Arsinoë (daughter of Nicocreon)
In Greek mythology, Arsinoë is a Cypriot princess who was punished by being turned into stone at the hand of the goddess of love Aphrodite for turning down a potential suitor named Arceophon, who then killed himself.
Arsinoë and her brief petrification tale serve as a doublet for the also Cypriot and more well-known story of Iphis and Anaxarete which follows the same pattern. Her tale is only preserved in the writings of Antoninus Liberalis, a little-known author of the Roman imperial era.
Mythology
Princess Arsinoë was the daughter of King Nicocreon of Salamis, which was also known by the name Arsinoë, from the island of Cyprus, a descendant of Teucer, by his unnamed wife. A wealthy Phoenician-descended man called Arceophon, son of Minnyrides, fell in love with her and tried to woo her by promising many gifts, but Nicocreon refused to give his daughter's hand in marriage to him due to his ignoble and Phoenician origin. The lovestruck Arceophon would then visit Arsinoë's house at night, even orchestrating a night-serenade with youths of his age, trying to win her heart in vain for she spurned him.He even tried to bribe Arsinoë's wetnurse so that she would help him get close to the girl. But when the wetnuse delivered the youth's proposition to Arsinoë, she immediately informed her parents and they kicked out the nurse after cutting off her tongue, her nose and her fingers. In great despair over the prospects of marriage to Arsinoë diminishing, Arceophon killed himself via starvation, and was mourned greatly. During his funeral, Arsinoë peeped out of the window to get a glimpse at the pocession, and so Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, turned the girl into stone.
Culture
This story seems to be a variant of the also Cypriot tale of Iphis and Anaxarete, known thanks to its inclusion in Ovid's Metamorphoses. The story is also referenced by Plutarch, who compares it with the little-known tales of Euxynthetus and Leucomantis and the Cretan Gorgo and Asander.In standard Greek metamorphosis myths, the inanimate objects humans are transformed into usually reflect some quality or feature of the original person, though stone is typically an exception to this rule; Arsinoë's story however is in fact a rare case of petrification actually indicating the cold-heartedness and cruelty that the human exhibited before undergoing said transformation.
The king in the story, Nicocreon, was a real historical king of Cyprus who lived during the time of Alexander the Great, giving the story a historical setting.