kourotrophic en · ADJ
Etymology
From Kourotrophos + -ic.
Meanings
- (Greek) Relating to the goddess Kourotrophos.
-
(qualifier:Ancient Greece) Relating to the rearing of youths, especially in the context of Ancient Greece.
Virgin goddesses had no interest in exerting their powers in this way. Instead, the Greeks made them interact with mortal men in a kourotrophic capacity: rather than functioning as sexual partners, they became nurturing guardians of young men approaching adulthood or protectors of male heroes.
2007, Bonnie MacLachlan, Virginity Revisited: Configurations of the Unpossessed Body, page 15: