Baubo

Baubo (Ancient Greek: Βαυβώ) is a minor figure in Greek mythology who does not appear in surviving sources before the fourth century BCE. 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. The fifth century CE Greek grammarian Hesychius recorded the name Baubo in his lexicon, stating that she was the nurse of Demeter. He gives the meaning of the word as 'hollow' or 'stomach' (κοιλίαν, koilian), citing the fifth century BCE philosopher Empedocles as a source. It is very likely that the story of Baubo is an etiological myth explaining certain rites and rituals of the Eleusinian Mysteries.