Despoina

Detail from the marble veil of Despoina at Lycosura It seems that the Greek deities began their career as powers of nature, but then they were given other functions and attributes by their worshippers.

Her common name as a vegetation goddess is Kore and in Arcadia she was worshipped under the title Despoina "the mistress", a very old chthonic divinity.

This tradition comes from her conflation with the very old chthonic divinity Despoina (the mistress), whose real name could not be revealed to anyone except those initiated to her mysteries.