In Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

, Praxidike is the goddess of judicial punishment

Punishment

Punishment is the authoritative imposition of something negative or unpleasant on a person or animal in response to behavior deemed wrong by an individual or group....

 and the exactor of vengeance, which were two closely allied concepts in the classical Greek world-view.

The Orphic Hymn to Persephone

Persephone

In Greek mythology, Persephone , also called Kore , is the daughter of Zeus and the harvest-goddess Demeter, and queen of the underworld; she was abducted by Hades, the god-king of the underworld....

 identifies Praxidike as an epithet

Epithet

An epithet or byname is a descriptive term accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, divinities, objects, and binomial nomenclature. It is also a descriptive title...

 of Persephone: "Praxidike, subterranean queen. The Eumenides

Erinyes

In Greek mythology the Erinyes from Greek ἐρίνειν " pursue, persecute"--sometimes referred to as "infernal goddesses" -- were female chthonic deities of vengeance. A formulaic oath in the Iliad invokes them as "those who beneath the earth punish whosoever has sworn a false oath"...

’ source [mother], fair-haired, whose frame proceeds from Zeus’ ineffable and secret seeds." As praxis

Praxis

Praxis is the putting of theory into practice. The term may refer to:* Christian theological praxis* Praxis , the practice of faith, especially worship* The Praxis School, a school of Marxist philosophy...

"practice, application" of dike "justice", she is sometimes identified with Dike, goddess of justice.

The plural Praxidikai refers to the following groups of mythological figures who presided over exacting of justice:

1. Arete and Homonoia

Homonoia (mythology)

In Greek mythology Homonoia was a minor goddess of concord, unanimity, and oneness of mind. Her opposite number was Eris .Homonoia was believed to be the daughter of Soter, the saviour daimon, and Praxidike, the goddess of judicial punishment and vengeance. Her siblings were Arete and Ktesios,...

, daughters of Praxidike and Soter

Soter (daimon)

In Greek mythology, Soter was the spirit of safety, preservation and deliverance from harm. He was said to be the brother and husband of Praxidike and by her the father of Ktesios, Arete and Homonoia....

, sisters to Ktesios.

2. Alalcomenia

Alalcomenia

Alalcomenia was, in Greek mythology, one of the daughters of Ogyges. She and her two sisters, Thelxionoea and Aulis, were regarded as supernatural beings who watched over oaths and saw that they were not taken rashly or thoughtlessly...

, Thelxionoea and Aulis

Aulis

Aulis may refer to:* Aulis, , an ancient Greek town in Boeotia, and traditionally the port from which the Greek army set sail for the Trojan War.* Aulis, a daughter of King Ogyges and Thebe*Aulis, a genus of ladybird beetle...

, daughters of the early Boeotia

Boeotia

Boeotia, also spelled Beotia and Bœotia , is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. It was also a region of ancient Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, the second largest city being Thebes.-Geography:...

n king Ogyges

Ogyges

Ogyges, Ogygus or Ogygos is a primeval mythological ruler in ancient Greece, generally of Boeotia, but an alternative tradition makes him the first king of Attica.-Etymology:...

. At Haliartos in Boeotia

Boeotia

Boeotia, also spelled Beotia and Bœotia , is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. It was also a region of ancient Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, the second largest city being Thebes.-Geography:...

, Pausanias

Pausanias (geographer)

Pausanias was a Greek traveler and geographer of the 2nd century AD, who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. He is famous for his Description of Greece , a lengthy work that describes ancient Greece from firsthand observations, and is a crucial link between classical...

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". Their images only portrayed their heads, and only heads of animals were sacrificed to them.