"Praxilla" by John William Godward
Meaning: N/A
Gender: Female
Pronunciation: I think PRA-zil-uh or possibly PRAX-il-uh
Origin: Greek
Other forms of the name: Possibly Priscilla
I really cannot find anything on the name Praxilla, or the pronunciation, so I’m winging this thing. Praxilla of Sicyon was a lyric poet from 5th century Greece. She was very popular in her day and not much of her work survived. She was named one of the nine earthly muses by Antipater of Thessalonica, along with Sappho.
Later on her poetry fell out of favor, many crictized her for mentioning cucumbers along with the sun and moon. In one of her hymns Adonis is asked “What is the most beautiful thing you left behind?” by some of the underworld dwellers, he replies:
“Finest of all the things I have left is the light of the sun,
Next to that the brilliant stars and the face of the moon,
Cucumbers in their season, too, and apples and pears.”
Some people think cucumbers were supposed to be used as a pun to mention her place of birth; in Greek cucumber is “sicyos”. Not much else is known about Praxilla, if anybody has any information on the name, please let me know.
Hello, some ideas for you: I think it’s safe to say Praxilla comes from Greek *praxis* meaning “practice, action, doing”, which is found Eupraxia (http://www.behindthename.com/name/yevpraksiya), Praxagora, Praxithea, Praxidike (http://www.theoi.com/Daimon/Praxidike.html), Praxander, Praxiteles (http://www.behindthename.com/name/praxiteles), etc.
Actually the word “praxis” seems a bit complex, having several diff meanings (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CF%80%CF%81%E1%BE%B6%CE%BE%CE%B9%CF%82#Ancient_Greek). For ex, as a title of Aphrodite (“Aphrodite Praxis”) it meant “sexual action”, but it could also refer to a philosophical idea – “the synthesis of theory and practice, without presuming the primacy of either” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praxis_(process)).
Anyway thanks for profiling Praxilla, I didn’t know about the poet. How sad that her work is missing. It reminds me of the word “practical” (they must be related), so it seems grounded, comfortable. : )
Wow, what great information! Thank you.
Aw, you’re most welcome. Thanks for posting an intriguing name that I had fun researching! It’s as if you’re writing a set on the “nine mortal muses” with Myrtis (Myrtice) & now Praxilla – I wonder, does the future hold posts about Corinna, Anyte, Sappho, Telesilla, Myro/Moero, Nossis & Erinna?
@Fae
It certainly might!