Iambe

Iambe in Greek mythology was a Thracian woman, daughter of Pan and Echo and a servant of Metaneira, the wife of Hippothoon. Others call her a slave of Celeus,king of Eleusis. The extravagant hilarity displayed at the festivals of Demeter in Attica was traced to her ; for it is said that, when Demeter, in her wanderings in search of her daughter, arrived in Attica, : lambe cheered the mournful goddess by her jokes, (Horn. Hymn, in Cer. 202 ; Apollod. i. 5. § 1 ; Diod. v. 4; Phot. BibL Cod. 239. p. 319, ed. Bekker ; Schol. ad Nicand. Aleodph, 134.) She was believed to have given the name to Iambic poetry ; for some said that she hanged herself in consequence of the cutting speeches in which she had indulged, and others that she had cheered Demeter by a dance in the Iambic metre. (Eustath. ad Horn. p. 1684.) [L. S.]