In Greek mythology, Praxithea (; Ancient Greek: ) was a name attributed to five women.

Praxithea, a Naiad nymph. She married Erichthonius of Athens and by him had a son named Pandion I. Praxithea's sister Zeuxippe married her nephew Pandion, and to them were born Erechtheus, Butes, Procne and Philomela.Apollodorus, 3.14.8 She was also called Pasithea. Praxithea, an Athenian daughter of Phrasimus and Diogeneia, daughter of the river-god Cephissus. She became queen of Athens after marrying King Erechtheus by whom she bore Cecrops, Pandorus, Metion,Apollodorus, 3.15.1 Protogeneia, Pandora, Procris, Creusa, Oreithyia and Chthonia.Suda, s.v. Maidens, Virgins (Παρθένοι) Praxithea's other possible children were Orneus,Pausanias, 2.25.6; Plutarch, Theseus 32.1; Stephanus of Byzantium, s.v. Orneiai (Ὀρνειαί) Thespius,Diodorus Siculus, 4.29.2 Eupalamus,Diodorus Siculus, 4.76.1 SicyonPausanias, 2.6.5, citing Hesiod (Ehoiai fr. 224) for Erechtheus and Merope.Plutarch, Theseus 19.5 Praxithea, the woman that cried out when she saw Demeter holding Metanira's son Demophon in the fires, thus preventing him from becoming immortal.Apollodorus, 1.5.1 Praxithea (or Phrasithea), daughter of Leos.Apollodorus, 3.15.8, f.n. 3 as noted by Heyne; 12.28; Aelian, Varia Historia 12.28 Along with her sisters, Theope and Eubule, she sacrificed herself in order to save Athens. In another version, their father was the one who offered them up to sacrifice. A precinct called the Leocorium was dedicated to the worship of these three maidens at Athens.Cicero, De Natura Deorum 3.50; Apollodorus, 3.15.8, f.n. 3 as noted by Heyne; Pausanias, 1.5.2; Aelian, Varia Historia 12.28; Photius' Lexicon; Suida, Suda Encyclopedia s.v. Leokorion; Etymologicum Magnum 560.34; Scholia on Thucidides, 1.20, on Demosthenes 54.7; Apostolius, Cent. 10.53; Aristides, Orations 13, vol. i, pp. 191 ff., ed. Dindorf Praxithea, 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 slew the Cithaeronian lion,Apollodorus, 2.4.9 Praxithea and her other sisters, except for one,Pausanias, 9.27.6; Diodorus Siculus, 4.29.3, f.n. 51 all lay 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 their father strongly desired.Apollodorus, 2.4.10; Diodorus Siculus, 4.29.3 Praxithea bore Heracles a son, Nephus.Apollodorus, 2.7.8

Notes

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.

Claudius Aelianus, Varia Historia translated by Thomas Stanley (d.1700) edition of 1665. Online version at the Topos Text Project. Claudius Aelianus, Claudii Aeliani de natura animalium libri xvii, varia historia, epistolae, fragmenta, Vol 2. Rudolf Hercher. In Aedibus B.G. Teubneri. Lipsiae. 1866. 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. James, Vanessa, 2003. The Genealogy of Greek Mythology. Penguin Group (USA) Inc. Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus, Lives with an English Translation by Bernadotte Perrin. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. London. William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. 1. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website. Marcus Tullius Cicero, Nature of the Gods from the Treatises of M.T. Cicero translated by Charles Duke Yonge (1812-1891), Bohn edition of 1878. Online version at the Topos Text Project. Marcus Tullius Cicero, De Natura Deorum. O. Plasberg. Leipzig. Teubner. 1917. Latin 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. Stephanus of Byzantium, Stephani Byzantii Ethnicorum quae supersunt, edited by August Meineike (1790-1870), published 1849. A few entries from this important ancient handbook of place names have been translated by Brady Kiesling. Online version at the Topos Text Project. Suida, Suda Encyclopedia translated by Ross Scaife, David Whitehead, William Hutton, Catharine Roth, Jennifer Benedict, Gregory Hays, Malcolm Heath Sean M. Redmond, Nicholas Fincher, Patrick Rourke, Elizabeth Vandiver, Raphael Finkel, Frederick Williams, Carl Widstrand, Robert Dyer, Joseph L. Rife, Oliver Phillips and many others. Online version at the Topos Text Project. 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