Praxithea

Praxithea (otherwise Prasithea or Pasithea) was the wife of Erechtheus, king of Athens. Lycurgus writes that she favoured sacri­ficing one of her daughters to gain a victory against Eumolpus, as Erechtheus had been advised to do by the Delphic oracle.

In the light of this, her name can be interpreted as 'exacting a sacrifice', from praxis, 'doing', 'business', 'exacting' and thyo, 'to sacrifice'. Robert Graves sees the name as meaning 'active goddess' from prasso, 'to pass through', 'practise', 'be active' and thea, 'goddess'.