Ececheira
The personification of armistice or truce. She appeared at the Olympic games to ensure that there would be no hostilities.
Echenais
A nymph who fell in love with the mortal Daphnis and made him promise to be faithful. When he wasn't, she made him blind so he might never again be tempted by female beauty.
Echidna she-viper
She was half-woman, half-snake. She was married to the monster, Typhon. She was the mother of Ladon (a dragon), Hydra (the many-headed), Chimera (goat-like), and Orthus (Orthros) and Cerberus (dog creatures). She also mothered, by Orthus, the Sphinx and the Nemean lion. She was killed by Argus as she slept.
Echo-echo
She was in the wrong place at the wrong time, talking to Hera long enough for Zeus to fool around again. Hera was so angry she deprived Echo of the power of speech except for the ability to repeat the last words of another. Echo fell in love with Narcissus who was pining away staring at his reflection. Echo, in despair, faded away to nothing until only her voice remained.
Efreisone
The female personification of a Greek ritual object: a branch of olive wood, twined with wool and hung with fruits, which was carried in festivals by children with two living parents.
Eidothea-divine shape
A sea nymph,daughter of Proteus, who took pity on Menelaus, becalmed on his
return trip from the Trojan War to Sparta, and advised him to lie in wait for her father, who could be compelled to give him useful advice and information if Menelaus would only seize him and hold on to him, unafraid. This was not a simple matter, since Proteus had the power to change himself into many, and fearsome, shapes. But Menelaus held on and got the information he wanted.
Eidyia-knowledgeable
Eileithyia
Goddess of childbirth. She was a daughter of Zeus and Hera. In some tales she is immeasurably ancient (before Zeus/Hera); she was said to have mid-wived the gods and goddesses of classical Greece. Some legends even call her the mother of Eros, not the god of love, but the primordial force
of creation hatched from the world egg.
Eirene
One of the Horae; her name means peace.
Electra-amber
1. Daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. She aided her brother Orestes in avenging the murder of their father by their mother and Aegisthus.
2. One of the Pleiades, the mythical ancestors of the Trojans. She is known as the "Lost Pleiad" for she is said to have disappeared before the Trojan War so that she would not see her favorite city destroyed. She shows herself occasionly, but only in the guise of a comet.
3. An Oceanid, daughter of Oceanus and Tethys.
4. Mother (by Thaumas) of Iris, goddess of the rainbow, and also of the loathsome Harpies.
Electryon-beaming
Eleos
The goddess of mercy.
Enceladus
The most powerful of the hundred-armed giants, sons of Uranus and Gaea, who fought against Zeus.
Endymion-seduced native
A handsome young man who was loved by the moon goddess, Selene, and whose youth was preserved by eternal sleep. Selene supposedly bore him fifty daughters by embracing him in his sleep.
Enyo
1.Enyo: A Greek goddess of war and waster of cities, sometimes depicted as the daughter of Ares. She appears covered in blood, and striking attitudes of violence.
2.Enyo ("horror"): One of the Graeae, the three 'old women'.
Eos-dawn
Eos was the goddess of dawn, daughter of the Titans, Hyperion and
Theia, and sister of Helios and Selene. She was the mother of the
evening star Eosphorus (Hesperus), other stars, and the winds
Boreas, Zephyrus and Notus. When she was caught in a tryst
with Ares, Aphrodite cursed her with an insatiable desire for
handsome young men. She most often appears winged or in a
chariot drawn by four horses, one of them being Pegasus.
Ephialtes
A giant, son of Poseidon, and brother to Otus. When they were nine years old, they were "nine fathoms tall and nine cubits broad". Apollo killed them.
Epigoni-afterborn
The sons of the seven Greek chieftains known as the "Seven Against Thebes". To avenge the deaths of their fathers, who had been slain in that ill-fated expedition against Thebes, the Epigoni conquered the city and completely destroyed it. Although their name, Epigoni, (Afterborn), implied that they had come into the world too late and after all the great deeds had been done, one of their number, the warrior Diomedes, became one of the greatest Greek heroes of the Trojan War.
Epimenides
A religious teacher and miracle worker in Crete who is said to have fallen asleep in a cave as a boy, and that he did not wake up for 57 years. (Origin of Rip Van Winkle?)
Epimetheus-afterthought
He was considered the dumbest of the Titans. His name means "afterthought". He was responsible for Pandora (the first woman) and the releasing of all evils upon mankind.
Erato-passionate
The Muse of lyric poetry and mime, usually depicted holding a lyre.
Erebus
The son of Chaos, and brother of Night. His name was given to the gloomy cavern through which the dead had to walk to reach Hades.
Erigone
Daughter of Icarius. When her father was killed (he had given a party where he, a follower of Dionysus, gave the revelers their first taste of wine, and
they, thinking they were poisoned, slew him) she was led to his body by their faithful dog Maera and, overcome with grief, killed herself.
TheErinnyes-angry one
The Erinnyes (Eumenides) names are Alecto (the unceasing), Megaera (the grudging), and
Tisiphone (the avenging). They are solemn maidens dressed as huntresses, wear
bands of serpents around their heads, and carry torches. They
pursue wrongdoers and torment them in ways that make the
criminals wish they were dead. Crimes that especially draw their
attention are disobedience toward parents, ill-treatment of the
elderly, murder, violation of the law of hospitality, and improper
conduct toward suppliants. Born from the castrated Uranus's genitals.
Eris-strife
Eris is the goddess of discord and the daughter of Zeus and
Hera. She is obsessed with bloodshed, havoc, and suffering. She
calls forth war and her brother Ares carries out the action.
Eros-erotic love
There are two versions of this god. In early mythology he was represented as one of the primeval forces of nature, the son of Chaos (and brother to Gaea), and represented the attraction that brings people together (marriage, friendship, etc. Soon, however, he was thought of as a handsome and intense young man, attended by Pothos ("longing") or Himeros ("desire"). Later mythology made him the constant attendant of his mother, Aphrodite, goddess of love (In this version he represented lust). In most stories he was the son of Aphrodite and Ares and was represented as a winged youth armed with bow and arrows with which he shot darts of desire into the bosoms of gods and men. In Roman myth, under the name Cupid or Amor, he was the naked infant son and companion of Venus.
Erytheia
One of the Hesperides.
Eumenides
See Errinnyes above.
Eunomia
One of the Horae.
Euphrosyne
One of the Graces.
Europa-broad face
A beautiful woman who caught the eye of Zeus. He transformed himself into a white bull and carried her off. She bore him three sons, King Minos, King Rhadamanthus and Prince Sarpedon. She later married the king of Crete who adopted her three sons.
Euryale
One of the Gorgons.
Eurycleia
Odysseus'old nurse who recognizes him when he returns from the Trojan War, when washing his feet she sees the scar he received as a young man in a boar hunt.
Eurydice-wide justice
The wife of Orpheus, whom he failed to rescue from Hades when he looked back at her.
Eurynome
1. In one account she is the goddess of all creation, and ruled the Titans (with Ophion) before Cronus.
2. In another she is the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, and the mother, by Zeus, of the Graces.
Euterpe-rejoicing well
The Muse of lyric poetry and music.
Evadne
Wife of Capaneus (one of the Seven Against Thebes). When he was killed in that war she burned herself on his pyre.
F
The Fates (The Moirae)
The three powerful goddesses who determined the lives of men. Clotho wove the thread of life, Lachesis measured it out, and Atropos cut it off with her scissors of death.
G
Gaea
(Also Gaia or Ge) Her name is the first syllable of words like geography, geometry, geology, etc..
Gaea is the the earth goddess. She is regarded as all-producing and all-nourishing, and one of the dieties of presiding over marriage. She was the mother of Cronus, by Uranus, her son. Gaea was also the mother of the Titans, the Gigantes, and the Cyclopes. The Romans called her Tellus.
Galatea-milk white
There are three of them in Greek myth:
1.A sea nymph, loved by the monster Polyphemus (a Cyclop), although she loved Acis, who was thereby killed by Polyphemus or the other Cyclops (two differing versions). Galatea, in bereavement, threw herself into the sea, where she joined her sister nymphs (one version), she wept so copiously she was changed into a fountain (another version), and she accepted Polyphemus and had by him a son, Galates (another version).
2.The woman who was originally a statue carved by Pygmalion and who was brought to life by Aphrodite in answer to his prayers. See Pygmalion and Galatea
3.Mother of Leucippus, who was reared as a boy in order to fool Galatea's husband, who had ordered the child to be killed at birth if it was a girl. Leto answered the mother's prayers eventually and changed Leucippus' sex to male.
Galinthias (Galauthis)
A servant of Alcmene's. When Alcmene was about to give birth to Hercules, the Moerae (see Fates), sitting in front of Alcmene's house, prevented the birth by sitting with their knees held together and their hands clasped around their knees; this was a spell that prevented birth. Galinthias, learning of this, ran out shouting that Alcmene had given birth to a child. This so startled the Moerae they started to their feet and in so
doing freed Alcmene's thighs and her child was born. According to the poet Ovid, the Moerae were so angered by this trick that they turned the subtle, darting Galinthias into a lizard.
Ganymeda
Originally the goddess cupbearer to the gods who served
ambrosia and nectar at Olympian feasts. She was later split in two; her name and her position as cupbearer were granted to Ganymede (see below) and her other attributes were transferred to Hebe.
Ganymede
A mortal boy that was abducted by Zeus, given immortality and the job of cupbearer to the gods, and became Zeus' lover.
Geras
Goddess of old age, she was the daughter of Nyx.
Glauce
See Creusa.
Glaucus
All four are:
1. Fought on the side of the Trojans in the Trojan War. He was killed in the war by Ajax.
2. Son of Minos; drowned in a vat of honey; brought back to life by the soothsayer Polyeidus.
3. One of the Argonauts. He loved Scylla (before she was changed into a monster), and was loved in turn by Circe, who made him into a sea god.
4. Son of Sisyphus and father of Bellerophon. He fed his herd of horses on a diet of human flesh. Eventually he became part of their diet; a fitting end to his life.
Golden Fleece
The fleece of the golden ram, stolen by Jason and the Argonauts from the king of Colchis.
Gorgons -grim ones
They were three monstrous daughters of the sea god Phorcys and his wife, Ceto, and could change men to stone at a glance. The Gorgons, whose faces and figures were truly beautiful, were, even so, terrifying, dragonlike creatures, covered with golden scales and having hissing snakes for hair. Medusa was the famous one. Two of the Gorgons, Stheno (strength) and Euryale (wide sea), were immortal; Medusa (ruler) alone could be killed. The hero Perseus killed Medusa and brought back her head, with the help of the deities Hermes and Athena. From her blood sprang the winged horse Pegasus, her son by the god Poseidon. Their triplet sisters, the Graeae (see below), guarded the way to the Gorgon's home beyond the sea, almost at the end of night.
The Three Graces (Charites)
They represented splendor, mirth, and good cheer. Their names were Aglaia (Splendor), Thalia (Good Cheer), and Euphrosyne (Mirth). They were the daughters of Zeus and the nymph, Eurynome. They were dancing goddesses; they represented the grace of manners (for they were always gentle and polite), and the greatest grace, the gift of love itself, which these goddesses ruled with Aphrodite.
Graeae
The three "old women" or "gray ones". They are the daughters of Phorcys (a son of Gaia and Pontus) and Ceto (his sister). The Graeae are the sisters and the guardians of the Gorgons. They were gray-haired from birth and have only one eye and one tooth, which they share among them. They are Enyo ("horror"), Deino ("dread") and Pemphredo ("alarm").
Hades (Pluto)-sightless
He was one of the Olympian gods. He was the son of the Titans, Cronus and Rhea, and the brother of Zeus and Poseidon. When he and his brothers drew lots to divide the world after they had deposed of their father, Cronus, Zeus won command of the heavens, Poseidon of the sea, and Hades of the underworld. He became known as Pluto, the god of wealth, because of the precious metals in the Earth.It was rare for Pluto to leave his realm to visit the Earth or Olympus. (His most famous visit to Earth was the time he saw Persephone and carried her off to be his wife.) Appropriately the planet named for Pluto is the one farthest from the sun. Although he was a grim and pitiless god, unappeased by either prayer or sacrifice, he was not evil. As Pluto he was called the lord of riches, because both crops and precious metals were believed to come from his kingdom below ground.
The name was also used for the underworld itself. This world of the dead was ruled by Pluto and Persephone. Guarded by Cerberus, the three-headed, dragon-tailed dog, it was either underground or in the far west and was separated from the land of the living by five rivers. One of these was the Styx, across which the dead were ferried. Somewhere in the darkness of the underworld, Hades' palace was located. It was represented as a many-gated, dark and gloomy palace, thronged with guests, and set in the midst of shadowy fields and an apparition-haunted landscape. Three judges in the Erebus region, where the dead pass as soon as they die, decided the fate of souls; heroes went to the Elysian fields (Elysium), and evildoers to Tartarus, lowest region of Hades, where the wicked were punished.
The five rivers of Hades were: Phlegethon, Acheron, Styx, Lethe, and Cocytus.
Harmonia-concordance
She was the daughter of Ares and Aphrodite, or the daughter of Zeus and Electra depending on which version of the old legends you believe. She was carried off by Cadmus and married him.
At Harmonia's wedding, which was attended by the gods, Aphrodite gave her a beautiful necklace made by Hephaestus, god of metalwork. Although the gift brought her good fortune, it brought only death and misery to her family. Eventually both Cadmus and Harmonia were transformed into snakes.
Harpies-snatchers
Predatory monsters with the head of a woman and the body, wings, and claws of a bird.
Harpocrates
The Greek counterpart of the Egyptian Harpa-Khruti (Horus the child). He was depicted as a naked boy sucking on his finger, and was considered the god of silence and secrecy.
Hebe-youth
She was the daughter of Zeus and Hera, and the goddess of youth. She was cup-bearer, along with Ganymede to the major gods (they alone were allowed to pour the nectar of the gods on Olympus),. She also, as part of her duties, prepared Ares' bath and helped Hera to her Chariot. She is also mentioned as being one of the Horae, and had the power of restoring youth and vigor to gods and men. She was the wife of Heracles (after he became a god). The Romans called her Juventas, which means "youth".
Hecate
Hecate brings good luck to sailors and hunters or can withhold
these blessings if undeserved, so fear became a motivating factor
in her worship. When Persephone was found with Hades,
Hecate remained with her as attendant and companion and as a
result has a share in the ruling over the souls in the underworld.
Because of her unearthly aspect she is regarded as a kind of
queen of witches. She is the goddess of darkness, and the daughter of the Titans Perses and Asteria. Hecate represented the darkness and the terrors of the night. On moonless nights she was believed to roam the earth with a pack of ghostly, howling dogs. She was the goddess of sorcery and witchcraft and was especially worshiped by magicians and witches, who sacrificed black lambs and black dogs to her. As goddess of the crossroads, Hecate and her pack of dogs were believed to haunt these remote spots, which seemed evil and ghostly places to travelers. In art Hecate is often represented with either three bodies (since she combined the attributes of Selene, Artemis, and Persephone) or three heads, and with serpents entwined about her neck.
Hector
A Trojan prince, the eldest son of Priam and Hecuba, he was killed by Achilles in the Trojan War, and his dead body tied to Achilles' chariot, was dragged around the walls of Troy three times.
Hecuba
The second wife of Priam and mother of Hector, Paris, and Cassandra, among her nineteen children. When Troy fell she was taken by Ulysses.
Hegemone-mastery
Helen moon-basket
The most beautiful of women. She was the daughter of Zeus and Leda, sister of Clytemnestra and of Castor and Pollux. She married Menelaus. When Paris awarded the apple of discord to Aphrodite, the goddess gave him Helen. He carried her off to Troy, starting the Trojan War. After the war she returned to Sparta with Menelaus, by whom she bore Hermione.
Helios-sun
He was the sun god, son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia and father of Pha�thon. Each morning he left a palace in the east and crossed the sky in a golden chariot, then returned along the river Oceanus, which girded the earth.
Hemera-sun
Representation of day; she was the daughter of Nyx and Erebus.
Hephaestus
God of fire and metalwork, the son of the god Zeus and the goddess Hera, or sometimes the son of Hera alone. In contrast to the other gods, Hephaestus was lame and awkward. Shortly after his birth, he was cast out of heaven, either by Hera, who was repelled by his deformity, or by Zeus, because Hephaestus had sided with Hera against him. In most legends, however, he was soon honored again on Olympus and was married to Aphrodite, goddess of love, or to Aglaia, one of the three Graces. As the artisan among the gods, Hephaestus made their armor, weapons, and jewelry. His workshop was believed to lie under Mount Etna, a volcano in Sicily. He worked at huge furnaces, aided by Cyclopes. Originally he was a Middle Eastern fire god. Hephaestus is often identified with the Roman god of fire, Vulcan.
Hera-protectress
She was sister, and wife, of Zeus. Hera is the supreme goddess of the Greeks and goddess of marriage and childbirth. Her children are Ares, Hebe, Hephaestus and Eris. Sacred to her are the peacock, pomegranate, lily and cuckoo. She was extremely jealous and vindictive, and visited dire consequences upon those mortal women with whom Zeus carried on affairs.
Heracles
The most popular Greek hero, he was famous for strength and courage. The son of Alcmene and Zeus, he was hated by Hera, who sent serpents to his cradle to strangle him, but he strangled them. Later Hera drove Heracles mad, and he killed his wife and children. He sought redemption from King Eurystheus, who set him 12 mighty labors:
1. Kill the Nemean lion- Heracles strangled the animal and wore the lion's skin.
2. Kill the Hydra-a terrible serpent with nine heads.
3. Drive off the Stymphalian birds.
4. Clean the Augean stables, which had not been cleaned for 30 years. He turned two rivers, the Alpheus and the Peneus, through the stables, finishing the work in a single day.
5. Capture the Cerynean hind, with the golden horns.
6. Capture the Cretan bull.
7. Capture the flesh-eating wild mares of Diomedes, king of Thrace. Hercules killed Diomedes and fed him to the horses.
8. Capture the wild Erymanthian boar.
9. Capture the cattle of the monster Geryon, which dwelt on the fabled island Erytheia.
10. Capture Cerberus, the many-headed dog who guarded the gates of the underworld. He brought Cerberus to Eurystheus, but the king was so terrified that Heracles had to return to Hades to take the monster back.
11. Procure the girdle of Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons. He defeated the Amazons, killed the queen, and took the belt.
12. Procure the golden apples of the Hesperides guarded by the four sister nymphs called the Hesperides. Their father was Atlas, who supported the heavens on his back. To obtain the apples Heracles took Atlas's place while Atlas took the apples.
Later, the centaur Nessus tried to carry off Heracles' wife, Deianeira. Heracles shot Nessus with a poisoned arrow. The dying centaur had Deianeira keep some of his blood as a love charm. When Heracles fell in love with another maiden, Deianeira sent him a robe steeped in the blood. Heracles put it on, and poison spread through his body like fire. He fled to Mount Oeta, built a funeral fire, and threw himself on it to die. At his death he rose to Olympus, where he was reconciled with Hera and married Hebe. He is more familiarly known by his Roman name Hercules.
Hermaphroditus
This was a creature that was partly male and partly female. One legend has him being a handsome male, the son of Hermes and Aphrodite. Supposedly a nymph fell in love with him and beseeched the gods to be forever united with him. They answered her prayers by fusing the two together thereby creating a being that was half male and half female.
Hermes-pillar
He was the cleverest of the Olympian gods, and messenger to all the other gods. He ruled over wealth, good fortune, commerce, fertility, and thievery. He brought the souls of the dead to the underworld, and was honored as the god of sleep.
Hero and Leander
Hero was a priestess of Aphrodite beloved by Leander, who drowned during one of his nightly swims across the Hellespont to be with her.
Hesperia-evening
The land of the evening star, where the golden apples of Hera were guarded by the dragon Ladon and by the seven immortal maidens, the Hesperides.
Hesperides
See Hesperia.
Hesperos
The goddess of evening and wife of Atlas.
Hestia-hearth
She was the virgin goddess of the hearth, family, and peace,
and the inventor of domestic architecture. She was the daughter of Cronus and Rhea and Zeus's sister. Of all the Olympians, she is the mildest, most upright and most charitable.
Hilaeira
Goddess of brightness.
Himerus
God of sexual desire.
Hippasus-horseman
Hippodamia (Briseis)
Achilles' mistress at Troy.
Hippolytus
A son of Theseus. When he repulsed the advances of his step-mother, Phaedra, she accused him of attempting to seduce her. Theseus asked Poseidon for advice, and the god sent a huge sea-monster against Hippolytus, which so frightened his horses that they dragged him to his death. He was restored to life by Aesculapius.
Hippomenes
The Greek who defeated Atalanta in the race in which he used the golden apples given to him by Venus, and thereby won Atalanta's hand in marriage.
Historis well-informed
Horae
The Horae are the goddesses of the seasons and the orderly
procession of things in general. They are also the collective
personfication of justice. Hesoid, who saw them as givers of the
law, justice and peace gave them the names Eunomia
(Discipline), Dice (Justice) and Eirene (Peace). At Athens two of
the Horae, were called Thallo and Carpo, and to the Athenians,
represented the budding and maturity of growing things. As a
result, Thallo became the protectress of youth.
Hubris
God personifying lack of restraint.
Hyacinthus-hyacinth
A handsome Spartan youth loved both by Apollo, god of the sun, and by Zephyrus, god of the west wind. One day, as Apollo was teaching the young man to throw the discus, the god accidentally killed Hyacinthus. From the blood of the youth, Apollo caused a flower to spring up, each petal inscribed with an exclamation of lamentation (what looks like AI, which means woe in Greek). According to another legend, Zephyrus was jealous of the youth's love for Apollo and blew upon the discus, causing it to strike Hyacinthus.
TheHyades rain-makers
The name given to five (in some accounts, seven) sisters who nursed the infant wine god, Dionysus. As a reward they were changed into the five (seven) stars at the head of the constellation Taurus, the bull.
Hybris-shamelessness
Hydra-water creature. In Greek mythology, a many-headed water serpent. When one of its heads was cut off, two new ones appeared. It was killed by Hercules, who had his charioteer burn each neck after decapitation.
Hygieia-health
Goddess of health, and the daughter of Aesculapius. Her symbol was a serpent drinking from a cup in her hand.
Hymen
Son of Aphrodite and Dionysus.
The god of marriage. He was represented as a young man carrying a torch and veil, a mature version of Eros.
The Hyperboreans beyond-the-North-Wind-men
A race of men who lived on the northern shores of the limitless river Ocean that ran around the earth. This fortunate race never knew care, toil, illness or old age.
Hyperion-dweller on high
The Titan god of light, he was the father of the sun, the moon, and the dawn.
Hypnos
Also known as Somnus, Hypnos was the god of rest and/or sleep, and a twin brother of Thanatos, the god of death. He was the father of Morpheus, the god of dreams. He had many other sons, among whom were Icelus, who brought dreams of animals and Phantasus, who brought dreams of things. From his names we get the words hypnotize and somnambulism.
I
Ianthe
A Cretan girl who married Iphis. Iphis was transformed from a girl into a young man for this purpose.
Iapetus-hurrier
Son of Uranus and Gaea.
The Titan that fathered Prometheus, Menoetius, Epimetheus, and Atlas, and considered by the Greeks, the father of the human race.
Icarius
He was taught the cultivation of the grape vine by Dionysus, and when he introduced wine to some peasants, was killed by them because they thought he had poisoned them when they became drunk. The peasants buried him under a tree, and when Erigone, his daughter, and Moera, his dog, found the body she hanged herself in grief. Icarius became the constellation Boötes; Erigone became the constellation Virgo; and Moera became the star Procyon.
Icarus
The son of Daedalus. He and his father fastened wings to their bodies and flew over the sea. When Icarus flew higher, the sun melted the wax fastenings and he fell to his death in the waters below.
Idomeneus
A king of Crete who fought with the Greeks at Troy. After the war he made a vow to the gods to sacrifice whatever he first encountered if they would grant him safe passage home. He met his own son, and true to his vow, sacrificed his son to the gods. The gods, however, sent a plague to his kingdom, and he was banished by his people and branded a murderer.
Io
She was a princess of Argos, who was turned into a heifer by Zeus to protect her from Hera's jealousy. Hera claimed the heifer and had the many-eyed monster Argus guard it. When Hermes killed Argus, Hera drove Io to Egypt. There Zeus returned her to human form. Io has been identified with the Egyptian goddess Isis.
Iphigenia
The daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. Agamemnon, having offended the goddess Artemis, vowed to sacrifice to her the most beautiful thing he saw during the year. His daughter was born that year. He deferred the sacrifice till she grew to womanhood, but then, with the Greek fleet ready to sail to Troy, was told that there would be no favorable winds for the fleet until he made good on his vow to Artemis. While the sacrificial rite was in progress, Artemis snatched the girl from the altar and carried her to heaven.
Iphis
See Ianthe. (Above)
Iris-rainbow
Iris was the personification of the rainbow. She was also the messenger of the gods.
Irus
The gigantic beggar who ran errands for the suitors of Penelope (Ulysses' wife), and who tried to stop Ulysses' trip home. He was killed by a single blow.
Ismene
Daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta. She asked to share her sister's (Antigone) fate.
Ixion-rainbow
King of the Lapithes. He murdered his bride's father to avoid paying him the bride price. When no one on earth would purify him, Zeus took Ixion to Olympus and purified him. Ixion attempted to seduce Hera, but Zeus created a phantom of her and by it Ixion fathered the centaurs. In punishment he was chained for eternity to a fiery wheel in Tartarus.
J
Jason
The husband of Medea and leader of the Argonauts who went in quest of the Golden Fleece.
L
Lamia-lecherous
A monster serpent with the head and breasts of a woman. It preyed on human beings and sucked the blood of children.
Lampus-torch
Laocoön
A Trojan priest of Apollo who was killed along with his two sons by two sea serpents for having warned his people of the Trojan horse.
Laodamia
Wife of Protesilaus, the first Greek slain (by Hector) when the Greek fleet reached Troy in the Trojan War. When the news of her husband's death reached Laodamia, she prayed to the gods to let her see him once again. Her pleas were answered, and Hermes brought her husband back from the underworld for a 3-hour visit. When it came time for him to return, however, Laodamia could not bear to give him up. She killed herself and returned with her husband to the underworld.
Leda-lady
Wife of Tyndareus, king of Sparta. In some myths Leda was seduced by Zeus, who appeared as a swan. She bore two eggs: from one issued Castor and Clytemnestra, from the other Pollux and Helen of Troy. Another version has Zeus pursuing Nemesis who changes into a goose; whereupon he changes into a swan and couples with her. She then laid an egg (or two, the stories vary) which she gave to Leda to protect, and from which the above four are born.
Leto
Leto is the mother of Apollo and Artemis and is mostly
worshipped in conjunction with her children. She was a Titaness and considered the goddess of fruitfulness.
Lycos (Lycaon)-wolf
Father of Callisto. He was changed into a wolf by the gods for having dared serve human flesh to them at a banquet.
Lynceus
One of Jason's Argonauts, of whom it was said that he could see through the earth, and distinguish objects that were miles away.
M
Marsyas
In some tales he is identified as a Phrygian, in others as one of the Greek satyrs. He found the flute that Athena, the goddess of wisdom, had invented and later discarded because playing on it puffed out her cheeks and distorted her features. Marsyas became so accomplished a musician that he challenged Apollo, god of music, to a contest, the winner of which would have the right to punish the loser. The Muses awarded the victory to Apollo, who played the lyre. The god thereupon flayed Marsyas, from whose blood the river Marsyas sprang.
Medea
A princess and sorceress. She fell in love with Jason and helped him obtain the Golden Fleece. She married Jason and bore him two children. Years later, when Jason wished to marry Creusa, the vengeful Medea sent her an enchanted gown, which burned Creusa to death. Then Medea killed the children that she bore by Jason.
Medusa-cunning
One of the three Gorgons, who were three monstrous daughters of the sea god Phorcys and his wife, Ceto. Her equally hideous sisters were Stheno and Euryale. Medusa was the only mortal one (She was killed by Perseus, who brought back her head, with the help of the deities Hermes and Athena. From her blood sprang the winged horse Pegasus, her son by the god Poseidon.). The Gorgons were terrifying, dragonlike creatures, covered with golden scales and having snakes for hair. They turned all who looked at them to stone.
Melanius-black
Meleager
Son of Oeneus and Althea (king and queen of Calydon). Meleager led the hunt for a boar that the goddess Artemis sent to devastate Calydon. The hero finally killed the animal, but gave the head and skin to the huntress Atalanta, who had been the first to wound the beast and with whom Meleager was in love. When his maternal uncles, angered at this award, took the trophies from Atalanta, Meleager killed them.
Melpomene
One of the Muses. She was the muse of Tragedy.
Memnon
King of Ethiopia, the son of the Trojan prince Tithonus and of Eos, goddess of the dawn. In the tenth year of the Trojan War, Memnon brought his army to the assistance of Troy. He fought bravely but was eventually killed by the Greek hero Achilles. To comfort Memnon's mother, however, the god Zeus made him immortal.
Menelaus-might of the people
King of Sparta, husband of Helen, and brother of Agamemnon. When Paris abducted Helen to Troy, Menelaus asked the Greek kings to join him in the Trojan War. At its end he returned to Sparta with Helen.
Mentor
Odysseus's (Ulysses) trusted counselor
Merope
One of the Pleiades. She married Sisyphus, a mortal, and bore him a son, Glaucus, who was torn to pieces by his horses because he would not allow them to breed.
Metis
The daughter of Oceanos and Tethys and Zeus's first wife. She represented counsel.
Midas
Midas was king of Phrygia. Because he befriended Silenus, Dionysus granted him the power to turn everything he touched into gold. When even his food became gold, he washed away his power in the Pactolus River.
Minos
A king of Crete, the son of Zeus and Europa, who was made one of the three judges in the underworld after his death.
Mnemosyne-memory
She was the Titan goddess of memory. Zeus spent nine consecutive nights with her, after which, later, she gave birth to the nine Muses, one each day.
Moirae
See the Fates.
Momus
The Greek god of censure and mockery, son of Nox (Night). He was driven from Olympus for ridiculing the other gods. He even found fault with Aphrodite for the noise made by her feet, although he could find no fault with her body.
Moros
The son of Erebus and Nyx. Brother of Thanatos. Moros was the god of doom.
Morpheus
The god of dreams and the son of Somnus (god of sleep). Morpheus formed the dreams that came to those asleep.
Moira (Fate)
Supreme even over the gods of Olympus.
Mount Olympus
Where the gods lived and held court. (In some myths it is located at the center of the earth, in others it is in the heavens, and in some it is believed to be in Greece.)
The Muses-mountain goddesses
The nine goddesses: Clio(history),Calliope(epic poetry), Erato(love poetry), Euterpe(lyric poetry), Melpomene(tragedy), Polyhymnia(song, rhetoric, and geometry), Thalia(comedy), Terpsichore(dancing), and Urania(astronomy and astrology).
Myrmidons
A people of Aegina. When the city was depopulated by a plague, Aeacus, its king, prayed to the gods that the ants infesting an oak tree be turned into people to repopulate his kingdom. The prayer was granted. These men followed Achilles to the siege of Troy, and proved to be fierce and diligent warriors.
Myrrha
The mother of Adonis.
Naiads water-nymphs
Nymphs who lived in and presided over brooks, springs, and fountains; or lakes, rivers, and streams.
Narcissus-narcotic
An exceptionally handsome youth. His mother was told he would live a long life if he did not look upon his own features. He chanced to see his reflection in the waters of a spring, fell in love with that reflection and pined away till he died by the side of the spring. In another version, he thought the reflection was that of the nymph who dwelt there, and jumped in to catch her, and drowned. The narcissus flower supposedly grew at that spot.
Nausicaa
The Greek heroine who brought the ship-wrecked Odysseus to her father, the king of the Phaeacians.
Nemesis-divine vengeance
Nemesis is the personification of divine vengeance. Happiness
and unhappiness are measured out by her, determining that
happiness was not too frequent or excessive. If so, she brings
about losses and suffering. She is one of the assistants of Zeus, and is the daughter of Nox (Night).
Nereids-wet ones
The sea nymphs, they were the 50 daughters of Nereus and 'grey-eyed' Doris. The best known are Amphitrite, Thetis, Panope, and Galatea
Nereus
The father of the Nereids, usually depicted as a very old man.
Nike
The winged goddess of victory. She was the daughter of Pallas and Styx.
Niobe-snowy
Her husband, King Amphion, was a son of the god Zeus and a great musician. Niobe bore him six handsome sons and six beautiful daughters. Although she was happy, Niobe exhibited the same arrogance toward the gods that her father, Atreus, had shown. (See story below.) Niobe commanded the people of Thebes to worship her instead of the goddess Leto, who had only two children. The gods heard her words and resolved to punish her. Leto's children, Apollo and Artemis fired their arrows with deadly aim, killing all of Niobe's children. The grief-stricken Niobe was turned into a stone that was forever wet with her tears.
(ATREUS: king of Mycenae. Atreus's brother Thyestes, a rival for the throne, seduced Aerope, wife of Atreus and mother of Agamemnon and Menelaus. In revenge, Atreus murdered two of Thyestes' sons and served them boiled in a cauldron to their father at a banquet. When Thyestes had eaten the disgusting meal, Atreus ordered a dish holding the bloody heads of the children brought in. Thyestes laid a curse on his brother. The oracle at Delphi then advised Thyestes to ravish his own daughter, Pelopia. From the incestuous union was born Aegisthus. Atreus later married Pelopia, daughter of Thyestes, not knowing her true identity. Her son Aegisthus killed Atreus at the command of his true father Thyestes)
Nymphs
(Dryads, Hamadryads, Naiads, Nereids, and Oreads) There were also mountain nymphs, wood nymphs, stream nymphs, and sea nymphs, all in beauteous female form. They were not immortal but their life span was several thousand years.
Nyx (Nox)
She was the goddess of night. She was the daughter of Chaos and the mother of Death and Sleep. She was one of the most feared of the gods.
O
Oceanus-of the swift queen
One of the Titans, he was the unending stream that encircled the world, and as such is represented as a snake with its tail in its mouth. As a sea god he is depicted as an old man with a long beard and with bull's horns. With his wife, Tethys, he produced the rivers and three thousand ocean nymphs.
Odysseus???
Oedipus
Oeno-of wine
Oenone-queen of wine
She was the wife of Paris who jilted her for Helen of Troy. When he was wounded in the Trojan War she was the only one who could cure him, but because she was bitter about being jilted, she refused. When his condition worsened and he was near death, she relented but did not get to Troy in time to save him. Overcome with grief at his death, she committed suicide.
The Olympians
The gods who supplanted the Titans. They were: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, Athena, Hestia, Ares, Hephaestus, Hermes, and Hades.
Omphale-navel
Queen of Lydia. She was very masculine, and when Hercules was her slave for three years, she wore the lion's skin while he wore a female garment and spent his time spinning wool.
Oneroi
Collective name for the sons of Hypnos. They were Icelus (dreams of humans), Morpheus (shaping dreams), Phobetor (frightening dreams of beasts), and Phantasos (apparitions).
Ophiuchus
(There is a constellation called Ophiuchus which lies on top of the constellation Serpens and many cultures saw a man wrestling with a snake.) He was the son of Apollo and legend has it that he learned the art of
healing from a snake. He became so good that he could raise people from the dead. Hades
complained to Zeus and Zeus struck him down with a thunderbolt. Ophiuchus and Serpens were then placed in the sky with Serpens wrapped around Ophiuchus' stick (the medical
profession's symbol). See also
Asclepius for another version.
Orestes-mountaineer
Son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, brother of Electra and Iphigenia. Orestes was exiled after the slaying of Agamemnon by Clytemnestra and Aegisthus. Later he returned and, helped by Electra, killed his mother and her lover.
Orion-dweller on the mountain
A handsome giant and mighty hunter, the son of Poseidon, the god of the sea, and Euryale, the Gorgon. Orion fell in love with Merope, the daughter of Oenopion, king of Chios, and sought her in marriage. Oenopion, however, constantly deferred his consent to the marriage. Orion, while drunk, raped Merope. Incensed at his behavior, her father, with the aid of the god Dionysus, threw him into a deep sleep and blinded him. Orion then consulted an oracle, who told him he could regain his sight by going to the east and letting the rays of the rising sun fall on his eyes. His sight restored, he lived on Crete as the huntsman of the goddess Artemis. The goddess eventually killed him, however, because she was jealous of his affection for Aurora, goddess of the dawn. After Orion's death, Artemis placed him in the heavens as a constellation.
Ornis-bird
Orpheus
A legendary poet and musician, son of the Muse Calliope by Apollo or by Oeagrus, a king of Thrace. He was given the lyre by Apollo and became such an excellent musician that he had no rival among mortals. He is said to have played the lyre so beautifully that he charmed everything animate and inanimate. His music enchanted the trees and rocks and tamed wild beasts, and even the rivers turned in their course to follow him. He married the lovely nymph Eurydice. Soon after the wedding the bride was stung by a viper and died. Orpheus determined to go to the underworld and try to bring her back, something no mortal had ever done. Hades, the ruler of the underworld, was so moved by his playing that he gave Eurydice back to Orpheus on the one condition that he not look back until they reached the upperworld, but Orpheus could not control his eagerness and as he gained the light of day he looked back a moment too soon, and Eurydice vanished. Grief-stricken, Orpheus forsook human company and wandered in the wilds, playing for the rocks and trees and rivers. Finally a fierce band of Thracian women, who were followers of the god Dionysus, came upon the gentle musician and killed him. When they threw his severed head in the river Hebrus, it continued to call for Eurydice, and was finally carried to the shore of Lesbos, where the Muses buried it. After Orpheus's death his lyre became the constellation Lyra.
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Paen
The god of healing, even for the other gods.
Palamedes
Son of Nauplius and Clymene, he fought with the Greeks at Troy. He supposedly invented lighthouses, scales, the discus, and dice.
Pallas-maiden or youth
Pallas Athena or Athena, was one of the most important Olympian deities, born full-grown from the forehead of Zeus. She was the goddess of war and peace, a patron of arts and crafts, a guardian of cities, and the goddess of wisdom. Her most important temple was the Parthenon. A virgin goddess, Athena is depicted as a stately figure, armored, and wielding her breastplate, the aegis. The Romans identified her with Minerva.
Pan-pasture
He was the son of Hermes, and the god of flocks. He had the head and torso of a man, but the hindquarters and horns of a goat. He was a great musician with the pipes. He was considered a symbol of fecundity because of his lustful nature.
Pandia
Goddess of bright light and daughter of Zeus and Eos.
Pandora all-giving
There are two versions of the story of Pandora's Box. In one, the box is a jar containing all kinds of misery and evil. When Pandora opens it all the miseries and evils escape and fly all over the earth. In the other, the box contains all kinds of blessings which were subsequently lost to humans when she opened the box.
Paris
The son of Priam and Hecuba. Because of a prophecy that he would destroy Troy, he was abandoned on Mt. Ida by his parents, but shepherds rescued him. Later he was chosen as judge in a dispute among Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. Spurning Hera, who offered him greatness, and Athena, who promised success in war, he awarded the golden apple of discord to Aphrodite, who offered the most beautiful woman in the world. His abduction of that woman, Helen, caused the Trojan War.
Pasiphae
Wife of Minos, Cretan king. She was the mother by him of Ariadne, and also, by consorting with a white bull, the mother of the Minotaur.
Patroclus-glory of the father
A good friend of Achilles who, while taking Achilles' place when he refused to fight (at Troy), was slain by Hector.
Peitho
She represented persuasion. The daughter of Aphrodite and Hermes.
Penelope
Means with a web over her face. Wife of Odysseus, mother of Telemachus and a model of fidelity. Pursued by suitors during Odysseus' absence, at the Trojan War (10 years for the war plus another 10 years in adventures and captivity while returning home), she agreed to marry after she finished weaving her father-in-law's (Laertes) shroud, but unraveled her work each night. Each night, for three years, she undid what she had woven during the day, but one of her maids discovered this secret and told the suitors. She finally promised to marry the man who could bend Odysseus' bow, but none could. Odysseus returned at this time disguised as a beggar, bent the bow, and slew the suitors.
Penia
Goddess of poverty and wife of Porus.
Penthus
God of grief.
Persephone-bringer of destruction
She was the goddess of springtime and, after her abduction by Hades, the queen of the underworld for six months of each year. The mint and pomegranate is sacred to her. Persephone raised Aphrodite's child Adonis.
Perseus-destroyer
Son of Zeus and Dana�, a mortal woman. Told by an oracle that Perseus would kill him, his grandfather Acrisius set him and his mother Dana� afloat in a chest. They were rescued by King Polydectes, who fell in love with Dana�. Seeing Perseus as an obstacle to his love for Dana�, the king sent his step-son out to kill Medusa, one of three sisters called the
Gorgons who were so ugly, anyone who looked at them would turn to stone. He appealed to the
gods for help and was given a mirrored shield by Athena, the goddess of wisdom, and a pair of
winged sandals by Hermes, the messenger of the gods. Perseus flew using
the sandals to find Medusa. When he found her, he did not look at her. Instead, he used the
reflection in the shield to guide his sword so he could behead her as she slept. As she died, the
white, winged horse Pegasus sprang from her neck. On his way back from his victory against Medusa, Perseus came across a woman chained to a
rock, waiting to be sacrificed to a sea monster, called either Cetus or Draco, depending on which
version of the myth you believe. This woman was Andromeda. Her mother, Cassiopeia
boasted that she and her daughter were more beautiful than the Nereids, the daughters of Poseidon, the god of the sea. Angered by the insult to his
daughters, Poseidon sent floods to the lands ruled by Cassiopeia and her husband, King Cepheus.
Cepheus consulted an oracle who told him that the only way to quell Poseidon's anger was to
sacrifice his daughter. Perseus came on the scene just in the nick of time and killed the sea monster and saved Andromeda, and then married her. Later, while competing in a discus contest, Perseus accidentally killed Acrisius, thus fulfilling the prophecy.
Phaedra-bright one
Daughter of Minos and Pasipha�, wife of Theseus. When her stepson, Hippolytus, rejected her love, she accused him of rape, then hanged herself.
Phaëthon-shining
The son of Helios (god of the sun) and Clymene (a nymph). Helios had granted Phaëthon anything he wished, and could not back out when Phaëthon asked to drive the sun-chariot across the sky. He lost control of the chariot and nearly set the earth afire before Zeus slew him with a thunderbolt.
Pheme
Personification of rumors.
Philoctetes
A famous archer in the Trojan War. When Hercules died he bequeath his arrows to Philoctetes. In the last year of the Trojan War an oracle declared that Troy could not be taken without the arrows of Hercules. Odysseus sent for Philoctetes, who using the arrows left him by Hercules, killed Paris, thereby ending the war.
Philotes
Daughter of Nyx and goddess of affection.
Phobus (Phobos)-fear
A son of Ares and brother of Deimos, he personified fear.
Phoebe-bright moon
She was a Titan, the daughter of Uranus and Gaea. She is identified with the moon like her Roman counterpart Diana. By her brother Coeus she is the mother of Asteria and Leto. Through Leto, she is the grandmother of Apollo and Artemis.
Phoenix blood-red
Phoenix and his father, King Amyntor, had a violent quarrel which led Amyntor to curse him with childlessness. Phoenix ended up being responsible for the upbringing of Achilles, and was with him at the Trojan War.
Phorcys
Phorcys is a son of Gaia and Pontus. He married the sea-monster Ceto, his sister, and had many
children with her including the Graeae and the Gorgons.
Phospherus
The god of the morning star.
Phthonus
He represented envy.
Pleiades-flock of doves
These were seven sisters born from the union of the Titan, Atlas, and Pleione. They were Maia, Electra, Alcyone, Merope, Sterope, Taygete and Celaeno. They were pursued by Orion, a famous hunter, and begged relief from Zeus. He changed them into a constellation and placed them in the sky. Then, as was his wont, he turned Orion into a constellation and placed him in the sky in a position where he still could chase the sisters.
Plutus
The god of riches (hence the term plutocrat).
Polyhymnia (Polymnia)
The muse of lyric poetry, and the inventor of the lyre.
Polynices
A son of Oedipus. It was for him (so that he could gain the throne his younger brother had usurped) that the "Seven against Thebes" fought that ill-fated war.
Polyphemus-famous
He was the most famous Cyclop. He was the son of Poseidon and a sea nymph. It was Polyphemus who captured Odysseus and his crew when they were shipwrecked on his island. After about half his men were eaten by the Cyclop, Odysseus managed to get him drunk and blinded him by plunging a burning stake into his eye. Odysseus and the rest of his men escaped when they clung to the bellies of the sheep being let out to pasture.
Polyxena
Another daughter of King Priam and Hecuba. She was claimed as booty by the ghost of Achilles and put to death at his tomb.
Poseidon
God of the sea, protector of all waters. Powerful, violent, and vengeful, he carried the trident, with which he caused earthquakes. The son of the Titans Cronus and Rhea, and the brother of Zeus and Hades, Poseidon was the husband of Amphitrite, one of the Nereids, by whom he had a son, Triton. Poseidon had numerous other love affairs, however, especially with nymphs of springs and fountains, and was the father of several children famed for their wildness and cruelty, among them the giant Orion and the Cyclops Polyphemus. Poseidon and the Gorgon Medusa were the parents of Pegasus, the famous winged horse. The Romans identified Poseidon with their god of the sea, Neptune.
Pothos
A son of Aphrodite, he was the personification of desire.
Priam-redeemed
He was the king of Troy during the Trojan War. Priam was married to Hecuba with whom he had many children, amongst whom was Hector and Paris. In the tenth year, alone, of the Trojan War he lost 13 sons. When Troy finally fell, Neoptolemus, Achilles' son, killed Priam on an altar to the gods.
Priapus-pruner
His father was Dionysus. His mother unknown. He was grotesquely formed and was always represented with a huge phallus. (See priapism in your dictionary.) He was adopted as the god of gardens, probably because he was considered fertile.
Procrustes
A notorious robber and murderer. He placed his victims on an iron bed and, if they were longer than the bed, he cut off the parts that were overhanging. If they were shorter than the bed, he stretched them till they fit it. He was killed by Theseus.
Prometheus-forethought
The wisest Titan, and the creator of mankind. Originally a good friend and ally to Zeus, he later fell from favor (he supposedly tricked Zeus out of his share of a sacrificed ox), and was chained in the Caucasus Mountains, where an eagle fed upon his "ever-regrowing" liver each day. He is credited with stealing fire from Hephaestus and giving it to the human race.
Proteus-first man
A son of Poseidon, god of the sea, his attendant and the keeper of his seals. Proteus knew all things past, present, and future but was able to change his shape at will to avoid prophesying. Each day at noon Proteus would rise from the sea and sleep in the shade of the rocks on the island of Carpathus with his seals. Anyone wishing to learn the future had to catch hold of him at that time and hold on as he assumed dreadful shapes, including those of wild animals and terrible monsters. If all this proved unavailing, Proteus resumed his usual form and told the truth.
Protogonus
A god representing the origins.
Pygmalion
He was king of Cyprus, and sculptor of a beautiful statue of a woman. When he prayed to Aphrodite for a wife like it, she brought the statue (Galatea) to life, and Pygmalion married her.
Pyrrha
Pyrrha, and her husband Deucalion, built an ark and floated in it to survive the flood sent by Zeus. The couple became the ancestors of the renewed
human race when an oracle told them to cast behind them the stones of the earth. Those thrown by Deucalion became men, and those thrown by Pyrrha became women. These men and women repopulated the earth.
