LEUKIPPOS

LEUKIPPOS (Leucippus) was a son of King Oinomaos of Pisa. He fell in love with the nymphe Daphne and disguised himself as a girl to join her company. When his true identity was discovered in the bath, he was slain by the Nymphs.

PARENTS

[1.1] OINOMAOS (Parthenius 15, Pausanias 8.20.2)

ENCYCLOPEDIA

LEUCIPPUS (Leukippos), the son of Oenomaüs, king of Pisa. He was in love with Daphne and approached her in the disguise of a maiden and thus hunted with her. But Apollo's jealousy caused his discovery during the bath, and he was killed by the nymphs. (Paus. viii. 20. § 2; Parthen. l. c.)

Source: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.

CLASSICAL LITERATURE QUOTES

Parthenius, Love Romances 15 (trans. Gaselee) (Greek poet C1st B.C.) :
"From the elegiac poems of Diodoros of Elaia [unknown date] and the twenty-fifth book of Phylarkhos (Phylarchus) [Greek historian C3rd B.C.]. This is how the story of Daphne, the daughter of Amyklas (Amyclas), is related. She used never to come down into the town, nor consort with the other maidens; but she got together a large pack of hounds and used to hunt, either in Lakonia (Laconia), or sometimes going into the further mountains of the Peloponnese. For this reason she was very dear to Artemis, who gave her the gift of shooting straight. On one occasion she was traversing the country of Elis, and there Leukippos (Leucippus), the son of Oinomaus (Oenomaus), fell in love with her; he resolved not to woo her in any common way, but assumed women's clothes, and, in the guise of a maiden, joined her hunt. And it so happened that she very soon became extremely fond of him, nor would she let him quit her side, embracing him and clinging to him at all times. But Apollon was also fired with love for the girl, and it was with feelings of anger and jealousy that he saw Leukippos always with her; he therefore put it into her mind to visit a stream with her attendant maidens, and there to bathe. On their arrival there, they all began to strip; and when they saw that Leukippos was unwilling to follow their example, they tore his clothes from him: but when they thus became aware of the deceit he had practiced and the plot he had devised against them, they all plunged their spears into his body. He, by the will of the gods, disappeared; but Daphne, seeing Apollon advancing upon her, took vigorously to flight; then, as he pursued her, she implored Zeus that she might be translated away from mortal sight, and she is supposed to have become the bay tree which is called daphne after her."

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 20. 2 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) :
"The Ladon [of Arkadia (Arcadia)] is the most lovely river in Greece, and is also famous for the legend of Daphne that the poets tell . . . Leukippos (Leucippus) fell in love with Daphne, but despaired of winning her to be his wife by an open courtship, as she avoided all the male sex. The following trick occurred to him by which to get her. Leukippos was growing his hair long for the river Alpheios (Alpheus). Brading his hair as though he were a maiden, and putting on woman's clothes, he came to Daphne and said that he was a daughter of Oinomaos (Oenomaus), and would like to share her hunting. As he was thought to be a maiden, surpassed the other maidens in nobility of birth and skill in hunting, and was besides most assiduous in this attentions, he drew Daphne into a deep friendship. The poets who sing of Apollon's love for Daphne make an addition to the tale; that Apollon became jealous of Leukippos because of his success in his love. Forthwith Daphne and the other maidens conceived a longing to swim in the Ladon, and stripped Leukippos in spite of his reluctance. Then, seeing that he was no maid, they killed him with their javelins and daggers."

SOURCES

GREEK

• Parthenius, Love Romances - Greek Mythography C1st B.C.
• Pausanias, Description of Greece - Greek Travelogue C2nd A.D.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A complete bibliography of the translations quoted on this page.