Date
Meaning & History
Derived from Greek μάρπτω (márptô) "to take hold of, to seize, to catch" (cf. MARPESIA), with the alleged meaning "the robbed one". In Homer's 'Iliad' this name belonged to the wife of the hero IDAS. Marpessa was an Aetolian princess who was wooed by both Idas and the god APOLLO. Fearing that Apollo would abandon her in her old age, she chose the mortal Idas, by whom she was the mother of Cleopatra (wife of MELEAGER).