The Maiden of Light (Greek Parthenos tou Phōtos; Middle Persian Kanīg ī Rōšn) is a redeeming goddess of the Manichaean Third Creation and the chief female agent of the Third Messenger. Her best-known act is the so-called Seduction of the Archons: at the Messenger's command she reveals her radiant beauty to the imprisoning demons — to the males as a beautiful maiden, to the females as a handsome youth — so that, overcome with desire, they discharge the particles of light they had swallowed. Thereafter she is associated with the ongoing purification of the light, cleansing it from the clouds and the atmosphere as it ascends. The figure is variously configured across the sources, sometimes splitting into a group of twelve maidens; in the Coptic and western tradition she is the Virgin of Light, occasionally associated with Jesus the Splendour in the rousing of souls.