A Biographical Dictionary of the Celebrated Women of Every Age and Country/Androclea
ANDROCLEA,
Celebrated for her love to her country, was of Thebes, in Bœotia. That state was at war with the Orchomenians, they consulted the oracle, which answered, they would be victors, if the most noble amongst them would incur a voluntary death. Antiphenes, the father of Androclea, was the most illustrious, by birth, amongst the Thebans, but did not feel disposed to make that sacrifice for their welfare. Androclea and her sister Alcis, more courageous or more generous than their father, fulfilled this duty in his stead; and the Thebans, in gratitude, erected the statue of a lion to their honour in the Temple of Diana.