View source for Praxidice

{{short description|Goddess of judicial punishment}}
{{for|the moon of Jupiter|Praxidike (moon)}}
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{{Greek myth (personified)}}

In [[Greek mythology]], '''Praxidice''' or '''Praxidike''' ({{langx|grc|Πραξιδίκη}}, {{IPA|grc|praksidíkɛː|}}, lit. "Applied Justice"){{cn|date=October 2025}} may refer to the following characters:

*Praxidice was a goddess of enforced justice, responsible for ensuring that justice was carried out among mortals, and was sometimes identified with [[Dike (mythology)|Dike]].<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0062%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DP%3Aentry+group%3D22%3Aentry%3Dpraxidice-harpers Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898), Praxidice ]</ref><ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0104:entry=praxidice-bio-1 A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, Praxidice]</ref>
* Praxidice, according to the ''[[Orphic Hymn]] to [[Persephone]]'', was an [[epithet]] of Persephone: "Praxidike, subterranean queen. The [[Erinyes|Eumenides]]' source [mother], fair-haired, whose frame proceeds from Zeus' ineffable and secret seeds."<ref>''Orphic Hymn to Persephone'' 29</ref> As ''[[:wikt:praxis|praxis]]'' "practice, application" of ''dike'' "justice", she is sometimes identified with [[Dike (mythology)|Dike]], goddess of justice.
* Praxidice, according to [[Stephanus of Byzantium]], a daughter of [[Ogyges|Ogygus]] named Praxidike, married to [[Tremilus|Tremiles]] (after whom [[Lycia]] had been previously named Tremile) and had by him four sons: [[Tloos|Tlos]], [[Xanthus (mythology)|Xanthus]], [[Pinarus (mythology)|Pinarus]] and [[Cragus (mythology)|Cragus]].<ref>[[Stephanus of Byzantium]], s.v. ''[https://topostext.org/work/241#T633.8 Tremilē]'' (quoting a poem by [[Panyassis]])</ref> In one account, all sons were mentioned except Xanthus to be the progeny of Praxidice and Tremilus.<ref>Tituli Asiae Minoris 2.174, [https://topostext.org/work/806 ''A.16–B2''] ''<small>([https://epigraphy.packhum.org/text/284064 Greek text])</small>''</ref> Of them, Tlos had a Lycian city named Tlos after himself.<ref>Stephanus of Byzantium, s.v. ''[https://topostext.org/work/241#T627.10 Tlōs]''</ref> Cragus may be identical with the figure of the same name mentioned as the husband of [[Milye]], sister of [[Solymus]].<ref>Stephanus of Byzantium, s.v. ''[https://topostext.org/work/241#M453.13 Milyai]''</ref>

The plural '''Praxidicae''' ({{langx|grc|Πραξιδίκαι}}, ''Praxidikai'') refers to the following groups of mythological figures who presided over exacting of justice:

* [[Arete]] and [[Homonoia (mythology)|Homonoia]], daughters of Praxidice and [[Soter (daimon)|Soter]], sisters to [[Ctesius|Ktesios]].<ref name="stoa.org">''[[Suda]]'' s.v. [http://www.stoa.org/sol-bin/search.pl?login=guest&enlogin=guest&db=REAL&field=adlerhw_gr&searchstr=pi,2212 ''Praxidike'']</ref>
* [[Alalcomenia]], [[Thelxinoë|Thelxionoea]] and [[Aulis (mythology)|Aulis]], daughters of the early [[Boeotia]]n king [[Ogyges]].<ref name="stoa.org" /> At [[Haliartos]] in [[Boeotia]], [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] saw the open-air "sanctuary of the goddesses whom they call Praxidikae. Here the Haliartians swear, but the oath is not one they take lightly".<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+9.33.3&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160:chapter=&highlight=Praxidicae 9.33.3.]</ref> Their images only portrayed their heads, and only heads of animals were sacrificed to them.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110904203754/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/2851.html William Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, v. 3, page 517]}}</ref>

==See also==
===Goddesses of Justice and related concepts===
* (''Goddesses of Justice''): [[Astraea]], [[Dike (mythology)|Dike]], [[Themis]], [[Eunomia]], [[Prudentia]], Praxidice.  
* (''Goddesses of Injustice''): [[Adikia]]
* (''Aspects of Justice''):
** (''Justice'') [[Themis]]/[[Dike (mythology)|Dike]]/[[Eunomia]]/[[Justitia]] (Lady Justice), [[Raguel (angel)|Raguel (the Angel of Justice)]]
** (''Retribution'') [[Nemesis (mythology)|Nemesis/Rhamnousia/Rhamnusia]]/[[Adrestia|Adrasteia/Adrestia]]/[[Invidia]], [[Kushiel]] (Angel of Punishemnt)
** (''Redemption'') [[Eleos]]/[[Soteria (mythology)|Soteria]]/[[Clementia]], [[Zadkiel]]/[[Zachariel]] (the [[Michael (archangel)|Angel of Mercy]])
* [[Durga]], [[Hindu]] goddess of justice.
* [[Lady Justice]].

===Gods of Justice===
* [[Shani]], Hindu god of justice.  
* [[Yama]] and [[Chitragupta]] duo, [[Brekyirihunuade]]
* [[Forseti]] (Norse God of Justice)
* [[Takhar]] (God of justice and vengeance in [[Serer religion]])

===Astronomy===
* [[5 Astraea]], [[24 Themis]], [[99 Dike]], [[269 Justitia]] and [[547 Praxedis]], [[main belt asteroid]]s all named for Astraea, Themis, Dike and Justitia, [[Classical mythology|Classical]] goddesses of justice.
** [[Praxidike (moon)]], a moon of [[Jupiter]].

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

== References ==

* ''The Hymns of Orpheus''. Translated by Taylor, Thomas (1792). University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999. [http://www.theoi.com/Text/OrphicHymns1.html Online version at the theoi.com]
*[[Pausanias (geographer)|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}}. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+1.1.1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library]
* Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.  [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0159 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[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. [https://topostext.org/work/241 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
* [[Suda|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. [https://topostext.org/work/240 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]

{{Greek mythology (deities)|state=collapsed}}{{Greek myth index}}

[[Category:Justice goddesses]]
[[Category:Justice deities]]
[[Category:Vengeance goddesses]]
[[Category:Greek goddesses]]
[[Category:Personifications in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Mythological Boeotians]]
[[Category:Characters in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Religion in ancient Boeotia]]
[[Category:Epithets of Persephone]]