Chrysothemis (daughter of Carmanor)

Did You Know?

• Chrysothemis was the sister of the god Eubuleus.
• Her father Carmanor purified Apollo and Artemis after the killing of Python.
• Some sources say her mother was the goddess Demeter.

Mythology

Chrysothemis has been called a poet and is named as the first to win the oldest contest of the Pythian Games, a competition where each participant sang a hymn to the gods; she sang a hymn to Apollo. According to Diodorus Siculus, she married the argonaut Staphylus, son of Dionysus and Ariadne, and they had three daughters: Parthenos, Rhoeo, and Molpadia. Rhoeo became Apollo's lover and fell pregnant with his son Anius. When Staphylus discovered the pregnancy, he did not believe Apollo was the father, locked her in a wooden chest, and cast her into the sea, but Apollo intervened and she safely washed up on Delos.

Parthenos and Molpadia, while watching their father's wine, fell asleep; pigs broke the jars, and the wine was lost. Fearing their father's wrath, they attempted suicide by jumping off a cliff, but Apollo saved them and brought them to Chersonesus, where they became local goddesses, and Molpadia changed her name to Hemithea. According to Hyginus, Chrysothemis herself was Apollo's lover, with whom she had Parthenos, who died young and was transformed into the Virgo constellation. Pausanias states Chrysothemis had a son by Apollo, Philammon.