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Acontius and Cydippe



Acontius was a young man from Chios who, at a festival at Delos, fell in love with the Athenian Cydippe. He threw a coin at her, and she picked it up and read, "I swear by the temple of Artemis that I shall marry Acontius..."

By saying it aloud, she was obligated to marry him. This myth reiterates how tradition - and male aspirations - took precedence over female wishes, whatever they may or may not be.