Chthonia

In Greek mythology, the name Chthonia (Ancient Greek: Χθωνία means 'of the earth') may refer to:

Chthonia, an Athenian princess and the youngest daughter of King Erechtheus and Praxithea. She was sacrificed by her father, who had received a prophecy according to which he could win the imminent battle against Eumolpus only if he sacrificed his daughter. Her sisters, who had sworn to kill themselves if one of them died, fulfilled their oath by throwing themselves off a cliff.[1][2] According to the dictionary Suda,[3] only two of the sisters, Protogeneia and Pandora, did commit suicide, which makes sense since of the other daughters of Erechtheus, Orithyia had been abducted by Boreas, Procris married off to Cephalus, and Creusa was still a baby at the time the oath had been sworn.[4] It was also said, however, that Chthonia married her uncle Butes, which probably indicates a version that she was not sacrificed.[5]
Chthonia, daughter of Phoroneus or of Colontas. She and her brother Clymenus were said to have founded a sanctuary of Demeter Chthonia (see below) at Hermione. In another version, Demeter, during her wanderings in search of Persephone, was ill-treated by Colontas, against which Chthonia protested. Demeter burned Colontas alive in his house, but saved Chthonia and transported her to Hermione, where she founded the aforementioned sanctuary.[6]
Chthonia or Phthonia (Phosthonia) one of the Alcyonides, daughters of the giant Alcyoneus. She was the sister of Alkippe, Anthe, Asteria, Drimo, Methone and Pallene.[7] When their father Alcyoneus was slain by Heracles, these girls threw themselves into the sea from Kanastraion, which is the peak of Pellene. They were then transformed into halcyons (kingfishers) by the goddess Amphitrite.[8]
Chthonia, an epithet of Demeter[9][10] and several other chthonic deities, such as Hecate,[11] Nyx[12] or Melinoe.[13]

Chthonia was also an ancient mythical and poetical name of Crete.[14]
Notes

Hyginus, Fabulae, 46 & 238
Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3. 15. 4
Suida, Suda Encyclopedia s.v. Parthenoi
Euripides, Ion 277
Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca, 3. 15. 1; note that in 3. 15. 4, it is simply stated that Erechtheus sacrificed his youngest daughter, without mention of her name.
Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio 2.35.3-5
Eustathius on Homer, 776, 16
Suida, Suda Encyclopedia s.v. Alkyonides
Orphic Hymn 39 to Demeter, 12
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica, 4. 987
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4. 148; Orphic Hymn 35. 9
Orphic Hymn 2 to Nyx, 8
Orphic Hymn 70 to Melinoe, 1

Stephanus of Byzantium s. v. Krētē

References

Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica translated by Robert Cooper Seaton (1853-1915), R. C. Loeb Classical Library Volume 001. London, William Heinemann Ltd, 1912. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica. George W. Mooney. London. Longmans, Green. 1912. Greek text .
Euripides, The Complete Greek Drama, edited by Whitney J. Oates and Eugene O'Neill, Jr. in two volumes. 1. Ion, translated by Robert Potter. New York. Random House. 1938. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
Euripides, Euripidis Fabulae. vol. 2. Gilbert Murray. Oxford. Clarendon Press, Oxford. 1913. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
Gaius Julius Hyginus, Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. ISBN 0-674-99328-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
Pseudo-Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. . Greek text .
Stephanus of Byzantium, Stephani Byzantii Ethnicorum quae supersunt, edited by August Meineike (1790-1870), published 1849. A few entries from this important ancient handbook of place names have been translated by Brady Kiesling. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
Suida, Suda Encyclopedia translated by Ross Scaife, David Whitehead, William Hutton, Catharine Roth, Jennifer Benedict, Gregory Hays, Malcolm Heath Sean M. Redmond, Nicholas Fincher, Patrick Rourke, Elizabeth Vandiver, Raphael Finkel, Frederick Williams, Carl Widstrand, Robert Dyer, Joseph L. Rife, Oliver Phillips and many others. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
The Hymns of Orpheus. Translated by Taylor, Thomas (1792). University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999. Online version at the theoi.com

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