Upis (mythology)

This article is about the Hyperborean maiden. For other uses, see Opis (mythology).

In Greek and Roman mythology, Upis (Ancient Greek: Οὖπις, romanized: Oûpis) or Opis (Ancient Greek: Ὦπις, romanized: Ôpis) is a maiden from Hyperborea, a daughter of the wind-god Boreas. Upis along with her sisters descended from Hyperborea and went to the island of Delos, where they became handmaidens to the goddess Artemis.

Family

Upis was a daughter of Boreas, the god of the north wind, by an unnamed mother. She had several brothers and sisters.

Mythology

The virgin Upis along with her sisters (Arge, Hekaerge, and Loxo depending on the author) were the first to leave Hyperborea and arrive in Delos along with the Delian gods,^[1][2] Artemis and Apollo, before Hyperoche and Laodice did, who carried the offering that had been promised to the childbirth-goddess Eileithyia for the birth of the twins.^[3][4] Upis and the others introduced the worship of Apollo and Artemis, and thus received great honours from the Delians.^[5] The women of Delos would sing hymns to their honour and lavish them with gifts until the end of their lives.^[3]

Upis often accompanied Artemis in her various excursions admist the woods; she was present when the hunter Actaeon accidentally stumbled on Artemis and the other maidens bathing nude and was transformed into a deer for his grave transgression.^[6] Some other time, the giant Orion joined Artemis as a hunting companion, and then he raped Upis,^[4][7] so Artemis shot him dead with her arrows in punishment.^[8][9]

In the Aeneid, Upis is ordered by Artemis to avenge the death of one of her favourites, the Amazon-like warrior Camilla, who was felled in battle by the Etruscan Arruns.^[10] Upis witnessed and lamented the death of Camilla, and then proceeded to slay Arruns with an arrow as directed by Artemis.^[11]

Upis was also said to be the name of a mythical being that reared the young Artemis, and might be identified with Boreas' daughter.^[12][13] In connection to that, Cicero speaks of a male Upis who became the father of the "third" Artemis/Diana.^[14][15]

Cult

Upis' tomb in Delos was worshiped in cult, where the ashes of the burnt thighbones were cast after the sacrifice.^[3] Furthermore young girls would offer a lock from their hair as offering to her,^[16] while the boys offered the hair growing on their cheeks.^[5][15] The Delian cult, which seems to have included several deities connected to Artemis and childbirth (such as Eileithyia) likely went as far back as the Archaic period.^[17]

Upis seems to have been an aspect of Artemis herself, or at least a goddess with similar functions that was associated with her.^[7] In Ephesus, 'Upis' was also an epithet under which Artemis was worshipped as a goddess of childbirth.^[9][18]

Orion's sexual assault of Upis might be depicted on an ancient tomb relief frieze in Taranto, dating circa to 300 BC.^[19]

See also

• Ancient Greece portal
• Ancient Rome portal
• Mythology portal

• Callisto
• Nicippe
• Rhodopis and Euthynicus