History
The current name Cora may be derived from a variety of origins. Its most prominent antecedents, however, lie in ancient Greece.
Ancient Greece
The Greek word κόρη (korē) can mean girl, maiden or daughter.[4] In the latter sense it came to be an alternate name given to Persephone to denote her being the daughter of Demeter, who accordingly carries the epithet Μήτηρ (Mētēr), mother. Κόρη was used when addressing Persephone not as queen of the underworld, but as vegetation goddess.
Today's pronunciation of Cora is foreshadowed in some Greek dialects. In both Doric and Aeolic κόρη becomes κόρα (kora), in Doric it also appears as κώρα (kōra),[4] thus phonetically resembling the current English name rather closely. The spelling κόρα is used especially in poetic writings,[5] as in the following instance by Aeschylus:
ἔμολε δ᾽ ᾧ μέλει κρυπταδίου μάχας δολιόφρων ποινά:
ἔθιγε δ᾽ ἐν μάχᾳ χερὸς ἐτήτυμος Διὸς κόρα—Δίκαν δέ νιν
προσαγορεύομεν βροτοὶ τυχόντες καλῶς—
ὀλέθριον πνέουσ᾽ ἐν ἐχθροῖς κότον.[6]
And he has come whose part is the crafty vengeance of stealthy attack,
and in the battle his hand was guided by her who is in very truth daughter of Zeus,
breathing murderous wrath on her foes.
We mortals aim true to the mark when we call her Justice.[7]
As pointed out by H. Weir Smith, Δίκα ("Justice") can be read as a contraction of Δι(ὸς) κ(όρ)α, "daughter of Zeus".[7]
Metaphorically, κόρη and its variants can also refer to a puppet; the pupil of the eye, because a small image is mirrored within, and hence figuratively also the apple of one's eye.[8]
Ancient Rome
In its current spelling, Cora appears as a Latinisation of Persephone's epithet in Roman inscriptions. Fabia Aconia Paulina for example, who lived in the 4th century, was consecrated to Cora twice.[9]
Of different, namely Celtic, descent is Cora as toponym for a town and river (today la Cure) in the Roman province of Gaul.[10]
Modernity
In The Court of the Gentiles (1669), his extensive attempt to trace all ancient ideas and beliefs back to Hebrew scriptures, Theophilus Gale claims that Cora originated from the Hebrew הורה (hora).[11]
The name Cora gained prominence among a wider audience through Jean-François Marmontel's novel Les Incas of 1777, where it is given to an Inca girl consecrated as a virgin to the sun.[12] It is thus used much in accordance with the original Greek word. In view of his subject matter – the destruction of the Inca empire ("l'empire du Pérou") following that of the Aztec empire[13] – Marmontel may have found another motive in the ethnic group of the same name, who resisted Spanish conquest until 1722,[14] some 200 years longer than their neighbours (together referred to by him as "l'empire du Mexique").
Brought to fame by Marmontel, Cora inspired a series of other works, among them an opera by the French composer Étienne Méhul and a play by the German dramatist August von Kotzebue, Die Sonnenjungfrau (The Virgin of the Sun), both of 1791. Likely to have followed in this tradition, James Fenimore Cooper gave the name Cora to his heroine in The Last of the Mohicans of 1826.
