To choose the names of our babies, if they are girls, we propose these 11 names of mythological heroines , which are beautiful and full of history.
Ariadne
Ariadne was the daughter of King Minos of Crete, who had defeated the city of Athens a few years ago in a war and as a tribute it was obliged to send year after year a group of boys and maids. On one occasion, among the envoys was Theseus, prince of Athens, with whom Ariadne fell in love and interfered to help him save himself from the Minotaur, who fed on all who came as tribute.
Returning to Athens, Theseus took Ariadne with him, but while making a stopover on the island of Naxos for provisions, the ship left without Ariadne, who had fallen asleep on the beach. When she woke up and did not find him, she went mad because the man for whom she had risked her life had betrayed her and left her to fate.
However, Dionisios saw her crying until she fell asleep again on the sand. Sleeping beauty fell in love with him and decided to rescue her, and convinced her to be his wife, loving her eternally and making her, in the end, immortal.
The name Ariadna is of Greek origin and means “the purest”.
Calisto
Callisto was a very beautiful hunter, who was consecrated to the service of Artemis, goddess of hunting and nature, and therefore had taken a vow of chastity. However, when Zeus saw Callisto, he fell in love with her because of her beauty.
He tried to seduce her but failed, so he took the form of Apollo, Artemis’s twin brother (some versions claim that it was the form of Artemis) and through tricks and deceptions he succeeds, causing Callisto to become pregnant.
One day while bathing in a river, Artemis noticed that Callisto’s belly had grown, so she deduced that she was pregnant and expelled her for breaking the vow of chastity. This reached the ears of Hera, wife of Zeus, who in revenge turned Callisto into a bear (other versions claim that it was Artemis herself who did this).
In any case, Callisto had her son, named Arcas, but she was separated from him and wandered for years in the forest, until one day she saw him in the distance and recognized him. Forgetting that he was a bear, he ran towards him to hug him, but Arcas thought he wanted to attack him and shot him an arrow.
Zeus managed to intervene before the arrow of Arcas reached Callisto and turned it into the constellation of the Great Bear, so that it would continue to shine in the sky and thus, achieve immortality.
The name Callisto means “the most beautiful”.
Cassandra
Cassandra, was princess of Troy and sister of Héctor and Paris. The god Apollo, in love with her, offered her whatever gift she wanted on the condition that she loved him. Ambitious, she asked for the gift of prophecy, which made her able to know the future without error.
However, at the time of fulfilling her part of the bargain, Cassandra refused to Apollo, which angered him and cast a curse on her: no one would ever believe anything she said.
Cassandra was able to see everything that preceded the famous Trojan War: that Paris would be responsible for kidnapping Helen, that the enemies were hiding on the huge wooden horse, and that the city would be taken. He tried to warn his family to protect them and the citizens, but no one believed him.
Even at the end of it all, after being discovered in the temple in which she had been hidden and taken by Agamemnon, head of the Greek armies, Cassandra could see her own death at the hands of Clytemnestra, his wife.
The name Cassandra means “sister of men.”
Cyrene
Cyrene was a nymph who renounced the traditional tasks of women and preferred to dedicate herself to leading a wild life, in which she watched over the flocks of her father, the king of the tombstones. He was so strong and brave, that he came to fight with a lion, which he dominated.
Because of this, she caught the attention of the god Apollo, who after falling in love with her decides to kidnap her. He took her to northern Libya and there he founded the city of Cyrene in her honor, where they later had a son together.
Cleta
Cleta was an Amazon and nursemaid to Penthesilea, the Amazon queen who performed numerous feats during the Trojan War until Achilles killed her. Upon learning of this, Cleta leaves for Troy with the intention of recovering the body to give it a proper burial, but a storm changes its course.
This caused him to end up on the Italian shores, where he founded the town of Clete, which grew and prospered over time. However, the neighboring city of Crotona began a battle against Clete, where she is assassinated, but before she dies she asks that all the queens of Clete bear her name.
Cleta’s name means “enlightened.”
Phaedra
Phaedra was a Cretan princess and Ariadna’s younger sister. Curiously, the now king Theseus who had abandoned his sister years ago, chose her as his new wife, but like Ariadne, she was a passionate woman who lost her mind when she fell in love.
And of course, being so young, Phaedra would not fall in love with Theseus, but with his son: Hippolytus. The young queen became obsessed with conquering him to the point of neither eating nor sleeping, while fantasizing that he loved her.
Behind this was the goddess Aphrodite, who had been despised by Hippolytus because he had chosen to serve the goddess Artemis and not her. In revenge, he used Phaedra to try to woo Hippolytus, but he rejected her after hearing her advances.
Disgusted, Phaedra accused Hippolytus of having tried to force her to be with him, filled with tears that were actually caused by the shame of having been rejected. Hipólito dies, cursed by his father and desperate Phaedra, ends his life shortly after.
The name Phaedra means “brilliant, illustrious”.
Helena
Helena was the daughter of Zeus, princess of Sparta and also the most beautiful woman in the world, claimed by many heroes due to her great beauty. With the intention of avoiding a war, the Tindarean king (who he believed was Helena’s father), made all the suitors promise that they would all protect the one she chose as her husband.
Helen then married Menelaus, King Agamemnon’s brother, and the plan was for Sparta to reign together. But when Paris, the attractive and charming prince of Troy visits them, the goddess Aphrodite intervenes, causing Helen to fall in love with him, as he had promised her the love of the most beautiful woman on earth.
Helen and Paris escape to Troy, where she is accepted as his wife, but they never imagined what would come next: Menelaus’ fury unleashed a terrible war lasting 10 years, where she would see her beloved die at the hands of Achilles.
When Troy is destroyed, burned, and razed to the ground, thanks to her former suitors’ pledge of allegiance to her father, Helen is forced to return to Menelaus for the rest of her life.
Helena’s name means “torch”.
Lead
Leda was the mother of Helena and the wife of the King of Sparta, Tindáreo. However, as we mentioned previously, Helena’s father was not he, but the god Zeus, who had turned into a swan to be able to get closer to her, who later that day would also be with Tindáreo.
On that day, Leda became pregnant by both, and later four children were born: Helena and Pollux of Zeus, and Clytemnestra and Castor of Tindáreo.
The name Leda means “lady”.
Medea
Medea was the daughter of Aeetes, king of Colchis, and of the nymph Idia. She was a priestess of Hecate, whom some consider her mother and from whom she is supposed to have learned the principles of sorcery along with her aunt, the goddess and powerful witch Circe.
One day, Jason and the Argonauts arrive at the court of Aeetes in order to get the Golden Fleece. At that moment, Eros makes Medea fall madly in love with Jason, helping him get everything he needed, promising that they would marry and take her to Greece.
After achieving everything thanks to the help of Medea, they fled together to Yolco and were married. There, Medea betrayed the daughters of Pelias, the brother of Jason’s father, who had been displaced from the throne by him.
Because of this, they were both expelled to Corinth, where they lived happily for many years and had children. But happiness would end when Jason fell in love with the daughter of the king of Corinth.
Pretending to accept her separation and Jason’s engagement to Glauce, Medea presented the princess with a dress, which caught fire when she put it on, causing her father to also die and the palace to burn.
After this Medea flees to Athens, where she marries the Aegean king and they have a son together. Medea tried to trick the king into being the one to ascend to the throne instead of Aegean’s firstborn, but fled when the king realized her intentions.
Medea is said to be immortal and will live forever on the Champs Elysees.
The name Medea means “thoughtful, cunning”.
Pandora
Similar to Eve, Pandora was the first woman, modeled in the image and likeness of mortals by the god of fire, Hephaestus, with the help of Athena. All the gods of Olympus gave Pandora qualities that made her have great beauty, persuasion and grace. It was impossible to resist her.
As punishment for the offense of Prometheus, who had stolen fire from the gods to give it to humans, the beautiful Pandora came into the world. Epimetheus, brother of the previous one, received her as a gift and soon decided to marry her.
It is said that Pandora carried with her a closed box that contained all evils, and that she had been instructed never to open. However, it was impossible to resist curiosity and opened it.
Then all the evils escaped and spread across the Earth. Envy, greed, war, stubbornness, violence, anger, disease and pain dominated the lives of men, for whom there seemed no longer any consolation.
However, Pandora had closed the box on time and had preserved a gift that keeps men capable of continuing despite all misfortunes: hope, subtle and wonderful.
The name Pandora means “the one who gives everything” or “the gift of all”.
Penelope
Penelope was the wife of Odysseus, with whom she had a happy marriage and together they were parents of Telemachus. They lived on the island of Ithaca, where life was calm and far from the conflicts in the mainland.
However, because Odysseus had once been Helen’s suitor, he had to go to Troy to fulfill the promise of loyalty that he himself had proposed and help Menelaus. Although he did not want to separate from his family, he could not free himself from the oath.
Odysseus left for Troy and Penelope was left in charge of the country. In the absence of the king, first for the 10 years that the war lasted and later for the misfortunes that made her return difficult for another 10 years, she began to be sought after by several men.
Eventually, everyone thought that Odysseus had died in a shipwreck, except Penelope, who was still waiting for his return. After all these years, the palace was no longer a quiet place. The men who wanted Penelope had settled there and abused the riches that were there, while they waited for her to choose one of them.
But she resisted, and to prolong the wait she tells the suitors that she will accept a new husband when she finishes weaving a shroud for King Laertes, father of Odysseus. What they did not know was that Penelope unraveled the fabric she made during the day at night.
According to myth, the gods did not let their faithfulness and hope go in vain, and after a 20-year absence, Odysseus finally returned home. He finished off the suitors, regained his throne, and was reunited with Penelope, the tireless weaver who always loved him.
Penelope’s name means “dark woman”.
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