Potnia is an
Ancient Greek word for "Mistress, Lady" and a title of a goddess. The word was inherited by
Classical Greek from
Mycenean Greek with the same meaning and it was applied to several goddesses. A similar word is the title
Despoina, "the mistress", which was given to the nameless
chthonic goddess of the mysteries of
Arcadian cult. She was later conflated with
Kore (
Persephone), "the maid", the goddess of the
Eleusinian mysteries, in a life-death rebirth cycle which lead the neophyte from death into life and immortality.
Karl Kerenyi identifies Kore with the nameless "Mistress of the labyrinth", who probably presided over the palace of
Knossos in Minoan Crete.