Baubo (Ancient Greek: Βαυβώ) is a minor figure in Greek mythology who does not appear in surviving sources before the fourth century CE.[1] A fragment from Asclepiades of Tragilus states that she is the wife of Dysaules, who was said to be autochthonous, that they had two daughters — Protonoe and Misa — and that the couple welcomed Demeter into their house.[2][3]
The fifth century CE Greek grammarian Hesychius records the name Baubo in his lexicon, stating that she was the nurse of Demeter, and that the word means 'hollow' or 'stomach' (κοιλίαν, koilian), citing the fifth century BCE philosopher Empedocles as a source for this meaning.[4][5]
- ^ Halliwell 2008: 165.
- ^ Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker 12 F4.
- ^ Karaghiorga-Stathacopoulou 1986: 87.
- ^ s.v. Βαυβώ 1.318
- ^ Rosen 2007:50 n16.