A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | R | S | T | U | V | W | Z

Abanthes
Twelfth king of Argos and father of Proetus. He possessed a shield, given to him by Hera, that had the power of reducing a rebellious people to submission and obedience. The shield came into the hands of Aeneas who, on his voyage to Italy, offered it to the temple of Apollo at Actium.

Absyrtus
Son of Aeëtes, king of Colchis, and brother of Medea. When the latter fled from her land with the Argonauts, who had seized the Golden Fleece, Absyrtus was sent in her pursuit and was killed by Jason through a ruse.

Acestes
King of the city of Eryx, he claimed Trojan descent through his mother Acesta. It was in her honor that Aeneas gave the name Segesta to the city he founded in Sicily.

Achaeans
The name that Homer used, in general, for all the Greeks. Properly speaking, it referred to the people that occupied almost all of the Peloponnesus (Achaea) with the exception of Arcadia.

Achilles
Son of the mortal Peleus and the goddess Thetis, he was educated by the centaur Chiron. Fate allowed him to choose between a long, but insignificant life or a glorious, but short one. Achilles chose the second alternative and met his death beneath the walls of Troy. Some later traditions tell of his mother's attempt to render him immortal; as a child, Achilles was dipped in the waters of the Styx, a river in the Underworld, but the heel by which Thetis held him during the immersion was not touched by the miraculous water. It was in his heel that he received a mortal wound from the arrow shot by Paris (or by the god Apollo).

Actaeon
Son of Aristaeus and Autonoë. Trained in the art of the chase by the centaur Chiron, while out hunting one day he surprised the goddess Artemis bathing naked in a fountain. For this she changed him into a stag and he was torn to pieces by his own pack of dogs. The Myth of Actaeon

Admetus
King of Pherae, in Thessaly, the god Apollo served him for nine years. Admetus treated him with respect and kindness and the god rewarded him with a privileged destiny; he would be freed from death on condition that his father, mother, or wife were willing to die in his stead. His wife Alcestis agreed to make the sacrifice and was brought back to the world of the living by Heracles.

Adonis
The incestuous son of Cinyras and Smyrna, or Myrrha. His beauty led to a dispute between Aphrodite and Persephone and it was necessary for Zeus to make a judgment about which of the two goddesses he should spend his time with. He greatly preferred the company of Aphrodite, whose lover he became. When he died during a hunt, the anemone flower sprang from his blood. The Myth of Adonis

Aeacus
Son of Zeus and Aegina, born on the island named after his mother. Since the island was still uninhabited at the moment of his birth, Zeus turned its ants into human beings who became the people of the Myrmidons.

Aeaea
1. Island off the Tyrrhenian coast that took its name from the sorceress Circe (or Aeaea), which later became linked to the mainland and was called Mount Circeus. 2. City in Colchis ruled by King Aeëtes, Circe's brother, where the Golden Fleece was kept before it was brought back to Greece by the Argonauts. 1. The Voyage of Argonauts: Aeaea Circea 2. The Voyage of Argonauts: Aea of Colchis

Aeëtes
Son of Helios, Circe's brother, and father of Medea and Absyrtus. He was king of Aeaea in Colchis at the time of the expedition of the Argonauts. Voyage of the Argonauts: Aea of Colchis

Aegina
Island in the Aegean Sea not far from Attica, which took its name from a nymph loved by Zeus. Since the island was deserted at the time, Zeus changed its ants into human beings (the Myrmidons) who were ruled by Aeacus, the son born from that union.

Aeneas
Son of Anchises and Aphrodite, he was, along with Hector, the main Trojan hero, protected by his mother and Poseidon. After the destruction of Troy he took the Penates of the city and the Palladium with him and led his people to Latium, where he was warmly welcomed by King Latinus, whose daughter, Lavinia, he married. He ruled over the Latins and Trojans until he was killed fighting the Rutuli and Etruscans. Legend has it that he was taken to heaven. The Voyage of Aeneas

Aeolus
Son of Poseidon, he was considered the guardian of the winds. He lived with his numerous children in his palace on the Aeolian Islands, where they held an eternal banquet. When Ulysses arrived at the island Aeolus gave him a bag in which all the winds that might have hindered his return to Ithaca were bottled up. Aeneas, too, had an encounter with Aeolus, who tried to prevent him from entering the Tyrrhenian Sea by means of a storm. The Voyage of Ulysses: Aeolus The Voyage of Aeneas: The region of Storms

Aeson
Father of Jason, the leader of the Argonauts, and brother of Pelias, on whose orders the expedition was launched.

Agamemnon
Homer says that he was the son of King Atreus of Mycenae, descended from Tantalus. He won the hand of the Spartan princess Clytemnestra, while his brother Menelaus married her sister, Helen, over whom the Trojan War was fought. The most powerful ruler in the whole of Greece, Agamemnon commanded the Achaean armies during the expedition. On his return home he was killed by Thyestes' son Aegisthus, who had seduced Clytemnestra. Agave
Daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia, rulers of Thebes. Along with her sisters, Ino and Autonoë, she was possessed by the Bacchic frenzy and tore her son Pentheus to pieces on Mount Cithaeron. The Myth of Pentheus

Aglauros
The daughter of King Cecrops of Athens, she was given custody, along with her sister Herse, of the basket in which Athena had hidden Erichthonius, born out of Hephaestus' desire for the goddess and fecundated by the Earth. In spite of being warned not to open the basket, the two sisters wished to see the child, who appeared to them in the form of a serpent. Stricken with madness, Aglauros and Herse threw themselves from the Acropolis. There is another tradition which states that Aglauros was turned into a stone statue because she tried to come between Hermes and her sister. The Myth of Aglauros

Alcinous
Son of Poseidon, he ruled the Phaeacian people with his wife Arete. It was at his court that the shipwrecked Ulysses arrived and the wedding of Jason and was held. The Voyage of Ulysses: The Phaeacians The Voyage of the Argonauts: Drepane of the Phaeacians

Alcippe
A nymph and daughter of Ares, she was assaulted by Halirrothius, a son of Poseidon. Ares responded to the offense by killing the rapist and, as a result, was placed on trial and then acquitted by the tribunal of the gods. The Trial of Ares

Alcmene (or Alcmena)
Daughter of King Electryon of Mycenae, she was seduced by Zeus who came to her in the guise of her husband Amphitryon. The god lay in her bed for an extremely long night in which the moon rose and set three times. Alcmene did not become aware of the deception until the following night, when she received the real Amphitryon. To Zeus she bore Heracles; to Amphitryon she bore another son, Iphicles, one night younger than Heracles.

Aloadae
The twins Otus and Ephialtes, born from one of Poseidon's fleeting love affairs. The name derives from their earthly father, Aloeus, himself the son of Poseidon. Endowed with proverbial strength and courage, they fought in the Gigantomachia and succeeded in capturing Ares, keeping him prisoner in a bronze vessel for thirteen months. The god of war was set free by Hermes.

Alpheus
The largest river in the Pelopponesus that flows not far from Olympia. Its course was diverted by Heracles to clean the Augean stables. The god of the river, who had fallen in love with the nymph Arethusa, pursued her across the sea as far as the island of Ortygia, near Syracuse. The Labors of Heracles: The Stables of Augeias The Voyage of Aeneas: Drepanum

Amalthea
The terrifying goat (or nymph according to some traditions) that nursed Zeus during his childhood on the island of Crete. To prevent the child's cries reaching the ears of Cronus, Amalthea gathered the Curetes around the cave to make a great racket with their singing and dancing. Amalthea's horn, broken off by Zeus, became the cornucopia, or horn of plenty, and her hide the armor (aegis) that the god used in the struggle against the Titans. After her death she was placed among the constellations.

Amazons
A mythical race of female warriors, descended from the god Ares, living around the city of Themiscyra in Asia Minor. Their name signifies "without breast" as they had their right breast removed in childhood to make it easier for them to draw the bow and throw the javelin. The Argonauts landed in their realm. Heracles, when he visited them, caused the death of their queen Hippolyta. The Voyage of the Argonauts: The Pontus Euxinus The Labors of Heracles: The Girdle of Hippolyta

Amycus
Son of Poseidon and king of the Bebryces, he was celebrated for his skill as a wrestler and had the habit of challenging any stranger landing on the shores of Bithynia to mortal combat. He was beaten and killed by Pollux while he was taking part in the expedition of the Argonauts.

Anchises
King of Dardanus in Troas and father of Aeneas. He was loved by Aphrodite but, since he dared to boast of this, lamed by a thunderbolt from Zeus. When Troy was destroyed, Anchises was already an old man and fled from the city riding on his son's shoulders. He died in Sicily before reaching the new home destined for his race. The Myth of Anchises

Andromache
Wife of the Trojan hero Hector, who was killed by Achilles beneath the ramparts of Troy. After the victory of the Achaeans she was given to Pyrrhus (also known as Neoptolemus) as a spoil of war and taken to Epirus. Later, she married Helenus, one of Hector's brothers who ruled at Butrotus. It was here that Aeneas found her on his voyage to Italy.

Andromeda
Daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia. Because her mother had offended the Nereids, Poseidon demanded that she be sacrificed to a sea monster, but she was saved by Perseus who married her and took her to Tiryns. After her death she was placed among the constellations in the sky. The Myth of Andromeda

Anius
Son of Apollo, he was the god's priest on Delos. He made a prediction to Aeneas about the destination of his voyage but his oracle was wrongly interpreted.

Anna
Sister of Queen Dido of Carthage, she encouraged Dido in her love for Aeneas. After Dido's death, she fled to Italy, where she was received with great courtesy by Aeneas. Turned into a nymph by the god of the river Numicus, she was honored by the Romans as Anna Perenna (the Eternal).

Arachne
A girl of Lydia, she was the daughter of the famous dyer of purple Idmon of Colophon. A highly skilled weaver, she challenged Athena to a contest and was changed into a spider. The Myth of Arachne

Arethusa
One of the Nereids who, to escape the attentions of the river god Alpheus, was turned into the famous fountain on the island of Ortygia, near Syracuse. Alpheus joined her there by flowing under the sea.

Argo
Name of the ship that took the Argonauts on their quest for the Golden Fleece. The Voyage of the Argonauts

Argonauts
The sailors of the ship Argo, the heroes who followed Jason to Colchis to obtain the Golden Fleece. The various traditions that list their names differ considerably, but are in agreement on the fact that the number of members of the expedition was between fifty and fifty-three, since the long galleys of the time (pentakontoroi) had fifty oarsmen. The Voyage of the Argonauts

Argos
Capital of Argolis and, after Sparta, the most important city in the Peloponnesus.

Argus
1. Son of Zeus and Niobe, he was the third king of the city of Argos and ruler of the Peloponnesus. 2. Great-grandson of the former, "he who sees all," a creature with a hundred eyes who was killed by Hermes while, on the orders of Hera, he watched over Io after she had been changed into a cow. 3. The builder of the ship Argo. (Note: the names Argus and Argos are often interchangeable.)

Ariadne
Daughter of King Minos of Crete and Pasiphaë, she was the sister of the Minotaur, the monster of the labyrinth that Theseus killed with her aid. She married Dionysus and, as his wife, was accepted on Mount Olympus. The golden diadem, made by Hephaestus, that the god gave to her, later became a constellation. The Myth of Theseus and Ariadne

Ascanius
Son of Aeneas and Creusa, he left the city of Troy, burned down by the Achaeans, with his father and grandfather. After his father's death he ruled over the Latins and founded Albalonga, the mother city of Rome. Called Ilus or Julus by some sources, he was recognized by the Roman world as the founder of the Julian people, to which Caesar belonged.

Asclepius (or Asklepios)
Born to Apollo and Coronis, he was raised by the centaur Chiron, who taught him the art of medicine. He gained the power to work miraculous cures but when he became so skilled that he was able to raise the dead, Zeus struck him down with a thunderbolt as his work was upsetting the order of nature. At Apollo's request, he was transformed into the constellation of Serpens and was henceforth venerated as a god. His most famous sanctuary was at Epidaurus, the seat of a historical school of medicine. He was known to the Romans as Aesculapius.

Asteria
Goddess of the stars, she was the sister of Leto and mother of the goddess Hecate. She changed herself into a quail to escape the of Zeus, but he was able to pursue her by assuming the form of an eagle. Asteria then threw herself into the sea and turned into a small island in the Cyclades that also took the name of Ortygia (from ortyx, a quail). Apollo, who was born on that island, changed its name to Delos.

Athamas (or Athamus)
Son of Aeolus, god of the winds, he was the king of Orchomenus in Boeotia. On the orders of Hera, he had married Nephele, a divine creature who gave him two children, Phrixus and Helle, but he fell in love with the mortal Ino, one of the daughters of Cadmus and Harmonia, who bore him Learchus and Melicertes. The goddess Hera, who felt slighted, sent a terrible drought to Boeotia, and Ino took advantage of this to demand the sacrifice of Phrixus and Helle. Nephele was able to arrange their escape to Colchis on the back of the ram with the golden fleece, and Hera, more enraged than ever, drove Athamas out of his mind and he killed Learchus. Ino, in desperation, threw herself into the sea with their other son Melicertes: both were turned into marine deities.

Atlantis
The legendary name of a great island located to the west of the Pillars of Hercules. It was swallowed up by the ocean in the course of a day and a night owing to the wickedness of its inhabitants.

Atlas
A Titan and the son of Iapetus and Clymene, he was the brother of Prometheus and Epimetheus. He was one of those who waged war against Zeus and, after their defeat, was condemned to support the vault of the heavens on his shoulders. Heracles took his place while he went to pick the golden apples in the garden of the Hesperides and was nearly obliged to carry his burden forever. According to another version, Atlas' punishment had a different reason; when he refused to help Perseus, the latter showed him the head of Medusa and he was turned into Mount Atlas (in North Africa), on whose peak rested the sky and the stars. Titanomachia

Augeas
Son of the god Helios, he was king of Elis and owned stables that housed three thousand oxen and had not been cleaned for thirty years. By a clever stratagem, Heracles was able to clean them in a single day.

Avernus
Name of a lake situated close to the promontory of Cumae, in Campania. It was, according to Roman tradition, one of the entrances to the Underworld, and the cave of the Cumaean Sibyl was located close by.

Bacchantes
The retinue of women crowned with vine leaves who followed the chariot of Dionysus (Bacchus) during his wanderings in the East. Later, the name was used for the priestesses (also known as Bacchae) who celebrated rituals in his honor. They carried the thyrsus, a staff tipped with a pine cone and twined with ivy and vine leaves.

Bacchus
Another name used by the Greeks for Dionysus and by which the god was known in the Roman world.

Bebryces
Mythical people of Bithynia whose king, Amycus, was killed by Pollux in a wrestling match.

Bellerophon
Corinthian hero and descendant of Sisyphus. He was given the task of killing the monster Chimera, which was one third lion, one third goat, and one third serpent. He succeeded with the help of the winged horse Pegasus, a gift from Poseidon, which he tamed with the bit that Athena had provided him.

Bellona
The Latin equivalent of Enyo, the Greek goddess of war.

Boreas
The name of the god of the north wind, son of the Titan Astraeus and Eos (the dawn, called Aurora by the Romans) and the brother of Zephyr (or Zephyrus), Eurus, and Notus. He abducted the Attic princess Oreithyia, who bore him several children including Calais and Zetes.

Briareus
Also known by the name of Aegeon, he was the son of Uranus and Gaea, an enormous monster with fifty heads and a hundred arms. With his brothers Gyges and Cottus - the three of them were called the Hecatoncheires or Centimanes, both of which mean the "hundred-handed" - he helped Zeus in the war against the Titans and came to his aid when the Olympians, at Hera's instigation, attempted to overthrow him.

Cabiri
Deities linked to the cult of the Great Mother, also known as Curetes and Corybantes. Their mysteries were celebrated at Samothrace, where Orpheus and Harmonia were initiated, among others. They were represented as primordial beings, but their names were sometimes used to refer to entire peoples.

Cadmus
Son of the Phoenician king Agenor and Telephassa, he was the brother of Europa, the girl carried off by Zeus in the form of a bull. He founded the first nucleus of Thebes and married Harmonia, who bore him four unfortunate daughters, Autonoë, Ino, Agave, and Semele. Toward the end of their lives Cadmus and Harmonia mysteriously disappeared from Thebes, leaving the throne to their grandson Pentheus. It was said that Cadmus brought the alphabet from Phoenicia to Greece. The Myth of Cadmus

Calais
A winged being, son of the wind god Boreas. He was, along with brother Zetes, one of the Argonauts.

Callisto
Nymph of the woods. She was one of Artemis' companions, but was tricked into losing her virginity to Zeus. As a consequence, she was changed into a bear and, after her death, placed among the constellations. The Myth of Callisto

Calypso
A nymph and daughter of the Titan Atlas, she lived on the island of Ortygia. She kept the hero Ulysses with her for seven years but was then forced to let him go by the gods.

Carthage
Phoenician city founded on the Mediterranean coast of Africa by Queen Dido, an exile from Tyre. Aeneas stayed there, as the guest and lover of Dido. The Voyage of Aeneas: Carthage

Cassandra
Daughter of King Priam of Troy and Hecuba, she was Helen's twin sister. She rejected the advances of Apollo, who had given her the gift of prophecy, and he punished her by preventing anyone from believing her predictions. Thus, when she denounced the horse left by the Achaeans outside the walls of Troy as a trap, her word went unheeded. After the city's destruction, she was taken back to Mycenae by Agamemnon as a slave. Here, before Agamemnon himself was killed by Aegisthus, Cassandra was murdered by Agamemnon's wife Clytemnestra.

Cassiopeia
Wife of King Cepheus of Ethiopia. Her claim to be more beautiful than the Nereids angered Poseidon, who demanded the sacrifice of her daughter Andromeda. She was then turned into a constellation.

Castor
Son of Leda and King Tyndareus of Sparta. With his brother Pollux (the two of them were known as the Dioscuri) he took part in the expedition of the Argonauts. Since, unlike his brother, he was mortal, he persuaded Zeus to let him reside on Olympus on alternate days to Pollux.

Celeno (or Coeleno)
One of the Harpies who soiled the table of Phineus at Salmydessos. Encountered by Aeneas on the Strophades Islands, she predicted that he would face difficulties and sorrows.

Celeus
King of Eleusis, husband of Metaneira and father of Demophoön and Triptolemus. He was the first priest of the temple of Demeter in Eleusis.

Centaurs
The race of the Centaurs was descended from Ixion. They were creatures with the body of a horse, with four legs, hooves, and a tail, and the trunk and head of a human being. They led a proud and wild life on Mount Pelion in Thessaly and had the reputation of being cruel and quarrelsome. They fought a famous battle with the Lapiths when, drunk on wine, they tried to abduct all the women at a wedding feast. The hero Theseus also played a part in the battle, driving the Centaurs as far as Mount Pindus, on the borders of Epirus.

Centimanes
Also known as the Hecatoncheires, they were beings with fifty heads and a hundred arms. It is said that there were three of them: Cottus, Briareus, and Gyges. Sons of Uranus and Gaea, they belonged to the same generation as the Cyclopes and took Zeus' side in the war against the Titans.

Cephalus
Son of Hermes and the Attic princess Herse, Aglauros' sister.

Cepheus
King of Ethiopia, husband of Cassiopeia, and father of Andromeda. Like all the other protagonists of this myth, he was turned into a constellation.

Cerberus
Son of Typhoeus and Echidna, he was the monstrous dog that guarded the entrance to Hades. He was generally described as having three heads and a serpent's tail. Hercules captured him with his bare hands and took him up to earth to show to Eurystheus before sending him back to Hades.

Cercyon
Tyrant of Eleusis and son of Poseidon. An invincible wrestler, it was his custom to challenge all foreigners passing through his land and then put them to death. He was defeated and killed by Theseus.

Ceres
Roman name for the Greek goddess Demeter.

Charities
Called the Graces by the Romans, they were said, in different regions, to be the two (or three) daughters of Zeus and Eurynome, of Night and Erebus, or of Hecate and Hermes. Their names also changed according to the author and place, but the most commonly used are the ones given by Hesiod, Aglaia (Ornament), Euphrosyne (Joy), and Thalia (Abundance).

Charon
The ferryman who took the shades of the dead across the rivers of the Underworld, for which service he was paid by an obolus carried by the dead.

Chiron
The wisest and most just of the Centaurs, he was the son of Cronus who had conceived him with a daughter of Oceanus. He lived in a cave on Mount Pelion, in Thessaly, where he taught the art of hunting to Actaeon and many heroes including Jason, Peleus, Achilles, and Diomedes. He also taught Asclepius medicine. He had been given the gift of prophecy by Apollo and was also a virtuoso musician. Accidentally struck by a poisoned arrow shot by Heracles, he renounced his immortality in favor of Prometheus.

Chrysaor
Son of Poseidon and Medusa, he was born, together with the horse Pegasus, from the blood of his mother when she was decapitated by Perseus.

Cicones
Tribe in Thrace whose city was the first place visited by Ulysses after his departure from Troy. It was here that the priest Maron gave him the wine he later used to intoxicate Polyphemus. Orpheus lived among the Cicones and was torn to pieces by their women. The Voyage of Ulysses: The Cicones The Voyage of Ulysses: The Cyclopes

Cinyras
Son of Paphos, he was king of Cyprus and founder of the city of Paphos. He had an incestuous relationship with his daughter Smyrna (Myrrha), who bore him Adonis.

Circe
Daughter of the god Helios, she was the sister of King Aeëtes of Colchis. A powerful sorceress, she lived on the island of Aeaea where she changed any visitors into animals. Ulysses landed on the coast of the island, as did Jason and Medea, who was Circe's niece. The Voyage of Ulysses: Circe The Voyage of the Argonauts: Aeaea Circea

Cithaeron
Chain of mountains separating Boeotia from Megaris and Attica, sacred to Dionysus and the Muses. It was on the slopes of Mount Cithaeron that Pentheus and Actaeon met their deaths. Zeus and Hera are said to have consummated their secret marriage there, although other traditions indicate the island of Samos or Mount Ida in Troas.

Clytemnestra
Daughter of Tyndareus and Leda, she was the sister of Helen and of the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux. She married Agamemnon, but while her husband was away fighting beneath the walls of Troy, became the lover of Aegisthus, perhaps to get her revenge for the sacrifice of her daughter, Iphigenia. On Agamemnon's return from the war, Clytemnestra killed him with the help of her lover, though not before putting to death Cassandra, her husband's slave, who might have put him on his guard with her prophetic arts.

Colchis
A region of Asia, on the shores of the Euxine (Black) Sea. It was the theater for the exploits of the Argonauts.

Corcyra
The island known today as Corfu and which is identified with the ancient Scherie. It took its name from a nymph loved by Poseidon. Phaeace, the son born from their union, was the ancestor of the Phaeacians.

Corinth
The city founded by Sisyphus, set on the isthmus linking the Peloponnesus with the continent. It was here that Oedipus grew up and Jason and Medea found refuge when they were expelled from Iolcus. Here too the sorceress caused the death of Creusa out of jealousy.

Coronis
Arcadian princess loved by Apollo, but who was unfaithful to him. The god was told of her infidelity by a white crow, his sacred bird, and decided to punish her by having her killed by the arrows of his sister Artemis. Drawing her last breath, Coronis begged the god to save the child she had conceived, and Apollo took his son Asclepius from her womb, handing him to the centaur Chiron to be raised. As for the crow, bearer of the bad news, Apollo changed his plumage from white to black.

Creusa
1. Daughter of Priam and Hecuba, she married Aeneas and became the mother of Ascanius. She died during the sack of Troy, and her shade told her husband that the goal of his exile would be the Land of the Sunset. 2. Daughter of King Creon of Corinth and also known by the name of Glauce. Jason left Medea for her, and Medea avenged herself by giving her a robe that burst into fire and consumed her.

Cronus (or Kronos)
The youngest of the Titans, called Saturn by the Romans. He was the son of Uranus and Gaea (the Sky and the Earth), husband of Rhea, and father of Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus. He castrated and killed his father Uranus. Afraid that his children would become more powerful than him, he devoured them as soon as they were born, but Rhea managed to save the last, Zeus. She gave birth to him in secret on the island of Crete and then gave Cronus a stone wrapped in cloth to swallow. Once he was fully grown, Zeus forced his father to vomit up all the children he had swallowed and then seized power from him, putting down the revolt of the Titans, Cronus' brothers. The Titans were all cast into Tartarus but Cronus was given lordship over the Island of the Blessed.

Curetes
There is no clear distinction between the Curetes and the Corybantes in the ancient literary sources. One tradition holds that they were the priests of the child Zeus on Crete who, with the noise of their singing and dancing, concealed the cries of the baby from Cronus. The myth claims between three and nine priests.

Cyanean Rocks
Also known as the Symplegades, they were two rocky islands at the mouth of the Euxine Sea that clashed together, crushing any ship that attempted to pass.

Cybele
Considered the "Great Mother" and regarded by mythographers as an incarnation of Rhea, the mother of Zeus and of Cronus' other children.

Cyclopes
The race of the Cyclopes, gigantic and savage beings with only one eye, was descended from Uranus and Gaea. Cronus had confined them in Tartarus, but during the war with the Titans they were set free by Zeus, to whom they gave the thunderbolt. They worked as Hephaestus' assistants in his forges located beneath volcanoes, but because of their strength they were said to have built the powerful walls of Mycenae and Tiryns. One of them, Polyphemus, was the protagonist of one of Ulysses' most celebrated adventures.

Cyllene
The highest mountain in the Peloponnesus, on the border between Arcadia and Achaea. The mountain was sacred to Hermes, who was born on its peak.

Cyparissus
A descendant of Heracles, he was loved by Apollo. After killing his favorite stag while out hunting, he fell into a state of despair so deep that he was consumed by it. Apollo then turned him into a cypress.

Cyrene
Nymph loved by Apollo. The god took her on a chariot drawn by swans from Mount Pelion to Libya, where she gave her name to the city of Cyrene.

Cythera
A Greek island to the southeast of the furthermost tip of Laconia, celebrated for the cult of the goddess Aphrodite who was held to have emerged from the foam of the sea in the vicinity of its coast.

Cyzicus
He reigned in Propontis over the people of the Dolyones, descendants of Poseidon. He was killed by mistake by Jason.

Daphne
Daughter of the river god Ladon (or the river god Peneius) and the Earth. To escape the attentions of Apollo she got her mother to change her into a laurel tree.

Dardanus
Son of Zeus and Electra, he was the mythical ancestor of the Trojans and, through them, the Romans. He founded the city in Troas that took his name and the Dardanelles, the ancient Hellespont, are also named after him. According to the Italic tradition, Dardanus was the son of Corithus, the Etruscan prince of Cortona, who emigrated to Phrygia.

Daedalus
An Athenian aristocrat and architect, he fled to Crete to escape a conviction and placed himself in the service of King Minos, for whom he built the labyrinth, a palace with a complicated maze of corridors in which the Minotaur was shut up. When Theseus found his way through the labyrinth with the help of Ariadne, Daedalus was accused of being his accomplice and imprisoned along with his son Icarus. He managed to escape from Crete with the aid of artificial wings held together by wax. Pursued relentlessly by Minos, he found refuge in Sicily, with King Cocalus of Camicus.

Delos
One of the smallest islands in the Cyclades, it was summoned from the depths of the sea by Poseidon's trident and remained afloat until Leto gave birth to Artemis and Apollo on it. Before this, the island was known as Asteria or Ortygia.

Delphi
Town in Phocis, on the slopes of Mount Parnassus, and the location since ancient times of one of the most famous and venerated sanctuaries in Greece, linked to the cult of Apollo. It contained the omphalos, the navel of the world, the stone that Cronus was supposed to have swallowed instead of the newborn Zeus. At Delphi, purifications were carried out, auspices were taken for the foundation of colonies, and the celebrated Pythian Games were held.

Demophoön
Son of Celeus and Metaneira, the rulers of Eleusis, he was the subject of the maternal attentions of Demeter, who wished to make him immortal.

Diana
Ancient Italic deity whom the Romans identified with the goddess Artemis.

Dido
Daughter of King Belus of Tyre, she was forced by her brother to flee her native city, accompanied by a large group of nobles who remained loyal to her. Taking refuge in the territory occupied by the historical city of Carthage, she asked Iarbas, the king of that place, permission to found a new city. Scornfully, he granted her as much land as could be enclosed by an ox hide. Dido cut the hide into thin strips and made a long rope out of them. She used this to mark out a large area on which the city of Carthage, "new city," was built. The prosperity that it attained within a short period aroused the envy of Iarbas, who demanded the hand (and realm) of Dido, threatening to wage war on Carthage if he was rejected. Dido preferred to immolate herself on her funeral pyre in the presence of her entire people, who from then on worshipped her as a goddess. Virgil, in the Aeneid, took this tradition and turned it into the story of the love between Dido and Aeneas, even though over three centuries had passed between the fall of Troy and the foundation of Carthage.

Diomedes
1. King of Thrace, son of Ares, and famous for his mares, which he fed on strangers who ventured into his land. The animals were captured by Heracles and then let loose on Mount Olympus. 2. Hero of Aetolia and king of Argos. He contributed eighty ships to the expedition against Troy and was, after Achilles, the most courageous of the Achaean warriors. Protected by Athena, he fought with Hector and Aeneas and on one occasion even wounded Aphrodite and Ares.

Dione
Sometimes said to be the daughter of Uranus and Gaea, at others one of the Oceanids, she bore Tantalus Dione and Pelops. One tradition held her to be the mother of Aphrodite, fathered to her by Zeus.

Dioscuri
The name given to the twins Castor and Pollux. It means "sons of Zeus."

Dodona
Ancient seat of the oracle of Zeus located in Epirus. The oracle's responses were given through the rustling of branches in the nearby sacred grove of oaks and the flight of the doves that nested there.

Dryops
King of Arcadia whose daughter was loved by Hermes and bore him Pan. Apollo also fell in love with her, approaching her in the form of a turtle.

Echidna
A monstrous creature, half woman and half serpent, she was the daughter of Chrysaor, wife of Typhoeus, and mother of most of the monsters of classical mythology. These included the sleepless dragon that guarded the Golden Fleece, the dragon that watched over the golden apples of the Hesperides, Cerberus, Scylla, the Lernaean Hydra, the Nemean Lion, the dog Orthrus, and even the eagle that tormented Prometheus. She was killed in her sleep by Argus.

Echo
Nymph of the woods and springs, she was deprived of the capacity of speech by Hera because, by arrangement with Zeus, she used to distract her with her chatter while her divine husband was paying court to other nymphs. She could only make sounds by repeating the words that she heard, but retained her body until she fell in love with Narcissus. The young man, wholly absorbed by his own beauty, spurned Echo's love and she was so consumed by her sorrow that nothing was left but her voice, the echo.

Eleusis
City in Attica, to the northwest of Athens. It was a religious center of primary importance because of its temple dedicated to Demeter. Great festivities (Eleusinia) were held there, as well as the Eleusinian Mysteries that evoked the wanderings of the goddess on earth in search of her daughter Persephone, abducted by Hades.

Elysian Fields
The Happy Land of the Blessed which, according to Homer, was not really part of the kingdom of the dead as it was located to the west of the earth, close to the Ocean. In the Roman world, the Elysian Fields were a privileged area of Hades.

Enceladus
Son of Tartarus (or Uranus) and Gaea, he was one of the giants who rebelled against Zeus. He was killed by Athena who crushed him beneath Mount Etna.

Enyo
Female deity of war and companion of Ares, whose daughter or sister she was considered to be. In Rome, she was identified with Bellona.

Epaphus
Son of Zeus and Io, he was born on the banks of the Nile after his mother's long wanderings.

Epidaurus
Sanctuary of the god of medicine Asclepius, located in Argolis, in the Peloponnesus. Here, pilgrims lay under the porch (abaton) and waited to be visited during their sleep (or a state of trance) by Asclepius, who handled the diseased part of the body and gave indications about the treatment to be followed.

Epimetheus
Belonging to the race of the Titans, he was the brother of Atlas and Prometheus, his exact opposite (Prometheus was he "who foresees," Epimetheus the one "who reflects after the event"). He accepted Zeus' insidious gift, Pandora, the source of all humanity's ills.

Erichthonius
He was born from Hephaestus' desire for Athena. The god's seed, falling on the ground, inseminated Gaea who gave birth to Erichthonius. The child was hidden in a basket by Athena and given into the care of Aglauros, Pandrosos, and Herse, the daughters of King Cecrops of Athens. Despite Athena's orders to the contrary, the girls were unable to resist peeping into the basket and, terrified by the sight of Erichthonius, who appeared to them in the form of a serpent, were stricken by madness casting themselves from the top of the Acropolis. Tradition made Erichthonius protector of the Acropolis of Athens, King of Attica, and founder of the Panathenaea.

Eridanus
River in the West sometimes identified with the Po or the Rhône. It was in its waters that Phaëthon fell when he tried to drive the chariot of his father Helios.

Erinyes (or Erinnyes)
Also known as the Eumenides, they were the goddesses of vengeance, the righters of human wrongs. Some considered them daughters of Hades and Persephone, but the majority of the sources state that they were born from the drops of blood shed on the Earth when Uranus was mutilated. Three of them were usually named, Alecto, Megara, and Tisiphone, and they were represented as female winged creatures with serpents winding through their hair and drops of blood trickling from their eyes. The Romans called them the Furies.

Eris
Goddess of discord, it was she who threw the golden apple into the midst of the gods at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, leading to the judgment of Paris and the consequences that ensued.

Eros
God of love whose mother was Aphrodite and father, according to different versions, Zeus, Ares, or Hermes. He was represented as a capricious youth who, with his arrows that had different powers, controlled love among human beings and gods. The Romans called him Cupid. His counterpart was Anteros (Love Opposed).

Erymanthus
Mountain in the Peloponnesus, on the frontier between Arcadia and Elis. The boar killed by Heracles lived in the woods on its slopes.

Etna
The volcano considered to be one of the forges of the god Hephaestus, where the Cyclopes fashioned the thunderbolts of Zeus.

Europa
Daughter of King Agenor of Phoenicia and sister of Cadmus. Zeus was struck by her beauty and, in order to approach her, assumed the shape of a bull and mingled with the herd that the girl was tending on the seashore. Europa climbed on his back and was carried over the waves to the island of Crete. Here, she bore Zeus three sons, Minos, Rhadamanthys, and Sarpedon.

Eurota
River in the Peloponnesus that flows not far from Sparta. It was on its banks that Zeus united with Leda in the form of a swan and that the youth Hyacinth, loved by Apollo, met his death.

Eurydice
The wife that Orpheus tried to bring back from the world of the dead.

Eurynome
Daughter of Oceanus and mother of the Charites. Together with her sister, Thetis, she rescued and raised Hephaestus after he had been hurled from Olympus by his mother, Hera.

Eurystheus
Grandson of Perseus. His birth was hastened by Hera to prevent Heracles, the son of his cousin Alcmene, from gaining the primogeniture. He ruled over Tiryns, Argos, and Mycenae. It was he who, on Hera's instructions, imposed on Heracles the "labors" that were to earn him glory. He died in battle against the Athenians and his head was brought to Alcmene, who tore out his eyes. Other traditions hold that he was killed by the shade of Iolaus, Heracles' nephew and friend.

Fate
The Destiny that not even the gods could evade.

Gaea (or Ge)
Personification of the earth, the first being to emerge out of the primordial chaos. She was the sister and wife of Uranus, to whom she bore the Titans. Uranus, who hated and feared his children, concealed them in the depths of the earth (of Gaea) as soon as they were born. Angered by this, Gaea extracted iron from her own bowels and fashioned a sickle. She gave this weapon to Cronus, the last of her children to be born, who used it to emasculate his father and seized power. From the drops of Uranus' blood that fell on the earth were born the Erinyes and Giants; according to one tradition, the drops that fell in the sea created Aphrodite.

Ganymede
Young hero from the royal house of Troas, perhaps the son (or grandson) of Laomedon. His extraordinary beauty made a great impression on Zeus who had him carried off by an eagle, a bird sacred to the god, and brought to Olympus, where he became cup bearer to the gods. To compensate Ganymede's father, Zeus presented him with the divine horses that caught the interest of Heracles.

Geryon
Son of Chrysaor, he was a monster with three heads or, according to some traditions, three bodies fused together. He reigned over the Western lands and was the owner of the magnificent red oxen that were stolen by Heracles.

Giants
Creatures of much larger size than human beings, born from the drops of Uranus' blood that fell to the earth when he was mutilated by his son Cronus. Thus, their mother was Gaea, and it was at her instigation that they attempted to storm Olympus and dethrone Zeus (Gigantomachia). After their defeat, many of them were buried beneath volcanoes.

Gigantomachia
The great and primordial struggle between the Giants and the Olympians that took place on the peninsula of Pallene, in Thrace. Although they were of divine origin, the Giants were mortal or, at least, could be killed if struck simultaneously by a god and a mortal. For this reason, the presence of Heracles, who had not yet been accepted among the gods, was decisive. The Giants were vanquished one by one: Alcyoneus, for instance, who was invincible as long as he remained on his native soil, was killed by Athena and Heracles after the hero had carried him out of Pallene; Ephialtes was struck by an arrow from Apollo in the left eye and one from Heracles in the right; Porphyrion, who attacked Hera, was brought down by Zeus' thunderbolt and Heracles' arrows.

Golden Fleece
This was the fleece of the ram born to Theophane and Poseidon, which was then given by Hermes to Nephele, wife of Athamas and mother of Phrixus and Helle. When the two children were to be sacrificed as a result of the intrigues of Ino, their mother arranged their escape riding on the back of the sacred animal. During the journey, Helle fell into the sea and died (at the Hellespont), but Phrixus reached Asia Minor, where he sacrificed the ram to Zeus. Its fleece, which brought wealth and power to anyone who possessed it, was given to King Aeëtes of Colchis and hung from an oak tree in the grove sacred to Ares, where it was guarded night and day by a dragon. It was to bring this treasure back to Greece that the expedition of Jason and the Argonauts was mounted.

Gorgons
Three terrible female figures, Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa, daughters of the marine deities Phorcys and Ceto. They were represented with their heads covered with hissing serpents and with golden wings, bronze hands, and gigantic teeth. The only one of the three who was mortal, Medusa, was killed by Perseus.

Graces
Latin name for the Charities.

Graeae, the
Daughters of the marine divinities Phorcys and Ceto and sisters of the three Gorgons, they belonged to the race of pre-Olympian deities. Their names were Enyo, Pephredo, and Dino. They were born old and had only one tooth and one eye between then, which they used in turn. As only they knew how Medusa could be killed, Perseus forced them to reveal the secret which allowed him to cut off her head.

Hades
The name refers not only to the god, but also to his home, the world of the dead that was also known as Tartarus. The place was said to be as far beneath the earth as the sky is above it. In his Theogony, Hesiod states that "an anvil, falling from the sky, would take nine days and nine nights to reach the earth on the tenth day; it would take the same anvil another nine days and nine nights to reach Tartarus from the earth."

Halirrothius
Son of Poseidon, he raped Alcippe and was killed by her father, Ares. Ares was tried for murder by the tribunal of the gods and acquitted.

Harmonia
Commonly held to be the daughter of Ares and Aphrodite, though some traditions have her parents as Electra and Zeus. She lived in Samothrace, and it was here that she met Cadmus when he was looking for his sister Europa, abducted by Zeus. The young couple married at Cadmea, the original nucleus of the city of Thebes founded by Cadmus, and all the gods were present at the solemn ceremony. Among the wedding gifts was a necklace, made by the jealous Hephaestus, which was to prove fatal to all those who possessed it. It was to prove so for Harmonia's four daughters, all of whom met a tragic fate: Semele, Agave, Ino, and Autonoë. At the end of their lives, Harmonia and her husband left Thebes and went to Illyria, where they assumed the form of serpents.

Harpies
Winged monsters, daughters of the primordial marine god Thaumas and the Oceanid Electra. They belonged to the pre-Olympian generation of gods and were represented as women with wings, or birds with a women's heads. The gods used them to inflict punishments on men and heroes whom they wanted to persecute for one reason or another. This was the case with Phineus, but on that occasion they were defeated by Calais and Zetes and forced to take refuge on the Strophades Islands. It was here that Aeneas encountered them.

Hebe
Daughter of Zeus and Hera, she was the cup bearer to the gods and was herself the goddess of youth. When Heracles ascended to Olympus she became his wife.

Hecate
Daughter of Perses and Asteria, she belonged to the race of the Titans and was the only one to retain her powers even under the reign of Zeus. She played a part in the search for the abducted Persephone and was her assistant and a friend of Hades. She became a deity of the Underworld, skilled in all kinds of magic. She was said to wander over the earth at night with the shades of the dead, halting at crossroads. Her approach was heralded by the barking of dogs.

Hecatoncheires
Also known as the Centimanes, they were beings with fifty heads and a hundred arms. It is said that there were three of them: Cottus, Briareus, and Gyges. Sons of Uranus and Gaea, they belonged to the same generation as the Cyclopes and took Zeus' side in the war against the Titans.

Hector
The greatest of the Trojan heroes, first born son of Priam and Hecuba and affectionate husband of Andromache. He caused the death of Patroclus and fought in single combat with Achilles, who wanted to avenge the death of his inseparable friend. He was killed in the fight and his mangled body was returned to his father Priam on the orders of Zeus. His shade advised Aeneas to flee from Troy with the Penates, his family, and the survivors of the massacre.

Helen
Daughter of Zeus and Leda, sister of Clytemnestra and the Dioscuri, she was considered the most beautiful woman of the Greek world. While still very young she was carried off by Theseus, who took her to Attica and married her, but was brought back to Sparta by the Dioscuri. She then attracted the attention of many nobles, from whom she chose the obscure Menelaus. Subsequently, she was seduced by Paris, whom she followed to Troy, arousing the ire of her former suitors. This was the pretext for the ten-year Trojan War. On the death of Paris, she married her brother-in-law Deiphobus but, after the capture of the city, was reconciled with Menelaus. She went back to Sparta with him, where she bore Hermione and became a paragon of all the domestic virtues. The accounts of her death are divergent. One tradition holds that she was deified along with her husband Menelaus, another that she was banished from Sparta and sought refuge in Rhodes, but was hanged there. In the tales of the Mysteries, she married Achilles and lived with him forever on the island of Leuca, located at the mouth of the Danube.

Helenus
Son of Priam and Hecuba and a member of the Trojan royal dynasty, he was endowed, like his twin sister Cassandra, with the gift of prophecy. During the Trojan War, he deserted and went over to the side of the Greeks, perhaps because, after the death of Paris, he was unable to obtain Helen, who married Deiphobus. After the city's fall he followed Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles, who took Andromache with him as a spoil of war. When Pyrrhus died he received part of his kingdom and married Andromache. Aeneas met the couple in Epirus.

Helios
The sun god, also known as Phoebus (though this was more properly the epithet of Apollo), he was son of the Titan Hyperion and the Titaness Theia and brother of Eos (the Dawn) and Selene (the Moon). In the morning Helios rose from the Ocean in the east, where his splendid palace was located, crossed the sky in a golden chariot (or bowl), and in the evening descended into the Ocean again to the west. He was the god who saw everything that happened on heaven and earth. He told Hephaestus of Aphrodite's adultery, informed Demeter of Persephone's abduction, and discovered the theft of his own oxen, killed in Trinacria (Sicily) by Ulysses' companions. He was the father of Aeëtes and Circe. Clymene bore him Phaëthon and his sisters the Heliads. Pasiphaë, the wife of Minos, was also his daughter.

Heracles
Called Hercules by the Romans, he was the son of Zeus and Alcmene, the wife of Amphitryon of Thebes. The day Heracles was due to be born, the jealous Hera flew to Argos to speed up the birth of Heracles' cousin Eurystheus, while she sent Ilithyia to delay Alcmene's delivery. Thus, Eurystheus was born first and became the head of the house of the Perseids to which both the newborn children belonged. The divine nature of Heracles (who was then known as Alcides or Alcaeus) was revealed straight-away when, still in swaddling clothes, he strangled two serpents that Hera had sent to attack him. He spent his childhood in Thebes and at the age of eighteen was sent by Amphitryon to herd the flocks of King Thespius on Helicon. As the king wished the hero to give him a grandson, he placed one of his fifty daughters in his bed each night and Heracles united with all of them, believing them to be the same girl (another tradition holds that he lay with them all in a single night!). The fifty children born as a result were called the Thespiads. He also begot several children with his wife Megara, daughter of King Creon of Thebes, but, struck with madness by Hera, killed them. He then went to Delphi to purify himself and was told by the Pythia to place himself in the service of Eurystheus at Tiryns for twelve years. It was the Pythia who gave him the name of Heracles, or "he who receives glory from Hera." And, in fact, glory did come to him from the famous twelve labors, imposed on him by Eurystheus but at the behest of Hera. His subsequent exploits saw Heracles struggling with Apollo for possession of the tripod at Delphi; the slave of Queen Omphale of Lydia, who forced him to wear women's clothes; a sailor on the ship Argos during the expedition in search of the Golden Fleece; and a leading combatant in the Gigantomachia. As well as Megara, whom he gave up to his friend and nephew Iolaus after the murder of their children (though it is also said that she was killed along with them), he was married to Deianeira, who was the cause of his earthly death. While, again in exile, Heracles was wandering with his new bride, he killed the centaur Nessus, who tried to rape her, with a poisoned arrow. Nessus, as he died, told Deianeira to collect his blood as it would preserve her husband's love forever. Later on, when Heracles fell in love with Princess Iole of Euboea, Deianeira soaked her husband's tunic in the centaur's blood and the poison of the arrow, still present in the blood, caused him atrocious suffering. At the sight of this, Deianeira killed herself. Heracles, racked with pain, also sought relief in death. He lay down on a stack of wood and ordered it to be set alight, but as soon as the flames began to lap his body, he was transported to Olympus where he was endowed with immortality, reconciled with Hera, and married to her daughter, Hebe. Hercules
Roman name for Heracles.

Hermaphroditus
He was, as his name suggests, a son of Hermes and Aphrodite. A youth of extraordinary beauty, he fell in love with the nymph of the spring Salmacis, near Halicarnassus. One day, when the young man was bathing naked in the spring, the nymph threw her arms around him and prayed to the gods that they might remain united forever. Her desire was granted and their two bodies were fused into one, though it retained the characteristics of both.

Hermione
The beautiful daughter of Helen and Menelaus, whose hand was given to Achilles' son Pyrrhus (Neoptolemus).

Herse
Daughter of King Cecrops of Athens and sister of Aglauros, with whom she was given custody of the basket in which Athena had concealed Erichthonius. She was loved by Hermes.

Hesione
Daughter of Laomedon, King of Troy. She was offered as a sacrifice to the monster sent to Troas by Poseidon to punish her father, who had refused to pay him for the construction of the walls of Troy. She was saved by Heracles.

Hesperides
The custodians of the golden apples that Gaea gave to Hera on the occasion of her marriage to Zeus. They were three (or four) daughters of Atlas, also known as the odians of the golden apples that Gaea gave to Hera on the occasion of her marriage to Zeus. They were three (or four) daughters of Atlas, also known as the "daughters of the Sunset" because their odians of the golden apples that Gaea gave to Hera on the occasion of her marriage to Zeus. They were three (or four) daughters of Atlas, also known as the "daughters of the Sunset" because their land was located in the far west. Later on, odians of the golden apples that Gaea gave to Hera on the occasion of her marriage to Zeus. They were three (or four) daughters of Atlas, also known as the "daughters of the Sunset" because their land was located in the far west. Later on, they were said to live on Mount Atlas or in odians of the golden apples that Gaea gave to Hera on the occasion of her marriage to Zeus. They were three (or four) daughters of Atlas, also known as the "daughters of the Sunset" because their land was located in the far west. Later on, they were said to live on Mount Atlas or in various other locations in North Africa.

Hestia
The first child born to Cronus and Rhea, she was swallowed and then vomited up by her father as were her brothers (Hades and Poseidon) and sisters (Hera and Demeter) when they were liberated by Zeus. She was one of the great deities of Olympus, which she never left, unlike the other gods who used to come and go in the world. She rejected the love of Apollo and Poseidon and was granted permission by Zeus to remain a forever. She was the patron of the domestic hearth and her sacred fire burned in all temples. The Romans called her Vesta.

Hippolyta
Daughter of Ares and queen of the Amazons. She was killed by Heracles, who had been ordered to bring back her girdle.

Horae
Daughters of Zeus and Themis and sisters of the Moerae. There were three of them, Eunomia (Law), Dike (Justice), and Irene (Peace), and they presided over the order of nature.

Hyacinth
Handsome young Spartan loved by Apollo and Zephyr. When he was killed, a new flower was born from his blood. Its petals bear marks reminiscent of both Apollo's cry of lamentation (AI) and the initial of the young man's name (Y, for Yakinthos).

Hyades
The nymphs of Nysa who raised Dionysus and were changed by Zeus into a constellation.

Hylas
A very handsome youth loved by Heracles and captured by the Naiads.

Hyperboreans
A fabulous people believed to live in a state of perfect happiness in an unknown land where the sun never set. According to other traditions, the garden of the Hesperides, where the golden apples were kept, was located in their country.

Hypsipyle
Queen of Lemnos who ruled over a people made up solely of women. During the Argonauts' stay on her island, she fell in love with Jason and offered him her throne.

Iarbas
King of the Getulians, born to Zeus and the nymph Libya. He granted Dido the land on which she built the city of Carthage and was a suitor for her hand.

Iasion
Son of Zeus and Electra, who was one of the Pleiades, he was loved by Demeter who lay with him on the island of Crete, in a field that had been plowed three times. The son born to them was Plutus, "Wealth."

Icarus
Son of the architect Daedalus and Neucrate, one of Minos's slaves, he attempted to flee from Crete with the wings constructed by his father. He fell into the sea near Samos, and ever since the place has been known as the Icarian Sea.

Ida
1. Chain of mountains in Troas, in Asia Minor, where Paris made his judgment, Anchises met Aphrodite, and Ganymede was carried off by Zeus. One tradition holds that the secret marriage between Zeus and Hera was celebrated there. 2. Mountain on the island of Crete where Zeus was born and then raised by the goat, Amalthea.

Idas
He was Apollo's rival in love for Marpessa. He took her from the god, using a winged chariot given to him by Poseidon and, since Apollo had no intention of renouncing her, Zeus allowed Marpessa herself to decide which of them she wanted. The girl chose Idas as she feared that Apollo would abandon her when she began to grow old.

Ilithyia
Daughter of Zeus and Hera, and therefore sister of Hebe, Ares, and Hephaestus, she presided over childbirth. A faithful servant of her mother, she was also the instrument of her hatred. She was not permitted to assist Leto until nine days after the beginning of her labor pains. In the same way, the delivery of Alcmene, hated by Hera, was delayed to ensure the primogeniture of Eurystheus.

Ilium
The name given by the Greeks to the city of Troy.

Infernal Regions
The term used in Roman mythology to refer to the world of the dead, otherwise known as Hades, Tartarus, or the Underworld.

Ino
Daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia, she was the sister of Semele, Agave, and Autonoë and the mother of Actaeon. She was the second wife of Athamas, who abandoned Nephele for her, and bore him Learchus and Melicertes. When Hera sent down a terrible drought on the fields of Boeotia, Ino bribed the ambassadors her husband had sent to consult the oracle at Delphi to bring back a false response, claiming that the god demanded the sacrifice of Phrixus and Helle, Athamas' sons by his first wife Nephele. The two children escaped from Greece riding on the back of the ram with the golden fleece. Athamas and Ino were driven mad by Hera. Athamas killed Learchus and Ino threw herself into the sea with Melicertes. But the mother and child were changed into marine divinities called Leucothea and Palaemon.

Io
Daughter of Inachus, the first king of Argos, she was loved by Zeus and turned by him into a cow.

Iolaus
The son of Iphicles, who was Heracles' half-brother, he accompanied his uncle on some of his exploits and married his wife, Megara, when Heracles left her for Deianeira. One tradition holds that after his death he was allowed to return among the living to kill Heracles' persecutor, Eurystheus. His mission accomplished, he went back to the kingdom of the dead.

Iolcus
The present-day Volos, in Thessaly, from where the Argonauts set out on their quest for the Golden Fleece.

Iphigenia
Daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. Since Agamemnon had killed a hind sacred to Artemis, the goddess prevented the departure of the Achaeans for Troy, demanding the sacrifice of Iphigenia. Agamemnon had his daughter sent to Aulis, where the fleet was blocked, but the sacrifice did not take place because, at the last moment, Artemis put a hind in the girl's place on the altar.

Iris
Personification of the rainbow and messenger of the gods. She was sent by Hera to stir up the revolt of the Trojan women who burned Aeneas' fleet in Sicily.

Isis
One of the main Egyptian deities, wife of Osiris and mother of Horus. The Greeks identified her with Io.

Istrus
The river now called the Danube that the Argonauts ascended to escape the ships of Colchis after the conquest of the Golden Fleece.

Ithaca
Small Greek island in the Ionian Sea, off the coast of Epirus. It was ruled by Ulysses, who returned there after a ten-year voyage following the destruction of Troy.

Ixion
King of the Lapiths and son of Phlegyas. He was condemned to eternal torment by Zeus for having tried to rape Hera.

Jason
Son of Aeson, the king of Iolcus in Thessaly, whose throne had been usurped by his half-brother Pelias. Jason was given to the care of the centaur Chiron and, when he was grown, returned to claim the kingdom that had been his father's. Pelias agreed to hand it over to him on the condition that he brought the Golden Fleece to Iolcus. This was now in the possession of King Aeëtes of Colchis and guarded by a dragon that never slept. Jason undertook his famous expedition on the Argo, taking with him the flower of Hellenic youth and returning with the Golden Fleece and his bride Medea. In the meantime, Pelias had killed Aeson, and Jason used the magic arts of his wife to avenge him. Forced to leave Iolcus, the couple settled in Corinth where, ten years later, Jason abandoned Medea for Creusa, daughter of Creon, king of the city. There are differing accounts of the hero's end: some sources claim that he died of a broken heart after Medea killed his children out of revenge, others that he was crushed beneath the hull of the Argo, where he was resting in the shade after he had regained Iolcus.

Jocasta
Wife of King Laius of Thebes, to whom she bore Oedipus. Later, without recognizing her son and without him recognizing her, she married Oedipus and bore him several children. When she discovered the truth, she hanged herself in the palace of Thebes.

Juno
Roman counterpart of the goddess Hera.

Jupiter (or Jove)
Roman name for Zeus.

Kore
"The Maiden," an epithet by which Persephone was known, especially in Attica.

Lacinium
Name of a famous promontory to the south of Croton in Italy that was visited by Aeneas during his voyage from Troy to the mouth of the Tiber.

Ladon
1. Name of the monster sent to guard the golden apples of the Hesperides and killed by Heracles. 2. River in Arcadia in whose waters Demeter purified herself after being possessed by Poseidon.

Laestrygonians (or Lestrigons)
A savage race of cannibals encountered by Ulysses during his wanderings in the Mediterranean.

Laius
King of Thebes, he was the son of Labdacus and the great grandson of Cadmus. He abducted Pelops's son, with whom he had fallen in love, earning the enmity and curse of the goddess Hera, who hated all those who spurned women. It may have been for this reason that he was fated to die at the hands of his son Oedipus.

Laocoön
Trojan priest of Apollo. He tried in vain to dissuade the Trojans from bringing within the walls of Troy the famous wooden horse that the Greeks, pretending to leave the city, had left on the beach. In order for the city to meet its destiny, however, two terrible serpents emerged from the sea while he was sacrificing to Poseidon and crushed him and two of his sons in their coils.

Laomedon
King of Troy for whom Poseidon erected the walls of the city. Since he refused to pay the god his due, he was forced to offer his daughter in sacrifice to a sea monster. Heracles offered to save her in exchange for the horses of Zeus but, as Laomedon once again failed to keep his word, Heracles killed all his sons with the exception of Priam and vowed to wage war on the city.

Leda
Wife of King Tyndareus of Sparta. She was loved by Zeus who united with her in the form of a swan.

Lemnos
One of the largest islands in the Aegean, sacred to the god Hephaestus who fell there after he had been flung from Olympus by his father Zeus. His main workshop was supposed to be located there. The Argonauts made a long stay on the island.

Lerna
Plain in Argolis, close to the city of Argos. It was famous for the Hydra killed by Heracles.

Leto
Called Latona by the Romans, she was the Titaness who bore Apollo and Artemis to Zeus. The goddess Hera began to torment her even before she had given birth, forbidding any land to receive her at the moment of delivery. Wandering from place to place, Leto came at last to Delos, which at that time was a floating island called Ortygia that Poseidon had raised from the depths of the sea for the occasion, and there gave birth to the divine twins. Zeus' wife did not renounce her vengeance and sent the giant Tityus to rape her, but he was killed by the arrows of Apollo and Artemis. Tired of so much persecution, Leto was unable to bear the scorn and pride of Niobe and asked her children to avenge her.

Lotus Eaters (or Lotophagi)
People who ate the fruit of the lotus tree and lived a life of idleness, and who were visited by Ulysses on his wanderings.

Maenads
Another name for the Bacchantes or Bacchae.

Maia
Daughter of Atlas, she was the oldest and fairest of the Pleiades. She bore Zeus his son Hermes in a cave on Mount Cyllene.

Manto
Daughter of the soothsayer Tiresias and herself a prophetess. She sent the women of Thebes to honor Leto, provoking the scornful pride of Niobe.

Marpessa
Princess of Aetolia, her love was sought by both the god Apollo and the mortal Idas. Marpessa chose Idas because she feared that Apollo would abandon her when she grew old.

Mars
Ancient Roman divinity who was later identified with Ares.

Marsyas
Satyr of Phrygia, defeated by Apollo in a musical contest.

Medea
Daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, sister of Absyrtus, and niece of the sorceress Circe. She helped Jason overcome the trials which allowed him to win the Golden Fleece. They married at Drepane and she followed him to Iolcus. On the pretext of restoring his vigor and youth, she convinced the daughters of the usurper Pelias to cut their father's body into pieces and cook it, and for this was forced to flee to Corinth with her husband. Here, Jason left her for Creusa, to whom Medea gave a robe that burst into flames as soon as she put it on. To render her vengeance even more pitiless, she killed the two children she had born to Jason. She then fled to Athens on a chariot drawn by winged serpents and became the wife of King Aegeus. She was unmasked by Theseus and went back to Colchis, where she ruled her father's kingdom.

Medusa
One of the Gorgons, the only mortal of the three, and daughter of the marine divinities Phorcys and Ceto. She was originally a beautiful girl, but her hair was changed into serpents by Athena, who wanted to punish her for having given herself to Poseidon in one of the temples dedicated to the goddess. Her appearance became so terrifying that anyone who looked her in the face was turned to stone. For this reason, Perseus, when he cut off her head, used a bronze shield in which the monster's image was reflected. Even when severed, Medusa's head retained its terrible powers so that Perseus was able to use it to vanquish Phineus when he tried to prevent him from marrying Andromeda. Atlas, according to some versions, met with the same fate. After a series of adventures, Athena placed the Gorgon's head at the center of her own shield.

Melissa
Nymph said to have discovered honey, which she used to nurse the child Zeus when he was being raised on Crete by the goat Amalthea.

Menelaus
Son of Atreus, King of Mycenae, and brother of Agamemnon. When he married Helen he was given the throne of Sparta by Tyndareus. It is his wife, abducted by Paris and the cause of the Trojan War, that earned him his fame. He fought with Paris and would have dealt him a mortal blow if Aphrodite had not carried him away wrapped in a cloud, and killed Deiphobus, the man Helen married after the death of Paris. After the city's fall he was reconciled with his wife and was the first to leave the shores of Troy with his ships. He reached his home only after eight years of wandering, but, from that moment on, led a tranquil existence in Sparta. There are several different accounts of his death, as of Helen's; according to some he was taken to the Elysian Fields, and to others to Tauris where he had attempted to sacrifice Iphigenia to the goddess Artemis.

Mercury
The Roman deity identified with Hermes.

Merope
Princess of Chios. She was raped by Orion, who was then blinded by her father Oenopion with the aid of Dionysus.

Metaneira
Wife of Celeus, King of Eleusis. She took in Demeter while she was wandering the earth in search of her daughter Persephone, abducted by Hades. She was the mother of Demophoön and Triptolemus.

Metis
Daughter of Oceanus and personification of Wisdom. It was she who gave Zeus the drug that made Cronus vomit her children and was his first wife. She conceived Athena, but since an oracle had predicted that the child born to her would be wiser and more powerful than its father, Zeus swallowed Metis so that her daughter would not come into the world from her womb. In fact, Athena emerged from Zeus' head, fully armed and uttering a battle cry.

Midas
King of Phrygia who received the dangerous gift of the "golden touch" from Dionysus.

Minerva
Roman counterpart of the Greek goddess Athena.

Minos
Son of Zeus and Europa, he was King of Crete and, after his death, became judge of the dead in the Underworld. When Poseidon, out of benevolence, sent a beautiful bull to Crete to be sacrificed to him, Minos kept it for himself, offering the god an animal of lesser value. Poseidon took his revenge by driving the bull wild. It devastated the island until it was captured by Heracles. This was the same bull for which Minos' wife Pasiphaë conceived an unnatural passion. The Minotaur was born from their union. Since one of Minos' children, Androgeus, had been killed in Athens during the Panathenaea, Minos demanded that the city send a tribute every nine years, consisting of seven young women and seven young men who were to take part in contests with bulls before being sacrificed to the Minotaur. One of them was Theseus, who killed the monster and carried off Princess Ariadne.

Minotaur
A monstrous creature, half man and half bull, born from the union of Pasiphaë, the wife of King Minos of Crete, with a bull sent to the island by Poseidon. It lived in the labyrinth of the palace where, with the assistance of Ariadne, it was tracked down and killed by the hero Theseus.

Misenus
Companion of Aeneas and trumpeter of the Trojan expedition, he was dragged from a rock by Triton, jealous of the skill with which the young man blew a conch. He was buried in Campania, on a promontory that took his name.

Mnemosyne
Daughter of Gaea and Uranus, she was considered the goddess of memory. She bore Zeus nine daughters, the Muses.

Moerae (or Moirai)
Daughters of Night, or of Zeus and Themis, they were the three goddesses, or Fates, who watched over the destiny of human beings and numbered the days of their lives. Clotho spun the thread of life, Lachesis untangled it, and Atropos cut it at the moment of death. Not even Zeus could influence their decisions. The Romans called them the Parcae.

Muses
The nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne who presided over the arts and sciences. For this reason, they were linked to Apollo and resided on Mount Parnassus, not far from the sanctuary of Delphi. Clio was the muse of history, Euterpe of lyric poetry, Thalia of comedy, Melpomene of tragedy, Terpsichore of dance, Erato of heroic poetry and mime, Polyhymnia of sacred song and oratory, Urania of astronomy, and Calliope of epic poetry and eloquence.

Mycenae
City in Argolis, to the northwest of Argos, which reached the peak of its power during the reign of Agamemnon. Its walls were said to have been built by the Cyclopes.

Myrrha
Another name for Smyrna, the daughter of King Cinyras to whom she bore Adonis. She was turned into the myrtle tree from which myrrh is produced.

Naiads
Nymphs of springs, rivers, lakes, fountains, and waterfalls. They carried off and kept Hylas, the young man loved by Heracles.

Nauplius
Son of Poseidon and King of Euboea. To avenge himself for the death of his son, killed beneath the walls of Troy, he waited for the return of the Greek fleet and caused it to founder by lighting fires along a piece of coast traversed by dangerous currents and strewn with rocks.

Nausicaa
Daughter of King Alcinous and Queen Arete of the Phaeacians, she was the first person to meet Ulysses when he was washed up on the shore of Corcyra and took him to her father's court.

Naxos
Island in the Aegean Sea, the largest of the Cyclades, linked to the story of Dionysus and Ariadne.

Nemea
Valley on the northern borders of Argolis where Heracles killed the ferocious lion. The Nemean festivals, similar to the Olympic Games, were held there every two years.

Nemesis
Daughter of Night and considered, in some traditions, to be the mother of Helen. To escape the attentions of Zeus, Nemesis assumed various forms until, having taken the shape of a marsh bird, she was overtaken by Zeus in the form of a swan. She also personified "Divine Vengeance" and as such was linked with the Erinyes.

Nereids
The fifty daughters of the god Nereus, sea nymphs of the Mediterranean as distinct from the Naiads, who were nymphs of fresh waters, and the Oceanids, nymphs of the Ocean. The most famous of the Nereids was Thetis, the mother of Achilles. Offended by Cassiopeia, the Nereids were avenged by Poseidon, who demanded the sacrifice of Andromeda.

Nereus
The "Old Man of the Sea," son of Gaea and Pontus, he was a male personification of the sea. His sister and wife Doris bore him fifty daughters, the Nereids. Like other marine divinities, he had the power to see into the future and to take on different forms.

Niobe
Daughter of Tantalus and wife of Amphion, King of Thebes. She was the mother of numerous children and consequently considered herself superior to Leto, who had only borne two children. She was severely punished for her pride and then turned to stone.

Notus
The south wind, son of the Titan Astraeus and Eos (the Dawn).

Nymphs
Secondary female divinities of classical mythology who populated every part of the natural world and were divided into various classes. The Oceanids and Nereids were sea nymphs. The Naiads were nymphs of fresh water and the Oreads nymphs of the mountains. The nymphs of trees were called Dryads and Hamadryads. There were other sorts of nymphs associated with specific places, such as the Nysiads and the Lemniae.

Oceanids
the nymphs who were daughters of Oceanus. They had power over marine waters, with the exception of the Mediterranean which was presided over by the Nereids.

Oceanus (or Ocean)
Deity and personification of the endlessly flowing river of water that surrounded the earth, which was conceived as a circular flat surface. The sun and stars rose from the Ocean and set in it. As geographical knowledge progressed the term was used to refer to the waters that bordered the known world, as opposed to those of the Mediterranean.

Odysseus
"The Hated," Greek name of Ulysses.

Oedipus
The son of King Laius of Thebes and Queen Jocasta, he is the hero of numerous legends that have become mixed up and superimposed. At the base of them all, however, lies the story of his having murdered his father and married his mother. The most famous account of his tragic fate is to be found in Sophocles's Oedipus Rex.

Ogygia
The island of the nymph Calypso who rescued the shipwrecked Ulysses. The authors locate it in the Western Mediterranean, perhaps at what is now the peninsula of Ceuta.

Olympia
Plain in Elis watered by the river Alpheus where an oracle of the gods Zeus and Cronus was venerated. Hera had an important temple there as well. There was never a real city of this name, but its universal fame derives from the group of sacred buildings linked to the celebration of the pan-Hellenic Olympic Games every four years from 776 BC onward.

Olympians
The twelve major deities of Mount Olympus, all linked to the stock of Zeus. They were: Zeus himself, Poseidon, Apollo, Ares, Hermes, Hephaestus, Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Athena, Aphrodite, and Artemis.

Olympus
Mountain chain separating Macedonia from Thessaly: more specifically the eastern part, whose tallest and eternally snow-covered peak was considered the residence of the divine race of Zeus.

Orion
Gigantic and mythical hunter of Boeotia, killed by an arrow from Artemis even though she loved him. He became a constellation.

Orpheus
Considered the son of Apollo and the Muse Calliope, an unsurpassable poet and singer. Apollo made him the gift of the lyre and the Muses taught him to play it. He lived in Thrace at the time of the Argonauts and accompanied them on their expedition. He descended into Hades to seek his wife Eurydice and through his art managed to bring her back to the world of the living. His impatience ruined everything in the end. His desperation over the definitive loss of Eurydice made him adopt a contemptuous and offensive attitude toward the women of Thrace who, in the end, exasperated and caught up in the Bacchic frenzy, tore him to pieces.

Orthrus
The two headed dog of Geryon, killed by Heracles.

Ortygia
1. The old name of the island of Delos on which Apollo and Artemis were born. Its name derived from ortyx, or quail, because it was said that the goddess Asteria (another name for the place) changed into a quail to escape the of Zeus before falling into the sea and turning into an island. 2. Small island off Syracuse on which rises the spring that Arethusa became in order to escape the love of the river god Alpheus.

Othrys
Mountain in Thessaly from which the Titans challenged the Olympians during the Titanomachia.

Palinurus
Pilot of Aeneas' ship who fell into the water off the Campanian promontory that took his name.

Palladium
The effigy of Athena kept in Troy. Its name may derive from Pallas, Athena's playmate whom she killed by mistake.

Pallas
1. Daughter of Triton and Athena's playmate. One day, while the two girls were pretending to fight a duel, she was accidentally killed by the goddess who, in despair at her loss, reproduced her features in the Palladium. 2. One of the Titans, whom Athena flayed, using his skin as a covering.

Pan
Greek pastoral deity, son of Hermes and the daughter of King Dryops (or Penelope, in another version). The god of pastures, flocks, herds, and wild beasts, he was considered the inventor of the syrinx, or panpipe, which he used to accompany the dances of the nymphs. Half man, half goat, he so frightened his mother at birth that she abandoned him. His sudden appearance caused panic in mortals. In Rome, he was identified with Faunus.

Panathenaea
One of the main festivals in the Athenian sacred calendar. The Little Panathenaea were held every year and the Great Panathenaea every four years. The climax of the festival was the solemn procession that wound its way through the city and up to the Acropolis, where an embroidered peplos was offered to the statue of Athena. Games and gymnastic contests were held at the same time as the procession.

Pandora
The first woman and the ancestor of the female of the human species, created by Hephaestus on the instructions of Zeus.

Paris
Second-born son of King Priam of Troy and his wife Hecuba. Since it was predicted at his birth that he would be the cause of the city's destruction, he was exposed on the slopes of Mount Ida. But he was found by a shepherd who brought him up as his son. It was during this time that he acted as judge in the beauty contest between Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera. Afterward, he was recognized by his father through his sister Cassandra's powers of divination and accepted at court. From there he went to Sparta to abduct Helen, the woman promised him by Aphrodite. The war that followed brought the old prophecy true, for Troy was burned and destroyed as a result of Helen's abduction. He was killed by Philoctetes, the shield bearer of Heracles who shot him with one of the hero's arrows soaked in the blood of the Lernaean Hydra.

Parnassus
Chain of mountains running in a southeast direction through Doris and Phocis as far as the Gulf of Corinth. The mountain, on whose slopes stands the sanctuary of the oracle of Delphi, was sacred to Apollo and the Muses.

Paphos
1. City on the western coast of the island of Cyprus, one of the main centers of the cult of Aphrodite who landed on the island immediately after her birth. 2. Son of Pygmalion and father of Cinyras.

Pegasus
Winged horse born, along with Chrysaor, from the severed head of Medusa, killed by Perseus. Later he was captured by Bellerophon, to whom Athena gave the bit, previously unknown to the Greeks.

Peleus
Son of Aeacus, the ruler of Aegina. After killing his half-brother, Peleus fled to Thessaly, but killed King Eurytion by accident. He then took refuge in Iolcus and joined the Argonauts in their quest for the Golden Fleece. He married the Nereid Thetis, granted to him by Zeus because none of the gods would unite with her because of the prophecy that she would be the mother of a son whose power would be greater than his father's. That son, whom Thetis bore to Peleus, was Achilles.

Pelias
Son of Poseidon, he was the half-brother of Aeson from whom he wrested the throne of Iolcus. When his nephew Jason turned up to claim his rights, Pelias sent him to Colchis to bring back the Golden Fleece. He was killed by his daughters, who were tricked by Medea into believing that they could restore his youth by cutting him into pieces and boiling him in a cauldron.

Pelops
The son of Tantalus and brother of Niobe, he was served as a dish at the banquet held by his father for the gods. Restored to life by them, he emigrated to the Peloponnesus (to which he gave the name) where he established the first Olympic Games, later revived by Heracles in his honor.

Penates
For the Romans, these were the household gods of the family and the state. They are sometimes referred to in Latin sources as the Lares.

Peneius
River of Elis, in the Peloponnesus. Heracles used its waters and those of the Alpheus to clean the Augean Stables.

Penelope
Originally from Sparta, she was Ulysses' wife and waited ten years for his return. Pestered by suitors, she was able to keep them at bay with the excuse that she wanted to finish weaving a shroud for her father-in-law, Laertes, before making her choice. The work was never-ending because Penelope, in the secret hope that her husband would one day return to Ithaca, at night unraveled everything that she had woven during the day.

Pentheus
Son of Agave and Aechion, who was one of the Sparti born from the teeth of the dragon killed by Cadmus. As his mother was the sister of Semele, Pentheus was Dionysus' cousin, but opposed his cult. It was this that led to his tragic death.

Persephone
Called Kore in Arcadia and Proserpina by the Romans, she was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. When she was abducted by Hades, her mother set out in a desperate search for her. Eventually she was allowed to return, though only for part of the year.

Perseus
Hero of Argolis, the son of Zeus and Danaë. His mother was visited by Zeus in the form of a shower of gold that poured through the roof of the underground chamber - or inaccessible tower - in which her father Acrisius had imprisoned her, after it was predicted that she would bear a son who would be the cause of his death. Acrisius got rid of mother and child by shutting them in a chest and throwing it in the open sea. The chest floated to the island of Seriphos, where they were taken in by the tyrant Polydectes. It was he who sent Perseus to fetch the head of Medusa, the Gorgon who turned anyone whose gaze fell on her into stone. Perseus killed her by showing her her reflection in a polished bronze shield, given to him by Athena. On his way back from this adventure, he saved Andromeda from the vengeance of Poseidon and then returned to Argos. As the oracle had foretold, he accidentally killed his grandfather Acrisius and for this reason exchanged the kingdom of Argos for that of his cousin, who ruled over Tiryns. He was also said to have founded Mycenae.

Phaeacians
The mythical people of the island of Scherie, identified with Corcyra (Corfu), ruled by King Alcinous and Queen Arete. They welcomed Ulysses on the last stage of his voyage, and the marriage of Jason and Medea was celebrated on their island.

Phaëthon (or Phaeton)
Son of Helios and the Oceanid Clymene, he asked for permission to drive his father's chariot across the sky. Lacking in skill, and frightened by the terrible figures of the Zodiac, he lost control of the chariot and threatened to set fire to heaven and earth. Zeus was forced to bring him down with a thunderbolt and he fell into the river Eridanus.

Phineus
1. King of Salmydessos in Thrace, he was deprived of his sight by the gods for having blinded his children following a false charge leveled against them by their stepmother, Idea. He became a famous soothsayer, but was persecuted by the Harpies for having revealed the thoughts of the gods to humans. He was freed from the monsters by the Argonauts. 2. Uncle and betrothed of Andromeda, turned into stone by the sight of the Medusa's head when it was shown to him by Theseus.

Phlegyas
Son of Ares and father of Ixion and Coronis. To get his revenge on Apollo, who had seduced and killed his daughter, he set fire to the god's temple at Delphi.

Phobos
Fright, god of fear, son of Ares and Aphrodite.

Phoebus
Epithet of Apollo. The name (which means the "Brilliant") was also used for Helios.

Pillars of Hercules
The pillars, called Calpe and Abyla, were set on the opposite shores of the Strait of Gibraltar by Heracles, and are usually referred to by the Latin version of his name, Hercules. They marked the westernmost edge of the world.

Pleiades
Daughters of Atlas and sisters of the Hyades, they formed the retinue of Artemis. Pursued by the hunter Orion, they asked Zeus to be turned into doves. They then flew into the sky to form the constellation that bears their name.

Pluto
1. Ninth daughter of Cronus (or Atlas) who bore Zeus' son, Tantalus. 2. An attribute of the god Hades ("he who gives wealth," perhaps in reference to the riches hidden in the earth), the name was then used by the Romans to refer to the king of the Infernal Regions.

Plutus
Son of Iasion and Demeter, conceived on Crete in a thrice-plowed field. He was the god of wealth and abundance.

Pollux
One of the Dioscuri, the brother of Castor whose adventures he shared. His sisters were Helen and Clytemnestra. He took part in the expedition of the Argonauts, distinguishing himself as an unbeatable wrestler.

Polydorus
The youngest son of Priam. When Troy was about to fall, he was sent to the Thracians so that he might survive but was killed by them. His tomb was discovered accidentally by Aeneas, who paid him the honors due to him.

Polyphemus
The Cyclops blinded by Ulysses. This earned him the hatred of Poseidon, Polyphemus' father, who used every means to hinder his return to his homeland. The Cyclops, now blind, was glimpsed by Aeneas during his voyage to Italy. He chose to avoid him and sail on.

Porphyrion
One of the Giants who fought against the Olympians. Zeus confused him by inspiring him with a sudden passion for Hera, and then killed him with the aid of Heracles.

Priam
The celebrated king of Troy who lived at the time of the Achaean siege. He was the son of Laomedon and brother of Hesione, and the only male left alive by Heracles when his father refused to pay the hero for his services. He had fifty daughters and fifty sons, born to his concubines and his wife Hecuba. Priam's sons included Hector, Paris, Helenus, and Deiphobus, his daughters Creusa and the prophetess Cassandra. When Troy fell, he was killed by Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles, on the altar of the temple of Apollo.

Priapus
Son of Dionysus and Aphrodite. To punish his mother for her flirtatiousness, Hera gave Priapus a monstrous appearance, with the markedly phallic characteristics for which he is famous. He was considered a divinity of fertility.

Proetus
King of Argos and father of Lysippe, Iphion, and Iphianissa who, as a consequence of their having treated the cult of Dionysus with contempt, were driven mad along with all the other women in the kingdom. Another tradition attributes their madness to Hera.

Prometheus
Son of the Titan Iapetus and the nymph Clymene, brother of Atlas and Epimetheus, he was linked to the myth of the creation of humanity. He was continually in conflict with Zeus ever since the time when, sharing out the parts of a bull that had been sacrificed between the mortals and immortals, he had prepared two apparently identical bags out of the animal's hide, but with one containing only the bones covered by a layer of fat and the other the best pieces of meat, hidden so that they could not be seen. When he presented the bags to Zeus, the god fell into the trap and chose the less succulent part for the gods. Angered, he took his revenge on men by depriving them of fire, but Prometheus succeeded in smuggling it down to the earth. Men were punished yet again by means of Pandora. Prometheus himself was chained by Hephaestus to one of the peaks of Mount Caucasus, and each day an eagle came down to devour his liver, which grew back again during the night. After thirteen generations he was set free by Heracles, who killed the eagle.

Pygmalion
King of Cyprus, he fell in love with an ivory statue of Aphrodite.

Pylos
Name of three cities in the Peloponnesus, the most famous of which was Pylos of Messenia.

Pyrrhus
Better known to the Greeks by the name of Neoptolemus, he was the son of Achilles and Deidamia, princess of the island of Skyros. After his father's death he was summoned to fight at Troy, where he distinguished himself by his heroism and bravery. He was one of the warriors hidden in the belly of the wooden horse brought inside the walls of the city and he killed King Priam. In the division of the spoils, he was assigned Hector's wife Andromache. He married her, but then left her for Hermione, the daughter of Helen and Menelaus. He died at the hands of Apollo, who had not forgiven him for killing Priam on the altar of his temple.

Pythia
The name given to the priestesses of Apollo at Delphi. Intoxicated by the fumes that emerged from a cleft in the ground, the Pythia delivered the oracles of the god while seated on a bronze tripod.

Python
Serpent that lived in the caves of Mount Parnassus, born from the mud there. It was slain by Apollo, who founded the Pythian Games in its memory.

Rhea
Extremely ancient Greek goddess linked to the worship of the earth. She was considered the daughter of Uranus and Gaea and the wife of Cronus, to whom she bore the main deities of Olympus: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus. Since Cronus had the habit of swallowing all his children as soon as they were born out of fear that one of them would overthrow him, Rhea gave birth to the last in hiding, on Crete, and presented Cronus with a stone wrapped in cloth to swallow. When the time came, Zeus deposed his father and made him vomit up his brothers and sisters.

Samos
Island in the Aegean linked to the cult of Hera, who had a large and ancient sanctuary there. It was here that the goddess celebrated her secret marriage with Zeus, although other traditions held that it took place on Mount Cithaeron or Mount Ida in Troas.

Taenarum
Promontory of Laconia (now called Mani) that forms the southernmost tip of the Peloponnesus. It was the location of an underground passage leading to Hades that Heracles took on his way to capture Cerberus.

Talus (or Talos)
Tutelary deity and guardian of the island of Crete. He was a living statue of bronze or brass, often known as the Man of Brass, made by Hephaestus. He was killed by Medea who used her magic arts to break a vein in his leg, his only vulnerable point.

Tantalus
The extremely rich king of Sipylos, near Smyrna, he is supposed to have been the son of Zeus and the nymph Pluto, as well as the husband of Dione and father of Niobe and Pelops. Cast into the Underworld for having offended the gods by offering the young Pelops to them as a dish, he was condemned to eternal hunger and thirst or, according to other authors, placed under an enormous stone, always teetering on the brink of falling.

Tartarus
Another name for Hades, the kingdom of the dead.

Taygete (or Taygeta)
One of the Pleiades who bore Zeus' son Lacedaemon. It was from him the Lacedaemonians or Spartans took their name.

Telemachus
Son of Ulysses and Penelope. When his father left for the Trojan War, Telemachus had just been born. Then, while Ulysses was kept far away from Ithaca by the hatred of Poseidon. Telemachus kept his mother's suitors at bay and set off to find out what had happened to his father. When Ulysses returned home, his son helped him to drive away the arrogant suitors.

Thebes
The capital of Boeotia, it was said to have been founded by Cadmus. It was here that, among others, the god Dionysus, Heracles, and the soothsayer Tiresias were born. The tragic destinies of Semele, Pentheus, Niobe and her children, and Oedipus all unfolded against the background of Thebes.

Themis
Daughter of Uranus and Gaea, she took care of Zeus when he was born on Crete and then became his wife. She bore him numerous divinities, including the Horae and Moerae.

Themiscyra
The city of the Amazons on the banks of the river Thermodon in Asia Minor. It was visited by the Argonauts and Heracles.

Theophane
Macedonian princess whom Poseidon abducted from her numerous suitors. He carried her to an unknown island and, to conceal her from her pursuers, turned her into a ewe while he assumed the shape of a ram. In these forms, they celebrated their marriage, and Theophane gave birth to the ram with the Golden Fleece.

Theseus
Attic hero, son of King Aegeus of Athens. He was born at Troezen where, for a night, Aegeus had lain with Aethra, Theseus' mother. At the age of sixteen, he set off on foot for Athens and, on his way, cleared the region of the Strait of Corinth of monsters and brigands. Recognized by his father and proclaimed his heir, he foiled an attack by the sorceress Medea, who had married his father, and then killed the fierce Cretan bull that Heracles had left to run free on the plain of Marathon. His most famous exploit was the killing of the Minotaur with the help of Ariadne. In subsequent adventures, whose chronological sequence is extremely uncertain, he abducted a series of divine female figures or heroines. One of these was Helen, whom Theseus carried off from Sparta with the aid of his friend Peirithous. This prompted Castor and Pollux, the victim's brothers, to wage war on Athens. To reward Peirithous, who had decided to abduct Persephone, he descended into the kingdom of the dead, but was kept prisoner by Hades. He was unable to get out until rescued by Heracles. A revolt forced him to flee Athens and take refuge on Skyros, where he was treacherously thrown into the sea from a cliff.

Thetis
One of the most powerful divinities of Greek mythology, the daughter of the marine god Nereus. She was brought up by Hera and courted by Poseidon and Zeus, but since an oracle foretold that her son would surpass his father in valor and strength, was given in marriage to the mortal Peleus, to whom she bore Achilles. All the gods were invited to the wedding with the exception of Eris, the goddess of Discord, who gained her revenge by throwing the golden apple into the banquet hall, an act that led to the beauty contest between Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena at which Paris was the judge. Thetis lived in a palace at the bottom of the sea where she took in Hephaestus when he was cast down from Olympus by his mother Hera and looked after him for nine years. She intervened to stop the revolt of the Olympians led by Hera, sending Briareus to loosen the knots of the bonds with which Zeus was tied. She protected the Argonauts, one of whom was her husband and tried to make her son Achilles immortal.

Tiresias (or Teiresias)
One of the most celebrated soothsayers of antiquity, originally from Thebes of Boeotia. As he had lived for seven years in the shape of a woman, he was asked by Zeus and Hera whether men or women derived the most pleasure from the act of love. Tiresias sided with women and was struck blind by Hera for having revealed the secret of her sex. In recompense, Zeus gave him the gift of prophecy. He predicted the end of Pentheus and warned him not to oppose the cult of Dionysus. Ulysses descended into the Underworld to ask him about the fate of his return journey to Ithaca.

Tiryns
City in Argolis to the southeast of Argos. Its walls were built by the Cyclopes for King Proetus, who was succeeded on the throne by the hero Perseus. Heracles spent his childhood there and was thus called Tirynthius.

Titans
The children of Uranus and Gaea, six males and six females whose names are given differently in various sources. As soon as they were born, their father buried them in the bowels of their mother, the earth, where they remained until Cronus freed them by castrating his father and seizing power from him. When Zeus overthrew Cronus in turn, the Titans rose against him. After their defeat they were imprisoned in Tartarus under the guard of the Hecatoncheires.

Tityus
One of the Giants, the son of Gaea (or of Elara). At the instigation of Hera he tried to rape Leto, but was killed by the arrows of Apollo and Artemis. Cast into Tartarus, he remained forever lying on the ground while two vultures or two serpents devoured his liver, which grew back every new moon.

Triptolemus
Son of Celeus and Metaneira. After the death of his brother Demophoön, he was the recipient of Demeter's benevolence.

Triton
Son of Poseidon and Celeno, he was the father of Athena's playmate Pallas. He was an enemy of Heracles but helped the Argonauts to find their way out of the marshy Syrtis. He caused the death of Misenus because he was jealous of the skill with which Aeneas' trumpeter blew a conch.

Troezen
City in Argolis, on the Gulf of Saronikos, opposite the island of Aegina. It was here that the hero Theseus was born. In its vicinity was located an entrance to Hades, which Heracles used to return to the surface after capturing the dog Cerberus.

Troy
City in Troas, called Ilium by the Greeks, and the battleground of the ten-year war. Its walls were said to have been built by Apollo and Poseidon in expiation of their attempt to overthrow Zeus. The stronghold of Troy was called Pergamum.

Tyndareus
Greek hero of uncertain lineage. He was king of Sparta and the husband of Leda, who was loved by Zeus in the form of a swan. He gave up his throne to Menelaus, the husband of Helen.

Typhoeus (or Typhon)
A primordial monster, sometimes he is described as a devastating storm, a dragon or a giant. Zeus overcame him with his thunderbolts when he challenged him for dominion over the world. Echidna, his sister, bore him a large number of monstrous children, including the Nemean lion, the Lernaean Hydra, and Cerberus.

Ulysses
Called Odysseus "the hated" by the Greeks, he was the king of Ithaca, son of Laertes and Anticlea, and husband of Penelope, by whom he had Telemachus. As he had been told by an oracle that if he left for the Trojan War he would be kept away from his homeland for twenty years, he tried to avoid taking part by pretending to be mad, but was unmasked by Palamedes and Agamemnon. He in turn unmasked Achilles, whose mother had dressed him in girl's clothes in the royal palace of Skyros. During the siege of Troy he distinguished himself by his bravery, prudence, and eloquence. He obtained Achilles' armor, wrought by Hephaestus, after his death instead of the Telamonian, Ajax . He devised the trick of the wooden horse that led to the fall of the city and was one of the Greeks who seized the Palladium. After the end of the war, in spite of the protection of Athena, it took him ten years to make his way home.

Venus
Roman goddess of love identified with the Greek goddess Aphrodite.

Vulcan
The Roman counterpart of the Greek god Hephaestus.

Zephyr (or Zephyrus)
The west wind, son of the Titan Astraeus and Eos (the Dawn). He welcomed Aphrodite on her birth and carried her first to Cythera and then Cyprus. He was the only wind left free by Aeolus so that he could drive Ulysses' ship toward Ithaca. Out of jealousy he caused the death of the youth Hyacinth who preferred Apollo to him.

Last Edited On: 08/13/99

Copyright © 1999 by Paul Logasa Bogen II, Bobbie Keane, and Jeff Ryan Martinez. All Rights Reserved.

"ThinkQuest" is a registered trademark of Advanced Network & Services, Inc.