InGreek mythology,Soter (Ancient Greek: Σωτήρ means 'saviour, deliverer') was the personification ordaimon ofsafety, preservation and deliverance from harm.
Suidas makes him the brother and husband ofPraxidike and by her the father ofKtesios,Arete andHomonoia.[1] (Note that both Soter and Ktesios were also cult titles ofZeus).
Praxidike (Exacter of Justice): A deity whose head alone is venerated.Mnaseas in his treatiseOn Europe says that Soter (Saviour) and his sister Praxidike (Exacter of Justice) had a son Ctesius (Household) and daughters Homonoia (Concord) and Arete (Virtue), who were called Praxidikai (Exacters of Penalties) after their mother.[2]
In theOrphic Hymns,[3] Praxidike was identified withPersephone, Soter with Zeus, and their daughtersPraxidikai with theErinyes.[citation needed]
According toAeschylus, Soter as the husband ofPeitharchia and father ofEupraxia.[4]
When you invoke the gods, do not be ill-advised. For Peitharkhia (Obedience) is the mother of Eupraxia (Success), wife of Soter (Salvation)--as the saying goes. So she is, but the power of godZeus is supreme, and often in bad times it raises the helpless man out of harsh misery even when stormclouds are lowering over his eyes.[5]
Soteria (Σωτηρία),personification of the abstract concept of safety and salvation, was also worshipped by the Greeks. She had a sanctuary inPatrae, which was believed to have been founded byEurypylos ofThessaly.[6]
