In Greek mythology, Anaxarete (Ancient Greek: Ἀναξαρέτη means 'excellent princess') was a princess from Cyprus, who is said to have been descended from Teucer. She attracts the love of a young man named Iphis, who she scornfully rebuffs, pushing him to the point of killing himself upon her doorstep. After his death, she remains unmoved, and Aphrodite transforms her into a stone statue.
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Anaxarete in the context of Gorgo (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Gorgo (Ancient Greek: Γοργώ, romanized: Gorgṓ) can refer to the following individuals:
- Gorgo, one of the multiple women of Aegyptus, king of Egypt. By the latter, she became the mother of six princes: Periphas, Oeneus, Aegyptus, Menalces, Lampus and Idmon. Her sons were wed and slayed by their cousin-wives, daughters of King Danaus of Libya and Pieria during their wedding night. According to Hippostratus, Aegyptus had his progeny by a single woman called Eurryroe, daughter of the river-god Nilus. In some accounts, he consorted with his cousin Isaia, daughter of Agenor, king of Tyre.
- Gorgo, a Cretan woman, wooed by many men, among them her kinsman Asander, who had lost all his wealth. During his funeral she looked out of the window to get a glimpse, and was turned into stone, paralleling the Cypriot myths of Arsinoë and Anaxarete.
Anaxarete in the context of Vertumnus
In Roman mythology, Vertumnus (Latin pronunciation: [wɛr'tʊmnʊs]; also Vortumnus or Vertimnus) is the god of seasons, change and plant growth, as well as gardens and fruit trees. He could change his form at will; using this power, according to Ovid's Metamorphoses (xiv), he tricked Pomona into talking to him by disguising himself as an old woman and gaining entry to her orchard, then using a narrative warning of the dangers of rejecting a suitor (the embedded tale of Iphis and Anaxarete) to seduce her. The tale of Vertumnus and Pomona has been called "the first exclusively Latin tale."
Vertumnus's festival was called the Vertumnalia and was held 13 August.
Anaxarete in the context of Arsinoë of Cyprus
In Greek mythology, Arsinoë (Ancient Greek: Ἀρσινόη, romanized: Arsinóē, lit. 'elevated-minded' pronounced [arsinóɛː]) is a Cypriot princess who was punished by being turned into stone at the hand of the goddess of love Aphrodite for turning down a potential suitor named Arceophon, who then killed himself.
Arsinoë and her brief petrification tale serve as a doublet for the also Cypriot and more well-known story of Iphis and Anaxarete which follows the same pattern. Her tale is only preserved in the writings of Antoninus Liberalis, a little-known author of the Roman imperial era.