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Anaxarete, a MythSource painting
Greek

Anaxarete

01Identity

Anaxarete in Greek tradition

In Henry T. Riley's 1889 English rendering of Ovid's Metamorphoses, Anaxarete turns to stone during Iphis's funeral. Iphis has died by hanging, and his mother leads the procession past Anaxarete's house. Anaxarete watches from above. The account is a literary transformation, not a record of a historical person.

SourceThe Metamorphoses of Ovid: Book XIV, pp. 512–513

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02The myths

The myths of Anaxarete

1 myth, with sources recorded for each.

Anaxarete and Iphis's funeral

The last sight Anaxarete has as a human is Iphis's funeral. In Riley's 1889 English rendering of Ovid's Metamorphoses, Iphis has died by hanging, and his mother leads the mourners past Anaxarete's house. She watches from an upper room. This encounter between the passing funeral and Anaxarete is the account's decisive turn.

Stone overtakes Anaxarete as she looks on, leaving her unable to move away. The episode presents that change as a literary metamorphosis. It is not an event that can be verified outside the story.

Anaxarete and Iphis's funeral, a MythSource painting of the scene

2 sources· checked 2026-09-29

  1. 1The Metamorphoses of OvidT1
  2. 2The Metamorphoses of OvidT1

Also mentioned in

Stories elsewhere on MythSource that mention Anaxarete, each on that figure’s page.