- Lampetia is also a junior synonym of the geometer moth genus Erannis.
In
Greek mythology,
Lampetia (Λαμπετίη or Λαμπετία) (English translation: "shining") was the daughter of
Helios and
Neaera; she was the personification of light. She and her sister,
Phaethusa, were taken by their mother to guard the cattle and sheep of
Thrinacia. She looked after 700 animals in total. She ran to her father when
Odysseus' men slaughtered and sacrificed some of his ageless and deathless cattle. Her father, Helios, was enraged and asked the gods to avenge the deaths of his cattle, threatening to bring sunlight to the underworld if the men were not punished. Zeus then sent a lightning bolt down and a storm, killing all of Odysseus' men, a doom which was portended by the meat writhing and lowing on the spits.