A placeholder for the White Goddess

Abstract

The Greek name for the mythological figure whom we recognize as the White Goddess was Leukotheā—a name that actually means ‘white goddess’. In the ancient myths that tell about this figure, however, she was not always a goddess: once upon a time, she was a mortal woman named Ino, wife of the hero Athamas and mother of the child-hero Melikertes. This Ino was considered to be a hero in her own right: she was in fact worshipped as a cult hero in the city of Megara, as we read in the text of the ancient traveler Pausanias, who lived in the second century CE. When our traveler visited Megara, he saw there a hērōion ‘hero-shrine’ that had been built in honor of Ino. But, Pausanias adds, this female hero was also known in Megara as the White Goddess. How can that be? In the present posting, I offer a possible explanation.