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|}}) may refer to the following characters:

• Praxidice, goddess of judicial punishment and the exactor of vengeance, which were two closely allied concepts in the classical Greek world-view.{{cn|date=May 2025}}
• Praxidice, according to the Orphic Hymn to Persephone, was an epithet of Persephone: "Praxidike, subterranean queen. The Eumenides' source [mother], fair-haired, whose frame proceeds from Zeus' ineffable and secret seeds."Orphic Hymn to Persephone 29 As praxis "practice, application" of dike "justice", she is sometimes identified with Dike, goddess of justice.
• Praxidice, according to Stephanus of Byzantium, a daughter of Ogygus named Praxidike, married to Tremiles (after whom Lycia had been previously named Tremile) and had by him four sons: Tlos, Xanthus, Pinarus and Cragus.Stephanus of Byzantium, s.v. [https://topostext.org/work/241#T633.8 Tremilē] (quoting a poem by Panyassis) In one account, all sons were mentioned except Xanthus to be the progeny of Praxidice and Tremilus.Tituli Asiae Minoris 2.174, [https://topostext.org/work/806 A.16–B2] ([https://epigraphy.packhum.org/text/284064 Greek text]) Of them, Tlos had a Lycian city named Tlos after himself.Stephanus of Byzantium, s.v. [https://topostext.org/work/241#T627.10 Tlōs] Cragus may be identical with the figure of the same name mentioned as the husband of Milye, sister of Solymus.Stephanus of Byzantium, s.v. [https://topostext.org/work/241#M453.13 Milyai]

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

• Arete and Homonoia, daughters of Praxidice and Soter, sisters to Ktesios.Suda s.v. [http://www.stoa.org/sol-bin/search.pl?login=guest&enlogin=guest&db=REAL&field=adlerhw_gr&searchstr=pi,2212 Praxidike]
• Alalcomenia, Thelxionoea and Aulis, daughters of the early Boeotian king Ogyges. At Haliartos in Boeotia, 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".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.] Their images only portrayed their heads, and only heads of animals were sacrificed to them.{{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]}}