Pyrrha

Pyrrha (Ancient Greek: Πύῤῥα) is the daughter of the Titan Epimetheus and Pandora and the wife of Deucalion and father of Hellen. According to some accounts, Hellen or Helmetheus was credited to be born from Pyrrha's union with Zeus.

Etymology[]

Pyrrha's name derives from the adjective πυρρός, -ά, -όν, pyrrhós, -á, -ón, i.e. "flame-colored, orange", or simply "red", referring in particular to people with red hair, as Pyrrha is described by both Horace and Ovid.

Mythology[]

Zeus, enraged at Prometheus for giving mankind fire, as well as mankind for accepting it, punished both. Prometheus must endure his punishment for all eternity, but mankind is to be obliterated by a deluge. Prometheus instructed his son to construct a large vessel to sail the raging flood until it subsided and the vessel ran aground on Mount Parnassus; the location of Delphi, Apollo's sacred temple.

Deucas — Deucalion and Pyrrha, throwing the "bones of their mother"

Having survived the great flood with his wife, Pyrrha, Deucalion consulted the oracle of Themis who informed him that mankind had been wiped out. Deucalion asked how he should go about to restore humanity and the oracle told him to "go with head averted, and throw behind you the bones of your mother." Deucalion and Pyrrha spent the night trying to decipher the oracles cryptic message and by morning they had a solution. They figured that the 'mother' must have meant Mother Earth, Gaia. Her bones would be stones and rocks. Deucalion and Pyrrha descended Mount Parnassus with their heads averted and behind them they tossed stones. The stones that Deucalion tossed became men, while the stones that Pyrrha tossed became women.

The new men and women decided to follow Deucalion and Pyrrha, setting out to restore and repopulate the human species.