Leuce
nymphA sea nymph abducted by Hades and transformed into a white poplar tree in the Underworld after her death.
The Myth
Leuce was a beautiful Oceanid, a daughter of Oceanus and Tethys. Hades — who rarely surfaces in romantic myths beyond Persephone — saw her and carried her off to his realm beneath the earth. She lived with him in the Underworld, but she was not immortal in the way the gods were, and eventually she died.
When she died, Hades honoured her by transforming her into a white poplar tree, which he planted in the Elysian Fields. The white poplar became sacred to the dead, its leaves dark green on top and silver-white beneath — said to represent the boundary between the world of the living and the world of the dead.
When Heracles descended to the Underworld to capture Cerberus, he wore a crown of Leuce's poplar leaves. The sweat on his brow whitened the undersides of the leaves that touched his skin, while smoke from the Underworld darkened the outer surfaces. This is the mythological explanation for the white poplar's distinctive two-toned foliage. The tree was thereafter associated with heroes, death, and the passage between worlds.
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Fun Fact
The white poplar's two-toned leaves — dark above, silver below — were explained by Heracles sweating through a crown of Leuce's leaves during his trip to the Underworld.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth:
Explore Further
Perse
nymphAn Oceanid nymph who married the sun god Helios and bore him Circe, Pasiphae, and Aeetes — a family...
Cerberus
creatureThe three-headed dog that guarded the gates of the underworld, preventing the dead from leaving and...
Elysian Fields
conceptThe Elysian Fields were the blessed afterlife reserved for heroes and the exceptionally virtuous —...
Elysian Fields (Concept)
placeParadise reserved for heroes and the virtuous dead, located at the western edge of the world or in...
Hades
godRuler of the underworld and lord of the dead. Despite his fearsome reputation, Hades was not evil —...
Hades (God)
godHades was the lord of the underworld who received the dead — feared but not evil, wealthy from...
Hades (Unseen One)
godThe ruler of the Underworld who received the dead, guarded by Cerberus and feared so deeply that...
Hera
godQueen of the Olympian gods and goddess of marriage. Known for her jealous rages against Zeus's...
Hera Teleia
godAn epithet of Hera as goddess of marriage and its fulfilment, worshipped as the divine model of the...
Heracles
heroThe greatest hero of Greek mythology, son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmene. Famous for his...
Heracles (Divine Hero)
heroThe son of Zeus and Alcmene who performed twelve impossible labours and was the only hero to...
Heracles (Labours)
heroHeracles performed twelve seemingly impossible labours as penance for killing his family in a...