For other women named Leucothoe see Leucothoe.
Leucothoe was a mortal and Babylonian princess, a recipient of the Titan God, Helios' love and the mother of their son, Thersanon according to Greek Mythology.
Genealogy and Family[]
Princess Leucothoe was born to King Orchamus and his wife Queen Eurynome of Persia. In one account, she had a sister named Clytie.
By Helios, Leucothoe became the mother of Thersanon, who grew up to become an Argonaut, joining the hero, Jason on his quest to obtain The Golden Fleece from Colchis.
Story[]
Aphrodite, goddess of love, vengefully made Helios lovestruck with a mortal princess, Leucothoe of Persia, as a punishment for Helios warning her husband, Hephaestus, God of the Forge, about Aphrodite and Ares' secret adulterous affair, which would lead to Aphrodite's eventual shame and divorce from Hephaestus.
The love Aphrodite implanted into Helios was so strong that he forgot about his other wives and lovers including Rhodos, Klymene, Perse and Clytie. He successfully seduced Leucothoe and the two slept together and their relationship caused Helios' long-term devoted lover in vain, the Oceanid, Clytie, hurt by his actions, to report their shenanigans to Orchamus, the father of Clytie, who due to finding his daughter had committed fornication, had to bury her in sand as a death sentence. Helios arrived to check on Leucothoe, but when he came found her dead, having arrived too late to save the mortal's life, he turned Leucothoe's body into a Frankincense tree.
As for the Oceanid, Clytie who had thought that reporting Helios' relationship with Leucothoe to Orchamus, would give her a chance to get back together with Helios, was shocked instead to find Helios' heart harden towards her and in hopes of making up for her actions, Clytie sat on the rocks facing the sun for nine days without any food water and clothes, which came out not to be enough to gain Helios' forgiveness as he refused to look at her during her redemption, subsequently she was transformed into the Heliotrope flower, which is known for always facing the sun.
In a different version of the story, Helios disguised himself as Leucothoe's mother Eurynome to enter Leucothoe's chambers to spend time with her. But Clytie, (who in this version was a mortal and sister of Leucothoe) became jealous of their affair and reported it to their father, here Leucothoe had the same fate of becoming a tree whilst Clytie was also eventually turned into a Heliotrope flower, just like in the previous version.
Appearance and Personality[]
Not much is known about her personality and appearance.
Skills and Abilities[]
Relationships[]
Trivia[]
Leucothoe (Λευκοθόη) is a Greek female name meaning "white" and "swift, quick".