus.Apollodorus, 2.4.5 Nicippe was also known as AntibiaScholia on Homer, Iliad 19.119 or Amphibia (Ἀμφιβίαν)FGrH.333.68 citing Pherecydes as the source or Archippe.Tzetzes, Chiliades 2.172 & 195 Nicippe, a Thespian princess as one of the 50 daughters of King Thespius and MegamedeApollodorus, 2.4.10; Tzetzes, Chiliades 2.222 or by one of his many wives.Diodorus Siculus, 4.29.2 When Heracles hunted and ultimately slayed the Cithaeronian lion,Apollodorus, 2.4.9 Nicippe with her other sisters, except for one,Pausanias, 9.27.6; Diodorus Siculus, 4.29.3, f.n. 51 all laid with the hero in a night,Pausanias, 9.27.6–7; Gregorius Nazianzenus, Orat. IV, Contra Julianum I (Migne S. Gr. 35.661) a weekAthenaeus, 13.4 with Herodorus as the authority; Diodorus Siculus, 4.29.3, f.n. 51 or for 50 daysApollodorus, 2.4.10; Diodorus Siculus, 4.29.3; Tzetzes, Chiliades 2.224 as what their father strongly desired it to be.Apollodorus, 2.4.10; Diodorus Siculus, 4.29.3 Nicippe bore Heracles a son, Antimachus.Apollodorus, 2.7.8
Also known is one apparently historical figure of this name: Nicippe, daughter of Paseas, who dedicated a statue to Aphrodite Symmachia at the temple in Mantinea which was founded to commemorate the alliance of the Mantineans with the Romans in the Battle of Actium.Pausanias, 8.9.6
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References
Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website. Athenaeus of Naucratis, The Deipnosophists or Banquet of the Learned. London. Henry G. Bohn, York Street, Covent Garden. 1854. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Athenaeus of Naucratis, Deipnosophistae. Kaibel. In Aedibus B.G. Teubneri. Lipsiae. 1887. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library. Callimachus, Callimachus and Lycophron with an English translation by A. W. Mair; Aratus, with an English translation by G. R. Mair, London: W. Heinemann, New York: G. P. Putnam 1921. Internet Archive Callimachus, Works. A.W. Mair. London: William Heinemann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1921. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library. Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History translated by Charles Henry Oldfather. Twelve volumes. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59–8. Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888-1890. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library. 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 Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library. Tzetzes, John, Book of Histories, Book II-IV translated by Gary Berkowitz from the original Greek of T. Kiessling's edition of 1826. Online version at theio.com