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Encyclopedia of Greco-Roman Mythology
Encyclopedia of Greco-Roman Mythology
Greco-Roman
Mythology
Mike Dixon-Kennedy
B
Santa Barbara, California
Denver, Colorado
Oxford, England
Copyright © 1998 by Mike Dixon-Kennedy
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or trans-
mitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except
for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publishers.
04 03 02 01 00 99 98 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ABC-CLIO, Inc.
130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911
Santa Barbara, California 93116-1911
Encyclopedia of
Greco-Roman Mythology, 1
Bibliography, 331
Appendix 1: Chronologies for Ancient Greece and Rome, 341
Appendix 2: Roman Emperors, 343
Index, 345
vii
K Preface
k
Perhaps more words have been written, and now contains a mass of information about
over a longer period of time, about the classi- each and every world culture, from the Aztecs
cal Greek and Roman cultures than any other. to Zoroastrianism.
The time is right, however, for a book that The most extensive part of the database cov-
takes the legwork out of finding reliable infor- ers the classical cultures of Greece and Rome. I
mation about Greek and Roman beliefs. attribute this fact to three main factors. First,
Obviously this volume cannot cover each and these cultures have permeated the very
every character, event, and place that may be essence that is present-day Europe (indeed, if
found in the classical Greek and Roman myths it had not been for the story of Europa, Europe
and legends. To do so would involve a great might have had an altogether different name).
many more words, and thus a great many Second, the teachings of the classical thinkers
more pages (and volumes). However, this vol- have, to a large extent, shaped not only Europe
ume does cover all the major players, places, but the rest of the world. Third, a large number
and events and includes many of the lesser of texts from the period have survived into the
known or more obscure so as to enable you— modern day, along with the archaeology to
the reader, the student, the like-minded— support them. From all this comes a relative
quick and relatively painless access to the ease of research, and it is that ease, the sim-
information. plicity with which students or researchers can
Additionally, so that further independent lay their hands on the information, that has led
research might be facilitated with the mini- to a plethora of books (good and bad) on the
mum of fuss, this book has been researched, to subject.
a great extent, from the works of the essential Love of mythology and legend leads to
classical authors and Robert Graves, with the research of people themselves, and as a result I
remainder of the information coming from have been drawn into those personal histories—
original personal research. This approach will their cultures, their wars, their laws, their very
enable readers to find further information existences. This further research has, to a small
without having to look for obscure publica- degree, been incorporated within the pages of
tions and to decide on their own course for fur- this volume so that you can, without having to
ther research. look further afield, get a feeling for the people
The myths and legends of ancient Greece and their times—and, I hope, a feeling for the
and Rome have been close to my heart from a reasons why the classical Greeks and Romans
very early age, when my father, a classical revered their deities as no other civilizations
scholar, would tell me the myths as most have or possibly ever will. I hope that one day I
fathers would tell their children bedtime sto- will be asked to write a history of the classical
ries. I grew up with the stories of Heracles and peoples.
his amazing adventures, of the perils of I hope you will find this volume of consid-
Odysseus as he spent ten years traveling home erable use. It has taken many painstaking
from the Trojan War, of Theseus and the years of solitary research. I have not relied on
Minotaur, of Perseus and Medusa, of Romulus the contributions of anyone other than myself,
and Remus, and many, many more. This child- so only I can take blame for any mistakes that
hood knowledge led to my starting a database may have found their way into the text. No
of my own research in the mid-1970s, and doubt some exist; after all, it is only human to
since then that database has grown until it make mistakes. However, should you wish to
ix
x Preface
bring these mistakes to my attention, or to you now hold, along with Jon Howard for his
make any other points or suggestions, I should copyediting. Finally my thanks go to the five
only be too happy to hear from you. If you people most important to me: my wife, Gill,
address your letters to me in care of the pub- and our four children, Christopher, Charlotte,
lisher of this book, I will be sure to receive Thomas, and Rebecca. I thank them for their
them. patience, love, and understanding as I have
Finally it remains for me to thank those immersed myself in my passion—and for
who have helped to bring this volume to light. keeping the house quiet enough for me to
First and foremost my thanks have to go to work. One should always remember that
my father, for without his storytelling I might even though writing is a solitary occupation,
never have developed an interest in mytholo- it is the writer’s partner who endures the true
gy. Next I have to thank Robert Neville and solitude.
everyone at ABC-CLIO, whether in Oxford,
Denver, or Santa Barbara, for taking the raw Mike Dixon-Kennedy
text and turning it into the finished product Lincolnshire, England
K How to Use This Book
k
This book is organized as a straightforward A- Citations
to-Z encyclopedia, accompanied by two Unusually for a book of this nature you will
appendices. However, to make the encyclope- not find citations following the entries. This
dia as simple as possible to use, a number of omission has not been made to hinder your
conventions have been adopted. research. Rather it is because the volumes
All entries start with a relevant head- required to facilitate further research would be
word. Where these headwords have alterna- endlessly repeated for a huge number of
tive spellings, they are included. If the vari- entries, as research was done in a minimum of
ant spellings are widely different, then each volumes. Those used to research this volume,
variant spelling is given its own, shorter and thus those needed for further research, are
entry directing you to the main entry. Where as follows:
the variant is simply a matter of the omis-
sion or addition of a letter or letters, then Robert Graves, The Greek Myths (2 vols.),
those letters affected are enclosed in paren- Penguin Books
theses within the headword. For example, Homer, Odyssey
the entry Asop(h)us gives two versions, Homer, Iliad
Asophus and Asopus, both of which are Virgil, Aeneid
acceptable.
Where the variation is a different ending, All the other information within the book
then the most common or proper is given first. comes from original personal research.
For example, the entry Ereb~os, ~us means However, each and every volume listed with-
that the most common or proper is Erebos, the in the bibliography contains essential informa-
lesser so Erebus. This variation occurs fre- tion to some degree or another, and it is my
quently, particularly among the Greek entries, hope that my restricting my own research to
as the ~os ending is the original, the ~us end- these four essential works will stimulate your
ing a Latinization. own original research. The works by Homer
Where the addition is s for plural, this too and Virgil are available in a large number of
is given in parentheses. Where the difference translations and from almost as many publish-
is a complete word, that word is enclosed in ers. Those I used were published by Penguin
parentheses. This usually occurs when an Books, but that does not mean that you should
epithet or surname is a part of the full title but not use any translation that is easy for you to
is not commonly used: for example, Argo locate. Excellent modern translations have
(Navis). been done by Robert Fagles, but it is up to you
Italic words in headwords, following stan- to decide on the version you wish to put your
dard editorial conventions, indicate the title of faith in and use to further your own original
a book or poem or the name of a ship or that a research.
foreign language is being used. Words appear-
ing in italics as subheadings give the origin of Spelling and Pronunciation
the myth or legend. Greek names present a minor problem in both
Some headwords contain more than one spelling and pronunciation. As far as possible
entry; cross-references may thus include the I have tried to weed out the inconsistencies,
number for a specific entry, for example, but some will undoubtedly have slipped
Ajax (1). through. The major problem with these names
xi
xii How to Use This Book
is that they have undergone centuries of Pronunciation of all Greek and Roman
Latinization, and as a result we most com- names is literal. All letters should be sounded,
monly use a ~us ending for Greek names particularly the ending. Thus, Aphrodite
when we should be using the ~os ending. should be pronounced not so she rhymes with
Thus, we most commonly know the deity light, or night but rather as A-(as in apple)-fro-
Cronos as Cronus, Oceanos as Oceanus, and die-tea. Likewise, Aeneas should be pro-
so forth. Following the headword conventions nounced E-(as in each)-nay-ass. A little practice
used within the encyclopedia, I have attempt- and common sense will lead to the correct pro-
ed to ensure that all Greek names have their nunciation, but I have always maintained that
correct ending, with the subsequent Latinized if you know what or whom you are talking
variant as an alternative version. about, that is all that matters.
K Greece and Greek Civilization
k
Due to the enormous diversity of Greek myths Calamity then overcame Knossos, which fell
and legends, it is hard to envisage a proper c. 1400 B.C., destroyed either by an earthquake
understanding of European culture as a whole or by the second wave of Hellenic invaders—
without some understanding of, or at least the Achaeans, who founded Mycenae on the
familiarity with, these stories as well as how mainland, which probably became the center
Greek civilization evolved and was subse- of civilization in the Aegean world. The site of
quently absorbed. Mycenae even today indicates the former
The gods and goddesses of Greek culture glory and stature of this city of Agamemnon,
derive their origins from a number of widely which was thought to be purely legendary
diverse, largely uncivilized earlier cultures; until it was uncovered by Heinrich
they were amalgamated, absorbed, modified, Schliemann.
and assimilated to produce a highly complex The best view of this Mycenaean culture is
yet also highly organized hierarchy among the through the epic works of Homer, the Odyssey
deities worshipped within an increasingly civ- and the Iliad. The Mycenaean dominance of
ilized society. Their evolution into the pan- the Greek world was centered around a feud-
theon of gods inhabiting Mount Olympus is ing aristocracy, a feature well illustrated in the
very closely allied to the emergence of this civ- stories of the era, particularly that of the siege
ilization. of Troy.
The first farming settlers in Greece, prior to Following the collapse of Mycenae, the
6000 B.C., brought with them many cults, but Dorians, who have obscure origins but are
most importantly they introduced the ambiva- ancestors of the classical Greeks, arrived in
lent Mother goddess who presided over land Greece c. 1100–900 B.C. These settlers sprang
and fertility. This goddess was to evolve from a great many different prehistoric origins,
through various stages, from the self-created dorian being a generic term for settlers of that
Ge to the far gentler Demeter, who was yet era, and as a consequence worshipped a wide
capable of displaying the ferocity of her evolu- variety of deities. They practically destroyed
tionary partners. the Mycenaean culture, and their wide diver-
The first Hellenes appear to have started sity in origin led to many wars between the
their influx into Greece with the Minyan and ancient city-states. These are believed by some
Ionian peoples sometime around 2000 B.C. to have given rise to the greatest epic of Greek
They came from the north and brought with mythology, the Trojan War. Traditionally this
them the art of horsemanship, and their mas- mammoth enterprise took place c. 1184 B.C.,
tery of horses and wheeled vehicles made their but archaeological evidence suggests that it
conquest of the region remarkably simple. took place some time before and was an
They penetrated far into the south and well attempt by the Achaeans to capture the Black
into the islands and branched out to Sicily, Sea trade route.
southern Italy, and Asia Minor. Becoming Both Troy and Mycenae have been exca-
excellent navigators as they expanded, they vated, most notably by the eccentric million-
were greatly influenced by the flourishing aire Heinrich Schliemann in the nineteenth
Minoan culture they discovered on Crete. century. The excavation of two of the most
They brought back features of this cult, and it important city-states of preclassical Greece has
began to have a considerable effect on Greek revealed a great many facts originally thought
mainland culture beginning about 1580 B.C. to be pure legend and has added an early
xiii
xiv Greece and Greek Civilization
chapter to the history of Greek evolution, that with certain ethnic groups concentrating their
of the Mycenaean culture that flourished from worship at particular sanctuaries. The sanctu-
c. 1550 B.C. to 1200 B.C. Troy itself was consid- ary of the Ionians was at Delos; the Dorians
ered to be legendary before these excavations favored Mount Olympus.
took place. The excavated sites of Troy and Prayer became an important way of life, but
Mycenae can be visited today, those of not in the manner that modern minds would
Mycenae being the more impressive. consider it, for by prayer the gods could be
The evolution of myths during the period persuaded to intercede in worldly matters.
between the arrival of the Dorian settlers and Much of Greek worship therefore concen-
the eighth century B.C. may be viewed as the trated on propitiating the gods, with offerings,
reflection of events that are now lost to history. sacrifices, and libations being made to put the
They can all be interpreted beyond face value. gods in a good mood, for results depended on
Many were probably used for purely political the mood of the particular deity being called
purposes. Others probably embodied tradi- upon. When prayers were answered the gods
tions from earlier periods. The legend of were rewarded with special offerings such as a
Theseus and the Minotaur, for example, new statue or a thanksgiving altar or, in excep-
would seem to reflect the memory of the tional circumstances—for example, where the
palace at Knossos, which certainly is help received bordered on the miraculous—
labyrinthine in construction, the Minotaur the establishment of a new sanctuary. Alle-
itself mirroring the Minoan bull cult. giances also shifted between the worshippers,
From the eighth century B.C. Greek civiliza- for if one god would not answer their prayers,
tion was once again ascendant. Of the many ancient Greeks saw no harm in shifting faith to
city-states of this time, Sparta and Athens grew another who might be more receptive. For
to prominence, peaking in the sixth century these people there was no promise of a happy
B.C. One hundred years later, during the fifth afterlife in return for piety, a situation clearly
century B.C., Athens in particular, but Greece as illustrated within the structure of the Greek
a whole, led the world in philosophical Underworld. Here a dead spirit would not
thought and artistic achievement. In 490 B.C. even be admitted if the worldly body had not
Athens was triumphant in one of the most been buried with an obolos on the tongue, a
famous battles ever fought, that of Marathon. coin to pay the ferryman Charon to transport
Here the Persians were defeated, and the spirit across the River Styx. No coin, no
Greece entered a new Golden Age. Athens’s crossing. To their sensibilities, the situation
period of predominance and prosperity was, was that clear-cut.
however, short-lived, for Sparta and its allies By the fifth century the Greeks had begun to
successfully attacked Athens during the consider even their Olympian gods insuffi-
Peloponnesian Wars (460–445 B.C. and 431–404 cient, and many turned to philosophy in an
B.C.). The city-states then engaged in a power attempt to discover a rationale for life. They
struggle that ended with the rise of Macedonia also turned to increasingly exotic and mystic
under Philip II. His successor, Alexander the cults. Those that offered the worshipper hope
Great, one of the most famous leaders known for immortality or close union with the god, as
to history, conquered the Persian Empire and well as those that emphasized the exclusivity
carried Greek influence as far as the River of their votaries through wild, complex, and
Indus. Upon his death in 323 B.C. his generals sometimes extremely libidinous initiation cer-
quarreled, leaving Ptolemy to conquer Egypt emonies, became increasingly popular. Eleusis
and Seleucus to found a dynasty in Asia. became one of the most important centers of
Worship within Greece was important for worship at this time, and the Eleusinian
uniting the small, constantly squabbling city- Mysteries, which centered on the worship of
states. Major shrines to the deities attracted pil- Demeter and Persephone, attracted a huge
grims from all over the Greek world and number of followers.
became important markets where business Greek art also developed in distinct stages,
could be transacted under the patronage of the with early attempts at statuary dating from
gods. However, ethnic barriers still existed, before the seventh century B.C. probably being
Greece and Greek Civilization xv
simple wooden carvings. The seventh to the as famous during his own time. In the fourth
late sixth century B.C. is known as the Archaic century B.C. greater naturalism and individual-
period of Greek art. Here the artistic represen- ity developed, particularly in the written word
tations were stiff-standing, striding, or seated but also in the visual arts. Three sculptors of
figures, their poses copied from cultures that this period remain perhaps the most outstand-
had drifted into Greece and settled there. ing of all ancient Greek artisans: Skopas of
However, by the fifth and fourth centuries Paros, Lysippos of Sikyon, and the great artis-
B.C., the classical period, Greek artists, particu- tic genius Praxiteles of Athens.
larly sculptors, had mastered their medium, The last period of Greek artistic develop-
having lost all the contrived awkwardness of ment was the Hellenic, a development that
their earlier pieces. The most important sculp- was subsequently to inspire the Romans.
tor during the fifth century B.C. was probably Figures became even more naturalistic, but
Phintias, though Polykeitos was possibly just they were more attenuated and less pleasing.
K A k
Abaris Abderus
Greek Greek
A priest of Apollo who lived without the need Friend of Heracles who during that hero’s
for food and rode upon a golden arrow that eighth labor was left in charge of the flesh-eat-
was given to him by the god. ing mares of Diomedes, a savage king of the
Bistones in Thrace, while Heracles repelled the
attacking Bistones. He was, however, soon
Abas eaten by the monstrous horses. Having killed
Greek Diomedes, Heracles threw the king’s corpse to
1. A son of Celeus, king of Eleusis, and his own mares and then founded the city of
Metaneira; brother of Triptolemus. He mocked Abdera to honor his lost friend before driving
the visiting goddess Demeter while she wan- the mares back to Eurystheus.
dered earth in search of her lost daughter,
Persephone, for her eagerness in drinking a Aborigine
whole pitcher of barley water. In return
Demeter instantly turned him into a lizard, a
Roman
According to some early myths the members
form in which he, at least, could survive with-
of this tribe, allegedly of Greek origin, were the
out water.
founders of Rome, along with the similar
2. A great warrior and twelfth king of
Pelasgians.
Argos, the grandson of Danaus, the father of
the twins Acrisius and Proetus, and the grand-
father of Danaë. He was renowned for a A~bsyrtus, ~psyrtus
sacred shield, which originally belonged to
Greek
his grandfather and had the power to subdue
The son of Aeëtes and half-brother of Medeä.
revolt.
When Jason and Medeä fled Colchis after
See also: Acrisius; Argos (1); Danaë; Danaus; Proetus
Jason and the Argonauts had obtained the
Golden Fleece, they took Absyrtus with them.
Pursued by the furious Aeëtes, Medeä ruth-
Abdera lessly murdered her young half-brother, cut-
Greek ting him into pieces. These she dropped one by
A prosperous trading port within Thrace one over the side of the boat so that Aeëtes had
whose inhabitants, the Abderans, were syn- to stop to collect them for burial, thereby
onymous with stupidity, even though the allowing time to escape.
philosophers Democritus and Protagoras See also: Aeëtes; Jason; Medeä
lived among them. The city was reputedly
founded by Heracles in honor of his friend
Abderus, who had been eaten by the flesh- Abydos
eating mares of Diomedes during the eighth Greek
labor of Heracles when the great hero left the An ancient city in Phrygia, Asia Minor, north-
monstrous horses in his care. east of Troy, on the southern shore of the
See also: Thrace Hellespont (modern Dardanelles) at its nar-
1
2 Ab~yla, ~ila
rowest point opposite ancient Sestos; home of with his pupils, the association giving rise to
the lover Leander. Nightly he swam the chan- the modern usage of the word “academy.”
nel to visit Hero on the opposite shore where See also: Dioscuri; Helen; Theseus
she was a priestess to Aphrodite. One night
Hero’s signal lamp blew out during a storm,
and Leander drowned. In her grief Hero threw Acamantides
herself into the sea. Greek
The settlement lies near the site of an An Athenian tribe named for Acamas, son of
Athenian naval victory over the Spartans in Theseus and Phaedra.
411 B.C.
See also: Hero; Leander; Phrygia
Acamas
Greek
Ab~yla, ~ila The son of Theseus and Phaedra, brother of
Greek Demophoön, grandson of Aethra, and the
The ancient name for Ceuta, the African site of eponym of the Athenian tribe Acamantides.
the Pillars of Heracles (Hercules), located at He went with Diomedes to Troy to demand
the far northern tip of Morocco and sometimes the release of Helen prior to the commence-
identified with Mount Acho. It was suppos- ment of the Trojan War. There he fell in love
edly a marker, along with Calpe, the opposite with Priam’s daughter, Laodice. They were
of the Pillars of Heracles, of the western married and had a son, Munitus, who was
boundary of the known world, beyond which killed while hunting at Olynthus. According to
lay the legendary Atlantis. The two pillars some sources Acamas was said to have taken
were supposedly set in place by Heracles dur- part in the capture of Troy through the strata-
ing the course of his tenth labor, but according gem of the Wooden Horse.
to some versions of the story they were at one After the Trojan War he and his brother,
time joined; he drove the channel between Demophoön, rescued their grandmother,
them, thereby letting the sea flood in to form Aethra, who had been enslaved to Helen by
the Mediterranean. the Dioscuri when they rescued Helen from
See also: Calpe
Theseus, who had abducted her many years
earlier.
See also: Aethra; Demophoön; Phaedra; Theseus
Academia
Greek Acarnan
The name of a garden-park on the River Greek
Cephisus on the west side of Athens where a The son of Alcmaeon who, with his brother,
gymnastic school was first established. It was Amphoretus, dedicated the necklace of
named after the hero Academus, hence Harmonia at Delphi. Later he founded the
“academy.” colony of Acarnania, which became the name
of an entire region.
See also: Harmonia
Academus
Greek
Hero who revealed the hiding place of their Acarnania
sister, Helen, to the Dioscuri—Castor and Greek
Polydeuces—when they invaded Attica in A state in northwest Greece colonized by
search of her following her abduction by Acarnan from Argos; its inhabitants had a rep-
Theseus. They rescued Helen and took Aethra, utation for barbarous piracy and for skill with
Theseus’s mother, as her slave. Academus the sling. Later the colony gave its name to the
maintained a garden on the west side of entire region through which River Acheron
Athens, called Academia, where Plato met runs today.
Achates 3
her advances, and for this Acastus challenged in the province of Roman Achaea.
Peleus to a hunting contest; Acastus stole his The region has also been identified with the
magic sword and abandoned him on Mount region known as Akkaia, named after the city-
Pelion. Later, having overcome these difficul- state of Akkad in Mesopotamia.
ties, Peleus married Thetis, fathered Achilles,
and avenged himself by killing both Acastus 2. Roman
and his treacherous wife. A province that included all of the southern
See also: Acastus; Jason; Laodameia; Medeä; Pelias part of Greece, that is, the same area as Greek
Achaea, following the Roman conquest of
Corinth in 146 B.C.
Acca Larentia See also: Corinth; Mycenaean civilization
Roman
1. A Roman goddess originally said to have
been a rich prostitute who left her property to Achaean League
the Roman people. Greek
2. Wife of the shepherd Faustulus. She suc- A union between 12 cities within the ancient
ceeded the she-wolf as nurse to the infants region of Greek Achaea formed during the
Romulus and Remus after Faustulus found fourth century B.C. These cities allied for
them and brought them home. mutual protection and became politically
See also: Remus; Romulus important after 251 B.C., when membership
was extended to additional cities, including
Corinth and later Sparta, which they had pre-
Acestes viously managed to defeat. The League fell to
Greco-Roman the Romans in 146 B.C.
The son of the river god Crimisus and the See also: Corinth; Sparta
noble Trojan refugee Egesta; founded Segesta
in Sicily. It was either to Segesta or Drepanum
that Acestes welcomed Aeneas and the Trojan Achaei
refugees after the Trojan War. Greek
A term used to refers to the Achaeans; inhabi-
tants of Greek Achaea.
Achaea
1. Greek
An area in ancient (and modern) Greece of the Achates
north Peloponnesos, on the southern border of Greco-Roman
the Gulf of Corinth. The Achaeans were the A character from Virgil’s Aeneid, the faithful
dominant society during the Mycenaean peri- friend of Aeneas, usually called fidus (Latin:
od and, according to Homer, took part in the faithful) Achates or faithful friend. His name
4 Achelous
was absorbed into Roman mythology, as which probably took place four centuries
ancient Romans considered Aeneas to be the earlier.
founder of their state. His name has become a When Achilles was first born his mother,
byword for a faithful companion. Thetis, prepared to make him immortal. Two
versions of her attempt exist: The earlier ver-
sion has her placing the infant on the fire (as
Achelous Demeter did with the baby Demophoön); the
Greek later, better known version has her dipping
The name of a river in Boeotia—modern Achilles into the River Styx, one of the five
Aspropotamo. Also the name of the god of the rivers of the Underworld. According to the
river, the eldest son of Oceanos and Tethys earlier version, Peleus caught her in the act
who, like many gods of rivers and seas, could and cried out, thus breaking the taboo that for-
change his form at will. He battled with bids mortals to speak to their mermaid wives.
Heracles for the right to marry Deianeira, a Thetis fled back to her undersea world, and
fight that Heracles won. He had a daughter Achilles remained a vulnerable mortal. In the
named Callirrhoë who was married to latter story Thetis was undisturbed in her task,
Alcmaeon after Achelous had purified but the heel by which she held Achilles did not
Alcmaeon for the murder of his own mother, come into contact with the waters of the River
Eriphyle. Styx; this point alone remained vulnerable,
See also: Heracles; Oceanos; Tethys thus giving rise to an adage still used today,
the “Achilles’ heel.”
Achilles was brought up on the slopes of
Acheron Mount Pelion by the wise centaur Cheiron,
Greek who taught him how to catch animals without
One of the five rivers within the Underworld nets through native cunning and, so it appears,
realm of Hades, across which the souls of the to eat their entrails uncooked. This latter
dead were ferried by the ghostly ferryman aspect appears to combine Greek ephebic rites
Charon. The other rivers within this realm and naturistic savagery, setting the tone for the
were the Styx, which is alternatively given as later life of this impatient and violent hero.
the river across which Charon ferries the dead Having been taught all the skills of the centaur,
souls, Phlegethon, Cocytus, and Lethe. The Achilles returned to his father and was edu-
banks of the river were said to be peopled by cated by a tutor, Phoenix, and became
the shades of the dead. renowned for his strength, fleetness of foot,
Acheron is also the name of a modern and courage. At about this time Patroclus, the
river in Acarnania (Epirus), which occasion- son of Menoetius, arrived at Peleus’s court,
ally runs underground. Near its mouth and the pair became inseparable. Later
there was a famous Oracle of the Dead, at accounts of their friendship commonly hint at
Ephyra, where mortals could obtain advice a homosexual relationship, although Achilles
from the gods of the Underworld. Today, had numerous other male and female lovers.
some of the machinery used by the priests Thetis, able to foresee Achilles’ future, knew
of this oracle can still be seen. that he was fated to die at Troy and, in an
See also: Charon; Hades attempt to save his life, sent him into hiding at
the court of Lycomedes on the island of Scyros.
Here he was dressed as a girl and hidden
Achilles among Lycomedes’ own daughters, one of
Greek whom, Deidameia, later bore Achilles a son,
The only mortal son of Peleus, king of the Neoptolemus, or Pyrrhos.
Myrmidones at Phthia in Thessaly, and the However, Odysseus, accompanied by
Nereid Thetis; he grew up to become one of Nestor and Ajax the Greater, came to the island
the leading heroes of the Trojan War and the of Scyros to recruit for the Trojan War and
literary hero of Homer’s Iliad, the ninth- uncovered Achilles’ disguise by bringing with
century B.C. epic account of the siege of Troy, him a collection of presents for the girls—
Achilles 5
ornaments, jewelry, and beautiful clothes but wife, Andromache; in the tenth year of the war,
also a shield and spear. Naturally the youthful during one such raid on Lyrnessus, Achilles
Achilles picked the latter and was taken off to carried off the beautiful Briseis to be his con-
Troy, along with the tutor Phoenix and friend cubine and slave. This single event is the main
Patroclus. He was just 15 years old. plot within Homer’s classic work, Iliad.
Having set out from Aulis, the Greek fleet, en Chryseis, the daughter of the Trojan priest
route to Troy, first landed, mistakenly, in Mysia, Chryses, had been taken prisoner and as-
where Achilles wounded Telephus, the Mysian signed to Agamemnon, but when Chryses
king and son of Heracles and Auge, in battle. came to ransom her he was roughly repulsed.
Apparently Achilles was able to inflict this In revenge Apollo sent a plague among the
injury only after Telephus had first repelled the Greek armies, and, on Calchas’s advice,
Greeks, but Dionysos caused Telephus to stum- Agamemnon reluctantly sent Chryseis back.
ble over a vine, thereby allowing Achilles to Agamemnon, commander in chief of the
spring upon him. The wound refused to heal; Greek forces, compensated himself by claim-
consulting an oracle, Telephus was told that ing Briseis. In a furious rage Achilles stormed
only the inflictor of the wound could cure it. off to his tent and refused to take any part in
Dressing in rags, Telephus went as a supplicant further fighting, though some accounts
to Achilles, who was at a loss to understand the attribute this behavior to the fact that Achilles
meaning of the oracle. At last he came to realize had fallen deeply in love with Priam’s daugh-
that the true inflictor of the wound was the ter, Polyxena, and that his refusal to fight was
spear; by scraping some rust from the spear an attempt to curry favor with Priam. This led
into the wound Telephus recovered. The to a series of Greek misfortunes that led
Greeks now consulted an oracle and were told Agamemnon to offer to return Briseis to
that they could not take Troy without Telephus, Achilles—an offer Achilles firmly but courte-
and in return for being cured of his wound ously declined—and Patroclus to go into battle
Telephus showed the Greeks the route they wearing his friend Achilles’ armor in an
should follow. attempt to turn the tide. Rather it is the death
Following the advice of Telephus, the Greek of Patroclus at the hands of Trojan Prince
fleet landed on the island of Tenedos, within Hector, aided and abetted by Apollo, that
sight of Troy. Here Achilles killed King Tenes leads Achilles back into battle, and this
and his father, Cycnus. Finally proceeding redresses events back in favor of the Greeks. At
from Tenedos, Achilles became the second to one stage Achilles even fought the River
land on Trojan soil and soon distinguished Scamander before he avenged the death of
himself as the most courageous and formida- Patroclus by killing Hector in single combat.
ble warrior among the Greek host. It was Still mourning the death of Patroclus, Achilles
through Achilles that Aeneas entered the war. dishonored Hector’s body by tying it to the
At first Aeneas had remained sublimely neu- back of his chariot and dragging it around the
tral, even though he was the son of Priam’s walls of Troy three times before concealing it in
cousin, Anchises. But when Achilles raided his his tent. He then built a huge funeral pyre for
herds on Mount Ida, he led his Dardanian Patroclus and slaughtered 12 Trojan youths on
forces against the Greeks and distinguished it. Eventually Priam, Hector’s father and the
himself in battle. His mother, Aphrodite, fre- king of Troy, led by Hermes, made his way to
quently helped him and once carried him out Achilles’ tent under cover of darkness, plead-
of harm’s way when he was wounded by ing for the return of his son’s body. Achilles
Diomedes; Poseidon, although hostile to Troy, relented at such an exhibition of love and
also saved him, this time from Achilles. devotion, and Iliad ends with Hector’s funeral.
For the first nine years of the Trojan War the Some accounts vary these last events, saying
city of Troy remained impregnable to the that Hector was chased three times around the
besieging Greek hordes, so they contented walls of Troy before being killed, and that
themselves by sacking neighboring cities and Achilles, tying the corpse by the ankles, simply
islands allied with Troy. In Thebes, in Cilicia, dragged it ignominiously back to the Greek
Achilles killed Eëtion, the father of Hector’s lines. Each morning at dawn he would drag
6 Acho
the body three times around the tomb of According to some versions, after his death
Patroclus, until at last Priam is led by Hermes Achilles was transported by Thetis to the
to ransom his son’s body for burial. White Island in the Black Sea, where he lived
The further battles of Achilles are described with other fallen heroes, married Helen, and
in other epics and include his fight with spent his time brooding on how he might have
Penthesilea, Queen of the Amazons and the revenge over the Trojans. A local legend tells
daughter of Otrere and Ares. It is said that that he once beset a passing merchant and
Penthesilea and Achilles fell in love at the very asked him to bring a particular girl to the
moment that he killed her, and his grief over island, the last descendant of the Trojans.
her death was ridiculed by Thersites, until Thinking that Achilles was in love with the
Achilles felled him with a single blow. This girl, the merchant complied, but as he sailed
action angered Diomedes, a kinsman of away from the island he looked back and saw
Thersites, and he flung the body of Penthesilea the ghostly image of Achilles tearing the
into the River Scamander, but it was rescued unfortunate maiden limb from limb.
and given an honorable burial, some accounts Astronomical: The name Achilles has been
saying this was performed by Achilles himself. applied to one of the asteroids.
Achilles next engaged Ethiopian Prince See also: Aeneas; Agamemnon; Ajax (1); Briseis;
Memnon in single combat while Zeus Cheiron; Hector; Iliad; Lycomedes; Myrmidones;
Neoptolemus; Odysseus; Patrocles; Peleus; Phoenix;
weighed their fates in the balance. Achilles
Telephus; Thetis; Trojan War
won the fight, and at the request of Eos,
Memnon’s mother, Zeus caused birds, called
Memnonides, to rise from his funeral pyre in
Acho
his honor until they fell back onto it as a sacri-
fice. They were said to visit the hero’s tomb on General
the Hellespont every year. Achilles was also Mountain, also called Mount Hacho, at the far
said to have killed Priam’s son, Polydorus, and northern tip of Morocco that is sometimes
Troilus, whom he lusted after. Finally the identified as being Abyla (or Ceuta), the south-
prophecy of Thetis came true, and Achilles ernmost of the Pillars of Heracles (Hercules),
was killed by a poisoned arrow shot by Paris, the northernmost being Calpe, commonly
aided by Apollo, who in revenge for the killing identified with the Rock of Gibraltar.
See also: Calpe
of Troilus guided the arrow, which struck his
vulnerable heel during a battle near the Scaean
Gate. His body was recovered by Odysseus
and Ajax the Greater, but the pair quarreled
Acippe
over possession of his armor. Homer, in Greek
Odyssey, says that Odysseus killed Ajax the Offspring of Ares, the god of war, though it
Greater, whereas Sophocles, in his tragedy may simply be a misspelling of Alcippe
Ajax, tells that Ajax was sent mad when he (daughter of Ares).
offended Athene after the armor had been
awarded to Odysseus, slew the sheep of the
Greeks (believing them to be his enemies), and Acis
finally killed himself by falling on the sword Greek
that Hector had given him. Achilles’ ashes The son of a river nymph and, according to
were buried along with those of his greatest some accounts, of Faunus, god of the River
friend, Patroclus, in a barrow by the sea. Acis (Aci) in eastern Sicily. He loved the sea
The ghost of Achilles demanded the sacri- nymph Galatea but had a rival for her love in
fice of Polyxena, a duty carried out by Ne- the Cyclops Polyphemus. Some accounts say
optolemus to ensure favorable winds for the that Polyphemus crushed Acis under a huge
Greeks’ journey home from the war. Some rock and that Galatea, in order to release him,
accounts say that this took place at Troy, others turned him into the river that carries his name.
that it happened only after they had reached Other accounts say that Polyphemus simply
Thrace and were becalmed. threw huge boulders at him—they landed in
Actaeon 7
the sea to become the Isole Ciclopi near Many years later Perseus, having slain
Acitrezza—and that Acis turned himself into Medusa and rescued Andromeda, made Dictys
the river in order to escape. king of Seriphos and returned with Danaë and
See also: Faunus Andromeda to Argos. Immediately fearing for
his life as he remembered the prophecy,
Acrisius fled to Larissa, but even this was in
Aconite vain, for Perseus visited the city and, taking
1. Greek part in public games, accidentally killed his
According to tradition the aconite flower grew grandfather with a discus he had thrown.
where the saliva of Cerberus, guardian dog of See also: Abas (2); Argos (2); Danaë; Proetus
Hades, fell.
Actium
Adonis
Greco-Roman
A town, now called Akri, and a promontory in Greco-Phoenician
Acarnania (opposite modern Preveza on the The true Phoenician name of this divinity is
Gulf of Amurakia) in the Ambracian Gulf of uncertain. The name we use is that used by the
the Ionian Sea, the promontory being the site Greek Philo and seems to derive from the
of a temple to Apollo. A naval battle was Canaanite adon, meaning “lord” or “master.”
fought and won by Augustus (Octavian) on 2 The Greeks adopted the fertility cult associ-
September 31 B.C. against Antony and Cleo- ated with Adonis, who was killed by a wild
patra off of the promontory. boar, an animal that was sacred to the Syrians.
His most important temples were at Byblos,
where he was the third most important god,
Admete and Paphos. In Byblos, the temple of Astarte
Greek celebrated the annual death of Adonis, his
The daughter of Eurystheus for whom reappearance on earth being marked by the
Heracles had to fetch the golden girdle of the blooming of the red anemone. The River
Amazon queen Hippolyte as his ninth labor. Adonis, which flowed through Byblos, ran red
See also: Heracles with blood each year on the festival of his
death. The Greeks worshipped him as a god of
vegetation and made him the son of an inces-
Admetus tuous relationship between Myrrha or Smyrna
Greek and her father, Theias, king of Syria, or
King of Pherae in Thessaly to whom Pelias Cinyras, king of Cyprus—the girl’s punish-
promised the hand of his daughter, Alcestis, ment for refusing to honor Aphrodite. Under
provided he came to claim her in a chariot the cover of darkness, her nurse helped her to
drawn by a lion and a boar. Apollo, who was satisfy her craving, but when her father dis-
undergoing a banishment on earth at that covered the trick he tried to kill her. The gods
time, was working as Admetus’s cattle rescued her by transforming her into a myrrh
drover and helped him to accomplish this tree. In due course the tree gave birth to
task. At the wedding feast Admetus forgot to Adonis, who was brought up by nymphs.
sacrifice to Artemis, and realizing that He was such a handsome youth that
Admetus was doomed, Apollo promised him Aphrodite became infatuated with him, but he
that he need not die on the day decreed by the was killed while hunting, either by the jealous
Fates provided he could find a willing substi- Hephaistos, Aphrodite’s husband, or by a boar
tute; he arranged this by getting the Fates (according to the Phoenician legend) on
(Moirae) drunk and making them promise Mount Idalion or Mount Lebanon. This boar
this condition. may have been sent, for unknown reasons, by
When the time came and Hermes sum- Artemis and may have been Ares in animal
moned Admetus to Tartarus the only willing form. From his spilled blood sprang the
substitute that could be found was his wife, anemone. Aphrodite mourned his passing so
Alcestis. There two versions of what happened keenly that the gods called a dispensation on
next. The earlier says that Persephone, queen death, but Persephone, having restored him
of the Underworld, refused her sacrifice and back to life in Hades, had also fallen for his
sent her back. The latter says that on the day of beauty. To resolve the problem Zeus decreed
her death Heracles arrived in Pherae and that Adonis should spend half of the year on
either prevented Hades, who had arrived in earth with Aphrodite, the other half with
Aeaea 9
Persephone in the Underworld. His death and against Thebes, and this time they won.
subsequent resurrection were celebrated in the Polyneices’ son Thersander became king of
cult of the winter-spring rhythm of nature. In Thebes, but Adrastus’s own son, Aegialeos,
Athens and elsewhere a spring festival was was killed, and Adrastus died from his grief at
celebrated by women in which small trays, Megara.
known as Gardens of Adonis, were planted In Sicyon Adrastus was venerated as a hero
with lettuces, watered until they sprouted, and and an object of cult worship until the tyrant
then left to wither and die. The rite symbolized Cleisthenes, at war with Athens, transferred
the transience of the life of vegetation. the cult to Dionysos.
A variant of this story says that Adonis was See also: Amphiaraus; Eriphyle; Seven Against Thebes
brought up in the Underworld by Persephone,
who refused to return him because of his beau-
ty, this alone being the reason for his spending Aeacides
part of the year above earth, part below. The Greek
lengths of time are variously given, the most Name given to the descendants of Aeacus.
common being half above and half below, but
others say that Adonis spent two-thirds of the
year with Aphrodite in the land of the living, Aeacus
one-third in the dark realm of the Underworld. Greek
He seems to have been identified with the The son of Zeus and the nymph Aegina. He
Egyptian god of the Underworld, Osiris, and is was born on the island of Oenone (later to be
called Tammuz in the Holy Bible (see Ezek. called Aegina), and to populate it he asked
8:14). Zeus to turn its numerous ants into people,
Astronomical: The name Adonis has been which were called Myrmidones (or
applied to one of the asteroids. Myrmidons), from myrmex, or “ant.” He was
See also: Aphrodite; Byblos; Paphos; Persephone the father of Telamon and Peleus by Endeis
and thus the grandfather of Achilles, who led
the Myrmidones to Troy. By the Nereid
Adrastus Psamanthe he was the father of Phocus (Seal).
Greek Telamon and Peleus killed their half-brother
King of Argos, the son of Talaus. Adrastus fled with a discus, so Aeacus expelled them from
to Sicyon, where the king bequeathed him the Aegina.
kingdom when Talaus was murdered during a He helped Apollo and Poseidon build the
riot by Amphiaraus, his cousin. He and walls of Troy; another time, when all of Greece
Amphiaraus made their peace when Adrastus was struck by a terrible drought and the
offered the hand of his daughter, Eriphyle, to Delphic Oracle pronounced that only the
his cousin, and returned to become king of prayers of Aeacus could relieve it, he climbed
Argos. Both Polyneices of Thebes, who mar- Mount Panhellenion on his island home of
ried Adrastus’s daughter Argia, and Tydeus of Aegina, prayed to Zeus, and was rewarded
Calydon, who married Argia’s sister, Dei- with success.
phyle, sought refuge at his court, and together So virtuous was his life that after death he
with Capaneus, Hippomedon, Parthen- became one of the three judges of the Under-
opaeus, the son of Meleager and Atalanta, and world, along with the brothers Minos and
Amphiaraus, Adrastus led the expedition of Rhadamanthus.
the Seven Against Thebes, even though See also: Achilles; Aegina; Minos; Rhadamanthus
Amphiaraus, a seer, had prophesied death for
all the leaders save Adrastus.
His six companions were killed during the Aeaea
campaign, and Adrastus alone escaped and Greek
took refuge in Athens. Ten years later he The island home of the enchantress Circe,
accompanied a second expedition of the sons daughter of Helios and Perse. When the sole
of the previous champions (the Epigoni) surviving ship of Odysseus landed on the
10 Aedon
island, the men he sent to explore were turned sleep while Jason took down the fleece, and
into swine by Circe; of these men, only they fled together in the Argo Navis.
Eurylochus returned unaltered to tell Aeëtes gave chase, but Medeä, who had
Odysseus the news. Hastening to their rescue, taken the young Absyrtus with them, killed
Odysseus was given the plant moly by and cut up the youth and threw the pieces of
Hermes, and this vanquished Circe’s charms. his body over the side of the ship. Aeëtes
She restored Odysseus’s men and then lav- stopped to collect these parts of the corpse for
ishly entertained them for a year. burial, and the fugitives thus escaped.
See also: Circe; Moly; Odysseus See also: Colchis; Jason; Medeä
Aedon Aegaeon
Greek Greek
The daughter of Pandareus, wife of Zethus, Another name for Briareus.
king of Thebes, and mother by him of Itylus.
Aedon was envious of Niobe, the wife of
Zethus’s brother, Amphion, who had a fami- Aegean Sea
ly of 12, and she resolved to kill Niobe’s Greece
eldest son. However, she mistakenly killed That part of the Mediterranean Sea between
her own son, Itylus, and her constant lamen- Greece and Asia Minor, subdivided into the
tation induced Zeus to change her into a Thracian Sea in the north, the Myrtoan in the
nightingale, whose song still mourns for west, the Icarian in the east, and the Cretan in
Itylus. the south. It is connected via the Dardanelles
See also: Amphion; Niobe (Hellespont) with the Sea of Marmara.
The Aegean Sea is reputedly named after
the legendary King Aegeus who, believing
Aeëtes that his son, Theseus, had been killed, threw
Greek himself into the sea and drowned.
King of Colchis, father of Medeä and her See also: Aegeus; Theseus
half-brother, Absyrtus. He had been given
the Golden Fleece of the ram that carried
Phrixus to safety and had hung the fleece on Aegeus
an oak tree in the sacred grove of Ares, where Greek
it was guarded by a sleepless dragon One of the four sons of Pandion. Originally
(Draco?). childless, he consulted the Delphic Oracle,
When Jason and the Argonauts arrived in which told him that he should not loosen the
Colchis on their quest, Aeëtes promised that spout of the wineskin until he returned to
he would give Jason the fleece provided he Athens. Unsure about the meaning of this
could yoke together a pair of fire-breathing ambiguous oracle, Aegeus consulted Pit-
bulls with brazen feet, the work of theus, king of Troizen (Troezen); in response
Hephaistos, plough the field of Ares, and sow Pittheus made him drunk and gave him his
it with the dragon’s teeth left over from the daughter, Aethra, to lie with, and thus
time Cadmos sowed them at Thebes. It was Theseus was conceived. Some said that she
the sorceress-princess, Medeä, who enabled was visited on the same night by Poseidon
Jason to accomplish this terrible feat. She had and that Theseus was really the son of
fallen instantly in love with Jason and Poseidon. Aegeus told Aethra, before leaving
promised to help him if he would swear, by all for Athens, to bring up her son without
the gods, to marry her and remain faithful. revealing the identity of his father; he also
This he did, and she gave him a fire-resistant said that when the boy was big enough he
lotion that enabled him to complete the task. was to move a certain rock, underneath
However, Aeëtes then failed to keep his which he would find Aegeus’s sandals and
promise, so Medeä charmed the dragon to sword as a token of paternity.
Aegisthus 11
When Theseus was of age, Aethra showed southwest of Piraeus with an area of 83 square
him the sandals and sword, an heirloom of kilometers (32 square miles). It was originally
Cecrops; Theseus, able to lift the rock, recov- called Oenone but became known as Aegina
ered the tokens and proceeded to Athens. after the daughter of Asophus, Aegina, gave
Meanwhile, Aegeus had married Medeä, birth to Aeacus, the son of Zeus, there.
who had fled to Athens for safety from Corinth, Commercially very active, this island is dis-
and they had borne a son, Medus. When tinctive for striking the silver tortoises that were
Theseus arrived Medeä recognized him; jealous to become the first Greek—indeed, European—
for her own son, she attempted to poison him. coinage sometime in the seventh century B.C.
Luckily Aegeus recognized Cecrops’s sword in The island also provides a fine scenic setting for
the nick of time and welcomed his son amid the temple of Aphaia (built c. 490 B.C.), a god-
great rejoicing. Medeä fled, taking Medus with dess who seems to have been connected with
her, and Theseus scattered other rivals—the Artemis and was the protector of women, hav-
fifty sons of Pallas, nephew of Aegeus, who had ing been pursued from Crete by Minos.
hoped to succeed him to the throne. The island was conquered and colonized by
During the Panathenaic Games a son of Athens in the fifth century B.C., and in 1811
Minos, Androgeos, won every contest but was remarkable sculptures were recovered from a
slain at the instigation of Aegeus. In revenge Doric temple situated in the northeast of the
Minos invaded Attica, thus originating the island (restored by Thorwaldsen) and taken to
annual tribute of youths and maidens to be fed Munich. Between 1828 and 1829, Aegina was
to the Minotaur. Some accounts number these the capital of Greece.
as high as fifty youths and fifty maidens, but 2. The daughter of the river god Asophus
the most common number is seven of each. who, on the island of Oenone, gave birth to
Theseus determined to end this barbaric tribute Aeacus, her son by Zeus. Thereafter the island
and sailed as a member of one year’s tribute to became known as Aegina.
kill the Minotaur, promising his father that his See also: Aeacus
ship would carry black sails on its return if he
had failed, white ones to signify success.
However, Theseus, in his joy at overcoming the Aegis
Minotaur and returning home to his father, for- Greco-Roman
got this promise, and Aegeus, seeing the black The aegis is usually attributed to Zeus/Jupiter
sails and thinking his son had perished, threw and was said to have been the sacred skin of the
himself from the southwest corner of the goat Amalthea, which suckled the infant Zeus;
Acropolis into the sea, which thenceforth bore the skin was worn by him or occasionally bor-
his name, the Aegean Sea. rowed by his daughter, Athene/Minerva. Later
See also: Medeä; Minos; Pandion the word came to mean a shield, although usu-
ally the aegis was worn whereas the shield was
carried. The aegis was possessed with the
Aegial~eos, ~eus power to protect friends and terrify enemies.
Greek Later Athene/Minerva was said to have her
One of the Epigoni, the son of Adrastus, who own aegis, which in this case was a shield pat-
was killed before the walls of Thebes during terned with a border of snakes; having a cen-
the second campaign of the Seven Against tral petrifying image of the head of the Gorgon
Thebes; upon hearing of his death his father, Medusa, it is said to have been given to Athene
Adrastus, died of grief in Megara. by Perseus.
See also: Seven Against Thebes See also: Amalthea
Aegina Aegisthus
Greek Greek
1. Greek Aíyna or Aíyina. An island in the Gulf The son of Thyestes by his daughter, Pelopia.
of Aegina about 32 kilometers (20 miles) She stole Thyestes’ sword during the rape. She
12 Aegyptus
then married Thyestes’ brother, Atreus, who Argos, but the fifty sons of Aegyptus followed
was visiting Sicyon and thought that Pelopia and demanded the girls in marriage. Danaus
was the daughter of Threspotus. When Pelo- consented but ordered each of his daughters to
pia gave birth to Aegisthus she abandoned kill her respective husband on their wedding
him, but Atreus, believing the boy to be his night. Forty-nine of the Danaides followed
own, took him in and reared him. these orders, but Hypermnestra saved her
When Aegisthus grew up, Atreus sent him to husband, Lynceus.
kill Thyestes, but when the latter saw the sword See also: Danaides; Danaus
Aegisthus carried, he recognized it as the one
Pelopia had stolen, and the secret was discov-
ered. Pelopia killed herself, and Aegisthus Aemilii
killed Atreus, thus restoring Thyestes to the Roman
throne of Mycenae. One of the five powerful families that domi-
During the Trojan War, Aegisthus seduced nated Rome by the end of the fifth century B.C.,
Clytemnestra, the wife of Agamemnon. Cly- the others being the Claudii, Cornelii, Manlii,
temnestra conspired with Aegisthus to kill and Valerii. All five families decisively affected
Agamemnon on his return from the cam- the myths and legends of ancient Rome by
paign, along with his booty from the war, altering them to suit their own purposes, thus
Cassandra. Clytemnestra welcomed her hus- boosting their power and influence.
band regally on his return, but while he was in
his bath she entangled him in a net, and after
Aegisthus struck him twice she beheaded him Aeneas
with an axe. Clytemnestra then went out to Greco-Roman
kill Cassandra, who had refused to enter the Son of Anchises, the cousin of King Priam of
palace. Troy, and Aphrodite; raised by nymphs until
Aegisthus lived in constant fear of he was five years old. The friend of Achates.
vengeance and would have killed Electra had Unfortunately, Anchises boasted of Aphro-
Clytemnestra allowed it. Instead he married dite’s love and was struck blind by a thunder-
her to a peasant who was fearful of consum- bolt from Zeus. His wife is given as Creusa, a
mating their union. Orestes meanwhile took daughter of Priam, and the mother by him of
refuge with Strophius, king of Phocis, who Ascanius, though some sources quote
had married Agamemnon’s sister, and here he Ascanius’s mother as being Lavinia, who
formed a friendship with Pylades, the son of Aeneas married after he had arrived and set-
Strophius, that became proverbial. tled in Italy.
For seven years Clytemnestra and At the start of the Trojan War he stayed out
Aegisthus ruled Mycenae, Aegisthus being of the fighting, but when Achilles raided his
portrayed as a lustful, cruel, but weak man herds on Mount Ida he led his Dardanian
dominated by Clytemnestra. Electra, burning forces into battle and soon distinguished him-
for revenge, sent constant messages to Orestes, self. His mother frequently helped him, once
and when he and Pylades were of age, they carrying him away after he had been wound-
came secretly to the city and, with Electra’s ed by Diomedes. On another occasion, though
help, killed both Aegisthus and Clytemnestra. hostile to Troy, Poseidon saved him from
See also: Agamemnon; Atreus; Thyestes Achilles, whom he had been urged to chal-
lenge by Apollo.
At the end of the Trojan War, having been
Aegyptus wounded with his mother, Aphrodite, by
Greek Diomedes, he carried his blind father through
Eponym of Egypt, which he ruled along with the Dardanian Gate on his back, thereby escap-
Arabia; his brother, Danaus, ruled Libya. He ing. The Romans said that he took with him
suggested a mass marriage between his fifty the Palladium, the one stolen by Odysseus
sons and the fifty daughters of Danaus, the only being a replica, and after seven years he
Danaides. Danaus fled with his daughters to reached Italy.
Aeneas 13
The tradition of Aeneas’s arrival in Italy is of Their first port of call was once again
unknown origin, though Homer’s Iliad makes Drepanum, where Aeneas honored his dead
it clear that he escaped the final sack of Troy. father with funeral games. While there Hera/
One strong Roman tradition that dates from at Juno incited some of his female followers to set
least as early as the fourth century B.C. (and fire to four of his five ships; undaunted, and
later recorded by Q. Lutatius Catulus in Origin leaving some of his retinue behind, Aeneas
of the Roman Nation) said that Aeneas betrayed resumed his journey.
Troy to the Greeks out of hatred for Paris and The remainder of Aeneas’s story is distinct-
was thus given safe conduct. ly Roman.
According to Virgil’s Aeneid, Aeneas, helped At length Aeneas succeeded in landing in
by his mother, Venus/Aphrodite, rescued the Italy, even though his pilot, Palinurus, fell
Penates of Troy, leading his son, Ascanius, and asleep at the wheel and was washed over-
carrying Anchises on his back, thereby escap- board. Immediately Aeneas went to Cumae,
ing the destruction, his first stop being on the and here the sibyl told him to arm himself with
slopes of Mount Ida. the Golden Bough from a wood near Lake
Along with a small band of Trojan refugees, Avernus. Then she led him down to the
Aeneas set sail to find a new home. He con- Underworld to consult his father’s shade. On
sulted the Oracle of Apollo at Delos and was the way he encountered the spirit of Dido, but
told to seek the country of his ancestors. He she silently turned her back on him. When he
originally set sail for Crete since it was said consulted Anchises he learned of the future
that Dardanos, the founder of the Trojan royal glory of the city he was to found and its ulti-
house, had originated there, but he altered mate splendor under the great Emperor
course for Italy when the Penates said that Augustus.
Dardanos’s first home had been there. Having returned to the upper world Aeneas
He landed at Epirus, now under the rule of once again reboarded his ship and sailed on to
Helenus, and was further advised that when the estuary of the River Tiber. Here the god of
he reached Italy he should seek a white sow the river appeared to him in a dream and told
and 30 piglets and there establish his city. him that the prophecy of Helenus was about to
Additionally he was told by Helenus that fur- be fulfilled. Forewarned, Aeneas set out the
ther counsel could be had from the Sibyl of very next day and soon came upon the white
Cumae. sow and her 30 piglets at the site of the city of
When he arrived in Sicily he was wel- Alba Longa, a city his son would found some
comed at Drepanum by Acestes; while there 30 years later.
his aged father, Anchises, died. Aeneas and In neighboring Laurentum (or Latium), the
his men stayed for a year in Drepanum before old Aborigine King Latinus had been told by
setting sail again, but due to the hostility of an oracle that Lavinia, his daughter, would
the goddess Hera/Juno they were driven marry a foreigner and so agreed to her mar-
ashore near the city of Carthage, whose riage to Aeneas. However, Juno now incited
queen was Dido. the Rutulian Prince Turnus of Ardea to claim
Dido immediately fell passionately in love that since he was of Mycenaean ancestry the
with Aeneas, and Aphrodite/Venus persuad- oracle obviously referred to him, not to
ed Hera/Juno to agree to their marriage. Aeneas. This was not the only opposition to
However, Dido had vowed on the death of her Aeneas’s suit, for Latinus’s queen, Amata, also
husband, Sychaeus, that she would never take objected. When Ascanius accidentally shot a
another husband, and her marriage to Aeneas pet stag, nothing could avert war between the
broke this vow. Divine retribution followed, rival factions.
for Zeus/Jupiter now told Aeneas that he Aeneas now sought the aid of the Arcadian
must depart, which he planned to do in secret, Greek King Evander, who ruled the Palatine
but Dido uncovered his plan, failed to per- Hill. Evander told Aeneas of the visit of
suade him to remain, and committed suicide. Heracles/Hercules to the hill and his slaughter
As Aeneas once again put out to sea the smoke of the terrible man-eating Cacus, son of
rose from her funeral pyre. Vulcan, who had stolen the great hero’s cattle.
14 Aeneid
Evander promised to support Aeneas; Pallas, Numicius. Having been purified in the
the son of Evander, joined Aeneas’s forces. waters of the river he was finally received
As Pallas and Aeneas came down from the into the company of the gods and became a
Palatine Hill, Venus appeared to them and pre- paternal god of the Latins.
sented Aeneas with a set of wonderful armor His great-grandson, Brutus, brought a
made by Vulcan. It included a magnificent group of Trojans to England and founded
shield that depicted the future history of Troynovant (New Troy), later to be called
Rome, including Augustus’s great victory at London, and Aeneas is hence regarded as the
the Battle of Actium. legendary founder of the British people and,
The first move in the war was made by supposedly, the forefather of King Lear.
Turnus, who attacked the Trojan camp and Geoffrey of Monmouth asserts that he was the
burned its ships. These had been made out of ancestor of the ancient British kings, and
wood from Mount Ida that was sacred to the Dryden says, quite specifically, that he was a
goddess Cybele, and she persuaded Neptune direct ancestor of Arthur.
to transform them into sea nymphs to save See also: Anchises; Latinus; Palladium; Pallas; Penates;
them from being utterly destroyed. Sibyl; Turnus
Jupiter tried to reconcile Venus and Juno,
who supported opposing sides; unable to do
so, he had to conclude that the outcome of the Aeneid
battle must be decided by fate. Roman
Pallas, the great friend of Aeneas, was slain An epic poem by Virgil, written in 12 books of
by Turnus, but in return he and his men inflict- hexameters and composed between 30 and 19
ed very heavy casualties on the Rutulian B.C., the last 11 years of Virgil’s life. The work,
forces, killing many of their most able leaders. however, was unfinished at the time of
Therefore, Turnus now decided to meet Virgil’s death. It commemorates the develop-
Aeneas in single combat, though both Latinus ment of the Roman Empire through the leg-
and Amata tried to convince him, in vain, of end of Aeneas, increases the prestige of
his folly. Augustus by recalling his supposed ances-
Turnus’s fate was already sealed, for Jupiter tor’s deeds, foretells of future prosperity to
had pacified Juno by agreeing to the union of come, and celebrates the destiny of the
the Trojans and Latins in a single nation. Romans as the divinely inspired rulers of the
Amata hanged herself, believing her son ancient world—a sentiment close to the heart
already dead. In the fight Turnus was mortally of Augustus, the first Roman emperor, who
wounded by Aeneas and asked that his old wrote to Virgil from Spain in 26 B.C. express-
father should be allowed to have his body. ing his wish to have a draft or portions of
Aeneas was about to concede to this request, Aeneid, which had been begun at about that
for the fight was already won, when he time.
noticed that Turnus was wearing the golden
belt of his dead friend Pallas and, in blind fury,
dispatched the Rutulian with a single thrust of Aeolia
his sword. Greek
The war at an end, Aeneas married One of the Lipari Islands within the region of
Lavinia and thereby united the Trojans and Asia Minor known as Aeolis. It was the home
Latins, the condition set by Jupiter to pacify of Aeolus and the four winds, Boreas (north),
Juno. To please Juno further, Jupiter agreed Zephyrus (west), Notus (south), and Eurus
that the Trojans should forget their native (east), the children of Astraeus and Eos.
language and customs and adopt Italian Aeolia was supposed to have been a floating
manners. This unification of the Trojans and island on which there was a cave where
Latins into a single nation was the great Aeolus kept the four winds, setting them free
mythical achievement of the “pious” Aeneas. when he felt like it or when the gods so
Toward the end of his life it was said that he requested.
met Dido’s sister, Anna, beside the River See also: Aeolus
Aeschylus 15
Aeolian Islands from Ion, the son of Xuthus. He was the father
Greek of many children, including Sisyphus.
Seven islands based on Lipara (now Lipari)
northeast of Sicily, hence now called the Lipari
Aerope
Islands but originally named after Aeolus,
demigod of the winds, which he kept in a cave Greek
on the island of Aeolia. The islands were colo- The second wife of Atreus; she betrayed her
nized from Cnidos and Rhodes and became husband to Thyestes, who had already suc-
notorious as a haunt of pirates before becom- ceeded in seducing her. Atreus had promised
ing a Carthaginian base. The islands were to sacrifice his first lamb to Artemis, but when
finally captured by Rome in 252 B.C. that lamb was born with a golden fleece, he
Hephaistos was said to have his workshop on hid the fleece away in a chest. Aerope stole this
Hiera (now Vulcano). and gave it to Thyestes.
See also: Aeolus When the Mycenaeans were told by an ora-
cle to elect one of the kings of Midea as ruler,
Thyestes suggested that they should choose
Aeolis whoever could produce a fleece of gold, and
naturally he won. However, Atreus felt he had
Greek been tricked and so proposed a second test:
A coastal district of northwest Asia Minor col- The kingdom should belong to whichever
onized by the Greeks at a very early date; it king could cause the sun to run backwards, a
included the Lipari Islands (Aeolian Islands) contest Atreus won, thus becoming king.
within its limits. Furious, Thyestes now tricked Atreus into
killing Pleisthenes, his own son by a first mar-
riage, and then fled. On discovering the trick
Aeolus Atreus planned a grisly reprisal; luring
Greek Thyestes to Mycenae by promising him half
1. A mortal son of Poseidon and guardian or the kingdom, he killed Thyestes’ sons and
demigod of the winds, which lived with him, served their flesh to their father at a banquet.
pent up in a cave, on the floating island of When the horrified Thyestes realized what he
Aeolia, one of the Aeolian Islands (now Lipari had been eating, he cursed the house of Atreus
Islands). The four winds, Boreas (north), and fled once more.
Zephyrus (west), Notus (south) and Eurus Atreus had two sons by, according to
(east), the children of Astraeus and Eos, were Homer, Aerope. However, other sources name
either released at Aeolus’s whim or when the their father as Pleisthenes. In any event, these
gods requested it. At Hera’s request, for exam- sons, Agamemnon and Menelaus, were reared
ple, he released them to give the Argonauts a by Atreus, and when Thyestes laid his curse
fair wind home. they fled and took refuge with King Tyndareus
When Odysseus visited his island home, of Sparta. Here Menelaus married Helen, and
Aeolus gave him a goatskin bag that contained some accounts say that Agamemnon was
all the winds except that would take him home helped by Tyndareus to expel Thyestes and so
to Ithaca. His foolish companions thought the gain his father’s throne.
goatskin was full of wine, but when they See also: Atreus; Thyestes
opened it they caused a fearful storm that
drove Odysseus back onto Aeolia again, and
Aeolus refused Odysseus any further help. Aeschylus
This Aeolus should be distinguished from Greek
the one described in the next definition. Lived from c. 525 B.C. to c. 456 B.C. Born at
2. Son of Hellen and Orseis; the ancestor and Eleusis, near Athens, of a noble family, he
eponym of the Aeolian branch of the classical took part in the Persian Wars, fought at
Greeks or Hellenes. The other two branches Marathon (c. 490 B.C.), where he was wound-
were the Dorians from Dorus and the Ionians ed, and in all probability also fought at
16 Aesc(u)lap~ios, ~ius
Salamis (c. 480 B.C.). He visited the court of being adopted by Cretheus when Tyro later
Hieron I, king of Syracuse, twice and died at married him. Aeson’s own son was Jason,
Gela in Sicily. whose life was saved only because he was
He is widely regarded as the founder of smuggled out of Iolcos and entrusted to the
Greek tragedy, and by the introduction of a care of Cheiron, the centaur.
second actor he made true dialogue and action When Cretheus died, Pelias imprisoned
possible. His first poetic victory was gained Aeson, the rightful heir to the throne, and
during dramatic competitions in c. 484 B.C.; expelled Neleus, thus making himself
having won some 13 first prizes for tragedies, supreme. However, he promised to surren-
he was then defeated by Sophocles in 468 B.C. der the throne if Jason would fetch for him
It may have been this defeat that induced him the Golden Fleece, a quest Jason successfully
to leave Athens and go to Sicily, although his completed with the aid of the Argonauts and
trial before the Areopagus for divulging the Medeä. On their return they found that
secrets of the Eleusinian Mysteries is also Pelias had forced Aeson to take his own life,
given as a reason for his departure. In Sicily he though one tradition says that he was
produced a new edition of his extant The renewed to youthful vigor by the witchcraft
Persians, which had originally been staged in of Medeä.
472 B.C. All agree, however, that Medeä took terrible
Aeschylus wrote some 90 plays between 499 revenge on Pelias. She managed to persuade
B.C. and 458 B.C., of which just seven survive. his daughters (with one exception—Alcestis)
These are: The Suppliant Women (performed to cut up their father and boil the pieces in a
about 490 B.C.), The Persians (472 B.C.), Seven cauldron, falsely promising them that this
Against Thebes (467 B.C.), Prometheus Bound action would rejuvenate him. Acastus, son of
(c. 460 B.C.), and the Oresteia trilogy (458 B.C.), Pelias, was horrified by the murder and
his last great victory, which comprises the expelled Jason and Medeä.
three works Agamemnon, Choephoroe, and See also: Cretheus; Jason; Neleus; Pelias; Tyro
Eumenides.
The genius of Aeschylus is quite peculiar in
Greek literature, for he has no equal. The Aesop
grandeur of his theological perceptions, the Greek
providential ruling of the world, the inheri- Semilegendary Greek fabulist, who, according
tance of sin, and the conflict of rude with purer to Herodotus, lived in the sixth century B.C. He
religion sets him apart from great contempo- was variously described as a Phrygian slave,
raries like Pindar, as well as successors like some say of Iadmon, a Thracian, and as a slave
Sophocles. in Samos. He was granted his freedom, and as
a confidant of King Croesus of Lydia he under-
took various unlikely missions. The Fables are
Aesc(u)lap~ios, ~ius attributed to him, but no evidence of his
Greco-Roman authorship exists; in all probability they are a
Variant of Asclepios. compilation from many sources. They are
anecdotal stories centered around animal char-
acters to illustrate some moral or satirical
Aesc(u)lep~ios, ~ius point. They were popularized in the first cen-
Greco-Roman tury A.D. by the Roman poet Phaedrus and
Variant of Asclepios. rewritten in sophisticated verse in 1668 by La
Fontaine.
Aeson
Greek Aethiopia
The son of Cretheus, founder and king of Greek
Iolcos, and Tyro, who had previous twin sons Ethiopia to the ancient Greeks, Cepheus and
by Poseidon, Pelias and Neleus, these boys Cassiopeia having been the rulers.
Agamemnon 17
allies. In the company of Menelaus and With Achilles sulking in his tent and the
Palamedes, he traveled to Ithaca to persuade Trojans now getting the better of the Greeks,
Odysseus to join their cause. Others who joined Agamemnon was only too pleased to grant a
the expedition were Ajax the Greater, the son of truce so that Menelaus and Paris might settle
King Telamon of Salamis, along with his half- their quarrel in single combat. But with Paris
brother, Teucer, the best archer in the whole of losing, Aphrodite carried him away, and the
Greece. They brought 12 ships with them. Ajax battle restarted. Still the Trojans held the upper
the Lesser, the son of Oileus, king of Locris, also hand, and in alarm Agamemnon attempted to
rallied, bringing forty ships. Idomeneos, king of induce Achilles back into the fray by offering
Crete, brought one hundred ships and shared to return Briseis. His offer was refused.
command with Agamemnon. He was accom- Instead, Patroclus led the Myrmidones
panied by Meriones. while wearing Achilles’ armor, and it was his
The huge Greek army assembled at Aulis death at the hands of Hector that led Achilles
twice, because the first time they set off they back into the battle. He made his peace with
mistakenly invaded Mysia and had to return. Agamemnon, who at last returned Briseis to
As they assembled the second time a hare was him. Now the battle went in the favor of the
torn in half by two eagles, a sign, according to Greeks once again.
the interpretation of the prophet Calchas, that The decisive action of the Trojan War was
Troy would be taken, but the Greek forces the stratagem of the Wooden Horse, suppos-
would be opposed by Artemis, the first sign of edly implemented by Odysseus. Leaving
this being at Aulis, where contrary winds kept behind only Sinon and the massive horse, the
the fleet from sailing. This delay is usually Greek forces burned their encampment and
attributed to Agamemnon having killed a hart, sailed to the island of Tenedos, from which
thereby gaining the ill favor of Artemis. they returned on Sinon’s signal after the horse
Calchas announced that Agamemnon had been taken inside the city by the unsus-
should sacrifice his daughter, Iphigeneia, to pecting and foolish Trojans.
appease the goddess. This was duly done, and Following the successful completion of the
Agamemnon gained his fair wind—but also campaign, Agamemnon returned home,
the undying hatred of his wife. An alternative accompanied by Cassandra, a Trojan
version to this story says that Iphigeneia was prophetess he claimed as booty. Here he
replaced on the altar at the last moment by a found his wife’s vengeance awaiting him.
stag as the goddess Artemis carried Iphigeneia While he had been away she had taken
away to become her priestess in the barbarian Aegisthus as her lover, and together they
country of Tauris, where she was later rescued planned to murder both him and Cassandra.
by her brother, Orestes. Greeting her returning husband regally, she
Agamemnon distinguished himself as com- trapped him in a net while he was taking a
mander in chief of the Greek forces at Troy, but bath, and after Aegisthus had struck him
his career was marred by a plague sent by twice she beheaded him with an axe. Then
Apollo because he had seized Chryseis, the Clytemnestra disposed of Cassandra. Orestes
daughter of Apollo’s priest, Chryses. To fled to Phocis, from whence he later returned
appease Apollo, Agamemnon reluctantly sent to wreak his vengeance. Electra and Chry-
the girl back, but to compensate for the loss he sothemis remained under the tyranny of
claimed Briseis, the concubine-slave of Aegisthus and Clytemnestra.
Achilles, thereby precipitating the famous According to Pausanias, the ancient kings of
quarrel that is the subject of Homer’s Iliad. Mycenae were buried within the walls of the
Achilles, angered by Agamemnon’s actions, citadels. In 1876 Heinrich Schliemann uncov-
refused to take any further part in the fighting, ered the grave circle, including its magnificent
and the Trojans soon began to gain the upper golden grave goods. Among these was the
hand. Some say Achilles’ refusal stemmed famous funerary mask that he hailed as the
from his falling in love with Polyxena, a “face of Agamemnon.” The identification has
daughter of Priam, and was simply an attempt never been substantiated, but it is romantic
to curry favor with the father. and unforgettable by its association with the
Agrigento 19
king who was the leader of the most famous be that of a lion. When she recovered her sens-
and best known of all Greek myths and leg- es she fled from Thebes to Illyria. Some said
ends—the Trojan War. that her murder of Pentheus was Dionysos’s
See also: Achilles; Atreus; Briseis; Menelaus; Mycenae revenge on her, for she had spread the rumor
that her sister Semele had had a liason with a
mortal, meaning Dionysos was not the son of
Aganippe Zeus but of a man.
Greek The legend of Agave is used by Euripides in
A fountain at the foot of Mount Helicon in his play Bacchae.
Boeotia that was sacred to the Muses, hence
they subsequently were called Aganippides. It
was thought to inspire those who drank from Agenor
it. Another fountain, Hippocrene, also sacred Greek
to the Muses, was known as Aganippis. 1. Son of Poseidon and king of Phoenicia who,
See also: Muses, the according to common tradition, was the father
of Europa and Cadmos by his wife, Tele-
phassa. When Zeus, in the form of a bull, car-
Aganippides ried off Europa, Agenor sent Cadmos in search
Greek of her.
Name used to refer to the Muses following 2. The son of the Trojan Antenor and
their association with the sacred fountain of Theano.
Aganippe.
Aglaia
Aganippis Greek
Greek “The Bright One”; the third of the three
Epithet added to the fountain of Hippocrene Charities or Graces. A bestower of beauty and
because it was sacred to the Muses, who were charm.
also known as Aganippides through their See also: Graces
association with another fountain, Aganippe.
Aglauros
Agathyrsans Greek
Roman 1. The wife of Cecrops.
According to Virgil’s Aeneid, a tribe living in 2. The daughter of Cecrops. The infant
Thrace. Erichthonius was entrusted to her and her
sisters.
Agave
Greek Agraulos
Daughter of Cadmos, legendary founder and Greek
king of Thebes, and his wife, Harmonia, The granddaughter of Actaeus, the first king of
daughter of Ares and Aphrodite. She was the Athens. She threw herself to her death from
sister of Autonoë, Ino, Semele, Polydorus, and the Acropolis because an oracle demanded a
Illyrius and the mother of Pentheus. When self-sacrifice for Athens.
Pentheus resisted Dionysos he was driven See also: Actaeus
mad and, when caught spying on the orgiastic
worship of the god, was torn to pieces by the
Maenads, or Bacchae. Among these frenzied Agrigento
worshippers were his own mother, Agave, and Greek
her sisters, Autonoë and Ino. Agave bore his The site, on the island of Sicily, of two out-
head back to Thebes in triumph, believing it to standing fifth-century B.C. temples dedicated
20 Aias
to Hera and Concord and situated on either ship between their forefathers, they exchanged
side of a scenic ridge. gifts, Hector giving Ajax the Greater a sword
and receiving a purple baldric. When
Patroclus was slain by Hector, Ajax joined
Aias Menelaus in retrieving the body.
Greek Following the death of Achilles he and
The Greek form of the more common, Odysseus rescued the body, and Ajax treated
Latinized Ajax. Achilles’ son, Neoptolemus, as his own. But
then he and Odysseus fought for possession of
Achilles’ fabulous armor, destined by Thetis
Aid~es, ~oneus for the bravest of the Greeks. However, the
Greek Trojan prisoners named Odysseus the bravest,
Another name for Hades—the realm, not the and the arms were duly awarded. Homer, in
god. Odyssey, says that Odysseus killed him, where-
as Sophocles in his tragedy Ajax tells that Ajax
was sent mad when he offended Athene after
Aíyina the armor had been awarded to Odysseus,
Greece slew the sheep of the Greeks (believing them
Modern Greek name for the island of Aegina; to be his enemies), and finally killed himself by
also Aíyna. falling on the sword that Hector had given
him. A long dispute then ensued over his bur-
ial rights in light of what he had done.
Aíyna Another story, one that conflates Ajax the
Greece Greater with his namesake, says that the argu-
Alternative modern Greek name for the island ment was not over the arms of Achilles but
of Aegina; also Aíyina. over the Palladium, a statue of Athene, that
Odysseus is said to have stolen from within
the city of Troy while it was under siege.
Ajax From the blood of Ajax the Greater a flower
Greek sprang up that bears on its petals the letters
1. The son of Telamon, king of Salamis. Known “AI”—an exclamation of grief as well as the
as Ajax the Greater or Great Ajax to distinguish initial letters of Aias, the Greek form of Ajax.
him from Ajax the Lesser, he was a courageous His tomb in Salamis was venerated by the
fighter who boasted that he did not need the straightforward Dorians who, like Pindar, did
help of the gods and brought 12 ships and his not approve of the trickery of Odysseus.
half-brother, Teucer, the best archer in all 2. The son of Oileus, king of Locris, he took
Greece, to the Trojan War. He was distin- 40 ships to the Trojan War and was referred to
guished by his huge shield. as Ajax the Lesser or Little Ajax to distinguish
He accompanied Odysseus and Nestor him from Ajax the Greater, so called because
when they went to Scyros to recruit for the he was not the equal of Ajax the Greater. As a
Trojan War, the occasion when Achilles was soldier he was expert in throwing the spear
discovered disguised as a girl among the and second only to Achilles for fleetness of
daughters of King Lycomedes. Ajax the foot; he was portrayed as a charmless, god-
Greater was second only to Achilles among defying man.
Greek heroes of the war. With the fall of Troy he committed sacrilege
Sometime during the first nine years of the against Athene by ravishing Cassandra in the
war, he and his company raided the Thracian temple of Athene beside the statue of the god-
Chersonesus, and in Teuthrania he killed King dess, then carrying off both the girl and the
Teuthras and took his daughter, Tecmessa, as goddess’s image. Cassandra was claimed as
booty. During the tenth and final year of the booty by Agamemnon, and on his journey
war he and Hector fought in single combat home Athene sent a violent storm to drown
until nightfall. Then, remembering the friend- him. Poseidon, however, saved Ajax the Lesser
Alcaeus 21
but was overruled, and so destroyed with his miles) southeast of Rome. Today it is known as
trident the rock upon which Ajax had taken Castel Gandolfo. According to legend it was
refuge. founded c. 1152 B.C. by Ascanius, the son of
Three years after the return of the heroes Aeneas, 30 years after Aeneas had found the
from the Trojan War a series of bad harvests in white sow and her 30 piglets on that site, ful-
Locris were attributed by the Delphic Oracle to filling the prophecy of Helenus. It was ruled
the continuing anger of Athene. As expiation by Ascanius’s descendants for nearly three
she demanded two Locrian maidens every centuries. However, Amulius then usurped
year, the first to be sent being killed by the the throne of his brother, Numitor, who was
Trojans. This custom continued into historic exiled. Numitor’s daughter, Rhea Silvia, was
times, but by then the girls were simply made, forced to become a Vestal Virgin, but she was
on arrival on Trojan soil, to run the gauntlet raped by Mars and bore the twins Romulus
from the beach to the temple. If they managed and Remus. It was the head of the Roman
to escape death by beating they spent the rest of League and the mother city of Rome, as from
their lives in the shrine of Athene, unmarried. here Romulus and Remus set out to found the
See also: Achilles; Hector; Odysseus; Telamon new city.
Destroyed c. 600 B.C., the city was never
rebuilt, though the area was appropriated for
Ajax the villas of the aristocracy.
Greek See also: Aeneas; Ascanius
Tragic play by Sophocles in which he tells of
the fate of Ajax the Greater following his dis-
pute with Odysseus over the armor of Alban Lake
Achilles. Sophocles tells that Ajax was sent
Roman
mad when he offended Athene after the armor
A lake near the site of ancient Alba Longa that
had been awarded to Odysseus, slew the
was drained by the Romans, according to leg-
sheep of the Greeks (believing them to be his
end, to ensure the fall of the city of Veientia,
enemies), and finally killed himself by falling
this condition being first pronounced by a
on the sword that Hector had given him. A
Veientine soothsayer, then confirmed by the
long dispute then ensued over his burial rights
Delphic Oracle.
in light of what he had done. Homer simply
states that Odysseus killed him.
See also: Ajax (1)
Alban Mount
Roman
Akri The mount around which, during the twelfth
Greco-Roman century B.C., the colonies of immigrants into
The modern name for the town of Actium. Latium were centered. The towns of Alba
Longa, Aricia, Ardea, and Lavinium gradually
arose in the vicinity.
Akrocorinth
Greek
Also: Acrocorinthos Albano, Lake
Variant of Acrocorinthos, the acropolis
Roman
above ancient Corinth that was the site of the
Alternative name for Alban Lake.
fertility cult of Aphrodite.
Alcmen~e, ~a Alcyone
Greek Greek
Wife of Amphitryon (Amphitrion), son of Also: Halcyone.
Alcaeus. She refused to consummate her 1. One of the daughters of Atlas and Pleione.
marriage until her brothers, who had been Along with the six sisters—Celone, Electra,
killed by the Taphians, had been avenged by Maia, Merope, Sterope, and Taygeta—she was
her husband. While Amphitryon was away placed in the heavens in the star cluster known
from Thebes fighting the Taphians, Zeus vis- as the Pleiades, or “seven sisters,” of which she
ited her in the form of Amphitryon, telling is said to be the leader.
her of his victory over the Taphians, and lay Astronomical: One of the seven stars of the
with her, supposedly halting the sun for a day Pleiades cluster in the constellation of Taurus.
to extend his night with her. The true For a full description see Pleiades.
Amphitryon returned the following day, and 2. The daughter of Aeolus, god, demigod,
the confusion that followed is the subject of or king of the winds. She married Ceyx, the
many comedies. son of the morning star. Conflicting reasons
Nine months later the boastful Zeus pro- are given for the pair’s transformation into
nounced that he was about to become the birds. Apollodorus says that the gods,
father of a son, who would be called Heracles enraged with their marital bliss or because
or “glory of Hera” and become the ruler of the they began calling themselves Zeus and Hera,
house of Perseus. Jealous Hera made Zeus caused the transformation. Ovid, however,
promise that any son born that day to the tells a different story. Returning from a voy-
house of Perseus would become its king. age, Ceyx was shipwrecked and drowned;
Having made the promise, Hera then brought Alcyone, finding her dead husband’s body,
on the birth of Eurystheus, a grandson of threw herself into the sea in her grief. In sym-
Perseus, and delayed the birth of Heracles. pathy the gods changed them both into birds,
though here again there is some difference
Eventually Alcmene bore twin sons, Heracles,
between the birds. All versions agree that
the son of Zeus, and Iphicles, Amphitryon’s
Alcyone herself was changed into a kingfish-
son, who was one night younger due to the
er, and some accounts say that Ceyx was also
time difference between conceptions. In fear
turned into a kingfisher; others say the male
of Hera, Alcmene exposed Heracles, and in
bird was a gannet.
error Hera nursed him, thus conferring
Following the transformation Zeus forbade
immortality upon him. Later he was returned
Aeolus to release the winds and decreed that
to Alcmene.
the seas should remain calm for seven days
When Eurystheus acceded to the throne of
before and after the winter solstice while
the house of Perseus, he was determined to
Alcyone was hatching her eggs. This has led to
remove the threat of Alcmene, Heracles, and
modern usage of the phrase “halcyon days.”
his children and tried to expel them from
See also: Aeolus; Ceyx; Pleiades
Greece. In Athens they found protection, and
when Eurystheus attacked the city he was
resisted by Theseus or his sons, Demophoön,
Iolaus, and Hyllus. Following the self-sacrifice Alcyoneus
of Macaria, Heracles’ daughter, as demanded Greek
by an oracle, Eurystheus was defeated by One of the 24 giant sons of Gaia (Ge) with ser-
either Hyllus or Iolaus and dispatched by pents’ tails. Alcyoneus led the brothers’
Alcmene. attempt to avenge the imprisonment of their
Following Amphitryon’s death—and by other brothers, the Titans, and attacked
then living in Boeotia—Alcmene was married Olympus. Among the 24 were Porphyrion,
to Rhadamanthus, who proved so just a ruler Ephialtes, Mimas, Pallas, Enceladus, and
that he later became one of the three judges of Polybutes. Only following a tremendous bat-
the Underworld. tle, both in Olympus and on earth, were the
See also: Amphitryon; Heracles; Iphicles giants defeated by the gods, who were helped
24 Alecto
Susa and Persepolis. In 330 B.C. he marched on headed birds persuaded him to give up his
Ecbatana (now Hamadán, Iran), and soon futile search, and he dies at Babylon of poison.
afterwards he learned that Darius was dead. Medieval Greek sources add further details to
He founded colonies at Herat and Kandahar the image of the seeker of universal knowledge,
in Afghanistan, and in 328 B.C. he reached the making him a sage of supreme knowledge. He
plains of Sogdiana. It was here that he married turned his daughter—the only contender for
Roxana, the daughter of King Oxyartes. The having beaten him to the Water of Life—into a
mighty continent of India now lay before him, mermaid, and thereafter all mermaids acknowl-
and he marched forth to the Indus. Near the edge him as their father (or as spiritual brother
River Hydaspes (now Jhelum) he contested in some sources). In Macedonia he is thought to
one of his fiercest battles ever against the raja rule the whirlwinds, and in modern Greek his
Porus. At the River Hyphasis (now Beas) his name has been conflated into Megalexandros.
armies refused to continue, and reluctantly he Even now, if caught by storms while at sea,
retreated back along the Indus and along the sailors may see the mermaids appear. They ask
coast. In 324 B.C. they reached Susa, where the sailors, “Where is King Alexander the
Alexander married his second wife, Darius’s Great?” The correct reply: “Alexander the
daughter, and ended his reign as a recluse, Great lives and rules and keeps the world at
dying in Babylon of malarial fever. peace.” Provided the correct answer is given,
In the centuries that followed he became a the storms will subside and the sailors may sail
legendary figure in Greek tradition (said to on in safety.
originate from Alexandria), his exploits being In medieval romance, Alexander the Great
described in every language of the Orient and even appears in the Arthurian legends. In one
medieval Europe. The basis of these accounts such romance, Perceforest, he is made an
is the Greek Alexander Romance that possibly ancestor of Arthur himself as the result of an
dates from the third century B.C. affair with Sebille, the Lady of the Lake in his
In this extraordinary work, Alexander is time.
made the son of the Pharaoh Nectanebo, the
last pharaoh of Egypt. Using as his theme the
travels of Alexander beyond the known limits Alipes
of the world, the author brings Alexander into Greek
contact with many weird and savage beasts The winged sandals worn by and therefore an
and equally strange races of men—pygmies, attribute of Hermes, whose other attributes
lions with six legs, hairy women with wings, were the petasus and the caduceus.
and so on. He meets the Queen of the
Amazons and also visits the legendary Queen
Candace of Meroe. Alma Mater
He marches through a land of perpetual Roman
darkness in search of the Water of Life but is A title given to the goddess Ceres.
beaten in the quest by his cook or his daughter.
He explores the depths of the seas in a diving
bell and also ascends to the heavens in a bas- Aloeus
ket borne aloft by four eagles. He visits the Greek
abodes of the gods as well as the Oracle of The husband of Iphimedeia who adopted her
King Sesonchosis of Egypt at the extreme east- sons by Poseidon, the gigantic Ephialtes and
ern limit of the world. Otus, who thenceforth became known as
The recurring theme of all these adventures Aloeidae.
is Alexander’s anxiety over learning the date
of his death and his attempts to obtain immor-
tality. As a twist he meets a group of Indian Alo(e)idae
Brahmans, and they request the latter as a Greek
boon from him, suggesting that at some stage The gigantic sons, Ephialtes and Otus, of
he had succeeded in his quest. Finally human- Poseidon by Iphimedeia who later married
26 Alpheus
Aloeus, hence Aloeidae. At the age of nine the out Meleager died, whereupon Althaea took
two boys captured and imprisoned Ares for 13 her own life.
months in a brazen vessel. They then vowed to See also: Fates, the; Oeneus
outrage Hera and Artemis, and in their
attempt to reach the heavens they piled Mount
Pelion on Mount Ossa. Artemis tricked them Amalthea
into going to Naxos, where they hoped to Greek
encounter her, but she disguised herself as a It is usually said that Amalthea was the goat
doe and as she leaped between them they that nursed the infant Zeus while he was being
accidentally killed each other. Hermes then hidden by Rhea in the Dictaean Cave on Crete
released Ares, and the spirits of the Aloeidae from his father, Cronos. As a reward the goat
were committed to Tartarus, where they were was subsequently placed in the heavens as the
tied with vipers back-to-back to a pillar for all constellation Capricorn(us), one of her horns
time. becoming the Cornucopia or “horn of plenty,”
See also: Ephialtes; Otus sometimes called the Horn of Amalthea, her
skin becoming the aegis of Zeus.
However, some accounts vary by saying
Alpheus that Amalthea was the name of a nymph into
Greek whose care Zeus was placed by Rhea, and that
The god of the River Alpheus, the principal it was she who gave Zeus the she-goat to act as
river of Elis in the Peloponnesos, and the son a wet nurse. As a child Zeus was then said to
(like all the river deities) of Oceanos and have given Amalthea one of the goat’s horns,
Tethys. Falling in love with the nymph Are- promising her that it would always be miracu-
thusa, he pursued her under the sea to the lously filled with fruit.
Sicilian island of Ortygia, where she rose as a See also: Zeus
spring or fountain. It was believed that the
waters of the Alpheus in fact flowed through
the sea, not mingling with the salt waters, to Amata
rise mixed into the waters of the spring Roman
Arethusa at Syracuse. The wife of Latinus and mother by him of
See also: Oceanos; Tethys Turnus. When her son met Aeneas in single
combat she hanged herself, convinced that her
son was dead before he actually died.
Althaea See also: Aeneas; Turnus
Greek
The wife of her uncle, Oeneus, king of Cal-
ydon, and mother of Deianeira, Gorge, and Amazon
Meleager. At Meleager’s birth the Fates pro- Greek
nounced that he would die when a brand that The Amazons were a race of legendary female
was then on the fire was consumed. Althaea warriors living near the Black Sea beyond the
immediately seized the brand, extinguished it, River Thermodon in Scythia, at least according
and then hid it safely away. When Meleager to Herodotus. Some said they came from the
grew up he took part in the Calydonian Boar Caucasus and then settled in Asia Minor.
Hunt and succeeded in slaying the beast that They were said to keep their men segregated
was ravaging the countryside. However, he on an island and only mated with them in order
quarreled with his fellow huntsmen, Althaea’s to produce children, the male infants either
brothers, when he gave away the head of the being killed or sent back to be raised with the
boar to Atalanta, who, it is said, he loved. men, whereas the girls were kept and raised to
During the violent argument Meleager killed become warriors. This matriarchal society was
his uncles, and in revenge Althaea immediate- certainly believed to have a real existence, and
ly threw the brand onto the fire to fulfill the they are usually portrayed in fifth-century B.C.
prophecy of the Fates. When the brand burned art in Scythian tunics and leggings.
Amphiaraus 27
Many heroes fought them, though they often equated with honey. It was supposed to
knew that if they were defeated they would be confer immortal life, and thus the gods kept
enslaved by them. Among the heroes was their immortality by bathing in it, rubbing it
Bellerophon. One of the 12 labors of Heracles into their skin, or simply eating it. Without
was to capture the girdle of the Amazon ambrosia a god became weakened, and any
Queen Hippolyta (Hippolyte). It was either on mortal who ate it became strong and immor-
this occasion or later that Theseus, who accom- tal. Nectar, the wine of the gods, was drunk
panied Heracles, carried off the Amazon with it.
Antiope, though another tradition says that he
did not carry off Antiope but her sister
Hippolyta, and it was she that became the Ammon
mother, by Theseus, of Hippolytus. In revenge Greco-Egyptian
the Amazons attacked Athens but were defeat- A variant of Amon that appears to have been a
ed by Theseus and his army. Some accounts slight corruption used by the classical Greeks
say it was not until after the Amazons had in an attempt to give the deity a more Greek
been routed at Athens that Theseus took complexion.
Hippolyta captive. In this form he was identified with Zeus,
When the Amazons came to the aid of Troy and Alexander the Great claimed him as his
during the Trojan War, they were led by the father, therefore being represented on coins
beautiful Penthesilea, the daughter of Otrere wearing the ram’s horns that characterized the
and Ares. She was killed by Achilles, and it is god. The Alexander Romance, however, says
said that at the very moment that he plunged that Alexander the Great was the son of the last
his sword into her body they fell in love with pharaoh, the wizard Nectanebo, who came to
each other. his mother in the depths of night wearing a
Alexander the Great was said to have con- long robe and the horns of a ram.
quered the Amazons and to have met their The temple of Amon at Siwa Oasis in Libya
queen, Thalestris, but, according to some ver- was the site of the famous Oracle of Ammon.
sions, she failed to seduce him. The Amazons Herodotus tells us that he was told by the
were also said to have built the original temple priests of Thebes that two priestesses were
of Artemis at Ephesus. abducted by the Phoenicians, one being sold in
Later accounts of this race of warrior Libya, the other in Greece. These priestesses,
women derived their name from a false ety- the Theban priests said, were the founders of
mology of A-mazon or “breastless,” leading divination in both countries and set up the
to the popular claim that they cut off one original oracles there.
breast, usually their right, to facilitate their
use of the bow.
The term Amazon has come to depict any Amor
tall, strong, fierce, and attractive woman, or a Roman
female warrior. An alternative name for Cupid, the god of
See also: Achilles; Bellerophon; Penthesilea love, and the equivalent of the Greek Eros.
Astronomical: The name Amor has been
given to one of the smaller asteroids.
Ambologera
Greek
Epithet of the goddess Aphrodite meaning Amphiaraus
“she who postpones old age.” Greek
The father of Alcmaeon and Amphilochus, he
killed his uncle, Talaus of Argos, drove out
Ambrosia Adrastus, and so became king. However, to
Greco-Roman quiet their quarrel, Amphiaraus married
Greek: “immortal.” The food of the gods in Eriphyle, Adrastus’s sister, who was given the
both Greek and Roman mythology, which is authority to arbitrate any future disagreement
28 Amphiareion
between the two cousins. When Adrastus was Thebes. Following that successful campaign
preparing the expedition of the Seven Against against Thebes he traveled overland to
Thebes, Amphiaraus, in his role as seer, proph- Colophon and joined with the seer Mopsus in
esied the death of all the leaders save Adrastus founding the city of Mallus, but they killed
himself, and so refused to go. However, each other in a fight for its possession.
Polyneices, whose claim to the throne of See also: Seven Against Thebes
Thebes was the reason for the expedition,
bribed Eriphyle by giving her the famous
necklace of Harmonia, and she arbitrated that Amphion
Amphiaraus should accompany the expedi- Greek
tion. He duly went but made his sons swear to Son of Antiope by Zeus and twin brother of
kill Eriphyle in revenge. Zethus. Antiope was divorced by her hus-
The seven leaders—hence the expedition’s band, Lycus, who then married Dirce, who
name, the Seven Against Thebes—were treated his first wife cruelly. She then married
Adrastus, Amphiaraus, Polyneices, Tydeus, Epopeus of Sicyon. The twins were exposed at
Capaneus, Hippomedon, and Parthenopaeus. birth on Mount Cithaeron, where they were
The death at Nemea of another member of the brought up either by a shepherd or cattlemen.
party, Opheltes, was interpreted as another In maturity they learned what had happened
omen that they were doomed to failure. and returned to Thebes to take their revenge
In the battle at Thebes, Capaneus was struck by killing Lycus and Dirce, who was tied to the
by Zeus’s lightning while attempting to scale horns of a bull and her body thrown into a
the walls. Hippomedon, Parthenopaeus, and fountain that thenceforth bore her name. They
Polyneices were all killed. Melanippus was then took possession of Thebes.
mortally wounded by Amphiaraus, who was Next they fortified the lower part of the city
then pursued by Periclymenus. Zeus threw his below the Cadmea, Amphion moving his
thunderbolt and caused the ground to open share of the stones by playing so skillfully on
up and swallow Amphiaraus, chariot and all. the lyre given him by Hermes (increasing the
At his loss Adrastus lost heart, and the expedi- number of strings on the instrument from four
tion was defeated. to seven) that they moved into place of their
However, Amphiaraus reemerged from own accord. The brothers then jointly ruled the
earth near Oropos in Attica, where he was city, Zethus marrying Thebe, eponym of the
revered in classical times as a healing and orac- city, and Amphion marrying Niobe; when
ular deity. His sanctuary, the Amphiareion, Niobe’s seven sons and seven daughters were
became an important place of pilgrimage, killed by Apollo and Artemis, and she turned
especially for the sick. by Zeus into a stone on Mount Sipylus,
See also: Polyneices; Seven Against Thebes Amphion also died, either by his own hand or
that of Apollo.
See also: Antiope; Dirce; Lycus; Thebes; Zethus
Amphiareion
Greek
The sanctuary of Amphiaraus at Oropos in Amphitheia
Attica where he was revered as a healing and Greek
oracular deity in classical times. The sanctuary The wife of Autolycus and mother by him of
became an important place of pilgrimage, Anticleia, thus the grandmother of Odysseus.
especially for the sick.
Amphitrite
Amphilochus Greek
Greek Daughter of Nereus to whom Poseidon
Son of Amphiaraus, brother of Alcmaeon, and turned his attentions after having been told
a seer like his father. He joined his brother on that his first intended wife, Thetis, would
the second expedition of the Seven Against bear a son greater than his father. At first
Amulius 29
Amyclae Ancaeus
Greek Greek
One of the most sacred sites in the 1. The son of Lycurgus of Arcadia. He was
Peloponnesos, a sanctuary a few miles from responsible for killing the Calydonian Boar and
Sparta that was consecrated to Hyacinthos. accompanied Jason as one of the Argonauts.
2. The son of Poseidon and one of the
Argonauts. He took the helm of the Argo Navis
Amycus after the death of Tiphys.
Greek
King of the savage Bebryces on the island of
Bebrycos in Bithynia. He was the son of Anchises
Poseidon and an expert boxer. Amycus con- Greco-Roman
trived to kill all strangers that came to his king- King of Dardanus on Mount Ida, the descen-
dom by challenging them to a boxing match, dant of Tros (eponym of Troy), grandson of
but when the Argonauts landed on Bebrycos, Ilus, nephew of Laomedon and cousin of
his challenge was met by Polydeuces, who Priam. When Zeus grew tired of Aphrodite’s
killed him. mockery of the other gods and goddesses,
See also: Bebrycos whom she caused to fall in love with mortals,
Zeus caused her to fall in love with Anchises.
Appearing to him on Mount Ida in the guise of
Amymone a beautiful mortal maiden, Aphrodite lay with
Greek Anchises, but when he discovered her true
One of the fifty daughters of Danaus and thus identity he was extremely frightened.
a Danaid. When she was sent to find water in However, Aphrodite, already knowing she
arid Argolis she began to chase a deer, but was pregnant from their union, reassured him
when she cast her javelin she disturbed a satyr, and promised to get nymphs to raise the boy
who in turn pursued her. Coming to her res- until he reached the age of five, after which he
cue, Poseidon hurled his trident at the satyr, would be returned to Anchises, who was to
frightening it away. Having laid with say that the boy was the son of a nymph. This
Amymone he removed his trident from the boy, his son by Aphrodite, was Aeneas.
rock into which it had stuck, and the spring of When Anchises was drunk he boasted of his
Lerna gushed forth. This spring is alternative- union with the goddess, and as a result Zeus
ly known as Amymone after her. struck him with a thunderbolt and left him
See also: Danaus lame in one leg and blind. However, some say
that it was Aphrodite herself, not Zeus, who
inflicted these injuries on Anchises. Following
Amythaon the Trojan War he was carried on the back of
Greek his son, Aeneas, to safety through the
The father of the seer Melampus and also of Dardanian Gate; he accompanied his son and
Bias. the other Trojan refugees as far as Drepanum
Andromache 31
in Sicily, where he died, although the cave inhabited by a lion from whose paw he
Arcadians said that Anchises was buried at the removed a thorn. Later, after being recap-
foot of Mount Anchision in Arcadia. tured and brought back to Rome, he was sen-
In Roman mythology he became the father tenced to face a lion in the arena. There the
of Aeneas by Venus. lion he faced held out his paw to him, recog-
See also: Aeneas; Tros nizing him as his old friend who had
removed the thorn, and refused to harm
Androcles. Due to this he was freed by
Anchision Emperor Tiberius, some say along with the
Greek lion, which he subsequently took around
An Arcadian mountain at whose foot the Rome on a lead. His story was told by Aulus
Arcadian people said Anchises, the father of Gellius in the second century A.D.
Aeneas, was buried.
Androg~eos, ~eus
Ancus Mar~cius, ~tius Greek
Roman The son of King Minos of Crete and wife
The legendary third successor to Romulus as Pasiphaë. Two versions give the account of his
king, thus the fourth king of Rome, ruling death. In the first he was killed while fighting
from 640 B.C. to 616 B.C. and succeeding Tullus the Bull of Marathon, which Minos attributed
Hostilius. He was the son of the daughter of to Athenian treachery. In the second, having
Numa Pompilius and regarded as the found- won every contest in the Panathenaic Games
ing ancestor of the Marcian family. He is spo- (or Panathenaea), he was slain at the instiga-
ken of as the first king to bridge the River Tiber tion of Aegeus. In any event, the revenge of
and to colonize Ostia; Virgil, unlike other writ- Minos remains the same. For the death of his
ers, speaks of him as a braggart and a mur- son Minos demanded the yearly tribute of
derer. He was succeeded by Tarquin the Elder. seven youths and seven maidens from Athens
to be fed to the Minotaur.
See also: Minos; Minotaur; Pasiphaë
Ancyra
Turkey
Ancient name, subsequently Angora, of Andromache
Ankara, the capital of Turkey. It is the site of a Greek
temple dedicated by the Galatians to Rome and Daughter of Eëtion, king of Thebe in Cilicia,
Augustus that contained the Monumentum faithful wife of Hector, the eldest son of Priam,
Ancyranum (still extant), a marble inscription and mother by him of Astyanax. After the fall
of the exploits of Augustus, duplicating the of Troy, when the baby Astyanax was flung to
bronze tablets ordered to be cut in Rome by the his death from the walls of the city, she was
emperor. awarded to Neoptolemus, son of Achilles, and
bore him three sons. Either after Neopto-
lemus’s death or when he married Hermione,
Andraemon Andromache married Hector’s brother, Hel-
Greek enus, who had fled to Epirus. She bore him a
The husband of Gorge and father of Thoas who son, and her descendants became the rulers of
succeeded Oeneus as the king of Calydon. Epirus.
See also: Hector
Androcl~es, ~us
Roman Andromache
Traditionally a legendary Roman slave who Greek
ran away from his tyrannical and cruel mas- Tragic play by Euripides first performed c. 426
ter into the African desert, where he hid in a B.C. In it Hermione, wife of Neoptolemus,
32 Andromeda
seeks revenge on Andromache, her husband’s the sky as the constellation that bears her
concubine, blaming her for her own childless- name, along with husband Perseus, father
ness, but she fails in her attempt to murder Cepheus, and mother Cassiopeia, the latter
Andromache and her son. Neoptolemus is being placed upside down to humiliate her for
murdered by Orestes, one of Hermione’s for- her boastfulness.
mer suitors. Astronomical: Andromeda is a major constel-
lation of the northern celestial hemisphere that
is visible in the autumn. Its main feature is the
Andromeda Andromeda galaxy; the star Andromedae (Al-
Greek pheratz) forms one corner of the famous Square
The beautiful daughter of Cepheus, king of of Pegasus. The Andromeda galaxy is 2.2 mil-
Aethiopia (Ethiopia), and Queen Cassiopeia. lion light-years away and is the most distant
When Cassiopeia boasted that Andromeda object visible to the naked eye, also being the
was more beautiful than the Nereides, and largest member of the Local Group of Galaxies,
when they had complained of this to Po- being about 200,000 light-years across.
seidon, that god sent a sea monster, Cetus, to The constellation Andromeda lies at ap-
ravage the land. According to the Oracle of proximate celestial coordinates: right ascen-
Ammon the only way to appease Cetus was to sion 23h to +3h, declination +20° to +50°.
sacrifice Andromeda to it. See also: Aegis; Cassiopeia; Perseus
Chained naked to a sea cliff, Andromeda
was rescued when Perseus, on his way home
from slaying Medusa, rode overhead on Androphonos
Pegasus. Learning her plight from Cepheus Greek
and Cassiopeia, he offered to rescue Andro- Literally “man killer,” a name used for the
meda provided she became his wife. Her par- goddess Aphrodite and reflecting older as-
ents quickly agreed. Perseus then flew over pects of her cult.
Cetus on Pegasus and disposed of the monster
in one of two ways. Either he simply felled it
with his sickle, the same sickle he had used to Anius
behead Medusa, or he simply held the head of Greek
the Gorgon aloft, and Cetus was turned to The son and priest of Apollo in Delos whose
stone. three daughters had been dedicated to
However, Cepheus and Cassiopeia were Dionysos. As a gift Dionysos gave the three
reluctant to keep their promise to Perseus, say- girls the power to produce corn, oil, and wine
ing that Andromeda had already been at will, and when the Greek host sailed for
betrothed to Phineus, her uncle, who, with his Troy, Anius and his daughters were taken
followers, arrived at Perseus and Andromeda’s along to keep the fleet abundantly supplied
wedding and attempted to seize the bride. with provisions.
Perseus overcame them by holding the head of
Medusa aloft, and they all turned to stone.
Leaving Cepheus’s court, the newly mar- Ankara
ried couple traveled to Seriphos, where they Turkish
found that Danaë and Dictys had been forced Modern name for Ancyra, the capital of
by Polydectes to take refuge in a temple. Once Turkey.
again Perseus used the head of Medusa and
turned the king and his court to stone. Now
Perseus gave the head to Athene, who placed Anna
it in the center of her aegis. Roman
Perseus and Andromeda, in the company of According to Varro (d. 27 B.C.), Anna was the
Danaë, then traveled to Argos before proceed- sister of Dido, and it was she, not Dido, who
ing to jointly found Mycenae with her hus- killed herself for the love of Aeneas.
band. After her death the gods placed her in See also: Dido
Antigone 33
later to be joined by Ismene, returning to was away fighting in the Trojan War. When
Thebes only after his death. Later, when her Odysseus returned he used the great bow of
brother, Polyneices, was killed fighting with Eurytus to kill Antinous.
the Seven Against Thebes, a rebellion aimed at
dethroning her brother, Eteocles, she went 2. Roman
against the orders of the new king, Creon, and A beautiful Bithynian youth from Claud-
buried Polyneices’ body at night, thus comply- iopolis who became the favorite of Emperor
ing with the wishes of the gods. Hadrian and his companion on all his jour-
Two versions exist of Antigone’s fate after she neys. He was made a god by Hadrian after his
defied King Creon. In the first, the subject of the drowning in the River Nile, near Besa, in A.D.
tragedy Antigone by Sophocles, Creon ordered 122, perhaps by suicide. Hadrian also founded
that she be immured as a punishment, but the city of Antinopolis on the banks of the Nile
rather than face burial while alive she hanged in his memory.
herself; Haemon, the son of Creon to whom she See also: Odysseus; Penelope
was betrothed, committed suicide alongside
her. In the second version, Creon turned
Antigone over to Haemon for punishment, but Antiope
he smuggled her away, and she later bore him a Greek
son. When Creon refused to forgive them, 1. A queen of the Amazons who was carried
Haemon killed both himself and Antigone. off by Theseus when he accompanied Heracles
See also: Creon; Jocasta; Oedipus to their country. According to another tradi-
tion, Theseus did not take Antiope but instead
took her sister, Hippolyte; by whichever
Antigone Amazon queen he took Theseus became the
Greek father of Hippolytus.
Tragedy by Sophocles that was written c. 411 2. The daughter of Nycteus of Thebes, or of
B.C. In it Antigone buries her dead brother, the River Asophus. She was of such beauty
Polyneices, in defiance of the Theban king, that she attracted the attentions of Zeus, who
Creon, but in accordance with the wishes of made her pregnant, but she had to flee from
the gods. As punishment Creon imprisons her father’s anger and then married Epopeus,
Antigone in a cave, but after receiving warn- king of Sicyon. Out of shame Nycteus killed
ing that he has defied the gods, he goes to the himself, but not before making his brother,
cave, where he finds that Antigone has hanged King Lycus of Thebes, promise to punish her.
herself. At Eleutherae Antiope gave birth to twin boys,
See also: Creon Amphion and Zethus, who were exposed on
Mount Cithaeron and subsequently raised by
cattle herders.
Antiloch(us) Returning to Thebes, Antiope was impris-
Greek oned by Lycus and cruelly treated by his wife,
The gallant son of Nestor who, too young to sail Dirce. Some accounts say that Antiope was
with the original expedition from Aulis, joined Lycus’s first wife, divorced by him for her
his father when old enough. He was killed by infidelity with Zeus, and it was Dirce’s jeal-
Memnon while defending his father. After his ousy of her that caused her to be treated
death he dwelled with other heroes on the badly. However, one day Antiope was mirac-
White Island or the Islands of the Blessed. ulously freed, and just as Dirce was about to
See also: Memnon have her tied to the horns of a wild bull, two
young men turned up and recognized
Antiope as their mother. These youths were
Antin(i)ous Amphion and Zethus, and they inflicted on
1. Greek Dirce the punishment she had planned for
The leader of the unruly mob of potential suit- their mother, her body being thrown into a
ors who besieged Penelope while Odysseus fountain that thenceforth carried her name.
Aphrodite 35
Then they killed Lycus and seized the city of around the end of the third century B.C. from
Thebes. Sicily that Venus took on her attributes and
Dionysos, who favored Dirce, now drove legends. However, the Julian family claimed
Antiope mad until she was cured by Phocus, their descent from her through her grandson,
son of Ornytion. Antiope married him, and Aeneas. Her cult was of eastern origin, seem-
when they died they were buried together at ingly Anatolian, her counterpart being the
Tithorea in Phocis. orgiastic Astarte/Ashtoreth of Phoenician
See also: Amazon; Dirce; Hippolyte; Lycus; Theseus Syria or Ishtar of Babylon, though it is also
thought that she may have derived from a
Minoan goddess. The Greeks recognized her
Aphaia oriental nature, and Herodotus states that her
Greek oldest shrine was at Ashkelon. In Roman times
A goddess whose purpose, characteristics, and she was worshipped in Syria in the form of a
attributes are not clear but to whom a temple fish as the Syrian Goddess.
was built at Aegina c. 490 B.C. Older aspects of her cult survive in her var-
ious names. She was Apostrophia, or “she
who turns herself away”; Androphonos, “man
Apharetidae killer”; Tymborychos, “gravedigger”; Anosia,
Greek “the unholy”; Epitymbidia, “she upon the
Names used to collectively refer to Idas and tombs”; and, above all else, Pasiphaessa, “the
Lynceus, as they were the children of far shining queen of the Underworld.” The
Aphareus. Athenians regarded her as the oldest Moirae—
See also: Idas; Lynceus the senior of the Fates, and as goddess of love
Aphrodite also collected special epithets, like
Kallipygos, or “she of the beautiful buttocks”;
Aphareus Morpho, “the shapely”; and Ambologera, “she
Greek who postpones old age.”
The king of Messene and father of Idas and Her worship in Hellenic Greece was derived
Lynceus, who were hence called Apharetidae. from the earlier worship of the Great Goddess
of pre-Hellenic times. She was worshipped as
a fertility goddess in Paphos, her chief cult cen-
Aphidnae ter, from where the Phoenicians took her wor-
Greek ship to Cythera, the supposed place of her
The village in Attica where Theseus hid the birth (hence her surname, Cytherea). It was
maiden Helen in the care of his mother; here not until possibly as late as the eighth century
she was rescued by the Dioscuri, Castor and B.C. that her fertility cult was established on the
Polydeuces, after Academus revealed the hid- Acrocorinthos (Akrocorinth) above Corinth.
ing place to them. There was a similar sanctuary on Mount Eryx
See also: Dioscuri; Theseus in Sicily, the cult being introduced into Rome
sometime around the end of the third century
B.C. In all these places Aphrodite was served
Aphrodite by young girls who emphasized her cult of
Greek sacred prostitution, a trait reflected in the myth
One of the 12 elite Olympian deities, of the daughters of Cinyras, who became her
Aphrodite was the goddess of love (especially votaries. In other Greek states her worship
sensual), feminine beauty, marriage, and fertil- focused more on her role as protectress of the
ity and was the patroness of prostitutes. city. In Athens during the Arrephoria festival
Identified by the Romans with Venus, though two maidens carried phallic symbols to her
Venus’s origins were markedly different, as shrine, thus demonstrating that she still func-
she was originally the patroness of vegetable tioned as a fertility goddess.
gardens. It was not until the cult of Aphrodite According to Hesiod, Aphrodite was born
proper had been introduced into Rome out of sea foam that had been fertilized by
36 Aphrodite
goddess herself, thereby earning her undying Ionians, who lived in the islands and mainland
hatred). She also carried Paris out of harm’s of Anatolia or Asia Minor and acquainted his
way when he was losing in single combat to worship with that of a Hittite divinity wor-
Menelaus, precipitating the resumption of all- shipped in Lycia and hence called him Lycius
out fighting. (though this name may be connected with the
Her priestess at Sestos was the tragic Hero, word lycos or “wolf”). His name may be cog-
who killed herself in grief when her lover, nate with the Hittite god Apulunas or possibly
Leander, drowned while swimming across the with the Spartan apella, “to drive away.” It may
Hellespont from Abydos on the opposite shore even be derived, at least in part, as suggested
one stormy night to visit her. by other titles of the god, from polios or
Astronomical: The name Aphrodite Terra has “gleaming.” Both Lycius and Phoebus seem to
been applied to an area of high ground be connected with the idea of light and his
revealed by radar mapping of the planet identity as a sun god.
Venus, which, of course, is associated with her. His Dorian shrine was at Delphi at the
See also: Adonis; Aeneas; Hephaistos southern foot of Mount Parnassus, near the
Castalian spring, both mountain and spring
being sacred to him. Here he was called the
Apis Pythian or Loxias, the Ambiguous. His Ionian
Greek shrine was at Delos in the Cyclades, where he
The son of Phoroneus. was called Lycius and Phoebus, or “Shining,”
and was more closely associated with his twin
sister, Artemis. It was thought he traveled from
Apollo the shrine at Delphi to spend each winter feast-
Greco-Roman ing with the Hyperboreans, with Dionysos
One of the 12 great Olympian deities whose reigning in his stead.
worship was paramount in shaping the char- The Delian Homeric Hymn of c. 700 B.C. says
acter of Greek civilization. Apollo was the that Apollo and Artemis were twin offspring
most popular of all Greek gods and presided of Zeus and Leto. However, prior to their birth
over many aspects of life. He was the god of the jealous Hera made Leto wander from place
prophecy and divine distance, of beneficent to place until she gave birth to Artemis under
power and righteous punishment. He pre- a palm tree at Ortygia and to Apollo under a
sided over law and made men aware of their palm tree on the island of Delos, which until
guilt, also cleansing them of it. He was god of that time had been a floating island but was
music, poetry, and dance, archery, pastoral anchored to the seabed by Poseidon to steady
life, and, as Nomios or “the Herdsman,” of it for Apollo’s birth (though some say Zeus
agriculture, presiding over crops and herbs accomplished this by thinking of his son). To
and protecting flocks from wolves. He also this day Delos is still considered as being so
protected animals from disease and was the sacred that no one may be born or allowed to
patron of farmers, poets, and physicians. In die there, no one may stay there at night, and
later times he also became recognized as the the sick and parturient are ferried to Ortygia
god of light and the sun, as his forename, (modern Magali Dili).
Phoebus, indicated. When he grew up Apollo left Delos for the
His mythology suggests that he was a com- Greek mainland to seek a place to establish a
paratively late addition to the Greek pantheon, sanctuary. He first came to Telphusa in
at one time being regarded as borrowed from Boeotia, but the nymph who resided there
Near Eastern mythology. He has no obvious (also called Telphusa) did not want to be both-
counterpart in the other Indo-European pan- ered with hordes of pilgrims and so sent him
theons and apparently is not found in the off to Crisa, that name as yet unused. There he
Linear B texts of Mycenaean Greece. His wor- came to the sanctuary of Mother Earth where
ship probably derived from two sources: the he killed the serpent Python, a clear sign of the
Dorians, who entered Greece in about 1100 B.C. new Olympian regime replacing that of the
and reached as far south as Crete, and the old earth-matriarch religion. After this hard
38 Apollo
struggle he realized that Telphusa had been ed the flocks. While there he helped Admetus
playing a trick on him, so he returned and to win the hand of Alcestis and exacted the
threw her over a cliff before establishing a promise from the Fates that Admetus would
sanctuary there as well. Then he set off and be restored to life provided one of his family
waylaid some sailors by rushing their ship in died in his stead.
the form of a dolphin, making them take him Though Apollo remained unmarried, he
back to Crisa, renaming it on his return. The loved many mortal women, among them
name used before Crisa (named after the dol- Cyrene, the mother of Aristaeus, Coronis, the
phin) remains unknown. The first temple to mother of Asclepios (her infidelity brought her
Apollo here was built by the heroes death from Artemis’s arrows), Manto, the
Trophonius and Agamedes. mother of the seer Mopsus, and Aria, the
The Delphic Hymn, however, tells a different mother of Miletus. He also seduced the
story. Four days after his birth Apollo called nymph Dryope, and his love for the nymph
out for a bow and arrows and went in search Marpessa went unrequited, for she preferred
of his mother’s enemy. He sought out the she- his rival, Idas. When he pursued the nymph
dragon Python on Mount Parnassus, traveling Daphne she cried out for help and was turned
from Delos to Delphi on a dolphin, as in the into a laurel bush, which henceforth became
other version of this story, and killed her, tak- sacred to the god. Thereafter Apollo wore a
ing over the Oracle of Earth at Delphi. Here his laurel branch or wreath on his head as a sym-
priestess, the Pythoness, became the mouth- bol of his love and grief. Both he and Posedion
piece of his oracles, which were imparted in sought the love of Hestia, though she swore by
hexameter verse. To purify Apollo Zeus com- Zeus to always remain a virgin.
manded him to visit the Vale of Tempe and to Apollo may have been the father of Troilus
preside over the Pythian Games that were to by Hecuba and also loved her daughter by
be held in honor of Python. Another legend Priam, Cassandra. He bestowed on her the gift
makes the dispossessed creature a she-dragon of prophecy on the condition that she become
by the name of Delphyne, the “Womblike”— his lover. However, when she disappointed
hence Delphi. him he decreed that she should never be
Hera, still implacable with her jealousy of believed. He also displayed a homosexual
Zeus’s philandering with Leto, sent the giant inclination, as did many gods, with his love for
Tityus to violate Leto as she came from Delos Hyacinthos, a Spartan prince who was in ori-
with Artemis, though some say that it was gin an earth deity. When this beautiful youth
Artemis who was attacked. This attempt failed was killed by the god’s jealous rival,
when Tityus was killed by the twins’ arrows. Zephyrus, Apollo caused the Hyacinth flower
When Ge created Typhon to avenge the to spring up from his blood. Some versions,
death of the giants, and Typhon attacked however, attribute Hyacinthos’s death to a
Olympus, Apollo fled to Egypt in the form of quoit (used in a throwing game) thrown by
a crow, accompanied by the other Olympian Apollo himself. He was also said to have loved
deities, who took other animal forms. the boy Kyparissos (cypress), a kind of double
Not always subservient to Zeus, Apollo of Apollo himself.
once joined in a conspiracy led by Hera, and in Apollo had many and varied characteristics.
the company of Poseidon he put Zeus in He was a destroyer, as his arrows indicated,
chains, only to see him be freed by Thetis and and sudden deaths were attributed to his will.
Briareus. As punishment he was sent with As Apollo Smintheus (mouse god), his archery
Poseidon as a bondsman to King Laomedon; represents the sending out of his arrows of dis-
by playing his lyre and tending the flocks he ease. It was in this guise that he sent plagues
helped the sea god build the unassailable walls among the Greek hordes that were besieging
of Troy. On another occasion Apollo, furious Troy in revenge for the abduction and impris-
that Zeus had killed his son, Asclepios, retali- onment of Chryseis, the daughter of his priest
ated by killing the Cyclopes. As punishment at Troy, Chryses. He also guided the fatal
Zeus sent Apollo to serve King Admetus of arrow shot by Paris that struck Achilles in his
Pherae in Thessaly, where, once again, he tend- heel, his only vulnerable spot.
Apollo 39
In conjunction with his sister, he killed the placate the original inhabitants they held
Niobids, the children of Niobe, in revenge for funeral games in honor of Python, these being
her having boasted that as she had seven sons the Pythian Games that Zeus commanded
and seven daughters (some say six of each) Apollo to preside over. The Delphic shrine was
she was superior to Leto, who only had two. supposed to contain the Omphalos, or “navel
Apollo killed the boys (some say he killed stone of the world,” which fell to this spot
only five of the six) and Artemis the girls. when Cronos regurgitated the stone Ge had
Niobe was turned by Zeus or Apollo into a given him to swallow instead of the baby
stone on Mount Sipylus from which her tears Zeus. Over this Pythia, Apollo’s priestess and
trickled as a stream. Apollo was also said to regarded as his mystical bride, sat on a tripod,
have killed Amphion, though some say he uttering his oracle after becoming intoxicated
took his own life. through chewing laurel leaves. These oracles
Laocoön, a priest of both Apollo and were then interpreted by his priests.
Poseidon at Troy, supported the declaration by The remains at Delphi are extensive, and
Cassandra that the Trojan Horse held warriors, they include the ruins of Apollo’s temple (built
and even went so far as to throw a spear at it, during the fourth century B.C. to replace one
causing a clatter of arms from within. destroyed by an earthquake) and a series of
However, due to Laocoön having previously treasuries that contained the gifts of thanks
offended Apollo by marrying despite of his received from city states that consulted the
vow of celibacy, the warning went unheeded, oracle; of these the Athenian treasury is now
for Apollo now sent two enormous serpents the best preserved. Also at Delphi is the sta-
that crushed both the priest and his two sons dium that would have been the focus of the
to death. This was wrongly interpreted as a Pythian Games.
punishment for smiting the horse, the gift of As wounds and diseases were often treated
the gods, and it was welcomed within the city with incantation Apollo also became the god
amid great feasting and revelry. of song and music and was said to have
In direct contrast to his aspect as the received the lyre from Hermes, its seven
destroyer he was also the protector, warding strings being associated with the seven Greek
off evil, as his fatherhood of Asclepios vowels. Hermes, when only a few hours old,
affirmed, in which aspect he was given the title had gone to Pieria and stolen some of Apollo’s
Paian or Paieon (healer). He also defended oxen, which he drove to Pylos; returning to
Orestes against the Erinnyes at the Areopagus Cyllene he invented the lyre by stringing a tor-
on the grounds that motherhood is less impor- toise shell with cowgut. Apollo denounced the
tant than fatherhood, although another tradi- thief to Zeus when he discovered who it was,
tion said that rather than saving him from his and Zeus ordered the return of the beasts.
madness in this manner, Apollo advised However, when Apollo heard the lyre he was
Orestes that he would be freed from madness so delighted that he accepted it in exchange for
if he fetched the statue of Artemis from the the oxen, after which he became the firm
Tauric Chersonese. Apollo also protected cattle friend of Hermes, restoring him in the eyes of
and flocks, as his compulsory service to both Zeus. None surpassed him in music, not even
Admetus and Laomedon indicated, an aspect Pan or the satyr Marsyas, who found the mag-
that later writers particularly emphasized. As ical, self-playing flute that Athene had thrown
Apollo Aguieus he was also the god of roads. away. Marysas once challenged Apollo to a
As the god of prophecy Apollo could confer musical contest judged by Midas. When
that gift to gods and mortals alike, and of all Midas ruled in favor of Marysas, Apollo flayed
the centers of his worship, Delphi was the Marysas alive and turned Midas’s ears into
most famous. The shrine was possibly estab- those of an ass. A variant on this story has
lished by a pre-Hellenic people who wor- Midas judging Pan to be the better musician,
shipped Mother Earth. This was seized by the leading Apollo to curse the king with ass ears.
invading Hellenes, who killed the oracular ser- He also gave a lyre to Orpheus, which the lat-
pent, Python, and took over the oracle in the ter used to charm Hades into releasing
name of their own god, Apollo. However, to Eurydice.
40 Apollo Aguieus
Apollo was the leader of the Muses, often Astronomical: A group of small asteroids with
relocated from Mount Helicon to Mount orbits crossing that of earth are named after the
Parnassus due to this association. In this posi- first of their kind, which was discovered in 1932,
tion he was known as Musagetes. He valued named Apollo, and then lost until 1973. The
order and moderation in all things and Apollo asteroids are so small and faint that they
delighted in the foundation of new towns, his are difficult to locate, except when close to earth.
oracle always being consulted before any Apollo itself is only about 2 kilometers across.
new town was founded. Legend also says Apollo asteroids can, from time to time, col-
that Apollo sent a crow to fetch water in his lide with earth. In 1937 the Apollo asteroid
cup, but the crow dallied, and when ques- Hermes passed 800,000 kilometers (500,000
tioned by Apollo the crow lied to him. In his miles) from earth, the closest observed
anger Apollo decreed that from that time for- approach of an asteroid, and it is thought by
ward crows should be black in color. He then some that a member of the Apollo group of
placed the deceitful crow in the sky as the asteroids collided with earth about 65 million
constellation Corvus and, next to him, placed years ago, leading to the extinction of the
the cup as the constellation Crater, from dinosaurs. For details on the constellations
which the crow is forever forbidden to drink. Corvus, Crater, and Sagitta see the relevant
He is also said to have placed the arrow with entries.
which he slew the Cyclopes in revenge for See also: Artemis; Delphi; Hyperborean; Marsyas;
Zeus killing his son, Asclepios, in the heavens Muses, the; Niobe; Pan; Python
as the constellation Sagitta, though some say
that this was the arrow Apollo used to shoot
the vulture that daily prayed on the liver of Apollo Aguieus
Prometheus. Greek
In later writers Apollo was identified with An aspect of the god Apollo in which he was
the sun god, the result of Egyptian influences, considered the god of the roads.
at which time his sister, Artemis, was identi-
fied with the moon. Homer, however, writing
in an earlier period, makes Helios the god of Apollodorus
the sun a completely distinct god to Apollo; Greek
just like Selene, the moon goddess was distinct An Athenian scholar (fl. c. 140 B.C.), he was the
from Artemis. author of a work on mythology and one on
Apollo also had a priest named Abaris who etymology; best known for his Chronicle of
lived without food and to whom he had given Greek history from the time of the fall of Troy.
a golden arrow on which the priest rode.
The worship of Apollo, typical of all that
was most radiant in the Greek mind, has no
Apollonius of Rhodes or Apollonius
direct counterpart in Roman religion, and it Rhodius
was not until the end of the third century B.C. Greek
that the Romans adopted his worship from the Greek poet (c. 220–180 B.C.) born in Alexandria;
Greeks, the date given in the Sibylline Books as longtime resident of Rhodes, he wrote many
431 B.C., although this was not to Rome itself works on grammar and the epic Argonautica,
but rather to Cumae. During a famine Rome which tells the story of Jason and the
imported grain from Cumae, and the cult was Argonauts, noted more for its learning than its
adopted. This first Cumaean Apollo was more poetic genius.
prophetic than the later Roman god and was
associated with healing. The later god differed
little from his earlier Greek counterpart and Apostrophia
was greatly revered by Emperor Augustus. Greek
Apollo has the distinction of being the only Literally “she who turns herself away,” a name
member of the Greek pantheon to be absorbed given to Aphrodite and recalling the older
into Roman tradition without a name change. aspects of her cult.
Arab 41
Aquarius
Greek Ara
When Ganymede, cupbearer to the gods, died
he was transferred to the heavens as the con- Greek
stellation Aquarius. The altar of the centaur at which Zeus burned
Astronomical: Literally “the Water Carrier.” incense to celebrate the victory of the gods
Recognized from ancient times, Aquarius is over the Titans. Afterwards he placed it in the
part of the zodiac, the sun being within its heavens as the constellation that bears its
boundaries between 17 February and 13 name.
March. The constellation is usually seen as a Astronomical: The constellation Ara lies in
man pouring water from a jar and is located in the southern celestial hemisphere, appearing
the watery part of the sky, known to the upside down from the northern hemisphere,
ancient Babylonians as “the sea.” with the altar flame “rising” downwards. It
Straddling both the ecliptic and celestial lies between approximate right ascensions
equators, this constellation lies mostly in the 18h05m and 17h29m, declination –68° to –45°.
southern celestial hemisphere between
approximate right ascensions 23h55m and
21h25m, declination +3° to -26°. Arab
This zodiacal sign has achieved special sig- Modern Greek
nificance in the mythology of the twentieth In modern Greek folklore Arab is an evil spirit
century because of the pronouncements of in the form of a black man who lives at the bot-
astrologers that the world is shifting out of the tom of a well smoking his pipe. This belief has
2,000-year-old cycle of the Age of Pisces, the been associated with the ancient custom of sac-
fish, into Aquarius. The exact date of the tran- rificing a Muslim or a Jew at the sinking of a
sition is a matter of great astrological contro- new well.
42 Ara~chne, ~kne
Arctos
Arcadia Greek
Greek The name given to the image of Callisto after
An ancient mountainous Greek region in the she had been transferred to the heavens by
central Peloponnesos that was famous for its Zeus to save her from being hunted down, at
bucolic simplicity of life. The Arcadians Hera’s insistence, by Artemis.
claimed to be born “before the sun and moon,”
in other words autochthonous, like the
Athenians and other regional Greeks. They Ardea
were credited with the invention of amoebean Roman
singing (singing in turn), and their land One of the original settlements, in the vicinity
became an important literary landscape in the of the Alban Mount, of a wave of immigrants
pastoral tradition. who reached Latium c. 1200 B.C., the others
The region also featured prominently in being Alba Longa, Aricia, and Lavinium.
Greek mythology. Pan was originally, and Ardea was the home of Prince Turnus, who
chiefly remained, an Arcadian deity. Hermes disputed the right to marry Lavinia with
was said to have been born in a cavern on Aeneas. It was also the town that Tarquinius
Mount Cyllene in Arcadia, and it was there was besieging when the people of Collatia, led
that his worship flourished, often to be found by Brutus, marched on Rome and persuaded
in the company of Pan and the Muses. the people to shut the gates against Tarquinius,
Lycaon, a king of Arcadia, once entertained after which he and his sons fled into exile and
Zeus at a banquet where he offered the great Rome became a republic.
god human flesh to eat in a test of his divinity.
Lycaon was killed by lightning or turned into
a wolf, the latter event being more likely as Areopagus
ancient Greeks referred to the constellation Greek
Boötes as Lycaon. From the Greek Areios pagus, “Hill of Ares,” the
See also: Boötes court in Athens formed by Athene, who pre-
ferred to settle quarrels peaceably. She held the
casting vote and cast it in the instance of the
Arcadians trial of Orestes. Late tradition attributes the
Roman name to the trial of Ares who, having been
The name given to legendary Greek settlers accused of murdering Poseidon’s son,
who colonized the Palatine Hill, supposedly Halirrhothius, pleaded that he had saved his
originating from the Greek region of Arcadia. daughter, Alcippe, from being violated. Ares
Ares 43
was duly acquitted, and the place of the trial though Hermes and Zeus are also considered
became known as the Areopagus. In antiquity as likely candidates for this role.
the highest judicial court met on this hill, Among his other children were Amazonian
members of the court being known as Queen Penthesilea by Otrere; Alcippe; Cycnus,
Areopagites. who was slain by Heracles; and Oenomaus, to
whom he gave some wind-begotten horses
and an inescapable spear. Some think that he
Ares may have fathered the entire race of the
Greek Amazons.
One of the 12 great Olympian deities; the god When Ge sent Typhon against Olympus in
of war. Identified with the planet Mars by the revenge for the gods’ destruction of the giants,
Romans, he was originally a divinity of he fled to Egypt in the guise of a boar with the
Thracian origin. From there his worship other gods, who assumed other animal forms.
spread through Macedonia to Thebes, Athens, Though the god of war he was not always
and the cities of the Peloponnesos, especially successful in battle. The Aloeidae conquered
Sparta. He was, however, not a popular god him and left him imprisoned in a brazen ves-
with the Greeks, unlike his Roman counter- sel for 13 months until released by Hermes. He
part, Mars, who was second in popularity to was twice vanquished by Athene and forced to
Jupiter, as they disliked purposeless war and return to Olympus when Heracles also defeat-
despised the Thracians for enjoying it. Their ed him. When he went into battle he was usu-
attitude toward Ares is reflected in the myths ally accompanied by his sister, Eris, and his
of this god. His name is thought to possibly sons, Phobos and Deimos. Sometimes he was
derive from a root meaning “scream” or the also associated with two minor war deities,
Greek word for “revenge” and has often been Enyalios and Enyo.
used as a synonym for war or battle. He is In Sparta prisoners of war were sacrificed in
known in Mycenaean Greece in the Linear B his honor, and at night dogs were offered to
texts, but unlike such personifications as Eris Enyalios. At Geronthrae in Laconia women
(Strife), his sister, he is fully humanized by the were banned from his grove, though at Tegea
time of Homer, said to be a berserk giant with women made sacrifices to him. During the
the voice of 10,000 men. Aeschylus calls him Trojan War he sided with the Trojans and
the “gold-changer of corpses.” afforded the Trojan leader, Hector, personal
Although his cult is found in Athens it is protection.
otherwise exceedingly rare, found mainly in Various places were sacred to him, notably
Scythia and his land of origin, Thrace. In art the grove in which the Golden Fleece was
Ares is often represented as a stalwart figure hung in Colchis, as well as the nearby field that
with a helmet, shield, and spear. Jason had to plough using two fire-breathing
He was the son of Zeus and Hera and broth- bulls and then sow with the remaining drag-
er of Hebe and Hephaistos, although on’s teeth left by Cadmos at Thebes. These
Hephaistos is sometimes regarded as the teeth had come from the dragon that guarded
parthenogenous son of Hera. He was hated by the sacred spring of Ares at Thebes. The
the other gods, with the exception of Eris, Stymphalian birds, killed by Heracles in his
Hades, and Aphrodite, as he delighted in bat- sixth labor, were also sacred to Ares.
tle simply for the sake of it; vindictive and According to later tradition he was once
short-tempered, he was also handsome. His called upon to defend himself before the gods
love affair with Aphrodite is particularly well in a trial when he was accused of murdering
known, as is the hilarious instance when the Halirrhothius, a son of Poseidon. Ares pleaded
two lovers were trapped together in bed under that he had acted to save his daughter,
a net that Hephaistos, Aphrodite’s husband Alcippe, from being violated and was duly
and his brother, had engineered. Harmonia acquitted. The place of his trial became known
was one of their children along with Phobos as the Areopagus or “Hill of Ares.”
(Fear) and Deimos (Panic). It is also possible Astronomical: The name Ares Vallis has been
that he was the father, by Aphrodite, of Eros, applied to a major channel on the surface of
44 Arethusa
the planet Mars, the planet named after his most of the heroes of the day. After the death
Roman counterpart. The two moons of this of Jason, who died according to some sources
planet are named after his sons, Phobos and peacefully under the prow of the ship, Athene
Deimos. placed it in the heavens as four different con-
See also: Mars stellations.
Astronomical: All four constellations that
make up the Argo Navis lie in the southern
Arethusa celestial hemisphere. They are: Carina, the
Greek Keel, which lies between right ascensions 6h
Though Arethusa is usually regarded as a and 11h and declination –50° to –75°; Vela, the
rural deity, she was supreme in three great Sail, between right ascensions 8h and 11h and
cities: Ephesus, Marseilles (to which Ionian declination –40° to –60°; Puppis, the Poop or
Greeks from Asia Minor took her cult between Stern, between right ascensions 6h and 9h and
600 and 500 B.C.), and Syracuse (where she was declination –10° to –50°; and Pyxis, the Ship’s
known as Artemis Arethusa). Compass between right ascensions 8h and 10h
Her mythology says that she was a Nereid, and declination –20° to –40°.
a water nymph, with whom the river god See also: Jason
Alpheus fell in love. In an attempt to escape
him she fled from Greece to Ortygia, near
Syracuse on the southern coast of Sicily, where Argolis
she became a fountain or spring. Alpheus pur- Greek
sued her, and it was believed that the waters of A region of the eastern Peloponnesos and once
the River Alpheus flowed unmixed through the kingdom of Atreus and Agamemnon, who
the sea to merge unmingled with her fountain. had their capital at Mycenae. The region also
contained the city of Argos that later over-
shadowed Mycenae and became second only
Arges to Sparta in political importance. The great
Greek temple of Hera, the Heraeum, was built in
One of the three one-eyed Cyclopes who were Argolis between Argos and Mycenae.
the offspring of Ge and Uranos. The other two
were named Brontes and Steropes.
Argonautica
Greek
Argia Epic poem by Apollonius of Rhodes (Apol-
Greek lonius Rhodius) that recounts the legend of
The daughter of Adrastus and sister to Jason and the Argonauts. It is widely respect-
Deiphyle. She married Polyneices when he ed more for its learning than its poetic
sought her father’s help to overthrow his genius.
brother, Eteocles.
Argonauts
Argo (Navis) Greek
Greek The collective name given to the band of 50 or
More commonly known simply as the Argo, 60 heroes who accompanied Jason aboard the
this was the name of the ship that Jason com- Argo Navis in his quest for the Golden Fleece.
missioned the Thespian Argus to build when Among their number were Acastus, the
he undertook the expedition to gain the Dioscuri (Castor and Polydeuces), Heracles,
Golden Fleece. It had 50 oars and in its prow Hylas, Zetes and Calais, Peleus and Telamon,
an oracular beam, made from one of the Idas and Lynceus (who acted as lookouts),
prophetic oaks of Dodona, that was fitted by Admetus, Periclymenus, Augeias, Argus (the
Athene herself. The crewmembers of the ship builder of the Argo Navis), Tiphys or Ancaeus
were known as the Argonauts and included (steersman), Idmon and Mopsus (seers),
Ariadne 45
Theseus and Pirithous (though not in tion. Argus was later joined in the heavens by
Apollonius of Rhodes), Amphiaraus, Laertes, four constellations made up from the Argo
Deucalion, Meleager, Asclepios, and Orpheus. Navis that was placed there by Athene—
For the story of their voyage and their many Carina, the Keel; Vela, the Sail; Puppis, the
adventures, see Jason. Poop or Stern; and Pyxis, the Ship’s Compass.
Astronomical: The constellation Pavo lies in
the southern celestial hemisphere between
Arg~os, ~us approximate right ascensions 17h and 21h,
Greek declination –50° to –75°.
1. Ancient city in the east Peloponnesos at the 3. A giant with a hundred eyes, half of which
head of the Gulf of Nauplia from which the remained open at all times, who was given the
peninsula of Argolis derived its name. It was task, by Hera, of guarding Io, who Zeus had
given as the possible location, competing with turned into a heifer to put Hera off the scent of
Cnossos in Crete, where Zeus sought out his his philandering unsuccessfully. He was killed
sister, Hera, in the form of a cuckoo just prior by Hermes at Zeus’s request, and Hera took
to their marriage. It was at a spring near Argos his hundred eyes and placed them in the tail of
that Hera bathed each year to renew her vir- her favorite bird, the peacock. This association
ginity, and the city became one of her seats of has led to confusion between this Argus and
worship, as did Samos. The worship of Athene the other Argus, the builder of the Argo Navis,
also flourished in Argos, later to be joined by whom Hera placed in the heavens as the con-
the worship of Dionysos, though at first the stellation Pavo, the peacock, after his death.
Argives refused to accepted him as a god. In 4. The faithful dog of Odysseus who recog-
the Homeric era the name “Argives” was nized his master after he had been away from
sometimes used instead of “Greeks.” home for 20 years, ten of them at Troy fighting
Argos was the kingdom of Diomedes; of the Trojan War, ten more experiencing difficul-
Adrastus, who led expeditions against Thebes; ties in returning home to his wife, Penelope, on
of Atreus, who was murdered by his nephew Ithaca. Argus died of joy immediately after
Aegisthus and who had set the flesh of his greeting his master home.
brother Thyestes’ children before their father See also: Jason; Odysseus; Perseus
at a banquet in revenge for the seduction of his
wife by Thyestes; and of Orestes, who was also
the king of Sparta and Mycenae. Aria
Abas, the grandson of Danaus, was the Greek
twelfth king. His twin sons, Acrisius and The mother of Miletus by Apollo.
Proetus, agreed to divide their inheritance,
Proetus becoming the ruler of Tiryns, Acrisius
(the father of Danaë) of Argos. After Acrisius Ariadne
was accidentally killed by Perseus, Danaë’s Greek
son by Zeus, at Larissa, Perseus and Proetus In all probability Ariadne was originally a
exchanged kingdoms, so Proetus now became Cretan goddess, her name appearing to mean
ruler of Argos, Perseus of Tiryns. “all-holy.” Later she was adopted into Greek
2. The builder of the ship Argo Navis for mythology, where she appears as the daughter
Jason to undertake his quest for the Golden of Minos, king of Crete, and Pasiphaë, thus
Fleece. Sometimes referred to as Argos, he also being the sister of Glaucus, Androgeos, and
became a member of the crew and therefore Phaedra.
one of the Argonauts. On his death he was When Theseus, son of Aegeus, voluntarily
changed into a peacock by the goddess Hera joined the tribute of Athenian youths that were
and placed in the heavens as the constellation to be fed to the monstrous Minotaur, Ariadne
Pavo, though there is some confusion over instantly fell in love with him and contrived to
this, as Hera transferred the eyes of Argus into help him kill the beast. She gave him a skein of
the tail of a peacock, and some say that it is this thread and a sword. By unwinding the thread
peacock that is represented by the constella- behind him as he searched for the Minotaur
46 Aricia
within its labyrinth, he was able, after having between approximate right ascensions 1h50m
killed the monster, to escape its confines. and 3h30m, declination +10° to +30°. Its most
Together Theseus and Ariadne fled to the distinctive feature is a curve of three stars of
island of Dia (Naxos), where they were mar- decreasing brightness. When the constellation
ried but where Theseus later abandoned her was first defined the sun was in Aries on the
when he returned to Athens, later marrying first day of spring (approximately March 21),
her sister, Phaedra, there. the vernal equinox, and even though this is
She was found on the island by the god now in Pisces due to the effect of earth’s pre-
Dionysos, who made her his wife, and when cession, it is still referred to as the “first point
she died he placed the crown he had given her of Aries.” The sun is now in Aries from April
as a wedding gift in the heavens as the con- 19 to May 15.
stellation Corona Borealis—the Northern
Crown.
Astronomical: The constellation Corona Arimaspea
Borealis lies in the northern celestial hemi- Greek
sphere between approximate right ascensions A lost poem by Aristaeus of Proconnesos that
15h and 17h, declination +25° and +40°. describes the Arimaspians or Arimaspi as a
See also: Dionysos; Minos; Minotaur one-eyed race who lived in the northern
regions of the world.
Aricia
Roman Arimaspi
One of the original settlements in the vicinity Greek
of the Alban Mount of the wave of immi- Described in the lost poem Arimaspea by
grants who reached Latium c. 1200 B.C., the Aristaeus of Proconnesos, the Arimaspi
other towns being Alba Longa, Ardea, and (Anglicized as Arimaspians) were a one-eyed
Lavinium. race living on the Scythian steppes, neighbors
to the Hyperboreans. They constantly fought a
group of griffins for the horde of gold they
Aries guarded.
Greek
1. A little-used variant for the god of war, Ares.
2. The winged ram, sent by Zeus, that res- Arion
cued Phryxus and Helle, children of the king Greek
of Thessaly, from their heartless stepmother. 1. An actual historical figure from the seventh
During the flight to Colchis, Helle fell from the century B.C.; a native of Methymna on Lesbos,
back of the animal into the stretch of water that he lived at the court of Periander of Corinth in
thenceforth became known as the Hellespont about 625 B.C. He was a lyric poet, virtuoso on
(modern Dardanelles). Having safely arrived the cithara (a more sonorous version of the
in Colchis, Phryxus sacrificed the ram and lyre), and developed the dithyramb (a form a
hung its fleece in the sacred grove of Ares, choral song). A curious legend is told of this
where it turned to gold. There it was guarded character.
by a sleepless dragon (some say Draco) who Having visited Sicily, where he won a musi-
was put to sleep by Medeä as she helped Jason cal contest, he boarded a ship to return to
and the Argonauts complete their quest for Corinth laden with gifts, but while en route the
this Golden Fleece. In its memory the ram was captain and crew decided to murder him for
placed in the heavens as the constellation his treasure. Given permission to sing one last
Aries. song, Arion dedicated the hymn to Apollo and
Astronomical: The first sign of the zodiac then leaped into the sea. There he was rescued
(March 21 to April 20) and a well known but by Delphinos, one of the music-loving dol-
ill-defined constellation straddling the ecliptic phins (Apollo’s beast) that had gathered to
and lying in the northern celestial hemisphere hear his song, who carried him on its back to
Artemis 47
In reality Artemis is a far more frightening She is perhaps closest to the Anatolian
creature. She is just one of many forms of the Mother Goddess as Artemis Ephesia (Artemis
primitive mother goddess, having special of Ephesus), who was represented with a huge
concern for the lives of women, both before number of pendulous breasts, though these
and after marriage. Her name is found in the were sometimes identified as bulls’ scrotums,
Mycenaean Linear B texts, and she is close to and worshipped as an orgiastic goddess.
the shadowy Cretan goddesses Britomartis Ephesus in Turkey was her chief cult center,
and Dictynna. It is said that Britomartis was with an immensely wealthy temple first built
a nymph who was pursued for nine months by Croesus. It was this Artemis that Saint Paul
by Minos until she leaped into the sea and encountered (see Acts 19:1–35).
was deified by Artemis. Thenceforth they She is commonly, as Artemis Agrotera, a
shared the name Dictynna. She may be iden- goddess of the wild; on Delos she was wor-
tified with the potina theron of Minoan reli- shipped at an altar of counterclockwise-turn-
gion and is often referred to as potina (lady) ing goats’ horns. It was at this Ionian shrine
of bears or bulls. that she was most closely associated with her
During the classical period she was espe- mythological twin brother, Apollo. However,
cially associated with the rites of passage of she was worshipped early in Arcadia as a
girls into womanhood. At Brauron all girls huntress among the nymphs, and this
between the ages of five and ten would Arcadian Artemis has no connection whatso-
spend a period in her service, known as ever with Apollo, the association being made
being arktoi, “bear virgins” or “bears for only by later writers.
Artemis,” after which they would take part In mythology she is Korythalia, “laurel
in a procession at Athens to mark their maiden,” the twin sister of Apollo, daughter of
arrival at maturity. Zeus and Leto. Hera, jealous of Zeus’s contin-
At Halae Araphenides in Attica a festival ued philandering, caused Leto to wander from
known as the Tauropolia involved the offering place to place until she gave birth to Artemis
of some drops of blood from a man’s neck to under a palm tree on the island of Ortygia and
the presiding goddess, Artemis Tauropolos to Apollo on the island of Delos. Artemis
(the bull goddess Artemis). shares many of Apollo’s attributes and carried
She was commonly identified with Eileith- a bow and arrows that were made for her by
yia, the goddess of childbirth, and was known Hephaistos. She had the power to send plague
as Locheia and Soödina in this aspect. She was and sudden death.
also, on occasions known as Kourotrophos, As Leto came with Artemis from Delos to
“Midwife” and “Nurse,” further emphasizing Delphi, the still implacable Hera sent the giant
her association as a fertility goddess especially Tityus to violate Leto, though some say that it
concerned with childbirth. was Artemis herself that was attacked. The
In Tauris (the Tauric Chersonese) her cult giant was killed by the arrows of the twins.
was said to involve the sacrifice of all When the gigantic Aloeidae, Ephialtes and
strangers. In this cult Iphigeneia was once her Otus, vowed to outrage Hera and Artemis,
priestess, and it was from Tauris that she and they piled Mount Pelion on Mount Ossa in
her brother, Orestes, were said to have taken their attack on Olympus. Artemis induced the
her image to Brauron, whence the goddess giants to go to the island of Naxos in the hope
was known as Brauronia. This Brauronian of meeting her there, but disguising herself as
Artemis was worshipped in Athens, as well as a doe she leaped between the pair, and they
in Sparta, under the name of Orthia, where she killed each other in error. Now Ge, to avenge
was worshipped in rituals that included the the deaths of the giants, brought forth the
violent flogging of youths at her altar until gigantic monster Typhon and sent him against
they sprinkled it with their blood. During Olympus. All the gods fled to Egypt in animal
Roman times these youths sometimes died form, Artemis assuming that of a cat.
from the floggings. A similar claim of human Like Apollo, Artemis remained unmarried,
sacrifices in her honor was made for her aspect and later writers stressed the fact that she was
of Artemis Triklaria at Patras. a maiden goddess and punished any lapses
Artemis Tauropolos 49
severely. She changed the hunter Actaeon into came to be identified, more or less, with
a stag to be torn to pieces by his own hounds Hecate.
simply because he had chanced upon her Though usually represented as a rural
bathing naked with the nymphs. Some tradi- divinity, Artemis was the supreme deity in
tions also attribute the death of the giant Orion three great cities: Ephesus in Turkey, which
to Artemis because of his unchasteness. The was her main cult center; Massalia (Mar-
nymph Callisto, whom Zeus had seduced, seilles), to which Ionian Greeks from Asia
was transformed into a bear and hunted down Minor took her cult between 600 B.C. and 500
by the hounds of Artemis. The only mortal to B.C.; and in Syracuse, in southern Sicily, where
whom she is known to have been kind was she was known as Artemis Arethusa. She was
Hippolytus, but she abandoned even him as often portrayed as a huntress, and as such her
he lay dying. chlamys reached only to the knees. She carried
Artemis was attended by Dryades and a bow, quiver, and arrows and was often
Naiades, attendants that were usually repre- accompanied by stags or dogs. When she
sented by girls who performed wild and erot- became associated with Selene she wore a long
ic dances. robe and veil, showed a crescent moon on her
She displayed her vengeful nature in the forehead, and drove a two-horse chariot.
story of Niobe. When the latter boasted that See also: Apollo; Britomartis; Dictynna; Eileithya;
she was superior to Leto, for she had had Ephesus; Iphigeneia
seven sons and seven daughters, the Niobids
(though some sources quote only six boys and
six girls), whereas Leto only had two children. Artemis Agrotera
In punishment Apollo killed the boys and Greek
Artemis the girls, although alternative sources An aspect of Artemis in which she is described
say that Artemis only killed five of the six girls. as the goddess of the wild.
Either they or Zeus turned Niobe into a rock
on Mount Sipylus from which her tears fell as
a stream. Artemis Arethusa
Artemis also appears briefly in the story of Greek
the Trojan War. When the Greek fleet was The name by which Arethusa was known in
beset by contrary winds at Aulis, said to have Syracuse, Sicily.
been caused by Agamemnon killing a hart
and thus displeasing Artemis, Calchas
advised that only the sacrifice of Iphigeneia, Artemis Ephesia
Agamemnon’s daughter, would appease the Greek
goddess. Reluctantly Agamemnon gave his “Artemis of Ephesus.” The aspect of Artemis
permission, though some say that Artemis where she is perhaps closest to the Anatolian
snatched the girl from the altar in the nick of Mother Goddess and in which she was repre-
time and substituted a deer for her, bearing sented with a huge number of pendulous
Iphigeneia off to Tauris to become her priest- breasts, though these were sometimes identi-
ess. It was from there that she was later res- fied as bulls’ scrotums, and worshipped as an
cued by her brother, Orestes. Following this orgiastic goddess. Ephesus in Turkey was her
rescue Artemis pardoned Orestes for the mur- chief cult center, with an immensely wealthy
der of his mother, Clytemnestra, and her temple first built by Croesus. It was this Artemis
lover, Aegisthus, and thus halted the pursuit that Saint Paul encountered (see Acts 19:1–35).
of the Erinnyes.
When Apollo came to be identified with the
sun and known as Phoebus, Artemis came to Artemis Tauropolos
be associated with the moon, coming to be Greek
known as Phoebe. Perhaps this is function of At Halae Araphenides in Attica a festival
her virgin purity, though it is incompatible known as the Tauropolia involved the offering
with the existence of Selene. Later still she of some drops of blood from a man’s neck to
50 Artemis Triklaria
the presiding goddess, Artemis Tauropolos cine as a sacred secret was transmitted from
(the bull goddess Artemis). father to son.
killed the Cyclopes in revenge and was duly Ass, Asellus Australis, in their battle with the
punished by being made to serve the mortal Titans.
Admetus for a year. Astronomical: Asellus Borealis, lying within
Asclepios was the father of Panaceia and a the constellation Cancer at approximate celes-
daughter named Hygeia, from whom the tial coordinates right ascension 8h45m, decli-
modern English word hygiene has derived. nation +22°, is a 4.73 magnitude type A0 star at
Asclepios was usually depicted in art wearing 233 light-years distance.
a long cloak but bare-chested and carrying his
snake-entwined staff. He was one of the ele-
ments, along with Zeus, Hades, and Osiris, Ashkelon
who was combined into the new, and for a Greek
short time successful, god Serapis by Ptolemy Site of the oldest shrine to Aphrodite accord-
I in an attempt to unite Greeks and Egyptians ing to Herodotus.
in common worship. Despite his death,
Asclepios was regarded as divine, and his role
as a savior god made him a particularly dan- Asia
gerous rival to Christianity. Greek
His cult was introduced to Rome c. 293 B.C. Daughter of Oceanos and Tethys; the mother of
in order to cure a pestilence on the order of the Atlas, Prometheus, and Epimetheus by Iapetus.
prophetic Sibylline Books, and his name became She was sometimes identified as Clymene.
corrupted to Aesculapius.
Astronomical: See Ophiuchus.
See also: Cheiron; Jason Asia Minor
In ancient times referred to as Anatolia, this
was the westernmost part of Asia and com-
Asculap~ios, ~ius prised the great peninsula that makes up most
Greco-Roman of modern Turkey. It is bordered by the Black
Variant of Asclepios. Sea on the north, the Mediterranean Sea on the
south, and the Aegean Sea on the west. The
waterway made up of the Bosphorus, the Sea
Asculep~ios, ~ius of Marmara, and the Dardanelles (ancient
Greco-Roman name Hellespont) divides the region from
Variant of Asclepios. Europe. Within the boundaries of Asia Minor
were the Aeolian Islands (the Lipari Islands).
Asellus Australis
Greek Asop(h)us
The Southern Ass ridden by Silenus in the com- Greek
pany of Dionysos, who rode the Northern Ass, The god of the River Asophus, of which there
Asellus Borealis, in their battle with the Titans. were two on mainland Greece, one in Sicyonia
Astronomical: Asellus Australis, lying within and one in Boeotia. The god was, like all of the
the constellation Cancer exactly on the ecliptic river gods, the son of Oceanos and Tethys. He
at approximate celestial coordinates right married Merope, the daughter of Ladon, and
ascension 8h45m, declination +18°, is a 4∑17 became the father of Evadne, Euboea, and
magnitude gK0 star at 217 light-years distance. Aegina, the latter name also being an island
See also: Silenus with another River Asophus in antiquity.
Asteria Astraeus
Greek Greek
The Thracian wife of Perseus; mother of One of the second-generation Titans who
Hecate. fathered the four beneficent winds by the god-
dess of the dawn, Eos. Boreas (north),
Zephyrus (west), Notus (south), and Eurus
Asterion (east) all lived on the floating island of Aeolia,
Greek from where Aeolus controlled their release.
A greyhound whose name means “starry” Astraeus was also the father, by Eos, of
who, along with Chara (beloved), was a hunt- Hesperus, the evening star and, some say, of
ing dog used by Boötes in his pursuit of the all the other stars as well.
bear Callisto. See also: Titan (2)
Astronomical: An ill-defined constellation by
the name of Canes Venatici—“the Hunting
Dogs”—represents both Asterion and Chara, Astyanax
although only the latter has a star named after Greek
it, designated alpha Canes Venatici. The con- The son of Hector and Andromache who was
stellation is found in the northern celestial hurled from the walls of Troy by the Greeks to
hemisphere between approximate right ascen- destroy the Trojan royal line, fearful that he
sions 12h and 14h, declination between +30° might one day avenge his parents. He makes a
and +50°. memorable appearance in Homer’s Iliad
when, as a baby, he was frightened by the nod-
ding plume on his father’s helmet.
Asterope
Greek
One of the Pleiades, the daughters of Atlas, Atalanta
who is also known as Sterope. Greek
Astronomical: See Pleiades. 1. The huntress-daughter of Iasus of Arcadia
and Clymene, Atalanta was exposed at birth
by her father, who wanted a son, and suckled
Astraea by a she-bear sent by the goddess Artemis,
Greek with whom she would become significantly
The Greek goddess of justice who is usually connected. Atalanta was raised by hunters
depicted carrying scales and wearing a crown who taught her their arts, and when she grew
of stars. The daughter of Zeus and Themis, she to adulthood she attempted to join the expedi-
fled to the skies to become the constellation tion of the Argonauts, but Jason refused to
Virgo when men began forging weapons of allow her to board the Argo Navis. She did,
war. however, join in the Calydonian Boar Hunt,
Astronomical: The well known constellation where Meleager fell in love with her and gave
of Virgo forms one of the constellations of the her the head of the boar he had slain, though
zodiac as the ecliptic runs through it. Virgo Atalanta herself scored the first hit. She also
straddles the celestial equator between killed two among the party that tried to ravish
approximate right ascensions 12h and 1h, dec- her.
lination between +15° and –20°. The Egyptians In due course her father, Iasus, learned that
identified the constellation with the goddess she was still alive, and the pair reconciled.
Isis. However, the connection to Astraea is Iasus wanted her to marry, but she wanted to
usually considered the more important, as preserve her virgin freedom as a huntress,
next to her in the sky is the constellation even killing two centaurs who attempted to
Libra—“the Scales”—which Astraea, as the rape her. To elude her father’s wishes she
goddess of justice, was commonly depicted devised a test: She would marry the man who
holding. The name Astraea has also been won a footrace against her—but would kill
applied to one of the asteroids. those she beat. The fleetest of all mortals, she
Athamas 53
felt confident she would never have to marry. “moral blindness” that pitches men into disas-
Many suitors failed and were executed by ter. She was mythologized as the daughter of
Atalanta. Zeus or Eris, and her concept is central to the
She was finally beaten by either Milanion, understanding of ancient Greek religion.
an Arcadian, or Hippomenes, a Boeotian, the She was thrown out of Olympus by Zeus,
former being normally accepted as the van- who was angered at her mischief, and so lives
quisher. This young man prayed to Aphrodite among mortal men and women. However,
for help in the race, and she gave him three of when she descends on a mortal to destroy
the golden apples of the Hesperides. As they him, her externality does not absolve that per-
raced he dropped the apples one by one; son from bearing full responsibility for any
enchanted by their beauty, Atalanta stopped to actions committed while under her influence.
pick up each one, thus losing the race. The cou- Ate is the essential key to the concept of the
ple married and had a son, whom they named Greek tragic hero, who destroys himself by
Parthenopaeus. Some sources have Meleager, forces he unleashes yet is powerless to control.
the young man who fell in love with Atalanta In Homer’s Iliad it is “wild Ate” whom Aga-
during the Calydonian Boar Hunt, as the memnon blames for his anger at Achilles, not
father of Parthenopaeus, but his usual parent- himself.
age is Atalanta and Milanion.
Ovid says that Milanion (Melanion) forgot
to thank Aphrodite for her help and lay with Athamas
his wife in a shrine dedicated to Zeus. For this Greek
transgression she turned them both into lions, The son of Aeolus; king of Orchomenus in
for the ancient Greeks believed that lions Boeotia. By his first wife, Nephele, whom he
mated only with leopards, not with other married at Hera’s command, Athamas became
lions. Alternative sources say that it was not the father of Phrixus and Helle, but he secretly
Aphrodite who transformed the pair, or that loved Ino, the daughter of Cadmos and
they laid together in a shrine of Zeus; instead it Harmonia, and took her as his second wife;
was a shrine sacred to the goddess Cybele, and she bore him two sons, Learchus and
she transformed the couple. Melicertes. In her jealousy Ino plotted the
See also: Artemis; Atalanta (2); Hippomenes; Meleager; deaths of Phrixus and Helle.
Milanion She roasted the corn seed so that the crops
2. Said to be the daughter of Schoeneus failed, and when Athamas sent to Delphi to
(Schoineus) of Boeotia, but she has been fre- find out how to appease the gods, Ino bribed
quently confused with, and thus connected to, the returning messengers to say that the god
the Arcadian huntress of the same name, had ordered the sacrifice of Phrixus. Just as
Atalanta. This Atalanta was said to have mar- Athamas was about to carry out the sacrifice
ried Hippomenes, but due to the confusion the he thought had been ordered by the god,
same stories are told as being appropriate to Hermes sent a winged ram that carried
both Atalantas. Phrixus and Helle away on its back. Helle fell
off on the journey into the stretch of water
that was thenceforth known as the Helles-
Atana potina pont, but Phrixus reached the safety of
Greek Colchis, where he sacrificed the ram to Zeus
Possibly a specialized form of the mother god- and gave the fleece to Aeëtes, who hung it in
dess mentioned in the Mycenaean Linear B a grove sacred to Hermes, and there the fleece
texts; identified with Athene. turned to gold. This Golden Fleece later
became the object of the quest undertaken by
Jason and the Argonauts.
Ate Meanwhile, Zeus had sent the infant
Greek Dionysos, born from the ashes of Ino’s sister,
The goddess of infatuation and the surrender Semele, to be brought up by Athamas and Ino.
of moral principles, the personification of the In her anger Hera drove the couple mad, and
54 Athamas Crowned
Athamas shot Learchus thinking him to be a goddess who bore the titles Core or Kore (girl),
deer (or a lion cub), and Ino jumped with Parthenos (virgin), and Pallas (maiden), the
Melicertes into the Saronic Gulf. Both were last seeming to be the most common. It is per-
transformed into sea deities, with Ino becom- haps related to pallax (cf. modern Greek pal-
ing Leucothea and Melicertes becoming likari, meaning “a young brave”), thus mean-
Palaemon, though some accounts call ing “maiden” or “female brave.” Another
Palaemon a hero rather than a deity. common yet unexplained title is Tritogeneia,
Athamas was forced into exile and fled to perhaps being derived from her supposed
Thessaly, where he took Themisto as his third birth on the shores of a lake named Triton.
wife. However, Euripides places this marriage Circa 1700 B.C. she was identified with a
at home. Also in Euripides’ account, Ino mean- much older, pre-Hellenic “Palace Goddess”
while had become a bacchant on Mount who was worshipped in Crete. This goddess
Parnassus, and it was from there that Athamas was one aspect of the Great Goddess who was
brought her home. Themisto planned to kill revered not for motherhood but for feminine
Ino’s children but was tricked by the nurse intuition. Thus the complex Pallas Athene
into killing her own. Athamas and Ino were was not only the patroness of women’s arts,
then both sent mad, killing their own children such as weaving, protectress of agriculture,
as before. and inventor of plough, rake, and ox-yoke but
In his old age Athamas was nearly sacrificed also a formidable warrior and a wise, able tac-
as a scapegoat by the people of Achaea in tician. Yet she was an urban, civilized god-
Thessaly, but Phrixus’s son, Cytissorus, res- dess, which accounted for her popularity
cued him (Heracles, according to Sophocles in among the people.
his lost Athamas Crowned). After that Athamas The centers of her cult were Attica and
returned to Orchomenus and was given sanc- Athens, her chief cult center, where she was
tuary by King Andreus until his death. worshipped as Polias (of the city), Poliouchos
See also: Aeolus; Ino; Jason (protector of the city), Parthenos (virgin), and
Promachos (defender). Her temple on the
Athenian Acropolis is dedicated to “Athene
Athamas Crowned Parthenos,” the Parthenon. It was erected
Greek between 447 B.C. and 438 B.C. under Pericles’
Lost work by Sophocles that tells the story of administration, the work of the architect
Athamas and how in old age he was saved by Iktinos, and housed the giant Chryselephan-
Heracles from being sacrificed as a scapegoat tine statue of Athene sculpted by Phidias or his
by the Achaeans in Thessaly. After that school. Other pre-Hellenic acropolises were
Athamas returned to Orchomenus and was sacred to Athene, and her worship flourished
given sanctuary by King Andreus until his in Sparta, Corinth, Argos, and Thebes. At
death. Athens the Panathenaic festival, during which
the statue of Athene was decked in new robes,
was celebrated every four years beginning in
Athen~e, ~a 566 B.C. She is also frequently identified with
Greek Nike, and it is possible that this might have
One of the 12 great Olympian deities and one been her surname.
of the most popular. Athene was the virgin In Homer she is regularly given the epithet
goddess of war, industry, arts, and crafts. She glaukopis, often translated as “gray-eyed” but
is the embodiment of wisdom, protectress possibly meaning “owl-faced,” alluding to her
(and eponym) of Athens and other cities, and sacred bird, with which she is sometimes
identified by the Romans with Minerva. Her depicted. She is always portrayed in art wear-
name is pre-Hellenic, being referred to in the ing armor, including a shield, her aegis, with
Mycenaean Linear B texts as Atana potina, gorgoneion and edged with the Gorgon’s snaky
probably a specialized form of the mother locks. Sometimes the aegis is shown as a
goddess. When the Achaeans entered pre- goatskin edged with the snake’s hair of the
Hellenic Greece they brought a young warrior Gorgon in which she is draped, though she
Athen~e, ~a 55
occasionally borrowed the goatskin aegis, usu- men, and as such she is afforded the title
ally accepted as being that of Zeus. Due to Hephaistia. When Poseidon and Athene again
these associations she also sometimes has the contested earthly possession, this time over
epithet gorgopis, “gorgon-faced.” The olive was Troezen, Zeus judged that they should share it
sacred to her, and the snake was another equally.
attribute. Legends of her birth reveal how the As the goddess of war she proved herself on
heretofore patriarchal Hellenes made theirs a one occasion to be superior to Ares, the god of
matriarchal society. war, another indicator of the dominant matri-
In mythology she was said to be the daugh- archal nature of the Hellenes.
ter of Zeus and his first wife, the Oceanid Athene was responsible for the creation of
Metis, whom Zeus swallowed after an oracle the hideous Gorgons—Medusa, Stheno, and
foretold that the child she carried was a girl Euryale, originally the beautiful daughters of
(Athene) but that if she had another child it Phorcys and Ceto. Living in Libya, Medusa lay
would be a son who would overthrow him, as with Poseidon in one of the temples of Athene,
Zeus had his father. Later, while walking by and the enraged goddess changed Medusa’s
Lake Triton he suffered an agonizing appearance to that of a winged monster with
headache. Hermes, realizing the cause, per- brazen claws and serpents for hair, so hideous
suaded Hephaistos (Prometheus, according to that she turned to stone all who gazed at her.
some) to split open Zeus’s skull. From the Eager to help Perseus vanquish her enemy
opening Athene sprang, full-grown and Medusa, Athene provided him with a pol-
armed. ished shield that enabled him to see Medusa
When Ge created the monstrous Typhon to only as a reflection. She then petitioned the
exact her revenge on Olympus for the destruc- other gods for their help. Hermes provided
tion of the giants, Athene—single-handedly him with a sickle and told him how to obtain
destroying two of the most violent, Enceladus winged sandals, a magic bag in which to carry
and Pallas—fled to Egypt, the other gods tak- Medusa’s head, and Hades’ helmet of invisi-
ing animal forms. She alone remained bility. After Perseus killed Medusa Athene
undaunted and persuaded Zeus to attack invented flute-playing from the sound of the
Typhon; Zeus eventually prevailed with his wailing Stheno and Euryale. When Perseus
thunderbolts and buried Typhon under gave her the head of the Gorgon she placed it
Mount Etna, which still breathes fire. During as the central, petrifying image of her aegis, in
the war against the Titans Athene hurled the this case meaning her shield.
dragon Draco into the sky, where it became She helped many major heroes in complet-
wrapped around the northern celestial pole ing their tasks. She advised Bellerophon to
and formed the constellation Draco. catch the winged horse Pegasus, and gave him
She plays a leading part in Homer’s a golden bridle, which he flung over the
Odyssey, often in disguise, as the adviser of the horse’s head when he captured it; astride this
cunning Odysseus, whose craftiness was due flying steed he easily shot the Chimaera. She
to her wisdom. She is also an important figure also helped Jason and the Argonauts in their
in Homer’s Iliad, where she is shown fighting quest for the Golden Fleece by personally
on the side of the Greeks. In one notable scene building an oracular beam into the prow of
she restrains Achilles from venting his anger their ship, the Argo Navis. The hero she helped
on Agamemnon, tugging his hair. most, however, seems to be Heracles.
Her association with Athens began with a During his sixth labor, freeing the marshy
contest between her and Poseidon for posses- lake of Stymphalia in Arcadia of the man-eat-
sion of the land during the reign of Cecrops, ing Stymphalian birds, Athene helped
who awarded it to the goddess, for her gift of Heracles flush the birds into the air so that the
an olive tree was judged the better. Hephaistos hero could shoot them. Athene also helped
attempted to rape Athene but failed, his semen Heracles during his twelfth labor when, with
spilling onto the Acropolis and producing the the additional help of Hermes, she guided the
child Erichthonius. Yet she is associated with great hero down to Tartarus, where he
Hephaistos thanks to her patronage of crafts- obtained Hades’ permission to carry away
56 Athen~e, ~a
Cerberus. Having then taken part in the Trojan When Athene attended the wedding of
War, Athene led Heracles to Phlegra, where he Peleus and Thetis with all the other gods (save
helped the gods in their fight against the giants Eris), she was one of three goddesses (with
(chronologically this event occurred before the Hera and Aphrodite) who vied for ownership
great hero’s birth). of the golden Apple of Discord that the venge-
She advised Cadmos to sow the teeth of the ful Eris threw into the gathered congregation.
dragon he had slain; immediately sprang up Zeus decreed that to solve the problem
the Sparti, or “Sown Men,” who were fully Hermes should lead the three goddesses to
armed and fought with each other until only Mount Ida for Paris to judge the dispute.
five survived. These five were the ancestors There the goddesses tried to bribe Paris.
of Thebes, and with their help Cadmos built Athene offered him fame in war, Hera rule in
the Cadmea. At Cadmos’s wedding to Asia; Aphrodite offered him as his wife the
Harmonia, which the gods attended, Athene most beautiful of all women, Helen, and so
gave the bride a magic robe that conferred Paris awarded her ownership of the apple.
divine dignity. This ultimately led to the Trojan War, in which
She was, however, less kind to other mor- Athene actively sided with the besieging
tals. When Tiresias accidentally came across Greeks.
her while she was bathing, she instantly The stratagem of the Wooden Horse was
struck him blind, although by way of conso- just one instance where the goddess was
lation she bestowed on him the power to involved. The horse was built under her
foretell the future. During the campaign of supervision by Epeius (after a plan devised by
the Seven Against Thebes, Tydeus, wounded Odysseus, whose conscience Athene appears
by Melanippus, might have been saved by to have been) and bore an inscription dedicat-
Athene with an elixir given to her by Zeus. ing it to the goddess. When the armor of
However, Amphiaraus persuaded him to Achilles was awarded to Odysseus (her
drink the brains of the dead Melanippus, favorite, it seems) she was offended by Ajax
which so disgusted Athene that she left him the Greater, and in revenge she sent him mad.
to die. When the city fell to the stratagem of the fake
Athene was challenged to a weaving contest horse Cassandra fled to her sanctuary within
by the unfortunate Arachne, whose work— the city; also, Menelaus failed to sacrifice to
clearly better than that of Athene—was torn her, and so it took him eight years to reach
up by the angry goddess. Arachne hanged home. She also requested that Zeus command
herself, and Athene turned her into a spider; the release of Odysseus by Calypso, who
she also transformed either Arachne’s hanging taught the hero how to make a raft on which
rope or her weaving into a cobweb. he could sail home.
Yet Athene was helpful to Orestes when, However, after Odysseus was 18 days at sea
pursued by the Erinnyes, he reached Athens Poseidon wrecked the raft, and only with the
and embraced the image of Athene in her tem- help of Athene and Leucothea did Odysseus
ple on the Acropolis. She then summoned the land on the island of Scheria. From there he
Areopagus, the court she established, as she finally made it home to Ithaca, where Athene
preferred to settle quarrels peaceably, where disguised him as a beggar.
Apollo defended him against the Erinnyes on The name Pallas features in her mythology
the grounds that motherhood is less important in a number of ways. First, it was one of her
than fatherhood. Here her casting vote acquit- most common titles. She also killed a giant
ted him finally of any guilt for the murder of called Pallas, flaying him to use his skin as the
his mother, Clytemnestra. The furious Palladium, a shield. According to Apollo-
Erinnyes were then pacified by Athene, who dorus, however, who seems to be trying to tidy
persuaded them to accept a grotto in Athens up this tradition, she also had a friend named
where they would be offered sacrifices, liba- Pallas (daughter of Triton), whom she killed in
tions, and first fruits. Thenceforth they were an accident. Athene then made a wooden stat-
known by the euphemistic title of Eumenides, ue of Pallas and wrapped it in her aegis. This
the “well-meaning.” Palladium was worshipped in the citadel at
Atlantiades 57
Troy and was one of the most important prizes the sixth century B.C., probably about the time
that the Greeks seized from the captured city. when the cult of Dionysos was introduced.
In Homer’s Iliad it was this Palladium that The festivals of the Panathenaea and the
Helenus said must be removed from the city Dionysia were both introduced, also by
before it could be taken; it was duly stolen by Pesistratus, at about this time. There was an
Odysseus. annual procession from Eleusis, about 12 miles
distant, to Athens, and those who spoke Greek
could be initiated into the final rite of the mys-
Athene Nike teries. The Thesmaphoria celebrating the foun-
Greek dation of laws was also held in Demeter’s
An aspect of Athene to whom there is a temple honor, in Athens as well as in other parts of
on the Athenian Acropolis. Greece.
The city itself has had a stormy history, with
the Romans, Byzantines, Franks, and Turks all
Athene Parthenos making additions and alterations. Originally it
Greek was connected to its main seaport of Piraeus
An aspect of Athene, whose temple on the by parallel walls, which enable the city to
Athenian Acropolis is dedicated to “Athene remain in contact with the port during sieges.
Parthenos,” hence the Parthenon. It was erect- The temple of Hephaistos (the Theseum) is vir-
ed between 447 B.C. and 438 B.C. under Pericles’ tually complete. The temple of Athene Nike
administration, the work of the architect (the Victorious) perches in the southwest cor-
Iktinos, and housed the giant Chryselephan- ner of the Acropolis. The theater of Dionysos
tine statue of Athene sculpted by Phidias or his was rebuilt in stone during the fourth century
school. B.C. below the wall. After c. 900 B.C. the monar-
chial system in Athens and elsewhere was
supplanted by an aristocracy; later an imma-
Athens ture struggle for democracy led to tyranny
Greek before a democratic constitution was estab-
The capital of modern Greece and of the lished in the sixth century B.C.
ancient Greek district of Attica, an area ruled The leading role taken by Athens in the war
by separate kings until about 900 B.C. Named against Persia consolidated its supremacy in
after the goddess Athene, it is most famous for fifth-century B.C. Greece, and in this period the
its Acropolis, which is topped by the temple of arts and sciences flowered. During the next
Athene Parthenos—the Parthenon, a name century Athens was weakened by her resis-
that refers to the priestesses of Athene, who tance to Spartan imperialism, but prosperity
lived in a chamber of the temple (built by fifth- returned, and once again the arts and sciences
century B.C. architect Iktinos). Its friezes dis- flourished. However, in the third and second
play sculptural representations of various sub- centuries B.C. the impact of Athens markedly
jects, including the Panathenaic Procession diminished as the power of Rome grew. In 146
that wound its way to the Acropolis. In 394 B.C. B.C. Athens became part of the Roman Empire
the Erechtheion was completed to replace the and existed as a quiet university town.
old temple of Athene built on the site where In legend Athene was said to have formed
Poseidon and Athene contested for patronage the court known as the Areopagus in Athens,
of the city. The Athenian Acropolis has been and it was there that the famous trial of
inhabited from at least the fifth millenium B.C. Orestes was held.
but was abandoned by the people to become a
sanctuary to the gods after 510 B.C. The whole
complex is entered through a grand proces- Atlantiades
sional gate, the Propylaia. Greek
The Eleusinian Festival in honor of Demeter A title given to Hermes as it was said that his
and Persephone was probably fully estab- mother was Maia, a daughter of Atlas and an
lished in Athens by Pesistratus at the end of embodiment of the Great Goddess.
58 Atlantis
ily take back the sky while he adjusted his fleece away in a chest. Aerope, who Thyestes
position, but as soon as the sky was back on had seduced, stole it and gave it to her lover.
Atlas’s shoulders, Heracles snatched the When the Mycenaeans were told by an oracle
apples and ran off as fast as he could. following the death of King Eurystheus to
According to Ovid, Atlas, growing weary of choose one of the kings of Midea as their ruler,
his task, asked Perseus to turn him into stone Thyestes suggested they pick whomever
using the head of Medusa. could produce a Golden Fleece. Naturally
Astronomical: The name Atlas has been given Thyestes won the throne, but Atreus, know-
to a crater located in the upper western quad- ing he had been tricked, suggested a second
rant of the surface of the moon next to that test. He proposed that the kingdom should go
known as Hercules. to whichever king could cause the sun to run
2. According to Ovid, the mountain into backwards. Atreus won, possibly by arrange-
which Perseus turned Atlas using the severed ment with Zeus, and became king of
head of Medusa; also the mountain in North Mycenae; he banished Thyestes, who first
Africa with which Atlas is now identified. It tricked Atreus into killing his son, Pleisthenes,
was also the home of the three Graeae, sisters though some accounts say this was in self-
of the Gorgons, and the location of the defense, Pleisthenes being sent to kill Atreus
Gardens of the Hesperides in which Hera had by Thyestes.
planted the tree that grew the Golden Apples. Atreus then invited his brother to a ban-
This garden was guarded by Atlas, the quet, pretending a proposed reconciliation by
Hesperides, and the dragon Ladon, the apples promising half the kingdom. At that banquet
becoming known as the Golden Apples of the Atreus served Thyestes with a stew made
Hesperides, which were the object of Heracles’ from the flesh of Thyestes’ children, just as his
eleventh labor. grandfather, Tantalus, had served Pelops to
See also: Graeae; Heracles; Pleiades the gods. After the meal Thyestes was shown
the heads and hands of his dead children.
Angered by the horrible murder the gods sent
Atreus a famine against Mycenae. An oracle told
Greek Atreus to bring Thyestes back to Mycenae,
The king of Argos; son of Pelops and and Atreus, visiting Sicyon in search of his
Hippodameia, brother of Thyestes, and half- brother, met and married his third wife,
brother to Chrysippus. Chrysippus was Pelopia, daughter of Thyestes, thinking her to
abducted and introduced into pederasty by be the daughter of King Thesprotus. When
Laius, the king of Thebes. Fearing that Pelops Pelopia gave birth to a son, Aegisthus—actu-
preferred Chrysippus over her own sons, ally the son of her father, Thyestes—his moth-
Hippodameia tried to persuade Atreus and er exposed the child at birth, but Atreus,
Thyestes to kill Chrysippus. When they thinking the child to be his own, took him in
demurred she herself stabbed Chrysippus and raised him.
with the sword of Laius while the two men lay His sons Agamemnon and Menelaus were
in bed together, thus setting in motion the sent to Delphi to discover the whereabouts
ancestral curse on the house of Pelops that last- of Thyestes and by chance met him there
ed for three generations. The two brothers, in a and brought him back to Mycenae, where he
mixture of guilt and confusion, fled and was imprisoned. Aegisthus, just seven years
became the joint kings of Midea. Atreus mar- old, went to kill him, but Thyestes recog-
ried Aerope and had two sons, Agamemnon nized the sword as his own. Pelopia then
and Menelaus, though in Hesiod they are his revealed her true identity before taking her
grandsons, the sons of Pleisthenes, Atreus’s own life. Aegisthus refused to kill Thyestes
son by his first wife, who were reared by and instead bloodied the sword and told
Atreus. Atreus that Thyestes was dead. When
Atreus had promised to sacrifice his first Atreus went to offer sacrifice in thanks,
lamb to Artemis, but when a lamb was born Aegisthus killed him.
with a Golden Fleece, he hid the precious See also: Aegisthus; Pelops; Thyestes
60 Atropos
boar. It is also said that Autolycus taught end says that Romulus and Remus could not
Heracles how to wrestle. agree which of them should give his name to
the new city, so they consulted the auguries.
Romulus stood on the Palatine Hill while
Automedon Remus stood on the Aventine. Soon Remus
Greek saw six vultures, but no sooner had this been
A charioteer and comrade of Achilles. reported than Romulus saw 12. Each was
Eventually his name, like that of Jehu, referred acclaimed king by the augur, but a fight
to any charioteer. ensued and Remus was killed. The Aventine
Hill is close to the River Tiber, outside the
pomerium, and was associated with the
Autonoë plebians.
Greek See also: Rome
The daughter of Cadmos and Harmonia and
sister to Ino, Semele, Agave, Polydorus, and
Illyrius. A bacchant, Autonoë, along with sis- Avernus, Lake
ters Ino and Agave, was involved in the killing Roman
of Pentheus, Agave’s son, who resisted the The lake in Campania, Italy (modern Lago
worship of Dionysos, as depicted in Bacchae by di Averno, near Naples), nearby where
Euripides. Aeneas was told to arm himself with the
Golden Bough by the Sibyl of Cumae before
she led him to the Underworld to consult his
Aventine Hill dead father, Anchises. The ancients regarded
Roman it as the entrance to the infernal regions on
The southernmost of the hills on which Rome account of the noxious fumes it once
is built. When the city was first founded a leg- exhaled.
K B k
Bacch~ae, ~antes among the recently civilized Greeks there was
Greco-Roman a longing for a far more instinctive and impul-
Also: Maenads, Thyiads sive life.
Name used to refer to the female votaries of In his play Bacchae, Euripides relates the leg-
the god of wine, Dionysos, that is taken from end of Pentheus, the king of Thebes who in
his alternative name, Bacchus, the name by resisting the spread of the Dionysos cult spied
which the god was later absorbed into the on the Bacchae. However, he was spotted, and
Roman pantheon. The male followers of the the Bacchae—in their drunken frenzy mistak-
god were known as Bacchoi. ing him for a wild beast come to kill them—
tore him to pieces. Among the Bacchae were
Agave, the hapless king’s mother, and her two
Bacchae sisters.
See also: Agave; Pentheus
Greek
Play by Euripides depicting how Pentheus,
king of Thebes, resisted the cult of Dionysos Bacchoi
and as a result was torn to pieces by the
Greco-Roman
Bacchae, who spotted him spying on their cel-
The name given to male worshippers of the
ebrations. Among those that killed the hapless
god of wine, Dionysos, later known as
king were his own mother, Agave, and her two
Bacchus. His female followers were known
sisters, who believed him to be a wild beast
as Bacchae, Bacchantes, Maenads, or
come to kill them.
Thyiads.
Bacchanal Bacchus
Greco-Roman Greco-Roman
Technically bacchanal is used to refer to topics Also: Liber(a)
relating to or about Bacchus. However, as a A name for the god of wine, Dionysos.
noun, the word can also be applied to the wor- While the name Bacchus is usually considered
shippers of Bacchus irrespective of gender, or Roman in origin, it was used first by the
to the priest who would conduct the frenzied ancient Greeks and later absorbed into the
worship. Roman pantheon. His male votaries were
known as Bacchoi; female worshippers were
variously known as Bacchae, Bacchantes,
Bacchanalia Maenads, or Thyiads.
Greco-Roman
The orgiastic rites of the god of wine, Dionysos
or Bacchus. During these rites his followers Bassareus
would whip themselves into an intoxicated Greek
frenzy when they believed themselves to be at An epithet of Dionysos used almost exclusive-
one with the god. The cult was particularly ly in Thrace. It derives from the Bassaris, a fox
popular with women and was indicative that skin worn by the god and his worshippers.
63
64 Bassarid
Baubo
Bassaris Greek
Greek The wife of Dysaules of Eleusis and mother of
A fox skin said to have been worn by the god Iacchus, an honorific title afforded the god
Dionysos. This attribute of the god is to be Dionysos. Baubo is perhaps most famous for
found only in Thrace, where the fox skin was an incident at Eleusis when the grief-stricken
also said to have been worn by the Bacchae or Demeter visited while searching for her
Maenads, the god’s worshippers. daughter, Persephone. Realizing that the god-
dess needed nourishment, Baubo offered her
some soup. Too grief-stricken to even contem-
Bathos plate the food, Demeter politely refused.
Greek However, Baubo then lifted her skirts and dis-
Reputed sight of one of the battles between the played her pudenda in an attempt to cheer up
Olympian deities and the 24 giants with ser- the grieving goddess and make her laugh.
pents’ tails, the sons of Ge, intent on taking their The trick worked, and Demeter drank the
revenge for the imprisonment of their brothers, soup offered to her. The story of Baubo is
the Titans. The stories surrounding this epic almost identical to that told of Iambe. Baubo’s
struggle have been used to explain the volcanic crude trick has a historical analogue in the vul-
fires at both Bathos and Cumae, the huge bones gar abuse that was traditionally hurled at the
found at Trapezus, and the volcanic nature of participants in the procession along the Sacred
Etna, supposed burial place of Enceladus, and Way to Eleusis, from Athens.
Nisyrus, the final resting place for Polybutes. See also: Demeter; Eleusis; Persephone
See also: Enceladus; Polybutes
Baucis
Battus Greek
Greek The aged wife of Philemon. The couple was
The nickname given to Aristoteles due to his uniquely hospitable to Zeus and Hermes
stammer. A descendant of Euphemus, one of when they visited their region of Phrygia. In
Bellerophon(tes) 65
return the gods saved them from a river inun- Reluctant to kill a guest, Proetus sent
dation, gave them a shrine in which to serve, Bellerophon to Iobates, his father-in-law and
and, upon their deaths, turned them both into the king of Lycia, carrying with him a letter
trees. requesting that the bearer be put to death. The
letter said to have been carried by Bellerophon
is the earliest reference in Greek literature to
Bebrycos writing. Iobates likewise shrank from killing a
Greek guest and decided that he would let fate take a
The island realm of Amycus, son of Poseidon. hand by sending Bellerophon to kill the
A renowned boxer, he had the habit of chal- Chimaera, a fire-breathing monster with a
lenging all strangers to a boxing contest and, lion’s head, goat’s body, and serpent’s tail, said
having never been beaten, killed many who to be the offspring of Echidne and Typhon; at
strayed onto his island. His bullying reign that time, the Chimaera was ravaging the
came to an end when the Argonauts landed on countryside of Lycia.
the island and put forward Polydeuces as their Seeking advice from the gods, Bellerophon
champion; he killed the bully. succeeded in trapping the winged horse
See also: Polydeuces Pegasus beside the fountain of Pirene on the
Acropolis at Athens. Harnessing the won-
drous steed with a golden bridle given to him
Begoe by the goddess Athene, Bellerophon flew
Romano-Etruscan above the Chimaera and shot it in the mouth
Also: Vegoia with an arrow tipped with lead. This leaden
Thought by some to be the derivative of point melted in the beast’s mouth and burned
Egeria, this nymph was said to have advised out its insides.
the king of Clusium, Arruns Veltumnus. Next Iobates sent Bellerophon to fight the
See also: Egeria Solymi, which he did with equal success, and
then against the Amazons. Again Bellerophon
succeeded. Iobates then set up an ambush for
Bellatrix Bellerophon by his own soldiers, but when
Greek they too were soundly defeated Iobates finally
The name of an Amazon warrior. realized that he was not up against only
Astronomical: The gamma star of the constel- Bellerophon but the gods as well. Producing
lation Orion (ß Ori) is named after this war- the letter sent to him by Proetus, Iobates final-
rior-maiden. Of magnitude 1.63, spectral type ly learned the truth and gave Bellerophon half
B2III, it is 303 light-years away. It may be locat- his kingdom and the hand of his daughter,
ed at approximate celestial coordinates right Philonoë.
ascension 5h20m, declination +8°. The fate of Anteia, the cause of Bellero-
phon’s troubles, is somewhat confused. Some
accounts say that she took her own life, where-
Bellerophon(tes) as others, including Euripides, say that she
Greek was taken for a ride on Pegasus and that
Son of King Glaucus of Ephyra (Corinth) and Bellerophon pushed her off from a great
grandson of Sisyphus; some sources name him height.
as a son of Poseidon. It would appear as if Later tradition records that Bellerophon,
Bellerophon was not his original name but greatly bolstered by his resounding successes
rather a nickname earned after he had acciden- and realizing that he had been aided by the
tally killed Bellerus, an act for which he fled to gods, presumptuously tried to ride up to
Proetus, king of Tiryns, to seek purification. Heaven upon Pegasus, thinking he must him-
However, Anteia (also called Stheneboea), the self have a godly status. Zeus sent a gadfly to
wife of Proetus, fell in love with the young man, sting Pegasus, who reared and threw his rider
and when he repulsed her advances she treach- to earth. Mortally wounded—some accounts
erously accused him of trying to seduce her. say lame, others blind—Bellerophon drifted
66 Bellerus
sadly across the Plains of Wandering until he possible for mortals; both died while they slept
died. Pegasus continued his upward flight and within the confines of the temple.
safely reached the godly confines of Olympus. See also: Argos
See also: Proetus
Boeotia
Bellerus Greek
Greek An ancient country of central Greece, formed
The character, about whom nothing else is in the seventh century B.C.; its inhabitants were
known, that the son of Glaucus, king of renowned for their slow-wittedness. Now a
Corinth, accidentally killed, thus earning the department in central Greece, on the north
nickname Bellerophon. shore of the Gulf of Corinth, its capital is
Levádhia. The Boeotian League of ancient
Greek cities was dominated by the Boetian city
Bellona of Thebes, founded in legend by Cadmos,
Roman until the league was disbanded sometime after
The goddess of war. Possibly the sister, wife, or 479 B.C. In more recent times, during the nine-
daughter of Mars, she may have been, in ori- teenth century, the site of Thebes was excavat-
gin, an Asian goddess of war who was wor- ed by Heinrich Schliemann, who uncovered
shipped in Cappadocia and Phrygia, her the Treasure of the Minyas.
adoption into the Roman pantheon being The region has many legends attached to it.
made under the patronage of the dictator Thebes, the most powerful city within the
Sulla. country, was said to have been founded by
Cadmos, whereas the country itself was said to
have been the home and hunting ground of
Belus the giant Orion.
Greek On its coast lies the port of Aulis, where the
One of the countless sons of Poseidon and Greek fleet was becalmed en route for the
father of Aegyptus, Danaus, and Cepheus. Trojan War and where Iphigeneia was offered
Through confusion with the Phoenician god in sacrifice to the goddess Artemis by her
Baal, Belus was reputed by some to have been father, Agamemnon, the Greek commander.
the founder of Babylon. Within its boundaries lies Mount Helicon,
sacred to the Muses, upon which rose the
fountains of Aganippe and Hippocrene.
Bendis See also: Thebes
Greek
Goddess of Thracian origin associated with
the moon and with hunting. Bona Dea
Roman
An oracular goddess who would reveal her
Bias oracles only to women.
Greek
The brother of Melampus.
Boötes
Greek
Biton The son of Zeus and Callisto and the reputed
Greek inventor of the plough; translated, his name
Brother of Cleobis; both were sons of a priest- means “ox driver” or “herdsman.” The ancient
ess of the goddess Hera at Argos. Once, in an Greeks sometimes identified the constellation
act of filial devotion, they dragged their moth- of Boötes with Callisto’s son, Arcas, or
er’s chariot to the temple. In return she prayed Arctophylax. Confusion exists over the actual
that Hera should grant them the best boon identity of the person said to be represented by
Brauron 67
the constellation, as some also sought to con- This particular stretch of water, which cuts
nect it with a wolf named Lycaon, an associa- off the Thracian Peninsula of Turkey, including
tion many think answers the question whether Istanbul, from the remainder of the country,
Zeus killed Lycaon or turned him into a wolf. also features in the story of Jason and the
Astronomical: A large constellation of the Argonauts. At the entrance to the waterway
northern celestial hemisphere that contains the were said to be the perilous Symplegades,
star Arcturus, the fourth brightest in the night rocks that clashed together to crush any vessel
sky. It is located within the night sky at approx- that tried to slip between them. Upon the
imate celestial coordinates right ascension advice of Phineus, Jason released a dove
13h00m to 16h00m, declination +10° to +55°. between the so-called Clashing Rocks, which
See also: Lycaon came together, clipping the fleeing bird’s tail
feathers. As the rocks recoiled Jason urged his
oarsmen on and, with a helping push from
Boreas Athene, the Argo Navis passed safely through.
Greek From that time forward the rocks remained
The north wind; son of the Titan Astraeus by fixed. Some sources move the location of these
Eos, goddess of dawn, and brother to the other events away from the Bosphorus to the oppo-
kindly winds—Notus (south), Eurus (east), site end of the Sea of Marmara, saying that the
and Zephyrus (west), as well as the evening Symplegades were located at the entrance to
star, Hesperus. Boreas was kept, along with his the Hellespont instead.
three brother-winds, in a cave on the floating See also: Io
island of Aeolia. They were released by the
god of the winds, Aeolus, either when he felt
like it or when the gods so requested. He was Branchidae
considered to be more beneficent than his Greek
brother Zephyrus, though on an equal footing The site of an oracle of Apollo to the south of
with both Eurus and Notus. Miletus that contains important relics of Ionian
He carried off the nymph Oreithyia, daugh- sculpture. Today the site is on the western
ter of Erechtheus, while she played on the seaboard of Asiatic Turkey.
banks of the Ilissus in Athens. They had four
children: two daughters, Chione and Cleo-
patra (the wife of Phineus); and two sons, Brauron
Zetes and Calais, who took part in the expedi- Greek
tion of the Argonauts and distinguished them- A major shrine in Attica to the goddess
selves as the heroes who chased away the rav- Artemis, Brauron was particularly frequented
enous Harpies from the dinner table of the by pregnant women. The worship of Artemis
blind Phineus, their brother-in-law. at Brauron was said to have been initiated by
Although not a popular deity, Boreas was Iphigeneia and her brother, Orestes. Iphi-
particularly worshipped in Athens and was geneia, the daughter of Agamemnon, had
always well disposed toward the city and its once been a priestess to Artemis at Tauris until
inhabitants. During the fifth century B.C. the rescued by Orestes. When they left Tauris they
Athenians attributed the destruction of the took with them the image of Artemis, which
fleet of the Persian Xerxes to Boreas. they brought to Brauron, hence the goddess
becoming known as Brauronia. This Brau-
ronian Artemis was not worshipped solely at
Bosp(h)orus Brauron but in Athens as well and especially in
Greek Sparta, where youths were scourged at her
The strait of water joining the Black Sea to the altar until they sprinkled it with their blood.
Mediterranean. It was so named, literally One particular feature of the sanctuary at
translated as “Ox-Ford,” because it was said Brauron was the presence of girls aged
that Io had crossed it while still in the form of between five and ten known as arktoi—“bear
a heifer. virgins” or “bears for Artemis.” Each would
68 Brennus
spend a period in the service of the goddess With the giant’s revolt finally put down,
before taking part in a procession at Athens to Zeus punished those who had plotted against
mark their arrival at maturity. him, Briareus being confined beneath Mount
Extensive remains still exist at Brauron, dat- Etna in Sicily along with some of the other
ing back to the Mycenaean period, and include giants. He is considered to be venting his anger
the tomb of Iphigeneia. The most impressive at his continued imprisonment, along with the
remains today are those of a Doric temple other confined giants, each time Etna erupts.
complex dating from c. 420 B.C., complete with See also: Cyclopes; Etna; Hecatoncheires
the quarters that would have been occupied
by the arktoi.
See also: Artemis Briseis
Greek
The daughter of Brises, a priest from
Brennus Lyrnessus. She was carried off by Achilles dur-
Roman ing the Trojan War to be his concubine and
A Gaul who was said to have been besieging later was the object of a notorious quarrel
Rome at the time when Camillus, returned between Achilles and Agamemnon. Iliad in
from exile, attacked the Gauls from the rear, fact opens with this quarrel. Agamemnon had
decimated their forces, and thus saved Rome been assigned Chryseis, the daughter of the
from almost certain destruction. Trojan priest Chryses, as his concubine.
However, when Chryses came to ransom her
he was roughly repulsed. In revenge, Apollo
Briareus sent a plague to afflict the Greek hordes until
Greek finally, on Calchas’s advice, Agamemnon
Also: Aegaeon returned Chryseis to her father.
One of the Hecatoncheires or Centimani, the To recompense himself for his loss, Aga-
100-handed, 50-headed giant sons of Ge and memnon took Briseis, an act that led Achilles to
Uranos, the other two being Cottus and Gyas sulk in his tent and resolutely refuse any further
or Gyges. They were in turn the brothers of the part in the Trojan War. Some sources, however,
one-eyed Cyclopes and the 12 Titans. When attribute this behavior to the simple fact that
Hera, in cahoots with Poseidon and Apollo, Achilles had fallen in love with Polyxena, the
succeeded in leading a conspiracy against daughter of Priam, king of Troy, and was, by
Zeus and put him in chains, Briareus and refusing to participate further in the war, simply
Thetis freed the great god. trying to curry favor with Polyxena’s father.
His variant name of Aegaeon suggests that With Achilles no longer fighting with the
he was a god of the Aegean Sea, a supposition Greeks, the Trojans soon began to get the
supported by the fact that he is sometimes upper hand. Alarmed, Agamemnon offered to
regarded as the son or son-in-law of Poseidon. return Briseis, an offer that Achilles politely
This watery association is further supported by but firmly refused. Instead, Patroclus, Achilles’
the fact that he was said to have awarded the inseparable companion, donned the great
Isthmus to Poseidon during his dispute with warrior’s armor and attempted to turn the tide
Helios, giving the latter the Acrocorinthos. back in favor of the Greeks. He failed, being
Having once appeared to help Zeus, he later killed by Hector. It was this that led Achilles to
appears to have taken part in a rebellion rejoin the battle, and Agamemnon finally to
against all of Olympus. Foretold by an oracle return Briseis.
that the roasted viscera of a monstrous bull See also: Achilles
that lived in the River Styx would enable who-
ever ate them to overthrow Zeus and rule in
his stead, Briareus caught the beast and was Brises
about to roast the viscera as he had been Greek
instructed when a kite flew down, snatched A priest from Lyrnessus whose daughter,
the entrails, and took them to Zeus. Briseis, was taken captive by Achilles, who
Brutus, Lucius Junius 69
Busiris
Byzantium
Greek
One of the numerous sons of Poseidon who Greek
Ancient Greek city located on the northern
became the king of either Libya or Egypt, the
shore of the Thracian Bosphorus. Founded as a
latter being the more likely as Busiris was
colony of the Greek city Megara on the
the Greek name for the Egyptian Delta city
Corinthian Isthmus about 667 B.C., it was recol-
of Djedu, an early cult center for the
onized in 628 B.C. This settlement was wiped
Egyptian deity Osiris. He had the habit of
out by the Persians of Darius I but subsequent-
sacrificing all foreign visitors to his land to
ly recaptured and recolonized with a mixed
Zeus until Heracles visited and the tables
force from Sparta and Athens by Puasanias of
were turned.
Sparta following the battle of Plataea in 479 B.C.;
its sovereignty was disputed by both Sparta
and Athens throughout the fifth century B.C.
Butes Philip of Macedon laid siege to the city in 340
Greek B.C., but it was preserved by a miraculous flash
A priest of Pallas Athene and the son of the of light that revealed the approaching army, a
king of Athens, Pandion. miracle still used on Turkish coins.
See also: Pandion The city continued to prosper, and it resist-
ed the Thracian Gauls until it fell to the
Roman Emperor Septimus Severus, who
razed the city and then rebuilt it in 196 A.D.
Byblis Emperor Constantine made it his capital in
Greek 330 A.D., renaming the city Constantinople. In
A nymph who became infatuated with her 1453 the city fell to the Muslims and gradual-
brother, Caunus, until she was finally changed ly extended the use of its Turkish name,
into a fountain. Istanbul (Stamboul).
K C k
Cabiri ly beautiful youth, singer, and seer was killed
Greek by Hercules.
Originating in Phrygia, these fertility deities,
usually described as twins though their num- 2. Greco-Roman
ber does vary, were worshipped in Thebes and Originating in Greek mythology, Cacus was
Athens, to which the phallic hermas (cairns) later absorbed into Roman culture. He was
were said to have been brought as part of their described as a half-human demigod, a man-
cult, but especially on the northern Aegean eating ogre, the son of Hephaistos and
islands of Samothrace, Lemnos, and Imbros. Medusa; the Romans made him the son of
The Samothracians put their number at four, Vulcan, a direct parallel, but left his mother
christening them Axieros, Axiokersos, nameless. He was said to have lived in a cave
Axiokersa, and Cadmilus. They played an on the Palatine Hill, though some sources
important role in the Samothracian mysteries, make this the Aventine Hill, from where he ter-
being identified with the Olympian deities— rorized the Arcadians.
Demeter, Persephone, Hades, and Hermes. During the tenth labor of Heracles that great
Often referred to simply as the “Great hero drove the cattle he had taken from Geryon
Gods,” their names appear related to the through Italy, encountering, on the Palatine
Semitic root kbr, which simply means “great,” Hill, Cacus, who attempted to make off with the
and they may represent the Phrygian version oxen. Heracles clubbed him to death, a story
of the twin agricultural deities known else- subsequently told to Aeneas by King Evander,
where among the Indo-European peoples, who some sources say used Cacus as a slave.
such as the Vedic Ashvins. As twin deities they See also: Medusa
were often identified with the Dioscuri, in
which guise they were regarded as helpers of
distressed sailors, appearing to them in the
Cadme(i)a
form of Saint Elmo’s fire. Greek
Their parentage greatly varied. On Lemnos The citadel of Thebes said to have been built
they were said to be the children of Hephaistos by Cadmos with the aid of the five Sparti or
and were regarded as smiths. Elsewhere they “Sown Men” who survived their battle with
were said to have been sons of Uranos, who each other. These five—Echion, Udaeus,
assisted the birth of Zeus, or of Proteus and Chthonius, Hyperenor, and Pelorus—became
thus guardians of sailors, or even of Zeus and revered as the ancestors of Thebes. The fortifi-
the Muse Calliope. cations below the Cadmea were built at a later
See also: Dioscuri date by Amphion and Zethus, the latter mar-
rying Thebe, who gave her name to the city.
See also: Sparti
Cacus
1. Romano-Etruscan Cadm~os, ~us
Later to become identified with Caeculus, the Greek
legendary ancestor of the powerful Caecilii The legendary founder of Thebes in Boeotia.
family of the Roman republic, this exceptional- According to common tradition, he was the
71
72 Caduceus
son of Agenor (son of Poseidon and king of quished his throne to his grandson, Pentheus,
Phoenicia) and Telephassa. When his sister, the son of Agave and Echion, but he was mur-
Europa, was carried off by Zeus, who dered attempting to resist the cult of Dionysos.
appeared to her in the form of a bull, Agenor Following the murder Cadmos and Harmonia
sent his sons, Cadmos among them, to search left Thebes and went to Illyria; later, in the
for her. form of serpents, they were received in the
Having no success, the sons returned with- Islands of the Blessed.
out their sister, but Cadmos decided to consult See also: Boeotia; Sparti
the Delphic Oracle. There he was advised to
relinquish his fruitless search and instead fol-
low a cow until she sank down with fatigue Caduceus
and there found a city. This he did, following Greco-Roman
the cow from Phocis to Boeotia, where she sank The winged staff carried by Hermes as an
down to rest; he decided to found his city there. attribute along with his winged hat, the peta-
Sacrificing to Athene, he sent his men to sus, and winged sandals, the alipes. The staff
fetch water from a spring that was sacred to was originally represented as being adorned
Ares, not knowing that it was guarded by a with white ribbons, but these later became ser-
dragon. This beast killed most of his men, but pents due to Hermes’ association as the herald
Cadmos prevailed and, upon the advice of of Hades, the intimator of death who gently
Athene, sowed the teeth from the slain dragon. laid the golden rod on the eyes of the dying.
Immediately fully armed men, the Sparti or When Hermes was absorbed into the Roman
“Sown Men” sprang up from the teeth and pantheon as Mercury, the caduceus remained
began to menace Cadmos, who threw stones as a serpent-entwined rod.
into their midst. Thinking that his neighbor Though normally associated with Hermes
was hitting him, each started to fight one or Mercury, the caduceus was also carried by
another until only five remained. These five— Asclepios, the god of medicine, and has found
Echion, Udaeus, Chthonius, Hyperenor, and its way into modern symbology as the
Pelorus—helped Cadmos to build the emblem of many medical associations and
Cadmea, the citadel of the city that was subse- organizations.
quently to become known as Thebes after See also: Asclepios; Hermes
Zethus had married Thebe and so became
revered as ancestors of the city and its people.
To atone for killing the dragon, Cadmos Caeles Vibenna
became a slave to Ares for eight years before Romano-Etruscan
Zeus gave him Harmonia, the daughter of Brother of Aulus Vibenna with whom he
Ares and Aphrodite, to be his wife. All the attacked Cacus. Said to have given his name to
Olympian deities attended their wedding, the the Caelian Hill in Rome, he was once rescued
first time the gods had attended the wedding from a period of enforced captivity by his
of a mere mortal, and several fabulous gifts faithful companion, Mastarna.
were given to the bride. From Aphrodite came
the famous necklace that had been made by
Hephaistos, which Zeus had originally given Caeneus
to Europa and which bestowed irresistible Greek
loveliness on its wearer. From Athene she Born as the nymph Caenis, she was raped by
received a magic robe woven by the Graces Poseidon, who, as was customary after such
that conferred divine dignity. enjoyment by the gods, granted a boon. Caenis
Cadmos was said to have introduced the asked to be turned into a man to avoid being
alphabet and writing to Thebes from raped again. Poseidon consented, making him
Phoenicia. The children of Cadmos and invulnerable at the same time. So Caeneus was
Harmonia were Autonoë, Ino, Semele (the created.
mother of Dionysos), Agave, Polydorus, and Having taken part in the hunt for the
later Illyrius. In his old age Cadmos relin- Calydonian Boar in the company of the
Calipe 73
Argonauts, Caeneus became the king of the Then, with the fleet becalmed at Aulis,
Lapithae, demanding worship as a god. At Calchas advised that the only way to gain
Zeus’s instigation a great battle ensued favorable winds was to sacrifice Iphigeneia,
between the Lapithae and the centaurs, who, the daughter of the Greek commander-in-
unable to overcome Caeneus, bludgeoned him chief, Agamemnon, to the goddess Artemis to
into the ground and buried him under a mass appease her for the killing of a hart. Aga-
of felled trees, a scene depicted on a bronze memnon reluctantly consented, but the god-
plaque at Olympia. His soul was released in dess carried the hapless maiden away to serve
the form of a bird, after which his body as her priestess in Tauris.
regained its female form. In the tenth year of the Trojan War there
occurred the famous incident between Achilles
and Agamemnon, the latter having taken
Caere Chryseis, the daughter of the Trojan priest
Romano-Etruscan Chryses, as his concubine. Apollo sent a plague
A great metal-working center some 15 miles among the Greek hordes, and on Calchas’s
northwest of Rome. One of the most advice Chryseis was returned to her father.
Hellenized of all the Etruscan cities, Caere had Agamemnon now took Briseis, the concu-
a large Phoenician population and controlled bine of Achilles, to recompense himself, and as
several dependant ports. Other important a result Achilles refused to take any further
Etruscan cities within the vicinity were part in the battle, turning the tide firmly in
Tarquinii, Vulci, and Veii. favor of the besieged city.
With many Greek heroes dead, Calchas said
they must fetch the bow and arrows of
Calais Heracles then owned by Philoctetes, who had
been left on the island of Lemnos because of
Greek the stench from a festering snake bite.
The brother of Zetes, winged twin sons of Odysseus and Diomedes sailed to the island to
Boreas and Oreithya. They accompanied the persuade him to join their cause.
expedition of Jason and the Argonauts and, Next, Calchas advised the Greeks that they
upon reaching the island of Bebrycos, drove would gain final victory over Troy only if they
off the rapacious Harpies that had been plagu- were to capture Helenus, for only he knew the
ing the blind King Phineus, husband of their secret oracles that protected the city. He also
sister, Cleopatra, before releasing Cleopatra’s participated in the plot that led to the death of
sons from imprisonment by their father, who Palamedes. Following the fall of Troy, Calchas,
falsely suspected they rather than the Harpies like Amphilochus, made his way overland to
had been plaguing him. Colophon. There he contended in a contest of
See also: Zetes
prophecy with Mopsus, a son of Apollo and
Manto, and was beaten when Mopsus correct-
ly stated the number of figs on a fig tree.
Calchas Having been surpassed, he died of grief, as
Greek was fated, and was buried at Notium. Calchas
Treacherous Trojan seer; the father of Cres- and Mopsus are venerated as the joint
sida and originating from either Mycenae or founders of several cities including Perge,
Megara. Fated to die when he met a better Selge, and Sillyum.
diviner than himself, he assisted the Greek See also: Cressida; Trojan War; Troy
forces in the run up to and during the Trojan
War. Prior to the Greek fleet assembling at
Aulis he foretold that Troy could not be taken Calipe
without the aid of Achilles (then age nine), Greek
the son of Peleus (king of the Myrmidones A misspelling of Calpe, one of the Pillars of
and Phthia in Thessaly) and the Nereid Heracles (Hercules), that appears in some
Thetis. early source texts.
74 Calliope
Cappadocia
Capella Roman
Greek Ancient region of Asia Minor, the boundaries
Astronomical: Lying within the constellation of which differed greatly at various times. A
Auriga, this star, the alpha, or primary, star of Roman province from 17 A.D., it was here that
that grouping (a Aur), honors the she-goat that Bellona, the Roman goddess of war, was wor-
suckled the infant Zeus and may therefore be shipped.
identified with Amalthea. Lying at approxi-
mate celestial coordinates right ascension
5h15m, declination +46°, the star is actually a Capricorn(us)
spectroscopic binary, the primary being a Greco-Roman
G8III, slightly variable star at about 0.08 mag- There are two legends surrounding Capricorn,
nitude some 46 light-years from earth. Its com- the first being Greek and relating an earthly
panion is of type F. The pair makes up the sixth event, the second being Roman after Greek
brightest star in the night sky. culture had been absorbed. Legend says that
the god Pan, to escape the giant Typhon,
leaped into the River Nile and, midleap, his
Capitoline Hill head, still above the waters of the river,
Roman became that of a goat while his hindquarters
One of the seven hills of Rome. It was on this became the rear part of a fish. In this way the
hill that Romulus, having become king of Sea Goat or Capricorn was created, later to be
78 Capys
Cassandra
Carna Greek
Roman Daughter of Priam (king of Troy) and Hecuba.
A goddess of physical fitness. Having fallen in love with Cassandra, Apollo
Castor 79
taught her the art of prophecy, but when she Learning of the reasons behind Andromeda’s
continued to refuse his advances he ordained plight, Perseus promptly offered to rescue the
that her prophecies, including the foretelling maiden on the proviso that she should become
of the fall of Troy, should not be believed. his wife. Her parents were only too happy to
However, it would appear as if this order from comply; flying over the monstrous Cetus,
Apollo was not made until after some of her Perseus exposed the head of Medusa and
prophecies had been believed, and acted turned the monster to stone. After their daugh-
upon, for she foretold that Paris would one ter was rescued, Cepheus and Cassiopeia now
day bring about the fall of Troy, and for this reneged on their agreement, for they said that
reason he was exposed at birth. Andromeda was already betrothed to another.
During the Trojan War Cassandra made sev- Perseus, however, was not put off, and the
eral important prophecies, but none were wedding went ahead, only to be interrupted
believed. When the Wooden Horse was found by Andromeda’s betrothed and his followers,
outside the walls of the city, Cassandra who attempted to carry off the bride. Perseus
declared that it hid Greek warriors, a state- once again exposed the head of Medusa, and
ment supported by Laocoön, but both were the interlopers were all turned to stone.
disbelieved, even though Laocoön flung a Following her death Cassiopeia was placed
spear at the horse and caused a clatter of arms in the heavens by Poseidon, hanging upside
from within. down in a chair for half the time as final and
When Troy finally fell to the Greek hordes, eternal punishment for her boasting.
Cassandra was raped by Ajax the Lesser at the Astronomical: An easily recognized constella-
altar in the temple to Athene, after which she tion within the northern celestial hemisphere,
was taken as part of Agamemnon’s booty. shaped like an “M” or “W” depending on
Upon their return to Mycenae, Cassandra one’s viewing aspect, it lies between approxi-
refused to enter the city with her master mate right ascensions 22h55m and 3h10m,
because, in a visionary trance, she had been declination from +46° to +77°. The constella-
horrified to smell the ancient shedding of tion remains circumpolar as far south as lati-
blood and the curse of Thyestes. Following the tude 50°N.
murder of Agamemnon by Clytemnestra and See also: Andromeda; Cepheus
her weak-willed lover, Aegisthus, Cassandra
suffered the same fate.
See also: Agamemnon; Hecuba; Laocoön; Priam Castalia
Greek
The spring on Mount Parnassus, near Delphi,
Cassiope(ia) that is sacred to Apollo and the Muses.
Greek
Wife of Cepheus (king of Aethiopia) and
mother of the beautiful Andromeda. Rashly Castalides
boasting that either she or her daughter was Greek
more beautiful than the Nereides, she incurred Name applied to the Muses through their
the displeasure of Poseidon, who demanded association with Castalia, the sacred spring on
that Andromeda be chained to a sea cliff as a Mount Parnassus.
sacrifice to Cetus, a terrible sea monster. Some
sources vary this by saying that Cetus was
originally sent by Poseidon to ravage the coun- Castor
tryside and that the Oracle of Ammon said Greco-Roman
that only the sacrifice of Andromeda could One of the Dioscuri, a heroic son of Zeus with
save the land. his twin, Polydeuces (Pollux to the Romans),
While Andromeda was chained naked to yet not in reality the son of Zeus. He was the
the sea cliff, Perseus flew overhead on the offspring of Tyndareus, king of Sparta, by his
winged-horse Pegasus, having successfully daughter, Leda, who was almost simultane-
defeated and beheaded the Gorgon Medusa. ously impregnated by Zeus and accordingly
80 Catulus, Q. Lutatius
bore the mortal Castor at the same time as the Catulus, Q. Lutatius
immortal Polydeuces. It would appear as if Roman
this elaborate myth was an attempt to ratio- A historical person, consul in 102 B.C., who in
nalize the primitive institution of a sacred king his Origin of the Roman Nation recorded a much
reigning as a lay king. He and his brother were earlier tradition that said that Aeneas had
either full or half-brothers to Helen and betrayed Troy to the Greeks out of hatred for
Clytemnestra. Paris and was, as a result of his help, later
Demigods who were particularly benefi- given safe conduct away from the fallen city.
cent to sailors who invoked them to gain
favorable winds, the pair was inseparable. A
renowned fighter, Castor taught the young Cecrops
Heracles how to fight. When their sister, Greek
Helen, was abducted by Theseus they raided The chthonic, mythical first king of Attica, the
Attica and, discovering the whereabouts of gift of Athene, and founder of Athens who,
Helen from Academus, they rescued her, tak- being earth-born, had the hindquarters of a
ing Aethra, Theseus’s mother, with them to snake. He had three daughters, Aglauros
act as Helen’s slave. Later they joined Jason (sparkling water), Herse (dew) and Pandrosos
and the Argonauts on their quest for the (all-dewy) who acted as the nurses of
Golden Fleece. Cecrops’s successor, Erichthonius, who was
It was on this epic voyage that Polydeuces also chthonic.
outboxed and killed Amycus, but then the During his reign a spring and an olive tree
twins went up against Idas and Lynceus, a suddenly appeared on the Acropolis and,
fight that cost the mortal Castor his life. upon consulting the Delphic Oracle, Cecrops
Heartbroken, Polydeuces prayed that, even was told that Athens must choose as patron
though immortal, he should not be allowed one of the deities whose respective symbols
to live one day longer than his brother. Zeus, these were (Athene and Poseidon). Cecrops
in mercy, at first let them live on alternate acted as the arbiter in the ensuing contest
days until he later placed them in the heavens between the gods for the patronage of
as the constellation Gemini, the Heavenly Athens, the role in which he and Pandrosos
Twins. are portrayed on the west pediment of the
The Dioscuri were particularly worshipped Parthenon.
in Sparta and later among the Romans, having A simple election was held, the women vot-
a temple dedicated to them in Rome. Castor is ing for Athene and the men for Poseidon. As
one of the few Greek gods or heroes whose the women far outnumbered the men, Athene
name was retained after Greek religion was easily won the contest, but the women were
absorbed into the Roman culture. punished for their choice by being deprived of
Astronomical: The third sign of the Zodiac the right to vote in Athens thereafter.
(May 22–June 21), the constellation Gemini Cecrops also acknowledged Zeus as the
lies in the northern celestial hemisphere supreme god and successfully brought 12
between approximate right ascensions 6h00m other Greek cities under the control of Athens.
and 8h00m, declination from +10° to +35°. He was also said to have introduced the insti-
The primary or alpha star (a Gem) is desig- tution of monogamous marriage to the city, a
nated Castor. A close double (separation 2”) of fact that strengthens the political position of
magnitudes 1.97 and 2.95, the stars have spec- Athenian women as shown in the story of the
tral types A1V and A5 respectively. Each is a choosing of Athene as the patron deity. He also
spectroscopic binary. A third binary, 9th mag- instituted religious worship without blood
nitude, 73” away completes a system of six sacrifice.
stars at a distance of 46 light-years. This sys-
tem may be found at approximate celestial
coordinates right ascension 7h40m, declina- Cela(e)no
tion +32°. Greek
See also: Dioscuri One of the three Harpies or Harpyiae.
Centaur~os, ~us 81
raping. This hero, said by some to have a ser- band and wife were reconciled. However,
pent’s hindquarters, then mated with the Procris still suspected Cephalos of loving Eos
mares of Magnesium on the slopes of Mount and so spied upon him while he was hunting;
Pelion, the result being the centaurs. This during one such occasion Cephalos accidentally
spelling of his name has been applied to one of killed his wife with the spear of Artemis.
the two centaur constellations in the night sky. For the involuntary murder of his wife
Cephalos was banished. Traveling to the king-
dom of Amphitryon, he was asked to rid the
Centimani
country of an uncatchable vixen by using
Greek Laelaps, his inescapable hound. As the vixen
Alternative collective name for the 100- could not be caught and Laelaps would never
handed, 50-headed sons of Ge and Uranos have given up the chase, Zeus solved the
who are more commonly referred to as the He- impasse by turning both animals to stone.
catoncheires. They were Cottus, Briareus (also Cephalos then joined Amphitryon’s expedi-
called Aegaeon), and Gyas (or Gyges). tion against the Taphians, finally settling in
their country, where he gave his name to the
Cephalonia island of Cephalonia.
See also: Amphitryon; Eos; Laelaps
Greek
Greek Kefallinía, an island off the west coast of
Greece in the Ionian Sea; said to have been Cepheus
named after Cephalos.
Greek
1. Son of Aleus the king of Tegea in Arcadia.
Cephal~os, ~us He accompanied Jason as one of the Argo-
Greek nauts on the quest for the Golden Fleece and
A son of Herse, the daughter of Cecrops, by had 20 sons. All but three of these were killed,
Hermes. Married to Procris, a daughter of along with Cepheus himself, when they
Erechtheus, he was beloved by Eos, goddess of helped Heracles in his fight against
the dawn, who took him to her home in the Hippocoön. His sister, Auge, became the
east. Procris became jealous of her husband’s mother of Telephus by Heracles.
infidelity and hid in the bushes to spy on him 2. King of Aethiopia, husband of Cassiopeia,
while he was out hunting. There she heard him and father of Andromeda. Following his wife’s
call out the name of Aura and became very agi- impudent boast to the Nereides, he jointly
tated, not realizing that Aura was the name of promised the hand of his daughter to Perseus
the breeze he called upon to cool his limbs. Her should he rescue her from Cetus, then
angry movements within the bushes caused attempted to back out of the deal. Following
Cephalos to think that a wild beast was ready- his death he was placed in the heavens as the
ing to spring upon him and, throwing his spear constellation that bears his name, along with
into the bushes, he killed his jealous wife. his wife, daughter, and son-in-law.
An alternative version of these events is told. Astronomical: A constellation of the northern
Eos, having fallen in love with Cephalos and celestial hemisphere between approximate
having her advances refused, revealed to him right ascensions 8h05m and 20h00m, declina-
that Procris was easily seduced by gold. To tion from +52° to +90°. Like the constellation
prove this point Eos changed Cephalos’s Draco it covers almost 180° and wraps itself
appearance and gave him a gold crown to offer around the northern celestial pole.
to Procris provided she would sleep with the See also: Aleus; Andromeda; Cassiopeia; Jason
offerer. Procris readily complied. Afterwards she
fled in shame to Crete, where she was seduced
by Minos. Later she returned to Athens in the Cerberus
guise of a youth with hound, named Laelaps, Greek
and spear, gifts from Artemis that never missed The three-headed dog, said by some to be
their mark. Cephalos so coveted these that hus- another of the monstrous offspring of
Ceto 83
Echidne and Typhon, brother of the Chi- off Naples, were named after them, seeming to
maera, the Hydra, and the Sphinx, that suggest that their transformation into mon-
guarded the entrance to the Underworld, the keys was the more popular fate to have befall-
realm of Hades, though Hesiod maintained en them.
that Cerberus had 50 heads. His three heads
were said to represent the past, the present,
and the future. He was also said by some to Cercyon
have had a serpent for a tail. As it was his job Greek
to actively discourage those who tried to A son of either Poseidon or Hephaistos. Living
leave the Underworld—by tearing them to near Eleusis, he challenged all travelers to a
pieces—he sat forever facing inwards or wrestling match and then killed them. He was
downwards, his serpent’s tail welcoming finally overcome and killed by Theseus.
newcomers.
To complete his eleventh labor, Heracles
entered the Underworld through a cave at Ceres
Taenarum in Laconia to bring back Cerberus. Roman
Guided by Athene and Hermes, Heracles The patron goddess of Sicily, goddess of grow-
crossed the River Styx and freed his friends ing vegetation and agriculture whom the
Theseus and Ascalaphus before obtaining Romans later came to identify with Demeter,
Hades’ permission to carry away Cerberus, giving her many of the same attributes. In this
provided he could do so without use of any later cult she was worshipped as the goddess
weapon. Heracles seized Cerberus by the of earth and corn.
throat and dragged the monstrous animal Astronomical: Name applied to a large aster-
back to Eurystheus, who was so afraid at the oid, approximately 1,000 kilometers in diame-
sight of it that he made Heracles return it to ter, discovered in 1800 by Guiseppe Piazzi and
Tartarus immediately. catalogued as 1Ceres.
Visitors to Hades were supposed to take See also: Demeter
honey cakes (possibly baklava) to placate
the dog as they entered, for he had a spiteful
tendency to bite newcomers. Where his sa- Ceryneian Hind
liva fell the aconite, later to become sacred to Greek
the Roman god Saturn, was said to have A fabulous creature having brazen hooves and
grown. golden antlers, the latter often causing it to be
See also: Chimaera; Echidne; Hydra; Sphinx; Typhon mistakenly called a stag. Heracles was set the
task of capturing it as the third of his Great
Labors, a task he accomplished after tirelessly
Cercopes pursuing it for a year. He shot it with an arrow
Greco-Roman that pinned its forelegs together without loss
The two dwarfish ruffians (some say more) of blood, then carried it back to Eurystheus
who lived in Lydia and robbed and killed over his shoulders.
passers-by. They were finally defeated by
Heracles while he was a slave of Queen
Omphale. Tying their feet to a pole, Heracles Ceto
carried them off slung over his shoulders. Greek
From their position the Cercopes were given a A sea goddess, wife of the sea god Phorcys and
good view of the hero’s hairy bottom, and they mother by him of Stheno and Euryale, the
made such ludicrous jokes about it that immortal Gorgons, and their sister, Medusa,
Heracles in his amusement relented and set the only mortal Gorgon, once beautiful but
them free. They were finally turned into either turned into a hideous monster by Athene for
stone or monkeys by Zeus. having laid with Poseidon in one of the tem-
The Romans embellished this story by say- ples sacred to the goddess.
ing that the Pithecussae, the Monkey Islands See also: Gorgon; Phorcys
84 Cetus
Cetus Chaos
Greek Greek
The sea monster sent by Poseidon to ravage In Greek cosmology, the infinite and empty
Aethiopia after Cassiopeia had boasted that space that existed before the creation that also
either she or her daughter, Andromeda, was came to be associated with Tartarus, the low-
more beautiful than the Nereides. The oracle est and most infernal region of the
of Ammon said that only the sacrifice of Underworld. Out of Chaos sprang Ge, “the
Andromeda to Cetus could save the land, and Earth,” who gave birth to Uranos, thus start-
so the hapless princess was chained naked to a ing the creation.
sea cliff. There Perseus spotted her; having
struck a deal with Andromeda’s parents for
her hand if he saved her, he flew over Cetus Chara
riding on the winged horse Pegasus. Using the
severed head of the Gorgon Medusa he turned Greek
“Beloved”; a greyhound who was held on
Cetus to stone.
leash, along with Asterion (Starry) by Boötes
Cetus is identified with Tiamat, the serpent of
in pursuit of the she-bear Callisto.
ancient Assyrian and Babylonian mythology.
Astronomical: The name applied to the sec-
Astronomical: An extremely large constella-
ondary, or beta, star of the constellation Canes
tion lying across the celestial equator between
approximate right ascensions 23h50m and Venatici (ß CVn), which lies next to the con-
3h20m, declination from –25° to +10°. It is stellation Boötes in the northern celestial
sometimes confused with the constellation hemisphere. This particular star may be
Hydra due to the connection made between found at approximate celestial coordinates
Cetus and the serpent Tiamat. right ascension 12h35m, declination +42°.
However, this star, type dG0, magnitude 4.32,
See also: Andromeda; Cassiopeia
30 light-years away, is also sometimes
referred to as Asterion, though this is usually
the alpha or primary star that was renamed
Ceuta by Sir Edmund Halley in honor of King
Greco-Roman Charles II of England.
The African of the Pillars of Heracles
(Hercules), ancient name Abyla, situated at the
very northern tip of Morocco and sometimes
identified with Mount Acho. The European of
Charis
the Pillars of Heracles was Calpe, and beyond Greek
these—the markers of the western boundary The wife of Hephaistos according to Iliad, a
of the known world—was supposed to lie the role normally taken by Aphrodite. Originally
fabled lost city of Atlantis. she had been the sole personification of Grace
See also: Calpe until later replaced by the three Graces or
Charites.
Ceyx
Greek Charites
Husband of Alcyone. Perishing in a ship- Greek
wreck, his wife threw herself into the sea upon The three goddesses of charm and beauty;
finding his body. In pity for the unfortunate daughters of Zeus who are also known as the
couple the gods turned them into a pair of Graces. They were Euphrosyne (representing
birds, usually identified as kingfishers, said to joy), Aglaia (the radiance of beauty), and
breed during the “halcyon days” of the winter Thalia (the flowering of beauty). They lived on
solstice when Aeolus forbids the winds to Mount Olympus with the Muses, with whom
blow. they were especially friendly. The Romans
See also: Alcyone equated them with their Gratiae.
Chione 85
Chloris Chrysippus
Greek Greek
1. The goddess of spring. Son of Pelops and half-brother of Atreus and
2. The only daughter of Niobe, hence a Thyestes. Loved by Laius, who raped him,
Niobid, who was not killed. that act being the probable cause of the ances-
3. The mother of Nestor. tral curse on the house of Laius, which features
See also: Niobe in the events of the Oedipus saga. He was mur-
dered by his half-brothers at the instigation of
their mother to prevent him from inheriting
the throne, after which they had to flee their
Chrysaor home.
Greek See also: Atreus; Thyestes
The warrior son of Medusa fathered on her
by Poseidon; he was born, fully grown,
along with the winged horse Pegasus, from Chrysothemis
the body of the Gorgon after she had been Greek
beheaded by Perseus. Chrysaor became the The daughter of Agamemnon and Clytem-
father, by the Oceanid Callirrhoë, of Geryon, nestra. She featured as the gentle foil to the
the three-headed giant whose cattle had to tough Electra, her sister, in Sophocles’ play
be stolen by Heracles as one of his Great Electra.
Labors.
See also: Medusa
Chthonic gods
Greek
Gods born of earth. Being so conceived,
Chryseis chthonic deities are usually closely linked with
Greek the ideas of death and regeneration. The sinis-
Daughter of the Trojan priest Chryses. She was ter figures of the Erinnyes and the Keres are
taken by the Greek commander in chief, also thought of as spirits of earth. In direct con-
Agamemnon, as his concubine during the trast to the chthonic deities were those of
siege of Troy. When her father came to ransom Olympus, gods who were conceived and lived
her he was rudely repulsed by Agamemnon, in the rarified heights of Heaven.
so Apollo sent a plague among the Greeks.
Seeking the advice of Calchas, Agamemnon
returned Chryseis to her father but took Briseis Chthonius
as recompense, an act that led to the famous Greek
quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles One of the five Sparti, or “Sown Men,” who
that almost turned the course of the Trojan War survived their infighting and went on to help
back in favor of Troy. Cadmos to build the Cadmea, the citadel of the
See also: Agamemnon city that was later to become known as Thebes.
The other four to survive were Echion,
Udaeus, Hyperenor, and Pelorus.
See also: Sparti
Chryses
Greek
A priest of Apollo Smintheus at Troy and Cicones
father of Chryseis. When his daughter had Greek
been seized by the Greek commander Islands visited by Odysseus and his men fol-
Agamemnon during the course of the Trojan lowing their departure from Troy at the end of
War, his prayers propitiated Apollo to spread a the Trojan War and where Odysseus received
pestilence among the Greek forces until the several jars of a sweet and particularly potent
girl was returned. wine.
Ciris 87
Ciris
Circe Greek
Greek The bird into which Scylla, daughter of King
The enchantress daughter of Helios and Perse, Nisus of Megara, was turned after she killed
sister of King Aeëtes, and mother of Comus her father; his soul, in the form of an eagle,
88 Cithaeron
pounced on her. Other traditions say that though some say that they simply expired
Scylla was changed into a fish named Ciris from the sheer exhaustion of dragging their
when she was drowned by Minos, who had mother’s chariot to the temple.
been horrified by her parricide. She is not to be See also: Biton
confused, though often is, with another named
Scylla, the daughter of Phorcys who was
turned into a monster with six heads. Cleonaean Lion
See also: Minos; Scylla Greek
An alternative name for the lion dispatched by
Heracles as his first Great Labor; better known
Cithaeron as the Nemaean Lion. The name derives from
Greek the fact that Nemea lay close to Cleonae, both
The lofty mountain, named after a king of being troubled by this monstrous creature,
Plataea, which lies at its foot, that separates another of the offspring of Typhon and
Attica from Boeotia and that is sacred to the Echidne.
Muses and Dionysos. When just 18 years old
Heracles set out to rid the area of a savage lion
that was ravaging the herds of both Clio
Amphitryon and his neighbor Thespius, the Greco-Roman
latter acting as Heracles’ host for the 50 days of One of the nine Muses, being that of epic poet-
the hunt. Finally Heracles killed the lion with a ry, which she was said to have invented,
wild olive club and made himself a garment prophecy, and history. In art she was repre-
from the pelt with the head as a helmet, sented with a roll of paper, a chest of books, or
though some say that it was the skin of the with musical instruments. She was the mother
Nemaean Lion that he wore. As a reward, of Orpheus and Hyacinthos.
Thespius gave Heracles his 50 daughters. See also: Muses, the
Cithaeron was also the location of many
episodes connected with Thebes, including the
exposure of the infant Oedipus. It was also Cloelia
where both Pentheus and Actaeon were killed. Roman
One of the hostages taken by Porsenna when
he agreed to a truce with Rome. She requested
Claudii that she and her fellow hostages should be
Roman allowed to go for a swim, but once the guards’
One of the five powerful families that dominat- backs were turned she swam back to Rome
ed the early Roman republic, probably toward with her companions. Porsenna was so
the end of the fifth century B.C. The other fami- impressed by Cloelia’s daring and cunning
lies were the Aemilii, Cornelii, Manlii, and that he allowed all the hostages to remain at
Valerii. Each family decisively affected the liberty.
Roman myths and legends in attempts to make
theirs the most prominent family.
Clotho
Greek
Cleobis One of the three Fates or Moirae, associate of
Greek Lachesis and Atropos, and the one who spun
Son of a priestess of Hera at Argos; brother of the thread or web of life, thus controlling men’s
Biton. In a display of filial devotion the broth- lives. After Tantalus had killed Pelops to feed
ers once dragged their mother’s chariot to the the gods at a banquet, a crime for which he was
temple, where she prayed to Hera that they duly punished, Zeus ordered Hermes to boil
should be granted the best boon for mortals. the limbs in a cauldron. Clotho took Pelops
Hera granted it by allowing them to die while from the cauldron and restored him to life.
asleep within the confines of her temple, See also: Fates, the
Cocal~os, ~us 89
Clytie
Clyt(a)emnestra Greek
Greek A nymph who was loved and then jilted by
Daughter of Tyndareus and Leda, half-sister to Helios. Revealing their secret to her next
Helen and the Dioscuri, Castor and Poly- lover, Helios began to hate her, so she trans-
deuces. Hesiod referred to her and Helen as formed into a heliotrope, thus following his
the lipesanores, the “husband-deserters.” She course across the sky with her gaze, day after
was forcibly married by Agamemnon after he day, forever.
had killed her first husband and became the See also: Helios
mother by him of Iphigeneia, Orestes, and
Electra.
While Agamemnon was away for the ten Cnidos
years of the Trojan War, Clytemnestra was Greek
seduced by Aegisthus, though she was the Greek colony in Caria, Asia Minor, where the
stronger of the two in character, and the weak- statue of Aphrodite by Praxiteles was once dis-
willed Aegisthus may have actually been played. A fine statue of Demeter, dating from
seduced by Clytemnestra. Together they plot- c. 330 B.C., was found at Cnidos and is today in
ted to murder Agamemnon on his return from the British Museum.
Troy, a resolve strengthened when Clytem-
nestra heard of Agamemnon’s sacrifice of
Iphigeneia at Aulis. Cnossos
On Agamemnon’s return, Clytemnestra Greek
welcomed him regally; later, while he was in Variant of Knossos, the important archaeolog-
his bath, she entangled him in a net, and after ical site on the island of Crete; this site contains
Aegisthus had struck him twice Clytemnestra the remains of the magnificent, unfortified,
beheaded him. She then went out to kill and labyrinthine so-called Palace of Minos.
Cassandra, the daughter of Priam who had
fallen to Agamemnon as booty upon the fall of
Troy. Cassandra had refused to enter the city Cocal~os, ~us
when, in a visionary trance, she was horrified Greek
to smell the ancient shedding of blood and the King of Sicily. He welcomed Daedalus after he
curse of Thyestes. fled to his realm from Cumae, where he
Clytemnestra now seized power of landed after flying away from Crete on wings
Mycenae, and she and Aegisthus ruled for he made himself, a flight that led to the death
many years, Aegisthus living in constant fear of his son, Icarus. When Minos came in pursuit
of vengeance. He wanted to kill Electra, but of the craftsman, Cocalos’s daughters delayed
90 Cocles, Publius Horatius
Minos to enable their father and Daedalus to that Scaevola’s surname was Cordus, an obvi-
kill him. ous derivation of Codrus.
See also: Daedalus
Coeus
Cocles, Publius Horatius Greek
Roman One of the offspring of Uranos and Ge, and
Hero who protected the Pons Sublicus, the thus a Titan.
wooden bridge over the River Tiber that gave
direct access to the heart of Rome, against the
attacking hordes under the leadership of Lars Colchis
Porsenna. Holding the attackers at bay while Greek
the bridge was demolished, Publius Horatius Ancient country to the south of the Cauca-
Cocles had the help of Spurius Lartius and sus at the eastern end of the Euxine, or Black,
Titius Herminus for a while. As the bridge was Sea. Dominated by Persia, Greece, and
set to fall, Cocles ordered his helpers back to Rome, it was, during the sixth century A.D.,
safety while single-handedly holding the disputed by Byzantium and Persia. Today
enemy at bay until the bridge finally collapsed. the region forms a part of the independent
Then, with a prayer to Father Tiber, he leaped Russian state of Georgia. It was most famous
fully armed into the raging river and swam to in Greek tradition as the destination of Aries,
safety beneath a cloud of Etruscan missiles. the winged ram sent by Zeus who carried
Though denied easy entry to Rome in this away Phrixus and Helle from their cruel and
manner, Lars Porsenna still laid siege to it. heartless stepmother. Helle fell off en route,
The story of Publius Horatius Cocles is dra- but Phrixus reached Colchis, where Aeëtes,
matically related in the immensely popular king of Colchis and father of the sorceress
Lays of Ancient Rome by Thomas Babington Medeä, sacrificed the ram and hung its
Macaulay, published in 1842. fleece on an oak tree in a grove that was
sacred to Ares, whereupon it turned to gold;
it was protected by a sleepless dragon, pos-
Cocytus sibly Draco.
Greek Jason and the Argonauts sailed to Colchis
The “River of Wailing”; one of the five rivers in aboard the ship Argo Navis to carry away the
the Underworld realm of Hades. The other Golden Fleece, and after overcoming many
rivers encountered in this realm were the Styx, perils they arrived at Phasis. They successfully
Phlegethon, Acheron, and Lethe. There is an accomplished their quest with the help of
actual River Cocytus in Epirus that flows for a Medeä.
portion of its course underground, and was See also: Aeëtes; Helle; Jason; Phrixus
thus said to lead directly to the Underworld.
Collatia
Codrus Roman
Greek The home city of Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus.
Mythical king of Athens who, in order to save When Lucretia was raped, the people of
his country from invading Dorians, disguised Collatia marched against Rome under the
himself in Dorian costume and penetrated the leadership of Brutus, roused the city, and per-
enemy camp, killing their leaders and so rout- suaded its inhabitants to bar the city gates
ing them. This story seems to have later been against Tarquinius, who was absent laying
used by the Romans when Scaevola was said siege to Ardea. Tarquinius and his sons, better
to have disguised himself and crept into the known simply as the Tarquins, fled into exile,
camp of Lars Porsenna who was, at that time, and Rome became a republic governed by
laying siege to Rome. This is further support- consuls.
ed by Dionysus of Halicarnassus, who said See also: Lucretia
Core 91
Comus Cordus
1. Greek Roman
A son of Circe. Surname of Scaevola according to Dionysus of
Halicarnassus. Due to a startling similarity of
2. Roman stories, it would appear as if Cordus is a sim-
A relatively modern god of mirth. ple derivation of Codrus, a mythical king of
Athens.
Concord
Greek
The goddess of harmony (known as Core
Concordia to the Romans) to whom a temple Greek
was built c. 430 B.C. at Agrigento, Sicily. Also: Kore
“The Maiden”; a title sometimes applied to
Persephone, the daughter of Demeter,
Concordia though some say that this was Persephone’s
Roman original name. However, the Achaeans
The Roman equivalent of the Greek Concord, brought with them a young warrior goddess
the goddess of concord who had a temple near who bore the titles Core, Parthenos, and
the Forum. Pallas, meaning “maiden,” “virgin,” and
“girl.” About 1700 B.C. she became identified
with an older pre-Hellenic “Palace Goddess”
Consentes, Di worshipped in Crete; later still she became
Roman identified with Athene. It would therefore
The Di Consentes were the 12 principle appear as if Core, when applied to
Roman deities, derived via the Etruscans from Persephone, was a preservation of this earli-
the 12 ancient Greek gods of Olympus. Their er, pre-Hellenic deity all but absorbed into
statues, six male and six female, stood in the the character of Athene.
Forum. See also: Persephone
92 Corineus
him away from Cronos, tended by the Curetes, from her womb. This baby was to become the
Rhea’s priests, who clashed their weapons healer god Asclepios.
together to drown the cries of the baby Zeus. An alternative story is told in Epidaurus,
In recognition of the faithful service given to where it was said Coronis gave birth to her
him in his infancy, Zeus transferred Amalthea son, Asclepios, and exposed him on Mount
to the heavens on her death and turned one of Myrtion, where he was suckled by goats.
her horns into the Cornucopia, which had the See also: Asclepios
power to refill itself with food and drink for-
ever more.
See also: Amalthea Corvus
Greek
Two stories revolve around Corvus, both refer-
Corona Australis ring to a crow and thus possibly being differ-
Greek ent renditions of the same tale. In the first,
Astronomical: The “Southern Crown”; to the Apollo sent a crow to fetch water for him in his
ancient Greeks this constellation was said to cup, Crater. The crow dawdled and when
represent the laurel wreath worn by the cham- questioned by Apollo lied to him. In his anger
pions of Greek games. Located in the southern Apollo placed the crow in the sky as the con-
celestial hemisphere, it may be found between stellation Corvus and next to him placed the
approximate right ascensions 17h55m and cup as the constellation Crater, from which the
19h15m, declination from –37° to –46°. crow is forever forbidden to drink. In the other
story, the crow was placed in the heavens for
telling tales; since that time all crows have
Corona Borealis been black rather than white.
Greek Both stories echo a part of the story of the
Astronomical: The “Northern Crown”; being the crow left by Apollo to guard the pregnant
crown of Ariadne, daughter of Minos, it was Coronis. The first seems to suggest that the
placed in the heavens by either Dionysos after crow was not diligent, a factor within the
he had found her abandoned on the island of Coronis story, the second that the crow had its
Naxos and married her, or by sympathetic god- color changed from white to black, again a fea-
desses after Theseus had left her. Located in the ture of the story of Coronis.
northern celestial hemisphere, this beautiful Astronomical: The constellation Corvus is
semicircle of stars may be found between located in the southern celestial hemisphere
approximate right ascensions 15h15m and between approximate right ascensions 11h50m
16h25m, declination from +27° to +40°. and 12h55m, declination from –12° to –25°.
See also: Coronis
Coronis
Greek Corybantes
A nymph; the daughter of Phlegyas. Loved Greek
and won by Apollo, who made her pregnant, Generic name applied to priests of Rhea in
she was unfaithful to the god and made love to Phrygia who were noted for their rhythmical
the mortal Ischys. This news was brought to dances to drums and cymbals. They appear to
Apollo by a crow the god left behind to watch have originated as the attendants of the Asiatic
over her during pregnancy. Apollo already mother goddess Cybele, whose cult later
knew of Coronis’s infidelity, cursed the crow became merged with that of Rhea.
for not pecking out Ischys’s eyes, and turned it
from white to black. Artemis then killed both
Coronis and Ischys with her arrows in sympa- Cos
thy for her brother, but in remorse she rescued Greek
Coronis’s body from the funeral pyre and bade One of the islands of the Sporades off Caria in
Hermes to cut the baby, who was still alive, Asia Minor. Famous in classical times as one of
94 Cottus
the main cult centers of Asclepios, the remains 2. King of Corinth and father of Glauce,
of the Asclepieion are there on three terraces also called Creusa. He raised Alcmaeon’s
and include temples and a medical school. children, Amphilochus and Tisiphone, but his
Hippocrates was born there c. 460 B.C. wife sold Tisiphone into slavery, her unwit-
ting purchaser being none other than her own
father, Alcmaeon. He also gave shelter to
Cottus Jason and Medeä after they fled Iolcos.
Greek However, Jason fell in love with Glauce and
One of the Hecatoncheires, the 100-handed, deserted Medeä. Medeä reacted by sending
50-headed, giant sons of Ge and Uranos. the young bride a garment that burned her to
death, set fire to the palace, and killed Creon
as well.
Crater See also: Seven Against Thebes
Greek
The cup in which the crow Corvus was sent to
fetch water for Apollo. The crow delayed and Cressida
when questioned by the god lied to him. In Greek
anger Apollo placed the crow in the heavens A daughter of the Trojan priest Calchas who
as the constellation Corvus, placing the cup features mainly in medieval legends of the
next to him as the constellation Crater, from Trojan War, which tell of her love affair with
which the crow is forever forbidden to drink. the Trojan warrior Troilus, one of the sons of
The constellation Crater has been seen as a cup the king of Troy, Priam. Her uncle, Pandarus,
or goblet in the folklore of many countries and acted as a go-between for the lovers, but final-
traditions. ly she deserted Troilus for the Greek soldier
Astronomical: A constellation of the southern Diomedes.
celestial hemisphere that lies next to that of See also: Troilus
Corvus, between approximate right ascen-
sions 10h50m and 11h50m, declination from
–6° to –25°. Cretan Bull
Greek
A magnificent white bull that was given to
Creon Minos by Poseidon for sacrifice in recognition
Greek of Minos’s position as the sole ruler of Crete.
1. King of Thebes, husband of Eurydice, Minos was so delighted by the magnificent
father of Haemon and Menoeceus, brother of creature that he substituted an inferior beast
Jocasta/Epicaste, and uncle of Oedipus. After for the sacrifice. Later the bull ran savage and
the latter had defeated the Sphinx and unwit- ravaged the island until it was captured single-
tingly married his own mother, Creon exiled handedly by Heracles as the seventh of his
him at Oedipus’s own request and acted as Great Labors. Heracles took it back to
regent for Oedipus’s two sons, Eteocles and Eurystheus, who set it free again. It roamed
Polyneices, until they quarreled and Poly- through Greece to Marathon, where it was
neices was exiled as well. In the war of the captured by Theseus, who took it to Athens to
Seven Against Thebes, Menoeceus was killed be sacrificed to Athene.
and Creon refused burial to Polyneices as a Additional traditions state that, as Minos
traitor. Antigone, Polyneices’ sister and lover had substituted an inferior beast for the sacri-
of Haemon, buried her brother, so Creon had fice, Poseidon punished him by making his
her buried alive in a cave, where she hanged wife, Pasiphaë, fall in love with the bull. She
herself. Haemon then took his own life, and had Daedalus construct a wooden cow in
Eurydice, Creon’s wife, hanged herself. which she could lie to mate with the bull, the
Creon remained king of Thebes until Lycus result of their union being the terrible
invaded the city, killed him, and usurped the Minotaur.
throne. See also: Minos; Minotaur; Pasiphaë
Croesus 95
men, he was also extremely pious; he sent from this wound fell onto Mother Earth, and
many dedications to Delphi and funded the she bore as a result the three Erinnyes or
temple of Artemis at Ephesus. On one occa- Eumenides, the Furies Alecto, Tisiphone, and
sion he was said to have tested the Delphic Megaera. From drops of blood that fell into the
Oracle by asking it to reveal what he was sea, Aphrodite was born.
doing at a particular time. It answered, cor- For a brief moment while Cronos seized
rectly, that he was boiling a tortoise and a hare power, the Cyclopes enjoyed freedom, being
in a cauldron. Thenceforth he placed his released by the Titans, but he soon sent them
absolute confidence in the oracle. back to Tartarus, along with the giants known
Legend says that he was once visited by as the Hecatoncheires. Having married his sis-
Solon and told him that he was the happiest of ter, Rhea, and mindful of the curse of Uranos
men. Solon replied that no man should be and Ge that he would also be deposed by one
called happy until he was dead. Prior to making of his own children, he swallowed each in turn
war on Persia, Croesus consulted the Delphic as they were born. Tiring of this, Rhea substi-
Oracle, which said that if he did go to war he tuted a stone for the baby Zeus, who was,
would destroy a great Empire. He did—his according to Minoan tradition, raised in the
own. Defeating him, the Persians seated him on Dictaean Cave on Crete, suckled by the she-
a funeral pyre to be burned alive, but Croesus goat Amalthea while the Curetes clashed their
prayed to Zeus, who sent a shower of rain at weapons together to mask the sound of the
just the right moment to extinguish the fire, thus baby’s cries.
saving his life. He was then transported to the When Zeus came of age he consulted Metis
land of the Hyperboreans, where he lived out (some sources say they married), the daughter
the rest of his days. of Oceanos, and with Rhea’s help gave Cronos
Herodotus and Plutarch vary these last a potion that made him first disgorge the stone
events by saying that rather than Zeus inter- that had been substituted for him at his birth
vening, Croesus told the Persian king of his followed by his other children—Hestia,
conversation with Solon and, so impressed Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon. They
was the king with this wisdom, that he spared joined forces with Zeus in a battle against their
Croesus’s life. father and the other Titans, who were led by
See also: Ephesus Atlas.
This war, known as the Titanomachia,
waged for ten years in Thessaly until finally
Crommyum Ge promised Zeus victory if he would release
Greek the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires from
Region of ancient Greece that was, at one Tartarus, which he did. In return the Cyclopes
time, ravaged by a wild sow. Like many other gave Zeus a thunderbolt, Hades a helmet of
terrors of that time, the sow was killed by darkness, and Poseidon a trident. With the
Theseus. aid of these weapons the three brothers over-
See also: Theseus came Cronos while the Hecatoncheires
stoned the other Titans. Thus defeated, they
were consigned either to Tartarus or to an
Cron~os, ~us island in the west, where they were guarded
Greek by the Hecatoncheires. Atlas was punished
Also: Kron~os, ~us for leading the Titans by being made to carry
The youngest of the Titans, the son of the sky on his shoulders, but the Titanesses
Uranos and Ge, husband of Rhea, and father were spared, even though they had taken
of Demeter, Hera, Hades, Hestia, Poseidon, part in the battle. Thus the prophecy of
and Zeus, equated by the Romans with Saturn. Uranos and Ge came to fruition, and Zeus
He deposed Uranus as the ruler of the uni- superseded his father as the supreme ruler of
verse by castrating him using a flint sickle his the universe.
own father had given him. Drops of blood See also: Aphrodite; Erinnyes; Metis; Saturn
Cybe~le, ~be 97
Cumae Curiatii
Greco-Roman Roman
Port near Naples, Italy. The site of the earliest Collective name for three brothers from Alba
Greek colony in Italy, it was settled from Longa who fought and lost a battle to the
Chalcis c. 750 B.C. It became a great coloniz- Horatii.
ing power in its own right and featured in
some notable legends. Having escaped from
Minos, Daedalus was supposed to have Curium
landed at Cumae before having to flee again Greek
from the pursuing king. It is, however, best Near to this town on Cyprus lies a sanctuary to
known as the location of the sibyl whose Apollo, one of the major sanctuaries on the
counsel was sought by Aeneas. She told him island. Apollo’s cult was practiced here from
to arm himself with the Golden Bough from around the eighth century B.C. to the fourth
a wood near Lake Avernus, then led him century A.D. Most of the visible remains today
down into the Underworld to consult with date from the first century A.D. The site has
his father’s spirit. great archaeological importance, as the total
See also: Aeneas; Sibyl layout gives a clear impression of the ways in
which ritual and secular needs were combined
within a single sanctuary complex.
Cupid
Roman Curtius, Mettius
Also: Amor Roman
God of love, the son of Venus who corre- Sabine champion who led his people against
sponded to the Greek Eros. Usually depicted Romulus following the rape of the Sabine
as a beautiful, naked, winged boy carrying a women. Overconfident, he foundered on his
bow and arrows, which he used to make horse in the swamps on the site of what was
gods and mortals alike either fall in love later to become the Forum. Some commenta-
with each other or refute that advances of tors say that it was from this incident that the
another. The youngest and most mischie- Lacus Curtius in the Forum derived its name.
vous of the gods, he played many wanton See also: Sabine
tricks on mortals and immortals and was an
attendant figure in much Roman love poetry
and sculpture. Cybe~le, ~be
See also: Eros Greco-Roman
Ancient Phrygian mother goddess and god-
dess of caves whose cult centered on Pessinus
Curetes in Phrygia and at Mount Dindymus in Mysia,
Greek where the origins of its rites were attributed to
Priests of Rhea who attended the infant Zeus the Argonauts. She was depicted wearing a
according to Minoan tradition. While the mural crown as protectress of her people and,
baby was being suckled by the she-goat as a goddess of wild places, rides in a chariot
Amalthea, they clashed their weapons, or drawn by lions. Her youthful consort was
cymbals, together to mask the sound of the Attis and her acolytes, the Corybantes, and, in
baby’s cries. Their name, cognate with kouros, Roman times, the self-mutilating Galli. Her
“youth,” specifically identifies them as atten- cult was eventually merged with that of Rhea
dants on the baby Zeus. They are closely or, in some places, Demeter, though in Piraeus,
allied to the Corybantes who attended the for example, she was worshipped under her
Asiatic mother goddess Cybele, whose cult own name along with Attis. She was said to
was merged with that of Zeus’s mother, have been married to Gordius, king of
Rhea. Phrygia, and was considered by some as the
98 Cyclades
mother of Midas. Her cult spread to as far as the aid of these fabulous weapons Zeus and
Rome, possibly being taken there by the Trojan his brothers won their battle.
refugees who traveled with Aeneas. Great builders, the Cyclopes were said to
have built the massive walls of Tiryns and,
later, of Mycenae, these walls of unhewn stone
Cyclades being today referred to as Cyclopean. Later
Greek tradition added to the number of Cyclopes,
Greek Kikládhes, a roughly circular group of making them a numerous tribe of savage pas-
about two hundred islands in the south toralists who lived without laws, feeding on
Aegean Sea lying between Greece and Turkey. dairy produce except when human flesh
A department of modern Greece, it has its cap- should chance their way. Most famous of
ital at Hermoúplois on Síros. Among the these “other” Cyclopes was Polyphemus, a
group is Delos, the island supposed to have son of Poseidon who lived in a cave on the
been raised by Poseidon and then anchored to west coast of Sicily. Odysseus and his com-
the seabed by Zeus. It became an important panions took refuge in his cave, and when
center for the worship of Apollo. Also within Polyphemus entered with his flocks they
the group is Naxos, the island on which found themselves trapped, two of Odysseus’s
Theseus was said to have abandoned Ariadne companions being devoured by the giant. By
and where she was later found and married by the following evening only Odysseus and six
Dionysos. It became the center of worship of of his companions remained, so they got
Dionysos. Polyphemus drunk with a sweet and extreme-
ly potent wine before putting out his single
eye. The next morning they escaped by cling-
Cyclop(e)s ing to the bellies of Polyphemus’s sheep and
Greek so made it safely to their ship, but thereafter
Although the Cyclopes are usually described they had to contend with the vengeful hostili-
as the children of Uranos and Ge, their pur- ty of Poseidon.
pose differs. Hesiod describes them as Titans, A further tradition concerns the fateful love
whereas Homer says they were one-eyed giant of Polyphemus for the nymph Galatea and his
shepherds living on Sicily, their leader being disposal of his rival for her attentions, Acis. In
named as Polyphemus. Later tradition said these later traditions these giant one-eyed
they were the helpers of Hephaistos living beings are usually referred to as Cyclops,
either on, or actually within, Mount Etna. Polyphemus often being referred to simply as
The three original Cyclopes, the one-eyed “the cyclops.”
giant sons of Uranos and Ge, are usually See also: Hecatoncheires; Titanomachia
named as Brontes (Thunderer), Sterope
(Lightener), and Arges (Bright), the brothers of
the three Hecatoncheires or Centimani and the Cycnus
12 original Titans. Rebelling against their Greek
father, they were imprisoned in Tartarus by 1. The father of Tenes, king of Tenedos. He was
Uranos but released for a short while by the killed, along with his son, by Achilles when
Titans when Cronos deposed his father. the Greek forces landed on the island, in sight
However, they were soon reimprisoned along of Troy, on their way to the Trojan War.
with their brothers, the Hecatoncheires. 2. A son of Ares who was killed in combat
During the ten-year war known as the by Heracles. Apollodorus tells his story twice,
Titanomachia, the Cyclopes remained in their each time giving him a different mother, each
Underworld prison but were finally released giving a different account of his life. In the
after Ge had promised Zeus victory in his epic first he and his mother are separated by Ares,
struggle to become supreme on the condition whereas in the second he is killed by
that he did just that. They presented Zeus with Heracles.
his thunderbolt, Hades with his helmet of 3. King of the Ligurians and a friend of
darkness, and Poseidon with his trident. With Phaëthon. When Phaëthon was killed he
Cyrene 99
101
102 Daemon
done while the Cretan king lay in a ceremoni- Dionysius I, extolling his happiness, his
al bath and either boiling water was poured wealth, and his power. As a result Damocles
over him or molten metal was poured down was invited by Dionysius I to attend a banquet
the bath taps. Finally Daedalus went to with a sword suspended by a single hair, or
Sardinia, where his track is lost. very fine thread, hanging over his head.
Discoveries such as the excavation of the Damocles thus came to realize that those
great labyrinthine palace at Knossos on Crete things he had praised were ephemeral and did
give legends such as these special significance, not bring true happiness but rather illustrated
for they would seem to suggest that they have the insecurity of the rich and powerful. This
at least some foundation in history. episode has passed into modern usage:
See also: Icarus; Knossos; Minos; Perdix; Talos Impending disaster is referred to as the
“sword of Damocles.”
Daemon
Greek Damon
A term used to refer to a spirit or divinity Greco-Roman
when the speaker is not certain which particu- A historical figure, a courtier of Dionysius I
lar deity is at work. However, the word is most of Syracuse, Sicily, possibly residing in the
commonly used in its plural form to refer to palace of the tyrannical ruler at the same
groups or collections of superhuman beings time as Damocles. His friend, Phintias, plot-
who are rarely referred to individually, such as ted against Dionysius I and, having been
the Dactyli, Curetes, and nymphs. caught and tried, was sentenced to death.
Many daemones restricted themselves to par- Phintias needed time to settle his affairs, so
ticular habitats, such as the sea nymphs, the Damon stood bail for him under the threat of
Nereides. being executed in Phintias’s stead should the
Later, neoplatonic philosophy provided the latter fail to return within the allotted time.
daemones with an important role as mediators Phintias did return. Dionysius I was so
between men and gods, the next step being impressed with the friendship the two dis-
provided by Christianity, which declared that played that he reprieved Phintias and, there-
all pagan gods were daemones, thus giving the after, sought to be admitted to their special
word all the connotations of the modern word bond of friendship.
demon. They dwelled in rivers and groves as of
old, as well as statues and pagan temples.
Thus the destruction of pagan works of art and Danaë
buildings was said to be to extirpate the Greek
demons that dwelled in them. Daughter of Acrisius (king of Argos). When an
See also: Curetes; Dactyli oracle foretold that Acrisius would be killed by
his grandson, the frightened king locked his
daughter in a bronze or brazen tower or dun-
Daidal~os, ~us geon, possibly one of the beehive tombs of
Greek Mycenaean Greece, which were lined with
Alternative form of the great engineer and bronze plates. However, Zeus still visited
architect Daedalus. Danaë in the form of a shower of gold, and she
later gave birth to the hero Perseus. Not want-
ing to kill his daughter and her child, Acrisius
Damocles set them adrift in a wooden chest. Finally they
Greco-Roman washed ashore on the island of Seriphos,
A historical figure who lived in the fourth cen- where they were found by Dictys, who took
tury B.C., residing at the court of Dionysius I, them to the king, Polydectes, who welcomed
the tyrannical ruler of Syracuse, Sicily, possibly them warmly. Later, when Perseus had come
at the same time as Damon and Phintias. of age, Polydectes sent the young hero to kill
Legend says that Damocles once flattered Medusa as a ruse to get him out of the way, as
Danaus 103
he had fallen in love with Danaë and planned arid region of Argos, a function that is explicit
to marry her. in the myth of Amymone, one of the Danaides.
Having successfully beheaded the Gorgon They were also said to have brought the
and rescued Andromeda from the sea monster Mysteries of Demeter from Egypt and to have
Cetus, Perseus returned to Seriphos to find instituted her festival, the Thesmaphoria. The
that Danaë and Dictys had fled from story of the Danaides is used as the central
Polydectes’ palace and had sought refuge in a theme of Aeschylus’s play The Suppliants.
temple. Furious, Perseus confronted Poly- See also: Aegyptus
dectes and, exposing the head of Medusa,
turned the king and all his followers to stone.
Perseus then installed Dictys as the new king Danaoi
of Seriphos and returned to Argos with his Greek
mother. Mindful of the original oracle, Acrisius Although this term was originally coined to
fled to Larissa—but in vain, for while visiting refer to the family descended from Danaë,
Larissa Perseus took part in some public later, better-known legends made them the
games and accidentally killed his grandfather descendants of Danaus, and therefore includ-
with a discus. ed the Danaides. Homer employed the term
See also: Acrisius; Perseus more generally, whereas other authors used
the term to specifically refer to the Greek
troops at the siege of Troy. They seem to be
Danai part of the dynasty of Mycenaean Midea and
Greek Tiryns and were the subjects of saga deriving
A term that was used only by Homer as a from early or mid-Mycenaean times.
generic term to refer to the Greek race.
Danaus
Danaid(e)s Greek
Greek The eponym of the Danaoi, at least according
The collective name for the 50 daughters of to later tradition; son of Belus, king of Libya
Danaus, son of Belus and king of Libya, by and later Argos, and brother of Aegyptus, the
ten different wives. His brother, Aegyptus, eponym of Egypt. His family also included his
had 50 sons and suggested a mass marriage nephew, Phoenix, eponym of the Phoenicians,
between his sons and the Danaides. Danaus and displays a mythological treatment of early
fled, taking his daughters with him to Argos, Mediterranean ethnography and history.
where he was elected king in place of Danaus fathered 50 daughters, the
Gelanor. However, the 50 sons of Aegyptus Danaides, by ten wives; his brother, Aegyptus,
followed and asked for the hands of the wanted to wed them to his 50 sons. Danaus
daughters in marriage. Reluctantly Danaus fled with his daughters to Argos, where he
agreed but gave each daughter a weapon, was elected king in place of Gelanor. However,
instructing each to kill her new husband on the 50 sons of Aegyptus followed and
their wedding night. All complied except demanded the hands of his daughters in mar-
one, Hypermnestra, who spared her hus- riage. Danaus reluctantly agreed, but he
band, Lynceus, who killed Danaus and went armed each of his daughters and instructed
on to become king of Argos. Danaus then them to kill their new husbands on their wed-
remarried them by offering them as prizes in ding night. All but Hypermnestra complied.
a footrace. Following their deaths the 49 Danaus then organized a footrace, offering his
Danaides who had complied with Danaus’s forty-nine “obedient” daughters as prizes.
orders were condemned to Hades, where Finally Lynceus, Hypermnestra’s husband—
they were to eternally carry water in sieves or and the only of Aegyptus’s sons not to have
to fill bottomless vessels. been killed by the Danaides—killed Danaus
In origin they appear to be water nymphs, and became king of Argos.
celebrating the introduction of irrigation to the See also: Aegyptus
104 Daphne
Daphne Dardanelles
Greek Greek
A nymph, the daughter of the river god Strait of water that separates, along with the
Peneus in Thessaly or Arcadia. She had two Sea of Marmara and the Bosphorus, Asiatic
lovers. The first, Leucippus, son of King Turkey from the remainder of the country. Its
Oenomaus of Elis, dressed as a girl so that he ancient name was the Hellespont, named in
could go hunting with Daphne and other honor of Helle, who fell from the back of the
nymphs. On one such day, however, the winged ram Aries that was carrying her and
nymphs decided to strip to have a swim. her brother, Phrixus, away from their cruel
Discovering Leucippus’s secret, they killed stepmother to Colchis.
him.
Her other, more famous lover was Apollo,
who chased after the girl. Unable to escape, Dardania
Daphne prayed to the gods to rescue her. Ge
responded by turning her into a laurel bush. Greek
Town that once stood in the vicinity of Troy,
Thereafter, Apollo wore a laurel branch on his
supposedly founded by Dardanos. By the
head as a symbol of his love and grief, and the
time of Homer, when the sixth city of Troy
bush became sacred to him. A suburb of
would have been standing, it was absorbed
Antioch is called Daphne, where this event is
alleged to have happened; it is the former loca- into the city along with Tros and Ilium.
tion of a famous temple to Apollo. Legend says that the town was built by
A variant on this story says that the chase Dardanos on a piece of land given to him by
took place in the Vale of Tempe, a myth that Teucer.
See also: Tros
probably refers to the capture of Tempe by the
Hellenes where the goddess Daphoene was
worshipped by votaries, often incorrectly
referred to as Maenads, chewed laurel leaves, Dardan~os, ~us
and thus became intoxicated. After the Greco-Roman
Hellenes arrived, only the Pythoness of Apollo Son of Zeus and Electra (a daughter of Atlas
was permitted to chew laurel. and thus one of the Pleiades) and brother to
See also: Leucippus Iasion. Regarded as the primal ancestor of
Troy, he founded and gave his name to
Daphnis Dardania, a town built on land given to him
by Teucer, son of the River Scamander, when
Greek he arrived in the region from Samothrace.
A Sicilian demigod, the son of Hermes and an Along with Tros and Ilium, this town was
unnamed nymph. Exposed at birth, he was later absorbed into the city that became
raised by Sicilian shepherds and became a known as Troy. He built a citadel that later
great exponent of the syrinx, which Pan taught became the citadel of Troy, introduced the
him to play. With such great skill he became a cults of the Samothracian gods and of Cybele,
minstrel to Apollo. He was also regarded as and brought the Palladium, the statue of
the inventor of bucolic poetry. Athene, from Arcadia.
Daphnis pledged his love to a jealous See also: Palladium; Pleiades
nymph, either Nomeia or Echenais, but he
was seduced either by a Sicilian princess or
by the nymph Chimaera (not the fire-breath-
ing monster). His lover blinded him for his Daul~ia, ~is
unfaithfulness, and Daphnis took his own Greek
life. To commemorate his son, Hermes An ancient town in Phocis that was the home
caused a fountain, known as Daphnis, to rise of Tereus and the setting for the story of
at Syracuse. Philomela and Procne, who are hence called
See also: Hermes Daulias.
Deiphobus 105
visit the Vale of Tempe for purification and stemming from consultations of the Delphic
there to found and preside over the Pythian Oracle are found in Roman legends. The
Games that were to be held in Python’s honor. Tarquins consulted it to discover which of
Returning to Delphi, Apollo was joined by his them would succeed their father, Tarquinius
sister, Artemis, and their mother, Leto. Hera, Superbus. The oracle also confirmed to Camil-
still implacable over Zeus’s philandering, sent lus the information that Veii would only fall
the giant Tityus to violate either Leto or after the Alban Lake had been drained. This
Artemis, but Apollo, sensing the danger, killed turned out to be true; following the fall of Veii,
the giant with his arrows. The establishment of booty was sent to the Delphic Oracle.
the oracle at Delphi firmly placed Apollo in the By the second century A.D. the oracles were
role of god of prophecy. given in prose. Both Sulla and Nero plundered
The original oracle appears to have been the site, the latter taking around 500 bronze
founded by pre-Hellenic people who wor- statues from the site without adversely affect-
shipped an ambivalent mother goddess, later ing its appearance. The last utterance of the
to be equated with Ge. When the Hellenes oracle was to the emperor Julian: “Tell ye the
invaded the area and seized the site, they slew kings the carven hall is fallen in decay. /
the Python, the oracular serpent, and took Apollo hath no chapel left, no prophesying
over the oracles in the name of Apollo; but bay, no talking spring. / The stream is dry that
with respect for ancient customs and the orig- hath much to say.”
inal inhabitants of the region they founded Shortly afterwards, c. 390 A.D., the oracle
and held the Pythian Games in honor of the was closed down by the Roman Emperor
oracular serpent. Theodosius. Today the site is still magnificent,
Within the temple of Apollo was a chasm though the treasures once held there can only
that was supposed to give out intoxicating be wondered at, for they have been succes-
fumes, possibly a sulphurous fissure within sively looted (some are preserved in a site
the volcanic infrastructure of the region. Over museum).
this the Pythoness or Pythia sat on a tripod, See also: Apollo; Artemis; Ge; Python
maintaining an intoxicated state by chewing
laurel, uttering the wisdom of the god in hexa-
meter verse. Regarded as the mystical bride of Delphin~os, ~us
the god, her utterances were interpreted by the Greek
oracular priests before being passed onto the 1. A dolphin who so eloquently pleaded the
questioner. suit of Poseidon to Amphitrite and her father,
Further cults had smaller sanctuaries at Nereus, that Amphitrite consented to marry
Delphi, thus adding to the status and wealth of the god. In gratitude Poseidon transferred
the Delphic Oracle. Among them was that of Delphinos to the heavens to form the constel-
Dionysos, whose votaries were known at lation that bears his name. However, some
Delphi as Thyiads, who regularly held orgias- confusion exists here, for this constellation is
tic Dyonisiac festivals there, his sepulchre also said to represent Delphinos.
being placed very near to the tripod of the Astronomical: A small but exquisite group
Pythia, whereas his temple, a theater, was built of stars that lies in the northern celestial
at the highest point of the sacred precinct. hemisphere between approximate right
Many legends abound where heroes con- ascensions 20h10m and 21h10m, declination
sulted the Delphic Oracle. Famous among from +3° to +21°.
these is the sending of Heracles to labor for 12 2. A dolphin who saved the life of the poet-
years for King Eurystheus, king of Argos, the minstrel Arion when he leaped overboard
Pythia being the first person to actually refer to from a ship to escape the attentions of ruffian
this great hero as Heracles. Cadmos consulted sailors who were threatening his life. The dol-
the oracle, and this led him to found the city phin carried Arion ashore before the ship
that was later to be called Thebes. Oedipus arrived and, when it did, the crew was arrest-
learned there that he would kill his father and ed and executed. In return for the dolphin’s
then marry his own mother. Further traditions service to Arion, the gods placed his image in
108 Demeter
the sky as the constellation that bears his Enna, others firmly at Eleusis. Grief-stricken,
name. Demeter wandered earth in search of her
Astronomical: See Delphinos (1) above. daughter, and it is these wanderings that give
See also: Amphitrite; Arion rise to most of the legends surrounding
Demeter. During them she was raped by
Poseidon, who assumed the form of a stallion,
Demeter for Demeter was then in the guise of a mare,
Greek the result of this union being the horse Arion
One of the 12 Olympian deities whose Roman and the nymph Despoena.
counterpart was Ceres, Demeter probably At the wedding of Harmonia and Cadmos
originated as a Minyan goddess, brought she united with Iasion, Harmonia’s brother, in
along when the Minyans entered Greece c. a ploughed field; as a result she bore the sons
2000 B.C. Revered as an earth goddess, it is Plutus (Wealth) and Plilomelus (the Inventor),
thought she was also made the mate of their who some say later became the constellation
sky god, a character who would seem to have Boötes.
later developed into Poseidon or possibly even Unable to locate Persephone, Demeter wan-
Zeus, though the former is the more likely as dered far and wide, participating at one point
both Minyan deities were said to have been in the banquet prepared for the gods by
able to assume the shape of a horse, an Tantalus at which a stew made from his son,
attribute that carried forward into Greek leg- Pelops, was served. Only Demeter, in her grief,
end. The Minyan goddess, merged with the did not notice what she was eating and con-
Great Goddess of pre-Hellenic matriarchal sumed Pelops’s shoulder. After Tantalus had
society, gave rise to Demeter, specifically god- been suitably punished by Zeus and Pelops
dess of agriculture, nutrition, and crops and restored to life, Demeter made him a new
fruit, especially corn, but also goddess of shoulder from ivory in recompense, this ivory
human health and fertility. shoulder becoming a birthmark of sorts for his
Her combination with Ceres in Roman reli- descendants.
gion was mainly due to the influence of the Still Demeter could not locate her daughter
Greek colony of Cumae. As Ceres she presided until, on the tenth day of her wanderings,
solely over the growth of cereals and other which appear to have taken her to almost
foodstuffs and was given a male counterpart, every corner of the Greek world, Helios told
Cerus. her of what Hades had done. Refusing to
According to common ancient interpreta- return to Olympus, Demeter came instead to
tion her name means “Earth Mother,” and her Eleusis, where she sat down by the well
various titles, such as Karpophoros (fruit-bear- Callichoron and wept copiously. Here she was
ing), further emphasize her role. She was also found by Celeus, king of Eleusis, who brought
worshipped in specific aspects as Demeter her into his home. There Metaneira, Celeus’s
Erinys at Onkeion, and Black Demeter, at wife, gave her a drink of kykeon, a type of bar-
Phigaleia, the latter goddess being depicted ley water, which she at first refused to drink,
with a horse’s head, for Demeter was said to but Iambe finally induced her to smile with
have fled to Phigaleia following her rape by her lewd antics, and Demeter thirstily downed
Poseidon. the drink. However, Abas, one of Celeus’s
Legend makes her the daughter of Cronos sons, derided the goddess for the avidity with
and Rhea, sister to Hestia, Hades, Zeus, which she had drunk. In retaliation Demeter
Poseidon, and Hera. She was raped by her changed Abas into a lizard, a form in which he,
brother, Zeus, and became the mother by him at least, could survive without water, though
of Persephone, also called Kore or Core, “the she still did not reveal to her host and his fam-
maiden,” herself an aspect of the goddess. ily her true identity.
Hades sought permission from Zeus to marry Demeter remained with Celeus and his fam-
the girl and, receiving neither approval nor ily, becoming the nurse of the baby De-
refusal, carried her off while she was gathering mophoön, whom she attempted to make
flowers, some sources placing the abduction at immortal by placing him on the fire. However,
Demopho(ö)n 109
Dicte
Diana Greek
Roman Mountain lying on the eastern end of the
Ancient Italian moon goddess of Etruscan ori- island of Crete, the location of the Dictaean
gin, the virgin huntress and patroness of Cave where the infant Zeus was supposedly
domestic animals. Initially a woodland god- reared; hence called Dictaeus.
dess, she was rapidly assimilated with
Artemis. The daughter of Jupiter and twin of
Apollo, she had strong associations as a fertil- Dictynna
ity deity and was invoked by women to aid Greek
both conception and childbirth. The lower Also: Diktynna
classes and slaves regarded Diana as their pro- Ancient virgin-huntress worshipped on
tectress. In art she is usually portrayed as a Crete who may simply have been an aspect of
Diodorus the Sicilian 111
Britomartis, though one of the legends sur- she would never remarry. Divine retribution
rounding Minos says that as he pursued the followed, for Jupiter told Aeneas he must
nymph Britomartis she leaped into the sea to depart. Planning to leave in secret, his plan
escape him, whereupon she was deified by was discovered; failing to persuade Aeneas to
Artemis and given the name Dictynna. She stay, Dido took her own life. As Aeneas put out
was later assimilated into the character of to sea the smoke was already rising from her
Artemis, who was given the epithet Dictynna, funeral pyre.
even though the Minos story seems to suggest The two did meet on one other occasion,
that her memory was kept alive as a separate when Aeneas was being led down to the
deity. It is possible that Britomartis leaped into Underworld to consult his dead father,
the sea somewhere near Diktynna on the Anchises. Dido would have nothing to do
northern coast of Crete, for this is the site of an with him and silently turned her back.
important temple, and the similarity in name See also: Aeneas
seems more than mere coincidence.
See also: Britomartis
Didyma
Greek
Dictys Located in modern Turkey, Didyma boasted
Greek one of the most important oracular shrines of
The sailor who found Danaë and Perseus, who Apollo in the eastern part of the ancient Greek
had been cast adrift in a chest by Acrisius, after world, the equivalent of Delphi in the west.
they washed up on Seriphos. He took them to Today the temple of Apollo is still most
the king, Polydectes, but later had to flee to the impressive, having the tallest columns in the
temple with Danaë after Polydectes had sent Greek world.
Perseus off to slay Medusa, a ruse to enable
him to take Danaë as his wife. When Perseus
returned and discovered the situation he killed Dikt~aean, ~aion Cave
Polydectes and his entire court by exposing Greek
the head of Medusa, then made Dictys king of Variant of Dictaean Cave.
Seriphos.
See also: Danaë; Perseus
Diktynna
Greek
Dido Possibly a variant of Dictynna, or the place
Greco-Romano-Phoenician after which that deity is named. Diktynna lies
Legendary Phoenician princess; the daughter near the northernmost tip of Crete,
of a Tyrian king who fled to Africa after the Diktynaion, on the western end of the island,
death of her husband, Sychaeus, and there and is the site of a now thoroughly ruined,
reputedly founded the city of Carthage. though very important, temple.
Phoenician legend says that she committed
suicide to avoid marrying a local prince or
king of Libya, but later Roman tradition says Diodorus the Sicilian
otherwise; Virgil adapted her story to make Greco-Roman
her a contemporary of Aeneas. Being among the chief sources of Etruscan
Having left Troy at the end of the Trojan myths and legends, the writings of this histor-
War, Aeneas arrived in Carthage. There Dido ical person (who flourished in the first century
fell passionately in love with Aeneas, and B.C.) join those of Livy, Virgil, and Dionysus of
Venus, the mother of Aeneas, persuaded Juno Halicarnassus. Born in Agyrium, Sicily (hence
to allow them to marry. As Dido and Aeneas his name, which is more correctly Diodorus
had already lain together in a cave, Dido Siculus), he traveled to Asia and Europe and
regarded them already married, thus breaking lived in Rome, where for 30 years he collected
a vow she made on the death of Sychaeus that the information for his immense Bibliotheke
112 Diomed(es)
Historike, a history of the world in 40 books if they were ever to take Troy, and these were
from the creation to the Gallic Wars of Caesar. owned by Philoctetes. He then went with
Of this work the first five books remain intact, Odysseus and Phoenix to Scyros to let
the next five are lost, the next ten survive com- Neoptolemus join them. He was also said to
plete, and the remainder survive only in frag- have accompanied Odysseus in disguise into
mentary form. Troy to steal the Palladium, though some
sources say Odysseus did this single-handedly.
After the end of the Trojan War, Diomedes
Diomed(es) returned home briefly. Finding that his wife,
Greek Aegialeia, had been unfaithful, he left for
1. Savage king of the Bistones in Thrace; son of Aetolia to help his grandfather, Oeneus, and
Ares and Cyrene, he kept mares that he fed on later settled in Daunia in Italy, where he mar-
human flesh, they being the goal of Heracles’ ried Euippe, the daughter of the king, Daunus.
eighth labor. After Heracles had repelled the He was buried on one of the islands that have
attacking Bistones, he returned to where he since been known as Diomedans, his compan-
had left the mares in the charge of Abderus to ions being turned into gentle birds.
find that his friend had been eaten by them. The belief that many Greek survivors of the
Heracles then fed Diomedes to his own horses, Trojan War settled in Italy was probably cur-
after which they never ate human flesh again. rent well before 300 B.C. Others said to have
2. Son of Tydeus (king of Argos) and emigrated were Epeius, Philoctetes, and
Deiphyle (the daughter of Adrastus); husband Odysseus, though the most notable as far as
of Aegialeia. Taking part in the expedition of the the Romans were concerned was Aeneas.
Epigoni against Thebes, he played an important See also: Aeneas; Bistones; Epigoni; Odysseus; Trojan
role in Homer’s Iliad, featuring in a great many War
of the notable events of the Trojan War.
Arriving from the Peloponnesos with 80
ships, he brought with him two fellow Epigoni: Dione
Sthenelus (son of Euryalus) and Capaneus the Greek
Argonaut. During the ten-year siege Diomedes The consort of Zeus who was introduced into
wounded Aeneas but saw his quarry rescued Greece c. 1200 B.C. by the invading Achaeans.
by Aphrodite; he is also credited with having Her worship was not widespread and did not
wounded the goddess as well as Ares. He then penetrate as far south as Zeus’s shrine at
fought Glaucus, a Lycian prince who was sec- Dodona in Epirus, where the oracular rustling
ond in command to Sarpedon, but when they of oak leaves was interpreted as the voice of
remembered the friendship that had existed the god. Here Zeus found other wives, and
between their forefathers they gave up the fight Dione remained a little-referenced deity,
and exchanged gifts. though Homer makes her the mother of
In the company of Odysseus, Diomedes Aphrodite by Zeus.
made a night raid on the Trojan lines. After Astronomical: One of the satellites of Saturn,
killing the spy Dolon he killed Rhesus the being the sixth closest to the planet of the
Thracian and drove away his snow-white eleven named between the orbits of Tethys
horse, for an oracle had warned that if they and Rhea. Having a diameter of approxi-
drank the water of the River Scamander and mately 1,120 kilometers (700 miles), it lies at an
ate the grass of the Trojan Plain Troy would not average distance of 378,000 kilometers
fall. When Achilles killed Thersites, a kinsman (236,250 miles) from the surface of the planet.
of Diomedes, for mocking his remorse at See also: Dodona
killing Penthesilea, Diomedes threw the body
of the slain Amazon queen into the River
Scamander. He then accompanied Odysseus to Dionysia
Lemnos to fetch Philoctetes, who had been left Greek
there after Calchas had advised the Greeks that Name applied to festivals celebrated in
they required the bow and arrows of Heracles ancient Greece, especially in Athens, in
Dionys~os, ~us 113
honor of the god Dionysos. These included Olympian deities but rather a deity wor-
the lesser Dionysia in December, which was shipped by humble folk.
chiefly a rural festival, and the greater An extremely unclassical deity, he was prob-
Dionysia, which was celebrated at the end of ably brought into Greece from Thrace some-
March, when new plays were performed. time during the eighth century B.C. by
Dionysiac festivals were, however, celebrat- nomadic travelers. However, it is possible that
ed elsewhere in Greece, particularly in Dionysos should really be regarded as one of
Corinth, Delphi, and Sicyon. The festival in the oldest Greek deities, for a single Linear B
Athens, founded by Pesistratus at about the tablet from Pylos refers to di-wo-nu-so-jo, the
same time as the Panathenaic Games, genitive form of his name in Mycenaean
remained the most important. Greek. The cult, which quickly spread through
Macedonia and Thessaly to Boeotia, Delphi,
Athens, and beyond, was characterized by a
Dionys(i)us I mystic frenzy when, intoxicated with wine, the
Greek votaries believed themselves to be at one with
Historical character living from 431 B.C. to 367 the god, who was sometimes called Bromius,
B.C. His tyrannical rule over his native city, “the Boisterous.” Male votaries were known as
Syracuse, ended in his making himself Bacchoi, whereas female votaries were given
absolute ruler in 405 B.C. several titles: generally Bacchae, Bacchantes, or
After ferociously suppressing several re- Maenads; in Delphi and Athens they were
volts and having conquered some of the Thyiads.
Greek colonies of Sicily, he started a running The immense popularity of the cult of
war with Carthage in 398 B.C. Successful at Dionysos, especially among women, seems to
first, he suffered a series of setbacks until he indicate that among the recently civilized
took advantage of a plague within the Greeks there was still a longing for a more
Carthaginian fleet and gained a complete vic- impulsive, less-disciplined life valuing enthu-
tory. In 392 B.C. the Carthaginians renewed siasm in favor of prudence. This led certain
hostilities but where soon defeated, after wise statesmen during the sixth century B.C. to
which Dionysius turned his attentions to introduce the cult among the other state reli-
lower Italy, capturing Rhegium in 387 B.C. gions, and Dyonisiac festivals were estab-
From this time he exercised great influence lished at many of the great cultural centers of
over the Greek cities of lower Italy while his the time, especially at Corinth, Delphi, Sicyon,
fleets swept the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian Seas. and Athens. At Delphi, where Dionysos has
In 383 B.C. and again in 368 B.C. he renewed his his tomb—thus placing him in the same vein
war against Carthage, wishing to drive the as Heracles, who started life as a mortal before
Carthaginian settlers out of Sicily, but he died his apotheosis—the sepulcher of Dionysos
the following year. He was succeeded by his was placed in close proximity to the tripod of
son, Dionysius II. the Pythia, and a temple, actually a theater,
In legend Dionysus I is connected with was built in his name at the highest point of
Damocles and Damon and Phintias. the sacred precinct. From here the Thyiads
See also: Damocles; Damon; Phintias climbed the “Bad Stair” up Mount Parnassos
to celebrate their orgiastic rites. They wore
fawn skins and crowns of ivy, brandished thyr-
Dionys~os, ~us soi (the thyrsus was a staff carried by some
Greek during bacchic rites), and chanted “Euoi.”
God of wine, vegetation, and the life-force and They worked themselves into a state of ecstasy
of ecstasy and anomie. Also called Bacchus by by dancing in torchlight to the music of kettle-
both the Greeks and Romans when his rites drums and flutes. In this state they were
were less savage, the Romans additionally believed to be able to tear living creatures
referred to him as Liber and added a female apart with their hands, suckle animals, and
counterpart, Libera. Dionysos was not, at least charm snakes. During the winter months,
in Homer’s time, one of the aristocratic while Apollo was said to be away in the land
114 Dionys~os, ~us
of the Hyperboreans, Dionysos reigned him into little pieces, and boil them in a caul-
supreme at Delphi. dron. During his battle with the Titans, who
In Athens the Dionysia was founded by may not be the Titans of classical mythology
Pesistratus at about the time he instigated the but rather a race of pre-men, Dionysos was
Panathenaic Games; a theater was built in the said to have ridden the ass Assellus Borealis
name of Dionysos, where worshippers per- while Silenus rode Assellus Australis. Both
formed the first primitive dramas. These plays became constellations. His grandmother,
were also performed at the other festival to Rhea, restored him to life, and Zeus, in an
Dionysos established in Athens, the Lenaea. attempt to hide him from Hera, turned him
They developed into the form of drama into a ram. However, Hera saw through the
known today as tragedy, Dionysos often being disguise, sent him mad, and condemned him
celebrated in tragic choruses. At Eleusis, to wander earth forever. This portion of the life
Dionysos was sometimes identified, as of Dionysos is later in conception, belonging
Bacchus, with the Iacchus of the Eleusinian rather to Orphic religious belief.
Mysteries. His role as a god of life and rebirth Wandering over the face of earth Dionysos
makes him an ideal participant. was not alone, for he was accompanied by his
In the fifth century B.C., following the com- libidinous tutor, Silenus, and an assorted com-
pletion of the Parthenon, the new god replaced pany of satyrs, centaurs, Priapi, Sileni,
Hestia as one of the Olympian deities, thus nymphs, Pans, and Maenads. He traveled
giving the gods a clear majority over the god- through Egypt, where he established the
desses, indicating a society that was becoming Oracle of Ammon, Syria, and Asia as far as
increasingly patriarchal. Legend says that India—where the Pillars of Dionysos were a
Dionysos was the son of Semele (the daughter landmark for the legendary Alexander the
of the king of Thebes) and Zeus, who visited Great, overcoming military opposition and
the girl in the guise of a mortal. When six teaching the art of making wine, founding
months pregnant Semele was visited by the numerous cities, and laying down laws. He
jealous Hera, disguised as an old woman, and returned to Europe through Phrygia, where he
she persuaded Semele to ask her mysterious encountered King Midas (giving that fated
lover to appear to her in his true form. king the power to turn everything he touched
Unwillingly Zeus consented to this request, into gold), and entered Thrace.
and Semele was consumed by the fire of his He was particularly vicious toward any
thunderbolt. The unborn Dionysos was who opposed the introduction of his rites to
removed from the corpse and the fetus sewn their city, a feature of his mythology that may
up in Zeus’s thigh, to be born three months reflect some genuine historical resistance to the
later. An alternative, Orphic version makes spread of his cult—or at least acknowledge
him the child of Zeus and Persephone, who that the frenzied worship so typical of his wor-
coupled in the form of snakes. ship was difficult to contain within the bounds
Dionysos had a traumatic start to his life. He of civic society.
was first entrusted to Athamas and Ino of Having entered Thrace, his worship was
Boeotia, who raised him, disguised as a girl, in opposed by Lycurgus, king of the Edones; sent
the women’s quarters. Hera, however, was not mad by Rhea, he mutilated his own son and
deceived and punished Athamas by sending was sent blind, later cutting off his own leg,
him mad so that he killed his own son. Hermes mistaking it for a tree. His people, the Edones,
then took Dionysos to Mount Nysa, where the sentenced him to be torn to death between two
nymphs raised him, feeding him with honey, horses.
and where he was said to have invented wine. Passing through Thrace, Dionysos worship
Zeus later placed the images of these nymphs entered Boeotia. In Thebes it was again resist-
in the heavens as the Hyades for their faithful ed, this time by King Pentheus. A similar fate
service. awaited this king: He was spotted while spy-
Grown to manhood, Dionysos was not safe, ing on the Maenads, who tore him to pieces,
for Hera, still jealous of her husband’s philan- thinking he was a wild beast. Among the
dering, ordered the Titans to seize him, tear Maenads who killed Pentheus were Agave, his
Dionys~os, ~us 115
mother, and her two sisters. This legend forms Having been enthroned in Olympus, Dion-
the basis of Bacchae by Euripides, which still ysos descended to the realm of Hades to bring
remains the single fullest source of the rites of Semele, his mother, back from the Under-
Dionysos. His female votaries were said to world. Descending through Lake Lerna,
race across the mountains in an ecstatic, Dionysos asked the way from Prosymnus,
drunken frenzy, seizing small wild animals, who asked for sexual favors upon his return.
which they tore apart before eating their raw Dionysos having reached the Underworld,
flesh. In this way the Maenads sacramentally Hades demanded a gift in return for the
incorporated the power of the god himself, release of Semele, so Dionysos gave him one of
whom they addressed as Axia Taure, “glorious his favorite plants, the myrtle, which thereafter
bull.” The Maenads dressed in fawn skins and became associated with mourning. Returning
carried thyrsoi, vine branches topped with a fir from the Underworld, Dionysos found that
cone and wreathed in ivy, a common attribute Prosymnus had died, so he planted a phallic
of Dionysos himself. In this play, a true mas- stick on his tomb. Returning to Olympus, his
terpiece of Greek prose, Dionysos also demon- mother, Semele, thereafter became known as
strates his power as the god of fruitful and Thyone.
miraculous transformation. Not only does he Dionysos even features, albeit briefly, in the
cause the ground to flow with milk and honey, stories surrounding the Trojan War. The Greek
possibly a reference to early Greek liquor, but fleet was provisioned by the three daughters
he also appears in the form of a bull, hence of Anius, upon whom Dionysos had be-
Axia Taure, and breaks open the prison in stowed the power to produce corn, oil, and
which his votaries are held. wine at will. Obviously supporting the Greek
At Argos the daughters of Proteus were forces against Troy, Dionysos caused Tele-
driven mad and, thinking themselves to be phus, king of Mysia, to stumble over a vine
cows, ran naked through the countryside, when he was in danger of defeating Achilles,
tearing children to pieces and eating their thus turning the tide of that particular battle in
flesh. This story is strikingly similar to that at Achilles’ favor, allowing the great hero to
Orchomenus, in which the three daughters of wound Telephus.
the king declined to dance with Dionysos He had several notable children, among
who changed himself, in quick succession, them Deianeira by Althaea.
into a lion, a bull, and a panther. The terror- Dionysos was worshipped as the god of the
stricken girls were never the same again. vital and intoxicating powers of nature, the god
Dionysos also visited the islands of the of wine, and also as a law-giver due to his asso-
Adriatic. At Icaria he hired a ship to take him ciations with early civilization. He was also the
to Naxos, but the sailors, Tyrrhenian pirates, god of tragic art, himself being represented as a
steered toward Asia intending to sell Dionysos young, handsome, athletic (though later some-
into slavery. The god, however, turned himself what effeminate) youth, sometimes depicted
into a lion and the oars of the vessel into ser- with horns and a crown of serpents, accompa-
pents. Ivy grew around the ship and the sound nied by a wild crowd of satyrs and Maenads,
of flutes was heard. The terrified pirates imme- the latter in an orgiastic frenzy of wine and
diately leaped overboard and were turned into mystic exaltation. He carried cymbals, swords,
dolphins. Dionysos sailed on to Naxos or Dia and serpents, or the thyrsus, a rod wreathed in
and there discovered Ariadne, who had been ivy and crowned with a fir cone, as well as the
deserted by Theseus. He married her at once. kantharos, a two-handled cup. Though men did
The island, one of the Cyclades, became an become votaries of the god, his worship
important center of his worship. appealed most strongly to women, and many
His worship at Argos was first refused, but would spend entire nights in his worship,
since he had maddened the women the people dancing and tearing wild animals to pieces. His
admitted he was a god. Thus established as a sacred plants were the ivy, laurel, and aspho-
god worshipped throughout the known del; his animals the dolphin, serpent, tiger,
world, Dionysos was then elevated to the rank lynx, panther, goat, and ass. Sacrifices to him
of an Olympian deity, displacing Hestia. usually consisted of a goat or an ass. Charming
116 Dionysus of Halicarnassus
as a youth, Dionysos became the god of kings, went in pairs. Here they were also
extremity and excess, especially sexual. known as the Anakes and were worshipped in
The myths surrounding Dionysos seem to the form of a wooden structure in the shape of
be evidence of initial opposition to the use of a capital H. Also regarded as the protectors of
wine for ritual purposes due to the frenzy it sailors—to whom they appeared in the form of
engendered. Wine was not invented by the St. Elmo’s fire, for Poseidon gave them power
Greeks but was probably first imported by over wind and wave—they have close links
them from Crete, where viniculture had prob- with other, earlier Indo-European deities, such
ably spread from Mount Nysa in Libya. The as the Ashvins of Vedic and Hindu mythology.
original drink of the ancient Greeks was prob- They were regarded as the inventors of the
ably a kind of beer flavored with ivy and war dance and the patrons of bards, also pre-
honey and as such can be partially equated siding over the Spartan Games. In art each was
with Ambrosia, the drink of the Olympian usually represented mounted on a magnificent
gods. The use of wine spread from Thrace to white steed while armed with a spear and
Athens and other civilized cities and appears wearing an egg-shaped helmet—they were
to have followed the course of Dionysos’s said to have been born from an egg—crowned
wanderings, the spread of viniculture to India with a star.
even being represented in the stories. Classical mythology makes them the sons of
See also: Agave; Bacchus; Eleusis; Hestia; Midas; Leda, Polydeuces and his sister, Helen, being
Silenus fathered by Zeus, Castor and the other sister,
Clytemnestra, by her husband Tyndareus. Thus
the latter pair was mortal, although Helen also
Dionysus of Halicarnassus appears in her mythology as a mortal being.
Greco-Roman They were notable athletes, Castor a rider and
Greek critic, historian, and rhetorician whose Polydeuces a boxer, the latter’s prowess dis-
fragmentary works, along with those of played during the voyage with the Argonauts,
Diodorus the Sicilian, Livy, and Virgil, are when he fought and defeated Amycus. They
among the only remaining sources of Etruscan also took part in the epic hunt for the
mythology. Flourishing in the first century B.C., Calydonian Boar. They went to Attica after
he lived and worked in Rome from c. 30 B.C. Theseus had carried off their sister, Helen, and
His major work, in Greek, was Romaike rescued her after her hiding place had been
Archaeologia, a history of Rome down to 264 revealed to them by Academus. They them-
B.C., a veritable mine of information about the selves, however, carried off the Leucippides,
constitution, religion, history, laws, and pri- Phoebe and Hilaeira, the daughters of Leu-
vate lives of the ancient Romans. Out of its 20 cippus (the brother of Tyndareus and king of
volumes only the first nine survive complete. Messenia). They were pursued by their cousins,
Idas and Lynceus, sons of Aphareus, to whom
the girls were already betrothed. Lynceus (lynx-
Diosc~uri, ~ouroi eyed) spotted the twins hiding within a hollow
Greco-Roman oak on Mount Taygetus with his preternatural
Generic term applied to the Heavenly Twins, sight. Idas killed Castor with a spear and
Castor and Polydeuces (Pollux to the Ro- Polydeuces killed Lynceus. Idas then hurled a
mans), the twin sons of Zeus and Leda and tombstone at Polydeuces, but Zeus intervened
the brothers of Helen and Clytemnestra. As and killed Idas with one of his thunderbolts.
was common in traditions of that era, Poly- Such was the love Polydeuces felt for his
deuces was said to have been fathered by brother that he pleaded with Zeus to restore
Zeus and was thus immortal; Castor, the mor- him. Zeus compromised, allowing each to live
tal child, was fathered by Tyndareus, Leda’s on alternate days; finally the pair was translated
husband, the conceptions occurring almost to the heavens as the constellation Gemini.
simultaneously. Astronomical: For details of the constellation
They were especially important deities in Gemini see the relevant entry.
Sparta, where many things, including the See also: Castor; Helen; Pollux; Polydeuces
Doris 117
Dirce Dodona
Greek Greek
The wife of King Lycus of Thebes and a loyal Mountainous location in Epirus of the earliest
Maenad, a votary of Dionysos. Amphion and oracle of Zeus and where that god was some-
Zethus had her dragged to her death behind times depicted wearing a wreath of oak leaves.
her bull for her cruelty to their mother, The oracle of Zeus interpreted the rustling of
Antiope. At the spot where her death occurred the sacred oak leaves as the voice of the god.
Dionysos caused a spring to rise. In historical An oak tree still stands on the site, where the
times the spring named after her was located remains of the sanctuary and an impressive
either on Mount Cithaeron or in Thebes. A theater can be seen.
slightly different version says that Amphion
and Zethus tied Dirce to the horns of a wild
bull, her dead body finally being thrown into a Dolon
fountain in Thebes that thenceforth bore her
Greek
name.
A Trojan spy who, dressed in a wolf skin,
See also: Amphion; Antiope; Zethus
entered the Greek camp under cover of dark-
ness but was captured by Diomedes and
Odysseus. They forced him to reveal the
Dis (Pater) strength and disposition of the Trojan forces,
Roman then killed him.
The richest of all the Roman gods; the god of
death and the Underworld who was equated
with the Greek Hades. He was also known as Donn
Orcus, even by the euphemism Pluto, which
Romano-Celtic
appears to have been adopted from the
A form of Dis Pater, lord of the hunt and god
Greeks, as this title means “the wealth,” a ref-
of the Underworld and all the earth’s riches.
erence to his possession of all the rich metals
He would appear to be a direct adaptation to
and gems of earth.
Roman sensibilities of the purely Celtic Donn,
god of the dead who welcomes the spirits of
the dead to his island.
Dithyrambus
Greek
A choral song dedicated to Dionysos that is Dorian
sung by his votaries in their orgiastic, drunken
Greek
frenzy.
The Dorians were an ancient Greek race that
entered Greece c. 1100 B.C., bringing with them
the worship of Apollo, their influence stretch-
Dius Fidius ing as far south as Crete. They claimed to have
Roman originated in Doris, a small area in central
An ancient god of contracts who has been Greece from which they take their name,
equated with Mitra but is usually presented as though their name may have come from
an aspect of Jupiter, especially in later tradition. Dorus, the son of Hellen.
2. A small area in central Greece from which itself for 180° around the northern celestial
the Dorian race, who conquered the Pelo- pole. The constellation lies between approxi-
ponnesos, claimed they originated. mate right ascensions 9h10m and 21h00m, dec-
See also: Nereides lination from +48° to +86°.
See also: Jason; Medeä
Dorus
Greek Drepanum
The son of Hellen and, according to some Greco-Roman
sources, the mythical ancestor and eponym of Town in Sicily where Acestes welcomed
the Dorian race. Other sources say this race Aeneas on his journey from Troy after the end
originated in and took its name from Doris, a of the Trojan War. It was here that his father,
small area in central Greece. Anchises, died, after which Aeneas and his
men stayed for a year before setting sail again.
They returned after they had left Carthage, on
Dougga this occasion staging funeral games in honor of
Roman Anchises before leaving once again for Italy.
Also: Thugga
The best preserved Roman city in Tunisia in
northern Africa. The temple of the Capitoline Dryad
Triad was erected on the capitol during the Greek
second century A.D. The ruins of the temple of A specific category of nymph who lived in
Juno Caelestis, and those dedicated to woodlands; Dryades were the guardian spirits
Concord, Liber, and Saturn, are also reason- of trees, being particularly protective of oaks.
ably well preserved. In art they were depicted with crowns of
leaves, sometimes carrying axes. Why this lat-
ter attribute should be given to guardians of
Draco trees is unclear.
Greek
1. The sleepless dragon that guarded the
Golden Fleece in the sacred grove of Ares in Dryope
Colchis. Jason put it to sleep with a potion Greek
Medeä gave him to enable the Argonauts to A nymph, the daughter of either Eurytus of
complete their quest. Some say it is this Oechalia or of King Dryops. Having being
dragon that was subsequently placed in the seduced and raped by Apollo, she was carried
heavens to form the constellation Draco. away by the Hamadryads and transformed
2. A dragon Athene fought during the into a lotus tree.
Titanomachia, the war between the Olympian
deities and the Titans. Athene hurled it into the
sky, where it became wrapped around the Dryops
northern celestial pole, thus forming the con- Greek
stellation that bears its name. One of the possible fathers of Dryope, the
Astronomical: One of the largest and most ill- nymph who was seduced by Apollo and then
defined of the constellations lying in the north- transformed into a lotus tree. The other possi-
ern celestial hemisphere, almost wrapping ble father is Eurytus of Oechalia.
K E k
Echemus himself with the nymphs. When Hera uncov-
Greek ered the ruse she took away Echo’s ability to
The king of Tegea who killed Hyllus in single use her voice, except to repeat what another
combat. had said. Echo then fell in love with
Narcissus, a beautiful youth who repulsed
her advances; unable to declare her love for
Echidn~e, ~a him, she pined away until only her voice
Greek remained.
Half-snake, half-woman, usually described as
the daughter of Ge and Tartarus. The wife of
Typhon, she became the mother by him of the Edones
monstrous Chimaera, Hydra, Cerberus, Greek
Ladon, and Orthros. In later tradition she also Ancient Thracian race whose king, Lycurgus,
became the mother of the Nemaean Lion, the opposed the worship of Dionysos. Sent mad
Sphinx, and the Sow of Crommyum. She was by Rhea, he mutilated his own son, for which
finally killed by Argus of the hundred eyes. he was blinded; later he cut off his own leg,
See also: Cerberus; Chimaera; Hydra; Ladon; Orthros; thinking it a tree. His people further punished
Sphinx; Typhon him by having him pulled apart between two
horses.
See also: Lycurgus
Echion
Greek
1. The son of Hermes who took part in the Eëtion
hunt for the Calydonian Boar and joined the
expedition of the Argonauts, acting as their Greek
King of Thebes in Cilicia; the father of
herald.
Andromache, who married Hector. He was
2. One of the five Sparti who remained alive
killed by Achilles when his city was raided by
after their infighting and went on, with the
that hero.
survivors—Udaeus, Chthonius, Hyperenor,
See also: Achilles; Hector
Pelorus—to help Cadmos build the Cadmea,
thereby becoming revered as ancestors of
Thebes. Married to Agave, Echion was the
father of Pentheus, who became king of Egeria
Thebes. Roman
See also: Sparti Possibly deriving from the Etruscan Begoe or
Vegoia, this goddess or nymph, who became
the consort of Numa Pompilius, was credited
Echo with prophetic foresight. Her cult appears to
Greek have been brought to Rome from Aricia, a
An oread or mountain nymph from Mount hypothesis strengthened by the fact that Ovid
Helicon whose incessant chattering distract- says Egeria went to Aricia to mourn after the
ed the attention of Hera while Zeus amused death of Numa Pompilius.
119
120 Eileithyian Cave
Epeius
Enipeus Greek
Greek The cowardly son of Panopeus who, under the
The river god who was beloved by Tyro. supervision of Athene, built the Wooden
Horse, carving upon it an inscription dedicat-
ing it to the goddess. After the end of the
Enna Trojan War he was said to have been among
the Greek survivors who emigrated to Italy.
Greco-Roman
See also: Wooden Horse
Site in Sicily that was, according to Latin poets
commenting on Greek tradition, the site of
Persephone’s abduction by Hades. Ephesia
Greek
Epithet applied to Artemis at Ephesus, where
Eos she was worshipped as an orgiastic goddess,
Greek an aspect of an earlier mother goddess origi-
Goddess of the dawn, daughter of Hyperion nating in Asia Minor.
and Theia, and sister to Helios (Sun) and See also: Artemis
Selene (Moon). The Romans equated Eos
with Aurora. She drove her chariot across the
sky to announce the approach of her brother, Ephesus
Helios; as Hemera (Day) she accompanied Greek
him across the sky, becoming Hespera Magnificent Ionian city on the coast of Asia
(Evening) upon her arrival in the west. She Minor at the mouth of the River Cayster that
was the mother of the evening star, Hesperus, became the principal city of the Ionian Greeks.
and the four winds, Boreas, Zephyrus, Eurus, In the sixth century B.C. it came under the con-
and Notus, by Astraeus (though some trol of the Lydian King Croesus. It was
sources say simply that all the stars and destroyed by Goths in 262 A.D. Excavation of
winds were their children with the exception the site has revealed much of the earlier splen-
of Eurus, the east wind). She was cursed by dor of Ephesus and includes the slight remains
Aphrodite for having an affair with Ares, of the temples to the Artemis Ephesia, whose
whom Aphrodite herself loved. This was just worship was focused here; Saint Paul was said
one of many hopeless love affairs entered into to have encountered Artemis in this aspect (see
by Eos, her most famous being that with Acts 19:1–35).
Tithones, who fathered Memnon and See also: Artemis; Croesus
Emathion by her, though she also trysted
Orion and Cephalos. She asked Zeus to
bestow immortality upon Tithones but forgot Ephialtes
to also ask for eternal youth for him; he sub- Greek
sequently became the oldest man in There are two similar stories surrounding the
Olympus, shrinking away until he finally character of Ephialtes, each giving him differ-
became a cicada. Some say that she was actu- ent parentage. The earlier of these makes him
ally married to Tithones, her constant infi- the brother of Otus and one of the giants,
delity accounting for the blush of dawn. Aloeidae, the sons of Iphimedeia by Poseidon
See also: Helios; Selene; Tithones but named after Aloeus, whom their mother
Epirus 123
later married. At the age of nine the pair cap- of Adrastus; Diomedes, son of Tydeus;
tured and immured Ares. With the god of war Sthenelus, son of Capaneus; Alcmaeon and
out of harm’s way they decided, for reasons Amphilochus, sons of Amphiaraus; Poly-
not explained, to outrage both Hera and dorus, son of Hippomedon; Euryalus, son of
Artemis, and to reach the lofty heights of Mecistus; Promachos, or Tlesimenes, son of
Mount Olympus they piled Mount Pelion atop Parthenopaeus; Thersander, son of Polyneices;
Mount Ossa. Artemis, however, tricked the and Eteocles. Alcmaeon, at first unwilling to
giants into going to Naxos, where they join the Epigoni but persuaded by Eriphyle,
thought they would meet the goddess. who had been bribed by Thersander with the
Disguised as a doe, Artemis leaped between robe of Harmonia, led the expedition after the
them and they killed each other. Hermes now Delphic Oracle foretold he would lead them to
released Ares; the spirits of the Aloeidae were victory. Their first battle was at Glisas near
condemned to Tartarus, where they were tied Thebes. Seeing the strength of the advancing
back-to-back to a pillar with vipers. Epigoni, the Thebans deserted their city, which
A later, post-Homeric tale makes Ephialtes was taken without force and then razed.
one of the 24 giant sons of Ge with serpents’ Thersander became the king of the new city of
tales who revolted against the Olympian Thebes subsequently built on the site.
deities to avenge the imprisonment of their See also: Seven Against Thebes
brothers, the Titans. In this version the battles,
collectively known as the Titanomachia, were
led by Alcyoneus, some of his brothers being Epimetheus
named as Enceladus, Porphyrion, Mimas, Greek
Pallas, and Polybutes. They were soundly “Afterthought”; son of Iapetus and brother of
defeated by the Olympians, who had the help Prometheus (“Forethought”) and Atlas.
of Heracles, though chronologically this was Although his mother’s identity remains
before his apotheosis. unclear, it seems likely to have been the
See also: Aloeus; Artemis; Tartarus nymph Clymene, who was the mother of
Atlas by Iapetus. Unlike Atlas, Epimetheus
and Prometheus supported Zeus and the
Epicaste Olympian gods during the Titanomachia. He
Greek married Pandora, the first woman made by
The Homeric name for Jocasta, the mother of Hephaistos at the order of Zeus to punish
Oedipus. mankind following the theft of fire from
Heaven by Prometheus. At their wedding she
opened the box from which all the ills that
Epidaurus plague mankind escaped. Their daughter
Greek was Pyrrha, who became the wife of
Town in Argos that was the center of the cult of Deucalion.
Asclepios. A fourth-century B.C. theater, the
center of the god’s worship there, is still pre-
served. Epirus
See also: Asclepios Greco-Roman
Region of ancient Greece north of Acarnania,
partly in modern-day Albania. The important
Epigoni sanctuary and oracle of Zeus at Dodona lies
Greek within the region. Following Aeneas’s escape
Generic name applied to the descendants of from Troy he put in at Epirus to seek the coun-
the original Seven Against Thebes when sel of Helenus, who ruled the area. Helenus
Adrastus assembled them to make a second advised Aeneas that upon reaching Italy he
attack on Thebes ten years after the first one should seek a sow and 30 piglets and there
had failed, shortly before the start of the Trojan establish his city.
War. The Epigoni are named as Aegialeos, son See also: Aeneas
124 Equuleus
Erato Erichthonius
Greco-Roman Greek
One of the nine Muses, the daughters of Zeus 1. Also: Erichtheus
and Mnemosyne, being the Muse of love, The son of Hephaistos who was born after
mime, and erotic or love poetry. In art she is the latter’s semen spilled during his attempted
sometimes depicted carrying a lyre. rape of Athene on the Acropolis at Athens.
See also: Muses, the Athene concealed the infant in a box, which
she entrusted to the care of Cecrops’s daugh-
ters, Pandrosos, Herse, and sometimes
Ereb~os, ~us Aglauros. She forbade the girls to open the
Greek box, but curiosity overcame them, and upon
God of darkness; the son of Chaos who opening the box they saw the infant, who had
fathered Aether and Hemera on his sister, a serpent’s tail. Horrified by the sight, they
Night; some sources also make the Fates went mad and leaped to their deaths from the
their offspring. Later tradition made Erebos a north wall of the Acropolis. The infant
place of darkness approximately halfway Erichthonius was then brought up in the tem-
between Earth and the Underworld, a place ple of Athene and later succeeded Cecrops as
of limbo. king of Athens, founding during his reign the
Panathenaean Games. He was, in turn, suc-
ceeded by Pandion.
Erechtheus 2. A variant sometimes used for Erechtheus.
Greek
King of Athens; the son of Pandion and
Zeuxippe and grandson of Erichthonius, Eridanus
whom he succeeded. The brother of Procne Greek
and Philomela, he was the father by Praxithea A deified river, into which Phaëthon fell to his
of three or four sons, including Cecrops, and death. As amber was said to have been found
seven daughters: Protogonia, Pandora (not the in or near the river, it later became identified as
one who became the wife of Epimetheus), the River Po. Homer called it the River of
Procris, Chthonia, Oreithyia, Otionia, and Oceanos, saying that it encircled a flat earth.
Creusa. His mythical origins are perhaps an Astronomical: Recognized by many cul-
attempt to tidy up the legendary chronology of tures as a river, the faint, winding constella-
Athens, which contains the similarly named tion Eridanus is located in the southern celes-
Erichthonius and two named Cecrops. tial hemisphere between approximate right
Eris 125
ascensions 1h25m and 5h10m, declination order in Athens and persuaded them to accept
from 0° to -57°. a grotto in the city below the Areopagus where
See also: Oceanos; Phaëthon they would be offered sacrifices, libations, and
first fruits. Thus pacified, the Erinnyes became
known thenceforth as the Eumenides, “Well-
Erigone Meaning Ones” or “Kindly Ones.” They had
Greek cult centers elsewhere in Greece, usually in
“Spring-born”; the daughter of Icarius, being connection with the Graces, and had the usual
led to his grave by her father’s dog, Maera. In association of chthonic spirits with the fertility
her grief she hanged herself from the tree over of earth.
the grave, after which a plague or drought rav- See also: Areopagus
aged Attica. Upon the instructions of Apollo,
Aristaeus instituted a festival in which dolls
were hung from the branches of trees. Her Eriphyle
mythology is a clear reflection of the impor- Greek
tance of the seasons, especially of spring, Sister of Adrastus, wife of the seer Amphi-
which heralded the start of the new growing araus, and mother by him of Alcmaeon. She
year. According to Ovid, Dionysos was was bribed by Polyneices with the famous
Erigone’s lover. necklace of Harmonia to persuade Amphi-
See also: Aristaeus araus to join the expedition of the Seven
Against Thebes, even though he had already
foretold that all the leaders save Adrastus
Erinnyes would die, a prophecy that came true. Some
Greek ten years later she was once again bribed, this
Also: Eumenides, Furies time by Thersander, the son of Polyneices,
The three-winged, serpent-haired daugh- who gave her the magic robe of Harmonia
ters—Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone—who provided she would persuade her son,
were born of the earth when drops of blood Alcmaeon, to become one of the Epigoni. She
fell from Uranos after he was castrated by did, and Alcmaeon went on the second, suc-
Cronos. Usually depicted as hideous black cessful expedition against Thebes. Upon his
hags with eyes oozing pus, the three named return he killed Eriphyle for her vanity and
Erinnyes appear to be of later origin, for their deceit of him and his father.
number was, in earlier sources, indeterminate. See also: Adrastus; Alcmaeon; Harmonia; Seven
They lived in the Underworld, from where Against Thebes
they ventured forth to punish unnatural crime.
They pursued Alcmaeon after he had mur-
dered his mother, Eriphyle; possibly they are Eris
best known for their pursuit of Orestes follow- Greek
ing his murder of Clytemnestra. The spirit of discord who was the only
Driving him mad, they hounded him relent- immortal not to be invited to the wedding of
lessly until he finally came to Athens, where he Thetis and Peleus. She turned up at the mar-
embraced the image of Athene in her temple riage ceremony nevertheless and threw
on the Acropolis. The goddess then sum- among the guests an apple, known as the
moned the Areopagus to judge his case, Apple of Discord, which was inscribed “to the
Apollo defending him along the lines that fairest.” Ownership of the apple was disputed
fatherhood was more important than mother- by Hera, Athene, and Aphrodite. To settle the
hood. Orestes was acquitted of his matricide argument, Zeus ordered Paris, prince of Troy
on the casting vote of Athene, a triumph that and the son of Priam, to decide which god-
illustrated the importance of the patriarchal dess should be granted ownership. Each tried
society within ancient Greece. to bribe Paris, and he finally awarded the
Furious, the Erinnyes were pacified by apple to Aphrodite, for she had promised him
Athene, who made them guardians of civic the fairest woman in the world, Helen, the
126 Eros
wife of Menelaus. It was this single action that Hellenic period. Here the handsome winged
was said to lead to the Trojan War and the youth degenerates into a winged putto. The
almost complete annihilation of the Trojan story of Eros and Psyche, the best known con-
people. cerning Eros and the major source of his
According to Hesiod this “wicked fairy” mythology, is unknown prior to Apuleius, a
was the mother of a number of other rather writer from the third century A.D.
unpleasant creatures, including Ate, and the Astronomical: The name applied to an aster-
personifications of Labor, Forgetfulness, oid discovered in 1898, being 22 million kilo-
Famine, Strife, Murderous Quarrelling, and meters (14 million miles) from the earth at its
others. nearest point. Eros was the first asteroid dis-
See also: Peleus; Thetis; Trojan War covered to be in orbit within that of Mars. It is
elongated, measuring about 36 by 12 kilome-
ters (22 by 7 miles), rotates about its shortest
Eros axis once every 5.3 hours, and orbits the sun
Greek every 1.8 years.
The boy god of love who was identified by See also: Aphrodite; Psyche
the Romans with Cupid or Amor. Initially a
personification of cosmic harmony, being a
son of Chaos, and born at the same time as Ge Erymanthian Boar
and Tartarus, he was later depicted as a beau- Greek
tiful and playful youth with bow and arrows, A huge boar that lived on the slopes of Mount
the servant of his mother, by this time Erymanthus, hence its name. Heracles was
Aphrodite by Ares, Hermes, or Zeus, though sent to capture it alive as the fourth of his Great
some sources name his mother as Iris or Labors after the boar had come off the moun-
Ilithyia. The main legend concerning Eros is tain to ravage Psophis. Heracles accomplished
his love for the mortal Psyche, a personifica- his task by running the boar into a snowdrift,
tion of the soul. Psyche was only visited by where he bound it with chains and carried it
Eros at night and was allowed to see her lover back to Eurystheus.
only reflected in a mirror. Determined to find
out who her lover was, Psyche contrived to
see him without the aid of a mirror, but after Erysichthon
she did so Eros left her. Eventually the two Greek
were reunited and Eros married her, making Son of Triopas; a Thessalanian who cut down
him one of the few gods to chose and marry a a grove of trees that was sacred to Demeter,
mortal wife. even though he was warned of the conse-
Though normally shown with golden quences. He was punished by the goddess,
wings, holding a torch, and carrying his bow who gave him a perpetual, insatiable hunger.
and arrows, with which he could wound gods Having already devoured all his possessions,
and mortals alike, he was also sometimes his daughter, Mestra, sold herself as a slave to
shown blindfolded or riding a lion or dolphin. buy him food. As she had the power to change
In a few classical sculptures he is shown with shape at will, Mestra used this ploy time and
a hoop or at some other game, a reflection of time again, but nothing could satisfy her
his youthfulness. father’s hunger. Finally Erysichthon devoured
Eros received cult status as a god at various himself.
locations. The early conception of Eros as the See also: Demeter
personification of the principle of attraction lay
at the root of much pre-Socratic cosmology. He
later came to represent the erotic bond of man Eryx
and boy rather than that of man and woman, Greek
the province of his mother. Mount in the west of Sicily. On its slopes there
His transformation as a “literary” god in was a sanctuary to the cult of Aphrodite as a
romantic narrative is not found in the pre- fertility goddess, served by young girls.
Eumolpus 127
where he was raised by a king who eventually against Troy in the place of Achilles, who was
gave him a daughter as wife. sulking in his tent following the seizure of his
Eumolpus, however, assaulted his sister-in- concubine, Briseis, by Agamemnon. He was
law and was duly banished to Thrace, where subsequently killed by Menelaus.
he lived at the court of King Tegyrius. He was See also: Menelaus; Patrocles
banished again after his son, who remains
unnamed, plotted against the Thracian king.
This time Eumolpus came to Eleusis, where he Euphrosyne
was welcomed by Celeus; they cofounded the Greek
Eleusinian Mysteries, and Eumolpus became One of the three Graces or Charites.
the first priest of the mysteries of Demeter and
Persephone, his descendants subsequently
becoming the hereditary priests of the Euripides
Eleusinian Mysteries. While in Eleusis Greek
Eumolpus purified Heracles of his murder of Greek dramatist (c. 480 or 484–406 B.C.)
the centaurs and initiated him into the myster- whose plays deal with ordinary people and
ies of Demeter. Traveling back to Thrace (some social issues rather than the more grandiose
sources say he stayed in Eleusis), Eumolpus themes employed by his contemporaries. He
became king, and when the Eleusinians were wrote more than 80 plays, of which just 18
attacking Athens he led an army to help them survive, including Alcestis (438 B.C.), Medeä
(though sources saying he remained in Eleusis (431 B.C.), Andromache (426 B.C.), Trojan
say he led the Eleusinian forces). He was killed Women (415 B.C.), Electra (417 B.C.), Iphigeneia
in single combat by Erechtheus. in Tauris (413 B.C.), Iphigeneia in Aulis (405
See also: Boreas; Chione; Eleusis; Oreithyia B.C.), and Bacchae (405 B.C.).
His influence on later drama was probably
far greater than that of the two great tragedi-
Eunomus
ans, Aeschylus and Sophocles. As a realist he
Greek was bitterly attacked for his unorthodox
An Aetolian boy who was accidentally killed “impiety” and the sympathy he felt for the
by Heracles at a feast three years after the hero despised, such as slaves, beggars, and women.
had first arrived in Aetolia and married Toward the end of his life he entered a period
Deianeira. of voluntary exile when he left Athens for
Macedonia, dying at the court of King
Euphemus Archelaus.
Greek
A son of Poseidon who had the ability to walk Europa
on water. He was the deputy helmsman
aboard the Argo Navis and thus one of the Greek
Argonauts. When that great expedition was Daughter of Agenor (king of Tyre or Sidon in
stranded in Libya he was given a clod of earth Phoenicia) and Telephassa; sister of Cadmos
by Triton, but he subsequently lost it over- and the eponym of Europe. As Europa played
board during a shipwreck and it washed up on the seashore with her maidens, Zeus
on the island of Thera. A variant story says that appeared in the form of a beautiful white bull.
he threw it overboard following a vision She playfully climbed onto his back, at which
telling him to do so and it magically became point Zeus suddenly plunged into the sea and
the island of Thera. carried her off to the island of Crete. There she
bore Zeus three sons: Minos, Rhadamanthus,
and Sarpedon. Zeus made for her the bronze
Euphorbus giant Talos (though some say this giant was
Greek made by Hephaistos at Zeus’s bidding) and
Son of Panthous who wounded Patroclus when gave her the dog Laelaps and the famous
the latter had attempted to lead the Greek forces necklace of Harmonia.
Eurynome 129
Euryalus
Greek Eurynome
One of the Epigoni who accompanied Jason as Greek
one of the Argonauts on the quest for the Sea goddess who was the mother of the Graces
Golden Fleece. He later accompanied or Charites by Zeus. She also helped to care for
Diomedes and Sthenelus, two fellow Epigoni, the infant Hephaistos, along with Thetis, in a
to the Trojan War. grotto beneath the sea after Hera had thrown
See also: Epigoni the weak, lame infant from Olympus.
130 Eurystheus
Evander
Greco-Roman Evenus
A minor Arcadian deity who is often associa- Greek
ted with Pan, an association that led the Father of Marpessa. When his daughter was
Romans to sometimes identify him with abducted by Idas, Evenus drowned himself in
Faunus. Legend names his father as Hermes the river that thenceforth carried his name.
K F k
Fates Faun
Greco-Roman Roman
The name by which the Moirae (Moerae) are One of any number of rural deities that were
better known, though to the Romans they represented with horns, pointed ears, and the
were the Parcae. These three goddess-spirits tail of a goat. Later they were also depicted as
where said to have been the children of Uranos having goats’ legs to bring their image into
and Ge, though later tradition made them the closer alignment with the satyrs, with whom
offspring of Erebos and Night. They applied they had always been associated. Their appar-
the decrees of individual destiny and were ent leader was the god Faunus.
named as follows: Clotho, who spun the
thread of life and was therefore the Fate who
decided birth; Lachesis, who represented the Faunus
element of chance, spun out the course of life, Roman
and measured the thread spun by Clotho, thus Rural god of fertility and prophecy, Faunus
becoming the Fate of life itself; and Atropos, was also regarded as a law-giver. The grand-
the eldest, the inevitable Fate, who cut the son of Saturn or Mars, father of Latinus by the
thread with her shears and therefore deter- nymph Marica, he was the leader of the Fauns,
mined the length of any life and became the being portrayed with the same characteristics
Fate of death. of goats’ ears, horns, tail, and legs. He was
As a combined force they appear in a great directly identified with the Greek Pan and was
number of the classical traditions, notably sometimes identified as Evander, though he
that concerning Meleager, who they de- was said to have welcomed Evander and his
clared would die when a brand laying in a Arcadians to Italy. Worshipped by shepherds
fire when he was born was consumed. His and farmers, he was said to have been able to
mother, Althaea, immediately seized the adopt the form of a wolf known as Lupercus,
brand and hid it away. However, when though some believe that Lupercus more cor-
Meleager grew up he took part in the hunt rectly relates to the she-wolf that raised the
for the Calydonian Boar, killed it, and gave twins Romulus and Remus.
its head to Atalanta. He quarreled with Legend says that he was once trapped by
Althaea’s brothers over this gift—and killed Numa Pompilius, who, with the aid of Picus,
them. His mother then threw the brand back mixed wine and honey in their own drinking
onto the fire, and the prophecy of the Fates water. Having caught Faunus, they persuaded
was fulfilled. him to tell them all his secrets, including a
Usually depicted in art as elderly and charm against thunderstorms.
dressed in white robes, the Fates, it has been As a god of fertility Faunus was approached
suggested, originally represented phases of by sterile women who desired children. The
the moon. With the help of Hermes they were priests celebrated his rites naked so that their
the supposed inventors of the alphabet. sexual identity was clear, for it was alleged that
Although they attracted widespread cult fol- Faunus once mistakenly tried to make love to
lowing, only Clotho and Atropos were wor- Hercules while he was dressed as a woman.
shipped at Delphi. He appears to have had a female associate,
See also: Atropos; Clotho; Lachesis; Meleager Fauna, whose rites were exclusively reserved
133
134 Faustulus
for women and were said to have been exces- their mother behind them. Unsure what this
sively lewd. meant at first, it was Pyrrha who came to
See also: Pan understand she meant the rocks of Mother
Earth. Rocks flung by Deucalion became men,
whereas those thrown by Pyrrha became
Faustulus women.
Roman See also: Deucalion
Shepherd who discovered the twins Romulus
and Remus being tended by a she-wolf and
took them home to his wife, Acca Larentia. Flora
This connection has led Faunus to sometimes Roman
be considered as the she-wolf Lupercus. Personification and goddess of flowers, bud-
See also: Acca Larentia; Remus; Romulus ding fruits, youth, and spring. Depicted as gar-
landed with flowers, she was honored as a fer-
tility goddess at the bawdy Floralia, a festival
Februus in her honor held toward the end of May.
Roman
The eponym of the last month of the Roman
calendar, February. A god of purification, he Floralia
appears to have been adapted from an ancient Roman
Etruscan god of the dead. In Rome, February Bawdy fertility festival held toward the end of
was celebrated as the month of the dead. May in honor of Flora.
Flamen Fornax
Roman Roman
A sacrificial priest in ancient Rome. Originally Goddess of baking in the oven. Though there
there were three flamens for every deity, but is a constellation in the southern night sky, it is
later 12 more were added. His post was held a fairly recent depiction and has no connection
for life, being terminated only if he committed to this goddess.
some misdemeanor or when his wife, who
assisted in his duties, died.
Fortuna
Roman
Flood, the Goddess of chance and good fortune who has
Greek her Greek equivalent in Tyche. Worshipped
Common among most world traditions is a originally as a fertility goddess, Fortuna
legend concerning a mighty deluge that cov- adopted her role as the goddess of luck only
ered the face of the earth. Greek tradition says after the absorption of the Greek pantheon.
that Zeus, tired of the impiety of mankind Usually thought of as the first-born daughter
(though some sources add man’s infernal of Jupiter, she was propitiated by those want-
racket), decided to destroy man with a great ing to increase their share of luck and thus
flood. However, Prometheus warned his son, bring increased prosperity to themselves or
Deucalion, who constructed a vessel in which family.
he and his wife, Pyrrha, the daughter of See also: Tyche
Epimetheus, could ride out the storm.
After nine days the water subsided and the
vessel came to rest on the slopes of Mount Fortunate Isles
Parnassus. Wondering how they might repop- Greek
ulate the earth, Deucalion and Pyrrha prayed The name for Elysium sometimes used by
at the shrine of Themis, who appeared to them later writers and geographers who located this
and commanded them to throw the bones of paradisiacal abode of the blessed dead—
Furies 135
where neither snow nor rain fell and the winds Furies
never blew—beyond the Pillars of Heracles, Greek
thereby eventually identifying it with the The name by which the Erinnyes are possi-
Canary Isles and Madeira. bly best known. Euphemistically referred to
See also: Elysium as the Eumenides, the Furies were three
hideous and terrible goddesses of ven-
geance—Alecto, Megaera, Tisiphone—who
Fortunatorum Insulae were sent from Tartarus to avenge wrong,
Roman punish crime, and torment those who had
Literally “the Islands of the Blessed/ committed social crimes. Often depicted as
Fortunate,” the original name of Elysium in snake-haired, they are sometimes confused
Roman tradition, which later changed back to with the Gorgons.
the Greek name. See also: Erinnyes
K G k
Gabii Galinthias
Roman Greek
An extinct city near Rome where the infants Daughter of Proetus of Thebes and a friend of
Romulus and Remus were traditionally raised. Alcmene.
The city features also in a legend concerning
Tarquinius Sextus, who asked his father, Ganymede
Tarquinius Superbus, how Gabii might be
Greek
taken. Tarquinius Superbus silently decapitated
The most beautiful of all mortal youths; raped
the tallest poppies in his garden. Taking the
on Mount Ida in Phrygia, he was carried away
hint, Tarquinius Sextus executed the Gabian
by the gods to be cupbearer to Zeus in place of
leaders, and his father then took the city.
Hebe. Homeric tradition makes him the son of
See also: Remus; Romulus
King Tros and Callirrhoë, though his father is
also sometimes named as Laomedon. Later
tradition said that Ganymede was carried off
Ga~ea, ~ia by an eagle, possibly Aquila, or by Zeus him-
Greek self in the guise of an eagle, after which his
Variant form of Ge. father was sent a pair of white horses, or a
golden vine, as compensation. When Gany-
mede died he was placed in the heavens as the
Gaia Caecilia constellation Aquarius for his faithful service.
Roman To the Romans Ganymede was known as
An alternative name for Tanaquil. Catamitus, a name that has given us catamite
and hints of the frequent homosexual tenden-
cies of the classical gods.
Galatea Astronomical: For the constellation Aquarius
Greek see the relevant entry. Ganymede is the largest
1. Sea nymph, the daughter of Nereus and moon of the planet Jupiter and the largest satel-
lite within the solar system at 5,300 kilometers
Doris. She was loved by Acis and the centaur
(3,300 miles) in diameter, making it larger than
Polyphemus, whom she shunned on account
the planet Mercury. It orbits the planet once
of his ugliness. In jealousy Polyphemus killed
every 7.2 days at an average distance of 1.1 mil-
Acis by crushing him under a huge rock; he
lion kilometers (700,000 miles) from the surface
was released by Galatea, who turned him into
of the planet, its own surface being a mixture of
a river. Some of the rocks thrown by
cratered and grooved terrain. Ganymede is the
Polyphemus landed in the sea, where they
fourth most distant satellite of Jupiter, lying
became the Isole Ciclopi off Acireale in Sicily,
between the orbits of Europa and Callisto.
thus giving us a location for the incident.
2. The statue made by Pygmalion with
which he fell in love. He named the woman Ge
Galatea after the statue was brought to life by Greek
Aphrodite in answer to his prayers. Also: Ga~ea, ~ia
See also: Polyphemus; Pygmalion The personification of Earth, the Mother
137
138 Gemini
Goddess, patroness of marriage; she was less never called Gemini in the legends, the con-
actively worshipped than goddesses of later stellation that carries their name has been
origin, having been ousted by the gods and identified with them since classical times.
goddesses of Olympus by the time of the clas- Astronomical: A constellation of the northern
sical Greeks. When she was worshipped dur- celestial hemisphere lying between approxi-
ing classical times she was seen as the giver of mate right ascensions 5h58m and 8h05m, dec-
dreams and presided over growing plants and lination from +10° to +35°. The stars Castor
children. She was identified as Tellus by the and Pollux are the prominent members of this
Romans. star grouping.
Born out of Chaos, the limitless emptiness See also: castor; Polydeuces
that existed before creation, along with
Tartarus and Eros, Ge gave birth to Pontus (the
Sea) and Uranos (the Heavens), who became Geryon(es)
her consort. Ge remains one of the most prolific Greek
of all the classical goddesses. Having given vir- A powerful monster with three bodies and
gin birth to Pontus and Uranos, she went on, three heads, the son of Chrysaor and
usually by Uranos, to become the mother of the Callirrhoë who lived on the island of Erytheia,
Hecatoncheires: Cottus, Briareus (also called its exact location being subject to numerous
Aegaeon), and Gyas, or Gyges; the one-eyed theories. Some have placed it beyond the far-
Cyclopes—Brontes, Steropes, and Arges; and thest ocean, whereas others have sought to
the 12 Titans, though here they are not so easy identify it with Gades, an island off of Cadiz.
to name, for different sources give different He had a herd of cattle guarded by Orthros,
names. The most frequently mentioned Titans the two-headed dog that was one of the mon-
are Cronos, Oceanos, Hyperion, Iapetus, strous offspring of Typhon and Echidne, and
Themis, Rhea, Tethys, and Mnemosyne. the herdsman Eurytion. This herd became the
After Uranos had thrown the rebellious subject of Heracles’ tenth labor. Having felled
Cyclopes into Tartarus, Ge persuaded the both Orthros and Eurytion with his club,
Titans, with the exception of Oceanos, to rebel. Heracles turned his attention to Geryon,
She gave Cronos, the youngest, a flint sickle whom he overcame.
that he used to castrate Uranos. Blood from the
wound fell onto Mother Earth (Ge), and she
gave birth to the three Erinnyes (Alecto, Giant
Tisiphone, and Megaera) as well as the Meliae. Greek
Some sources say that this was also the means The giants were huge humanoid beings
by which she conceived the Gigantes. Drops abound throughout classical Greek mytholo-
that fell into the sea conceived Aphrodite. In gy, but those most commonly referred to are
some legends she is also the mother of the Titans, the Cyclopes, and the Heca-
Typhoeus, Tityus, Arion, and Echidne by toncheires. At the instigation of their mother,
Tartarus and Antaeus by Poseidon. She helped Ge, the giants made war on Olympus. They
the Horae to nurse Aristaeus and was respon- are variously named, but their king is usually
sible, in some accounts, for the death of Orion. called Porphyrion. Others were Alcyoneus,
She had oracular powers, as is common with who was killed by Heracles during the great
earth goddesses in other traditions; her oracle battle, the Titanomachia, many years before
at Delphi, given to her by Python, later became that hero’s apotheosis; Enceladus was killed
the Delphic Oracle of Apollo. by Athene; Mimas was blasted by Zeus’s thun-
See also: Cyclopes; Erinnyes; Hecatoncheires; Tellus; derbolt; Ephialtes was blinded by Apollo and
Titan Heracles; Hippolytus was killed by Hermes,
who was wearing Hades’ cap of invisibility;
Agrius and Thoas were killed by the Fates
Gemini using bronze clubs. Apollodorus said that
Greco-Roman Athene flung the island of Sicily on Enceladus,
Although the Heavenly Twins, Castor and trapping him below Mount Etna, which still
Polydeuces (Pollux to the Romans), were vents his anger, and that Poseidon threw a
Golden age 139
fragment of Cos onto Polybutes, forming the the two restored the friendship of their ances-
island of Nisyrus. tors. When he was killed by Ajax the Greater
Later traditions added a great number of his body was brought back to Lycia on the
giants to the classical legends, some of whom winds by Apollo.
were ambivalent, others decidedly nasty. All 3. Son of Minos and Pasiphaë and brother of
exhibit superhuman attributes, and many Androgeos, Ariadne, and Phaedra. As a boy
have connections with chthonic principles, Glaucus was drowned when he fell into a cask
particularly volcanoes. of honey, his body either being discovered by
See also: Cyclopes; Hecatoncheires; Titan the seer Polyeidus or by the Curetes, who said
he would be revived by whoever found the best
analogy for a cow belonging to Minos that
Gigantes changed its color from red to white to black.
Greek Polyeidus made the comparison to a blackberry.
An alternative term for the Titans, the off- However, unable to revive the boy, Polyeidus
spring of Ge and Uranos who took part in the was now entombed with the body of Glaucus,
Titanomachia against the gods of Olympus. and there a serpent revealed to the seer an herb
They were giant beings, having serpents’ tails, that restored the boy, after which both Glaucus
and were variously disposed of during their and Polyeidus were released, Polyeidus teach-
battle with the Olympian gods, who had the ing Glaucus the art of divination.
help of Heracles. 4. A deity of the sea whose name means
“sea-green.” Originally a mortal fisherman, he
was transformed into a merman when he ate a
Glauce magic herb. He fell in love with Scylla, but
Greek Circe turned Scylla into a sea monster out of
Daughter of Creon (king of Corinth); also jealousy, for she loved Glaucus. A friendly
known as Creusa. When Jason deserted patron of sailors with powers of prophecy, a
Medeä in her favor the scorned sorceress sent common attribute of sea gods, he shared an
her a poisoned garment that set her body afire oracle with the Nereides on Delos.
when she put it on and that burned down the See also: Ajax (1); Bellerophon; Minos
palace, killing her father and his retinue.
See also: Jason; Medeä
God
Greek
Glaucus The conventional translation of the Greek
Greek theos, applied to all the Olympian deities, gods
1. King of Ephyra, or Corinth, son of Sisyphus who represented a sort of aristocracy of cre-
and Merope, and father of Bellerophon, ation. They were not unlike men in their
though most sources say that his wife, behavior or passions; in fact many were
Eurynome, bore Bellerophon to Poseidon and greatly more immoral than classical sensibili-
that Glaucus simply raised him as his own. He ties would seem to permit. But they were infi-
was eaten by his own horses when he lost a nitely more powerful and beautiful than man
chariot race to Iolaus, a race run because he (as can be seen, for example, by studying the
had scorned the power of Aphrodite. His spir- art portraying Apollo). Most importantly, gods
it was said to haunt the Isthmus of Corinth for were immortal, thus placing them firmly
many generations. above mankind. Between them came two
2. The grandson of Bellerophon, thus the other “races”—the daemones and the heroes,
great-grandson of Glaucus, who at the Trojan many of whom were apotheosized.
War commanded the Lycian forces in associa-
tion with Sarpedon. During the fray he dis-
covered that Diomedes’ father, Oeneus, had Golden age
once entertained Bellerophon and thus refused Greco-Roman
to fight him. Instead he exchanged his golden A mythical period that was, in classical times,
armor for the bronze armor of Diomedes, and believed to have been the original state of the
140 Golden Bough, the
world. It was the first and best time, one of inno- future conqueror of Asia. According to tradi-
cence when mankind lived in peace and har- tion, Alexander the Great cut it open with his
mony with itself and with nature, an idyll of sword in 334 B.C.
happiness and prosperity. Greek legend states See also: Alexander the Great
that men lived under Cronos’s rule free from
care and enjoyed eternal youth and a life of ease,
not needing to work, for the land produced fruit Gordius
spontaneously. When their days on earth came Greek
to an end they died without pain, as if falling King of Phrygia and father of Midas. Orig-
asleep. This mythical paradise disappeared with inally a peasant, he became king after an ora-
the coming of the Olympian order, but men con- cle had told the people of Phrygia that their
tinued to live a similar life after death in the par- new king would arrive riding in a simple
adisiacal Elysium, where Cronos still reigns. wagon. When Gordius arrived in just such a
Later the term came to be used to describe the manner they proclaimed him king. In grati-
flourishing years of any civilization or culture. tude he dedicated his cart to Zeus in the acrop-
See also: Cronos olis of Gordium, fastening the pole to the yoke
with a curious knot of bark. An oracle decreed
that whoever should untie the knot would
Golden Bough, the conquer and rule Asia. According to tradition,
Greco-Roman the Gordian Knot was cut open by Alexander
A bough taken from a wood near Lake the Great with his sword in 334 B.C.
Avernus that the Sibyl of Cumae told Aeneas See also: Midas
to arm himself with before descending into the
Underworld to consult the spirit of his dead
father. Gorge
See also: Aeneas Greek
Daughter of Althaea and sister of Deianeira.
Wife of Andraemon and mother of Theos, she
Golden Fleece, the and her sister retained their human form when
Greek Artemis changed their other sisters into birds.
The fleece of the winged ram Aries, or
Chrysmallus, which Zeus sent to Thebes to sub-
stitute for Phrixus when his father, Athamas, Gorgon
was preparing to sacrifice him at the instigation Greek
of his stepmother, Ino. The ram flew off with Originally the Gorgons were the three beauti-
Phrixus and his sister, Helle, on its back, bound ful daughters of the sea deities Phorcys and
for Colchis, but Helle fell off en route into the Ceto; sisters of the Graeae. The three Gorgons
Hellespont. Arriving in Colchis, Phrixus sacri- were named Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa,
ficed the ram to Poseidon, and either he or who lived in Libya; the first two were immor-
Aeëtes, king of Colchis, hung the fleece on an tal, whereas Medusa was vulnerable. Medusa
oak tree in a grove sacred to Ares, where it was was seduced by Poseidon and lay with him in
guarded by a sleepless dragon. Later Jason and a temple dedicated to Athene. Furious, Athene
the Argonauts mounted an expedition to bring transformed Medusa and her sisters into the
it back to Greece, which they accomplished with Gorgons, hideous beings with golden wings
a little help from Medeä. and brazen claws, vast, grinning mouths with
See also: Colchis; Helle; Jason; Medeä; Phrixus tusks, and serpents for hair. So ghastly was
their appearance that their looks turned men
to stone, an attribute that is central to the story
Gordian Knot, the of Perseus slaying Medusa. From her body
Greek sprung, fully grown, the winged horse
The mythical knot tied by Gordius, king of Pegasus and the warrior Chrysaor, the result
Phrygia, that was to be unraveled only by the of her union with Poseidon. Stheno and
Griff~in, ~en, ~on 141
Graeae
Gorgoneia Greek
Greek Two, perhaps three, ancient women, the
The hideous, grinning masks of the Gorgons daughters of the sea deities Phorcys and Ceto
that were employed as charms to ward off evil and thus the sisters of the Gorgons. They lived
spirits. Athene was said to have had such an in the farthest west (one story naming their
image in the center of her Aegis, though this is home as Mount Atlas, but this does not fit the
also said to have been the head of Medusa her- normal chronology of events), where the sun
self. One such image on the south face of the never shone and had but one eye and one
Acropolis in Athens was said, by medieval tooth between the three of them. Perseus vis-
travelers, to be able to foretell the embarkation ited them when he was sent to kill Medusa
of invading fleets from the far south. Another and, by stealing their eye and tooth, made
famous image is found on the temple of them divulge what he needed to know to
Artemis on Corfu. overcome their sister. An alternative story
See also: Aegis says that they guarded the road to where the
Gorgons lived and that Perseus, by stealing
their eye and throwing it into Lake Triton, was
Gort~yn, ~ys able to sneak past them unchallenged and
Greco-Roman unannounced.
See also: Gorgon; Perseus; Triton, Lake
Important archaeological site at Aghii Déka in
the Messara Plain to the south of the island of
Crete. It was on the banks of the river here, so
Greek tradition states, that Zeus seduced Griff~in, ~en, ~on
Europa after he carried her to Crete on his back Greek
in the form of a beautiful white bull. Also: Gryphon
Historically speaking the town rose to promi- A mythical beast having a lion’s body and
nence only at the end of the Minoan period, the wings of an eagle. It is known in all Near
soon becoming an important city-state. There Eastern artistic traditions. Sometimes vari-
is a pre-Roman temple to Apollo Pythios at ants of the animal’s structure are given: a ser-
Gortyn, but all that remains today is the altar pent’s head, scorpion’s tail, bird’s feet, and
and sundry bits of broken columns. the like. The gold of the Arimaspi was said to
See also: Europa have been guarded by Griffins, according to
142 Gryphon
143
144 Haemon
The Underworld realm of Hades was divid- bodied, three-headed goddess who presided
ed into three regions through which five rivers over witchcraft and the black arts. Worshipped
ran, the entrance to this eternal world being where three roads met, she had once helped
guarded by the three-headed dog Cerberus. To Demeter in her search for Persephone, later
reach the Underworld the dead, usually becoming the companion of Persephone dur-
accompanied by Hermes, first had to be ferried ing the time she spent in the Underworld.
across the River Styx by the ghostly ferryman Also occupying Tartarus were the three-
Charon, who demanded payment for the jour- winged, snake-haired Erinnyes, or Furies, dis-
ney. Payment was a coin, an obolos, which was patched from this region to punish unnatural
placed on the tongue of the corpse during the crimes and harry those who committed them.
earthly burial service. Having crossed the Styx They later became known euphemistically as
the spirits of the dead had to propitiate the Eumenides when Athene pacified them
Cerberus, the usual offering being honey cakes. following the acquittal of Orestes.
Once in the Underworld proper, the spirits Seldom figuring in art, usually being repre-
of the dead had to cross four additional rivers, sented as a mature, bearded man, sometimes
the Acheron (River of Woe), some sources say- carrying a scepter or key, Hades had no tem-
ing Charon ferried them; Phlegethon (River of ples, though he did receive cult in Elea.
Flames); Cocytus (River of Wailing); and final- However, religious acts were sometimes car-
ly Lethe (River of Forgetfulness). The first ried out in his name. Black animals, usually
three rivers are connected with the actual bulls, were sacrificed to him, notably at
funeral rites and their associated emotions. Syracuse, Sicily, where black bulls were offered
However, all spirits were said to drink from near the site Hades reportedly abducted
the Lethe, upon which they immediately for- Persephone. The complex structure of Hades’
got their past life. Unable to recall any events realm, which by metonymy also came to be
from past lives, the spirits were brought before called Hades, illustrated the combination of
the three judges of the Underworld. the contradictory ideas that the ancient Greeks
These judges—Minos, Rhadamanthus, and had regarding life after death. In the very
Aeacus—ruled on how each individual had broadest terms, the deities Persephone and
spent life on earth; according to their judgment, Hecate can be seen to represent the pre-
one of three regions awaited the spirit for all Hellenic hopes of a true afterlife, whereas
eternity. The good were sent to Elysium, or the Hades personifies the Hellenic fear of the final-
“Fortunate Isles,” where rain and snow never ity and totality of death. By the fifth century
fell and which can be best equated with B.C. the god Hades was becoming the realm
Heaven. This realm, though considered a part over which he had reigned, his position being
of the Underworld, actually fell outside of usurped under the influence of Eleusinian
Hades’ domain and was ruled by Cronos. The myth by Pluto or, more accurately, Pluton, the
average were sent to the Asphodel Fields, an name by which he entered Roman tradition.
indifferent area that is best equated as the region See also: Acheron; Cerberus; Charon; Cocytus;
directly ruled by Hades. The wicked were sent Cyclopes; Elysium; Erinnyes; Hecate; Lethe;
Phlegethon; Pluto; Styx; Tartarus
to Tartarus, the deepest region of the Under-
world. To this lowest region many characters
from Greek myth were dispatched after death,
sometimes simply for eternal punishment. The Haemon
Titans, Cyclopes, and Hecatoncheires were Greek
originally imprisoned there by Cronos, though Son of Creon (king of Thebes). According to
later, after Cronos had been dethroned, only the Apollodorus, Haemon numbered among the
Titans remained, guarded by the Hecaton- Theban youths killed by the Sphinx for failing
cheires. Sisyphus was condemned to eternally to answer the riddle she set. However,
roll a huge stone to the top of a hill, where it Haemon is usually regarded as the lover of
immediately rolled down again. Antigone—and therefore alive after Oedipus’s
Also occupying this region of Hades’ victory over the Sphinx. Creon had Antigone
domain was the infernal Hecate, the three- immured in a cave, where she hanged herself;
Hecale 145
the grief-stricken Haemon, upon finding her the sisters of Iris. In origin they appear to be
body, took his own life. spirits of the wind. Hesiod identified just two
See also: Sphinx Harpies, Aello and Acypete, but later sources
added a third, Celaeno. Usually depicted in art
as winged women to differentiate them from
Halcyone similar bird-bodied women such as the Sirens,
Greek the Harpies had the head and breasts of a
A little-used variant of Alcyone. woman and the claws of a vulture. Associated
with sudden death, whirlwinds, and storms,
they represent the feminine principle in its
Halirrhothius destructive form. The Harpies were said to
Greek have been the mothers, by Zephyrus, of
A son of Poseidon who was, according to late Xanthus and Balius, the talking horses of
tradition, murdered by Ares. However, Ares Achilles, as well as mothers of the horses rid-
pleaded that he had been saving his daughter, den by the Dioscuri.
Alcippe, from being violated by Halirrhothius Foul beasts, the Harpies are possibly best
and thus was acquitted of murder. The place of known through their appearance in the legend
Ares’ trial became known as the Areopagus. of the blind King Phineus. Every time the king
See also: Areopagus sat down to eat they rapaciously descended
onto his table, snatching his food and fouling
the table. They were driven away by the sons
Hamadryad of Boreas when the Argonauts landed on his
Greek island.
A class of tree nymphs who lived and died See also: Boreas; Phineus
with the trees they inhabited.
Hebe
Harmonia Greek
Greek Goddess of youth; the daughter of Hera who
Daughter of Ares and Aphrodite. Her wed- was engendered parthenogenetically when
ding to Cadmos was attended by the Olym- Hera ate a lettuce (a traditional anaphrodisia-
pian deities. Here she was given, by Aphro- cal plant), though some sources say she was
dite, a fabulous necklace made by Hephaistos the daughter of Hera and Zeus. Eternally
that conferred irresistible loveliness on the young, Hebe became the cupbearer to the gods
wearer—but proved fatal to all who wore it. of Olympus before being replaced by
She also received a robe from Athene that con- Ganymede. At first married to Ares, she had
ferred divine dignity on the wearer. Her chil- limited powers to bestow eternal youth. She
dren by Cadmos were the four sisters Ino, later married Heracles after he had been dei-
Autonoë, Semele, and Agave, as well as fied and had, at last, been accepted by Hera.
Polydorus and later Illyrius. Following the Hebe was called Juventas by the Romans.
tragic deaths of all their daughters, Cadmos See also: Ganymede; Juventas
and Harmonia left Thebes for Illyria, where
they were turned into snakes by Ares, in which
forms they were welcomed to the Islands of Hecabe
the Blessed. Greek
See also: Cadmos Little-used variant of Hecuba.
Harpy Hecale
Greek Greek
The Harpies were winged female demons, the A pitifully poor old women who nevertheless
daughters of Thaumas and Electra; they were entertained Theseus with all the hospitality
146 Hecate
she could muster while the latter was involved and Gyas or Gyges, the three giant sons of
in the hunt for the Marathonian Bull. Uranos and Ge who had 100 hands and 50
heads sometimes known as the Centimani.
They were the brothers of the Cyclopes and
Hecate the 12 Titans. Following the Titanomachia,
Greek the Hecatoncheires guarded the Titans, who
An extremely powerful ancient goddess had been consigned to dwell in Tartarus for
whose origins lie in Asia Minor, possibly all eternity.
Thrace. A mysterious deity, depicted as a triple
goddess with three bodies and three heads,
she was honored in Heaven, on Earth, and in Hector
the Underworld and was held in esteem and Greek
awe by all the Olympian deities, including The greatest of the Trojan heroes during the
Zeus. Her triple aspect led to her being seen as Trojan War; the eldest son of Priam and
a deity ruling over Heaven as Semele, over Hecuba, brother of Paris, Helenus, Deiphobus,
Earth as Artemis, and in Hades as the com- and Cassandra; husband of Andromache and
panion of Persephone. Originally a moon god- father of Astyanax. During the siege of Troy he
dess, hence her assimilation with Semele and was afforded the personal protection of Ares,
Artemis, Hecate was the patron of rich men, and in one memorable scene in Homer’s Iliad
sailors, and flocks, the bestower of the wealth he fought a day-long battle with Ajax the
and blessings of daily life. She later came to be Greater until, at nightfall, they exchanged
regarded, by the Hellenes in particular, as a gifts, Hector giving Ajax a sword, receiving in
dread divinity of the Underworld; she resided return a purple baldric (a sash or belt worn
in its deepest region, Tartarus, keeping compa- over the right shoulder to the left hip for car-
ny with the dead and presiding over witch- rying a sword). Having killed Patroclus,
craft and the black arts. She became the Hector was chased three times around the
patroness of witches and sorceresses and pro- walls of Troy before he was killed by Achilles.
tectress of graveyards and crossroads, espe- Killed, he was stripped of his armor by
cially those between three roads. Achilles who, tying Hector’s ankles together,
Some sources say that she was the daughter simply dragged the body back to the Greek
of Perses and Asteria, whereas others give her lines. Some sources vary this, saying that
a more divine status, saying that her parentage Achilles now dishonored Hector’s body by
was Zeus and Hera and that it was her theft of dragging it three times around the walls of
Hera’s cosmetics that led to her being ban- Troy by the purple baldric given to him by
ished from Olympus. She helped Demeter Ajax. He was then dragged back to Achilles’
search for Persephone, and when Persephone tent, each day to be dragged three times
was found to be in the Underworld she around the tomb of Patroclus. Finally Priam
descended to become her companion. persuaded Achilles to return his son’s body so
Hecate was characteristically worshipped at that it could be afforded the proper funeral
gateways or the junction of three roads, where rites. The death of Hector led the Amazons to
dogs, which were sacred to her, were offered in enter the Trojan War on the side of Troy, but
sacrifice. To the pre-Hellenic people she repre- their queen, Penthesilea, was killed by
sented the hope of an afterlife. The Hellenes Achilles.
were a little more clear-cut and simply regard- See also: Achilles; Ajax (1); Andromache; Priam; Trojan
ed her as a dreadful, primeval witch. War
See also: Hades; Tartarus
Hecub~a, ~e
Hecatoncheires Greek
Greek The second wife of Priam, king of Troy, she
The collective name given to Cottus, came from an area near the River Sangarius
Briareus, who is also known as Aegaeon, on the southern coast of the Black Sea. She
Helen(~a, ~e) 147
had a total of 19 children by Priam, including Leda, Helen was said to have been born from
the most famous of Priam’s 50 sons and the same egg as the twin deities Castor and
daughters: Cassandra, Creusa, Deiphobus, Polydeuces (the Dioscuri); she may have
Hector, Helenus, Laodice, Paris, Polites, been the daughter of Zeus rather than
Polydorus, Polyxena, and Troilus, though the Tyndareus. Her half-sister was Clytemnestra.
last may have been her son by Apollo rather Although worshipped as a goddess of wom-
than Priam. Before the birth of Paris, Hecuba anhood at Sparta, throughout the rest of
dreamed that she had borne a blazing fire- Greece she was considered as a legendary
brand. Interpreting this dream as foretelling mortal, not a goddess.
that this son would bring some calamity to It was Helen’s remarkable beauty that led to
Troy, she exposed him on the slopes of Mount her troubles. While still quite young she was
Ida, where he was found and raised by a seized by Theseus and Peirithous; falling by lot
shepherd. to Theseus, she was carried off to Attica, where
Following the fall of Troy, during which she she was placed in the care of Aethra, Theseus’s
had witnessed the death of most of her family, mother, in the village of Aphidnae. She was later
she was given to Odysseus and traveled with rescued by her brothers, the Dioscuri, when they
him as far as the Thracian Chersonese, where invaded Attica with an army and were told the
Hecuba discovered that the king of Thrace, whereabouts of Helen by Academus. They took
Polymester, had murdered her son, Polydorus. the young girl back to Sparta, along with Aethra,
In her fury she blinded Polymester and killed who was to act as her servant.
all his children, whereupon she was punished Helen was now courted by innumerable suit-
by being transformed into a bitch called ors including Idomeneos and Odysseus, though
Maera; following her death, she was buried the latter was really more interested in Helen’s
nearby at a place thenceforth known as cousin, Penelope. Odysseus wisely advised
Cynossema—“Dog’s Grave.” Some sources, Tyndareus to make all her suitors swear alle-
however, place her canine transformation giance to her final choice. In the end Helen chose
immediately after the death of Priam and say Menelaus, brother of Agamemnon, by whom
that she had already taken this form when she she became the mother of Hermione.
blinded Polymester by scratching his eyes out. The wisdom of Odysseus’s advice to
She was then stoned by the citizens of Tyndareus became apparent after Helen had
Polymester’s city, with a stone lodging in her been seized and carried away to Troy, along
throat, after which she was able only to bark. with a large quantity of gold, by Paris with the
The revenge she exacted on Polymester later help of Aphrodite, to whom he had awarded
led to her being revered as the personification the Apple of Discord. Her earlier suitors had to
of motherly love and courage. honor their oath, leading to the saying that
Another version of this late story says that Helen’s face “launched a thousand ships” (the
Polydorus, along with a large quantity of gold, Greek fleet that assembled at Aulis before sail-
was entrusted to Polymester by Priam shortly ing for Troy was immense).
before the fall of Troy. When the city had fall- It has been said that Helen was a willing
en, Polymester killed Polydorus for the gold partner in her elopement with Paris, as much in
and cast his body into the sea. There it was love with him as he with her. However, she
found by Hecuba, who swore revenge, later was treated with hostility in Troy, being re-
managing to kill Polymester and his children. garded as the cause of the war, and became
She then turned herself into the bitch Maera to increasingly lonely. It therefore does not seem
evade the angry Thracians. surprising that she is credited with helping the
See also: Priam Greeks during the final stages of the epic strug-
gle, refusing at one stage to give Odysseus
away when he entered the city in disguise,
Helen(~a, ~e) actually providing him with much useful infor-
Greek mation and confessing that she longed to
The most beautiful woman of her time, the return to Sparta. One legend contradicts this
daughter of Tyndareus, king of Sparta, and helpful attitude by saying that Helen tried to
148 Helenus
trick the occupants of the Wooden Horse by Helen following the death of Paris. When
addressing each of the concealed warriors in Deiphobus forcibly married Helen, Helenus
the voice of his own wife. Odysseus, however, fled to Mount Ida. There he either voluntarily
managed to make them refrain from answer- offered his services to the Greek forces or was
ing, and so they remained undiscover by the captured by Odysseus. He advised the Greek
Trojans. After Paris was killed, Helen was forces that they would capture Troy only if the
forcibly married by Deiphobus after he and his Palladium could be secured, if Pelops’s bones
brother, Helenus, had fought over her. Helenus were brought to the battlefield, if Neopto-
fled to Mount Ida, where he was either cap- lemus came to join the Greek forces, and if
tured by the Greeks and forced to help them or Philoctetes could be persuaded to come to
simply offered advice of his own volition. Troy, bringing with him the bow and arrows of
With the fall of Troy Helen was exonerated, Heracles, which he owned.
and she and Menelaus reunited. The tradit- Following the fall of Troy, Helenus was
ional version of their reconciliation says that taken by Neoptolemus on his ship as far as
Menelaus was about to transfix her on his Epirus, where he founded the city of
sword when, overcome by her beauty, he Buthrotum. Neoptolemus also gave him his
dropped the sword and took her in his arms. concubine, Andromache, the widow of Hector,
On the way home they stopped at the mouth to be his wife. Virgil added to the Trojan tradi-
of the River Nile, where Helen was said to tions by saying that Aeneas stopped in Epirus
have been taught the secrets of healing herbs. on his way from Troy, and it was Helenus that
An alternative version, Egyptian in origin, prophesied, to him, the foundation of Rome,
says that the real Helen was spirited away to saying that when Aeneas landed in Italy he
Egypt prior to Paris abducting her “phantom,” should seek out a white sow and 30 piglets
which lived at Troy during the war. and there found his city. He also added that
The remainder of her life remains undocu- further counsel could be had from the Sibyl of
mented, but several different versions of her Cumae.
death do exist. In the play Orestes by Euripides See also: Helen; Priam
she was translated just as Orestes was about to
murder her. ARhodian legend says that she was
driven out of Sparta by the sons of Menelaus Heliades
and took refuge with Polyxo, the widow of Greek
Tlepolemus. However, Polyxo had her maids The daughters of Helios and sisters of
dress up as Erinnyes and hang Helen from a Phaethön who wept at his death and were
tree, after which she was worshipped as a god- transformed into poplar trees. They were
dess. A tradition from the south of Italy placed sometimes mistakenly identified with the
her on the Islands of the Blessed or the White Hyades.
Island, where she lived an eternal life with other See also: Hyades
Trojan heroes, marrying Achilles. However, the
traditional version was that both Menelaus and
Helen died peacefully at Sparta and were buried Helicaon
at Therapnae, becoming the guardians of the Greek
city. Their shrine, the Menelaion, may be visited Husband of Laodice, the unfortunate sister of
today southeast of Sparta. Cassandra who, following the fall of Troy, was
See also: Aethra; Agamemnon; Castor; Clytemnestra; swallowed up by the earth, thus being saved
Leda; Menelaus; Paris; Polydeuces; Theseus; from falling into Greek hands.
Tyndareus
Helicon
Helenus Greek
Greco-Roman A lofty mountain in Boeotia that was sacred to
A Trojan seer, a son of Priam and Hecuba. He Apollo and the home of the Muses, hence
quarreled with his brother, Deiphobus, over Heliconiades and Heliconides. The special
Hellenes 149
haunt of the Muses was the grove of the River deity, the charioteer driving the four winged
Termessus or Permessus that was situated horses that pulled his chariot from east to west,
below the sacred spring Hippocrene, which ferried back to the east at night by Oceanos.
sprung from the earth at the strike of Pegasus’s His sacred animal was the cock; his sacrifices
hoof. The sacred spring/fountain Aganippe included white horses, rams, and honey.
was also to be found on Mount Helicon. The Roman equivalent of Helios was Sol,
See also: Apollo; Muses, the who had a shrine on the Quirinal Hill, and was
later equated with Sol Invictus—“the
Invincible”—a special protector of the emper-
Hel~ios, ~ius ors.
Greek See also: Apollo; Hyperion
Ancient god and personification of the sun, the
all-seeing god of light who daily rides his
golden chariot across the sky. The son of Helle
Hyperion and Theia, brother to Eos and Greek
Selene, Helios married Persë or Perseis, the Daughter of Athamas and Nephele; sister of
mother of Aeëtes, Circe, and Pasiphaë; Neaera; Phrixus. When she and her brother were being
Rhode, the mother of seven sons and one mistreated by their stepmother, Ino, Phrixus
daughter; Gaea; Iphinoë; and Clymene, the about to be sacrificed at Ino’s insistence, Zeus
mother of Phaethön. sent a winged ram, Aries, to substitute for
When Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades decided Phrixus. It flew off with the two children on its
who should rule the three regions of Heaven, back, bound for Colchis. Helle, however, fell
Earth, and the Underworld, Helios was into the sea and was drowned—or, some say,
absent. To make amends for this omission became a bride of Poseidon. The stretch of
Zeus awarded Helios the newly arisen island water into which she fell became known as the
of Rhodes, of which he became patron and Hellespont, the modern Dardanelles. Phrixus
where his worship especially flourished. The completed the journey, sacrificed the ram
bronze Colossus of Rhodes was a huge statue Aries, and hung the fleece in a grove sacred to
of the god. His wife Rhode was the eponym of the god Ares. There it turned to gold, this
this island, which, appropriately, claims to Golden Fleece subsequently becoming the
receive more hours of sunshine than any other object of the quest undertaken by Jason and
in the Mediterranean. One of Helios’s seven the Argonauts.
sons by Rhode had three sons of his own. See also: Athamas; Jason; Nephele; Phrixus
These grandsons of Helios were named
Lindos, Ialysos, and Camiros, after whom the
three major cities of Rhodes were named. Hellen
His all-seeing aspect was clearly illustrated Greek
when he reported such incidents as the rape Grandson of Prometheus, son of Deucalion
and subsequent abduction of Persephone as and Pyrrha, and eponym and mythical ances-
well as Aphrodite’s faithlessness. He, however, tor of the Hellenes. The king of Phthia in
failed to notice the theft of his own cattle by the Thessaly, Hellen was the father of Dorus,
companions of Odysseus. Helios was the Aeolus, and Xuthus.
father of the Graces by Aegle and successfully See also: Deucalion; Prometheus
seduced Leucothea by disguising himself as
her mother. When her father buried her alive as
punishment, Helios transformed her into the Hellenes
frankincense bush. Clytie, who was in love Greek
with Helios and had revealed the seduction out Named after the mythical Hellen, son of
of jealousy, was turned into a heliotrope. Deucalion and Pyrrha, the Hellenes or Greeks
Helios was frequently confused with Apollo were an Indo-European people who entered
in his guise of Phoebus, but his attributes are Greece from the north in three main waves, the
purely spiritual, whereas Helios was a tangible first, of Minyans and Ionians, beginning c.
150 Hellespont
2000 B.C. Their mastery of horses and wheeled Asia Minor, where gaseous vapors, seeping
vehicles made conquest of the indigenous peo- through fissures in the ground, ignited. The
ples extremely easy. Lycians migrated to Lemnos, where they
Penetrating far to the south, the Hellenes became known as Pelasgians, taking with
soon became excellent navigators, traveling to them their mysterious fire god, and they once
Sicily, southern Italy, Asia Minor, and through- again found fire issuing from the ground. This
out the Greek islands. Landing on Crete, they fire became the symbol of their god, who had
became much influenced by the Minoan cul- now become known as Hephaistos. From
ture they found there; they brought it to the there the cult spread to Athens, c. 600 B.C.,
mainland, and it began to have a considerable where he achieved great status. His Olympian
effect after c. 1580 B.C. status appears to reflect the importance of the
However, about 1400 B.C. the Minoan civi- smith in Bronze Age society, where weapons
lization fell, either through invasion or earth- and tools were held to have magical proper-
quake, and the second wave of Hellenes, the ties. He was, like other smith gods, represent-
Achaeans, rose to prominence. They remained ed as lame.
the prominent force within the Greek world Legend says that he was the brother of Ares
until about 1100 B.C., when Mycenae, the cen- and Hebe, the son of Zeus and Hera, though
ter of civilization during this time, fell, and the some held that he was the parthenogenous son
third wave, the Dorians, named after Hellen’s of Hera alone, springing from that goddess in
son, Dorus, entered Greece. the same way as his fire springs from earth.
Born lame and weak, he was so disliked by his
mother that she threw him from Olympus into
Hellespont the sea. There he was cared for in a grotto
Greek under the sea by the sea goddesses Thetis and
The ancient name of the Dardanelles, the 50- Eurynome. After nine years Hera welcomed
mile strait that connects the Aegean Sea with him back to Olympus, where he set up his
the Sea of Marmara. It was named after the smithy. However, he was once again flung
legendary Helle, who fell into this stretch of from Olympus, this time by Zeus after he had
water from the back of the winged ram Aries, taken Hera’s side. He took a whole day to fall,
which was carrying her and her brother, finally landing at nightfall on the island of
Phrixus, from Thebes to Colchis. Lemnos. Later writers say that it was this sec-
At its narrowest point, on opposing banks, ond fall from Olympus that was the cause of
lay the settlements of Abydos, in Phrygia, and his lameness, the impact permanently dislo-
Sestos. Nightly Leander swam from Abydos to cating his hip.
visit the priestess Hero in Sestos, but one Hephaistos once again returned to Olym-
stormy night Leander drowned and Hero pus and acted as a mediator between Zeus and
threw herself into the sea. Hera, and even though he was the constant
See also: Helle; Hero; Leander butt of the gods’ jokes he made each of their
palaces. He also made robot tables for the gods
that went wherever the gods wanted them,
Hephaest~os, ~us Zeus’s throne and scepter, Agamemnon’s
Greek scepter, the gold and silver dogs of Alcinous,
Variant of Hephaistos. the magnificent armor of Achilles as ordered
by Thetis, the necklace of Harmonia, the fire-
breathing bulls of Aeëtes with brazen feet, the
Hephaist~os, ~us bow and arrows of Artemis, the golden dog of
Greek Rhea, which had been set to guard the cradle
Also: Hephaest~os, ~us of the infant Zeus, and the first woman,
One of the 12 great Olympian deities, Pandora. He also made a golden throne for
Hephaistos—identified by the Romans with Hera, but when she sat on it she was bound
Vulcan—possibly originated as a pre-Hellenic fast. Hephaistos then left Olympus and
fire god near the Mount Olympus of Lycia in refused to return until Dionysos made him
Her~a, ~e 151
her name has not been found in the Linear B woman and persuaded Semele to ask her mys-
texts. Others say that she is a remembrance of terious lover, Zeus, to appear to her in his true
a pre-Olympian goddess of Mother Earth, her form. Zeus reluctantly consented, and Semele
tempestuous marriage to Zeus marking her was consumed by the fire from his thunderbolt.
absorption into the Indo-European system in The unborn infant was sewn up in Zeus’s thigh
which the male sky god is dominant. Cows to be born three months later, but this did not
were often sacrificed to her, leading to her stop Hera’s hostility. When the child had been
being awarded the epithet Boöpis, or “cow- entrusted to Athamas and Ino of Boeotia, Hera
faced,” though some have sought to connect sent Athamas mad so that he killed his own
this with the fact that she always seemed dis- son. Still Hera continued to hound Dionysos.
agreeable, and would thus have carried a surly Once he grew to manhood Hera sent him mad
look. She may also have been later awarded so that he wandered through the world.
the surname Argiva, as there is a temple to She was the mother of Ares, Hebe, and
Hera Argiva in Italy that was built c. 460 B.C., Hephaistos, the first two by Zeus, and
though this is probably simply an epithet Hephaistos parthenogenetically. So disgusted
added to indicate the region from which the was she with Hephaistos that she flung him
cult was brought to Italy. from Olympus. She blinded the seer Tiresias
When Typhon made his assault on Olym- when he settled an argument between Zeus
pus, Hera fled to Egypt, along with the other and herself over which of the sexes gained the
gods and goddesses, Hera taking the form of a more pleasure from sexual intercourse. His
white cow. This story once again reflects the reply that a woman enjoyed it nine times as
association of cows to Hera. The messengers of much as a man angered Hera.
Hera were the four winds, which she entrust- She did, however, support Jason and the
ed to Aeolus since Zeus was likely to forget his Argonauts in their quest for the Golden Fleece.
duties and allow them to blow the earth and She and Athene also supported the Greeks,
sea away. She, like Zeus, had the power to particularly Achilles, against Troy after Paris
bestow the art of prophecy. had awarded the Apple of Discord to
At one stage she conspired with Apollo and Aphrodite in favor of herself and Athene even
Poseidon to lead the Olympians against Zeus. though she had offered Paris rule in Asia. At
Zeus having been put in chains, he was freed one stage she helped the Greeks by persuad-
by Thetis and Briareus. Hera was then pun- ing Zeus to lie with her on Mount Gargarus
ished when Zeus bound anvils to her ankles while Posedion egged on the Greeks.
and hung her out of Heaven by her wrists. Her hostility reached new bounds, however,
Several attempts were made on her virtue, with regard to the hero who bears her name,
notably by the giant Porphyrion; by Ixion, Heracles. When Zeus boasted that he was
who was condemned to be bound to a fiery about to become the father of a son who would
wheel revolving unceasingly through be called Heracles, or “Glory of Hera,” and
Tartarus; and by Endymion. However, Hera is who would be the ruler of the house of
best remembered for the persecution of Zeus’s Perseus, Hera exacted from him a promise that
lovers—Leto, Io, Semele, and the daughters of any son born that day to the house of Perseus
Proteus—and for her general unkindly should be king. Having made Zeus promise,
demeanor toward gods and heroes alike. Hera brought on the birth of Eurystheus, a
When Leto was due to give birth to Apollo and grandson of Perseus, and delayed Alcmene’s
Artemis, the twin children of Zeus, Hera made labor, so that Heracles and his twin brother
Leto wander from place to place until she gave Iphicles (though one day younger through the
birth to Artemis under a palm tree on Ortygia complex conception of Heracles) were born
and Apollo on Delos. She then sent the giant later. Alcmene was greatly afraid of the retri-
Ityus to violate Leto as she was approaching bution Hera might take on her, so she exposed
Delphi with Artemis, but Tityus was killed by Heracles. However, Hera saw the infant and
the arrows of Apollo and Artemis. nursed him in error, thus conferring on him his
When Semele was pregnant six months with eventual right to immortality. Hera now
Dionysos, Hera disguised herself as an old returned the infant Heracles to Alcmene.
Hera~cles, ~kles 153
When the great hero reached manhood, his name, Hercules. At one time thought to be
Hera sent him mad so that he killed his own of Dorian origin, Heracles, it is now clear,
children and two of Iphicles’. Having been belongs firmly within the Mycenaean period.
restored to sanity he sought purification and He is the remarkable formulation heros theos
then went to consult the Delphic Oracle, and (hero god), a semidivine mortal destined for
there the Pythia called him Heracles for the apotheosis.
first time. She advised him to go to Tiryns and Legend says that Heracles was the son of
serve King Eurystheus for 12 years, doing Alcmene and Zeus, conceived when Zeus took
whatever he asked without question. At the the form of Alcmene’s husband, Amphitryon,
end of that time his due immortality would be while he was away doing battle with the
conferred on him. Taphians to avenge the death of Alcmene’s
Hera continued to harry Heracles through- brothers, for Alcmene refused to consummate
out these 12 years. During his second labor, their union until she had been avenged. Zeus
which was to kill the Hydra, one of the mon- visited Alcmene in Amphitryon’s form and
strous offspring of Typhon and Echidne, Hera told her that he had been victorious. Her actu-
(who had raised the Hydra) sent a huge crab to al husband returned the following day, and
hinder Heracles, but he simply crushed it. Alcmene’s surprise and delight at his sexual
Hera placed its image in the heavens. prowess led to her conception of twins, a con-
During his ninth labor, which was to fetch cept common throughout classical Greek leg-
for Admete the golden girdle of Hippolyte, end, indeed throughout Indo-European
Hera roused the Amazons so that they mythologies.
attacked Heracles, but he easily fought them Nine months later Zeus boasted that he was
off, killing their leaders and completing his about to become the father of a child who
allotted task. would one day rule the house of Perseus.
When Heracles and Telamon sailed from Hera, continually jealous of her husband’s phi-
Troy, having sacked the city, Hera raised a terri- landering ways, decided to thwart him. She
ble storm that shipwrecked Heracles on Cos, first extracted a promise from Zeus that any
where faced more perils. However, after son born that day into the house of Perseus
Heracles died and had ascended to Olympus, would become king. She then dispatched the
he and Hera were finally reconciled to the extent goddess of childbirth, Eileithyia, to delay
that Heracles married her daughter, Hebe. Alcmene’s labor while she brought on the
Hera was usually depicted as a fully clothed birth of Eurystheus, the son of Sthenelus, king
and imposing, matronlike woman whose of Tiryns, and also of Zeus’s line through
attributes were a diadem, veil, and scepter. She Perseus. This child grew up to become the
has close associations with the cow, which was king of Tiryns and Mycenae.
often sacrificed to her, a possible reflection of Alcmene was in agonizing pain because of
her origin as an earth goddess. Also sacred to the delayed labor she was experiencing. To
her was the cuckoo and, later, the peacock. She relieve her, Galanthis, her servant, rushed in
transferred the eyes of Argus to the tail of the and distracted Eleithyia, thereby allowing the
peacock after Argus had been slain by birth to take place. Alcmene bore the semidi-
Hermes. She also changed Argos, the builder vine Heracles and the wholly human Iphicles;
of the Argo Navis, into a peacock before trans- Eileithyia turned Galanthis into a weasel.
lating him to the heavens as the constellation Fearing Hera, Alcmene exposed Heracles, but
Pavo, his ship joining him there as four other he was found and nursed, in error, by Hera,
constellations. thus conferring on him the right to immortali-
See also: Aeolus; Dionysos; Heracles; Ixion; Semele ty. Returned to Alcmene, Heracles prospered
and soon proved his prowess when Hera sent
two snakes to attack the infant in his cradle.
Hera~cles, ~kles Heracles simply grasped one in each hand and
Greco-Roman squeezed the life out of them.
The most famous of all the Greek heroes; he is The young Heracles was taught how to
probably better known by the Roman form of drive a chariot by Amphitryon, fighting by
154 Hera~cles, ~kles
Castor, how to sing and play the lyre by pleted this period of service immortality
Eumolpus, wrestling by Autolycus, and would be conferred upon him, as was his
archery by the king of Oechalia, Eurytus. Even right. Reluctantly Heracles set out for Tiryns.
though the Greeks normally scorned the bow His nephew, Iolaus, the eldest son of Iphicles,
and arrow as the weapon of a coward, they accompanied him as his charioteer and faithful
became Heracles’ characteristic weapon. His companion.
lyre lessons continued under Linus, but when This period of Heracles’ life forms the most
Linus one day censured Heracles these lessons famous part of his saga. Though all sources
came to an abrupt halt (Heracles killed his say that Eurystheus set Heracles 12 immense
teacher with his own lyre). Amphitryon sent tasks or labors, some add the additional fact
Heracles away to herd cattle. that originally there were only ten, but
Soon after his eighteenth birthday Heracles Eurystheus disallowed two after they had
visited the court of King Thespius of Thespiae, been completed, so Heracles had to perform 12
where he was asked to rid the land of a lion in all. These, the 12 Great Labors of Heracles,
that had been terrorizing Mount Cithaeron. form the basis of innumerable works of art and
Heracles agreed on the condition that he was, contain some of the most notable fiends,
on the 50 successive nights of the chase, to beasts, and monsters of classical mythology.
sleep with Thespius’s 50 daughters. One The most notable representations of Heracles’
refused and was condemned to remain a vir- labors are the series of metopes from the tem-
gin forever, becoming a priestess in Heracles’ ple of Zeus at Olympia and those from the
temple. Heracles killed the lion with a club of temple of Hephaistos at Athens. The order of
wild olive, another of his well-known attri- the labors had become canonical by the sixth
butes. Some sources, notably Apollodorus, say century B.C., but they are known from both art
that it was the skin of this lion that Heracles and literature that dates from the eighth centu-
wore as his armor, the head becoming his hel- ry B.C. They very neatly carry Heracles from
met, but this is more usually said to have been his center in the Argolid to all four quarters of
the pelt and head of the Nemaean Lion. the known world:
Leaving Thespiae, Heracles now champi- 1. To kill and bring back the skin of the
oned Thebes, marrying in the process Megara, Nemaean Lion, or Cleonaean Lion, the son of
the eldest daughter of King Creon of Thebes, Typhon, or Orthros, and Echidne, which lived
Iphicles marrying her youngest sister. When in a cave on a hill at Nemea near Cleonae. This
Orchomenus, the Minyan king, sent his her- cave was still shown to travelers during the
alds to collect a tribute from Thebes, Heracles eighteenth century. As the lion’s pelt was
mutilated the heralds and then led an army impenetrable to any weapon, Heracles fought
against Orchomenus, a campaign that he won it bare-handed, strangled it, skinned it with its
but during which Amphitryon was killed. own claws, and thereafter wore its pelt as his
Heracles then made Orchomenus a tributary armor. Eurystheus was so terrified by the
to Thebes. When he returned from this war, amazing power Heracles possessed that he
however, he found that Creon’s throne had now took refuge in a brazen urn whenever the
been usurped by Lycus, whom he killed. Hera great hero approached. The Nemaean Lion
then sent him mad so that he killed his own itself was transferred to the heavens as the con-
children and two of Iphicles’; some sources say stellation Leo.
he killed his wife, Megara, as well. 2. To kill the Hydra of Lerna, a huge serpent,
After he left Thebes, Heracles’ sanity was another of the monstrous offspring of Typhon
restored to him, and following purification he and Echidne (though raised by Hera), which
sought the advice of the Delphic Oracle. There had a doglike body and seven, or nine, snaky
the Pythia, who was the first to call him heads, one of them immortal. It lived at the
Heracles, advised him to travel to the court of sevenfold source of the River Amymone and
King Eurystheus, King of Tiryns and Mycenae, haunted the malarial marshes of Lerna. Some
and Argos, at least according to some. There commentators make it a representation of the
Heracles was to serve him, doing whatever he noxious air to be found in those marshes.
bid without question for 12 years. If he com- Heracles found that every time he cut off one
Hera~cles, ~kles 155
of the heads, two grew from the stump. He At this point there was a break in the 12
was also harried by a huge crab, sent by Hera, labors as Heracles heard of the expedition
which kept nipping at his toe. Crushing the being mounted by Jason and rushed off, along
crab, which subsequently became the constel- with Hylas, to become one of the Argonauts.
lation Cancer, Heracles called on his nephew, At one stage the Argonauts put into Mysia.
Iolaus, to cauterize each stump with a fire- There Hylas, while fetching water, was
brand when he cut the head off. Finally, with abducted by the Naiades, leaving nothing but
all the heads removed in this manner, and hav- an empty pitcher. Heracles left the Argo Navis
ing buried the immortal head underneath a for a while in a vain search for him. Heracles,
huge rock, Heracles overcame the great beast. however, returned to Eurystheus’s court on
He then dipped his arrows in the Hydra’s gall the successful completion of the quest, and the
to make them even more deadly. However, labors recommenced.
when Eurystheus learned of Iolaus’s help, he 5. To clean, in one day, the Augean Stables,
discounted the labor, so another had to be the cattle sheds of King Augeias of Elis, who
added to the cycle. had more sheep and cattle than any other man
3. To capture alive, without causing blood on earth. The stables had not been cleaned for
loss, the Ceryneian Hind, a deer with brazen so long that they were now clogged with
hooves and golden horns that was sacred to dung. Having first agreed to the fee with
the goddess Artemis. Heracles pursued it tire- Augeias—he would receive one-tenth of the
lessly for a whole year before he caught it cattle as payment for the heinous job, a bargain
while crossing the River Ladon by firing an witnessed by Phyleus, Augeias’s son—
arrow that pinned the forelegs together with- Heracles cleaned them in the allotted single
out any loss of blood. He then brought it back day by diverting the River Alpheus through
to show Eurystheus, carrying it across his them. Augeias refused to pay him when he
shoulders. discovered that Heracles had been acting on
4. To capture the Erymantian Boar, a savage the instructions of Eurystheus; Phyleus’s loyal-
creature that lived on Mount Erymanthus in ty to the contract led to his banishment.
Arcadia and had come down to ravage Subsequently, when Eurystheus heard that
Psophis. En route to kill this beast, Heracles Heracles had intended to receive payment for
was entertained by the centaur Pholus, who the labor set him, he discounted the labor and
owned a cask of wine given to him by added another, bringing the total to 12.
Dionysos. When this was opened other cen- 6. To kill the man-eating Stymphalian Birds
taurs came and attempted to steal the divine sacred to Ares. With bronze beaks and claws
drink. While Heracles was driving them and razor-sharp feathers, which they fired at
away, Pholus accidentally poisoned himself pursuers, they haunted Lake Stymphalus or
on one of Heracles’ arrows. Additionally, Lake Stymphalia in Arcadia. Heracles, with the
Heracles accidentally wounded his old friend, help of Athene, hid in the rushes and, startling
the centaur Cheiron. Unable to die due to his them with a rattle so that they flew into the air,
immortality, Cheiron longed to be released shot them with his arrows. Some said that
from his agony, a release that mercifully he rather than being killed they simply flew off to
gained when he gave up his immortality to the island of Aretius in the Black Sea, where
Prometheus. Heracles managed to capture the they were later discovered by the Argonauts.
boar alive by driving it into a snowdrift and This would, however, upset the chronology of
binding it in chains. He then carried it back to the saga, for the expedition of the Argonauts is
Eurystheus. Some sources say that Eurystheus traditionally said to have taken place between
was so afraid that he hid in a sunken oil jar the fourth and fifth labors.
until Heracles had taken it away again, 7. To capture the Cretan Bull, a gift to Minos
though this would have been extremely diffi- from Poseidon, the father of the Minotaur. It
cult, for Eurystheus was normally considered was Heracles’ first task set outside of the
to have taken to hiding in a brazen urn when- Peloponnesos, taking him south to the island of
ever Heracles approached following his suc- Crete. Heracles politely turned down the offers
cessful completion of the first labor. of help he received from Minos and single-
156 Hera~cles, ~kles
handedly captured the bull and brought it back three-headed King Geryon, who lived far to
to Tiryns, where Eurystheus set it free again. It the west on the island of Erytheia. There the
then wandered through Greece, settling in and herd was guarded by the herdsman Eurytion,
terrorizing the area around Marathon, where- a son of Ares, and his two-headed dog,
upon it became known as the Marathonian Orthros, another of the monstrous offspring of
Bull. It was later captured by Theseus, who Typhon and Echidne. To reach the land of
took it to Athens for sacrifice to Athene. Geryon, Heracles was lent a golden bowl or
8. To capture the man-eating mares of Dio- vessel by Helios, the loan being made as a
medes, a task that was to take Heracles to mark of Helios’s respect after Heracles had
Thrace. There the king of the Bistones, shot at him when he shone too brightly.
Diomedes, kept the four mares, which fed on Having reached his objective, Heracles killed
human flesh. On his way to Thrace Heracles Eurytion and Orthros with his wild olive club
descended into the Underworld and persuad- and made off with the cattle. When Geryon
ed Hades to return Alcestis to Admetus. chased him, Heracles killed him as well. He
Arriving in Thrace, Heracles, along with a few returned the golden vessel to Helios when he
companions, drove the mares down to the sea, first landed at Tartessus in Spain.
where they were left in the charge of Abderus To mark his achievement, Heracles erected
while Heracles returned to repel the Bistones. two pillars, Calpe and Abyla, at the western
However, Abderus was soon eaten by the end of the Mediterranean. The Pillars of
horses, whereupon Heracles cured them of Heracles are said to lie on either side of the
their man-eating trait by killing Diomedes and Strait of Gibraltar, though some sources say
feeding him to them. He then returned to that they were originally joined, Heracles part-
Tiryns with the mares before releasing them on ing them to allow the waters of the Atlantic
Mount Olympus, where they were killed by Ocean to mingle with those of the Medi-
wild beasts. terranean Sea. Another, more suspect story
9. To fetch for Admete, the daughter of says that Heracles actually formed the
Eurystheus, the girdle of Hippolyte, a gift to Mediterranean when he parted the isthmus,
the Amazon queen from Ares. Heracles was which enclosed the bowl that was to be filled
accompanied on this expedition, which took with water from the Atlantic. Heracles now
him to the land of the Amazons—who were traveled back to Tiryns, following the northern
said to live to the northeast on the southern coastline of the Mediterranean. Near Mar-
shore of the Black Sea—by Telamon and seilles he was attacked by the Ligurians but
Theseus. Hippolyte agreed to give Heracles beat them off with huge stones, which still lie
her girdle, but Hera roused the Amazon war- scattered on the plain around Marseilles. He
riors, who attacked them, and in the ensuing then traveled down Italy, where, according to
fray Hippolyte was killed along with many a later, Roman tradition he fought with and
other Amazon leaders. It was on this expedi- dispatched the giant Cacus, who lived in a
tion that Theseus abducted Antiope. On their cave near the future site of Rome. One of the
return to Tiryns the party stopped at Troy, cattle escaped from his care near Rhegium and
which was at that time being ravaged by a fled to western Sicily, where it was comman-
monster sent by Poseidon, as Laomedon, king deered by King Eryx. Heracles followed it,
of Troy, had refused to pay Poseidon and fought and killed Eryx, and then made his
Apollo for building the city walls. The monster way back to Eurystheus.
could only be appeased by the sacrifice of 11. To fetch the golden apples of the
Hesione, Laomedon’s daughter, but Heracles Hesperides, which grew on a tree that Hera
killed it, thereby rescuing Hesione. Laomedon had received from Ge at her wedding, and
refused to reward Heracles with the white which she had planted in a garden on the
horses he had received from Zeus in exchange slopes of Mount Atlas. There the tree was
for Ganymede, thus storing up more trouble guarded by the Hesperides and the dragon
for himself later on. Ladon, yet another of the offspring of Typhon
10. To fetch, without making either demand and Echidne. As the actual location of the gar-
or payment, the cattle of the three-bodied, den was not easy to find, Nereus, or Proteus,
Hera~cles, ~kles 157
was consulted, but he, as was the way of sea saeus. Then, guided by Hermes and Athene,
gods, forced Heracles to wrestle him before he he descended into the Underworld from
would divulge the necessary information. Taenarum in Laconia, where after having freed
During the course of this contest Nereus, or Theseus and killed one of Hades’ cattle he per-
Proteus, changed his form many times, but suaded Hades to let him “borrow” Cerberus
Heracles resolutely held on, and finally the sea on the proviso that he could capture the terri-
god gave him what he required. The ble beast without using any weapon. Heracles
Hesperides were to be found in a land beyond did so by simply grabbing Cerberus by the
the River Oceanus. To travel there Heracles fol- throat. When Heracles returned to Tiryns,
lowed a somewhat curious route that initially Eurystheus was, as usual, so terrified that he
led him to the Caucasus, where he released the ordered Heracles to immediately return the
Titan Prometheus from his bonds; some say hound. Having done so, Heracles was freed
Heracles took further advice from Pro- from his obligation to Eurystheus, the last
metheus. The arrow Heracles used to shoot the labor having been completed.
vulture that was eternally feeding on Upon leaving Tiryns, Heracles returned to
Prometheus’s liver was placed in the heavens Thebes and gave his wife, Megara, to his
as the constellation Sagitta. The route then nephew, Iolaus. Heracles then heard that his
took him to the northern African coast. In the friend Eurytus, king of Oechalia, was offering
course of his journey Heracles had several his daughter, Iole, as the prize in an archery
adventures. He was very nearly sacrificed in contest to any man who could surpass him
Egypt by King Busiris, but Heracles killed him and his sons. Heracles won it with ease, but
at the eleventh hour and so managed to Eurytus refused the prize because Heracles
escape. He then went on to wrestle the giant had killed his own children, a position sup-
Antaeus, a contest that he won by lifting ported by all of Eurytus’s children. Heracles
Antaeus from the ground. stole his cattle instead. Iphitus, Eurytus’s
Some sources say that the release of brother, invited Heracles to join the search for
Prometheus, his eleventh-hour escape from the cattle, not knowing that it was Heracles
Busiris, and his fight with Antaeus happened who had stolen them. When Iphitus became
during his return to Tiryns after he had com- suspicious Heracles killed him by throwing
pleted this eleventh labor. At the very edge of him from a rooftop, a crime for which he was
the world he found Atlas performing his eter- afflicted by a strange disease. He was purified
nal task—holding up the sky. Heracles per- by Deiphobus at Amyclae, but still the illness
suaded the giant to fetch the apples for him would not leave him, so he went to consult the
while he held up the sky in his place. Atlas was Delphic Oracle. However, the Pythia refused
only too happy to oblige, for he saw an oppor- to speak to him, so Heracles stole the tripod
tunity to be rid of the task forever. When he upon which the Pythia sat and fought Apollo
returned he suggested that he should take the for it. Their fight was broken up by Zeus with
apples to Eurystheus for Heracles, but one of his thunderbolts. The Pythia now
Heracles saw through the ruse and, pretend- informed Heracles that to expiate his crime he
ing to agree, had Atlas once more take the sky must sell himself into slavery and give the
while he adjusted his position. With Atlas once price he received to the sons of Iphitus.
again burdened, Heracles snatched the apples Heracles complied and was sold by Hermes
and hurried back to Tiryns, leaving the hapless to become the slave to Omphale, widow of
Atlas at his eternal task. Eurystheus made a Tmolus and the queen of Lydia. According to
gift of the apples to Heracles, who dedicated some, he swapped his clothes with the queen
them to Athene. She then returned them to for the period of his enslavement, which varies
their rightful place. between one and three years. While serving
12. To fetch Cerberus, the three-headed her he captured Cercopes, killed a snake that
watchdog of the Underworld. In preparation was terrorizing the lands around the River
for this, the most difficult of his labors, Sangarius, and killed the aggressive farmer
Heracles had himself initiated into the Syleus, who forced strangers to work in his
Eleusinian Mysteries by Eumolpus or Mu- vineyard. Some authorities consider that
158 Hera~cles, ~kles
Heracles is, in his guise as the killer of the were killed, but victory was ensured when
snake of Sangarius, depicted in the constella- Heracles killed Hippocoön.
tion Ophiuchus, though this is more usually After four years in Arcadia, Heracles trav-
associated with Asclepios. eled to Aetolia, and there fell in love with
Having served his years with Omphale, Deianeira, the daughter of Oeneus, king of
Heracles set out to avenge himself on those Calydon and Pleuron. He fought with
who had previously insulted him. Raising an Achelous, the mighty river god son of Oceanos
army, and accompanied by Telamon, he and Tethys, her other suitor, and won the right
marched against Troy. There he killed to her hand. He then sent Iolaus as the leader
Laomedon and seized Hesione, giving her to of his sons by the daughters of Thespius to set-
Telamon, by whom she became the mother of tle in Sardinia. Three years later, at a banquet,
Teucer. She did, however, secure the release of he accidentally killed Oeneus’s cupbearer,
her brother, Podarces, by making a gift to Eunomus, and took his wife and their son
Heracles, after which Podarces took the new Hyllus into voluntary exile.
name Priam. While they were crossing the River Evenus
Leaving Troy, Heracles’ ships were driven the centaur Nessus, who was carrying Deianeira
by foul winds—sent by the ever-hostile on his back, tried to run off with her. Heracles
Hera—to Cos. There Heracles captured the shot him through the breast with one of his poi-
city of Meropes, after which the gods sent soned arrows, and as Nessus lay dying the cen-
Athene to bring him to Phlegra to help them in taur gave Deianeira some of his poisoned blood,
their war against the giants, which was fought saying that it would act as a charm if Heracles
on two fronts—on Earth and in Olympus. should ever be unfaithful to her.
With his help—Heracles discovered a magic Traveling north Heracles did battle with
herb of invulnerability and always struck the Cycnus before he left Deianeira in Trachis
final blow—they won this war, a remarkable while he went back to take Iole from Eurytus.
achievement for Heracles, who was, after all, Heracles killed Eurytus and all his family and
yet a mere mortal. He now raised another sent Iole to Deianeira in Trachis while he visit-
army, this time against Augeias, but was sur- ed Caenum in Euboea to prepare a thanksgiv-
prisingly defeated, due mainly to the partici- ing to Zeus, sending Lichas to Deianeira to
pation of the Molionidae, the twin warrior- fetch a white robe to wear at the ceremony.
sons of Actor, who fought on the side of Fearful that she might lose Heracles to Iole,
Augeias. Heracles later shot them with his poi- Deianeira smeared some of Nessus’s blood
soned arrows at Cleonae, and a second expe- onto the shirt. It proved deadly, for when
dition mounted against Augeias was success- Heracles put on the shirt it burned away his
ful, though some sources say that Heracles flesh. Trying to remove the shirt simply tore
spared Augeias. great chunks of his skin away with it. Dying an
Having destroyed Augeias, his sons, and his agonizingly slow death, Heracles threw Lichas
allies Heracles established the Olympic Games into the sea and then returned to Trachis.
in celebration, fetching from the source of the When Deianeira realized what she had unwit-
River Danube the wild olive tree, its leaves to tingly done, she hanged herself. Heracles then
crown the victor. He then went on to destroy took his son, Hyllus, to Mount Oeta and there,
Pylos, which had fought on the side of Elis, having made him promise to marry Iole,
killing Neleus and his sons, including instructed him to build a funeral pyre.
Periclymenus (who had disguised himself as However, when he had climbed onto it,
an eagle), but sparing Nestor. Heracles then nobody could be persuaded to light it until
attacked Hippocoön of Sparta with the help of Philoctetes agreed to do so. Heracles gave
Cepheus and his 20 sons. Having killed Philoctetes his bow and arrows in grateful
Hippocoön and all his sons, he restored thanks. The fire engulfed Heracles and he
Tyndareus to the throne of Sparta. He then ascended to Olympus, thunderbolts from
seduced Auge, daughter of Aleus, king of Zeus demolishing the pyre. Deified at last as
Tegea, and she became the mother of Telephus. was his right, and finally reconciled with Hera,
In the battle with Sparta, Cepheus and his sons Heracles married her daughter, Hebe.
Heracl(e)idae 159
Eurystheus was now determined to expel of the Atlantic Ocean to mingle with those of
Heracles’ children from Greece. They found the Mediterranean. An even more suspect
sanctuary in Athens, but Eurystheus attacked story says that it was this division of the isth-
the city. He was, however, resisted by Theseus mus that formed the Mediterranean itself.
(or by his son, Demophoön), Iolaus, and See also: Abyla; Calpe; Ceuta
Hyllus. An oracle foretold that Eurystheus
would be defeated only if one of Heracles’
children should be sacrificed. Macaria, his Heracles, 12 Great Labors of
daughter, willingly took her own life. Greco-Roman
Eurystheus was then duly defeated by either The 12 Great Labors undertaken by Heracles
Iolaus or Hyllus, his mortal wound being for Eurystheus. The order in which the labors
inflicted by Alcmene. was undertaken sometimes varies, though the
The Heracleian cult was widespread in labors themselves remain constant. For a full
Greece, and, unlike other heroes, for obvious description of the 12 labors see the entry for
reasons, he has no single tomb. Rather he had Heracles.
a special type of heroön that consisted of a See also: Eurystheus
quadrilateral stone base supporting four pil-
lars, one at each corner, the front one sur-
mounted by a pediment, the space between Heracl(e)idae
them unroofed. This feature was especially Greek
common at Sicyon. He had but a few festivals Collective name for the children of Heracles.
and received none of the cult status of the They and their grandmother, Alcmene, where
Olympian deities. After his apotheosis, expelled from Tiryns and all other regions of
Heracles was identified with the gods Greece by Eurystheus, though they managed
Melqart of Tyre and Sandan of Tarsus, as both to find refuge in Athens (some say Marathon).
of these cults involved the ritual burning of Eurystheus attacked and was resisted by
images on a funeral pyre. Images of Heracles Theseus (or his son, Demophoön), Iolaus, and
are to be found as far east as Persia, but he Hyllus. An oracle demanded the sacrifice of
remains, without doubt, a character, whether one of Heracles’ children in order to secure the
mortal or god, of Greek derivation who later safety of Athens. Macaria, Heracles’ daughter,
was absorbed almost unaltered into the committed suicide, and Eurystheus was duly
Roman tradition, that tradition adding just defeated, being finally dispatched by
minute detail to his already complex and Alcmene.
complete life. Nonetheless, the Heracleidae were driven
See also: Abderus; Alcmene; Amphitryon; Augeias; out of the Peloponnesos and consulted the
Cheiron; Deianeira; Eurystheus; Geryon; Hyllus; Delphic Oracle, which gave them the obscure
Iolaus; Iole; Jason; Megara; Minos; Pholus; Theseus instruction to try again at the third harvest.
Literal translation of this prophesy failed, for
three years later Hyllus attempted to return to
Heracles, Pillars of the Peloponnesos. He was killed, and the
Greco-Roman remaining Heracleidae retreated to Doris. The
Two rocks, identified with Abyla and Calpe, oracle was finally understood by the great-
on either side of the Strait of Gibraltar that grandsons—they were the third harvest. This
were supposedly set up as markers of the time when they invaded the Peloponnesos
western limit of the known world by Heracles they were successful, killing Tisamenus,
during the course of his tenth labor. One dubi- Orestes’ successor. Argos fell to Temenus,
ous story says that the two rocks were origi- Messenia to Cresphontes, and Laconia to the
nally connected, forming an isthmus that cut sons of Aristodemus. They gave Elis away
across the entrance of the Mediterranean Sea and left the Arcadians their own land
joining Africa to Europe. Heracles was said to untouched.
have split them apart to form the pillars This legend clearly derives from the con-
named in his honor, thus allowing the waters quest of the Achaeans by later invaders,
160 Herce
ing cowgut across a tortoise shell covered with took over these arts in the name of Apollo,
an ox hide. Apollo, upon discovering the iden- though he shared a patronage of music with
tity of the cattle thief, denounced him to Zeus, Apollo and was later attributed with the
who ordered Hermes to return the oxen to invention of the pipes, the instrument favored
their rightful owner. This he did, but when by his son, Pan.
Apollo heard the lyre he was so delighted that Hermes features in many well-known, clas-
he exchanged the stolen cattle for ownership sical stories such as the persuasion of
of the instrument. The two became firm Hephaistos to cleave open the skull of Zeus to
friends, and Apollo led Hermes back to be rec- release the fully grown Athene; the release of
onciled with Zeus. He was unusual in Ares after his imprisonment by the Aloeidae;
Olympus, being one of the few characters ever the delivery of Pandora to Epimetheus; the
to find favor with Hera, who was usually hos- rescue of Dionysos, whom he escorted to
tile to one and all. Mount Nysa; the punishment of Ixion; the gift
Hermes was given supreme power over of a lyre to Amphion, the music moving the
animals by Zeus and was thus invoked as a stones of the Cadmea into place of their own
protector of flocks against wild animals. He accord; the selling of Heracles to Omphale; the
was additionally appointed by Zeus to his judgment of Paris; the provision of the sickle
best-known post, that of herald or messenger with which Perseus beheaded Medusa; the
to the gods, by which he became patron of giving of the magical plant moly to Odysseus
travelers. He was also made herald to Hades to counter the powers of Circe; the boiling of
as Psychopompus, the god who guided the the limbs of Pelops; the guiding of Heracles
spirits of the dead through the Underworld to into the Underworld to capture Cerberus as
stand before the three eternal judges Minos, his twelfth labor; the return of Protesilaus to
Rhadamanthus, and Aeacus. As herald Laodameia for just three hours, after which
Hermes came to be regarded as the god of elo- she died; and the leading of Priam to Achilles
quence, and it was in this role that St. Paul was during the Trojan War to ransom the body of
mistaken for Hermes in Lystra in Asia Minor Hector. He is, perhaps, best known for the
(see Acts 14:9–12). As heralds also promoted slaying of Argus, the 100-eyed giant who was
peace and commerce, Hermes also became sent by Hera to watch over Io.
looked upon as the god of peaceable trade. Hermes became the lover of Aphrodite,
However, his early trait of a thief also fea- Hecate, and Persephone as well as a number of
tured in his character, for Hermes was also god nymphs and several mortals. Several children
of prudence and cunning, even theft itself. He are attributed to Hermes, notably Echion, the
was also considered a fertility god, and as god herald to the Argonauts; Autolycus the thief,
of luck he presided over games of dice and his son by Chione; Pan by Penelope, whom he
other matters of chance. He also presided over visited disguised as a goat; Myrtilus by Clytie,
dreams, believed by many to be messages the charioteer of Oenomaus; Cephalos by
delivered by Hermes from the gods, and it Herse; Hermaphroditos by Aphrodite; and
became customary to make the last libation to Daphnis. Later sources say that Hermes, Ares,
him before going to sleep. Many inventions or Zeus fathered Eros on Aphrodite.
other than the lyre were attributed to Hermes. Worship of Hermes flourished in Arcadia,
In association with the Fates he was said to where he was found in the company of the
have devised the Greek alphabet. Alone he Arcadian deity Pan as well as the Muses, who
was ascribed with the invention of weights presided over many of the arts Hermes report-
and measures, the game of knuckle-bones, the edly invented. Worship spread to Athens,
musical scale, astronomy, olive cultivation, where Hermes became one of the most loved
boxing, and gymnastics. All these inventions of all the Olympian deities.
are clearly pre-Hellenic and were later taken In classical art Hermes was usually por-
over by the Hellenic god Apollo. The story of trayed as a clean-shaven, youthful or athletic
Hermes’ theft of Apollo’s oxen, and the subse- figure wearing the petasus, a wide-brimmed
quent trade-off between the two gods may traveling hat that was, in later times, adorned
illustrate the manner in which the Hellenes with wings, and the alipes, his winged sandals.
162 Herminus, Titius
Hermione
Greek Herse
Daughter of Menelaus and Helen, wife of Greek
Orestes (the son of Agamemnon, her uncle, Daughter of Cecrops who was loved by
and his wife, Clytemnestra). Hermione was Hermes, by whom she became the mother of
claimed by Neoptolemus when she and her Cephalos. It was to Herse and her sisters that
father came to Sparta, but Tyndareus, her the infant Erichthonius was entrusted.
grandfather, had already betrothed her to See also: Cecrops; Erichthonius
Orestes, who either killed his rival or had him
killed.
See also: Helen; Menelaus; Orestes Hesiod(us)
Greek
Greek didactic poet, flourishing c. 700 B.C.,
Hero who was born the son of a sea captain in Ascra,
Greek at the foot of Mount Helicon. One of the earli-
Priestess of Aphrodite at Sestos on the est Greek poets, he seems to have lived a little
European shore of the Hellespont. She was in after the time of Homer and is best known for
love with Leander, a youth who lived in two works, Works and Days and Theogony.
Abydos, a settlement on the other side of the Works and Days tells of country life and is
channel. Every night Leander swam the short generally considered to consist of two origi-
stretch of water that separated them, guided nally distinct poems, one exalting honest
by a lantern hung out by Hero. One stormy labor while denouncing unjust and corrupt
night the lamp blew out and Leander judges, the second relating to the work of a
drowned. In her grief Hero threw herself into farmer, giving advice on what days may be
the sea. considered lucky or unlucky. The combina-
See also: Leander tion of these two poems gives an invaluable
Hest(i)a 163
picture of an eighth-century B.C. Greek village garden in a golden vessel on loan from Helios.
community. Once there he tricked Atlas into retrieving the
Theogony gives an account of the origin of apples for him before making off with them.
the world out of Chaos and the origin and his- Eurystheus gave the apples to Heracles, but he
tory of the gods. It remains one of the most dedicated them to Athene, and she returned
valuable tools to the comparative mythologist. them to their rightful place. She did, however,
give three of the apples to Aphrodite, for that
goddess was said to have given these to either
Hesione Milanion or Hippomenes to enable a race
Greek against Atalanta to be won.
Daughter of Laomedon who was rescued from See also: Atalanta; Ladon
a sea monster sent by Poseidon to ravage Troy
in revenge for Laomedon refusing to pay him
for the work he had done during the construc- Hesperis
tion of the city walls. Her rescuer was Greek
Heracles, who had been promised the white The female form of Hesperus, the evening
horses given to her father by Zeus in exchange star, the dual-gender offspring of Astraeus
for Ganymede as a reward. Once Hesione had and Eos and sister-brother to the four winds.
been saved, Laomedon refused the reward. In this form the evening star was said to have
Later, following the successful completion been the mother of the Hesperides by Atlas.
of Heracles’ ninth labor, Heracles and Telamon Possibly at one stage there were two evening
attacked Troy, sacked the city, killed stars, Hesperis and Hesperus, but records of
Laomedon and all his sons, save Podarces, the Greek traditions neither confirm nor
who was ransomed by Hesione, then changed deny this.
his name to Priam. Hesione was given to See also: Astraeus; Eos
Telamon and bore him the son Teucer. A few
years later, Priam sent Antenor to demand that
Telamon should return Hesione to her home, a Hesperus
request that was scornfully refused. Some Greek
have suggested this was one of the causes of The male aspect of the evening star who in its
the Trojan War. female form, Hesperis, was said to have been
the mother of the Hesperides by Atlas. The off-
spring of Astraeus and Eos, brother-sister to the
Hesperides four winds, Boreas (north), Zephyrus (west),
Greek Notus (south), and Eurus (east). Eurus is some-
A number of nymphs, their actual number and times not included in this list and is given dif-
parentage being variously given—though ferent parentage. Called Vesper by the Romans,
their name means “Daughters of Evening” Hesperus later became identified with
and they are usually considered as the daugh- Phosphorus (Latin: “Lucifer”), the bringer of
ters of Atlas and Hesperis—who guarded a light, the morning star.
tree, upon which golden apples grew, given to See also: Astraeus; Boreas; Eos; Eurus; Notus; Vesper;
Hera by Ge on her wedding to Zeus. They Zephyrus
were helped in their task by Ladon, a 100-
headed serpent or dragon, one of the mon-
strous offspring of Typhon and Echidne. The Hest(i)a
garden in which the tree had been planted, Greek
and which they watched over, was said by One of the 12 elite Olympian deities; the eldest
some to be located on the slopes of Mount daughter of Cronos and Rhea; the first to be
Atlas or on the Islands of the Blessed. swallowed, and subsequently disgorged, by
Heracles was required, as his penultimate her father. Goddess of the hearth, supremely
labor, to bring the golden apples that grew on important when fire was so difficult to rekin-
the tree back to Eurystheus. He sailed to the dle, and patroness of the household, she was
164 Hiera
important in cult, mainly private, but has little Sparta, killed Hippocoön and all his sons, and
mythology, remaining a peculiarly domestic restored Tyndareus to the throne.
goddess. Later, sometime prior to the fifth cen- See also: Tyndareus
tury B.C., she was replaced in the Olympian
hierarchy by Dionysos, a move that secured a
majority of gods over goddesses and seems to Hippocrates
reflect a society that was becoming increasing- Greek
ly patriarchal. A physician of Cos (c. 460–367 B.C.) and the
Legend says that she scorned the attentions founder of rational medicine who by the
of Apollo and Poseidon and remained unmar- third century was receiving cult at the sanc-
ried, having sworn to remain a virgin. The tuary of Asclepios. Little is actually known of
eldest sister of Zeus, who installed her in Hippocrates other than he taught his science
Olympus, where she was revered as the oldest for money. His cult status stems from the
Olympian goddess, Hestia presided over all belief that he was taught medicine by
sacrifices, the first part of any sacrifice to the Asclepios himself.
gods being offered to her. By extension of her See also: Asclepios
patronage of the home, she was credited with
the idea of building houses; Hestia also came
to preside over the civic hearth in every city Hippocrene
and town where a perpetual flame burned in Greek
her honor, her sanctuary becoming a place of A sacred spring on Mount Helicon that was
refuge for those seeking asylum. This practice created by the fabulous winged horse Pegasus
was later adopted by the Romans, who knew with a stamp of his hoof, its name actually
her as Vesta. meaning “fountain of the horse.” It was a
Her cultic origins remain unclear, though favorite place of the Muses, to whom it was
she does appear to be an aspect of the eastern sacred and who used to dance alongside its
Mediterranean earth-goddess cult, possibly waters. It lies some way above the well-known
brought to Greece by the invading Achaeans, Grove of the Muses on Mount Helicon.
though her roots may be Mycenaean, for they See also: Muses, the
worshipped a primitive goddess who dis-
plays many of the characteristics of the later
Hestia. Hippodameia
Astronomical: The name Hestia has been Greek
applied to an asteroid with an orbit that is 1. Daughter of Oenomaus who was offered by
highly inclined to the ecliptic, taking its aphe- her father as the prize in a chariot race, a race
lion almost to the orbit of Saturn, at perihelion organized by Oenomaus after an oracle had
being well within the orbit of Jupiter. foretold that he would be killed by his son-in-
See also: Dionysos; Vesta law. Oenomaus was fairly sure that he would
win the race, for his chariot, driven by
Myrtilus, was hauled by wind-begotten horse,
Hiera the gift of his father, Ares. The fate for the
Greek losers was death by Oenomaus’s spear, also a
A volcanic island that was, along with gift from Ares. Many young men tried, and
Lemnos, Lipara, Imbros, and Sicily, one of died, for their efforts. Finally Pelops arrived in
Hephaistos’s favorite spots on earth. Pisa in Elis and vowed to win the hand of
Hippodameia. He already owned a winged
chariot, the gift of Poseidon, but to make dou-
Hippocoön bly sure of success he also bribed Myrtilus, the
Greek son of Hermes, with a promise of half the king-
Brother of Tyndareus, whom he drove out of dom to remove the linchpin from the chariot of
Sparta, usurping the throne. He fought against Oenomaus and substitute it for one made of
Heracles with Neleus, but Heracles stormed wax. During the race the wax linchpin broke,
Homer 165
Oenomaus was thrown out of his chariot and Hippolytus had cult in Troezen, where girls
killed, and Pelops married Hippodameia. about to marry dedicated a lock of their hair to
2. Wife of Peirithous, king of the Lapiths, him. The Troezenians held that after his death
whose wedding was interrupted when a he became the charioteer constellation, Auriga.
drunken centaur tried to carry her off. See also: Theseus
Theseus, who was a guest at the celebrations,
joined the Lapithae in the famous battle
against the centaurs. Hippomedon
See also: Lapithae; Oenomaus; Pelops Greek
One of the Seven Against Thebes. His com-
panions on the fated expedition were
Hippogryph Adrastus, Amphiaraus, Polyneices, Tydeus,
Greek Capaneus, and Parthenopaeus. Of these seven,
A fabulous, mythical beast—half-horse, half- only Adrastus survived.
gryphon—that appears to have solar connec- See also: Seven Against Thebes
tions with the winged horses that pulled
Apollo’s chariot.
Hippomenes
Greek
Hippolyt~e, ~a Son of Megareus, he married the Boeotian
Greek Atalanta. Some commentators have sought to
Queen of the Amazons and sister of Antiope make Hippomenes simply another name for
whose golden girdle, a gift from Ares, was the Milanion, the hero who ran a race against
object of Heracles’ ninth labor. She agreed to Atalanta during which he threw down three of
give Heracles and his companions, Theseus the golden apples of the Hesperides. Atalanta
and Telamon, the girdle, but Hera aroused the stopped to pick these up, and so Milanion won
Amazon warriors, and in the ensuing fray the race.
Hippolyte and many other Amazon leaders See also: Atalanta
were killed. Her sister, Antiope, was taken by
Theseus, though some sources say that it was
Hippolyte who became Theseus’s wife, and Hippothous
bore him the son Hippolytus. Greek
See also: Theseus The grandson of Cercyon and father of
Aepytus, king of Arcadia.
Hippolytus
Greek Homer
The son of Theseus by either Hippolyte or her Greek
sister, Antiope, who was raised in Troezen. One of the main sources for the Greek deities,
When Theseus subsequently married Phaedra Homer flourished in the eighth century B.C.
she fell in love with her stepson, who repulsed Although more than one person may have had
her advances as he was a votary of Artemis a hand in the composition of the writings
and sworn to hunting and chastity. Phaedra attributed to him, his work draws on a vast
killed herself but left a letter falsely accusing repertoire of oral tradition that stretched for
Hippolytus. Theseus prayed to Poseidon that centuries before his time. Homer is attributed
Hippolytus might die that very day, and the with Iliad and Odyssey, two distinct but com-
god sent a monster that so terrified the horses plimentary epics, the first telling the story of
drawing Hippolytus’s chariot along the the fall of Troy, the second the wandering of
seashore that he was thrown out and dragged Odysseus back to Ithaca after the end of the
to his death. Artemis later persuaded Trojan War.
Asclepios to restore him to life when his inno- Nothing is confirmed about Homer. Indeed,
cence was finally proven. many scholars think there never was any
166 Horae
“Homer” or that two or more poets may have one of the Curatii, mourning her loss; he
been involved in the works attributed to him. immediately killed her as a traitress. He was
Traditionally, Homer seems to have been arrested but later acquitted, having under-
Ionian, living directly across from mainland gone the purifying ritual of walking veiled
Greece. Four city-states claim to have been his beneath a beam.
birthplace: the mainland’s Smyrna, Colophon,
and Ephesus and the island of Chios. Tradition
also said he was blind, but this seems to have Horatius
little or no foundation. Roman
Homer’s lifetime appears to coincide rather The name of the single surviving Horatii, three
neatly with the introduction of writing into the Roman champions—all of whom appear to
Greek world, and he may have used this new have been called Horatius—who fought the
technique to commit his verses, perhaps dic- Curatii to determine the war between Rome
tating them to others. His Iliad appears to date and Alba Longa.
from around the second half of the eighth cen-
tury B.C.; Odyssey seems to fall around 700 B.C.,
half a millenium after the date Troy was “Hundred-Handers”
thought to have fallen, that is, c. 1200 B.C. Greek
If the works attributed to Homer are indeed The literal translation from the Greek of the
the product of one man, then he surely is one Hecatoncheires or Centimani, the 100-handed,
of the most individual and supreme literary 50-headed giant sons of Uranos and Ge:
geniuses of all time. They remain essential ref- Briareus, or Aegaeon, Cottus, and Gyas, or
erence works for any student of classical Gyges.
mythology and, artistically speaking, are the
most influential literary works in the world.
See also: Odysseus; Trojan War Hyacinth~os, ~us
Greek
In origin an ancient chthonic deity, Hyacinthos
Horae in legend was a beautiful prince of Sparta, the
Greco-Roman son of Amyclas who was loved by Thamyris,
Minor goddesses representing the seasons and Apollo, and Zephyrus. He was killed out of
the order of nature. Originating in Greek tradi- jealousy by Zephyrus or accidentally by a
tion, they were the children of Zeus and quoit or discus thrown by Apollo, some
Themis and were named Eunomia (Good sources saying the quoit was blown astray by
Order), Dike (Justice) and Eirene (Peace). Later Zephyrus. From his blood Apollo caused the
they became the daughters of Helios and Hyacinth flower to spring up. Hyacinthos had
Selene. Some commentators have said that the cult status at Amyclae, where an annual festi-
siring of the Horae by Zeus on Themis indi- val was held in his honor.
cates that the invading Hellenes took over con-
trol of the calendar and introduced their own
system. Hyades
Greek
Varying in number from two to seven, the
Horatii Hyades were the daughters of Oceanos and
Roman Aethra or of Atlas and Pleione, the latter alter-
Collective name for three brothers, Roman native making them the sisters of the Pleiades.
champions who fought the three Alban Often referred to as the nurses of Zeus at
Curatii to determine the outcome of the war Dodona or of Dionysos on Mount Nysa, their
between Rome and Alba Longa. Only one, name implies they were rain nymphs. When
Horatius (though they all seem to have been their brother, Hyas, was killed by a wild boar
called Horatius), survived. When he returned they died of grief and were translated to the
home he found his sister, who was engaged to heavens, where they became the star grouping
Hymen 167
Aphrodite; the personification of the wed- iot daily across the sky, returning to the east
ding feast and of hymenaioi, hymns sung at each night by the River Oceanos. Due to this
wedding celebrations. In art he was repre- similarity with the mythology of his son,
sented as a youth carrying a bridal torch and Helios, he was often said to have been the orig-
veil. inal sun god, his position possibly being
usurped later by his son.
Astronomical: The ninth-closest satellite of
Hyperborean Saturn, between the orbits of Titan and
Greek Iapetus.
One of a legendary race said to live in a land
of sunshine and plenty beyond the reach of
the north wind—and hence beyond the Hyperm(n)estra
northernmost point of the known world. Greek
Apollo was thought to spend his three- One of the Danaides, the daughters of
months winter absence from Delphi with the Danaus, king of Argos. When she and her 49
Hyperboreans. They also feature in the story sisters married the 50 sons of Aegyptus, Hy-
of Perseus, who was said to have visited them permnestra was the only one not to carry out
in his search for Medusa, some versions say- her father’s instructions to kill her new hus-
ing they actually lived with the Hyper- band on their wedding night. Her sisters were
boreans in a land far to the west rather than condemned for their actions to Tartarus for
the north. eternity, carrying water in sieves or bottom-
Herodotus placed them beyond the less vessels.
Issedones, the one-eyed Arimaspians, and the See also: Danaus
gold-guarding Griffins, in Central Asia.
Aristeas of Proconnesos is thought to have
described a visit to the land of the Hypn~os, ~us
Hyperboreans in his lost poem Arimaspea. The Greek
word Hyperborean is a corruption of two The god of sleep.
Greek words, hyper meaning “beyond,” and
the name of the north wind (Boreas).
See also: Arimaspi Hypseus
Greek
The father of Cyrene, one of the beloved of
Hyperenor Apollo.
Greek
One of the five Sparti, the “Sown Men” who
sprang from the dragon’s teeth sown by Hypsipyle
Cadmos. With his four compatriots—Echion, Greek
Udaeus, Chthonius, and Pelorus—Hyperenor Queen of Lemnos who set her father, Thoas,
helped to build the Cadmea and became adrift in a chest to save him from being killed
revered as one of the ancestors of Thebes. with the other men of Lemnos when the
See also: Sparti women of the island decided to rid them-
selves of men. However, by the time Jason
and the Argonauts arrived on Lemnos the
Hyperion women had begun to regret their actions and
Greek welcomed the men with open arms.
A son of Uranos and Ge, thus one of the Titans Hypsipyle herself married Jason and bore him
and brother of Cronos, Oceanos, Iapetus, twin sons, one of whom appears to be named
Rhea, Themis, Tethys, and Mnemosyne. The Euneus.
father of Helios (Sun), Selene (Moon), and Eos Later, when the women of Lemnos discov-
(Dawn) by Theia, he was said to drive his char- ered how she had saved Thoas, they sold her
Hypsipyle 169
into slavery. She was bought by King Lycurgus show the Seven Against Thebes where they
of Nemea to act as the nurse to his son, might find water, and he was bitten by a snake.
Opheltes. However, she caused the death of At Opheltes’ grave the Nemaean Games were
her charge by ignoring an oracle that said the instigated. She was imprisoned, but she was
child must not be placed on the ground until later released by Dionysos.
he could walk. She put Opheltes down to See also: Jason; Opheltes; Thoas
K I k
Iacchus else is known except that in later life Iamus
Greek became a prophet.
A god invented from the initiates’ ceremonial
cry “Iacche!” in the Eleusinian Mysteries. He
Iapetus
was often associated with Dionysos, especially
in later tradition, when Dionysos had also Greek
become known as Bacchus. A son of Uranos and Ge, thus a Titan and the
See also: Bacchus; Dionysos brother of Cronos, Oceanos, Hyperion, Rhea,
Themis, Tethys, and Mnemosyne; father of
Atlas, Prometheus, and Epimetheus by Cly-
Iambe mene. The grandfather of Deucalion, the
Greek Greek Noah, Iapetus is regarded as the prog-
The daughter of Pan and the nymph Echo and enitor of mankind through his son, Pro-
a servant to Celeus, king of Eleusis, and metheus.
Metaneira. When Demeter came to Eleusis Astronomical: One of the satellites of Saturn,
during her fruitless search for Persephone, having a diameter of 1,440 kilometers (900
Iambe made the goddess a drink of kykeon, a miles), that lies at an average distance of
mixture of water, barley, and honey. Demeter 3,561,000 kilometers (2,225,625 miles) from
despondently refused the drink, so Iambe, the planet. It is tenth closest to the planet,
whose name is the feminine form of iambos, lying between the orbits of Hyperion and
meaning “lampoon,” exposed her pudenda Phoebe.
and made bawdy jokes until Demeter was See also: Deucalion; Titan
forced to smile and accept the drink. The role
of Iambe in this legend tracks that of Baubo.
It has been suggested that Iambe forms the Ias~ion, ~ius, ~us
mythological explanation of the custom for Greek
bystanders to shout abuse at those taking part The son of Zeus and Electra, a daughter of
in the procession along the Sacred Way from Atlas. Coming from Samothrace he traveled to
Athens to Eleusis. Her direct bawdiness to Thebes for the wedding of his sister,
Demeter is a reflection of the dirty language Harmonia, to Cadmos. There Demeter fell for
often associated with rites like the Eleusinian him and lay with him in a thrice-ploughed
Mysteries. field, her son by this union being named
See also: Demeter; Echo; Pan Plutus or Pluton, “Wealth,” a chthonic title.
Iasion never knew his son, for Zeus killed him
for his presumptive behavior with one of his
Iamus thunderbolts.
Greek Diodorus Sicilus names Iasion as the origi-
The son of Evadne, a daughter of Poseidon, by nator of the Mysteries of Samothrace, a god in
Apollo. Afraid to expose her pregnancy, his own right, and then the husband of Cybele.
Evadne gave birth to Iamus in the woods, He is yet another example of a young consort
where the infant was nourished by snakes god associated with a fertility goddess.
with honey as he lay among the violets. Little See also: Cadmos; Harmonia
171
172 Icaria
Icarius
Greek Ichor
1. An Athenian, the father of Erigone who was Greek
taught the art of viniculture after he had hos- The ethereal fluid that flows like blood
pitably received Dionysos. He was killed by through the veins of the gods.
shepherds who believed that the effects of
drinking wine meant they had been poisoned.
Erigone was led to his grave by his dog, Ida, Mount
Maera, and in despair she hanged herself from Greek
the tree over the grave. In revenge Dionysos 1. Mountain in southern Phrygia, near Troy,
drove the Athenian maidens mad. An oracle upon which Paris was exposed, found and
disclosed that this was punishment for the raised by a shepherd, and lived with the
murder of Icarius, so the Athenians instituted nymph Oenone until he deserted her for
an autumn festival to Icarius and Erigone, Helen following his judgment, made on this
which involved hanging idols from the lower mountain, of which goddess should be award-
limbs of trees and swinging from the upper ed the Apple of Discord. It was also the scene
branches. of the rape of Ganymede and the place from
2. King of Sparta and father of Penelope. which Zeus supposedly watched the progress
After Odysseus had won the right to marry of the Trojan War.
Penelope in a footrace, Icarius tried to per- 2. The ancient name for Mount Psiloriti, the
suade his daughter to remain with him. main mountain of Crete. Some sources say the
Odysseus told her she could do as she pleased, infant Zeus was hidden from his father in the
and, veiling her face to hide her blushes, she Idaean Cave there and nursed by the she-goat
went with Odysseus. Amalthea.
See also: Erigone; Odysseus; Penelope
Idaea
Icar~os, ~us Greek
Greek A nymph who bore Teucer to Scamander of
Also: Ikar~os, ~us Crete following his emigration to Phrygia.
The son of Daedalus who, along with his
father, famously attempted to fly from Crete,
where he and Daedalus had been imprisoned Idaean Cave
by Minos, on wings made of wax and feath- Greek
ers. Although warned by his father, who had A cave located high upon Mount Psiloritis on
made the wings, Icarus flew too close to the Crete, a mountain that was in ancient times
sun, the wax melted, and he fell into the known as Mount Ida. Some commentators say
Illyrius 173
that Rhea brought the newly born Zeus to this Idomeneos was banished from Crete and set-
cave when Cronos sought to swallow him, tled in Calabria in Italy.
though others opt for the Diktean Cave above See also: Agamemnon; Minos; Trojan War
the Lasithi Plateau. The cave became a major
place of pilgrimage for the classical Greek
world. Ikar~os, ~us
Greek
A variant of Icarus, the son of Daedalus.
Idas
Greek
Twin brother of Lynceus (together the sons of Iliad
Aphareus, king of Messenia) and cousins of Greek
the Dioscuri, though his father was, in reality, The famous Greek epic poem in 24 books
Poseidon. The twins took part in the hunt for attributed to Homer, probably written some-
the Calydonian Boar as well as the expedition time before 700 B.C. Its title derives from Ilion,
of the Argonauts aboard the Argo Navis. Idas another name for Troy. The subject of the work
fell in love with Marpessa, the daughter of is the wrath of Achilles, an incident that
Evenus, whom Apollo loved, and stole her occurred during the tenth year of the Trojan
away in his chariot, a gift from his father, War, when Agamemnon seized Briareus, lead-
Poseidon. Evenus drowned himself in the ing Achilles to refuse to take any further part in
river that then took his name. Apollo and Idas the war. This led to the death of his close com-
fought for Marpessa, but Zeus intervened, panion, Patroclus, the reentry of Achilles, and
commanding that Marpessa should make up the death of Hector. The work, a masterpiece
her own mind. She chose Idas. of Greek literature, graphically portrays many
Idas and his devoted brother, Lynceus, had of the tragic battle scenes.
been betrothed to the daughters of Leucippus
but were killed when they fought their
cousins, the Dioscuri, who had abducted the Ilithyia
maidens. Greek
See also: Dioscuri; Lynceus Varaint of Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth.
Inachus
Io
Greek
Son of Oceanos and Tethys, the first king of Greek
Argos, and father of Io, he gave his name to a Beautiful daughter of the Argive river named
river. Inachus. Zeus fell in love with her, which led
to Io’s banishment after an oracle had warned
Inachus that if she remained Argos would be
Indiges hit by a thunderbolt. Following her banish-
Roman ment, Io was turned into a white heifer, either
A term used to refer to the deified powers of by Zeus to conceal her from his ever-jealous
the dead. wife or by Hera herself, who then made Zeus
give her the animal as a gift. Hera set the 100-
eyed Argos to watch over Io, but Zeus dis-
Inferi patched Hermes to kill Argos. Hermes
Roman charmed Argos to sleep before cutting off his
A collective name given to the gods of the head, an act that earned him the epithet
Underworld, though sometimes the term was Argeiphontes. As a mark of respect Hera set
used to refer to all the dead, gods and mortals Argus’s eyes into the tail of her sacred bird, the
alike. peacock, and then sent a gadfly to torment the
unfortunate Io. This fly’s stinging caused Io to
wander all over the world, through Dodona,
Ino swimming the Ionian Sea (said to be named
Greek after her), across the Bosphorus, and even to
Daughter of Cadmos and Harmonia; sister of the Caucasus, where she came upon the
Autonoë, Semele, Agave, Polydorus, and chained Prometheus. She finally found her
Illyrius. She married Athamas of Boeotia and way to Egypt, where on the banks of the Nile
acted as the nurse to her nephew, Dionysos. her human form was restored and where Zeus
She was, however, jealous of Athamas’s chil- visited her and fathered Epaphus on her. After
dren by his first wife and tried to have the child had been born, Hera had the Curetes
Athamas sacrifice his son, Phrixus. He was abduct him and take him to Syria, where he
saved, along with his sister, Helle, by Aries, the was raised by the queen of Byblos.
winged ram sent by Zeus that carried Phrixus Io was often identified by the Greeks with
safely to Colchis. Helle, however, fell off en the Egyptian goddess Isis. The daughters of
route into the stretch of water that thereafter Danaus traced their descent from her.
became known as the Hellespont. The ram’s Astronomical: The third largest moon of the
fleece turned to gold after the ram had been planet Jupiter, 3,600 kilometers (2,240 miles) in
Ion 175
diameter, orbiting once every 1.77 days at a colonist, to rule over the sons of Heracles by
mean distance of 413,000 kilometers (257,000 the daughters of Thespius.
miles) and lying between the orbits of See also: Heracles; Iphicles
Amalthea and Europa. It is the most volcani-
cally active body in the solar system, covered
by hundreds of vents that erupt not lava but Iolc~os, ~us
sulfur, giving Io an orange-colored surface. Greek
See also: Argos; Danaus Realm founded by Cretheus, later the king-
dom of Aeson. This was the homeland of
Jason, where he and his Argonauts set sail to
Iobates search for the Golden Fleece, a quest instigated
Greek by Pelias, Jason’s uncle, who had usurped the
King of Lycia and father of Anteia; his son-in- throne.
law, Proetus, sent to him Bellerophon, who See also: Golden Fleece; Jason
carried a letter that requested that the bearer
should be put to death after Anteia had falsely
accused Bellerophon of trying to seduce her. Iole
Iobates did not, like Proetus, want to kill a Greek
guest in his home, so instead he sent Daughter of Eurytus, king of Oechalia, who
Bellerophon to slay the fire-breathing was won by Heracles in an archery contest set
Chimaera. When Bellerophon returned, hav- up by her father to select a husband. Eurytus
ing successfully dispatched the beast, Iobates refused Heracles his prize, as the great hero
sent him against the Amazons. Again he suc- had killed his previous wife during a bout of
ceeded, so Iobates now set up an ambush by madness. Iole was, however, seized by
his own men. Bellerophon again proved victo- Heracles after he had killed Eurytus and all his
rious, so Iobates determined to discover the sons; he then sent her to be cared for by his
truth. Upon doing so he made amends and wife, Deianeira. This act led Deianeira to sus-
gave Bellerophon half his kingdom and the pect unfaithfulness in Heracles, and she sent
hand of his daughter to make amends. him the shirt or robe steeped in the blood of
See also: Belerophon; Chimaera Nessus. This garment, when put on, burned
into Heracles’ flesh and was the cause of his
immolation on a funeral pyre.
Iolaus See also: Deianeira; Heracles
Greek
Eldest son of Iphicles who accompanied his
uncle, Heracles, on his 12 labors, acting as his Ion
companion and charioteer. During the second Greek
labor—to kill the multiheaded Hydra—Iolaus Son of Creusa (the daughter of Erechtheus)
seared the stumps as Heracles cut off the and Xuthus; brother of Achaeus and Dorus.
heads, thereby preventing two new heads Some sources made him the son of Apollo by
from growing in place. Following the comple- Creusa. In this version, the child was taken to
tion of all 12 labors, Heracles and Iolaus Delphi by Hermes in order to hide Creusa’s
returned to Thebes, where Heracles gave him infidelity, and there the boy was raised as a
Megara, his wife. When Eurystheus deter- temple servitor. When Xuthus and Creusa
mined to expel the Heracleidae from Greece, later visited Delphi to consult the oracle about
Iolaus was among those who defended their childlessness, Apollo told Xuthus that the
Athens against the king. It was either Iolaus or first person he would meet upon leaving the
Hyllus who defeated Eurystheus before temple would be his son. Xuthus immediately
Alcmene finally dispatched him. assumed that Ion, who was the first person he
Finally, after Heracles had won the right to met on leaving the temple, was a bastard son
marry Deianeira, Iolaus was sent to settle in of his own. Creusa planned to sacrifice him,
Sardinia, where he was regarded as the first but just in time she learned from the Pythia
176 Ionia
that Ion was her true son. She went on to have themis, and Orestes. When the Greek fleet
two more sons by Xuthus, Dorus and was becalmed at Aulis prior to sailing to the
Achaeus, all three of her children becoming Trojan War, she was offered as a sacrifice to
the eponyms for different regions and peoples. Artemis by her father. Artemis saved her,
Ion became the eponym of the Ionian people replacing a hart for the maiden, and carried
and peninsula. However, this version did not her off to become her priestess at Tauris,
ideally suit the traditional genealogy, so an where she became the ministrant of a rite
alternative version exists in an attempt to fit that involved the human sacrifice of all visi-
Ion neatly into a more traditional viewpoint. tors to the land. Some versions of this story
In this version, Xuthus left Athens for the say that Agamemnon carried out the sacrifice
northern Peloponnesos, taking Ion with him, and that Iphigeneia was not saved.
Ion becoming the king of this region. He later Later, Orestes and Pylades came to Tauris
came to Athens to help lead the war against to secure the statue of Artemis. There they
Eleusis, and at the conclusion of that war he were seized by the natives and prepared for
founded the Apolline festival of the sacrifice. They were saved by Iphigeneia,
Beodromia. He then politically organized who fled with them to Brauron, taking along
Attica and established Athenian primacy the statue of Artemis, and introduced her cult
among the Ionians. to Brauron, where she was known as
See also: Creusa; Dorus Brauronia, the cult spreading to Athens and
Sparta. At Eleusis they were reunited with
Electra and returned to Mycenae, their home
Ionia city, where Orestes killed Aegisthus’s son and
Greek became king.
The coastal strip of Asia Minor that was settled Iphigeneia seems so closely linked to
by the Ionian Greeks; the eponym was Ion, the Artemis that she appears to be a surrogate of
son of Creusa by either Apollo or Xuthus. the goddess herself. She received cult status in
Tauris (the Crimea), as well as in some other
Greek cities.
Iphicles See also: Agamemnon; Artemis; Orestes
Greek
1. The son of Amphitryon and Alcmene and
half-brother to his twin, Heracles, the semidi- Iphimed(e)ia
vine son of Alcmene and Zeus who was one Greek
night older. He married the youngest daughter Wife of Aloeus and mother of the Aloeidae, the
of Creon, king of Thebes, when Heracles mar- giants Ephialtes and Otus, by Poseidon, their
ried Megara. However, two of his children generic name coming from Aloeus, whom
were killed by Heracles when Hera sent him Iphimedeia later married.
mad. His eldest son, Iolaus, later became See also: Ephialtes; Otus
Heracles’ faithful companion and charioteer
during the 12 Great Labors imposed on
Heracles by Eurystheus. Iphis
2. One of the Argonauts who accompanied
Jason on his quest. Some, however, say that Greek
this was Iphicles, as Heracles, the half-brother Father of Evadne, who became the wife of
of Iphicles, was also an Argonaut. Capaneus.
See also: Heracles; Jason
Iphitus
Iphigen(e)ia Greek
Greek Only son of Eurytus who did not support his
The eldest daughter of Agamemnon and father’s view that Heracles, although he had
Clytemnestra; sister of Electra, Chryso- fairly won the right to marry Iole in an
Ixion 177
Irene Issa
Greek Greek
Called Pax by the Romans, Irene was the god- Daughter of Macareus, she was one of those
dess and personification of peace. Worshipped loved by Apollo.
in Athens she was, at least according to See also: Apollo
Homer, one of the Horae, the daughters of
Zeus and Themis.
Isthmian Games
Greek
Iris Quadrennial games held to honor Poseidon on
Greek the isthmus of Corinth, land that was awarded
The personification of the rainbow, the guise to Poseidon by Zeus in an ownership dispute
in which she acts as a messenger to Zeus, with Athene.
bringing his message down to earth. Though
she appears in Homer’s Iliad as a general ser-
vant to the gods, personal messenger of Zeus, Ithaca
and bodyguard to Hera, she is not even men- Greek
tioned in the slightly later Odyssey. Iris was The small island home of Odysseus and
depicted as a gold-winged, swift-footed maid- Penelope (Greek Itháki) to the west of Greece
en wearing talaria, the winged sandals more in the Ionian Sea off Epirus adjoining
commonly seen as an attribute of Hermes. Cephallenia. Some consider that the neighbor-
Later she wore brightly colored robes and fea- ing, slightly larger island of Levkás or Santa
tures prominently in the myth of Ceyx and Maura is more likely to have been Odysseus’s
Halcyone. kingdom.
See also: Odysseus
collect the bride price due to him, which says that he was chained to a fiery wheel by
Ixion had refused to pay, Ixion threw Eïoneus Hermes, the wheel constantly revolving in
into a pit of fire. His son by his earthly wife the sky rather than through the Underworld.
was Peirithous. No man on earth would See also: Hera; Tartarus
purify him of this crime, so Zeus invited him
to Olympus. However, no sooner had he
arrived than he tried to rape Hera, but she Iynx
deceived him with a cloud in her form, Greek
Nephele. He mated with this phantom, the The daughter of Pan and Echo. Portrayed as a
union leading to the birth of Centauros, who witch, she once cast an erotic spell on Zeus for
went on to mate with the mares on Mount which Hera turned her into a wryneck, which
Pelion to produce the race called Centaurs. was used in binding magic. It was stretched in
As punishment for his attempted rape of a wheel and spun around at speed, or it could
Hera, Ixion was condemned to Tartarus, be substituted by a wheel that spun on a string
where he was chained to a fiery wheel that and duplicated the whistling cry of a bird. Her
would roll eternally through the Under- name endures in the modern word jinx.
world. A slight variant of his punishment See also: Pan
K J k
Janus Jason
Roman Greek
One of the few uniquely Roman gods, who Son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos,
was looked upon as the creator of the world. whose throne was usurped by his half-brother,
Being the god of doorways, passages, and Pelias, brother of Neleus and the son of
buildings in general and of the beginnings Poseidon and Tyro. As an infant Jason was
and endings of days, months, and years, and smuggled out of Iolcos and entrusted to the
the guardian of the gateway Patulicus (the care of the centaur Cheiron, who raised him on
Opener) and Clusivius (the Closer), he the slopes of Mount Pelion. Meanwhile, Pelias
became associated particularly with peace had been warned by an oracle to beware of a
and war. Portrayed with two faces, one look- man who would come to Iolcos wearing only
ing backwards, one looking forwards, his one sandal.
temple was closed during times of peace, an As a young man Jason returned to Iolcos to
event that occurred for only the third time demand his kingdom. On his way, Jason met
when Octavian Augustus finally came to an old woman who was attempting to cross a
power. fast-flowing river. He carried her across but in
Janus, after whom the month of January is the process lost a sandal in the mud. The old
woman was Hera in disguise, and for this help
named, is sometimes described as an early
Hera was Jason’s supporter thereafter. Pelias
king of Latium who welcomed Saturnus after
recognized him as the man the oracle had
Jupiter had expelled him from Crete. Janus
warned him about and, eager to be rid of this
was the father of Tiberinus by Camise, his son
nuisance, promised to relinquish the throne on
drowning in the river that thereafter carried
the condition that Jason fetched for him the
his name—the River Tiber.
fleece of the winged ram Aries, which had car-
The origin of Janus is somewhat confused
ried Phrixus to safety from Thebes to Colchis.
by his later mythology. He may have been an The fleece was to be found hanging from an
early sun god, his aspect as the god of begin- oak tree in a grove sacred to Ares where it had
nings indicating that he presided over the turned to gold and was guarded, night and
creation of the world. Additionally, his two day, by a sleepless dragon, possibly Draco.
faces, though he may once have had four, are Jason welcomed the quest with open arms
indicative of the chaos out of which order and immediately commissioned Argus, the
finally came, for having too many faces Thespian, to build him a 50-oar ship, the Argo
would make him confused. Janus took prece- Navis, in which he could undertake the expe-
dence over all the gods, even Jupiter, the sun, dition. When the ship was nearing completion,
the moon, and all the heavenly bodies. His Athene herself fitted an oracular beam into the
cult seems to have been initiated by Romulus prow. As news of the enterprise spread, many
and was supremely important to the ancient heroes of the day hurried to join Jason. His
Romans. crew, which became known as the Argonauts,
Astronomical: One of the satellites of the included the Dioscuri (Castor and Poly-
planet Saturn lying second closest to the deuces), Heracles and his squire, Hylas,
planet. Theseus, and Orpheus.
179
180 Jason
Their voyage was filled with many adven- Argonauts removed the Golden Fleece from its
tures. They landed on the island of Lemnos, resting place and made off in the Argo Navis,
where the man-hungry women had them stay, Medeä bringing along her half-brother,
Jason marrying their queen. Leaving Lemnos, Apsyrtus. The furious Aeëtes gave chase; to
they slipped through the Hellespont and came delay him, Medeä ruthlessly murdered
to Mysia. There Hylas, the squire of Heracles, Apsyrtus, cut him into small pieces, and
went ashore to search for fresh water, but the dropped these over the side of the boat. Aeëtes
Naiades of the spring he came to stole him stopped to pick them up so that Apsyrtus
away, leaving nothing behind save an empty could be given a decent burial, and the
pitcher. Heracles went in search of him, and Argonauts escaped with their prize.
the Argo Navis sailed on without him. The return journey of the Argo Navis is given
On the island of Bebrycos the Argonauts in various accounts, but the routes taken are all
were met by the king, Amycus, a son of unfeasible. Greek knowledge of geography at
Poseidon who sought to kill all visitors by that time would have been very limited.
challenging them to a boxing match. Tradition does say that they visited the island
Polydeuces undertook to represent the home of Circe and that she purified Jason and
Argonauts and promptly dispatched the bully. Medeä of the murder of Apsyrtus.
Reaching Thrace they encountered the Returning to Iolcos, Jason found that Pelias
Harpies, who were preying on the table of the had forced Aeson to take his own life, though
blind Phineus. The Argonauts freed him of the one tradition does say that Medeä successfully
attentions of the Harpies, and in gratitude the rejuvenated him. All sources, however, agree
prophet advised Jason on how he might navi- that Medeä exacted a terrible revenge on
gate the Bosphorus. At its entrance lay the per- Pelias. She persuaded his daughters, with the
ilous floating islands, the Symplegades, which exception of Alcestis, to cut up their father and
clashed together and crushed any vessel that boil him in a cauldron, falsely promising that
attempted to pass between. Jason, however, this would rejuvenate him, just as it had Pelias.
followed the advice of Phineus and released a Horrified by this murder, Acastus, Pelias’s son,
dove that flew between the islands. They expelled Jason and Medeä, who made their
clashed together, nipping the birds’ tail feath- way to Corinth.
ers, and as they recoiled the Argo Navis safely There they lived happily for many years,
slipped between them. From that time on, the some say ten, during which time Jason joined
islands remained fixed. Finally the Argonauts the hunt for the Calydonian Boar, until Jason
reached the River Phasis and Colchis, their deserted Medeä for Glauce, also called Creusa,
goal. the daughter of Creon. Medeä retaliated by
When Aeëtes heard of the purpose of their sending the young bride a poisoned garment
visit he promised Jason that he would give that consumed her in flames, set fire to the
him the Golden Fleece if he could yoke two palace, and killed Creon as well. She then,
fire-breathing bulls with brazen feet, the according to some, also killed her own chil-
work of Hephaistos, plough the field of Ares dren by Jason.
with them, and sow it with the dragon’s Medeä fled Corinth in a chariot drawn by
teeth that had been left over by Cadmos at winged serpents and took refuge in Athens
Thebes. Jason agreed but was helped by with Aegeus, who married her. She left on
Medeä, the sorceress-daughter of Aeëtes, Theseus’s arrival and, after wandering for
who had fallen in love with Jason and made many years, finally became immortal. Jason
him swear by all the gods that in return for either took his own life or returned to Iolcos,
her help he would marry her and remain where he became king but was killed when the
faithful. She gave him a fire-resistant lotion poop of the decaying Argo Navis, which had
and, protected by that, he completed the been beached as a memento of the great expe-
task. dition, fell on him.
However, Aeëtes failed to keep his end of See also: Aeëtes; Aeson; Apsyrtus; Argonauts; Cheiron;
the bargain, so Medeä charmed the sleepless Dioscuri; Draco; Golden Fleece; Heracles; Iolcos;
dragon, and while it slept Jason and the Medeä; Pelias
Jupiter 181
Juno
Roman Jupiter
Principal Roman goddess who was identified Roman
with the Greek Hera. Her marriage to her Also: Jove
brother, Jupiter—thus making her the queen of Primitive Italian deity who later became the
Heaven—symbolized her association with principal Roman god, identified with the
marriage, a ceremony she watched over; she Greek Zeus; the son of Saturn who married his
was concerned with all aspects of women’s sister, Juno. God of the sky, the sun, the moon,
lives. Depicted as a statuesque, matronly fig- and all the heavenly bodies, Jupiter was origi-
ure who was especially worshipped by nally an agricultural deity but later developed
women, Juno was also goddess of light and to become the protector of Rome and the
childbirth, being known as Lucina in this Roman Empire. His very name is etymologi-
aspect. cally associated with the Greek Zeus, and sev-
In the Roman tradition applied to the Trojan eral of the latter’s adventures were ascribed to
Aeneas, she was always hostile to him, at one him, inasmuch as the Roman gods were per-
stage forcing his ships ashore at Carthage, mitted adventures.
though she was persuaded by Venus, Aeneas’s The natural forces of the sky became his
Roman mother, to allow Aeneas to marry attributes. He dispensed thunder and light-
Queen Dido. Leaving Carthage on the instruc- ning, taking on various forms, including
tions of Jupiter, Aeneas arrived at Drepanum, Lucetius, the bringer of light, Fulgur, the god
where Juno led some of his followers’ wives to of lightning and thunderbolts, and Jupiter
set fire to four of his five ships. Having arrived Elicius, the god of rain. Jupiter had three spe-
in Italy, Juno incited the Rutulian Prince cial thunderbolts at his disposal. Two of these
Turnus of Ardea to claim that he should marry would be used simply as warnings. The third,
Lavinia, daughter of Latinus, rather than however, which was only to be hurled earth-
182 Jupiter Elicius
wards after a conference among all the gods, least 16 moons. Largely composed of hydro-
was the ultimate weapon of destruction. gen and helium liquefied by the pressure of
Jupiter watched over battles and decided the its interior, and probably having a rocky core
outcome. larger than the earth, Jupiter is most noted
His altar on the Aventine Hill was where the for the Great Red Spot, a turbulent storm of
chief magistrates of the city made sacrifice to rising gas that is approximately 14,000 kilo-
him, his smaller altars being used to solemnize meters (8,500 miles) wide and some 30,000
oaths. In this way he came to reflect man’s kilometers (20,000 miles) long. Its satellites,
honesty. His priest, however, was subject to in order from the planet, include Amalthea,
Jupiter’s somewhat touchy character and had Io, Europa, Ganymede, Leda, Himalia,
to abide by certain, rather strange rules. He Lysithea, Elara, Ananke, Carme, Pasiphaë,
was forbidden to ride a horse, have his hair cut and Sinope.
by a slave, or even tie it in a decorative knot. See also: Saturn; Zeus
He could not spend more than three days
away from home, sleep in a bed if its legs had
not been smeared with clay, or allow anyone Jupiter Elicius
else to sleep in his own bed. He always had to Roman
wear a pointed cap and was not allowed to One of the forms taken by the principal
touch nor even mention female goats. His wife Roman god Jupiter. In this guise he was
was likewise restricted. She could not climb a regarded specifically as the god of rain.
ladder any higher than the third rung and on
some days was even prohibited from combing
her hair. Juturna
Jupiter Optimus Maximus stood paramount Roman
in his temple on the Capitoline Hill, his face The daughter of King Daunus of Ardea and
smeared with red paint as it had once been sister to Turnus, whom she helped in his fight
with the blood of Rome’s enemies. Mag- with Aeneas. When she was finally compelled
nificent games were held in his honor as the to abandon all hope of saving Turnus, she sank
patron of Rome and the Roman Empire. weeping into the spring at Lanuvium. There
Astronomical: The fifth planet of the solar Jupiter seduced her and turned her into a
system and the largest, having an equatorial water nymph.
diameter of 142,800 kilometers (88,700 See also: Aeneas
miles). The mass of Jupiter is more than twice
that of all the other planets combined, 318
times that of earth. It takes 11.86 years to Juventas
orbit the sun at a mean distance of 778 mil- Roman
lion kilometers (484 million miles) and has at The counterpart of Hebe.
K K k
Keres includes a palace throne room and a labyrinth,
Greek the legendary home of the Minotaur. The exca-
Black, winged demons, the daughters, like the vation of the site pushed back the understand-
Fates, of Night. They are the source of diseases ing of European prehistory by several millen-
and most of the other evils that afflict nia. Today, with a few exceptions, visible
mankind, including old age, death, and blight. remains on the site date from about 1700 B.C.,
They can therefore be assimilated as the ills the so-called New Palace, built after some dis-
that escaped from the box carried by Pandora. aster, possibly an earthquake, though the west
Keres were kept at bay by chewing buckthorn, wall is marked by the fire of its own final
smearing pitch on doorways, and similar destruction.
expedients and had to be placated once a year The predominance of a bull cult on Crete is
at the festival of the Anthesteria in Athens. displayed through wall paintings and objects
Homer gives the Keres a more literary that lend some credence to the legend of
interpretation by making them spirits who Theseus and the Minotaur. Games or rituals
control the destiny of the heroes and descend that involved maidens and youths, the latter
on them as they die to tear at their flesh and leaping over the backs of bulls, are depicted in
drink their blood. In this role they were often murals. The complex ruins also include vari-
associated with the Fates, even receiving cult ous shrines, notably one to a snake goddess.
status alongside them. Plato likened them to The site was finally destroyed c. 1400 B.C.
the Harpies, who are hard to distinguish in See also: Minotaur; Theseus
art, as both are seen as harbingers of death
whose task was to carry off the souls of the
departed. Kore
See also: Fates, the; Pandora Greek
Meaning “maiden,” this title, also spelled
Core, was applied to Persephone, the daughter
Knossos of Demeter.
Greek
The principal city of Minoan Crete, situated
approximately 6 kilometers (4 miles) southeast Kron~os, ~us
of present-day Iráklion. The archaeological Greek
site, excavated by Sir Arthur Evans between Variant of Cronos, the father of Zeus, who
1899 and 1935, dates from about 2000 B.C. and overthrew him.
183
K L k
Labdacus Lachesis
Greek Greek
King of Thebes, grandson of Cadmos, son of One of the three Fates who with her spindle
Polydorus, and father of Laius. spun out the thread of human life, therefore
representing the fate of life itself.
See also: Fates, the
Labyrinth, the
Greek Laconia
The mazelike prison that was built by
Daedalus on the order of Minos at Knossos, Greek
Crete, as the prison-home of the monstrous Ancient region in southwestern Greece, now a
Minotaur. It had but one entrance and was department. The ancient capital, Sparta, also
composed of many winding alleys with dead known as Lacedaemon, is still the administra-
ends. Theseus penetrated it, killed the tive center.
Minotaur, and then safely escaped from its
confines by following thread that he had Lacus Curtius
unwound behind him.
Roman
The word labyrinth derives from the Cretan
Site in the Forum at Rome that was said to
word labrys, a double-headed axe that was an
have derived its name from Mettius Curtius,
important religious symbol in Minoan Crete.
the Sabine champion whose horse foundered
This connection suggests that the labyrinth
in the swamps on the site of the later Forum.
may have originated as a complex shrine to
See also: Sabine
the Minoan bull cult at Knossos.
The labyrinth was portrayed on many
coins from Knossos, and over the years many Ladon
have sought to find its remains. Some have
Greek
simply identified it with the complex,
A dragon, one of the many monstrous offspring
labyrinthine layout of the Palace of Minos
of Typhon and Echidne. Along with the Hes-
itself. During the Middle Ages it became
perides, Ladon guarded the garden in which
identified with a complex system of caves in
the golden apples grew on the tree planted by
the hills near Gortyn, an opinion that held
Hera, a gift she had received from Ge at her
sway until the early nineteenth century,
wedding to Zeus. He was killed by Atlas when
when these proved to be the remains of an
the latter undertook to steal the apples for
old quarry.
Heracles on the eleventh of his 12 labors.
See also: Minos; Minotaur
Laelaps
Lacedaemon Greek
Greek The swift-footed, unerring hound that Procris
Another name for Sparta, the capital of gave to Cephalos; also the name of the storm
Laconia. wind.
185
186 Laertes
serpents that strangled or crushed Laocoön Hippolyte as one of his Great Labors. They
and his two sons. sacked the city, Hesione being taken captive
See also: Wooden Horse and awarded to Telamon; Laomedon and all
his sons, except Podarces, were killed.
See also: Ganymede; Troy
Laodam(e)ia
Greek
Lapithae
Daughter of Acastus and wife of Protesilaus
(the uncle of Philoctetes and the first man to Greek
jump ashore at Troy, even though he knew from Mythical race inhabiting Thessaly and ruled
an oracle that it meant certain death). Grief- over by Peirithous, a son of Ixion and therefore
stricken, Laodameia beseeched the gods to let a half-brother to the centaurs. They were,
her husband return for just three hours. They according to Diodorus, descended from their
had pity for her, and Hermes led Protesilaus eponym, Lapithes, who was a brother of
back from the Underworld to her. When he Centauros, thus cementing the relationship
died for the second time, she died with him. between the two Thessalanian tribes, though
See also: Acastus they always remained traditional enemies.
During the wedding feast of Peirithous and
Hippodameia, the centaurs attempted to carry
Laodice off the bride and a company of other ladies.
Greek They were chased by the Lapithae and other
1. Daughter of Priam and Hecuba, sister to guests at the wedding, Theseus among them,
Cassandra and Paris, and wife of Helicaon. and soundly beaten. Peirithous was later said
When Cassandra was dragged away by Ajax to have driven his people out of Thessaly to
the Lesser at the end of the Trojan War and Doris. From there the Lapithae were expelled
claimed as booty by Agamemnon, the ground by the Dorian King Aegimus with the help of
opened up and swallowed Laodice, thus sav- Heracles and an army of Arcadians.
ing her from a similar fate. See also: Centaur; Theseus
2. The name given by Homer to Electra, the
daughter of Agamemnon. Lar
See also: Ajax (2); Hecuba; Priam
Roman
A short, squat fertility deity with curly hair; a
Laomedon personification of the phallus, he was invoked
by men at the time of their marriage.
Greek
Son of Ilus, grandson of Tros, father of
Ganymede and Hesione, and founder of Ilion, Lara
or Troy. Zeus assigned Apollo and Poseidon to Roman
Laomedon to build the walls around Troy, thus The daughter of Tiber who not only refused to
making them impregnable to human force. help Jupiter seduce Juturna but actually
Laomedon refused them their payment and warned both Juno and Juturna of Jupiter’s
threatened to sell them into slavery. In revenge intentions. In revenge Jupiter tore out her
Poseidon sent a sea monster that could be pla- tongue so that she could no longer betray, then
cated only by the sacrifice of Hesione. She was banished her to the Underworld, where she
exposed naked to be devoured by the great was placed in the care of Mercurius. He
beast, but Heracles killed the monster and so seduced her, the result being the lares.
saved her. Once again Laomedon refused to
give the specified reward—the white horses he
had received from Zeus in exchange for his Larentia
son Ganymede. Heracles, however, later Roman
returned with Telamon and Theseus, possibly A shortened, popularized version of Acca
on his way back from gaining the girdle of Larentia.
188 Lares
Lares 2. Roman
Roman Old aboriginal king of Laurentum, or Latium,
The sons of Mercurius by the nymph Lara, and husband of Amata who some described as
born to her after she had been banished to the the son of Faunus and the nymph Marica, oth-
Underworld, her tongue having been torn out ers as the son of Hercules. At first an ally of
for betraying the extramarital intentions of Aeneas, he later became an enemy. He had
Jupiter. Once considered as gods of cultivated been told by an oracle that his daughter,
land, they were worshipped by each house- Lavinia, would marry a foreigner. He agreed
hold at crossroads where the boundaries of to the marriage between Aeneas and Lavinia,
fields met. They were regarded as divine but Juno incited the Rutulian Prince Turnus of
ancestors who watched benignly over each Ardea, who claimed Mycenaean ancestry, and
household, and as such their worship, in thus the right to marry Lavinia. As Amata
which they were stylized as figurines, moved opposed Aeneas, Latinus switched his view-
into the house to join that of the Penates, gods point. Aeneas conquered Turnus and married
of the threshold. They eventually came under Lavinia, though both Latinus and Amata now
Roman state control when they were regarded opposed him.
as spirits of the community. See also: Aeneas
Larissa Latium
Greek Roman
City to which Acrisius, mindful of the oracle Historic district in central Italy south of the
that foretold his death at the hands of his son, Apennines and east of the Tiber. Inhabited by
fled when Perseus returned to Argos with the Latini, Latium was bordered on the north-
Danaë. However, Perseus later visited Larissa west by Etruria, on the southeast by
and, taking part in public games, accidentally Campania, and on the west by the Tyrrhenian
killed Acrisius with a discus. Sea. Latium is regarded as extremely impor-
See also: Perseus tant in the foundation of the Roman state, as
Lavinia, daughter of Latinus, the king of
Latium, married Aeneas, who is regarded as
Lartius, Spurius the founder of the state. Augustus made
Roman Latium and Campania the first of the 11
One of the codefendants of the Pons Sublicus, administrative divisions of Italy, the latter
along with Publius Horatius Cocles and Titius name prevailing after 292 A.D.
Herminus, against the attacking hordes under See also: Aeneas
the leadership of Lars Porsenna. He and Titius
Herminus were sent back to safety by Publius
Horatius Cocles shortly before the bridge was Latmus
demolished. Greek
The mountain in Caria where Selene wooed
Larvae Endymion.
Roman
Malignant spirits of the dead. Latona
Roman
Latinus The Roman name applied to Leto.
1. Greek
The son of Odysseus and Circe who with his
brother, Agrius, ruled the Tyrrhenians in the Laverna
far-off “sacred isles,” a possible reference to the Roman
Islands of the Blessed. Goddess who protects thieves and frauds.
Leo 189
Leda
Greek Leo
Daughter of Thestius (king of Aeolia), wife of Greek
Tyndareus (king of Sparta), and mother of The name applied to the Nemaean Lion that
Helen, Polydeuces, Castor, and Clytemnestra, was slain by Heracles as the first of his labors
as well as three other obscure and unnamed and whose pelt was subsequently worn as
children. Traditionally Leda was visited by Heracles’ armor.
Zeus, who took the form of a beautiful swan, Astronomical: Possibly the longest-known of
after which she laid an egg that hatched Helen, all the heavenly constellations, Leo was recog-
Castor, and Polydeuces. Clytemnestra was her nized as a lion not only by the ancient Greeks
daughter by her mortal husband, Tyndareus. but also by the Persians, Turks, Syrians,
Another tradition says that although three Hebrews, Assyrians, and Bablyonians. This
children hatched from one egg, only Helen constellation, the fifth of the 12 signs of the
and Polydeuces were the children of Zeus, Zodiac (July 24–August 23) lies mostly in the
Castor being conceived on the same night but northern celestial hemisphere between approx-
190 Lepcis Magna
imate right ascensions 9h20m and 11h50m, A spring having the name Lethe ran close by
declination from -5° to +34°. the Oracle of Trophonius at Lebadeia. Visitors
See also: Heracles to the oracle drank the water of the spring to
forget their past, then from another, which
would enable them to remember the advice
Lepcis Magna they had received from the oracle.
Roman See also: Eris; Underworld
Perhaps the best preserved of the Roman cities
with the exception of Pompeii. The most Leto
notable temple remains are those of the temple
of Rome and Augustus. Greek
Also: Latona
An ancient goddess originating in Asia
Lepus Minor known to the Etruscans as Letun.
Greek Patroness of the fruitful earth, lady of the
“The Hare”; the favorite quarry of the hunter beasts and plants, she had cultic status espe-
Orion, which, after Orion was placed in the cially in Lycia and at Ortygia, near Ephesus.
night sky, joined him. Legend makes Leto the daughter of the
Astronomical: A constellation of the southern Titans Coeus and Phoebe and the mother, by
celestial hemisphere lying just below Orion Zeus, of the twins Apollo and Artemis. Before
between approximate right ascensions 4h55m the birth of the twins, Hera—once again jealous
and 6h10m, declination from –11° to –28°. of her husbands continual philandering—
See also: Orion caused Leto to wander aimlessly. She finally
gave birth to Artemis under a palm tree on
Ortygia and to Apollo beside a palm on Delos,
Lerna though some say that Delos was originally
Greek called Ortygia, so the twins were born on the
Marshy area adjoining the sevenfold source of same island. Hera was still not satisfied, and as
the River Amymone that was inhabited and Leto came to Delphi with her daughter,
plagued by the multiheaded Hydra. Heracles Artemis, the goddess sent the giant Tityus to
traveled to Lerna during the course of his 12 violate her. He was dispatched by Apollo and
labors to dispose of the Hydra. Artemis. Leto then fled to Lycia, where she was
See also: Heracles; Hydra
prevented from drinking at a well called Melite,
in revenge turning the local peasants into frogs.
See also: Apollo; Artemis; Coeus; Phoebe
Lethe
Greek Leuce
The River of Forgetfulness, also called Greek
Oblivion, one of the five rivers that flowed 1. A nymph who was seduced by Hades and
through the Underworld. It was the last river was afterwards turned into the white poplar tree.
across which Hermes guided the newly dead 2. The “White Island” in the Black Sea to
before they were brought before the three which Achilles, Helen, and other heroes were
judges of the Underworld, Minos, Aeacus, and transported after their deaths. It is possibly the
Rhadamanthus. All had to drink the water of site where the nymph Leuce was transformed
the river and, upon doing so, forgot their life into the white poplar tree following her rape
on earth, though simply crossing it was also by Hades.
said to have had the same effect. Some have
suggested that they drank the water after their
judgment, as it would have been unwise to Leucippides
have the newly dead forget what they were Greek
about to be judged on. Personified, Lethe was The generic name of Phoebe and Hilaeira, the
considered to be the daughter of Eris. twin daughters of Leucippus, king of Mes-
Linus 191
senia, who were betrothed to the giants Idas appears in statues wearing the Phrygian cap of
and Lynceus, abducted by the Dioscuri, and liberty. She has no mythology.
rescued by their fiancés, a battle that cost
Castor his life.
Libitina
Roman
Leucippus An ancient Italian goddess whose original
Greek associations were with voluptuous and libidi-
1. Son of Oenomaus, he fell in love with nous pleasures. Later she became identified as
Daphne. Disguising himself as a woman, he the goddess of death, funerals, and undertak-
joined her retinue of nymphs. Apollo advised ers, possibly replacing Proserpina in this role.
Daphne and her nymphs to bathe naked, and Money was offered to Libitina in a sacred
when they stripped they discovered Leu- grove whenever someone died, a grove that
cippus and tore him to pieces. also contained the registrar of deaths and the
2. King of Messenia and father of Phoebe offices of undertakers.
and Hilaeira, hence Leucippides, whom he
betrothed to Idas and Lynceus.
See also: Dioscuri Lichas
Greek
Servant or companion of Heracles who was
Leucothea sent by Heracles to fetch from his wife a white
Greek shirt, or robe, to wear at a celebration.
Sea goddess who was formerly Ino, her form Deianeira, fearing that Heracles might leave
being altered when she leaped into the sea. her for Iole, smeared the shirt with the poi-
Leucothea was benevolent to sailors in dis- soned blood of Nessus, falsely believing that it
tress and once, aided by Athene, helped would maintain Heracles’ love for her. Lichas
Odysseus, after he had been shipwrecked by returned with this shirt, which burned into
Poseidon, to the island of Scheria, home of Heracles’ flesh when it was put on. In agony,
Nausicaa. Heracles flung Lichas into the sea.
See also: Ino; Odysseus See also: Deianeira; Heracles
2. The son of Apollo and Psamanthe, accord- and wealthy family; his works remain one of
ing to an Argive story. Ashamed of her preg- the major sources of Roman myth and legend.
nancy, Psamanthe exposed the newborn, who He settled in Rome c. 29 B.C. and was admitted
was raised by shepherds but later torn to to the court of Augustus. His history of Rome
pieces by her father’s dogs. Her grief revealed from its foundation to the death of Nero
her predicament to her father, who sentenced Claudius Drusus (9 B.C.) comprises 142 books;
her to death. In revenge Apollo visited Argos of those, numbers 11–20 and 46–142 have been
with a plague that raged until the Argives pro- lost.
pitiated both Linus and Psamanthe with
dirges called linoi. There is great similarity
between this Linus and the other Linus, who is
Locris
thought of as the personification of a dirge. Greek
See also: Heracles; Orpheus Ancient kingdom of which Oileus, the father
of Ajax the Lesser, was king.
Lipara
Greek Lotophagi
A volcanic island that, along with Lemnos, Greek
Hiera, Imbros, and Sicily, numbered among Name given to a people who lived on the
the favorite places on earth of Hephaistos. Libyan coast in a state of enervating dreami-
ness through eating the fruit of the lotus plant.
They were visited by Odysseus and their com-
Lipari Islands panions after the end of the Trojan War, his
Greek companions who also ate the fruit becoming
Also known as the Aeolian islands, this group known as the Lotus-Eaters, the literal transla-
of islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea includes tion of Lotophagi.
Lipara, one of the favorite spots on earth of
Hephaistos. They also include the floating
island of Aeolia, where Aeolus was said to Lotus-Eaters
keep the four winds in a cave to be released Greek
either when Aeolus felt like it or when the The name given to the companions of Odys-
gods commanded it. seus who, while visiting the Lotophagi on the
See also: Aeolus; Hephaistos Libyan coast, ate the fruit of the lotus plant and
so entered the same state of enervating
dreaminess in which the Lotophagi lived.
Lityerses They led a life of perfect, empty-headed con-
Greek tentment and immediately lost all desire to
A Phrygian harvest song that became personi- return home. “Lotus-Eater” is the literal trans-
fied as the son of Midas, who forced passers- lation of Lotophagi.
by to work in his fields before beheading them
at the end of the day. According to a late devel-
opment of the legend, Lityerses once did this Loxias
to Daphnis, and Heracles then punished him Greek
with a dose of his own medicine. The song that “The Ambiguous”; a name given to Apollo at
became known as Lityerses was said to have his Dorian shrine at Delphi near the spring
been invented by him. Castalia on Mount Parnassus, where he was
See also: Heracles also known as the Pythian.
Livy Lua
Roman Roman
Roman historian, properly Titus Livius (59 The goddess wife of Saturnus who was, accord-
B.C.–17 A.D.), who was born in Padua to a noble ing to Livy, invoked to destroy enemy arms.
Lycaon 193
Lucifer Lupercalia
Greek Roman
Also: Phosphorus A popular festival of unknown origin that was
“Bringer of Light”; the name given to the celebrated on 15 February when two teams of
planet Venus when seen in the morning sky aristocratic youths, known as the Lupercii, sac-
before sunrise. Given a masculine personifica- rificed goats and a dog in the Lupercal Cave
tion in myth, the name was equally applied to on the Palatine Hill. They then feasted before
Artemis, as it was to her brother, Apollo. donning the skins of the sacrificial goats to race
down the hill, whipping anyone in range with
goatskin thongs. This was believed to promote
Lucina fertility.
Roman The festival probably predates the legend of
An epithet that was chiefly applied to Juno but Romulus and Remus, for on one occasion
also sometimes to Diana, in which role she was Remus was captured by brigands the twins
regarded as the goddess of childbirth, bringing had been attacking and was taken to Amulius.
children into the light. This abduction of Remus was said to have
See also: Juno taken place during the Lupercalia.
See also: Remus; Romulus
Lucre~tia, ~ce
Roman Lupercus
The beautiful and pure wife of Lucius Tar- Roman
quinius Collatinus who was raped by Sextus, Possibly the name given to the she-wolf who
the son of the Etruscan king of Rome, Tarquinius suckled the twins Romulus and Remus, possi-
Superbus. She reported the outrage to her father, bly an alias for Faunus in the guise of a wolf
Spurius Lucretius Tricipitinus, and her husband deity. A cave on the Palatine Hill in ancient
and made them swear to avenge her. She then Rome, the Lupercal Cave, was sacred to
stabbed herself to death before them and in the Lupercus and was the site of the immensely
presence of Publius Valerius Poplicola and popular annual Lupercalia festival.
Lucius Junius Brutus. The latter of these wit-
nesses led the populace in rebellion against the
ruling Etruscans. This led to the expulsion of the Lupus
Tarquins, an end to kingship in Rome, and the Greek
establishment of the Roman republic. Traditional name given to the wolf-form that
See also: Sextus Lycaon adopted after Zeus transformed him
for the crime of serving human flesh as a ban-
quet for the gods. However, the name Boötes
Luna was also used to refer to Lycaon in the form of
Roman a wolf.
Goddess of the moon, the Roman counterpart Astronomical: A constellation of the southern
to the Greek Selene. celestial hemisphere located between approxi-
mate right ascensions 14h15m and 16h00m,
declination from –39° to –65°.
Lupercal
Roman
A cave on the Palatine Hill in ancient Rome Lycaon
that was sacred to Lupercus, or to Faunus in Greek
the guise of a wolf deity, and as such has A king of Arcadia, son of Pelasgus, father of
important connections with the story of Callisto, and founder of the city of Lycosura on
Romulus and Remus. The Lupercalia festival Mount Lycaeum who established a rite of
centered around the sacred cave. child sacrifice. Some versions of the story say
See also: Remus; Romulus that it was his own son, Arcas, who was sacri-
194 Lycia
While Heracles was at Thespiae the hero’s did not carry out her father’s instruction to
family resided at Thebes, but Lycus persecuted kill her new husband on their wedding
them. Heracles returned and killed the king in night. He later succeeded Danaus as the
revenge for this treatment of his family. king of Argos.
See also: Aegeus; Dirce; Heracles; Pandion See also: Danaides; Dioscuri; Idas; Jason
Lydia Lyra
Greek Greek
An ancient kingdom and (seventh–sixth cen- Traditionally the name given to the lyre of
tury B.C.) empire of the central-western coast of Orpheus, musician to the Argonauts and hus-
Asia Minor. It was here that Heracles spent his band of Eurydice. With it he charmed Hades
time as a slave to Queen Omphale, dressed as into releasing his wife back to him after her
a female and doing female tasks, while she death. After his own death it was translated to
wore his cloak of lion’s skin. the heavens to commemorate the beautiful
See also: Heracles music it had produced at the hands of
Orpheus.
Astronomical: Lying in the northern celestial
Lynceus hemisphere, the constellation Lyra contains
Greek the brilliant star Vega, the third-brightest star
1. Son of Amphiaraus and devoted twin broth- in the night sky. Relatively small, the constella-
er of Idas. Lynceus was noted for his keen sight, tion lies between approximate right ascensions
and the inseparable twins took part in the hunt 18h10m and 19h30m, declination from +25° to
for the Calydonian Boar as well as the expedi- +48°.
tion of Jason and the Argonauts. They were See also: Orpheus
betrothed to the Leucippides, the daughters of
Leucippus, whom the Dioscuri abducted. Their
attempted rescue of the girls led to their deaths. Lystra
2. One of the 50 sons of Aegyptus who Greek
was fortunate enough to marry Hyperm- Place in Asia Minor where Saint Paul was mis-
nestra, the only one of the 50 Danaides who taken for Hermes (see Acts 14:6–21).
K M k
Macareus became infamous as the murderer of
Greek Neoptolemus.
The son of Aeolus who had an incestuous rela- See also: Neoptolemus
tionship with his sister, Canace. Their daugh-
ter, Issa, was one of those beloved by Apollo.
Machaon
See also: Aeolus (2)
Greek
Son of Asclepios, brother of Podalirius, and
Macaria father of Nicomachus and Gorgasus, who
Greek were also considered as healing heroes. He
Daughter of Heracles, thus one of the Hera- and his brother were suitors for the hand of
cleidae, who committed suicide after an oracle Helen, and both led a fleet to Troy. There,
demanded the sacrifice of one of Heracles’ either Machaon or his brother cured the archer
children if Athens, in which the Heracleidae Philoctetes of the festering wound that had
had sought sanctuary, was to be saved from originally meant his desertion en route to the
the attack mounted by Eurystheus. Following Trojan War. Machaon met his death at Troy at
the self-sacrifice of Macaria, Eurystheus was the hands of either Eurypylus or Penthesilea
defeated by either Iolaus or Hyllus and finally and was buried at Messedia.
dispatched by Alcmene. See also: Asclepios; Helen
See also: Heracles
Macedonia Maenad
Greek Greek
Name given to a female votary or votaries of
Mountainous Balkan country north of ancient
the god of wine, Dionysos, who dressed in the
Greece that was divided from Thessaly by a
skins of wild animals and carried thyrsoi, vine
mountain range, the range’s eastern end being
branches entwined with ivy and tipped with a
the location of Mount Olympus. Today,
pine cone. Maenads assembled in the moun-
Macedonia is divided between Greece and the
tains and, in the orgiastic frenzy induced
independent state of Macedonia, which
through drinking wine, they rampaged over
formed a part of Yugoslavia. Under Philip II
the hills, catching wild animals, which they
and his son, Alexander the Great, Macedonia
then tore to pieces and ate raw. Various other
dominated Greece in the fourth century B.C. In
names were applied to the worshippers of
146 B.C. it became a Roman province, and
Dionysos, including Bacchoi (male votaries),
when the Roman Empire was divided it was
and Bacchae, Bacchantes, or Thyiads, the latter
assigned to the eastern half.
being specifically restricted to usage in Athens
See also: Alexander the Great
and Delphi. Their rites persisted into historical
times, but the introduction of their cult
Machaereus appears to have been widely resisted, as wit-
Greek nessed in the many legends that surround the
“Knife Man”; an ancestor of Branchus and the Maenads and the worship of Dionysos.
founder of the Oracle of Apollo at Didyma, he See also: Dionysos
197
198 Maera
Maera Manto
Greek Greek
The name given to the bitch that Hecuba The daughter of Teiresias and mother, by
reportedly transformed herself into to evade Apollo, of the seer Mopsus.
the angry Thracian people after she had See also: Teiresias
avenged the murder of her son, Polydorus, by
killing Polymester and his two sons.
See also: Hecuba Marathon(ian) Bull
Greek
The white bull that was originally given to
Maia Minos by Poseidon to confirm Minos’s
1. Greek supreme rule over Crete. Minos substituted a
Daughter of Atlas and the Oceanid Pleione; lesser bull for this magnificent animal in the
the eldest and most beautiful of the Pleiades. required sacrifice. Later, Heracles came to
She was said to have been the mother of Crete and captured the bull as his seventh
Hermes by Zeus, bearing him on Mount labor. He took it back to Eurystheus, who
Cyllene in Arcadia. As his mother was a released it, whereupon it wandered through
daughter of Atlas and an embodiment of the Greece before settling in the region of
Great Goddess, Hermes also became known Marathon. It was subsequently recaptured by
as Atlantiades. Later she brought on Arcas, the Theseus, who took it back to Athens as a sacri-
son of Callisto, after his mother had been killed fice to Athene.
by Hera or had been turned into a bear. See also: Minos
2. Roman
Ancient agricultural and fertility goddess Marica
associated with Vulcan and also, by confusion Roman
with Maia, with Mercurius. Sacrifices were A nymph; the wife of Faunus and mother of
made to her to ensure the fertility of crops. Latinus.
See also: Pleiades
Marpessa
Mamercus Greek
Roman Daughter of the river god Euneus who was
Legendary founder of the great Aemilian fam- loved by Apollo but carried away by Idas in
ily of ancient Rome. He claimed he was the son the winged chariot Poseidon had given him.
of Numa Pompilius, though some claimed he Apollo gave chase and fought Idas for
may have been the son of the great Greek Marpessa until Zeus intervened, saying that
philosopher Pythagoras. Marpessa must be allowed to choose for her-
self. She chose Idas.
See also: Idas
Manes, di
Roman
Generic name for the deified spirits of depar- Mars
ted ancestors, revered as lesser deities, who Roman
were believed to linger either in or near their The Roman god of war. He has Sabine origins,
tomb, there requiring frequent feeding. As the month of March is named for him, and he
they were thought to grow dangerous if is the equivalent of the Greek Ares. Originally
neglected, they were provided with a meal at an agricultural deity, important to the prosper-
the original funeral and were fed annually ity of the city of Rome, Mars developed into
thereafter at the Parentalia festival. They were the god of war when Rome expanded its
sometimes, incorrectly, identified with the empire, being vital to the success of the Roman
gods of the Underworld. campaigns. He became one of the three pro-
Matralia 199
tector-deities of Rome, along with Jupiter and would do most good to the land, a memory of
Quirinius, and in popularity was second only his earlier agricultural aspects. Augustus par-
to Jupiter. ticularly worshipped Mars in the guise of
Tradition makes Mars the son of Juno, his Mars Ultor, “the Avenger,” for he was seen as
father having the remarkable guise of a flower. avenging the assassination of Augustus’s
He seduced the Vestal Virgin daughter of adoptive father, Julius Caesar. In art he was
Numitor, Rhea Silvia, while she was asleep often depicted simply as an armed warrior or
(and thus unaware of her violation). She bore naked, bearing arms. The wolf and wood-
twin sons, whom she exposed. They were pecker were his sacred animals.
cared for and suckled by a she-wolf before Astronomical: The fourth planet of the solar
being found and cared for by a shepherd and system, lying at an average distance of 228 mil-
his wife. These sons of Mars were Romulus lion kilometers (141.5 million miles) from the
and Remus, who were later led by a flock of sun, being approximately half the size of earth
geese to the site where they founded a new and having an equatorial diameter of 6,794
city—Rome. kilometers (4,247 miles). The planet has a dis-
At first Mars lived in the woods and hills tinctive reddish color that was said to have
and kept a watchful eye over farming. He reminded the ancients of blood, so they named
remained a pastoral deity for many years, only it after their god of war. The largest known vol-
much later developing into the god of war canic mountain, Olympus Mons, is located on
with a temple sacred to him in Rome. Here the surface of Mars, which has two satellites,
sacrifices were made to ensure victory, after Phobos and Deimos, named after the horse-
which he expected his share in the booty. men of Ares, the Greek god of war.
Occasionally Mars would appear on the bat- See also: Remus; Romulus; Sabine
tlefield in the guise of a humble infantryman.
His popularity grew with the expansion of the
Roman Empire, for he was considered a key Marsyas
component in the continued Roman successes. Greek
As the empire expanded, temples to Mars A satyr from Phrygia who picked up the
became more widespread. He was a particular double-reeded pipe, or aulos, which had been
patron of the horse, a patronage reflected in discarded by Athene as it forced the player to
horseraces that were held on the Campius grimace. This, however, did not bother
Martius, the field of Mars, in March and Marsyas, whose facial characteristics made it
October, dates that marked the beginnings and simple for him to play. He challenged Apollo
endings of the military and agricultural years. to a musical contest that was judged by
The winners of these races were given the ulti- Tmolus, with contributions by King Midas, a
mate reward—they were sacrificed to Mars. contest that was won by Apollo. As punish-
The October celebration was also a fertility fes- ment for Marsyas’s presumption, Apollo sus-
tival at which Mars was worshipped in the pended him in a pine tree and flayed him
guise of Silvanus, his earth god aspect. It was alive, his blood forming the River Marsyas.
at this site that the Roman infantry paraded
and where there once stood the earliest-known
altar to Mars. Each year the army would Mastarna
assemble at another of Mars’s temples, on the Romano-Etruscan
Appian Way, and from there parade through A famous Etruscan hero; the great friend of
the city. Vibenna whom the Romans later equated with
Mars was closely associated with Bellona, Servius Tullius.
goddess of war, who was possibly his wife or
his sister. The first Roman emperor, Augustus,
was particularly fond of and devoted to Mars, Matralia
considering him his personal protector. Roman
Augustus built him many temples, most of The festival of Mater Matuta, which was cele-
which were outside city walls, where they brated on 11 April and involved a servant
200 Medeä
woman being forced into the temple sanctu- nate Pelias, demonstrating a second method
ary, then forcibly ejected. For the duration of to his doubting daughters by cutting up an
the celebrations, women treated their sisters’ old sheep and boiling the pieces in a caul-
children as if they were their own. The actual dron. From the brew she pulled out a new-
purpose of the festival remains unclear, but it born lamb. Pelias’s daughters, with the
may have associations with the driving-out of exception of Alcestis, were convinced. They
winter by spring, thus marking the start of the cut up Pelias, but this time the magic did not
growing season. work. Jason and Medeä were expelled from
Iolcos by Acastus, Pelias’s son, and traveled
to Corinth.
Medeä They lived happily as normal citizens until
Greek Jason fell in love with Glauce, also called
The sorceress-daughter of Aeëtes, king of Creusa, the daughter of King Creon. He
Colchis, thus the granddaughter of Helios, sis- divorced Medeä, but she, realizing that her
ter to Circe, another sorceress, and the priest- position as a resident alien was now in jeop-
ess of Hecate. Nothing is known of her before ardy, retaliated by sending the young bride a
her involvement with Jason and the Argo- poisoned robe that set her body on fire when
nauts. She immediately fell in love with Jason she dressed in it. The resulting blaze destroyed
when he arrived in Colchis and helped him the palace and killed Creon. Medeä then killed
against her father. her children by Jason and fled Corinth in a
When Jason first arrived, Aeëtes said that winged chariot sent by her grandfather,
he would only give up the Golden Fleece if Helios, going now to Athens.
Jason could yoke a fire-breathing bull with There she married Aegeus and became the
brazen hooves, the work of Hephaistos, mother of Medus. However, Medeä tried to
plough the field of Ares with the bulls, and get rid of her stepson, Theseus, the son of
then sow the dragon’s teeth that were left over Aegeus and Aethra, by sending him out
by Cadmos. Medeä supplied a fireproof oint- against the Marathonian Bull. When Theseus
ment that enabled Jason to complete the allot- returned unharmed, Aegeus expelled both
ted task. Aeëtes failed to keep his promise, so Medeä and Medus. They fled back to Colchis
Medeä charmed to sleep the sleepless dragon but stopped en route at Absoros to put an
that guarded the grove in which the Golden end to a plague of snakes by confining them
Fleece hung, thereby enabling the Argonauts in the tomb of Apsyrtus. Having arrived in
to steal it. Colchis, she proposed to cure a crop failure
Medeä then fled with Jason, taking with her by human sacrifice. Perses, then king, sug-
Apsyrtus, her half-brother. When her father gested Medus as the victim, but Medeä retal-
gave chase she ruthlessly murdered Apsyrtus iated by killing Perses. Nothing more is
and, cutting him into small pieces, dropped his heard of Medeä after this, though some say
body over the side of the fleeing ship. Aeëtes she became an immortal.
stopped to collect the remains for burial, Medeä received cult in Thessaly and
enabling the Argonauts to safely escape. On Corinth, her children also being revered in the
the island of Aeaea, Jason and Medeä were latter city.
purified of this murder by Circe. They then See also: Aeëtes; Aegeus; Aeson; Apsyrtus; Circe;
made their way to Crete, where Medeä Creon; Hecate; Jason; Pelias; Talos; Theseus
devised a method to dispose of the menacing
bronze giant named Talos.
Returning to Iolcos, Jason’s home city, they Medus
found Aeson a tired, old man, though some Greek
sources say he had been forced to take his The son of Medeä and Aegeus, he fled with his
own life by Pelias. Jason persuaded Medeä to mother from Athens after the safe return of
rejuvenate him. This she did by draining Theseus, whom Medeä had sent out against
Aeson’s blood and filling his veins with a the Marathonian Bull. He traveled with her to
magical potion. She then proposed to rejuve- Colchis, but after it was suggested by Perses
Meg~ara, ~era 201
that he should be the sacrifice to cure a crop who was about to kill Princess Andromeda,
failure, nothing more is heard of him. who was being offered in sacrifice by Cepheus
and Cassiopeia. When these two refused
Perseus his reward, the hand of Andromeda, he
Medusa again unleashed the terrible power of Medusa’s
Greek head and turned Andromeda’s suitor, and all
Daughter of the sea deities Phorcys and Ceto, his retinue, to stone. A similar fate awaited
sister to the Graeae and sister to Stheno and Polydectes when Perseus returned to Seriphos.
Euryale, Medusa was the only mortal Gorgon. Having completed his quest, Perseus gave
She and her sisters had once been beautiful, Medusa’s head to Athene, who placed its petri-
but Medusa lay with Poseidon in one of the fying image in the center of her aegis, the head’s
temples sacred to Athene, and in revenge snaky locks forming its border.
Athene altered their appearance, turning them See also: Aegis; Ceto; Chrysaor; Euryale; Graeae;
into winged monsters with brazen claws and Pegasus; Perseus; Phorcys; Stheno
serpent hair, so hideous that a single glance
had the power to petrify human flesh to stone.
She and her sisters were said to live in Libya, Megaera
though some sources place the Gorgons in the Greek
land of the Hyperboreans. One of the Erinnyes or Furies, the snake-
Perseus came to their homeland, wherever haired, winged daughters of Mother Earth
it actually might have been, on the orders of who were born when drops of blood from the
Polydectes to behead Medusa. Aided in his wound inflicted on Uranos by Cronos fell on
quest by Athene, who some say ordered the her. Her sisters were Alecto and Tisiphone,
death of Medusa, her hostility toward the though the three sisters were named only in
Gorgon unabated, Perseus was armed with a the works of later writers. Megaera is some-
polished shield, the gift of Athene, a sickle pro- times confused with Medusa through the sin-
vided by Hermes, Hades’ helmet of invisibil- gle similarity that both had serpentine hair.
ity, a pair of winged sandals, and a special bag See also: Alecto; Erinnyes; Tisiphone
in which he was to place Medusa’s head.
Confronting the hideous beast, Perseus
used the shield to avoid looking directly at Megapenthes
Medusa, her reflection not being deadly. He Greek
then successfully beheaded the Gorgon with Son of Proetus (king of Tiryns) and cousin of
Hermes’ sickle and concealed the power of the Perseus (king of Argos), with whom he
head in the special leather bag. As he did so, exchanged his kingdom.
Perseus was amazed to see the winged horse
Pegasus and the warrior Chrysaor spring fully
grown from her body. These fabulous beings Meg~ara, ~era
were the children of Poseidon, begotten on Greek
Medusa when she lay with the great sea god in Eldest daughter of Creon, king of Thebes, who
the temple of Athene. was given to Heracles as a reward for his help-
Fleeing, Perseus was chased by Stheno and ing the city and who became the mother of
Euryale but escaped to the south by wearing several children by the great hero. Her
Hades’ helmet of invisibility, though some youngest sister married Heracles’ half-brother,
sources say he escaped on Pegasus, who cer- Iphicles. She was later given to Heracles’
tainly features later in the story of Perseus. nephew, Iolaus, but some versions of the story
Even though Medusa now lay dead, her of Heracles said that upon his later return to
head still had the power to turn all who looked Thebes the tyrannical king attempted to kill
upon it into stone. Perseus was said to have Megara and her children. Heracles killed the
used its power on a number of occasions. He tyrant but was then driven mad by Hera, and
turned Atlas into the mountain named after as a result he killed Megara and their children.
him; then he used it on the sea monster Cetus, See also: Creon; Heracles
202 Melampus
Colossus of Memnon near Egyptian Thebes. low Trojans that Helen should be returned, but
This, however, had nothing to do with the Trojans remained obdurate. So the Trojan
Memnon, being in fact a huge statue of a War started.
pharaoh, Amenophis or Amenhotep III. While Achilles sulked in his tent and the
war appeared to be going against the Greeks,
Menelaus and Paris agreed to settle the dis-
Memnonides pute in single combat. However, just as Paris
Greek was about to lose, Aphrodite carried him away
Birds that Zeus caused to rise, at the request of and the fighting recommenced, Patroclus now
Eos, from the funeral pyre of Memnon. They returning to the fray wearing the armor of
fought above the fire until they fell back onto it Achilles, who still stubbornly refused to take
as a sacrifice. They were said to visit the hero’s part. When Patroclus was killed by Hector,
tomb on the Hellespont near Troy each year to Menelaus, who had recently killed Euphor-
sprinkle it with water, which became known bus, and Ajax the Greater recovered his body.
as the “tears of Eos.” Following the fall of Troy after the stratagem
of the Wooden Horse proved successful,
Menelaus and Odysseus killed and mutilated
Menelaus Deiphobus, who had forcibly married Helen
Greek following the demise of Paris. Menelaus then
Son of Atreus and Aerope and younger prepared to execute Helen but was once more
brother of Agamemnon, the two being collec- overcome by her beauty and led her safely
tively referred to as the Atridae, the sons of back to the Greek ships, taking along
Atreus. As youths the two brothers took refuge Hermione as part of his booty. However,
with King Tyndareus of Sparta. There, from all before leaving to return home, Menelaus for-
the suitors for her hand, Helen, Tyndareus’s got to sacrifice to Athene, so his return journey
beautiful daughter, chose Menelaus, who first took eight years, and it was only after
extracted a promise from all her other suitors wrestling with Proetus that he finally man-
that should her life ever be in danger they aged to navigate back to Sparta. There he mar-
would join arms in her service. Agamemnon ried Hermione to Neoptolemus.
forcibly married Helen’s sister, Clytemnestra. See also: Aerope; Agamemnon; Atreus; Helen; Paris;
When the Dioscuri were immortalized, Trojan War
Menelaus succeeded Tyndareus as the king of
Sparta, the city to which he welcomed Paris,
unaware he had come to abduct Helen. When Menetheus
he did so—some saying that Helen had fallen Greek
in love with Paris as much as he with her— Rebellious Athenian who led the uprising
Menelaus called on all those who had vied for against Theseus when Theseus returned from
her hand to honor their oath and come to her his imprisonment in Tartarus. Theseus fled to
aid. Scyros and Menetheus succeeded him as king,
Led by Agamemnon, the Greek fleet assem- though the sons of Theseus were afterwards
bled at Aulis, but Agamemnon considered that restored to the throne.
even though their fleet was undoubtedly
strong, they needed further support. As a
result Agamemnon, Menelaus, and Palamedes Menoeceus
went to Ithaca to persuade Odysseus to join Greek
them. Having sailed from Aulis, the fleet, hav- 1. Father of Jocasta who was directly de-
ing made one error en route, landed at scended from the original Sparti, the “Sown
Tenedos in sight of Troy. It was probably from Men” who helped Cadmos establish the city.
there that Menelaus, Odysseus, and Hence he was also one of the Sparti, for the
Palamedes went as envoys to Priam to request name applied to descendants as well.
the return of Helen. They were greeted courte- Following Oedipus’s marriage to his mother,
ously in Troy by Antenor, who advised his fel- Jocasta, the blind seer Teiresias stated that only
Merman 205
the voluntary sacrifice of one of the Sparti often depicted as wearing winged sandals
would free Thebes of the plague ravaging the (talaria) and carrying a winged staff that was
city. Menoeceus threw himself from the walls entwined with serpents, a caduceus.
to his death. Astronomical: The smallest and innermost of
2. Son of Creon, king of Thebes, who, fol- the planets in the solar system, named after the
lowing a prophesy by Teiresias, took his own Roman messenger of the gods because of its
life. He has frequently been confused with relatively swift motion across the sky. The
Menoeceus, but the two characters are quite planet lies at an average distance of 58 million
distinct, even if their fates are remarkably kilometers (36 million miles) from the sun and
similar. has no satellites. It is approximately one-third
See also: Creon; Sparti the size of earth, having an equatorial diame-
ter of 4,880 kilometers (3,032 miles).
Mentor
Greek Meriones
“Adviser”; the right-hand man to Odysseus Greek
who managed that great hero’s affairs in Ithaca Simply referred to as the companion of
while he was away at the Trojan War. On one Idomeneos when the latter joined the Greek
occasion Athene assumed the identity of fleet prior to sailing to Troy.
Mentor to give advice to the young Tele-
machus, or to reconcile the feud between
Odysseus and the kinsmen of the suitors of Mermaid
Penelope that Odysseus had killed on his Greek
return from Troy. In ancient Greek mythology, mermaids appear
See also: Odysseus under the name of Nereides, who have many
of the characteristics normally associated with
these fabulous sea dwellers. They attract men
Mercur~ius, ~y and will marry them yet will disappear at once
Roman if the man attempts to talk to them. Ancient
God of eloquence, skill, trading, and thieving Greek mermaids do not have the characteristic
and messenger to the gods who was early fishy attributes of later European mermaids
identified with the Greek Hermes, whose role and are thus fully human in form. They do,
he echoes. Legend made him the son of Maia, however, like other sea deities, have the ability
a popular deity, though lacking real prestige. to alter their shape at will. Usually benevolent,
Augustus was the only emperor to show any and having mermen as their male counter-
real interest in him. His temple on the parts, mermaids could be destructive and were
Aventine Hill, built c. 495 B.C., was a gathering sometimes, in this role, identified with Sirens.
place for tradesmen and merchants of all Mermaids persist into modern Greek folk-
kinds, their gatherings holding special signifi- lore, where they are known as Gorgones,
cance during the month of May, when the tem- regarded as the sisters or daughters of
ple had been founded (May was the month Alexander the Great.
sacred to his mother, Maia). His festival was See also: Nereides
celebrated on May 15.
Romans seemed to enjoy forming special
associations based loosely on the worship of Merman
Mercurius, where businessmen would meet, Greek
coming together for mutual pleasure but never The male counterpart of the mermaid who, in
adverse to doing a little business at the same ancient Greek tradition, was usually the son of a
time. As such the worshippers of Mercurius, sea deity, such as Triton, the son of Poseidon and
businessmen in general, were never consid- Amphitrite. While mermaids were usually
ered quite gentlemen. Mercurius gradually equated with the Nereides, mermen could be
absorbed the attributes of Hermes and was identified with the conch shell–wielding Tritons.
206 Merope
Metaneira
Greek Midas
Wife of Celeus (king of Eleusis) and mother of Greek
Abas, Demophoön, and Triptolemus. When The name of several historical and one leg-
Demeter came to Eleusis during her fruitless endary king of Phrygia. The natural or
search for Persephone, Metaneira employed adopted son of Gordius, Midas succeeded him
her as the nurse to the infant Demophoön, not as king of Phrygia. Having rescued Silenus
knowing the true identity of the goddess. from some peasants who had chained him up,
When Demeter attempted to make Demo- he was offered a reward, the offer being made
phoön immortal by immolating him, Me- either by Silenus himself or by his master,
taneira disturbed the goddess, who had to Dionysos. Midas famously requested that he
make her identity known. Abas derided the should have the power to turn everything he
goddess for the way in which she consumed a touched to gold. However, when his food and
drink in one gulp and was rewarded by being wine, all his family and servants, and even his
turned into a lizard. Triptolemus, however, furniture had been turned to gold, Midas real-
fared better, for he was taught the arts of agri- ized his mistake and begged Dionysos to rid
culture, which he took to all four corners of the him of the accursed gift. Dionysos advised
world. him to bathe at the source of the River
See also: Abas; Celeus; Demeter; Persephone Pactolus, near Mount Tmolus, which has ever
since carried gold. The curse was removed and
everything that had been turned into gold was
Metis restored to its original form.
Greek Later Midas was involved in the musical
The supreme spirit of mild wisdom, the contest between Marsyas and Apollo. The
daughter of Oceanos and Tethys who advised judge, Tmolus, asked Midas for his opinion.
Minoan civilization 207
Midas voted for Marsyas, and Apollo, angered became patroness of cultural development, the
by this response, made Midas’s head sprout arts and sciences, industry, and particularly
asses’ ears. Thenceforth Midas wore a tall domestic skills. She was also regarded, in a
Phrygian cap to conceal his shame yet could somewhat higher form, to be the patroness of
not help but reveal his secret to his barber, heroes who undertook spiritual or magical
who, unable to keep the secret to himself, tasks. Her sacred animal was the owl, an
whispered it to the reeds in the river, or alter- attribute directly absorbed from the Greek cult
natively to a hole in the ground. Either the of Athene. She was honored at the Quin-
reeds then began to whisper the secret among quatria festival, which was originally held on
themselves, eternally, “King Midas has asses’ 19 March.
ears,” or a reed grew from the hole, and that See also: Athene
started to spread the secret.
See also: Apollo; Dionysos; Marsyas; Silenus
Minoan civilization
Greek
Milanion A Bronze Age civilization, c. 2600–1250 B.C.,
Greek that was named by Sir Arthur Evans after the
Variant spelling of Melanion. legendary king of Crete, King Minos. It was a
remarkable civilization, the first true civilized
society within Europe. Neolithic people
Miletus appear to have first reached Crete c. 6000 B.C.
Greek and established their main settlement at
The son of Apollo by Aria. He fled with Knossos, near modern Iráklion, otherwise liv-
Sarpedon from Minos to Asia Minor, where he ing in caves and refuges. However, c. 2600 B.C.
founded the kingdom that bore his name. many of these smaller settlements moved
down from the mountains to the coastal
regions, a move that was essential for future
Mimas developments. Some 600 years after the first
Greek founding moves had taken place, Minoan cul-
One of the 24 Gigantes, the huge sons of Ge ture had become firmly established, its skill
who tried to avenge the imprisonment of their and artistry best illustrated by the magnificent
brothers, the Titans, by attacking Olympus. palace complexes that were built; these were
Led by Alcyoneus and including Porphyrion, destroyed by some natural catastrophe that
Ephialtes, Pallas, Enceladus, and Polybutes, seems to have struck Crete c. 1700 B.C.
the giants were finally defeated by the gods of However, so secure was the Minoan civi-
Olympus with the help of Heracles, who pro- lization by that time that they simply picked
vided them with a magical herb of invulnera- up where they had left off, this time construct-
bility and always lowered the final blow. ing on the same sites palaces that were even
Astronomical: One of the satellites of Saturn larger and more elaborate than their predeces-
lying third closest to the planet between the sors. The most impressive of these buildings
orbits of Janus and Enceladus. were those at Knossos and Phaistos, remark-
able ruins today. Their construction denotes
the rise of architecture to the fore of Minoan
Minerva artistic expression. Some were on several sto-
Roman ries with theatrical touches such as the charac-
Goddess of education and business who later teristic inverted pillar with a wider top than
developed into the goddess of war. Closely base. Walls were lined with the finest materials
related to the Greek Athene, Minerva owes her and decorated with frescoes that remain a
origins to a warlike primal goddess of the familiar trademark of the Minoans. Even
Etruscans, a goddess of battle, death, and sex- today the ruins are extraordinary, if somewhat
uality. Later development of Minerva shows baffling, as they appear to have served more
her shedding many of her savage aspects. She than simply as houses for the ruling classes.
208 Minos
The palaces, around which Minoan civiliza- Glaucus, Androgeos, Ariadne, and Phaedra.
tion is clearly centered, were the focal point of His life, like that of Sarpedon, seems to have
state and religious life. It was within their con- lasted for several generations, giving rise to
fines, or within specially constructed arenas, some very famous incidents.
that the famous bull-leaping ceremonies took Claiming sole rule over the island of Crete,
place. Religious life within the Minoan society Minos beseeched Poseidon to send him a bull
centered around the omnipresent bull, but the from the sea, which he would then sacrifice to
leading divinity appears to have been a god- the god and thereby prove the legitimacy of
dess, the Mistress of the Animals who reflects his claim. Poseidon duly sent the bull and
the earthly and pastoral origins of the Minos was awarded the kingdom, building
Minoans. The second wave of Minoan society, his palace at Knossos, but seeing the beauty of
which had risen from the remains of that the bull Minos kept it, sacrificing another, less-
destroyed c. 1700 B.C., collapsed suddenly c. er animal in its place. To punish him, Poseidon
1450 B.C., though Knossos seems to have made his wife fall in love with the bull. To
struggled on for 70 years or so. allow her to mate with the animal, Minos
There are many theories surrounding the employed Daedalus to construct a wooden
sudden collapse of such a highly organized cow. This he did, the result of the union
society. Original theory placed the blame firm- between Pasiphaë and the Cretan Bull being
ly on an invasion by the Achaean Greeks (also the monstrous Minotaur. After it had run wild
know as Mycenaeans) from the mainland, for on the island the Cretan Bull was captured by
they certainly made wide-ranging expedi- Heracles and taken to the mainland. There it
tions, and it is possible they could have easily once again ran wild until it was caught by
stormed the undefended Minoan society, Theseus, by which time it had become known
which felt so secure on its island home. A later as the Marathonian Bull; Theseus took it to
theory blamed the eruption of the volcanic Athens for sacrifice to Athene.
island of Santorini, itself a Minoan colony. Minos was not always faithful to his wife.
Current theory suggests that the eruption, He chased Britomartis until she threw herself
which would have caused havoc over a wide into the sea to escape him, whereupon she was
area of the Mediterranean, occurred about 50 deified by Artemis and became the goddess
years before the collapse of the Minoan society Dictynna. Angry at his philandering ways,
and that the fall of Minoan civilization was Pasiphaë cast a spell on him that caused his
indeed caused by invaders. body to produce snakes and scorpions, which
The central importance of Crete, and of the killed his mistresses. He was cured of this
Minoans, is reflected in the myths that center curse by Procris, another of his lovers, who
around the island. It was the home of Minos, received his infallible spear and unbeatable
Rhadamanthus, and the Minotaur. It was to hound, Laelaps, as payment.
Crete that Rhea turned when looking for Minos was regarded by the Greeks as having
somewhere to secrete the infant Zeus. He- been the ruler of a vast sea empire that encom-
phaistos even supplied the island with a giant passed all of Greece. He was apparently consid-
bronze guard, Talos, who survived until the ered so important that it was said that he had a
arrival of Jason and Medeä. There is little face-to-face audience with Zeus every nine
doubt that without the rise of the Minoan civ- years. While besieging Nisa, the port of Megara,
ilization Greek tradition would be sadly the Scylla, the daughter of Nisus, king of Megara,
poorer. fell in love with Minos. She cut off the lock of
See also: Knossos; Minos; Talos hair on which her father’s life depended and let
Minos into the city. Minos, however, was so
offended by her parricide that he left her, and
Minos she swam after his ship until her father’s soul,
Greek changed into a sea eagle, pounced on her, and
King of Crete, son of Zeus and Europa, she was turned into the bird Ciris. Others say
brother of Rhadamanthus and Sarpedon, hus- that Minos drowned the treacherous maiden
band of Pasiphaë, and father by her of and she was turned into the fish Ciris. Minos
Minyas 209
made war on Athens after his son, Androgeos, bull in Minoan religion, where numerous fres-
had been killed at the instigation of Aegeus. coes and statuettes attest to the bizarre, and
Having defeated the city, Minos imposed an potentially lethal, ceremony of bull-leaping.
annual tribute of seven maids and seven youths The tribute from Athens also seems to echo
who were to be fed to the Minotaur. Theseus some memory of the supremacy of Crete, the
traveled with what was to be the last of these death of the Minotaur possibly also echoing
shipments and, with the help of Ariadne, suc- the collapse of the Minoan civilization.
cessfully killed the Minotaur. See also: Daedalus; Pasiphaë; Theseus
Shortly afterwards, Daedalus and his son,
Icarus, who had been imprisoned by Minos,
escaped on wings made of feathers and wax. Minthe
Minos pursued Daedalus to Sicily and was Greek
killed there by the daughters of King Cocalos, A nymph who was pursued by Hades and
in whose house Daedalus was hiding. The sol- changed by Persephone into the plant that still
diers who had accompanied Minos then carries her name—mint.
founded the city of Heraclea Minoa, which
contained the tomb of Minos, but this was
destroyed by Theron when he founded the Minyan
new city of Acragas. Greek
The laws Minos passed on Crete were The Minyans were one of the invading civi-
regarded as so exemplary in their justice that lizations that entered Greece, along with the
after his death Minos joined Aeacus and his Ionians, c. 2000 B.C. It was their mastery of
brother, Rhadamanthus, in the Underworld as horses and wheeled vehicles that enabled
one of the judges who considered the past them to quickly suppress any resistance. They
lives of the newly dead, deciding the region brought with them Poseidon, who was often
each should be sent to. referred to as the “Earth-shaker,” a deity who
See also: Ariadne; Britomartis; Daedalus; Minotaur; reflected the thundering of horses’ hooves.
Pasiphaë; Rhadamanthus; Sarpedon; Thebes Possibly at this time he was a sky god, later
becoming a marine deity to reflect the later
mastery of the sea by the Minyans when the
Minotaur Achaeans entered the country c. 1450 B.C. and
Greek replaced Poseidon with their own sky god,
The monstrous offspring of the union between Zeus. The Minyans also brought with them the
the Cretan Bull and Pasiphaë, wife of Minos, eternal Earth Goddess, the mate of the sky
who had lain with the animal inside a wooden god. Her worship merged with that of the pre-
cow built for her by Daedalus. So horrified Hellenic Great Goddess and so developed into
was Minos with the appearance of the crea- Demeter. Their name appears to be derived
ture, usually depicted as having a bull’s head from Minyas, the king of Orchomenus.
and a man’s body, that he commanded the
master engineer Daedalus to construct the
Cretan Labyrinth to contain it. Having de- Minyas
feated Athens, Minos extracted from that city Greek
an annual tribute of seven youths and seven Eponym of the Minyan people, king of
maidens who were fed to the monster. Orchomenus and father of Leucippe, Arsippe,
However, this came to an end when Theseus, and Alcathoe. These girls resisted the intro-
the son of Aegeus, made himself a member of duction of the worship of Dionysos, even
the tribute and, with the help of Minos’s mocking it, preferring instead to sit at home
daughter, Ariadne, killed the Minotaur and weaving while their fellow women were out
escaped from its labyrinthine prison, fleeing on the mountainside worshipping the god.
from the island with his conspirator. One night they heard mysterious music and
The Minotaur appears to represent some their stools were surrounded by a strange
distorted memory of the importance of the growth of ivy. They went mad, tore Leucippe’s
210 Mithras
son to pieces, and joined the other revelers in Siamese twins. They featured prominently in
the mountains. Homer’s Iliad, in which they were killed by
Heracles during his war with Augeias and
buried at Cleonae.
Mithras
Roman
The form by which the ancient Iranian deity Moly
Mitra was introduced into the Roman Empire Greek
in 68 B.C.; this form was worshipped through- The magical plant given to Odysseus by
out the empire, with temples reaching as far Hermes that allowed Odysseus to overcome
north as Britain. By c. 250 A.D. the cult rivaled the sorcery of Circe and so restore his compan-
Christianity in its strength. A favorite of the ions to human form after Circe had turned
Roman legionaries, Mithras was a god of the them into swine. One description of the plant
sun, justice, contract, and war who was wor- seems to equate it with garlic, with milky
shipped by only men, and in secret. His cult white flowers like those of a violet, grassy
developed a savage ritual of bloody baptism, leaves, and a black root.
or Taurobolium, in which the votary sits in a See also: Circe; Heracles
trench over which a bull is sacrificed, thus
bathing the man below in blood.
Momus
Greek
Mnemosyne The personification of sarcasm and mockery,
Greek the daughter of Night. Though expelled from
“Memory”; the daughter of Uranos and Ge Olympus for his continual mockery and criti-
and mother of the Muses by Zeus. cism of the gods, Momus did suggest to Zeus
See also: Muses, the a plan to relieve some of the weight of the
human race, saying that Zeus should marry
Thetis to a mortal, as this would result in a war
Mo~era, ~ira that would significantly reduce the numbers
Greek of mortals. The marriage did, in fact, eventu-
The name of the original single Fate to whom ally lead to the Trojan War.
even Zeus had to yield. Later tradition named See also: Thetis; Trojan War
three Fates who then became known as the
Moirae (Moerae) after the original single deity.
Moneta
Roman
Mo~erae, ~irae An aspect of Juno, usually Juno Moneta, as the
Greek protectress of money.
The Fates: Clotho, the spinner; Lachesis, the
allotter; and Atropos, the inflexible. They were
the daughters of Zeus and Themis who spun Mopsus
the thread of life, determined its course, and Greek
cut it when its end was due. They were a later 1. A seer of unknown origin who sailed with
development of Moera or Moira, the single Jason and the Argonauts but was killed by a
Fate to whom even Zeus had to yield. snake in Libya.
See also: Atropos; Clotho; Lachesis 2. The son of Apollo and Manto (daughter of
Teiresias) who made himself the ruler of Caria.
Inheriting his powers of prophecy from both
Molionidae sides of his parentage, Mopsus lived in
Greek Colophon, where he was challenged to a
The twin sons of Actor or Poseidon, and prophecy contest by Calchas, which he won,
Molione who were later conceived of as and after which Calchas died of grief. Mopsus
Musagetes 211
Mors Musagetes
Roman Greek
The personification of death who was known One of the names applied to the Musae, or
as Thanatos by the Greeks. Muses.
212 Muses, the
215
216 Nem(a)ea
at birth by their mother but were found and claws, turning the pelt into his cape, said to be
reared by horse herders. Returning to the city the source of Heracles’ immense strength.
of their birth after they grew up, Pelias However, anyone else who wore it would
usurped the throne and drove Neleus out of have power over Heracles, as was the case
Iolcos. He came to Pylos, with Melampus and with Queen Omphale.
Bias, where he was made king. His daughter, Astronomical: The constellation Leo is said to
Pero, married Bias, the brother of Melampus; represent the Nemaean Lion.
his 12 sons included Nestor, the oldest and See also: Heracles; Omphale
wisest of the Greeks at Troy. He was killed by
Heracles in revenge for Neleus giving help to
Augeias, though Homer knows nothing of Nemesis
this, and was succeeded by Nestor, the only Greek
member of his family not slain by Heracles. The daughter of Oceanos and Night and god-
See also: Heracles; Nestor; Pelias dess of divine retribution whose specialty was
the punishment of hubris, arrogant self-confi-
dence. Nemesis, whose name derives from
Nem(a)ea nemo, “to apportion,” represents the resent-
Greek ment felt by men at evil deeds as well as unde-
City of ancient Argolis where a temple to Zeus served good fortune and the hoped-for down-
once stood and where the Nemaean Games fall of the victim. Originating solely as a deity
where held in Zeus’s honor, the biennial who decided whether an individual should be
games being established in 573 B.C. The valley happy or sad—but chastising those who were
in which the city was located was also the overtly lucky—she later came to be regarded
scene of the first of Heracles’ Great Labors, the solely as a goddess who devised and handed
killing of the Nemaean Lion. out punishment.
Though not popular, as her role would
suggest, Nemesis did have a shrine at
Nem(a)ean Games Rhamnus in Attica. She was frequently
Greek depicted carrying a wheel identified as signi-
Biennial games held in the vicinity of the fying the solar year, the sacred king fated
ancient Argolid city of Nemaea. Founded in either to rise to the height of fortune or die
573 B.C., the games were held in the honor of according to its seasons.
Zeus, to whom they were rededicated by
Heracles after he had successfully killed the
Nemaean Lion. Neoptolemus
Greek
The son of Achilles by Deidameia (one of the
Nem(a)ean Lion daughters of Lycomedes, king of Scyros) who
Greek was born to the great hero while he was dis-
The name given to a beast, the monstrous off- guised as a girl hiding among Lycomedes’
spring of Typhon and Echidne, that terrorized daughters to save him from battle in the Trojan
the Argolid Valley in which the city of Nemaea War after a prophecy had foretold of his death.
was located. As the valley was also in the Neoptolemus was also known as Pyrrhos, or
vicinity of Cleonae, the lion is sometimes Pyrrhus, after Achilles’ female name, Pyrrha.
referred to as the Cleonaean Lion. The killing Following the prophesied death of Achilles,
and skinning of this great lion was the first of Odysseus, Phoenix, and Diomedes came to
the 12 labors that Eurystheus set Heracles. As Scyros to persuade Lycomedes to allow
the skin of the lion was impenetrable to any Neoptolemus to join the Greek cause against
weapon, Heracles simply caught it and Troy, bringing for the youth his father’s armor.
squeezed the life out of it before rededicating This story is a little incredible: Considering
the Nemaean Games to the honor of Zeus. He that Neoptolemus would have been but a
then skinned the lion with one of its own baby when Achilles went to Troy, the war there
Nereid(e)s 217
lasting for ten years, Neoptolemus would Greek Poseidon, and therefore as the god of
have been no older than ten when he went to the sea, though he retained many of his earli-
fight against Troy. Regardless of his age, er, fresh-water aspects. His female counter-
Neoptolemus traveled to Troy and was one of part was Salacia, goddess of spring water,
the warriors secreted within the hollow belly which testifies to his origins, as did his festi-
of the Wooden Horse. val, which was held in July when fresh water
With Troy taken, Neoptolemus cornered was most scarce. Offerings were made to
Priam, Hecuba, and their son, Polites, before Neptune to assuage any water shortage, but
an alter sacred to Zeus. There Neoptolemus he remained a pale deity when compared to
slaughtered Polites and, when Priam tried to Poseidon for the simple reason that the
intervene, killed him as well. He also mur- Romans were not a seafaring nation. Neptune
dered the Trojan infant Prince Astyanax. He was often depicted riding a dolphin and car-
was awarded, as his share of the booty, rying a trident.
Hector’s widow, Andromache, by whom Astronomical: Discovered in 1846, Neptune
some said he had three sons. Seeking to leave is one of the gas giant planets of the solar sys-
Troy, the Greek ships were once again tem lying an average distance of 4,496 million
becalmed, just as they had been en route at kilometers (2,793 million miles) from the sun.
Aulis. Achilles’ ghost demanded the sacrifice It is approximately four times the size of the
of Polyxena to ensure favorable winds, a sacri- earth, with an equatorial diameter of roughly
fice carried out by Neoptolemus. Returning 49,800 kilometers (30,940 miles); it has two
with Menelaus to Sparta, Neoptolemus mar- known satellites, possibly more, and a very
ried Hermione. faint ring system.
Leaving Sparta, Neoptolemus, in the com- See also: Poseidon
pany of Andromache and Helenus, aban-
doned his kingdom in Thessaly and traveled
to and settled in Epirus, part of which he gave
to Helenus, who married Andromache. He Nereid(e)s
was killed by Orestes, to whom Hermione had Greek
originally been betrothed by Tyndareus. An The fifty or more sea or freshwater nymph
alternative to this version of his death says that daughters of the sea god Nereus and the
he visited Delphi, where he was murdered by Oceanid Doris. The chief of the Nereides was
Machaereus after Neoptolemus had objected Thetis, the mother of Achilles, though others
to the custom of the priests receiving all the are named from time to time in the works of
sacrificial meat. He was buried in the temple of Homer and Hesiod. Female spirits without
Apollo at Delphi, where he received divine any malice for mankind, Nereides were associ-
honors. ated solely with the Mediterranean, unlike the
See also: Achilles; Deidameia Oceanides. As sea nymphs they were pro-
tected by Poseidon, who vented his wrath
against Cassiopeia when she boasted that she,
Nephele or her daughter, Andromeda, were more beau-
Greek tiful than the Nereides.
The phantom cloud in the form of Hera—cre- The Neraïda, an alternative name-form,
ated by the goddess or Zeus—that Ixion mated continue into modern Greek folklore, the
with. Nephele became the mother of Centauros nymphs of upland country and woodland
and thus the ancestor of the centaurs. who can catch a man unawares at midday and
See also: Ixion send him mad or dumb.
Astronomical: The name Nereid has been
given to one of the two known satellites of the
Neptun~e, ~us planet Neptune. It lies very distant from the
Roman planet, well outside the orbit of the other
Originally associated with freshwater, Nep- known moon, Triton.
tune increasingly became identified with the See also: Achilles; Thetis
218 Nereus
the subject of a now fragmentary early was transformed into an osprey or sea eagle
Hellenic romance about his love for Semiramis that swooped down onto the girl, who was
in which he, the great conqueror, is treated as a changed into the bird Ciris. A variant says that
lovesick youth. This work is one of the earliest Minos simply drowned the girl by making her
known Greek novels. a figurehead on his ship and that she trans-
formed into the fish Ciris.
2. A warrior from Troy who gave his life for
Niobe that of an Argonaut, Euryalus.
Greek See also: Minos
Daughter of Tantalus, sister of Pelops and
Broteas, and wife of Amphion, king of
Thebes. She made contemptuous remarks Nisyrus
about the fact that Leto had had a mere two Greek
children, Apollo and Artemis, while she had Volcanic mountain under which Polybutes
had 12, the Niobids, though some say there was said to have been buried after the epic
were 14, seven boys and seven girls. In struggle between the Gigantes and the gods
revenge for Niobe’s remarks, Apollo killed of Olympus and whose continued rage was
the male Niobids and Artemis killed the said to be exhibited when the mountain
female Niobids, though some sources say erupted.
that one of the girls was spared. Niobe died of
grief and was turned to stone by Zeus on
Mount Sipylus, her tears emerging as the Nod~ens, ~ons
streams that trickle from it. There, the snow- Romano-Celtic
capped crag that is identified with Niobe A god connected with water and healing who
appears to cry when the sun strikes and melts was occasionally equated with Neptune, mak-
the snow. ing him a sea deity as well as a deity of fresh
See also: Amphion; Apollo; Artemis; Leto; Tantalus water. He had a sanctuary at Lydney,
Gloucestershire, England, where his totem ani-
mal appears to have been the dog.
Niobids
Greek
The collective name of the 12, or 14, children of Nom~ios, ~ius
Niobe and Amphion, six, or seven, being of Greek
either gender. When Niobe boasted herself “The Pasturer”; a title given to gods, such as
superior to Leto on account of the number of Apollo, Hermes, and Pan, who protected valu-
children she had had, compared to Leto’s two, able pasture land.
Apollo and Artemis, Apollo killed the male
Niobids, and Artemis the females, though
some say one girl was spared. Notus
Greek
Son of Astraeus and Eos, the personification of
Nisus the south or southwest wind, called Auster by
Greek the Romans. His brothers were all the stars,
1. King of Megara whose daughter, Scylla, fell Hesperus, and the three other winds, Zephy-
in love with King Minos, who was attacking rus (west), Boreas (north) and Eurus (east),
the city. She treacherously cut off the purple though some sources say that Eurus was not
lock of hair on which her father’s life de- the offspring of Astraeus and Eos. All four
pended and then opened the city gates to winds were kept in a cave on the floating
enable Minos to take the city. However, Minos island of Aeolia, where they were released on
was so disgusted by Scylla’s parricide that he the command of the gods or when Aeolus felt
would have nothing to do with the girl, and as like it.
he sailed away she swam after his ship. Nisus See also: Aeolus; Boreas; Eurus; Zephyrus
220 Nox
Oreades: mountains
Numicius Dryades, Hamadryades, and Meliae: trees
Roman Naiades: fresh water, the daughters of
The river beside which Aeneas, in his old age, Nereus
was said to have met Anna, the sister of Dido. Nereides: the Mediterranean
Having been purified for his life on earth in the Napaeae: glens
river’s waters, Aeneas was finally received Oceanides: the ocean
into the company of the gods.
See also: Aeneas Other groups of nymphs did not have specific
habitats. These include the Hesperides, the
guardians of the golden apples of Hera; and
Numina the Hyades and Pleiades, the daughters of
Roman Atlas. Nymphs appear in many if not quite all
Generic name applied to the spirits of crea- of the Greek myths. They were scarcer in later
tures and plants and, in men, of the breath, the Roman tradition, the most notable nymph of
Nysa 221
Roman mythology being Marica, the wife of by the nymphs who lived there after Hera had
Faunus and mother of Latinus. punished Athamas and Ino, who were origi-
See also: Pleiades nally entrusted with the infant. They fed the
child honey. Dionysos was said to have first
invented wine while living with the nymphs
Nysa on Mount Nysa, a story that appears to reflect
Greek the origin of viniculture, which then spread,
Mountain in Libya to which the infant along with the cult of Dionysos, to Greece and
Dionysos was taken by Hermes to be cared for beyond.
K O k
Oceanid(es) hearth. Consulting the Oracle of Tethys, he
Greek was told that should a virgin offer herself to
Name given to any one of the daughters of the apparition, she would bear a splendid son.
Oceanos and Tethys, the sisters being consid- So impressed was Tarchetius with this
ered nymphs who specifically inhabited the prospect that he ordered his daughter to unite
Western Ocean, unlike the Nereides, who with the mysterious penis. However, feeling
dwelled in the Mediterranean. insulted, she ordered Ocresia, her servant, to
take her place. Tarchetius imprisoned the two,
but Vesta prevented him from having them
Oceanos executed.
Greek Ocresia bore twins, which Tarchetius gave
A Titan, the son of Uranos and Ge, brother of to Teratius, ordering him to kill them, but
Cronos, Hyperion, Iapetus, Rhea, Themis, Teratius exposed them on the river bank,
Tethys, and Mnemosyne. When Ge persuaded where they were fed by a wolf and birds
his brothers to rise up against Uranos, Oceanos whose strange behavior attracted the atten-
was the only male Titan to refuse. He married tion of a cowherd. Discovering the baby boys
his sister, Tethys, and by her became the father the cowherd immediately adopted them as
of Metis, Zeus’s first wife, whom he swal- his own. When they reached manhood they
lowed; all the rivers and their gods; and more returned to Alba Longa and assassinated
than 3,000 daughters, the Oceanides. The Tarchetius.
ancient Greeks, as with most ancient civiliza- See also: Vulcan
tions, perceived the world to be flat and encir-
cled by a river flowing from the Underworld,
its banks inhabited by the spirits of the dead. Odysseus
Oceanos was seen as the personification of this Greek
river, across which lay the Garden of the Called Ulysses by the Romans, Odysseus was
Hesperides, the entrance to the Underworld, the main character in Homer’s Odyssey and
and the home of the Gorgons. Helios (Sun) also appeared in Homer’s Iliad as one of the
was ferried back to his starting point in the east top Greek leaders at the siege of Troy, noted for
every night by Oceanos. his courage and ingenuity.
See also: Metis; Tethys He was the son of Laertes, king of Ithaca
(though some say his father was really
Sisyphus), and Anticleia, the daughter of
Ocresia Autolycus, from whom he inherited his wily,
Roman sometimes downright dishonest ways. In his
According to one tradition, possibly Etruscan youth Odysseus proved his prowess as a great
in origin, the mother of Servius Tullius, whom hunter and once received a severe thigh
she conceived from the household fire from wound from a wild boar while hunting with
which the penis of Vulcan rose. his uncles, the sons of his grandfather,
On several consecutive days Tarchetius, the Autolycus.
tyrannical king of Alba Longa, saw a vision of Odysseus married Penelope, daughter of
a penis rising from the flames of the household Icarius, winning the right to marry her in a
223
224 Odysseus
footrace. Her father tried to persuade her to Odysseus killed Ajax in their quarrel and
stay with him, and Odysseus simply told her thereby won the right to Achilles’ arms.
that she could do as she pleased. She veiled Later Odysseus was instrumental in the
her face to hide her blushes and followed her capture of Helenus, the Trojan seer who fled
new husband to Ithaca, where Odysseus suc- Troy when Deiphobus forcibly married Helen.
ceeded his father. However, shortly after the He revealed to Odysseus and the Greek forces
birth of a son, Telemachus, the heroes of how Troy might be taken; Odysseus was
Greece were summoned to the Trojan War. To instrumental in achieving some of these strata-
avoid having to serve—an oracle had warned gems, including bringing Philoctetes from
him not to go—Odysseus feigned madness by Lemnos to join the Greek forces and stealing
sowing his land with salt and ploughing it in the Palladium, being aided by Diomedes in
with an ox and ass before the plough. His ruse both tasks. He also went with Diomedes and
was exposed by Palamedes, who placed the Phoenix to persuade Lycomedes to allow
infant Telemachus in the furrow before him. Neoptolemus to join their forces, giving the lad
Whereas a madman would have ploughed the the armor of his father, Achilles. His most
child into the ground, Odysseus acted like any important role, however, was reportedly
sane father and rescued him. Having thus devising the stratagem of the Wooden Horse,
been forced to join the Greek forces, he later possibly with help from Athene; he was
unmasked the youthful Achilles, who was hid- among the Greeks secreted within the gift and
ing on Scyros disguised as a girl among the hauled into Troy by the unsuspecting Trojans.
daughters of King Lycomedes, by leaving a Having taken the city, Odysseus and
shield and spear among gifts for the maidens. Menelaus killed and mutilated Deiphobus.
His part in the Trojan War remains fairly Hecuba, the widow of Priam, fell to Odysseus,
inconspicuous until the death of Achilles, and he took her to the Thracian Chersonesus,
though he recommended deserting Philoctetes where she avenged the death of one of her
on Lemnos after that hero had suffered a fes- sons, Polydorus. With the war finally over, the
tering and highly offensive wound. He also most famous part of Odysseus’s life began.
accompanied envoys Menelaus and Pala- His ten-year return journey to Ithaca is the
medes in an attempt to persuade Priam to sole subject of Homer’s epic Odyssey, in which
return Helen and thereby avoid war; the mis- the hero recounts the first nine years of his
sion failed. Odysseus also exacted a cruel travels and troubles to his Phaeacian hosts.
revenge on Palamedes for uncovering his ruse Soon after leaving Troy, and having visited the
and tricking him into joining the Greek forces. Cicones, where Odysseus was given several
Odysseus bribed one of Palamedes’ servants jars of a potent, sweet wine, his ship was
to hide a letter written in the name of Priam blown off course, and he and his companions
under Palamedes’ bed. He then accused were carried to the land of the Lotophagi, the
Palamedes of treason; his tent was searched, Lotus-Eaters. From there they were driven to
the letter was found, and Palamedes was the land of the fierce Laestrygones; having
stoned to death. Diomedes and Odysseus then escaped, they were imprisoned by Polyphe-
made a night raid on the Trojan lines, killed the mus, the one-eyed son of Poseidon, on Sicily.
spy Dolon, and drove off the snow-white They managed to escape from his custody by
horses of Rhesus (they also killed him). telling the giant that Odysseus’s name was
Following the death of Achilles, Odysseus “Nobody,” put out his single eye, and then
disputed Ajax the Greater for the right to pos- clung to the bellies of his sheep when he let
sess the arms of the fallen hero. The adjudica- them out of their cave.
tors of the dispute overheard some captive They next arrived at the island home of
Trojan girls extolling the virtues of Odysseus Aeolus, who gave Odysseus a bag containing
above Ajax and so awarded the armor to the winds needed to get home. However,
Odysseus. This so enraged Ajax that he went thinking the bag to contain treasure,
mad, offended Athene, killed the Greek sheep, Odysseus’s men opened it and let out all the
thinking them to be his enemy, and then killed winds, causing further storms. Next they were
himself. Homer’s simpler variant says that washed ashore on Aeaea, the island home of
Odyssey 225
the sorceress Circe, who turned his men into their first task being to hide all their weapons.
swine. Armed with the plant moly, given to Going to the palace, Odysseus was immedi-
him by Hermes, Odysseus persuaded Circe to ately recognized by his aging hound, Argus,
restore his men, then became Circe’s lover for who in his delight promptly expired. He was
a year. Then, on Circe’s advice, he sailed to the then bathed by Eurycleia, his old nurse, who
River Oceanos, where he summoned up the recognized him from the scar on his thigh.
shades of the dead, and consulted the shade of Odysseus, however, kept his identity a secret
the prophet Teiresias, who told him that he from Penelope.
and his men would arrive home safely only if Telemachus then persuaded his mother to
they did not harm the cattle of Helios on the tell her suitors that she would marry whoever
island of Thrinacia. Odysseus saw several of could bend Odysseus’s great bow, which had
the other dead heroes in the Underworld, as once belonged to Eurytus, and shoot an arrow
well as the great sinners Tityus, Tantalus, and through a line of ten axe heads. Odysseus took
Sisyphus. part in the contest, despite the derision of the
Sailing away, Odysseus once again visited other suitors, and was the only one up to the
Circe, who advised him how he might suc- challenge. At this point Telemachus and other
cessfully negotiate the perils of the Sirens and supporters rushed in, and with their help
Scylla and Charybdis. He followed the advice Odysseus dispatched all of the suitors before
but was marooned on Thrinacia. There his revealing his identity. Reunited with his wife,
crew slaughtered and ate some of Helios’s cat- Odysseus then went to visit Laertes, but the
tle, becoming shipwrecked after they set sail kinsmen of the slain suitors rose up against
yet again. Odysseus alone survived and was him and battle ensued. Peace was restored
washed up on Ogygia, the home of Calypso, only after Athene, disguised as Mentor, inter-
who made him her lover and wanted to make vened.
him immortal so that he would remain with At this point Odyssey ends. A later epic,
her forever. However, after eight years, Zeus Telegony, by the sixth-century B.C. poet
sent Hermes to recall him, and Odysseus built Eugammon of Cyrene, tells of Odysseus’s fur-
a ship or raft and sailed on. Close to Phaeacia, ther wanderings, during which he met
he was again wrecked by Poseidon, who was Telegonus, his son by Circe, in battle after the
still angry at him for having blinded latter came to Ithaca to search out his father.
Polyphemus, his son. He was saved from Telegonus was ignorant of whom he was fight-
drowning by Leucothea, who appeared in the ing and killed Odysseus. He married Pene-
form of a seagull. Washed up on the shore of lope; Telemachus married Circe.
Phaeacia, he was discovered, naked, by See also: Achilles; Aeolus; Ajax (1); Anticleia; Calypso;
Nausicaa, who took him to her father, King Circe; Ithaca; Laertes; Penelope; Polyphemus;
Telemachus; Trojan War; Wooden Horse
Alcinous, to whom Odysseus related the story
of his travels. Alcinous then arranged for
Odysseus’s transport back to Ithaca in an
enchanted sleep. Upon arriving he was Odyssey
deposited close to the Cave of the Nymphs on Greek
Ithaca as the Phaeacian ship turned to travel Greek epic poem written in 24 books that is
back. Poseidon’s last act of vengeance against attributed to Homer, probably dating before
Odysseus was to turn this ship into stone. 700 B.C. It describes the return of Odysseus
On Ithaca, Penelope had, for a number of from the siege of Troy, the vengeance of
years, been besieged by suitors, led by Poseidon, and encounters between Odysseus
Antinous, who were now living in the palace, and such characters as Circe, Aeolus,
waiting for her to make up her mind which to Polyphemus, Scylla, and Charybdis. On his
marry. Odysseus, disguised as an old man or return to Ithaca, his home, after ten years of
beggar by Athene and visiting the hut of his wandering, he finds his wife, Penelope,
faithful swineherd, Eumaeus, he was reunited besieged by suitors. He dispatches the suitors,
with his son, Telemachus. Together they and husband and wife are reunited.
planned the downfall of Penelope’s suitors, See also: Homer; Odysseus
226 Oebalus
linchpin of Oenomaus’s chariot with one of ancient kingdom of Elis, in the west
wax. It broke during the race, and Oenomaus Peloponnesos, the city was home to quadren-
was thrown out and killed; Pelops reneged on nial games held between 776 B.C. and 393 A.D.
the deal and killed Myrtilus. to honor Zeus. Traditionally founded by
See also: Hippodameia; Pelops Heracles after his defeat of Augeias, these
became known as the Olympic Games, the
forerunner of the modern games. Buildings at
Oenone Olympia included a temple to Zeus and Hera
Greek that housed the elaborately adorned statue of
A nymph who lived on Mount Ida and loved the god, one of the Seven Wonders of the
Paris, either actually marrying him, or simply World. Archaeological excavations at Olympia
living with him. She was deserted when Paris have unearthed other great temples, the cele-
was promised Helen by Aphrodite. Later, after brated statue of Hermes by Praxiteles, other
Paris had been mortally wounded by buildings, and the stadium. Reportedly there
Philoctetes he returned to Oenone and was a hippodrome at Olympia, but no trace
beseeched her to save him. She refused, Paris has been found.
died, and she then hanged herself. See also: Heracles
See also: Paris
Olympian
Ogyges Greek
Greek Title applied to a dweller in Olympus, hence
According to some sources the name of the the 12 great gods of classical Greece; also used
first king of Thebes during whose reign a to refer to the nine Muses.
destructive flood occurred. It is possible, due
to the later foundation story of Thebes by
Cadmos, that Ogyges ruled a city that once Olympic Games
stood on the site of Thebes, which was then Greek
destroyed in the flood. Quadrennial games traditionally founded by
See also: Thebes Heracles at Olympia in Elis and dedicated to
Zeus. After his victory over Augeias, Heracles
fetched the wild olive tree from the source of
Ogygia the Danube, its leaves crowning the games’
Greek victors. The games appear to have lapsed for a
The island home of the nymph Calypso, who period, for Pelops was said to have revived
tenderly cared for Odysseus for eight years them at one point. Historical records of the
after he had been washed ashore following one games stretch back to 776 B.C., and their four-
of the great hero’s many shipwrecks. Odysseus year cycle was used as the basic dating system
left only after Zeus, at Athene’s request, sent of the Greeks. The last ancient games took
Hermes to remind him of his duty. place in 393 A.D.; the modern Olympic Games
See also: Calypso; Odysseus were revived in Athens in 1896.
See also: Heracles
Oileus
Greek Olympus
King of Locris and father of Ajax the Lesser. Greek
The abode of the gods on the summit of a
mountain symbolized by Mount Olympus, the
Olympia highest mountain in Greece, at the eastern end
Greek of a range dividing Thessaly and Macedonia.
One of the most important cities and religious Usually swathed in clouds, the mountain,
centers of ancient Greece. Situated in the which has seven peaks and rises to more than
228 Omalos
2,740 meters (9,000 feet), became the ideal home edly swallowed this stone, thinking it the
of gods who lived in the pure upper air beyond infant Zeus; he later disgorged it, and it fell at
a cloud gate that was guarded by the Horae. this spot. Others say the stone fell onto the
Collectively referred to as Olympians, each god similarly named Omalos Plain in western
or goddess had a palace, but they all repaired to Crete.
Zeus’s great hall to feast on ambrosia and drink
nectar served by Hebe, the daughter of Hera
and cupbearer of Olympus. A distinctive spur Onocentaur
on the mountain is still known as the Throne of Greek
Zeus. Ancient Greeks dared not venture onto A class of centaur with the tail and legs of an
the mountain, and even today few are intrepid ass rather than those of a horse.
enough to tackle the long climb.
At one stage Mount Olympus was said to
have been piled on Mount Ossa, and then Opheltes
Olympus and Ossa on top of Mount Pelion, by Greek
giants led by Briareus in an attempt to reach The son of King Lycurgus of Nemaea. His
Heaven and destroy the gods. As punishment father was warned by an oracle that the infant
the giants were imprisoned by the gods under Opheltes must not be allowed to touch the
Mount Etna, where their fury is still said to ground until he had learned to walk.
make that mountain erupt. However, Hypsipyle, his nurse, put him down
There are other mountains within the Greek when the Seven Against Thebes came to
world known as Mount Olympus, notably one Nemaea looking for freshwater. He was bitten
near Pursa (modern Ulu Dag above Bursa). by a snake and died. The Nemaean Games
were founded in his honor under the new
name of Archemorus—the “beginning of
Omalos
doom,” for the expedition against Thebes was
Greek fated to fail. The games were later rededicated
Located in western Crete along the northern by Heracles to Zeus. His shrine has not been
fringe of the Levk Mountains, this pancake-flat, definitely identified but is thought to be the
mountain-ringed plain, whose name means large, irregularly pentagonal heroön at the
“belly-button,” was regarded, at least by some southwest corner of the sanctuary at Nemaea.
ancient Greeks, as the navel of the world.
Omphale Ophiuchus
Greek Greek
Widow of Tmolus and queen of Lydia. She “The Serpent Bearer”; the name given to
purchased Heracles when he sold himself into Asclepios after he had been translated to the
slavery; he served her for either one or three heavens as the constellation that carries this
years, during which she bore him a son, name. The founder of medicine and ship’s
Lamus. Later writers said that during his doctor to the Argonauts, Asclepios was so
enslavement Heracles lived effeminately, skillful that he once succeeded in bringing a
dressing in Omphale’s clothes while she wore man back to life. This power so worried Hades
his lion’s-skin armor. Others, however, say that he persuaded Zeus to place Asclepios
Heracles continued to perform heroic deeds among the stars out of the way. There he is
while serving out his required time. depicted holding a serpent, his most famous
See also: Heracles attribute.
Astronomical: An ill-formed constellation
that lies across the celestial equator between
Omphalos approximate right ascensions 16h00m and
Greek 18h45m, declination from +14° to –30°. To
The navel stone of the world that stood in the either side are two smaller constellations,
temple of Apollo at Delphi. Cronos suppos- Serpens Caput (Head of the Serpent) to the
Orestes 229
west, Serpens Cauda (Tail of the Serpent) to Theodosius in 395 A.D., when he abolished all
the east. pagan observances.
See also: Asclepios See also: Delphic Oracle
Ops Orchomenus
Roman Greek
An early goddess of plenty who was later The capital city of the Minyan people of
identified with the Greek Rhea, thus some- Boeotia. At one time they extracted tribute
times regarded as the wife of Saturnus. She is, from Thebes, but Heracles challenged this, led
however, more usually thought of as the con- a successful campaign against them, and sub-
sort of Consus. sequently made Orchomenus a tributary of
Thebes.
See also: Boeotia
Oracle
Greco-Roman
In Greek, manteion; in Latin, oraculum. A holy Orcus
place where inquirers obtained sacred Roman
responses to questions about their futures. The One of the names the Romans used in refer-
responses were usually ambivalent, so that the ring to the Underworld; an alternative was
oracle was always proved right, whatever Dis. The name appears to have been applied to
actual events transpired. The earliest Greek Pluto, the Roman equivalent of Hades, god of
oracle was probably that of Zeus at Dodona, in the Underworld.
Epirus, where the priests interpreted the
rustling of the leaves in a sacred oak tree. The
most celebrated was that of Apollo at Delphi, Oread(es)
the aptly named Delphic Oracle. Here the Greek
priestess, known as the Pythia, sat on a tripod One of the many classes of nymphs said to
over a chasm, which exuded noxious fumes, inhabit the mountains and grottos. The
and chewed laurel, thereby inducing a hyp- Oreades also appeared to share the habitation
notic trance. Her demented ravings were of glens with the Napaeae, another class of
translated for the questioner by priests, often nymphs.
giving the oracle in hexameter verse. Other
major Greek oracles were at Didyma and
Claros, both of Apollo, and at Ephyra, the Oreithyia
Oracle of the Dead. Greek
Though the normal manner of consultation The daughter of Erichthonius, or Erechtheus,
was to simply question the priest in atten- who was abducted by Boreas.
dance, other methods existed. One could cast
lots or receive communication from the god by
“incubation,” whereby the inquirer would Orestes
sleep in a holy area and receive the answer via Greek
dreams. Although the responses, in English, Son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra,
are also referred to as “oracles,” the Greeks brother of Electra and Iphigeneia. After the
called then chremos (pl. chremmoi), the Romans murder of his father by Clytemnestra and her
oraculum (pl. oracula). lover, Aegisthus, Orestes fled to the court of
By the advent of the Christian era oracles Strophius, king of Phocis and Agamemnon’s
were no longer given in verse, and they brother-in-law, and there became the insepa-
entered a steady decline. When Emperor rable companion of Strophius’s son, Pylades,
Julian sent to the oracle at Delphi, he was told some sources hinting at a homosexual rela-
that it had ceased to operate. The oracle at tionship. During Orestes’ adolescence Electra
Didyma was closed by the Christian Emperor wrote him many letters begging him to
230 Orion
return to Argos to avenge the murder of their sister, Electra; returning to Mycenae, he killed
father. Aegisthus’s son and became the king of
Having reached manhood, Orestes con- Mycenae and Sparta.
sulted the Delphic Oracle, which instructed However, Orestes now found that
him to return to Argos and exact his revenge. Hermione, to whom he had been betrothed by
He did exactly that, killing mother and lover; Tyndareus, had been awarded to Neop-
Aegisthus had by this time become his stepfa- tolemus by Menelaus after the Trojan War.
ther. Even though he had been guided by the Orestes traveled to Delphi and either killed
Delphic Oracle, the Erinnyes pursued Orestes Neoptolemus or arranged for his death. He
and drove him mad. He returned to Delphi for then married Hermione; Electra married
further advice, and the oracle sent him to Pylades. There the adventures of Orestes seem
Athens, where he embraced a statue of Athene to end, for the next reference is to his death as
in her temple on the Acropolis. She then sum- an old man and his succession as king by
moned a special sitting of the Areopagus. At Tisamenus. His bones, however, do not appear
the hearing Orestes was defended by Apollo to have remained at Mycenae or Sparta, for
on the grounds that motherhood is less impor- Herodotus recounts how the Spartans were
tant than fatherhood. He was acquitted of the told they would conquer Tegea only if Orestes’
murder on the casting vote of Athene, who bones were brought to Sparta. They were dis-
appeased the Erinnyes by giving them a covered in a forge at Tegea, and the Spartans
sacred grotto in Athens and declaring that they brought them triumphantly home.
should be known thenceforth as the See also: Agamemnon; Clytemnestra; Erinnyes;
Eumenides. Iphigeneia
This, at least, is the traditional version of
Orestes’ cure. Others say that he drove away
the Erinnyes by biting off one of his fingers at Orion
Megalopolis, or that the madness that had Greek
overcome him simply vanished while he was A giant son of Poseidon, Zeus, and Hermes
visiting Gythion. Euripides, in his Orestes, does who was conceived when the three gods took
not let Orestes off the hook quite so easily. an ox hide, urinated on it, and then buried it.
Euripides has Orestes condemned to death by Nine months later it produced the baby Urion,
the Argives, after which Orestes and Pylades who was given to King Hyrieus; the child was
try to murder Helen because Menelaus renamed Orion. His remarkable conception
refused to help them. The pair then holds was the answer to the prayers of Hyrieus.
Hermione hostage until Apollo appears and Exceedingly handsome and an excellent
orders the banishment of Orestes. No other hunter, his favorite prey being the hare, Orion
source follows this line, and this weird story fell in love with Merope, the daughter of
appears to be the invention of the playwright. Oenopion of Chios; the latter promised his
Later tradition continues Orestes’ madness daughter’s hand if Orion freed the island of
after the trial at Athens, a cure for which may wild beasts. Orion completed this task with
be found, so Apollo informs him, if he travels ease, but Oenopion failed to keep his promise.
to Tauris and brings back the statue of Artemis. Orion then seduced Merope but was blinded
Arriving, still accompanied by Pylades, by her father, helped in his task by his father,
Orestes finds that his sister, Iphigeneia, is the Dionysos.
priestess to Artemis (he thought she was sacri- An oracle told the giant that his sight would
ficed by their father at Aulis). Together they be restored if he traveled far to the east and
narrowly escape the murderous Taurians and exposed his eyes to the rays of the rising sun.
flee to Athens with the statue, Orestes finally As a son of Poseidon, Orion had the ability to
cured of his affliction. The statue was set up walk on water, and in this mode he made it to
either in the temple of Artemis Orthia at Sparta Lemnos. There Hephaistos provided him with
or in Attica, Iphigeneia going on to become the his servant, the boy Cedalion, as a guide.
priestess of Artemis at Brauron. Orestes, now Sitting on Orion’s shoulders, Cedalion gave
fully sane again, was reunited with his other him directions toward the sunrise. There his
Orpheus 231
sight was restored by Helios and Eos, Helios’s sibly another of the Muses). He received a lyre
sister, who took him to Delos. from Apollo, who some make his father, and
There he shared his great pleasure of hunt- was taught to play by the Muses so that his
ing with Artemis, but she was also responsible music had the power to enchant beasts, trees,
for his death, though that event is variously and rocks to follow its sounds. He was an
described. Either he boasted of his prowess to Argonaut, accompanying Jason on his voyage
Artemis, and Apollo, upon hearing this, was to Colchis, during which he introduced his fel-
afraid that Artemis might fall in love with him low adventurers to the mysteries of Samo-
and so contrived his death; or he tried to rape thrace and was, according to some, responsi-
Artemis’s attendant, Opis, and Ge sent a scor- ble for charming to sleep with his music the
pion, Scorpius, to kill him; or Apollo killed him sleepless dragon that guarded the Golden
by accident with a discus; or Apollo chal- Fleece. On his return he married the beautiful
lenged his sister to target practice while Orion Eurydice. However, she was killed when she
was swimming, and she hit the unfortunate was bitten by a snake while being pursued by
giant’s head, not realizing what it was. Aristaeus.
After his death, by whichever means, Orion Grief-stricken, Orpheus now undertook his
was placed among the stars as the constella- famous journey to the Underworld. There he
tion that bears his name. Accompanied by his played his lyre for Hades and so enchanted the
faithful hunting dog, Sirius, he eternally pur- god that he allowed Eurydice to return to the
sues the Pleiades, the seven daughters of Atlas land of the living. Hades set but one condition:
(one of them also named Merope, who he is that Orpheus should not look back at his wife
said to have pursued during his lifetime). The until they had both safely emerged from the
scorpion was also placed in the heavens as the Underworld. Nearing the exit, Orpheus began
constellation Scorpius, far enough away to to wonder if his wife really was following him;
cause Orion no further distress. At the feet of no longer able to contain himself, he glanced
Orion is the constellation Lepus, “the Hare,” back. Eurydice was thus lost to him forever.
an eternal reminder of his favorite animal at Now despairing with grief, Orpheus made
the hunt. the fatal mistake of neglecting to honor
Astronomical: Straddling the celestial equator, Dionysos, and as a result he was torn to pieces
Orion is one of the best known of all the con- by Thracian Maenads during one of their
stellations, with three stars making up his belt; orgiastic celebrations. The Muses collected
one of the few constellations that can be imag- together the pieces of his body and buried
ined as intended. The constellation lies them at the foot of Mount Olympus, but his
between approximate right ascensions 4h40m head, which had been thrown into the River
and 6h25m, declination from +22° to –11°. Hebrus, was carried, still singing, down to the
Between the legs of Orion lies the Great Nebula sea and then on to Lesbos, where his lyre also
of Orion, one of the wonders of the night sky. drifted. There they were buried, though the
Directly below Orion is the constellation Lepus; lyre was later placed in the heavens as the con-
the three stars that make up his belt lead to stellation Lyra at the intercession of Apollo and
Sirius the Dog Star, the brightest star in the the Muses. The gift of Orpheus to the Lesbians
night sky, within the constellation Canis Major was their skill in music.
to the side of Lepus. Among the stars that make The ancient Greeks considered Orpheus to
up the constellation Orion is one named be the greatest poet before Homer, and frag-
Bellatrix (a Ori), the name of an Amazon war- mentary poems have been variously ascribed
rior, possibly one of Orion’s paramours. to him. These poems would come to influence
See also: Artemis; Pleiades the theology of the Pythagoreans, in the sixth
century B.C., as well as later cults. This so-called
Orphic doctrine remains one of the most
Orpheus intractable puzzles in the history of Greek reli-
Greek gion. The most plausible explanation is that the
A legendary Thracian, pre-Homeric singer and human Orpheus exhibited the powers of the
poet, the son of Oeagrus and Calliope (or pos- shaman, a type of medicine man or ecstatic
232 Orthr~os, ~us
prophet that was familiar in Central Asia reach Heaven and destroy the gods. In the
regions northeast of Greece, including Thrace. first, the giants, led by Briareus, piled Mount
The Orphic religion was characterized by a Olympus on Mount Ossa, and then those two
sense of sin and the need for atonement, the atop Mount Pelion. When they failed they
concept of a suffering man-god (Orpheus), and were imprisoned beneath Mount Etna, where
an underlying belief in immortality. The reli- their fury is still said to vent itself when the
gion had a great influence on philosophers mountain erupts. In the second, the gigantic
such as Pythagoras and Plato and formed a Aloeidae, Ephialtes, and Otus, aged just nine,
link between the worship of Dionysos and vowed to outrage Hera and Artemis and so
Christianity for, like the Maenads, Orphic wor- piled Mount Pelion on Mount Ossa in their
shippers sought mystic unions with their gods. attempt to reach Heaven. They were tricked
See also: Eurydice; Jason into killing each other by Artemis on the island
of Naxos, and they were consigned to
Tartarus.
Orthr~os, ~us See also: Artemis; Briareus
Greek
Two-headed dog of Geryon, one of the mon-
strous offspring of Typhon and Echidne and Otrere
father of the Sphinx, either by Echidne or the Greek
Chimaera. He was killed by Heracles, along Mother, by Ares, of Penthesilea, who was the
with Eurytion, when Heracles was sent to steal beautiful queen of the Amazons killed by
the cattle of Geryon, which Orthros and Achilles during the Trojan War.
Eurytion guarded. See also: Achilles
Ortygia Otus
Greek Greek
1. The island where Leto reportedly gave birth Gigantic twin brother of Ephialtes; the sons of
to Artemis under a palm tree before traveling Iphimedeia by Poseidon, they became known
on to Delos, where Apollo was born. It may be as the Aloeidae after their mother married
that these islands were one and the same, for Aloeus. At the age of nine the brothers cap-
Ortygia is said by some to be an early name for tured and imprisoned Ares. They then vowed
Delos. to outrage Hera and Artemis and so piled
2. The place in Sicily where Arethusa fled to Mount Pelion on Mount Ossa in their attempt
when she was pursued by the river god to reach Heaven. Artemis tricked them into
Alpheus, whose waters were thenceforth said going to Naxos in the hope of meeting her.
to flow unmixed through the sea to merge There, disguised as a doe, she leaped between
with the fountain of Arethusa here. them, and they killed each other. Hermes
then released Ares, and the Aloeidae were
tied back-to-back with vipers to a pillar in
Ossa Tartarus. The Aloeidae were regarded as the
Greek founders of Ascra at the foot of Mount
Mountain in northern Thessaly that features in Helicon.
two stories relating the attempts of giants to See also: Artemis; Iphimedeia
K P k
Pactolus Melicertes washed up and was buried on the
Greek isthmus.
The river that Midas was told to bathe in to rid
himself of the power to turn everything he
Palamedes
touched into gold. As he entered the waters of
the river, the sands turned to gold, and the Greek
river has, since that time, been rich in gold. Son of Nauplius, king of Euboea, and inventor,
See also: Midas or coinventor, of the alphabet, dice, chess,
weights and measures, and signal fires. His
name seems to derive from palamai, “hands,”
Pae~an, ~on implying dexterity or cleverness. Palamedes
Greek joined the Greek muster at Aulis prior to the
Originally a hymn specifically addressed to Trojan War. As Agamemnon needed allies to
Apollo as healer or deliverer from evil, also a join up before he sailed for Troy, he, Menelaus,
title subsequently applied to Apollo or an and Palamedes went to Ithaca to persuade
alternative name for the god. Paeans were later Odysseus to join them. There they found the
addressed to other gods and were sung to great hero feigning madness, sowing his fields
mark military victories. Later still they devel- with salt. Palamedes, however, proved that
oped into artistic tributes to gods and mortals Odysseus was not mad by placing Tele-
alike. machus, Odysseus’s son, in a furrow before
See also: Apollo the plough, though some sources say the child
was Cypria. Odysseus then acted like the san-
est of fathers and rescued his son.
Paestum Having sailed from Aulis, the Greek fleet
Greco-Roman anchored at Tenedos, from where Palamedes,
Modern name for the Greek colony of Menelaus, and Odysseus went as envoys to
Poseidonia situated on the Gulf of Salerno, Priam to request the peaceable return of Helen.
southern Italy. Paestum boasts some of the They were refused. Odysseus later took his
best preserved temple ruins in the world. The revenge on Palamedes for uncovering his
temple of Athene was built c. 520 B.C.; that of attempt to escape and forcing him to fight at
Hera was erected c. 430 B.C. Both are Doric Troy. He planted a quantity of gold in
buildings, as is a second temple of Hera, built Palamedes’ tent along with a letter written in
c. 440 B.C. the name of Priam, though some say Odysseus
bribed Palamedes’ servant to help him.
Odysseus then publicly accused Palamedes of
Palaemon treason, his tent was searched, and the entire
Greek Greek army stoned the unfortunate Palamedes
The name given to Melicertes, the son of to death. Another version simply says that he
Athamas and Ino, when he drowned and was murdered by Odysseus and Diomedes
became a sea god. Melicertes was honored while fishing. His father, Nauplius, later took
under this name as the presiding hero of the his revenge by lighting misleading signal fires
Isthmian Games held near Corinth, as that guided many of the ships returning from
233
234 Palatine Hill
Troy onto the dangerous promontory of remained; it was stolen during the war by
Caphareus. Odysseus with the help of Diomedes. After the
See also: Odysseus; Trojan War fall of Troy and the end of the Trojan War, it
was supposedly brought to Italy by Diomedes.
Others say it was given to Aeneas by
Palatine Hill Diomedes and that Aeneas brought it to Italy;
Roman some accounts suggest it was brought to Rome
One of the hills of Rome. Archaeological mate- by Numa Pompilius.
rial excavated from this hill and the Forum See also: Troy
suggests that this region of Rome was settled
by a community very closely associated with
Alba Longa, in contrast to remains from the Pallas
Esquiline Hill, which are more characteristic of Greek
southern Latium. Legend states that Romulus 1. One of the 24 Gigantes, the gigantic sons of
stood on the Palatine Hill when he and his Ge who had serpents’ tails. Led by Alcyoneus,
brother, Remus, who stood on the Aventine they tried to avenge the imprisonment of their
Hill, consulted the auguries to decide which of brothers, the Titans, by attacking Olympus.
them should name the new city. Soon after Among the attackers were Porphyrion,
Remus had reported the sighting of six vul- Ephialtes, Mimas, Enceladus, Polybutes,
tures, Romulus reported seeing 12. A fight Alcyoneus, and Pallas. After a terrible struggle
ensued, Remus was killed, and Romulus gave on earth and in Olympus, the giants were
his name to the city. Later, Aeneas was said to defeated by the gods with the help of the mor-
have been greeted by Venus as he came down tal Heracles, who found a magical herb of
from the Palatine Hill, the goddess presenting invulnerability and always struck the giants
him with armor made by Vulcan. their final blow. One version of the Gigantes
See also: Aeneas; Remus; Romulus revolt says that Pallas was dispatched by
Athene, after which she used his flayed skin as
a shield. This is just one version of how Athene
Pales also became known as Pallas.
Roman 2. “Maiden”; a title or name of Athene
An early goddess of flocks. brought into Greece by the Achaeans. A young
warrior-goddess, she originally bore the titles
Core (Girl), Parthenos (Virgin), and Pallas and
Palinurus was, about 1700 B.C., identified with the older,
Greco-Roman pre-Hellenic Palace Goddess worshipped in
The helmsman of Aeneas who fell asleep at the Crete. The name Pallas appears to have been
helm and was washed overboard during the used both as a forename, Pallas Athene, or as a
final journey to Italy. surname, Athene Pallas. The complex Pallas
Athene thus was not only the patroness of
women’s arts, such as weaving, and protectress
Palladium of agriculture and inventor of the plough, rake,
Greco-Roman and ox yoke, but also a warrior, a supreme tac-
A wooden image of Athene (Roman: Minerva) tician depicted fully armored and bearing on
that was kept in the citadel at Troy. This statue her aegis the head of Medusa. During the
had been made by Athene as a memorial to Trojan War she was the greatest protagonist of
her friend, Pallas, whom she had killed, and the Greeks. Legend said that Pallas was a com-
was thus sometimes referred to as the panion of Athene whom the goddess acciden-
Palladium of Pallas Athene. The statue was tally killed, adopting her name as a title, then
originally housed in Olympus; Zeus threw it making the Palladium in her image. This
out after Electra, the daughter of Atlas, tried to image, which was thrown from Olympus and
hide in it to avoid his lust. It landed in Troy, landed in Troy, meant that Troy could not be
which could not be captured while the image taken so long as it remained in the city.
Pan 235
3. The name of one of the Titans, according Having fertility connections, like most pas-
to some sources. He married Styx and was the toral deities, Pan was a determined seducer
father of Victory, Violence, and Emulation. who claimed to have seduced all the Maenads.
4. Nephew, or half-brother, of Aegeus, He loved many nymphs, including Syrinx,
whose 50 sons were scattered by Theseus who fled in terror from his advances and was
when they vied for succession to the throne of turned into a clump of reeds by the nymphs of
Athens. the River Ladon. From these the god made the
syrinx—“Pan’s Pipe”—which he was said to
Roman have invented and is his most usual attribute.
Great friend and fighting companion of He was also said to have seduced Selene
Aeneas who was slain by Turnus, the latter (Moon) by spreading out a beautiful white
stripping the dead Pallas of the great gold belt fleece to entice her. He also managed to father
he wore. Later, when Aeneas and Turnus were a daughter, Iynx, on the insubstantial nymph
involved in single combat to settle their feud, Echo. However, Pan’s love objects were typi-
Aeneas was about to spare Turnus when he cally unfulfilled or sterile boys, and he had the
noticed the belt that had belonged to his dubious reputation of having invented mas-
friend. Enraged, Aeneas dispatched Turnus turbation.
with a single thrust of his sword. Looked down upon by the Olympian gods,
See also: Aeneas; Athene; Titan though at one time he did help Hermes to res-
cue Zeus during his struggle with Typhon,
Pan was the only deity whose death was
Pan reported. To escape from Typhon, Pan leaped
Greek into the River Nile; midleap his head, still
Guardian of flocks and shepherds and of above the water, became that of a goat,
woods and fields. A purely pastoral deity, Pan, whereas his hindquarters became the rear
whom the Romans called Faunus or Sylvanus, part of a fish. Thus was created the sea goat
was believed by some to be coeval with Zeus, Capricornus, which was later placed in the
though most make him the misshapen son of heavens. His worship originated in Arcadia,
Hermes by a doubtful mother, Dryope; the the region to which his worship was chiefly
nymph Oeneis; Penelope, the wife of restricted, and he was despised by the Greeks
Odysseus; or the goat Amalthea. Living in as being backwards, though he was often
rural Arcadia, where he hunted and danced seen in the company of the Muses as well as
with the nymphs, Pan was so ugly at birth that Apollo, the latter being one of the most
his mother rejected him. He is usually depicted beloved Olympian deities (and to whom Pan
as a man having the horns, tail, and feet of a was said to have taught the art of prophecy).
goat and had the annoying habit of hiding As a result his cult did not reach Athens until
among the trees, startling passing travelers as late as the fifth century B.C., the reason for
with a sudden shout, possibly a hideous laugh, the introduction itself being Pan’s assistance
for laughter belongs to Pan and so fills them to the Athenians at Marathon. He is unusual
with fear that it became known as “panic.” As among the Greek deities in being the only one
a result, his cult was usually centered around not approached in revered silence. Thus, Pan
sanctuaries that were remote from cities. When is most dangerous during the midday rest
he did receive cult within the boundaries of a period when he, or his attendant nymphs,
city it was not in a temple but rather in a grotto can seize a man and make him mad or strike
that represented the wild countryside. His abil- him dumb.
ity to strike fear into the hearts of men appears In later Orphic theology Pan acquired a
to have been put to good use during the Battle quite different significance, tied solely to the
of Marathon (479 B.C.). Pan met Pheidippides, resemblance of his name to the word pan, “all.”
who was running from Marathon to Athens to As a result he became a universal, high god,
warn of the Persian invasion, on Mount Parnes but this is simply the aberration of theologians
and promised to help. This help led to the at play.
introduction of his cult into Athens. See also: Faunus; Iynx; Syrinx
236 Panathen~aea, ~aic
Legend says that the ark of Deucalion and It was originally one of the titles, along with
Pyrrha settled on Mount Parnassus after the Core and Pallas, borne by the young warrior-
nine days of the great flood. The mountain goddess and brought into Greece by the
remains, perhaps, most famous for its connec- Achaeans c. 1700 B.C. Athene was worshipped
tions with Apollo and the Delphic Oracle. Soon as Athene Parthenos within her temple, the
after his birth, Apollo sought out the she-dragon Parthenon, on the Acropolis at Athens.
Python on Mount Parnassus and killed her, tak-
ing over the Oracle of Earth at Delphi. Here
Apollo became known as the Pythian, or Loxias, Pasiphaë
“the Ambiguous.” His priestess, the Pythoness, Greek
imparted his oracles in hexameter verse. “All-brightest”; in classical tradition Pasiphaë
See also: Delphi; Deucalion was worshipped as a moon goddess in
Laconia, the daughter of Helios and Perseis,
wife of Minos, thus queen of Crete and
Parthenon mother of Ariadne (All-Holy), Phaedra
Greek (Shining), Androgeos, and Glaucus, as well as
Popular name for the temple of Athene the Minotaur. Her daughters seem to represent
Parthenos (Virgin Athene) on the Acropolis at the faded memories of Cretan goddesses.
Athens. Created by the architects Ictinus and Legend says that as Minos had not sacri-
Callicrates and built between 447 B.C. and 438 ficed the bull sent by Poseidon for that pur-
B.C. under Pericles’ administration, it was deco- pose, the god made Pasiphaë fall in love with
rated with sculptures by Phidias or his school. the bull. She had Daedalus construct her a
The eastern gable depicted the birth of Athene; wooden cow in which she could lie to mate
the western depicted the contest between with the bull, the monstrous result of this
Athene and Poseidon. The huge gold and ivory union being the Minotaur. When this help was
statue of Athene once housed in this temple discovered by Minos, Daedalus and his son,
was destroyed in ancient times, and its inner Icarus, were imprisoned, but Pasiphaë
chambers and porticos were ruined by an released them, and they flew away from the
explosion in 1687 during the Venetian attack on island on the wings of wax and feathers that
Athens. Most of the surviving sculptures were Daedalus had constructed. Icarus flew too
removed by Lord Elgin between 1801 and 1803, close to the sun and plunged into the sea.
including the frieze that depicted the magnifi- Astronomical: One of the smaller satellites of
cent procession of the Panathenaea. The sur- Jupiter, lying twelfth closest to the planet
viving outer structure and sculptural pedi- between the orbits of Carme and Sinope.
ments testify to the perfection of the design. See also: Minos
See also: Acropolis
Patrocl~es, ~us
Parthenopaeus Greek
Greek Son of Menoetius and an uncertain mother,
The son of Meleager and Atalanta who partic- from Opus. Having killed a friend in a quarrel,
ipated in the fated expedition of the Seven he and his father fled to the court of Peleus,
Against Thebes, an expedition in which where Patroclus became the inseparable friend
Parthenopaeus and all his companions per- and lover of Achilles. They went to the Trojan
ished, with the exception of Adrastus. War, Patroclus acting as Achilles’ squire. When
See also: Atalanta; Seven Against Thebes Achilles famously withdrew from the fighting
following his argument with Agamemnon,
Patroclus borrowed the great hero’s armor and
Parthenos led the Myrmidones back into battle. Initially
Greek successful, Patroclus was wounded by
“Virgin”; a name or title applied to the goddess Euphorbus and then killed by Hector, who
Athene, usually in the form Athene Parthenos. stripped him of the borrowed armor.
Pelasgus 239
His body was recovered by Menelaus and Atlas and Cetus being petrified when Perseus
Ajax the Greater; after a period of extravagant exposed the head of Medusa.
mourning, Achilles rejoined the fray, killed Released by Perseus, Pegasus wandered to
Hector, and dishonored his body. Each day at Mount Helicon, where he struck the moun-
dawn Achilles, still crazed with grief, would tainside with his hoof. At that spot the sacred
pull the corpse three times around the tomb of spring of the Muses named Hippocrene
Patroclus until Priam, led by Hermes, came to (Horse’s Spring) arose, and as a result Pegasus
ransom the body of Hector. Patroclus was became a favorite of theirs. He also caused the
translated, like Achilles after his death, to the fountain of Pirene to rise on the Acropolis at
White Island in the Black Sea. Corinth, and beside it he was caught and
See also: Achilles tamed by the hero Bellerophon, who rode on
his back above the fire-breathing Chimaera,
enabling him to kill the monster.
Pavo Bellerophon later presumptuously attempted
Greek to fly up to the heavens on Pegasus, so Zeus sent
Argos, the builder of the ship Argo Navis, was a gadfly that stung Pegasus, who reared and
turned into this peacock before being placed in threw Bellerophon back to earth. Pegasus, how-
the heavens as the constellation that bears this ever, continued to Olympus, where he made his
name. home, fathered a colt named Equuleus, and car-
Astronomical: A constellation of the southern ried the thunderbolt of Zeus. On his death the
celestial hemisphere that lies between approx- fabulous horse was placed in the heavens as the
imate right ascensions 17h45m and 21h30m, constellation that bears his name, but only his
declination from –56° to –75°. front half remained, his rear end falling back to
earth to begin the breed of politicians.
Astronomical: A constellation of the northern
Pax celestial hemisphere that lies between approx-
Roman imate right ascensions 21h05m and 0h10m,
The female personification of peace, the declination from +2° to +37°.
Roman counterpart of Irene. She was less hon- See also: Bellerophon; Medusa; Perseus
ored in Rome than was Victoria (Victory) and
became significant only during the reign of
Emperor Augustus. It was not until 75 A.D., Peitho
under Vespasian, that a temple was finally Greek
dedicated to her. The personification, and thus the goddess, of
the rhetorical or amatory power of Persuasion.
Pegasus
Greek Pelasgian
The fabulous white winged horse who was Greek
born, along with the warrior Chrysaor, from The Lycians became known as the Pelasgians
the severed neck of Medusa, though some say after they emigrated to Lemnos; their eponym
he was born when the Gorgon’s blood min- was Pelasgus, who probably led the emigra-
gled with the sea. Pegasus and Chrysaor were tion, even though the Pelasgians are usually
the offspring of Poseidon, and their conception considered the autochthonous inhabitants of
was the reason that the beautiful maiden Greece, from whom the Athenians, Argives,
Medusa was turned into the hideous Gorgon and Thessalanians all claimed descent.
by Athene. Perseus, who had killed Medusa
and thus enabled Pegasus and Chrysaor to be
born, captured the animal. Riding his back, Pelasgus
Perseus turned Atlas into the mountain that Greek
carries his name and rescued Princess King of Arcadia, either the son of Zeus and
Andromeda from the sea monster Cetus, both Niobe, or autochthonously born from the
240 Peleus
Arcadian soil. He was the father of Lycaon and of Discord—inscribed, “To the fairest”—
eponym of the Pelasgians, the autochthonous among the guests. This act would eventually
inhabitants of Greece, the Athenians, Argives, lead to the Trojan War, as possession of the
and Thessalanians all claiming direct descent prize was disputed by Hera, Athene, and
from him. He was revered as the inventor of Aphrodite.
huts and the habit of wearing sheepskin coats. Thetis became the mother of Achilles by
He was also said to have introduced the Peleus and tried to make the infant invulnera-
Arcadian people to a superior diet consisting ble, either by dipping him in the River Styx or
of acorns. by immolating him in fire. Peleus caught her in
the act and cried out, thus breaking the taboo
that no mortal shall speak to his mermaid wife,
Peleus and she immediately returned to her home,
Greek the sea. Peleus then gave up the infant Achilles
Son of Aeacus, king of Aegina, brother of to be raised by Cheiron.
Telamon, and father of Achilles. Banished in In his old age Peleus was driven out of
his youth with Telamon for their murder of Phthia by the sons of Acastus, and when he
their half-brother, Phocus, Peleus came to died he at last joined Thetis in the ocean
Phthia and married Antigone, daughter of depths and became immortal.
King Eurytion, whom he accidentally killed See also: Achilles; Antigone; Thetis
during the hunt for the Calydonian Boar; he
fled to Iolcos. There he was purified by
Acastus, but Acastus’s wife, Astydamia, fell in Pelias
love with Peleus and, having been spurned, Greek
falsely accused him of attempting to rape her. Son of Poseidon by Tyro and twin brother of
She also told Antigone that Peleus was about Neleus. Exposed at birth, the boys were
to marry Acastus’s daughter, and Antigone raised by a horseherd and later adopted by
killed herself. Cretheus, king of Iolcos, after he had married
Unwilling to dispose of Peleus himself, Tyro, who then bore Aeson. On Cretheus’s
Acastus took him hunting on Mount Pelion, death, Pelias imprisoned Aeson, expelled his
where he abandoned him while he slept, hid- brother, Neleus, and made himself king.
ing his sword and leaving him to the mercy of Neleus went to Messenia, where he became
the centaurs. He was rescued by Cheiron, and king. Aeson’s infant son, Jason, had been
they enlisted the help of Jason and the smuggled out of the city and was raised by
Argonauts to take vengeance on Acastus by Cheiron. Pelias’s children included Acastus
killing Astydamia, cutting her body in half, and Alcestis.
and marching his army between the halves. An oracle forewarned Pelias of the return of
Peleus now returned to Phthia, where he Jason, saying that he must beware of a man
became king of the Myrmidones and it was wearing but one sandal. Jason duly returned,
decided by Zeus that he should marry the having lost a sandal while helping an old
Nereid Thetis. Cheiron advised him how he woman across a fast-flowing river, so Pelias
might capture the sea nymph. Peleus sur- decided to rid himself of the troublesome
prised her while she slept on the beach at young man who had fearlessly laid claim to
Sepias, and even though she transformed her- his throne. Pelias swore to give up the throne if
self into fire, then water, then a lion, then a Jason would fetch the Golden Fleece that once
snake, and finally a tree, Peleus held onto her belonged to the winged ram Aries, which had
and thus won the right to marry her. carried Phrixus to Colchis. Jason agreed, and
Their wedding was attended by the gods, so began the expedition of Jason and the
who brought various gifts, and the Muses Argonauts. Pelias thought that would be the
sang the wedding hymn. However, one god- last he heard of Jason.
dess, Eris, had been omitted from the guest list Upon his return with Medeä, Jason found
and, in a fit of pique, threw the golden Apple that Aeson had been forced to take his own
Pelops 241
Pelion Pelops
Greek Greek
Son of Tantalus, thus grandson of Zeus,
Wooded mountain in southeastern Thessaly,
brother of Niobe and Broteas, and father of
the home of the centaurs, the wisest of whom,
Atreus. He was the mythological founder of
Cheiron, lived in a cave on the path to the
the Pelopid Dynasty of Mycenae. When his
summit, where the temple of Zeus Actaeus
father served him up as a stew to test the divin-
stood.
ity of the gods, only Demeter did not realize
At one time the Gigantes were said to have
what she was eating and so consumed Pelops’s
piled Mount Ossa on Mount Olympus, and
shoulder. After punishing Tantalus, Zeus
then the two atop Mount Pelion, in their
ordered Hermes to boil the remaining pieces of
attempt to reach Heaven and destroy the
Pelops in a kettle, from which Clotho took him
gods in revenge for the imprisonment of the
fully rejuvenated, save for the shoulder eaten
Titans; the war became known as the
by Demeter. To make amends, the goddess
Titanomachia.
made Pelops a new shoulder from ivory. Thus
See also: Cheiron
Pelops was restored to life and was made king
of Phrygia, receiving a winged chariot from
Poseidon, who had fallen in love with him and
Pelopia had, for a time, taken him to live in Olympus.
Greek Later, however, Pelops was expelled from
Daughter of Thyestes who was ravaged, on his kingdom and came with his followers to
the advice of the Delphic Oracle, by her father Pisa in Elis. Here King Oenomaus, a son of
while she was a priestess at the court of Ares, challenged all who wished to marry his
Threspotus at Sicyon. Later Atreus visited daughter, Hippodameia, to a chariot race. The
Sicyon and married Pelopia, believing her to victorious challenger would win the right to
be the daughter of Threspotus, as his third marry his daughter. Losers would be killed by
wife. When she gave birth to Thyestes’ son, his infallible spear, which, like his wind-begot-
whom she exposed, Atreus, believing Aegis- ten horses, was a gift from his father, Ares.
thus to be his own, rescued him. Many suitors lost their lives in this way.
242 Pelorus
To ensure victory, even though he had his the providers of victuals, they were wor-
winged chariot, Pelops bribed Myrtilus, shipped privately with images and offerings of
Oenomaus’s charioteer, with a promise of half food. Sometimes identified with the Dioscuri
the kingdom to remove a linchpin from or Cabiri, the two Penates were later regarded
Oenomaus’s chariot and replace it with one of as the guardians of the nation. Legend says
wax. During the race Oenomaus was thrown that they were brought to Rome from Troy by
out and killed when the wax linchpin broke, and Aeneas and were kept in the temple of Vesta,
Pelops married Hippodameia, thereby becom- depicted as two seated soldiers armed with
ing the ruler of Pisa. His promise to Myrtilus spears.
was broken; to ensure silence, Pelops threw the
treacherous charioteer into the sea. Myrtilus
cursed Pelops and his descendants as he died. Penelope
The sons of Pelops included Atreus, Greek
Thyestes, Pleisthenes, and Sciron, the eponyms Daughter of King Icarius of Sparta who is
of many Peloponnesian cities. His illegitimate depicted as a woman of great beauty, fine
son, Chrysippus, who was also his favorite, character, and righteous conduct. When
was loved by Laius, who thus instituted ped- Odysseus wanted to marry her, her father
erasty on earth and brought a curse on his had challenged the suitor to a footrace,
descendants. Atreus and Thyestes murdered promising Penelope as the prize. Odysseus
Chrysippus, either with or without the help of won, but Icarius tried to persuade his daugh-
Hippodameia, and so had to flee their home. ter to stay with him. Odysseus told her that
His great wealth and power in the peninsula she could do as she pleased and, veiling her
led to it becoming known as the Peloponnesos, face so as to hide her blushes, she followed
or “Island of Pelops.” His tomb at Olympia Odysseus back to Ithaca, where she bore him
was one of the central objects of devotion, and a son, Telemachus.
here the Olympic Games were established by When Odysseus went off to fight in the
his great-grandson, Heracles. Bringing Pelops’s Trojan War after one year of marriage,
bones to Troy was one of the conditions for the Penelope faithfully waited for her husband to
Greeks’ winning the Trojan War. return for 20 years, though some sources say
See also: Atreus; Clotho; Demeter; Hippodameia; that during this period she became the mother,
Tantalus by Hermes, of Pan. As Odysseus took ten
years to return from Troy, many began to
believe that he had perished, and Penelope
Pelorus found herself besieged by suitors, led by the
Greek unruly Antinous. To keep them at bay she
A giant, one of the Sparti, or “Sown Men,” who promised to choose her new husband once she
sprang from dragon’s teeth that were sown by completed a piece of embroidery she was
Cadmos after he killed the dragon that working on, but every night she undid that
guarded a spring of Ares. As soon as the Sparti day’s work. However, just about the time
sprang from the ground, fully armed, they Odysseus returned secretly to Ithaca, her ruse
started to fight among themselves until only was betrayed by her servants.
five remained. These five—Pelorus, Echion, Telemachus, who had been reunited with
Udaeus, Chthonius, and Hyperenor—helped his father at the hut of Eumaeus on the island,
Cadmos to build the Cadmea and were later persuaded his mother to set a challenge: She
revered as the ancestors of Thebes from whom would marry whoever could shoot the great
the Theban aristocracy claimed descent. bow of Eurytus, a weapon that none but
Odysseus had been able to wield. None could
even bend the bow, let alone shoot an arrow
Penates with it, until Odysseus, dressed as a beggar,
Roman did just that, shooting Antinous. Supported by
Early household gods who inhabited the fam- Telemachus, he killed all the other suitors and
ily storage cupboard—the penus. Regarded as was at last reunited with Penelope.
Periphetes 243
Later, according to one tradition, Telegonus, and Ino. In their frenzy they tore Pentheus
Odysseus’s son by Circe, came to Ithaca in limb from limb, thinking him to be a wild ani-
search of his father and was opposed by mal, his mother actually parading his head on
Odysseus and Telemachus. In the ensuing a pole back into the city.
fight, Telegonus killed Odysseus without real- See also: Dionysos
izing who he was. He then took Penelope and
Telemachus back to Aeaea, where Telemachus
married Circe, and he married Penelope. The Perdix
latter became the mother of Italus, the Greek
eponym of Italy, by him. Also known as Talos, this nephew of Daedalus
A local Arcadian legend says that Odysseus was credited with the invention of the saw, the
doubted Penelope’s fidelity and divorced her. chisel, and compasses. So jealous was
She returned to Sparta and from there went to Daedalus of his nephew that he threw Perdix
Matinea. In this legend it was in Matinea that from the temple of Athene on the Acropolis at
Penelope became the mother of Pan by Hermes. Athens. Athene changed Perdix into the par-
See also: Antinous; Odysseus tridge (genus: Perdix); the Areopagus banished
Daedalus, and he fled to Crete, where he was
welcomed by Minos.
Peneus See also: Daedalus; Talos
Greek
A son of Oceanos and Tethys, father of Daphne
and Cyrene, and god of the River Peneus, the Pergam~um, ~on
principal river of Thessaly. Greco-Roman
Seat of the Attalid kings of a powerful
Hellenic state, situated on the River Caicus
Penthesilea in Lydia (modern Asiatic Turkey). In the
Greek shadow of the Acropolis are extensive
The daughter of Otrere and Ares and queen of remains of an Asclepieion, a healing center
the Amazons. She led a force of Amazon war- associated with the worship of Asclepios.
riors to the Trojan War to fight for Troy after Most of what survives is from the Roman
Hector had been killed. There she was killed by period, when the sanctuary was the most
Achilles, but at the very moment he killed her famous of the god. Surviving remains
their eyes met, and he fell passionately in love include those of a theater, springs, a temple
with her. As he mourned her death he was of Zeus/Asclepios, and what has been
ridiculed by Thersites, the ugliest and most described as a pump room.
scurrilous of all the Greeks. In anger Achilles
felled him with a single blow. Angered by the
death of a kinsman over such a trivial matter, Periclymen~os, ~us
Diomedes threw the body of Penthesilea into Greek
the River Scamander, but Achilles rescued and The son of Neleus and brother of Nestor.
honorably buried her body. Having the ability to assume whatever shape
See also: Achilles; Hector he chose, Periclymenos accompanied Jason as
one of the Argonauts but was killed by
Heracles.
Pentheus See also: Heracles; Jason; Neleus
Greek
King of Thebes, the son of Agave and Echion,
thus a grandson of Cadmos. When he tried to Periphetes
resist the introduction of the worship of Greek
Dionysos he was discovered watching the A monster found at Epidaurus that killed
frenzied celebrations of the Maenads, who unsuspecting passers-by with an iron club. He
included his mother and her sisters, Autonoë was killed by Theseus with his own club.
244 Pero
instead. A slight variation of this story says hideous creatures with serpents as hair. Drops
that Polydectes, having been rejected by of blood from the wound that fell on the
Danaë, announced he would marry Hip- ground became the serpents that infest the
podameia, and that all his subjects were Libyan desert, thus suggesting that the
charged with providing horses as her bridal Gorgons in fact still lived in the country of
gifts. Perseus, having no horses, offered to their birth.
bring the head of Medusa instead. The former Although pursued by Stheno and Euryale,
of the two versions is perhaps the better Medusa’s sisters, Perseus escaped to the south
known and most widely accepted. by wearing Hades’ helmet of invisibility, oth-
In his potentially fatal task, Perseus was ers saying that he caught and rode on the back
helped by three deities. Athene, eager to help of Pegasus. Pausing to rest in the land of the
Perseus against her enemy, Medusa, provided Hesperides, Perseus was rudely treated by
a polished shield so he might view Medusa Atlas, who had been told to expect that a son
only in reflection and thus be saved from the of Zeus would come to steal the golden apples
petrifying power of her stare. Hades loaned of Hera, a prophecy that actually referred to
him his helmet of invisibility. Hermes pro- Heracles. Flying over Atlas, he turned him into
vided him with a sickle to behead the Gorgon stone by showing him the head of the Gorgon
and told him how he might procure the other before flying on toward Ethiopia. There he
needed items—a pair of winged sandals, saw Princess Andromeda chained naked to a
though some say Hermes loaned these as well, sea cliff and instantly fell in love with her.
and a special bag or wallet in which to carry Learning the cause of her predicament from
the decapitated head. her parents, Cepheus and Cassiopeia, Perseus
Following Hermes’ advice, Perseus visited promptly offered to rescue the unfortunate
the Graeae, sisters to the Gorgons, three old maiden in return for her hand in marriage. Her
women who had been gray from birth and parents quickly agreed, and Perseus flew over
had only one tooth and one eye among them, the sea monster Cetus, who had been sent to
which they passed among themselves as need ravage Ethiopia after Cassiopeia’s boast and to
be. Perseus found them on the slopes of Mount whom Andromeda was to be sacrificed. Once
Atlas and, by snatching the tooth and eye again exposing the head of Medusa, Cetus was
while wearing Hades’ helmet of invisibility, turned to stone.
forced them to tell where he could find the Though Perseus had kept his part of the bar-
remaining items he needed (as well as where gain, Cepheus and Cassiopeia were reluctant
the Gorgons lived). The Graeae first directed to keep theirs, saying that Andromeda had
him to the Stygian nymphs, who provided already been contracted to Phineus, Cepheus’s
him with the winged sandals and the wallet, brother. Perseus, however, insisted, but at their
called a kibisis. He then further followed the wedding Phineus arrived with his followers
directions of the Graeae and flew, with the aid and tried to carry off Andromeda. Perseus eas-
of the winged sandals, to the land of the ily thwarted them, once more using the petri-
Hyperboreans, where he found the Gorgons fying power of Medusa’s severed head.
asleep, though some sources say the Gorgons Perseus and Andromeda then married, their
lived either beyond the Western Ocean or in son, Perses, inheriting the kingdom and
Scythia. becoming the ancestor and eponym of the
Using the magical weapons of Athene and Persians.
Hermes, Perseus successfully decapitated Leaving Ethiopia, Perseus and Andromeda
Medusa but was astonished to see, springing traveled to Seriphos. There they found that his
fully grown from the severed neck, the winged mother was still being pestered by Polydectes
horse Pegasus and the warrior Chrysaor. and that both Danaë and Dictys had been
These were the children of Poseidon who had forced to seek refuge in the temple. Going to
been conceived when the sea god lay with the palace, Perseus confronted Polydectes,
Medusa in a temple of Athene, the act that led who refused to believe that Perseus had been
to the Gorgons being transformed by the furi- successful in his quest. Perseus simply
ous goddess from beautiful maidens into answered that question by reaching into the
246 Pesistratus
wallet he carried and pulling out the head of to the yearly Panathenaea. The magnificent
Medusa. Once again, all those who looked procession of this festival is represented on the
directly at it were turned to stone. Perseus frieze of the Parthenon that is now in the
then installed Dictys as king of Seriphos British Museum. He also introduced new
before giving the head of Medusa to Athene, coinage, with the head of Athene on one side
who installed it in the center of her aegis, the and the owl, her bird, on the other. At about
serpentine locks forming the border. Hermes the same time as he instigated the Panathenaic
retook possession of his items and returned Games, Pesistratus also introduced the wor-
those Perseus had borrowed from other ship of Dionysos and founded the Dionysia.
sources to their owners.
Perseus, Andromeda, and Danaë now
returned to Argos, but Acrisius, mindful of the Petasus
oracle, left for Larissa. Shortly afterwards Greek
Perseus visited Larissa, where he took part in The low-crowned, wide-brimmed traveling
some public games and accidentally fulfilled hat, later adorned with wings, that was one of
the oracle when he killed Acrisius with a discus the attributes of Hermes, along with his alipes,
he had thrown. Grief-stricken by this mishap, winged-sandals, and caduceus, herald’s staff.
Perseus arranged to exchange kingdoms with
Megapenthes, the son of Proetus, who now
moved to Argos; meanwhile Perseus went to Phaeacia
Tiryns. He also founded Mycenae, which, like Greek
Tiryns, had massive fortifications that were The mythical kingdom of Alcinous where the
built by the Cyclopes. Here Andromeda bore shipwrecked Odysseus was found by
him a daughter, Gorgophone, and five sons, his Nausicaa after he left the island home of
grandson being Eurystheus, the king of Tiryns Calypso. Alcinous and Nausicaa provide the
and Argos responsible for the 12 great labors of audience for Odysseus’s narrative of adven-
Heracles. After his death, Perseus was placed tures, which makes up most of Homer’s
in the heavens along with his beloved Odyssey. Alcinous provided the vessel that
Andromeda. conveyed Odysseus in a magic sleep back to
The mighty remains of both Mycenae and Ithaca, but Poseidon turned the returning ves-
Tiryns have been investigated by Heinrich sel to stone. It has become identified with the
Schliemann and other archaeologists. They islet of Pondikonisi.
remain some of the most fascinating of all the Although the kingdom of Phaeacia itself
antiquities of Greece. was mythical, its location has often been iden-
Astronomical: The constellation Perseus is a tified with Corfu, the island with which
rambling arrangement roughly in the shape of Scherie was equated and where Phaeacia was
the letter K. It lies in the northern celestial said to be located.
hemisphere between approximate right ascen- See also: Alcinous; Nausicaa; Odysseus
sions 1h40m and 4h50m, declination from
+31° to +58°. Perseus is supposedly still hold-
ing the head of Medusa, as the constellation Phaedra
contains Algol the Demon Star (ß Per), which Greek
blinks, varying in brightness between magni- “Shining”; the daughter of Minos and
tudes 2.06 and 3.28 every 2.87 days. Pasiphaë, sister of Androgeos, Glaucus, and
See also: Acrisius; Aegis; Andromeda; Chrysaor; Ariadne. She married Theseus some time
Danaë; Graeae; Medusa; Pegasus after he had deserted her sister, Ariadne, and
bore him the sons Acamas and Demophoön.
She, however, fell desperately in love with
Pesistratus her stepson, Hippolytus, Theseus’s son by
Greek either Antiope or Hippolyte. When the young
Tyrant of Athens who in 566 B.C. founded the man rejected her advances she hanged her-
Great Panathenaic, the four-year culmination self, leaving a letter falsely accusing Hip-
Philemon 247
polytus. Furious, Theseus cursed his son, c. 1700 B.C. A new palace was then erected on
praying to Poseidon that he would die that the site.
very day. The sea god replied by sending Excavated by an Italian team led by
either a sea monster or a great bull that terri- Federico Halbherr and Luigi Pernier while Sir
fied the horses of Hippolytus’s chariot as he Arthur Evans was working Knossos, their
drove along the shore, which dragged him to results were not published until some time
his death. after Evans’s and so caused less of a stir. The
See also: Minos; Theseus ruins, which are in fact extremely complex,
seem at first blush simple and pure, for no
reconstruction has been carried out, unlike at
Phaët(h)on Knossos. Today, a great deal of the so-called
Greek Old Palace has been revealed through excava-
“Shining One”; a son of Helios by Clymene. tion, and the Old and New Palaces are
Anxious to prove his paternity, Phaëthon vis- uniquely interlaced. Obviously, enough of the
ited his father, who promised him any boon he Old Palace survived the disaster of c. 1700 B.C.
cared to name. The boy chose to drive Helios’s to enable the builders to utilize its remains in
fiery chariot across the sky; unable to dissuade building the New Palace.
him, Helios agreed. Phaëthon, however, See also: Knossos
proved unequal to the task, for the horses that
hauled the chariot across the sky would not
respond to the unfamiliar hand. First, the Phalanthus
Milky Way was etched across the sky before Greek
the chariot began a headlong dive toward Mythical Spartan who supposedly founded
Earth, where it scorched the tropics, turning Tarentum in Italy c. 700 B.C.
the land into desert and the people black.
According to one source, however, Phaëthon
took the chariot without Helios’s permission; Phasis
having saved Earth from further catastrophe, Greek
Zeus then let loose the Flood to quench the The river that Jason and the Argonauts sailed
scorched planet. upon first arriving in Colchis after completing
To avoid further catastrophe, Zeus threw a their adventurous voyage from Iolcos to col-
thunderbolt at Phaëthon that hurled him from lect the Golden Fleece.
the chariot to fall to his death in the River See also: Colchis; Jason
Eridanus (Po). His sisters, the Heliades, gath-
ered on the banks of the river and wept
unceasingly until they were turned into poplar Pherae
trees, their tears becoming amber that dripped Greek
into the river. An ancient town in Thessaly named after
Pheres; the home of Admetus.
Phaist~ós, ~us
Greek Pheres
Also: Faistós, Phaestós Greek
Located about 5 kilometers (3.2 miles) from Son of Cretheus and Tyro, father of Admetus
the coast of Crete, on a knoll overlooking the and Lycurgus, and founder and eponym of
verdant plain of Messara to the south of the Pherae in Thessaly.
island, this ancient site was possibly the home
of Rhadamanthus, the brother of Minos. After
Knossos, Phaistós is the greatest of the Minoan Philemon
palaces, sharing many of the former’s charac- Greek
teristics. Built originally c. 1900 B.C., Phaistós Old Bithynian peasant living in Phrygia who,
was, like the other Minoan palaces, destroyed along with his wife, Baucis, hospitably received
248 Philoctetes
the disguised Zeus and Hermes, unaware of instead. However, Neoptolemus, an honest
their identities. Giving unstintingly of their young man, gave the plot away and deter-
meager provisions, they found that their food mined to keep their promise. Philoctetes was
and wine were magically replenished. Realiz- finally persuaded when Heracles appeared to
ing that their guests were gods, they were him in a vision and ordered him to go to Troy,
rewarded for their kindness; their hut was saying that one of his arrows was destined to
transformed into a temple, and they were made kill Paris, though Paris is sometimes said to
its keepers. They were also granted the boon have been dead by this stage of the war.
that they should both die at the same time, and At Troy Philoctetes’ wound was cured by
when that time came they were transformed one of the sons of Asclepios, either Machaon or
into an oak tree and a linden tree that continued Podalirius. He then challenged Paris to an
to grow, side by side, next to the temple. archery contest and mortally wounded the
Trojan prince. After the war Philoctetes was
said to have settled in southern Italy, where he
Philoctetes founded several towns, including Croton, and
Greek a sanctuary to Apollo where he dedicated his
Son of Poeas, he kindled the fire on Mount arrows.
Oeta; Heracles immolated himself upon its See also: Heracles; Odysseus; Trojan War
flames. In gratitude he received from that great
hero his bow, quiver, and poisoned arrows.
Renowned as an archer, Philoctetes, once a Philomel(a)
suitor for the hand of Helen, led a small force Greek
of seven ships to join the Greek forces at the Daughter of Pandion (king of Athens) and sis-
Trojan War. However, just before the start of ter of Procne, who was married to Tereus, king
the war, while the Greek forces were on of Thrace, or of the Thracians in Phocis. Tereus
Tenedos, Philoctetes was bitten by a snake fell in love with her and, falsely telling her that
while sacrificing to Athene (though some say Procne was dead, seduced her and then tore
he was wounded in the foot by one of out her tongue to ensure her silence. Philomela
Heracles’ poisoned arrows and that the inci- wove a message to her sister in a robe, and
dent occurred on the island of Chryse). Procne exacted her revenge on her husband by
This wound began to fester, its smell becom- killing their son, Itys, and serving him to
ing so offensive that Odysseus suggested that Tereus. When he realized what he was eating
Philoctetes be left behind on the island of he chased the two sisters with an axe. The gods
Lemnos, then uninhabited. There, for most of intervened and changed all three into birds,
the Trojan War, Philoctetes, lame from his Tereus becoming a hawk or hoopoe, Procne a
wound, supported himself by shooting down swallow, and Philomela a nightingale. Some
gulls and gathering what other food he could writers, especially in the later Roman tradition,
find. reverse the sisters’ bird transformations.
In the last year of the war, when things were See also: Tereus
going badly for the Greeks, Helenus, the cap-
tured Trojan seer, revealed that Troy could only
be taken if the bow and arrows of Heracles were Philyra
brought to the siege. Odysseus and Diomedes Greek
(or Neoptolemus) were sent to bring Philoctetes A daughter of Oceanos and Tethys, she was
to Troy, but he was reluctant to go, as he felt bit- seduced by Zeus in the form of a stallion. The
ter toward the Greeks, especially Odysseus. result of this union was the centaur Cheiron,
There are various accounts of how Phi- horse from the waist down, man above, and a
loctetes was finally persuaded to go to Troy. wise teacher. To cover Philyra’s shame Zeus
The most common says that Odysseus tried a granted her the boon of being transformed
trick by saying that he was to be taken back into a linden tree.
home but, once aboard, they sailed for Troy See also: Cheiron
Phocis 249
Phineus Phlegeus
Greek Greek
Son of Agenor, brother of Europa and King of Psophis who purified Alcmaeon of
Cadmos, and ruler of Salmydessos in the matricide of Eriphyle when he fled to his
Thrace. A renowned seer, he was blinded by kingdom, the Erinnyes in hot pursuit.
Zeus for revealing too much of the gods’ Alcmaeon married Phlegeus’s daughter,
plans for the human race, though this pun- Arsinoë, and gave her the robe and necklace
ishment is sometimes ascribed to Phineus’s of Harmonia. However, he was soon forced to
imprisonment of his sons by his first wife, flee again by the Erinnyes. This time
Cleopatra, because of a false accusation by Alcmaeon was purified by the river god
Idaea, their stepmother and his second wife. Achelous and married his daughter, Cal-
As further punishment Phineus was contin- lirrhoë, who demanded the robe and necklace
ually harassed by Harpies, who stole his of Harmonia. Alcmaeon dared to return to
food and befouled his table. Psophis and obtained the fabulous artifacts
Phineus was saved, half-starved, from his on the pretext that he was going to take them
torment when Jason and the Argonauts arrived to Delphi. Phlegeus, however, discovered the
in Thrace. Zetes and Calais, the brothers of ruse, ordered his sons to kill Alcmaeon, and
Cleopatra and sons of Boreas, drove the then took the ill-fated treasures to Delphi
Harpies to the Echinades Islands before return- himself.
ing to vindicate their nephews, Phineus’s sons See also: Alcmaeon; Erinnyes
by Cleopatra. They were released, and in his
gratitude Phineus explained how the Argo-
nauts might negotiate the hazardous Symple-
gades. Idaea was then sent home to her father, Phobos
who killed her. Greco-Roman
See also: Agenor; Cadmos; Jason One of the horsemen of Ares whose name
means “fear.” His companion was Deimos.
Astronomical: The innermost of the two satel-
Phintias lites of the planet Mars, having a diameter of
Greek approximately 23 kilometers (14.5 miles) and
Also: Pythias orbiting at a mean distance of 9,400 kilometers
The great friend of Damon who, when (5875 miles). Its period of revolution, just
Phintias had been condemned to death by 7h39m, is so fast that Phobos rises in the west
Dionysus I, tyrant of Syracuse, in the fourth and sets in the east despite the planet’s east-
century B.C., pledged his life against Phintias’s ward rotation.
failure to return after the latter was granted
bail to settle his affairs. Phintias returned at
the eleventh hour on the very morning of his
scheduled execution and so saved the life of Phocaea
his friend. Such loyalty so impressed Greek
Dionysus I that he pardoned Phintias and The northernmost Ionian city on the western
begged to be admitted to their special bond of coast of Asia Minor that became famous for
friendship. colonizing Massalia, modern Marseilles.
Phlegethon
Greek Phocis
River of Flames, one of the five rivers of the Greek
Underworld that the dead had to cross before Ancient region of northern Greece centered
coming to the realm of Hades himself, there to around the Cephissus Valley and containing
be judged on past life. Mount Parnassus and the Delphic Oracle.
250 Phocus
Phoebe Phoenix
Greek Greek
1. “Shining One”; a name applied to Artemis 1. One of the sons of Agenor, king of Tyre, and
as a goddess of the moon, successor to brother of Cadmos and Europe. He was sup-
Phoebus, Apollo as god of the sun. posedly the eponymous founder of Phoenicia.
2. A Titan, one of the children of Uranos and 2. Son of Amyntor, king of Ormeniun on
Ge who were imprisoned by their father. Mount Pelion. Persuaded by his mother to
Astronomical: One of the satellites of Saturn seduce Amyntor’s concubine, he was subse-
lying furthest from the planet, outside the orbit quently cursed and blinded by his father.
of Iapetus. Fleeing to Phthia, Cheiron restored his sight
after being befriended by Peleus, who made
him king of the Dolopes and tutor to his son,
Phoebus Achilles, whom he later accompanied to Troy
Greek along with Patroclus. When Achilles withdrew
“Shining”; the name of Apollo as the sun per- from the fighting, Phoenix featured in the
sonified at his Ionian shrine at Delos, where he unsuccessful attempts to have him rejoin the
was also known as Lycius. As Phoebus, Apollo fighting. He died a peaceful death on the way
was succeeded by his sister, Artemis, as home from the war.
Phoebe (Moon). See also: Achilles; Cheiron
Phoenicia Pholus
Greek Greek
An ancient region of western Asia along the Centaur who entertained Heracles—who was
eastern coast of the Mediterranean that in- on his way to capture the Erymanthian Boar as
cluded the great city-states of Tyre, Sidon, his fourth labor—in his cave on Mount Pholus
Tripoli, and Byblos. Greek tradition said that in Elis with a cask of sweet, strong wine given to
Phoenicia was the birthplace of Adonis, the him by Dionysos. When the cask was opened
beautiful youth who was loved by Aphrodite other centaurs besieged the cave but were
and killed by a wild boar. He was restored to repulsed by Heracles, who accidentally wound-
life by Persephone, who also loved him, after ed his old friend, Cheiron, and struck Pholus
which Zeus decreed that he should remain in with one of his poisoned arrows, killing his host.
the Underworld with Persephone for half the See also: Cheiron; Heracles
Phyleus 251
Picus Pinus
Roman Roman
A son of Saturnus and father of Faunus. A Said to be a son of Numa Pompilius and the
youth having the gift of prophecy who was in legendary founder of the Pinarian family of
love with Pomona, he was himself loved by ancient Rome.
Circe. He rejected her and was changed into a
woodpecker.
Piraeus
Greek
Pieria The principal port of Athens, some five miles
Greek from the city, on the Saronic Gulf; capital of the
The southeastern coastal strip of Macedonia, modern Piraeus Department. The naval and
lying to the north of Mount Olympus, that was maritime headquarters of ancient Athens, it
inhabited by Thracian peoples who, in early was planned c. 490 B.C. by Themistocles and
times, worshipped the Muses, hence called built c. 450 B.C. by Hippodamus of Miletus. It
Pierides. The cult of the Muses was probably was connected to Athens by the Long Walls,
carried to Mount Helicon from here. which would enable supplies and the like to be
moved between the port and the city during
times of siege.
Pierides
Greek
1. A name for the Muses that comes from their Pirene
worship in Pieria. Greek
2. The collective name for the nine daugh- A nymph originating from Corinth who was
ters of Pierus, a king in Macedonia, possibly the mother, by Poseidon, of Leches and
Pieria, named after the Muses. Legend says Cenchrias, who gave their names to the two
that they were turned into birds after being gates of Corinth. Leches was accidentally killed
beaten in a contest with the Muses. by Artemis, and so copious were the tears shed
by Pirene that she became a spring. There were,
in fact, two springs having this name at Corinth,
Pillars of Heracles one in the elegant Roman fountain house in the
Greco-Roman lower town, the other on the Akrocorinth.
Also: Pillars of Hercules Legend said that Bellerophon found and caught
Two promontories in the Mediterranean Sea Pegasus at the latter fountain.
on each side of the Strait of Gibraltar. The
European of the two was known as Calpe and
is usually identified with the Rock of Gibraltar, P(e)irithous
whereas the African was known as Abyla, or Greek
Ceuta, being identified with Mount Acho. The son of Ixion and Dia, successor to Ixion as
According to some traditions they were posi- king of the Lapithae in Thessaly, and, later, a
tioned by Heracles to mark the western close friend of Theseus. During Peirithous’s
boundary of the known world, beyond it lying wedding to Hippodameia a drunken centaur
the fabled Atlantis. In others they were joined attempted to carry off the bride, though some
together until Heracles parted them and let the sources say a horde of centaurs attempted to
waters of the Atlantic Ocean mingle with those make off with Hippodameia and a company
of the Mediterranean. of ladies. Theseus joined with the Lapithae in
See also: Abyla; Calpe; Ceuta their famous fight with the centaurs.
Following the later death of Hippodameia,
Theseus and Peirithous carried off the young
Pimplea Helen of Sparta, who fell, by lot, to Theseus. As
Greek Helen was too young to marry, they concealed
A town in Pieria that was dedicated to the her in the village of Aphidnae, where she was
Pierides, the Muses. cared for by Theseus’s mother, Aethra. Full of
Pleiades 253
she is the dimmest of the stars in the Pleiades ship of all the minerals, gems, and precious
cluster. metals of the earth.
Astronomical: One of the beautiful sights in
the night sky, the Pleiades or Seven Sisters star
cluster is found in the constellation Taurus. Plutus
They lie in the northern celestial hemisphere at Greek
approximate celestial coordinates right ascen- The god of wealth, the meaning of his name,
sion 3h45m, declination +24°. The group lies and the son of Demeter and Iasion. He is pos-
541 light-years distant and is approximately 2° sibly a corruption of Pluto or Pluton brought
wide. Only six stars within the group are visi- into being, as it would have been hard to
ble to the unaided eye; a small telescope shows consider a god as dreaded as Hades as also
more than 100. Both Atlas and Pleione are being the provider of wealth. He was a
within the group. largely symbolic figure, represented as a
See also: Alcyone; Asterope; Celaeno; Electra; Hyades;
blind god with little or no discrimination in
Maia; Merope; Orion
those he attaches to.
Ple(i)one
Greek Pluvius
The mother of the Pleiades by Atlas. Roman
“The Rainmaker”; an aspect of Jupiter used at
sacrifices during periods of drought.
Pl(e)isthenes
Greek
Son of Atreus who was killed by his father, Podalirius
who was tricked into the act by Thyestes. Greek
Son of Asclepios, brother of Machaon. Like his
father, both he and his brother were healers,
Pluto
one of them being responsible for finally cur-
Greek ing the festering and highly offensive wound
1. “The Wealth”; a euphemism for Hades the of Philoctetes.
god, which the ancient Greeks preferred to use See also: Asclepios
when talking about one so dreaded. The name
Pluto was later adopted by the Romans to refer
to the god of the Underworld, a hard and inex-
Podarces
orable being who dwelled beneath the secret
places of the earth in a gloomy palace among Greek
barren fields. 1. Son of Laomedon and the only one not
Astronomical: The outermost of the known killed by Heracles when that hero sacked Troy
planets of the solar system; discovered in 1930. in revenge for not being rewarded, as
The planet has a single satellite, Charon, and promised, for saving Hesione from a sea mon-
lies at an average distance of 5,966 million kilo- ster. Thus spared, Podarces changed his name
meters (3,728 million miles) from the sun and to the better-known Priam.
has an approximate equatorial diameter of 2. Son of Iphicles, he led an army of
3,000 kilometers (1,875 miles). Thessalanians against Troy during the Trojan
2. A nymph, the mother of Tantalus by Zeus. War.
See also: Priam
Pluton
Greek Poeas
An epithet applied to Hades the god; it means Greek
“the Wealthy One,” a reference to his owner- Father of Philoctetes.
Polydeuces 255
Pollux Polydectes
Roman Greek
The Roman name for Polydeuces, brother of King of Seriphos; Dictys brought Danaë and
Castor, and thus one of the Dioscuri. It is by his the infant Perseus to him after the chest in
Latinized name that Pollux/Polydeuces is per- which Acrisius had set them adrift had
haps best known. Roman tradition simply washed up on Seriphos. When Perseus had
changed his name, not his tradition. grown to manhood Polydectes sent him off on
Astronomical: The star Pollux is designated some pretext to fetch the head of the Gorgon
Beta Gemini (ß Gem) in the constellation Medusa, for he had designs on Perseus’s
Gemini, the Heavenly Twins, which forms the mother, Danaë. When Perseus successfully
third constellation of the Zodiac, May 22–June returned from his quest he found Polydectes
21. The constellation lies in the northern celes- still harassing his mother, who had been
tial hemisphere between approximate right forced, along with Dictys, to seek refuge in the
ascensions 6h00m and 8h00m, declination temple. Perseus simply thwarted Polydectes’
from +10° to +35°. The star Pollux lies at plans by exposing him and all his followers to
approximate celestial coordinates right ascen- the head of Medusa. They were instantly
sion 7h45m, declination +28°. It is approxi- turned to stone.
mately 36 light-years distant, type K0III, and See also: Danaë; Perseus
has a magnitude of 1.15, thus making it
slightly brighter that the brother-star, Castor.
Polydeuces
Greek
Polybus Brother of Castor, hence one of the Dioscuri,
Greek Polydeuces was known as Pollux to the
King of Corinth, a child was brought to him by Romans, the name by which he is probably
one of his shepherds. Naming the infant better known. The son of Leda by Zeus, who
Oedipus for his swollen feet (they had been appeared to her in the form of a swan,
bound together and pierced by a nail), Polybus Polydeuces was also the brother of Helen and
raised him as his own son. Clytemnestra, though the relationships among
See also: Oedipus Leda’s four children are confused. Some
sources say that Helen and Polydeuces where
fathered by Zeus and born from an egg,
Polybutes whereas Castor and Clytemnestra were her
Greek children by her mortal husband, Tyndareus.
One of the Gigantes, the 24 giant sons of Others say that only Clytemnestra was the
Uranos and Ge with serpents’ tails. He and his child of Tyndareus or that Helen, Castor, and
brothers, led by Alcyoneus and including Polydeuces were born from an egg but that
Porphyrion, Ephialtes, Mimas, Pallas, and Helen and Polydeuces were fathered by Zeus
Enceladus, determined to avenge themselves and that Castor, mortal through this fact, was
on Olympus for the imprisonment of their conceived on the same night but fathered by
brothers, the Titans. After a terrible struggle in Tyndareus.
256 Polydorus
The brothers were inseparable and together gested the blackberry. He also discovered the
took part in the voyage of Jason and the body of Glaucus, who had drowned in a vat of
Argonauts, Polydeuces killing Amycus on the honey. Unable to revive the boy, Polyeidus and
island of Bebrycos during this voyage. They also Glaucus were entombed by Minos. There a
took part in the hunt for the Calydonian Boar serpent revealed to Polyeidus an herb that
and rescued Helen from the village Aphidnae, restored Glaucus to life, which the serpent had
where Theseus hid her after abducting her. On previously used to revive its dead mate, and
this occasion they had help from Academus, both seer and boy were released.
who told them where Helen was hidden, and See also: Bellerophon; Minos
took Aethra, Theseus’s mother, to be her slave.
Their devotion to each other was displayed
when Castor was killed, possibly during a Polymester
quarrel over the ownership of some cattle. Greek
Unable to live apart from his brother, Poly- King of the Thracian Chersonesus whom Priam
deuces refused his immortality, and Zeus entrusted with his youngest son, Polydorus,
placed the pair in the heavens as the constella- and a large quantity of gold just before the fall
tion Gemini. of Troy. When the city fell, Polymester killed the
Astronomical: See Gemini and Pollux. boy for the gold and threw his body into the sea.
See also: Clytemnestra; Helen; Leda; Tyndareus There it was discovered by Hecuba, who, being
brought to the Thracian Chersonesus by
Odysseus, to whom she had been allotted, con-
Polydorus trived the death of Polymester and his two sons,
Greek then escaped the angry Thracians by turning
1. Son of Cadmos and Harmonia, brother to herself into a bitch named Maera.
Autonoë, Ino, Semele, Agave, and Illyrius, and See also: Maera; Odysseus; Priam
father of Labdacus.
2. Youngest son of Priam and Hecuba who
was, according to Homer, killed by Achilles. Poly(hy)mnia
Later accounts give a different version, though Greek
these may refer to a second son of the same One of the nine Muses, the daughters of Zeus
name. In these, Priam entrusted Polydorus, and Mnemosyne. Her name is cognate with
along with a large quantity of gold, to hymnos, “hymn,” and she is associated espe-
Polymester, king of the Thracian Chersonesus. cially with the sublime hymn, the lyre, pan-
However, when Troy fell, Polymester killed tomime, and geometry.
Polydorus for the gold and threw the body
into the sea. Hecuba, who had fallen to the
share of Odysseus, was taken by the latter to Polyn(e)ices
the Thracian Chersonesus, where she discov- Greek
ered the body of her son. She contrived to kill One of the four children, along with Eteocles,
Polymester and his two sons, then evaded the Antigone, and Ismene, of Oedipus and his
angry Thracians by turning herself into a bitch own mother, Jocasta. Following the death of
named Maera. Oedipus, Polyneices and Eteocles decided to
rule Thebes in turn, but when it came time for
Eteocles to abdicate, he refused. Polyneices
Poly(e)idus turned to Adrastus, son of Talaus and king of
Greek Argos, for help; he married Argia, Adrastus’s
An Argive seer, a descendant of Melampus daughter.
who helped Bellerophon to capture the Adrastus agreed to help Polyneices gain the
winged horse Pegasus. He also solved the rid- throne that was now rightfully his, but the seer
dle set by the Curetes to find the most apt anal- Amphiaraus prophesied the death of all the
ogy for Minos’s cow, which changed color leaders except Adrastus himself. Polyneices,
from white to red to black every day. He sug- following the advice of Tydeus, his brother-in-
Pompeii 257
law, bribed Eriphyle, Adrastus’s sister and wife Polyphemus, here portrayed as a giant canni-
of Amphiaraus, by giving her the necklace of bal, ate two of Odysseus’s companions when
Harmonia on the proviso that she convince her he returned to the cave with his flocks, block-
husband to join their cause. This she did. ing the entrance with a huge boulder. By next
Adrastus, Amphiaraus, Polyneices, and evening only six of Odysseus’s companions
Tydeus were joined by Capaneus, Hippom- remained alive, so Odysseus contrived to get
edon, and Parthenopaeus, and these seven led Polyphemus drunk; while the cyclops slept,
their forces against Thebes, their ill-fated expe- Odysseus put out his single eye. The following
dition becoming known as the Seven Against morning, as Polyphemus let out his flocks to
Thebes. As Amphiaraus had prophesied, six of graze, Odysseus and his men made good their
the seven leaders died, Adrastus alone surviv- escape by clinging to the underbellies of the
ing. Polyneices was mortally wounded during sheep. Safely returning to their ship, they left
single combat with his brother, Eteocles, who Sicily but thenceforth had to endure the hostil-
was also killed. Now Creon seized the throne ity of Poseidon. Some sources say that the Isole
of Thebes. Ciclopee were the huge boulders Polyphemus
This new ruler refused to allow the burial of flung desperately at the fleeing Odysseus and
Polyneices. Antigone, Polyneices’ sister, dared that he simply crushed Acis under a huge
to disobey him and was immured in a cave for boulder.
her trouble. There she hanged herself; upon See also: Acis; Galatea; Odysseus
discovering her body, Haemon, Creon’s son,
who had been betrothed to Antigone, commit-
ted suicide. Polyxena
See also: Adrastus; Antigone; Eteocles; Jocasta; Greek
Oedipus; Seven Against Thebes A daughter of Priam and Hecuba whom
Achilles reportedly fell for, his love being one
of the reasons for his refusal to rejoin the fight-
Polypemon ing after his famous argument with
Greek Agamemnon. After the fall of Troy she was
The forename of Procrustes, father of Sinis, the sacrificed by Neoptolemus, Achilles’ son, as
wild sow of Crommyum, famous for inviting Achilles’ ghost had demanded to ensure favor-
travelers along the road between Eleusis and able winds. Some sources say that this sacrifice
Athens to spend the night. If they did not took place at Troy, others when the Greek fleet
exactly fit the bed, he would either stretch had reached Thrace.
them or lop off their limbs as necessary. He See also: Achilles; Hecuba; Priam
was finished off by Theseus, who dished out
his own treatment to him.
See also: Theseus Pomona
Roman
The youthful and beautiful goddess of fruit
Polyphemus trees and their cultivation who was accorded a
Greek sacred area 19 kilometers (12 miles) from Rome.
One of the Cyclopes but, unlike the rest of the Her male counterpart, Vertumnus, fell in love
tribe, a son of Poseidon; described as a shep- with her. Rejected, he transformed himself
herd who tended his flocks on the shores of through a variety of guises until he pleaded his
Sicily. He fell in love with the nymph Galatea, case so eloquently while in the guise of an old
but she spurned him in favor of Acis. Furious, woman that Pomona changed her mind.
Polyphemus killed Acis, the rocks he hurled at
him becoming the Isole Ciclopee off Acireale in
Sicily. Pompeii
Polyphemus also features in the story of Roman
Odysseus, who was said to have taken refuge A city of Campania now two miles inland. It
in his cave along with 12 of his companions. was a seaside resort in 62 A.D., when it was hit
258 Pompo
a friend to Rome rather than an enemy. Lars Roman times a symbol of sea power, as it is
Porsenna agreed and called a truce, thus today. With the trident he established himself
putting to an end any hope the Tarquinians as the master of the older sea deities such as
had of returning to power. Nereus, Proteus, and Phocus. Poseidon
dwelled on Olympus with the other gods as
well as in an underwater palace near Aegea in
Poseidon Euboea, where he kept his horses with brazen
Greek hooves and golden manes, the Hippocamps.
The god of salt water and freshwater, invoked When they drew his chariot over the sea, they
especially before sea voyages; the Romans caused the sea to becalm.
equated him with Neptune. Poseidon seems to Though inferior in status to Zeus, Poseidon
derive from a god worshipped by the earliest once joined with the other Olympian deities,
Aryan invaders of Greece, the Ionians and led by Hera, in an attempt to put Zeus in
Minyans, who arrived c. 2000 B.C. They chains. They were successful, and for a time
brought the mastery of horses and wheeled Zeus was bound fast. However, after Zeus had
vehicles and a sky god whose thunder was been released by Thetis and Briareus—and
equated with the sound of horses’ hooves, an Hera suitably punished—Apollo and Posei-
aspect clearly demonstrated in Poseidon’s title don, the two main conspirators, were sent as
Ennosigaios, “the Earthshaker,” the god of bondsmen to King Laomedon and built for
earthquakes. His mate was an earth goddess him the mighty fortifications of Troy, hence
who later developed into Demeter. Poseidon’s called Neptuniia Pergama. Laomedon made
position as the god of the heavens was the mistake of attempting to refuse reward for
superceded when the Achaeans entered the work carried out; Poseidon sent a sea mon-
Greece c. 1450 B.C., bringing with them Zeus. ster. Laomedon’s daughter, Hesione, would
Poseidon now became principally a sea deity, have been sacrificed to it if Heracles had not
for by this time the Minyans had become happened by, killed the sea monster, and
expert in navigation. saved the girl. Naturally, when the Trojan War
An Arcadian legend says that in order to broke out Poseidon sided with the Greeks.
save him from Cronos, Rhea gave the latter a Poseidon was the father of two giant sons by
foal to swallow in his stead; a Rhodian variant Iphimedeia, Otus and Ephialtes, collectively
says he was reared by the Telchines on Rhodes. known as the Aloeidae after their stepfather,
However, usual classical tradition makes Aloeus. When aged just nine these boys de-
Poseidon the eldest son of Cronos and Rhea cided to attack Olympus to outrage Hera and
who was swallowed by his father in Rhea’s Artemis, first having captured and imprisoned
attempt to prevent his deposition by one of his Ares. They failed, their spirits being con-
sons. When this happened, and Zeus had demned to Tartarus.
made him disgorge his children, Cronos’s The invention of the horse is attributed to
three sons—Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon—cast Poseidon during his dispute with Athene for
lots to divide the universe. To Zeus fell the sky the possession of Athens; possession was
and the heavens, to Hades the Underworld, given to the goddess when Cecrops judged
and to Poseidon the waters, both seas and that her gift of an olive tree was better than the
rivers. The land remained common domain spring given by Poseidon. Indeed, in many
among the three, though Poseidon may have legends Poseidon assumes an equine form. He
had special claim to the land as his domain taught men how to bridle horses, and thus he
through his name, which appears to mean became the protector of horse races. He again
“spouse of the land,” a role especially alluded disputed territory with Athene, this time over
to in his title Phytalmios, “fruitful.” Troezen, and Zeus judged that they should
The Cyclopes gave him his trident, his most share it equally. When Briareus awarded him
common attribute, which he wielded to shake the Corinthian isthmus during another
the earth—yet another reference to his earlier dispute—this time with Helios over Corinth—
origins as “the Earthshaker”—or subdue the the quadrennial Isthmian Games were found-
waves and which became in Hellenic and ed in his honor, games that notably featured
260 Poseidon
horse and chariot races. When the river gods fall in love with the bull, mate with it, and so
of Argos awarded that region to Hera in yet bear the Minotaur.
another dispute over earthly territory, Posei- At one time Poseidon seduced the beautiful
don dried up the rivers in anger, restoring Medusa in a temple of Athene, an outrage for
them only after his liason with Amymone, for which Medusa was turned into the hideous
whom he created the springs of Argos with a serpent-haired Gorgon later slain by Perseus.
single blow of his trident. When her head was severed by Perseus, the
Poseidon first sought to marry Thetis but winged horse Pegasus and the warrior
was warned that any son born to her would be Chrysaor, Poseidon’s children, sprang fully
greater than the father. He therefore turned his grown from the wound. Perseus later used the
attentions to Amphitrite, daughter of Nereus. severed head to turn Cetus, the sea monster
She at first rejected him, and it was only after sent by Poseidon to ravage Aethiopia after
Delphinos had so eloquently pleaded his case Cassiopeia’s boast, to stone.
that she changed her mind. Poseidon, in grati- Poseidon was also the father of the
tude for Delphinos’s help, placed him among renowned bully named Amycus, king of
the stars. Poseidon had three sons by Bebrycos, who challenged all strangers to a
Amphitrite, though just one, Triton, is named, boxing match and killed them. When the
and many other children by gods and mortals Argonauts arrived on Bebrycos, Polydeuces
alike. During these trysts he used his powers met the challenge and killed Amycus. Agenor,
of metamorphosis to great effect, giving the king of Phoenicia and father of Europa, was
gift to Mestra and Periclymenus. another of Poseidon’s famous offspring. Yet
Both he and Apollo vied for the love of their another was the giant, one-eyed Polyphemus,
sister, Hestia, but she swore by Zeus to remain who was a shepherd on Sicily. During the epic
a virgin. He was, of course, the father of the journey of Odysseus back to Ithaca after the
giants Otus and Ephialtes by Iphimedeia, as Trojan War, he and 12 of his companions took
well as the giant Antaeus by Ge, perhaps also shelter in Polyphemus’s cave. When the giant
Orion. His son Halirrhothius was killed by returned he rolled a huge stone across the
Ares, a crime for which he was tried before the entrance and ate two of Odysseus’s compan-
gods and acquitted, the place of the trial ions. By the next evening only Odysseus and
becoming known as the Areopagus. In the six of his men remained. After getting
form of a stallion he raped his sister, Demeter, Polyphemus drunk they put out his single eye
the offspring of this union being the horse and escaped the following morning; when the
Arion and the nymph Despoena. Some say giant let his flock out to graze, they clung to
that Persephone was also born as a result of the underbellies of the animals. Making good
this mating, but usually the rape of Demeter their escape they had to contend with the ven-
occurs while the goddess is wandering the geance of Polyphemus’s father, Poseidon,
earth in search of her lost daughter. who shipwrecked them on more than one
Another of his loves, Scylla, was so hateful occasion.
toward Amphitrite that the latter turned her Poseidon was also the lover of Pelops and
into a monster with six barking heads and 12 gave him the divine chariot in which he won
feet. Poseidon also loved Tyro, mother of his his race with Oenomaus, though Pelops
children Pelias and Neleus, and Aethra, the ensured victory by bribing Myrtilus, whom he
mother of his most famous son, Theseus, later killed.
whose prayer he answered, sending a bull that Sacrifices to Poseidon were usually black
either killed or helped cause the death of and white bulls, though horses were also
Theseus’s son, Hippolytus. Theseus was also offered to him. His attributes were the trident,
responsible for the final destruction of the the horse, and the dolphin, and he was usu-
Cretan Bull, a magnificent animal that ally represented as a mature, bearded man,
Poseidon had sent to Crete to confirm the rule naked from the waist up, accompanied by
of Minos. That king substituted another, lesser Amphitrite, Triton, Nereides, and dolphins
animal, as the sacrifice, and in revenge and sometimes also a tunny fish. He had
Poseidon caused Minos’s wife, Pasiphaë, to major temples in the Peloponnesos and
Pro~cne, ~gne 261
Arcadia as well as one of the most famous of Nothing is heard of Priam until the Trojan
all, at Sunium, though the main site of his War, when he is getting on in years. On one
worship was at Isthmia, near the isthmus of notable occasion, following the slaying of his
Corinth, which was, of course, one of his son, Hector, by Achilles, Priam was led by
earthly territories. Hermes to Achilles’ tent under cover of dark-
See also: Amphitrite; Cyclopes; Demeter; Medusa; ness to plea for the return of his son’s body for
Minos; Minotaur; Odysseus; Pasiphaë; Thetis; Triton burial. Shortly before the end of the war, obvi-
ously growing weary of the continued car-
nage, Priam sent Agenor to Agamemnon to
Postumius, Aulus sue for peace, but Antenor, out of his hatred for
Roman Deiphobus, conspired with the Greek forces.
Roman leader who led the forces at the leg- As Troy fell, Priam and Hecuba took refuge
endary Battle of Lake Regillus, where Tar- before the altar of Zeus Herkeios. There he wit-
quinius Superbus or Sextus Tarquinius and an nessed the savage murder of his son, Polites,
allied force of Latins were defeated with the by Neoptolemus, and when Priam tried to
help of the Dioscuri. To celebrate the victory, intervene Neoptolemus mercilessly butchered
Aulus Postumius founded the temple of the aged king as well.
Castor and Pollux in the Forum and is also See also: Hecuba; Paris; Trojan War
reputed to have founded the temple of Ceres.
Priapus
Potina Theron Greco-Roman
Greek Son of Dionysos and Aphrodite (Roman:
“Mistress of the Animals”; a title sometimes Bacchus and Venus), a god of fruitfulness, of
applied to Artemis in her capacity as goddess animal and vegetable fertility. Originating in
of wildlife. In modern usage it more com- Asia Minor, he was most generally repre-
monly refers to the Minoan Earth Goddess, a sented in the form of a small, grotesque, and
deity derived from the Near Eastern mother misshapen caricature of the human form, usu-
goddess (for example, Cybele). ally a pillar with a human torso and head with
an enormous phallus, the latter reportedly
given to him by Hera. He functioned as a ter-
Priam(us) ritory marker, a guardian of gardens and
Greek orchards, and later one of herds. The ass was
The name (translatable as “redeemed”) taken sacrificed in his honor, as it symbolized lechery
by Podarces after his father, Laomedon, and all and was associated with the god’s potency. He
his brothers were killed when Heracles and was regarded less as a god to pray to than a
Telamon sacked Troy. His sister, Hesione, was comic garden gnome whose statue in the rock
given to Telamon by Heracles. Some years garden could raise a laugh and do no harm.
later Priam sent Antenor to demand that
Telamon should return Hesione, and the
Greeks’ scornful refusal was one of the causes Pro~cne, ~gne
of the Trojan War, though by no means the Greco-Roman
main one. Responsibility for starting the ten- Daughter of Pandion, sister to Philomela, wife
year war lies with one of Priam’s sons, Paris. of Tereus, and mother by him of Itys. Tereus
Priam is credited with having 50 sons, 19 of hid her among the slaves, for he had fallen in
them by his second wife, Hecuba or Hecabe, love with Philomela, whom he seduced after
who bore him many famous children includ- he told her that Procne was dead. Tereus then
ing Hector, Paris, Deiphobus, Polyxena, Poly- tore out Procne’s tongue to keep their secret,
dorus, and the prophetic twins Helenus and but she wove a message to her sister in a robe.
Cassandra. Troilus, whom Priam apparently Philomela rescued her from her enslavement,
accepted as his own, may have been Hecuba’s and to avenge herself on Tereus she killed their
son by Apollo. son, Itys, and served her husband the boy’s
262 Procris
flesh. When Tereus realized what he was eat- Acrisius. Expelled soon afterwards for seduc-
ing he pursued the sisters, but the gods inter- ing Acrisius’s daughter, Danaë, he fled to
vened and changed all three into birds. Procne Iobates, king of Lydia, where he married
became a swallow, Philomela a nightingale, Iobates’ daughter, Anteia, also called Sthene-
and Tereus either a hoopoe or hawk. Later ver- boea. Returning to Argolis, he forced his broth-
sions of the story, particularly Roman ones, er to divide the kingdom and so became the
reverse the sisters’ roles as well as their bird king of Tiryns, building its massive walls with
transformations. the aid of the Cyclopes.
See also: Pandion; Philomela; Tereus Bellerophon visited his court, and his wife,
Anteia, fell in love with the youth. Rejected,
she falsely accused him to her husband.
Procris Unwilling to kill a guest in his house, Proetus
Greek sent Bellerophon to Iobates with a letter asking
Daughter of the second Erechtheus that that the bearer be put to death.
become king of Athens and wife of Cephalos. He was the father of Lysippe, Iphinoë, and
She was seduced by Pteleon and then fled Iphianassa, all of whom were sent mad—
Cephalos to Crete, where she had a liason with either by Hera or Dionysos—for neglecting his
King Minos, whom she cured of a strange and rites. They thought themselves cows and wan-
fearsome affliction. In gratitude Minos gave dered throughout the Argolid, spreading their
her an infallible spear and the hunting dog affliction, until they were cured by the seer
Laelaps. These she gave to Cephalos to Melampus.
appease his anger when she returned to See also: Abas; Acrisius; Danaë
Athens.
Procris, however, now had reason to
become jealous, for Eos fell in love with Prometheus
Cephalos. Procris hid in a bush to spy on her Greek
husband when he went hunting on Mount A Titan, the son of Iapetus and Themis or an
Hymettus. Seeing movement in the bushes, Oceanid, possibly Clymene, brother of
Cephalos threw the infallible spear, killing his Epimetheus, Atlas, and Menoetius, and father
wife. of Deucalion. His name means “Forethought,”
whereas that of his brother, Epimetheus,
means “Afterthought.” He created the race of
Procrustes men from clay, provided them with the power
Greek of reason, and thereafter championed their
Also: Damastes cause. His most precious gift to mankind was
“Stretcher”; the surname given to the rob- fire, which he stole from the gods, hiding it in
ber Polypemon. Living beside the road a fennel stalk. He also established a custom in
between Eleusis and Athens, Procrustes which only the poorer parts of sacrificed ani-
would appear hospitable, inviting travelers to mals are offered to the gods. To do this he hid
spend the night. He would, however, adjust the lean meat in a pouch and covered the
their bodies to exactly fit his bed, stretching remaining bones and entrails with rich fat.
them if they were too short or lopping off their Zeus was then offered the choice and chose the
limbs if they were too tall. Theseus put an end latter, thus leaving the best parts for mankind.
to this when he dished out the same treatment By thus tricking Zeus, Prometheus brought
to Procrustes. divine vengeance upon both himself and
See also: Theseus mankind. Hephaistos, at Zeus’s command,
made a lovely woman, Pandora, the Eve of
Greek mythology, who was given a box and
Proetus told never to open it. She was then sent to
Greek Epimetheus, who made her his wife. Before
Son of Abas, king of Argolis, he jointly inher- long, Pandora could contain her curiosity no
ited the kingdom with his twin brother, more and opened the forbidden box. All the
Protogonus 263
ills that plague mankind escaped, Hope alone ghost could still be seen haunting Troad (an
remaining in the casket. ancient region of northwest Asia Minor) with
Prometheus had until now been favored by ghosts of other heroes during the third centu-
the gods. On one occasion, according to some, ry A.D.
he actually helped Zeus by cleaving open the His wife, Laodameia, daughter of Acastus,
latter’s skull to release the fully grown Athene. was so desolate with grief that she begged the
He even relieved the pain of Cheiron by gods to allow her husband to return for just
receiving the centaur’s immortality, thereby three hours. They relented and allowed
allowing the unfortunate Cheiron to finally die Hermes to lead Protesilaus back from the
of the wound accidentally afflicted by Underworld. When he died the second time,
Heracles. after three hours had elapsed, Laodameia died
However, as he had tricked Zeus and had as well.
stolen fire from the heavens, he was now pun- See also: Laodameia
ished. He was chained to a rock in the
Caucasus where, all day long, an eagle or vul-
ture tore at his liver, which grew whole again Proteus
during the night, an interesting anatomical Greek
detail as the liver is the only human organ that 1. Ancient sea deity, the son of Oceanos and
renews itself. His torment lasted many gener- Tethys who, like Nereus, had the ability to
ations until he was finally released, with the change his shape at will. He is depicted as a lit-
consent of Zeus, when Heracles shot the eagle tle, fish-tailed old man, later subject to
or vulture and untied his bonds. In gratitude Poseidon, whose flocks of seals he tended.
Prometheus, though some say Proteus, Proteus possessed the gift of prophecy, a gift
advised Heracles how he might trick Atlas into he could avoid using by utilizing his ability to
obtaining the Golden Apples of the Hes- metamorphose at will. In an instant he could
perides for him. become fire, flood, or wild beast. However, if a
See also: Atlas; Deucalion; Epimetheus; Heracles; person held him fast, no matter what form he
Pandora assumed, he would eventually return to his
normal form and deliver the truth. He could
usually be found at midday on the island of
Proserpin~a, ~e Pharos, as indeed Menelaus did, needing
Roman directions to return to Sparta after the fall of
The wife of Pluto and the queen of the Troy. On the advice of the nymph Eidothea,
Underworld; the Roman equivalent of Per- Menelaus and his companions disguised
sephone. She too was supposed to have eaten themselves as seals, and when Proteus went
the seeds of a pomegranate and was thus com- down for his noon rest they seized him and
pelled to spend a portion of each year in the held on as he turned himself into a lion, a
Underworld, the remainder on earth. snake, a leopard, a boar, water, and finally a
tree. He then resumed his own form and told
Menelaus what he needed to know.
Protesilaus 2. The name of a human king of Egypt, hus-
Greek band of Psamanthe who, according to the
“First-Leaper”; husband of Laodameia, uncle Stesichorean version of the legend of the siege
of Philoctetes, and the leader of a force from of Troy, looked after Helen during the Trojan
Phylace, in Thessaly, to Troy. When an oracle War. He was succeeded, while Helen was still
foretold that the first Greek to go ashore would a guest, by his son, Theoclymenus.
be killed, and all others hesitated, Protesilaus
defied fate and leaped ashore. After killing
several Trojans the oracle was fulfilled when Protogonus
he was cut down. He was buried on the Greek
European side of the Hellespont and had a “First Born”; a god who in the Orphic theogo-
temple near Sestos. Later legend says that his nies was born from the world egg created by
264 Psamanthe
Time. A hermaphrodite, Protogonus had gold- Furious when she found out exactly what
en wings, bulls’ heads on his flanks, and a ser- had been happening, Aphrodite set Psyche a
pent on his head, the latter possibly deriving series of seemingly impossible tasks. First she
from the uraeus serpent worn by the Egyptian presented the unfortunate girl with a huge
pharaohs. He is also known as Phanes, “the heap of assorted grains, which she had to sort
bright god” or “he who makes manifest.” into separate piles. She was helped by ants and
Being a hermaphrodite, Protogonus copulated accomplished the task.
with himself, thereby performing the func- Aphrodite then required Psyche to bring
tions of Demiurge, or Creator, functions that her some wool from a flock of man-eating
were not carried out by the supreme god, sheep. Psyche waited until the sheep were
Time. Thus were born the heavenly bodies, asleep, then collected the tufts of wool that
monsters, and the golden race of mankind. had become caught on some thorn bushes.
Although this theogony is incompatible with Next Aphrodite told Psyche to fetch her a jar
classical traditions, Zeus later came to be iden- of water from the River Styx, but Zeus’s
tified with Protogonus. eagle saw her plight and fetched the water
for her.
Finally, Psyche was told to fetch a box of
Psamanthe Persephone’s ointment from the Underworld.
Greek As she was preparing to throw herself from a
An Argive princess who was seduced by high tower, always a quick way of reaching the
Apollo and became the mother of Linus. Underworld, the tower spoke to her and told
Ashamed, she exposed the child, who was her how she might enter the Underworld at
reared by shepherds but later torn to pieces by Taenarum, telling her to take two obolos for
her father’s dogs. Her grief revealed her Charon and two honey cakes to placate
predicament to her father, who condemned her Cerberus. Psyche successfully came to Per-
to death. Furious, Apollo visited Argos with a sephone, who gave her a small box containing
plague that raged until the Argives propitiated the required ointment. However, once back on
Psamanthe and Linus with dirges called linoi. earth Psyche could not contain her curiosity
and so opened the box. Upon doing so a sleep
of death wafted up from the box; Psyche was
Psyche succumbing when Eros arrived and fanned
Greek away the noxious fumes. Psyche then deliv-
The personification of the soul, purified by suf- ered the box to Aphrodite while Eros
fering to enjoy true love. Usually represented beseeched either Aphrodite or Zeus, con-
in art with the wings of a butterfly, or as a but- tending that Psyche had been punished more
terfly itself, Psyche was a fairly late conception than enough. Aphrodite relented, and Eros
in Greek thought. married the girl, who was made immortal.
Originally a beautiful mortal, Psyche was This story, which is related in the Golden Ass
warned by the Delphic Oracle that she would of Apuleius, is one of the most enchanting sto-
love no mortal. Her great beauty aroused the ries of antiquity and allegorizes the freeing of
jealousy of Aphrodite, who commanded her the soul after purification through suffering.
son, Eros, to bring the maiden to a castle in the See also: Eros
mountains, where she was to marry a demon.
At night a secret lover came to her but forbade
her from lighting the lamp. On the fourth Puppis
night her curiosity overcame her and she lit the Greek
lamp as her lover lay sleeping to find out “The Poop”; the stern section of the Argo Navis
exactly what kind of demon was giving her that was placed in the heavens as the constel-
such intense pleasure. It turned out to be the lation Puppis. Below Puppis in the sky is
beautiful boy-god, Eros. In her excitement Carina, the Keel; to the east is Vel, the Sail; and
Psyche allowed a drop of hot oil to fall on just beside Puppis, on the deck, is Pyxis, the
Eros’s shoulder. He awoke and flew away. Ship’s Compass.
Pyriphlegethon 265
Astronomical: A constellation of the southern Orestes killed Aegisthus’s son and thus
celestial hemisphere located between approxi- became king. He then married his cousin,
mate right ascensions 6h05m and 8h25m, dec- Hermione, after disposing of his rival,
lination from –12° to –52°. Neoptolemus; Pylades married Electra.
See also: Iphigeneia; Orestes
Pygmalion
1. Greek Pylos
King of Cyprus and a famous sculptor, though Greek
only Ovid tells the famous story of Pygmalion’s Port in Messenia, western Peloponnesos, the
loneliness through the lack of a wife. He carved safest harbor in Greece, which the Athenians
an ivory statue of the most beautiful woman he successfully held against the Spartans in 425
could image and then, having fallen in love B.C. Tradition said that the young Hermes
with it, prayed to Aphrodite for a wife just like drove the cattle he had stolen from Apollo to
her. The goddess brought the statue to life, and Pylos. Later, Nestor was said to have ruled the
Pygmalion married her. Some sources, though city and led an army in his old age, in support
not the classical authors, name the living statue of the Greeks, to the Trojan War, where his jus-
as Galatea. She bore Pygmalion a daughter tice, wisdom, and eloquence were proverbial.
named either Paphos or Metharme.
2. Roman Pyramus
King of Tyre who murdered his uncle, Sych- Greek
aeus, or Sicharbus, the husband of his sister, Although its origins remain unknown, the story
Dido, and thus gained sole rule. Dido then fled of Pyramus and Thisbe, which first appears in
and founded the city of Carthage. Ovid’s Metamorphoses, was immortalized in
See also: Dido; Galatea William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s
Dream. It has been suggested that the story was
invented to explain the names of two adjacent
Pylades rivers, Pyramus and Thisbe, in Cilicia, Asia
Greek Minor. Living in Babylon, where their parents
Son of Strophius, king of Phocis, and the insep- were neighbors, Pyramus and Thisbe fell in
arable companion of the exiled Orestes. love, even though forbidden to associate with
Orestes received numerous pleas from his sis- each other. To overcome this they whispered
ter, Electra, to return to Mycenae to avenge the through a hole in the garden wall and decided to
murder of their father, Agamemnon, which is meet at Ninnus’s tomb outside the city walls.
exactly what Pylades and Orestes did when Thisbe arrived first but was frightened by a
they had come of age; with Electra’s help they lioness, who mauled the veil the fleeing girl
killed both Clytemnestra and Aegisthus. dropped. When Pyramus arrived and found
Seeking purification and release from the this he thought that Thisbe had been killed.
continued torment of the Erinnyes, Pylades Despondent, he stabbed himself and fell dying
accompanied Orestes to Tauris, where they beneath a mulberry tree, its fruit, white until
were captured by the barbarous natives, who then, stained with his blood. Thisbe found his
intended to sacrifice them to their goddess, body, took her sword, and fell onto it. When
Artemis, as they did to all strangers. However, their parents discovered their bodies they buried
Orestes was amazed to find that the priestess the ashes of the two lovers in a single urn.
was none other than his sister, Iphigeneia, who See also: Thisbe
he thought had been sacrificed to Artemis at
Aulis by Agamemnon. Iphigeneia rescued
Orestes and Pylades, and the three returned to Pyriphlegethon
Greece, bringing with them the statue of Greek
Artemis. There they were reunited with “Flaming with Fire”; the alternative name
Electra and returned to Mycenae, where for the River Phlegethon, the river of flames
266 Pyrrha
267
K R k
Regillus As the population of Alba Longa had
Roman grown, the twins decided they should found a
A lake that was the site of a legendary battle new settlement on the spot where they had
where Aulus Postumius, aided by the been exposed and then given a home.
Dioscuri, defeated the Latins, who had However, they could not decide who should
attacked Rome in allegiance with either name the new city, so they consulted the
Tarquinius Superbus or his son, Sextus auguries. Romulus stood on the Palatine Hill
Tarquinius. while Remus stood on the Aventine Hill,
where he soon saw six vultures. No sooner
had this been reported than Romulus saw 12.
Remus Each was acclaimed king, but a fight broke
Roman out, and Remus was killed.
Twin brother of Romulus, the sons of Mars A variant on this says that Remus mocked
by Rhea Silvia, the Vestal Virgin daughter of Romulus and sacrilegiously leaped over the
Numitor who had been forced into the ser- half-built walls of his new city. Furious,
vice of Vesta by her uncle, Amulius, when he Romulus killed him, swearing that the same
usurped the throne of Alba Longa from fate awaited all those who dared leap his
Numitor. Following the birth of the twins, walls.
Amulius had Rhea Silvia imprisoned and See also: Acca Larentia; Amulius; Faustulus; Romulus
ordered that the children be drowned.
However, the servants sent to carry out this
task left the boys in a basket on the river- Rhadamanth~us, ~ys
bank in the shade of the Ruminalis fig tree. Greek
There they were discovered and suckled by Son of Zeus and Europa, brother to Minos and
a she-wolf, whose strange behavior attracted Sarpedon. The three boys were later adopted
the attention of the shepherd Faustulus. by the king of Crete when he married Europa,
Finding the infants, he took them home, and upon his death they divided the island
where they were cared for by his wife, Acca among themselves. However, the brothers
Larentia. quarreled over Miletus, the son of Apollo. As
As the boys grew up they took to attacking Miletus preferred Sarpedon, they fled from
bandits and relieving them of their ill-gotten Crete to Asia Minor. Now Crete was ruled
gains, which they divided among the poor jointly by Minos and Rhadamanthus, but
shepherds. The robbers retaliated by laying a Rhadamanthus was later banished, leaving
trap during the Lupercal festival but only suc- Minos as the sole ruler of Crete.
ceeded in taking Remus, whom they took to Rhadamanthus came to Boeotia, where
Amulius, complaining that he and his brother upon Amphitryon’s death he married
had been raiding the lands of the exiled Alcmene. He was so just a ruler that after his
Numitor. Amulius sent Remus to Numitor, death he was made one of the three judges of
who discovered the twins’ identities. They the Underworld, along with Minos and
then assassinated Amulius and restored Aeacus.
Numitor to his rightful position. See also: Aeacus; Minos
269
270 Rhea
Rhea Rhesus
Greek Greek
A Titaness daughter of Uranos and Ge, sister A king of Thrace who was born to one of the
to Cronos, Oceanos, Hyperion, Iapetus, Muses who had waded in the River Strymon,
Themis, Tethys, and Mnemosyne. She married though Homer names his father as Eïoneus.
her brother, Cronos, after the latter had suc- Raised by nymphs and worshipped as an
cessfully deposed Uranos and bore him oracular spirit in Thrace, Rhesus brought an
Hestia, Hera, Demeter, Poseidon, and Hades, army to assist the Trojans during the tenth and
all of whom Cronos swallowed at birth, mind- final year of the Trojan War. His arrival was
ful of the curse of Uranos and Ge that he revealed to the Greeks by the spy Dolon
would also be deposed by his son. shortly before he was killed. The Greeks killed
However, when Zeus, the youngest, was Rhesus and captured his horses, for an oracle
born, Rhea gave Cronos a stone wrapped in had declared that once they had drank from
swaddling to swallow instead and saved Zeus, the water of the River Scamander, and had
who, according to Minoan tradition, was raised eaten the grass of the Trojan Plain, the city
in the Dictaean Cave on Crete. Here Rhea’s would never fall.
priests, the Curetes, clashed their weapons to See also: Dolon; Trojan War
drown the sound of the baby Zeus, and the she-
goat Amalthea acted as his nurse. Hephaistos
was also said to have made a golden dog for Rhod~e, ~os
Rhea, which she set to watch over the baby’s Greek
cradle. Grown to manhood, Zeus was helped Said to be a daughter of Poseidon, she married
by his mother to administer a potion to Cronos Helios and was the eponym of the island of
by having himself made cupbearer to Cronos. Rhodes.
She then prescribed a drink that Zeus gave to
his father; the potion made him disgorge the
stone that had replaced Zeus, then his other Rhodope
children. They joined forces to depose Cronos, Greek
after which Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon cast lots A lofty mountain range in Thrace that was
for the three regions of the universe. Rhea, sacred to Dionysos.
unlike the other Titans, retained her status as
Mother of the Gods, in which capacity she was
Romulus
often identified with Cybele.
Astronomical: One of the satellites of the Roman
planet Saturn, being the seventh closest to the Twin brother of Remus, the sons of Mars by
planet between the orbits of Dione and Titan. Rhea Silvia, the Vestal Virgin daughter of
Rhea has a diameter of approximately 1,530 Numitor who had been forced into the service
kilometers (956 miles) and lies at an average of Vesta by her uncle, Amulius, when he
distance of 526,000 kilometers (328,700 miles) usurped the throne of Alba Longa from
from the planet. Numitor. Following the birth of the twins,
See also: Cronos; Uranos; Zeus Amulius had Rhea Silvia imprisoned and
ordered that the children be drowned.
However, the servants sent to carry out this
Rhea Silvia task left the boys in a basket on the riverbank
Roman in the shade of the Ruminalis fig tree. There the
The daughter of Numitor who, after her father children were discovered and suckled by a
had been deposed by her uncle, Amulius, was she-wolf, whose strange behavior attracted the
forced to become a Vestal Virgin. In her sleep attention of the shepherd Faustulus. Finding
she was raped by Mars, and as a result she the infants, he took them home, where they
gave birth to twin boys, Romulus and Remus, were cared for by his wife, Acca Larentia.
the legendary founders of Rome. As the boys grew up they took to attacking
See also: Numitor; Remus; Romulus bandits and relieving them of their ill-gotten
Ruminalis fig tree 271
gains, which they divided among the poor she carried out her half of the bargain, but
shepherds. The robbers retaliated by laying a when the time came for payment the Sabines
trap during the Lupercal festival but suc- hurled their shields at her, and she was killed,
ceeded only in taking Remus, whom they took an episode that demonstrated the Sabines’
to Amulius, complaining that he and his broth- feeling that a traitor should never be trusted or
er had been raiding the lands of the exiled rewarded.
Numitor. Amulius sent Remus to Numitor, The Sabines now attacked Romulus under
who discovered the twins’ identities. The the leadership of their champion, Mettius
brothers then assassinated Amulius and Curtius, but he was overconfident, and his
restored Numitor to his rightful position. horse foundered in the swamps on the site of
As the population of Alba Longa had what later became the Forum. Distraught with
grown, the twins decided they should found a grief at the continuing conflict, the Sabine
new settlement on the spot where they had wives of the Romans interposed between the
been exposed and then given a home. two armies and won a truce. It was then
However, they could not decide who should agreed that the two peoples, Romans and
name the new city, so they consulted the Sabines, should unite under a single govern-
auguries. Romulus stood on the Palatine Hill ment led by Romulus and Titus Tatius. The lat-
while Remus stood on the Aventine Hill, ter died before Romulus, who then ruled
where he soon saw six vultures. No sooner alone. His rule came to an end during a storm
had this been reported than Romulus saw 12. when his father, Mars, descended and carried
Each was acclaimed king, but a fight broke him off to the heavens. Thereafter he was wor-
out, and Remus was killed. shipped as the god Quirinus, a member of the
A variant on this story says that Remus supreme triumvirate that includes Jupiter and
mocked Romulus and sacrilegiously leaped Mars.
over the half-built walls of his brother’s new Later, in a story clearly invented to glorify
city. Furious, Romulus killed him, swearing the origins of the Julian family, it was said that
that the same fate awaited all those who Julius Proculus, a friend of Romulus, was out
dared leap his walls. Having murdered his riding when he was confronted by Romulus’s
brother, Romulus reigned alone and created a ghost wearing shining armor. When Julius
sanctuary on the Capitoline Hill, where any Proculus asked why his friend had deserted
fugitive might find refuge. This plan was so Rome, Romulus explained that the gods had
successful that it soon led to an imbalance decided that those on earth who were of
between men and women, and even though divine descent, like Julius Proculus and him-
Romulus sought marriage alliances with var- self, should ultimately return to the heavens.
ious neighboring states and cities, all his See also: Acca Larentia; Amulius; Numitor; Quirinus;
advances were rejected. Therefore, at the Remus; Rhea Silvia; Sabine
annual harvest festival in honor of Consus,
when Sabine visitors flocked to Rome, he
ordered that all the young women among
Ruminalis fig tree
them should be taken captive. Roman
Furious, Titus Tatius, king of the Sabines, led The tree under which the infant twins
an army against Rome and encircled the Romulus and Remus were left by the servants
Capitoline Hill. There Tarpeia, daughter of the of Amulius who did not carry out the latter’s
Roman garrison commander, looked down on instructions to drown the boys. There they
the besieging forces and was impressed by the were suckled by a she-wolf, whose strange
gold jewelry and other adornments they wore. behavior attracted the attention of the shep-
She sent a secret message to Titus Tatius saying herd Faustulus. He found the children and
that she would let them into the citadel by took them home, where they were cared for
night in return for all the Sabines wore on their and raised by his wife, Acca Larentia.
left arms. This proposal being agreed upon, See also: Remus; Romulus
K S k
Sabine Sagittarius
Roman Greek
Also: Sabini “The Archer”; usually identified with the cen-
The Sabines were an ancient people of cen- taur Cheiron after he had been translated to
tral Italy who inhabited the Sabine Hills north- the heavens, his bow and arrow eternally
east of Rome; they made up a significant part pointed at Scorpius.
of Rome’s early population. After sporadic Astronomical: A constellation of the southern
fighting the Sabines were finally conquered c. celestial hemisphere lying between approxi-
290 B.C., and thereafter they were gradually mate right ascensions 17h40m and 20h15m,
Romanized. declination from –12° to –46°.
The most famous legendary incident con- See also: Cheiron
cerning the Sabines was the story of the rape of
the Sabine women. As Romulus’s policy of giv-
ing sanctuary to fugitives had led to an imbal-
ance between men and women in the popula- Salamis
tion of early Rome, he ordered that at the Greek
annual harvest festival to Consus, which was An island on the southwest coast of Attica
well attended by Sabines, the young women near the Piraeus that was a naval power until
should be seized. This led to Rome being 620 B.C., when it was occupied by the
besieged by the Sabines, a truce between the Athenians under Solon. The Greek forces beat
two factions finally being called after the the Persians under Xerxes in a great naval bat-
Sabine wives of the Romans intervened. A joint tle off the island in 480 B.C. From 318 B.C. to
government was established, and the Sabine 232 B.C. the island was in Macedonian hands
population thus combined with that of Rome. before it returned to Greek control. Legend
See also: Romulus made it the home and realm of Telamon,
whose son, Ajax the Greater, led a force to
Troy to fight on the Greek side during the
Sagitta Trojan War.
Greek See also: Telamon
1. The arrow that Eros shot into the heart of
Apollo, causing the latter to fall in love with
the nymph Daphne.
2. The arrow that Heracles shot to kill the Salmoneus
eagle or vulture of Zeus that was eternally tor- Greek
menting Prometheus by pecking out his liver Son of Aeolus and brother of Sisyphus. He
by day, the organ restoring itself at night. emigrated from Thessaly and founded the city
3. The arrow Apollo shot that killed one of of Salmone, where he imitated Zeus by order-
the Cyclopes. ing sacrifices for himself using faked thunder
Astronomical: A faint but distinctive constella- and lightning. For this presumption, Zeus
tion of the northern celestial hemisphere that lies struck him down with a genuine thunderbolt,
between approximate right ascensions 19h00m which also destroyed his city.
and 20h20m, declination from +16° to +22°. See also: Aeolus
273
274 Salus
Samos
Sarpedon
Greek
Politically and culturally important island off Greek
the west coast of Asia Minor that was colo- Son of Zeus and Europa, brother to Minos and
nized by Ionians some time before 1000 B.C., in Rhadamanthus. He fled from Crete with
classical times gradually yielding precedence Miletus when he and his brothers quarreled
to Rhodes. Legend said that Zeus and Hera over the youth, who made his preference for
spent their wedding night on the island, which Sarpedon known. They settled in Asia Minor,
became an important center, along with Argos, where Miletus founded the kingdom that bore
for the worship of the goddess. The temple of his name. Sarpedon, after helping Cilix, the
Hera was one of the Seven Wonders of the eponymous king of Cilicia, against the Lycians,
World. The foundations and single column became king of the latter, married Bellerophon’s
that survive are of the late sixth century B.C. daughter, and was permitted by Zeus to live for
The remains measure 179 feet by 365 feet and three generations. He led a force of Lycians to
would have had 155 columns had the temple the Trojan War, where his father attempted to
been finished (it never was). save him but was overruled by the other gods.
When Patroclus killed Sarpedon, Zeus sent
Apollo to rescue the body, which was then
Samothrace transported safely back to Lycia by Hypnos.
Greek See also: Minos; Rhadamanthus
An idyllic island that was the religious center
of northern Greece. Originally a sanctuary of a
local earth/mother goddess known as the Saturn(us)
Mother of the Rocks and her consort, it was Roman
later the center of worship of Demeter and Ancient Italian god of time and agriculture and
Hermes, along with the Dioscuri or Cabiri, the protector of harvests, ruler of the world in a
protectors of sailors. The extant remains Golden Age of infinite happiness, innocence,
include buildings that would have been con- and plenty that he established in Latium. He
nected with the Mysteries of Samothrace, was later equated with the Greek Cronos as the
which were celebrated here. father of the gods. The husband of Lua, though
See also: Demeter; Dioscuri; Hermes later associated with Ops, Saturn was the father
of Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto, Vesta, and Juno but,
significantly, not of Ceres (the Greek Demeter),
Sandon most of whose functions in Greek thought
Greek were passed over to Saturn himself. In Rome
The Greek name for the Anatolian god Santas he became the keeper of the treasury and was
when he had a cult at Tarsus. particularly associated with money. His festi-
val, the Saturnalia, started on 17 December and
lasted for seven days. It was a time of popular
Sappho merrymaking; gifts were exchanged and slaves
Greek were briefly treated as their masters’ equals.
A historical poetess of Lesbos from the sixth This festival later influenced the festivals sur-
century B.C. who is famous for her poems rounding Christmas and the New Year.
declaring love for the young girls of her matri- Astronomical: The second largest of the plan-
archal society. In later antiquity she was ets of the solar system with an ornate and
thought to have fallen hopelessly in love with beautiful system of equatorial rings, which are
a young man named Phaon, a ferryman who just 100 meters (300 feet) thick. Saturn lies at an
Scheria 275
average distance of 1,427 million kilometers Porsenna, disguised himself as one of the
(892 million miles) from the sun and has an enemy and entered their encampment fully
equatorial diameter of approximately 120,000 intending to assassinate Lars Porsenna.
kilometers (75,000 miles). The planet is sur- However, ignorant of the Etruscan leader’s
rounded by numerous satellites, possibly as appearance, he guessed wrongly.
many as 21, ranging in size from exceptionally Captured and brought before Lars Porsenna,
small planetoids within the ring system to Gaius Mucius, as he was then simply known,
Titan, which has a diameter of 5,800 kilometers placed his right hand into a pan of flaming
(3,625 miles), larger than the planet Mercury. coals and held it there without flinching. Lars
Other moons orbiting the planet include Porsenna was so impressed by this display that
Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, he ordered the release of Gaius Mucius and
Hyperion, Iapetus, and Phoebe. returned his sword, which he received in his
See also: Cronos; Latium undamaged left hand, thus earning him his
cognomen Scaevola, “Left-handed.”
With each party earning the respect and
Satyr admiration of the other, Scaevola now warned
Greek Lars Porsenna that there were at least 300 more
The wild men of the woods, one of a class of Romans under disguise in the Etruscan camp
woodland spirits who were also associated with intending to kill Lars Porsenna. He even ven-
the fields and mountains and who embodied tured to suggest that so great a leader as Lars
the fertile power of nature. They were imagined Porsenna should be a friend rather than an
as human in form with ugly, snub-nosed fea- enemy of Rome; such was Lars Porsenna’s
tures, pointed ears, two horns on the forehead, respect for Scaevola that he agreed to a truce.
and horses’ tails. Satyrs were regarded as the See also: Lars Porsenna
sons of Hermes, wore skins, and had crowns of
vines, fir, or ivy. Later writers gave them goats’
tails and sometimes goats’ legs as well, possibly Scamander
a mistaken identification with Fauns. Devoted Greek
to drink and sex, they are thus—under the lead- Emigrant from Crete who founded a colony in
ership of Silenus, who was raised by Phrygia and was deified when he jumped into
Dionysos—closely associated with that god, the River Xanthus that flows across the Trojan
forming a part of his retinue. Older satyrs were Plain. Thereafter the river was known as the
often referred to as Sileni or Silenoi. They belong River Scamander. The nymph Idea bore him a
to a world of anomie, characterized by the wild son, Teucer, the first king of the Troad; hence
and frenzied worship of Dionysos. In art they the Trojans are called Teucri.
are generally shown with uncontrollable erec- The River Scamander features in several
tions, or masturbating, or raping nymphs. episodes from the Trojan War, most notably
See also: Dionysos that of Achilles and Penthesilea. After Dio-
medes had thrown Penthesilea’s body into the
river, from which it was safely recovered,
Scaean Gate Achilles blocked the course of the river with
Greek corpses. Furious, Scamander flooded the
Gateway to Troy; nearby, Achilles was wounded Trojan Plain, and Achilles fought him single-
in his vulnerable heel by an arrow shot by Paris handedly until Hephaistos sent a fireball that
and guided to its mark by Apollo. dried up his waters.
See also: Achilles See also: Achilles; Penthesilea
Poseidon wrecked his raft, which he had sailed cave on the Italian side of the Strait of Messina
from the island home of Calypso. Helped to the between Italy and Sicily. Opposite her lived
island by Leucothea and Athene, Odysseus Charybdis, a violent whirlpool. There are two
was discovered by Nausicaa, who took the versions of how Scylla came to be a monster. In
naked sailor to her father’s palace, where the first she was the daughter of Phorcys and
Odysseus recounted the epic stories that form one of the various lovers of Poseidon; but she
the narrative of Homer’s Odyssey. was so hateful toward Amphitrite that the lat-
See also: Alcinous; Odysseus ter turned her into the monster. The second
says that she was a nymph whom Glaucus
loved and was turned into the monster by the
Sciapodes
jealous Circe, who also loved Glaucus.
Greek When Odysseus successfully negotiated the
A legendary race from either India or Ethiopia. twin terrors of Scylla and Charybdis, following
Sciapodes used their single huge foot as a para- the advise of Circe, the great hero lost many of
sol to shade them from the sun while sleeping. his seamen to the Scylla, whose six mouths
snatched and devoured the sailors. Later legend
Sciron substituted a dangerous rock for the monster.
2. The daughter of Nisus, king of Megara.
Greek
She fell in love with Minos when the latter was
A brigand who lived on the frontier between
besieging Nisa, the port of Megara, and killed
Megaris and Attica, the Megarian side of the
her father by cutting off the purple lock of hair
isthmus of Corinth—modern Kaki Skala. After
upon which his life depended. Even though
robbing travelers, he compelled them to wash
Scylla let Minos into the city, her parricide so
his feet while he sat on the Scironian Rock.
disgusted him that he would have nothing to
From this vantage point he kicked them off the
do with her. When he left she swam after his
cliff into the sea, where they were devoured by
ship until her father’s soul, changed to a sea
a giant turtle. Theseus turned the tables on him
eagle, pounced on her, and she became the
and kicked the robber off the cliff to meet the
bird Ciris. A slight variation says that Minos
same fate.
simply drowned the girl and that she was
See also: Theseus
turned into the fish Ciris. Her father was then
transformed into an osprey.
Scorp~io, ~ius See also: Amphitrite; Charybdis; Circe; Minos
Greek
“The Scorpion”; it stung and caused the death
Scyros
of the hunter Orion and also stung the horses
of Phaëthon. To place him out of harm’s way Greek
the gods placed him in the heavens, well away Island in the Aegean Sea that was the realm of
from Orion, where he forms the constellation Lycomedes. Achilles was sent to his court by
that bears his name. his mother, Thetis, in her attempt to keep him
Astronomical: An irregular constellation of from going to the Trojan War after an oracle
the southern celestial hemisphere lying had foretold of his death there. Theseus went
between approximate right ascensions to the same island after he had been unable to
15h45m and 18h00m, declination from –8° to maintain control in Athens after returning
–46°. Scorpio is the eighth sign of the Zodiac, from Tartarus; there he was treacherously
24 October–23 November. murdered by Lycomedes.
See also: Orion See also: Achilles; Thetis
Scylla Scythia
Greek Greek
1. A female monster with six barking heads Ancient region in southern European and
around her waist and 12 feet who lived in a Asiatic Russia, between the Carpathians and
Serapis 277
the River Dun, considered by the Greeks to be recovered the unborn baby; he had it sewn up
an ill-defined area to the north of the Euxine or in his thigh, and it was delivered from there
Black Sea. The Scythians, who originally came three months later. The baby, Dionysos, was
from Siberia, occupied the area between the then entrusted to the nymphs on Mount Nysa.
eighth and third centuries B.C. Herodotus When Dionysos had been accepted into
maintained that Scythia was the home of the Olympus, replacing Hestia, he traveled to the
Amazons. Underworld and brought Semele back with
him. She ascended with him to Olympus and
was thereafter known as Thyone.
Segesta See also: Dionysos; Thyone
Greco-Roman
Also: Egesta, Acesta
Town in Sicily legendarily founded by Semiramis
Acestes. It is the site of an outstanding, though Greek
never completed, Doric temple of the late fifth The Greek form of Sammu-Ramat (Shammu Is
century B.C. Exalted), legendary queen and founder of
See also: Acestes Babylon, daughter of the fish goddess Derceto
(the Greek form of Ataryatis) of Ashkelon and
the Assyrian god of wisdom, Oannes. She
Selene married Ninus, king of Assyria, and with him
Greek conquered large tracts of the Middle East.
Goddess of the moon, the daughter of Hy- When her husband died she built him a huge
perion and Theia, sister of Helios and Eos, and mausoleum at Nineveh (sometimes called
identified by the Romans as Luna. Each night Ninusa, a city she was said to have founded)
after bathing she dressed in gleaming robes and a huge palace for herself near the River
and drove her chariot across the sky, as her Euphrates. Consulting the Oracle of Ammon
brother, Helios (Sun), did during the day. She as to when she would die, she was told it
was normally depicted with a long robe and would happen only when her son conspired
veil, a crescent moon on her forehead. Mother against her. Before that event finally took place
of Pandion by Zeus, by whom she also had she conquered large areas of India and was,
three daughters, she was seduced by Pan, but upon her death, transformed into a dove and
the love of her life remained Endymion, a ascended to Heaven, where she was deified.
shepherd and the most beautiful of mortal
men. In later times she became more or less
identified with Artemis, whose brother, Sequ~ana, ~ena
Apollo, became more or less identified with Romano-Celtic
her own brother, Helios. Goddess who presided over the source of the
See also: Endymion River Seine, France, which takes its name from
her. Her totem bird was the duck. In the latter
days of the Roman Empire her cult appears to
Semele have spread beyond the River Seine, and she
Greek seems to have become a general goddess of
Daughter of Cadmos and Harmonia and sister rivers.
of Autonoë, Ino, Agave, Polydorus, and
Illyrius. Loved by Zeus, who made her preg-
nant, the ever-jealous Hera, disguised as an Serapis
old woman, persuaded Semele, who was six Greco-Egyptian
months’ pregnant, to ask her mysterious lover A god invented and introduced into Egypt by
to appear before her in his true form. Ptolemy I in a partial attempt to unite Greeks
Reluctantly Zeus complied, appearing to and Egyptians in common worship. He was
Semele as a thunderbolt; the unfortunate revered as a healing divinity and combined
Semele was incinerated. From her ashes Zeus the attributes of Zeus, Hades, and Asclepios
278 Seriphos
with the Egyptian god Osiris. His finest temple Tarquinius, to kill his brother, which he did.
was the Serapeum at Alexandria. She then married Tarquinius, who threw the
aged Servius Tullius down the steps of the sen-
ate, where he was murdered by hired hench-
Seriphos men, his corpse being run over by his daugh-
Greek ter, Tullia, who was bathed from head to foot
An island in the Cyclades. The chest in which in his blood.
Danaë and the infant Perseus drifted there According to the Emperor Claudius, Servius
after Acrisius had set them adrift from Argos. Tullius originated as an Etruscan hero named
There the chest was found by Dictys, who took Mastarna, who the Etruscans believed was a
its occupants to Polydectes, who received companion of Caeles Vibenna.
them hospitably. Later, Polydectes, wanting
Danaë for himself, sent Perseus off on the
potentially fatal quest to obtain the head of the Sestos
Gorgon Medusa. Perseus turned Polydectes to Greek
stone on his return and made Dictys his suc- Settlement on the European shore of the
cessor. Hellespont at its narrowest point opposite
See also: Acrisius; Danaë; Perseus Abydos. An important site for the worship of
Aphrodite, Hero was a priestess here. Every
night Leander, her lover, swam the channel
Serpens from Abydos, but one night her guide lamp
Greek blew out in a storm, and Leander drowned.
The serpent held by Asclepios, or Ophiuchus, Hero threw herself into the sea in her grief.
that was placed in the sky to either side of the See also: Abydos; Hero; Leander
constellation Ophiuchus, with the head,
Serpens Caput, to the west, and the tail,
Serpens Cauda, to the east. Seven Against Thebes
Astronomical: The two constellations that Greek
make up the serpent straddle the celestial The name given to the fated expedition by
equator. Serpens Caput, to the west of seven Argive champions who made war on
Ophiuchus, lies between approximate right Thebes in support of Polyneices’ claim to the
ascensions 15h10m and 16h15m, declination throne, denied by his brother, Eteocles, who
from +26° to –4°. Serpens Cauda, to the east, was supposed to alternatively share it.
lies between approximate right ascensions Exiled from Thebes, Polyneices came to
17h15m and 18h50m, declination from +7° to Argos, where he married Adrastus’s daughter,
–16°. Argia. He asked his father-in-law to help him
regain his rightful kingdom. Adrastus agreed
and raised an army, but the seer Amphiaraus
Servius Tullius foresaw the failure of the expedition and the
Roman deaths of all the leaders save Adrastus. He was
The legendary fifth king of Rome whose con- thus disinclined to join the expedition, but
ception, birth, and childhood were marked by Polyneices bribed Amphiaraus’s wife, Eri-
supernatural portents. Born to Ocresia, he was phyle, with the necklace of Harmonia, and she
raised as a slave in the household of talked her husband into going.
Tarquinius Priscus. Servius Tullius’s succes- Adrastus, Polyneices, and Amphiaraus
sion to the throne was engineered by Tanaquil were joined by Tydeus, who was also in exile
after her husband’s assassination. He built the at Argos and had married Adrastus’s other
first wall around the complete city, established daughter, Deiphyle. They were reinforced by
the cult of Diana on the Aventine Hill, and Hippomedon, Parthenopaeus, and Capaneus.
made important constitutional reforms. He These seven then marched against Thebes. En
was the father of Tullia, who married Arruns route they halted at Nemaea to seek water.
Tarquinius. She prompted her brother-in-law, There Hypsipyle showed them a well, but in
Sibyl 279
so doing she put down the baby Opheltes, latinus. After the act she committed suicide in
whom she was nursing, and he was killed by front of her husband and father and two other
a snakebite. The seven buried him and cele- witnesses. This act led to the expulsion of the
brated funeral games, which became the ori- Tarquinians from Rome and the establishment
gin of the Nemaean Games. Opheltes was of the Roman republic.
renamed Archemorus, “beginning of doom.” See also: Lucretia
Reaching Thebes, each of the seven com-
manders led attacks against the city’s seven
gates. Capaneus scaled the walls but was Sibyl
struck down by the thunderbolt of Zeus. Greco-Roman
Tydeus, mortally wounded by Melanippus, The name of a prophetess, the daughter of
might have been saved by Athene, who was Lamia most commonly associated with Ionia
preparing to give him a lifesaving elixir given but perhaps actually located in Libya. By the
to her by Zeus. However, Amphiaraus, who late fourth century B.C. her name had become
bore him a grudge, persuaded him to drink generic, mainly being used by the Romans to
the brains of the dead Melanippus, and this so describe the priestesses who delivered ora-
disgusted Athene that she left him to his fate. cles. A first-century B.C. list by Varro names
Hippomedon and Parthenopaeus were also ten sibyls: the Persian, Libyan, Delphic,
killed in their assaults. Polyneices thus offered Cimmerian, Erythraean, Samian, Cumaean,
to settle the dispute in single combat with Hellespontic, Phrygian, and Tiburtine. They
Eteocles, but both were mortally wounded. were also referred to at Delos, Claros, Colo-
Seeing that all was lost, Amphiaraus fled in his phon, Sardis, and Dodona. Many, of course,
chariot and was pursued by Periclymenus. were the sites of earlier Greek oracles that
Zeus made the earth open, and Amphiaraus were simply taken over by the invading and
disappeared down the chasm, chariot and all, conquering Romans. The rock from which the
reemerging at Oropus, where he became a Delphic Sibyl, whose name was Herophile,
healing hero. As the seer had foretold, only delivered her prophecies can still be seen
Adrastus remained alive. today.
Thebes, however, was not unscathed. With Sibylline prophecies, like the earlier Greek
Eteocles and Polyneices both dead, Creon oracles, were made in an ecstatic trance, then
seized the throne and refused the burial of interpreted and written down by her atten-
Polyneices, condemning him as a traitor. dants. Those at Cumae were written on palm
Polyneices’ sister, Antigone, disobeyed the leaves. The Cumaean Sibyl, who is a priestess
king and buried her brother; for her trouble of Apollo and perhaps the best known of all
Creon had her immured in a cave, where she the sibyls, once offered nine books of sibylline
took her own life. When her body was found prophecies to Tarquinius Superbus of Rome.
by Haemon, Creon’s son and Antigone’s When he refused to pay the asking price she
betrothed, he took his own life in despair. set fire to three of them, offering him the
The Seven Against Thebes were later remaining six for the same price. He again
avenged by their descendants, the Epigoni. refused, so she once more burned three books
They mounted a successful expedition against before offering him the last three, still at the
Thebes shortly before the start of the Trojan same price. Tarquinius Superbus then real-
War. ized just what he was missing, and duly paid
See also: Adrastus; Amphiaraus; Capaneus; Creon; the full asking price. The books were then
Eteocles; Hippomedon; Parthenopaeus; Polyneices; housed in the temple of Jupiter on the
Thebes; Tydeus Capitoline Hill, where they were consulted
only in times of national emergency. It was
the Sibyl of Cumae who advised Aeneas to
Sextus (Tarquinius) arm himself with the Golden Bough from a
Roman wood near Lake Avernus before she led him
The son of Tarquinius Superbus who raped into the Underworld to consult his dead
Lucretia, the wife of Lucius Tarquinius Col- father’s spirit.
280 Sicyon
Silenus Sinon
Greek Greek
An aged satyr, offspring of Pan or Hermes, A cousin of Dionysos and grandson of
father of the centaur Pholus. He seems to have Autolycus who played an important part in
given his name to the Sileni, the generic term the strategy surrounding the use of the
used to refer to older satyrs. Silenus raised Wooden Horse. He was the sole Greek left
Dionysos and was, thereafter, his constant behind when the Greeks burned their camp
companion. He is usually depicted as a jovial, and sailed for Tenedos, leaving the Wooden
bald old satyr, usually drunk, who followed Horse on the shore. When the Trojans hauled
the deity while swaying drunkenly on the the horse inside the city walls, Sinon allowed
back of an ass. Silenus was also revered, for he himself to be captured and explained that the
had the gift of prophecy and had a great horse was the Greeks’ atonement for having
knowledge of past events. During the battle stolen the Palladium. That night, however, as
with the Titans, Silenus rode the Southern Ass, Troy slept, Sinon lit a beacon, which signaled
Asellus Australis, while Dionysos rode the Agamemnon to return to Troy. Some sources
Northern Ass, Asellus Borealis. say that Sinon gave the word to the Greek
See also: Asellus Australis; Dionysos warriors within the Wooden Horse that they
Snake 281
should make their presence felt and that he light-years distant it is the fifth closest star to
opened the city gates to let in the Greek the Earth.
forces. See also: Orion
See also: Autolycus; Dionysos
Sisyphus
Siren Greek
Greek Son of Aeolus, Sisyphus married Merope the
Generic name for one of the daughters of a sea Pleiad, who bore him Glaucus. He seduced
god, possibly Phorcys, and one of the Muses. Anticleia, the daughter of Autolycus and
Originally two, there were later three Sirens, or mother of Odysseus, a liason that led some to
Sirenes, who were portrayed as a bird with a say that Sisyphus was really Odysseus’s
woman’s head, sometimes called a sea nymph father. He founded Ephyra, later called
but more closely resembling a Harpy. Yet Corinth. He outwitted Autolycus, who had
unlike that horrendous creature, the Sirens the gift of making anything he touched invis-
were blessed with the gift of enchantingly ible and who had been stealing his cattle. By
sweet song. The Sirens lived on a rocky island marking the undersides of the cattles’ hooves
near the Strait of Messina near the homes of he discovered the theft and the identity of the
the monsters Scylla and Charybdis. Their thief.
beautiful singing was believed to lure sailors Sisyphus was known as one of the great sin-
to their death on the rocks, and in later myths ners in the Underworld, where he had been
they were identified with mermaids and mer- condemned to eternally roll a large stone up a
men. Odysseus managed to sail past them by hill. Just as he reached the top the stone would
blocking his sailors’ ears with wax, then tying roll to the bottom again. There were various
himself to the mast so that he might hear their reasons for his condemnation. Some say that
song. The Argonauts managed to navigate the he told Asophus that Zeus had carried off
hazard they posed, as the singing of Orpheus Aegina, or that he tried to cheat Hades, or that
surpassed that of the Sirens. Later legend had he had seduced his brother Salmoneus’s
them participating in a musical contest with daughter, Tyro.
the Muses, which they lost. See also: Aeolus; Autolycus; Merope; Odysseus
See also: Charybdis; Orpheus; Scylla
Smintheus
Sirius Greek
Greek Title applied to Apollo.
The faithful hunting dog of the great hunter
Orion who was, after the hunter had been
placed in the heavens, also placed there as the Snake
star that is now known as Sirius the Dog Star. Greek
The star was especially important to the Though the snake never singularly received
Egyptians, who called it Sothis and observed it cult and was never directly personified, the
carefully, for about the date when it rose at animal is an important part of Greek lore. They
dawn the Nile would flood the surrounding were frequently regarded as the animal into
countryside. which the soul of a dead hero or a chthonic
Astronomical: Located within the constella- deity passed, the connection between the dead
tion Canis Major and designated the alpha star and snakes possibly being made by the com-
of that constellation (a CMa). It is the brightest mon observance of snakes around graves. The
object in the sky except for the sun, moon, healing god Asclepios took the form of a snake
Venus, and Jupiter. Located in the southern when his cult was introduced to Athens, a city
celestial hemisphere at approximate right where the serpent has particular importance,
ascension 6h45m, declination -17°, Sirius is as witnessed by the story of the infant
magnitude –1.45, spectral type A1V; at nine Erichthonius.
282 Sol
Spartoi
Greek Stentor
A slight variation on Sparti that was used by Greek
the descendants of these “Sown Men” to dis- The Greek herald at the Trojan War who was
tinguish them from their ancestors. The name noted for the strength of his voice, reported to
was widely used by the leading families of be as loud as 50 others together.
Thebes, who claimed descent from the Sparti See also: Trojan War
created by Cadmos.
Stheneboea
Spes Greek
Roman Alternative name for Anteia, daughter of
The goddess of hope, the Roman equivalent of Iobates (king of Lycia), and wife of Proetus
Elpis who was simply personified in Greece in (king of Tiryns). She fell in love with
a number of sculptures. She was later allocat- Bellerophon when he fled to Tiryns after
ed a number of temples in Rome. killing Bellerus. He shunned her advances, so
she falsely accused him, to her husband, of try-
ing to seduce her. Proetus, hesitant about
Sphinx killing a guest, sent him instead to his father-
Greek in-law, Iobates, with a letter requesting that the
A winged lioness who had the head and bearer, Bellerophon, be put to death.
breasts of a woman, said to be another of the See also: Anteia; Bellerophon; Proteus
monstrous offspring of Typhon and Echidne
or of Orthros and the Chimaera. She descend-
ed on the city of Thebes, where, seated on a Sthenelus
rock or a clifftop, she challenged each passer- Greek
by to answer her riddle. Those who failed she 1. Son of Perseus and Andromeda and king of
either strangled or threw down the cliff. Mycenae. He married Nicippe, who bore him
284 Stheno
Styx
Stheno Greek
Greek One of the five rivers of the Underworld flow-
One of the three daughters of Phorcys and ing in seven concentric circles around the
Ceto, her sisters being Euryale and Medusa. Underworld; the river across which the surly
Of the three, only Medusa was mortal. She and ferryman Charon carried the souls of the dead,
her sisters were better known as the hideous who were accompanied on their journey by
Gorgons with serpents for hair and a look that Hermes, upon receipt of the correct fare, an
could turn the beholder to stone. Originally obolos. The river was named after a nymph, the
beautiful, they assumed this form after daughter of Oceanos and Tethys, because of
Medusa had been seduced by Poseidon in a the help she gave Zeus during his conflict with
temple of Athene. After Perseus beheaded the Titans. On reaching the far shore, Cerberus,
Medusa, Stheno and Euryale pursued the flee- the watch dog of the Underworld, had to be
ing hero, but he escaped their attentions by passed; he was usually appeased with an
wearing Hades’ helmet of invisibility. offering of honey cakes, reportedly a particular
See also: Euryale; Medusa favorite. Four other rivers had to be crossed
before the souls of the newly dead were
brought before the three judges: Minos,
Strephon Rhadamanthus, and Aeacus. They were
Greek Acheron, the river of woe; Phlegethon or
A shepherd who lived in Arcadia and la- Pyriphlegethon, the river of flames; Cocytus,
mented the loss of his beloved Urania. the river of wailing; and Lethe, the river of for-
getfulness.
The river was also famous as the one Thetis
Strophius dipped the infant Achilles into to make him
Greek invulnerable, holding him by the heel, which
King of Phocis, the husband of Agamemnon’s was thereafter his only vulnerable spot. Oaths
sister, and by her the father of Pylades, the sworn by the waters of the Styx could not be
inseparable friend of Orestes, who came to his broken, even by the gods, though it remains
court after the murder of his father by unclear whether this means the Underworld
Clytemnestra and Aegisthus. river or the River Styx in Arcadia. The water of
Syrinx 285
the Styx within the realm of Hades was said to the islands recoiled Jason urged his oarsmen to
be so poisonous that it corroded clay and pull as hard as they could, and the Argo Navis
metal containers and could only be carried in a slipped through, Athene giving the ship a final
horse’s hoof. push. Henceforth the islands never came
See also: Acheron; Achilles; Cerberus; Charon; Cocytus; together again.
Lethe; Phlegethon See also: Argo (Navis); Jason
Suada Syracuse
Roman Greek
The personification of the powers of persua- The most thriving town in Sicily, having the
sion, known as Pitho to the Greeks. advantage of a marvelous harbor. It was
founded from Corinth in 734 B.C. after civil
upheaval became a tyranny under Gelon (485
Sun~ion, ~ium B.C.) and Hieron (d. 467 B.C.); after that a new
Greek democracy showed its teeth, twice resisting
A headland on the southernmost tip of Attica Athenian invasions (424 B.C. and 413 B.C.), the
and the name of the town that maintained a latter culminating in the defeat of Demos-
temple to Athene, part of which is still visible thenes and Nicias and the total destruction of
today. Perhaps the town’s temple of Poseidon, their fleets. However, danger from Cartha-
dramatically situated overlooking the sea on a ginian ambitions encouraged the acceptance
clifftop, remains its more notable feature. It of Dionysus I as tyrant in 406 B.C. From the
was built by Kallikrates in 444 B.C., and 12 third century B.C. the town was a shuttlecock
Doric columns still stand. in the struggle between Rome and Carthage,
and by 212 B.C. it was a part of Roman Sicily.
The city today houses the ruins of a temple to
Sychaeus Apollo. Another temple, dedicated to Zeus,
Greco-Roman dates from the middle of the sixth century B.C.
The husband of Dido who swore on his death and is among the earliest in Sicily. A temple to
never to remarry. She broke this vow when Athene is now incorporated into the cathedral.
Aeneas came to the city of Carthage, which she
founded after fleeing to Africa.
See also: Aeneas Syrinx
Greek
A nymph from Arcadia; Pan fell in love with
Symplegades her. He pursued her to the banks of the River
Greek Ladon, where her prayers to the gods were
“The Clashing Rocks”; two floating islands at answered when they turned her into a clump
the northern end of the Bosphorus that came of reeds. From these Pan fashioned the first set
together and crushed any ship that attempted of pipes, a row of tuned reeds fastened to-
to sail between them. Jason, following the gether with wax. More correctly known by her
advice of Phineus, released a dove, which flew name, the instrument is more commonly
between the islands. They clashed together, known as the panpipe or panpipes.
nipping the fleeing bird’s tail feathers, and as See also: Pan
K T k
Taenarum constantly, destroying anybody who at-
Greek tempted to land on the island, thereby secur-
A headland in Laconia where a temple dedi- ing the realm of Minos. According to some
cated to Poseidon offered absolute sanctuary. sources he was menacing the Argonauts, on
A cave in the cliffs was said to be the entrance their return journey from Colchis with the
to the Underworld. Through it Heracles made Golden Fleece, when Medeä identified the
his return with Cerberus. A statue on the shore giant’s one weak spot, the ankle, where his sin-
commemorated the spot where Arion was said gle vein of ichor came close to the surface. She
to have been brought ashore by a dolphin. either caused Talos to graze the ankle, or sim-
ply removed the nail that plugged the vein, or
instructed the archer Poeas to shoot Talos in
Tages the ankle; Talos collapsed.
Romano-Etruscan 2. Nephew of Daedalus, also known as
A sage who was said to have been autochtho- Perdix, who invented the saw, chisel, and com-
nously born from a furrow in the ground. His passes. So jealous was his uncle of his crafts-
head was gray, though he had the face of a manship, which he thought might surpass his,
child. He was reputed to have taught the that he threw Talos headlong from Athene’s
Etruscans all the arts of divination. temple on the Acropolis at Athens. The god-
dess changed Talos into a partridge, and the
Areopagus banished Daedalus.
Talaria See also: Daedalus; Hephaistos; Medeä; Minos
Greco-Roman
The winged sandals that were one of the attrib-
utes of Hermes, Iris, Mercurius, and others. Tanaquil
Roman
The wife of Tarquinius Priscis who is some-
Talassio times also known as Gaia Caecilia, the name
Roman depicting her as the traditional Roman matron.
The god of marriage, the equivalent of the However, most stories made her a vigorous
Greek Hymenaeus. and domineering woman who engineered her
husband’s succession to the throne, then later
did the same for her protégé Servius Tullius.
Talaus
Greek
King of Argos who was succeeded by his son, Tantalus
Adrastus. Greek
Son of Zeus and the nymph Pluto, father of
Niobe, Broteas, and Pelops, and a wealthy king;
Talos unclear whether he hailed from Lydia (possibly
Greek Aipylos), Argos, Phrygia, or Corinth. Greatly
1. A bull-headed, bronze giant, made by favored by his father, Tantalus was even invited
Hephaistos, who ran around the coast of Crete to banquets on Olympus, but he proved unwor-
287
288 Taphian
thy of these honors, for he constantly divulged rising from the flames of his household hearth.
Zeus’s secrets and stole nectar and ambrosia. He Consulting the Oracle of Tethys, he was told
was also said to have received as a gift from that should a virgin give herself to the vision
Pandareus the golden dog that Hephaistos she would bear a splendid son. Tarchetius
made for Rhea, but he lied to his father, saying ordered his daughter to unite with the appari-
he had not seen or even heard of it. tion, but she, feeling insulted, sent her servant
His greatest crime, however, was the brutal girl instead. Tarchetius then imprisoned both
murder of his son, Pelops, whom he cut into of them, but Vesta prevented him from execut-
small pieces, cooked, and then served to the ing them. Twin boys were born to the servant
gods in a stew at a banquet in order to test their girl. Tarchetius gave these children to Teratius
omniscience. All the gods immediately recog- with orders to kill them. He laid them on a
nized what they had been served—all, that is, riverbank, where they were fed by a wolf and
except Demeter, who, still grieving for her birds until found by a cowherd, who raised the
daughter, Persephone, absent-mindedly con- children as his own. Grown to manhood, the
sumed the shoulder. Pelops was later restored children returned to Alba Longa and assassi-
to life, but Tantalus was condemned to Tartarus, nated Tarchetius.
where his punishment became proverbial.
Tortured with eternal thirst, he was placed
in a lake, its waters receding whenever he Tarchon
attempted to drink from it. To add to his mis- Roman
ery he was tortured with an eternal hunger, An Etruscan ally of Aeneas in his fight with
and above his head were boughs heavily laden Turnus.
with fruit; they sprang upwards whenever he See also: Aeneas
reached for them. His final torment was to see
a huge rock perched precariously above his
head that threatened to fall at any moment and Tarpeia
crush him. Roman
See also: Pandareus; Pelops Daughter of the Roman garrison commander
during the siege of Rome by the Sabines under
the leadership of Titus Tatius. Wantonly desir-
Taphian ing the gold ornaments worn by the besieging
Greek Sabines, Tarpeia sent a messenger to Titus
The Taphians were a legendary people who Tatius suggesting that she would let them into
feature in the legend of Alcmene and the citadel by night in return for all that the
Amphitryon. While Amphitryon was absent Sabines wore on their left arms. This was
from Thebes fighting the Taphians, who had agreed upon and the Sabines were let in, but
killed Alcmene’s brothers, Zeus visited her in they killed her when she came to collect her
the guise of her husband, told her how he had reward, demonstrating their feeling that such
been victorious, and consummated the mar- a treacherous act should not be rewarded.
riage (something Alcmene refused to do until See also: Sabine; Tatius, Titus
she had been revenged). Amphitryon returned
the following night amid much confusion. By
her double consummation, with Zeus and Tarquin~ii, ~(ian)s
Amphitryon, Alcmene became the mother of Roman
Heracles and Iphicles. The name used to collectively refer to two
See also: Alcmene; Amphitryon semilegendary kings of ancient Rome who
were, perhaps, Etruscan in origin. They were
Tarquinius Priscus and Tarquinius Superbus,
Tarchetius expelled c. 510 B.C. after Sextus, the son of
Roman Tarquinius Superbus, had raped Lucretia, the
A wicked king of Alba Longa who on several wife of Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus, after
consecutive days saw the vision of a phallus which she took her own life. Following their
Tartarus 289
expulsion from Rome the republic was formed stumble, Brutus fell to the ground and kissed
and quickly established; there were, however, the earth.
three abortive attempts to restore the hated Meanwhile, Tarquinius Superbus’s brutality
monarchy. was alienating his subjects. Rebellion was
See also: Lucretia; Sextus already in the air when Sextus brought the cri-
sis to a head by raping Lucretia, the wife of
Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus. She committed
Tarquinius, Arruns suicide, and so the people of Collatia, her hus-
Roman band’s city, marched on Rome under the lead-
The brother of Tarquinius Superbus who was ership of Lucius Junius Brutus and roused the
murdered by his brother at the instigation of people to shut the gates against Tarquinius
Tullia, the daughter of Servius Tullius. A sec- Superbus and his son, who were away besieg-
ond character of the same name appears later ing Ardea. Thus the hated monarchy of Rome
in the chronology of Rome, when the consul was driven out and the republic was founded;
Brutus was killed in single combat with three abortive attempts to restore the monar-
Arruns Tarquinius. Yet it seems likely that this chy followed.
is the same character; different tradition has See also: Lucretia
him exiled from Rome by Tarquinius
Superbus, not murdered.
See also: Romulus Tarquinius Superbus
Roman
Also known as Tarqin the Proud, one of the
Tarquinius Priscus Tarquinii and the seventh and last semi-
Roman legendary king of Rome, the sixth successor
Originally an Etruscan named Lucumo, he after Romulus. Like Tarquinius Priscus, the
later took the name Lucius Tarquinius Priscus other of the Tarquinii, he was probably
and became the fourth successor to Romulus Etruscan in origin, a despot who traditionally
as king of Rome. He is one of the semi- reigned from 534 B.C. to 510 B.C. He usurped
legendary Tarquinii. According to some the throne by killing his brother, Arruns
sources his father was a Greek refugee from Tarquinius, at the instigation of Tullia (his
Corinth named Demaratus. As king of Rome sister-in-law and daughter of King Servius
he started building the Capitoline Temple to Tullius, whom he also killed to secure the
Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, a task completed throne). He then married Tullia. His son,
by his successor, Tarquinius Superbus. Sextus Tarquinius, raped Lucretia, the wife of
Tarquinius Priscus was assassinated by the son Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus, an act that led to
of Ancus Marcius. the ultimate expulsion of Tarquinius Superbus
and his son—the death of the monarchy in
Rome and the birth of the Roman republic.
Tarquinius, Sextus Three attempts were made to restore the
Roman monarchy, but each failed.
The notorious son of Tarquinius Superbus. See also: Romulus; Tullia
While besieging the town of Gabii he asked his
father how he might defeat the Gabians.
Silently Tarquinius Superbus decapitated the Tartarus
tallest poppies in the garden. Taking the hint, Greek
Sextus killed the Gabian leaders, and his father The deepest, darkest, most infernal region of
successfully took the town. the Underworld, as far below the earth as the
Soon afterwards he, along with Lucius heavens were above it. It was the prison of the
Junius Brutus, went to consult the Delphic Gigantes and Titans, who were guarded by the
Oracle to learn who would succeed Tarquinius Hecatoncheires, and at one time the Cyclopes
Superbus. The oracle replied that it would be were confined there. According to Homer, an
the first who kissed his mother; pretending to anvil dropped from Olympus would fall for
290 Tatius, Titus
nine days before reaching Tartarus. The region earliest-known inhabitants of its southern
had a ruler, also named Tartarus, a son of coast, the Tauri. The goddess Artemis carried
Chaos or Aether and Ge and father by Ge of Iphigeneia to this area after snatching her from
the Gigantes, Typhon, and Echidne. the altar at Aulis, where she was being offered
The region became the place of condemna- as a sacrifice to the goddess by her father,
tion for the greatest sinners of Greek tradition, Agamemnon, after the Greek fleet was
though it was also the region from where the becalmed while on its way to the start of the
Erinnyes were dispatched to punish unnatural Trojan War.
crimes on earth. Early on, the Aloeidae were Iphigeneia’s brother, Orestes, accompanied
condemned to Tartarus, where they were tied by his friend, Pylades, later came to Tauris.
back-to-back against a pillar with vipers. They were captured by the barbarous inhabi-
Tantalus was one of the most famous inmates, tants, who intended to sacrifice them, as was
condemned for eternity to stand up to his chin their custom with all strangers to their land.
in water that receded when he attempted to However, Orestes discovered that the priestess
drink and under a fruit-laden tree that always was none other than his own sister, and by her
remained just beyond his grasp. cunning the three managed to escape and
See also: Cyclopes; Erinnyes; Hecatoncheires return to Greece.
See also: Artemis; Iphigeneia
Tatius, Titus
Roman Taurus
King of the Sabines who, to avenge the abduc- Greek
tion of the Sabine women—commonly The bull—Zeus in disguise—that carried off
referred to as the rape of the Sabine women— Europa, beautiful daughter of the king of
led an army that laid siege to Rome. There Phoenicia, to Crete. The disguise that Zeus so
Tarpeia, daughter of the Roman garrison com- successfully adopted was later placed in the
mander, treacherously let the Sabines into the heavens as the well-known constellation Taurus.
citadel at night; she was repaid for her treason, Astronomical: A constellation that lies
however, killed by the Sabines when she came mainly in the northern celestial hemisphere
to collect her reward. and forms the second constellation of the
Encouraged by their easy entry into Rome, Zodiac, April 21–May 21. It lies between
the Sabines, led by their champion, Mettius approximate right ascensions 3h20m and
Curtius, attacked Romulus, but Mettius 5h55m, declination from –2° to +32°. Within
Curtius’s horse foundered in the swamps on its boundaries are the Pleiades, the Hyades,
the later site of the Forum. Distraught by the and the famous Crab Nebula.
loss of life on both sides, the Sabine wives of See also: Europa; Pleiades
the Romans interceded and thereby won a
truce. It was decided that the two peoples
should unite under a single government led by Tecmessa
both Romulus and Titus Tatius. Greek
Titus Tatius, who some said was the ances- The daughter of Teuthras, king of Teuthrania.
tor of the great Titurian and Vetian families of She was taken captive by Ajax the Greater dur-
Rome, died before Romulus; he once more ing one of the many raids made against Trojan
ruled alone until he ascended to Heaven, allies during the first nine years of the Trojan
where he became revered as the god Quirinus. War.
See also: Sabine See also: Ajax (1)
Tauris T(e)iresias
Greek Greek
A name sometimes used to refer to the Crimea A seer from Thebes who lived for a total of
in ancient times, the name deriving from the seven generations. As a youth he had seen two
Telegonus 291
snakes mating, and upon killing the female brother, Phocus, either accidentally with a dis-
serpent he was transformed into a woman. In cus or deliberately, after which they were ban-
a similar situation some seven or eight years ished from Aegina. Peleus went to Phthia, and
later he killed the male and was transformed Telamon married Glauce, the daughter of King
back into a man. This unique experience made Cychreus, whom he later succeeded to become
him a useful arbiter when Zeus and Hera king of Salamis. A companion of Heracles,
argued over whether a man or woman gained Telamon was an Argonaut who took part in
the greatest pleasure from sexual intercourse. the voyage of the Argo Navis; he also partici-
Teiresias assured them that a woman gained pated in the hunt for the Calydonian Boar. He
nine times as much pleasure. Hera was furi- and Heracles then besieged Troy to punish
ous, though why remains a mystery. She Laomedon for breaking an earlier promise to
blinded Teiresias, but Zeus rewarded him with reward Heracles for his labor.
a long life and the gift of prophecy. Other ver- Telamon then married Hesione, the daugh-
sions say that he was blinded by Athene when ter of Laomedon who bore him the son Teucer.
he accidentally saw her bathing naked and By another wife—Eëriboea, or Periboea, or
that her nymph, Chariclo, gave him second Athene—he became the father of Ajax the
sight. He reportedly received from Apollo the Greater. Telamon, however, plays no part in
power to understand the language of birds. the legends of his children’s generation.
He advised the people of Thebes that the See also: Aeacus; Heracles; Hesione; Peleus
only way to rid the city of the plague affecting
their city following the incestuous marriage of
Oedipus to Jocasta was for one of the Sparti to Telchines
give his life. Hearing this, Menoeceus, father of Greek
Jocasta, leaped from the city walls to his death. Either a mythical race or group, possibly of
Yet the plague raged, so Oedipus consulted web-footed or fish-tailed daemones, living on
him. Finally convinced that he was the cause of Rhodes, described variously. Rhea was said to
the troubles, and after Jocasta had hanged her- have entrusted the infant Poseidon to their
self, Oedipus blinded himself with a brooch care; they were great artisans, having the abil-
taken from her robe, then exiled himself or had ity to work metal, and were supposedly the
Jocasta’s brother, Creon, banish him. A short makers of the sickle of Cronos and the trident
while later, after the city had suffered some fur- of Poseidon, though the trident’s manufacture
ther setbacks, Teiresias advised that a royal is usually attributed to the Cyclopes. They
prince must sacrifice himself. A second named were also credited with the invention of sculp-
Menoeceus—a son of Creon—took his own life. ture, for which Hellenic Rhodes was famous.
When Aegialeos was killed before the city They were, however, also described as malev-
walls during the attack on Thebes by the olent and destructive beings who interfered
Epigoni, Teiresias foretold of the fall of the city with the weather, thus earning the hostility of
and advised evacuation. He accompanied the Apollo, who assumed the form of a wolf to
populace but died the next morning, having destroy some of them, and of Zeus, who over-
drunk from the Well of Tilphussa. His daugh- whelmed others with a flood.
ter, Manto, was taken prisoner by the Argives
and dedicated at Delphi. Though he was
dead, his influence did not stop, for Circe Telegonus
advised Odysseus to consult with his spirit, Greek
which he did. Son of Odysseus by Circe. Searching for his
See also: Oedipus; Seven Against Thebes; Thebes father, he landed on Ithaca and began to plun-
der for food. When opposed by Odysseus and
Telemachus, neither side recognized the other,
Telamon and Telegonus killed his father with a spear
Greek tipped with the sting from a stingray. When all
Son of Aeacus and Endeis, brother of Peleus. was revealed to him, he took Telemachus and
Together he and Peleus killed their half- Penelope back to Aeaea, where he married
292 Telemachus
Telephassa Tempe
Greek Greek
Wife of Agenor, king of Phoenicia, and mother A beautiful valley in Thessaly, between
by him of Europa and Cadmos. Mounts Olympus and Ossa, through which
See also: Cadmos; Europa the River Peneus flows. Here Apollo pursued
Tethys 293
Daphne, the daughter of the river god Peneus; to manhood, the boys returned to Alba Longa
it was also the place where he sought purifica- and killed Tarchetius.
tion after killing the Python. See also: Alba Longa; Tarchetius
Tenedos Tereus
Greek Greek
Island within sight of Troy; the realm of Tenes, A son of Ares and king of Daulia. He helped
son of Apollo or Cycnus. The Greek fleet first Pandion, king of Athens, and was rewarded
landed here as it approached the start of the with the hand of Pandion’s daughter, Procne,
Trojan War. Philoctetes received his festering, in marriage. She bore him a son, Itys, but
stinking wound here as well. The envoys Tereus fell in love with Procne’s sister,
Menelaus, Odysseus, and Palamedes were Philomela. Hiding his wife among the slaves,
probably dispatched from Tenedos before the he told Philomela that her sister was dead and
start of the Trojan War to request the return of seduced her. He then tore out Procne’s tongue
Helen, a request that was refused. Ten years to keep the secret safe, but she wove a message
later the Greeks returned to the island, leaving to her sister in a robe. Philomela then released
behind the Wooden Horse on the Trojan Plain Procne, who then avenged herself on Tereus
to await the signal of Sinon to return and sack by killing and cooking their son, Itys. When
the city. Tereus realized he had been eating his own son
he chased the sisters with an axe, but the gods
intervened and changed all three into birds.
Tenes Procne became a swallow, Philomela a night-
Greek ingale, and Tereus either a hoopoe or a hawk.
Son of Apollo or of Cycnus, the king of Some sources, particularly later ones, reverse
Colonae in Troas. His stepmother falsely the sisters’ roles and transformations.
accused him to Cycnus when she failed to See also: Itys; Pandion; Philomela; Procne
seduce him. Cycnus then threw Tenes, along
with his sister, Hemithea, into the sea in a
chest, which eventually washed up on the Terminus
shore of the island of Leucophrys, where the Roman
inhabitants made Tenes their king. The The Roman god of boundaries whose mile-
island was thenceforth known as Tenedos. stones and boundary stones became occa-
Cycnus, having discovered the truth, sailed sional altars.
to Tenedos and there reconciled with his son.
Both father and son, however, were killed by
Achilles when the Greek fleet landed on Terpsichore
Tenedos shortly before the start of the Trojan Greco-Roman
War. One of the nine Muses, being that of choral
song and dancing; often depicted wearing the
long robe of a citharode and carrying a lyre and
Teratius a plectrum. She was the mother of Linus,
Roman Hymenaeus, and the Sirens.
Servant or companion of Tarchetius, the tyran- See also: Muses, the
nical king of Alba Longa. When twin boys
were born to the servant girl of Tarchetius’s
daughter following union with the apparition Tethys
of a phallus that rose from the household Greek
hearth, Teratius was told to kill the infants, but A sea deity, one of the Titan daughters of
instead he simply left them beside a river. Uranos and Ge; wife of her brother, Oceanos,
There they were tended by a wolf and birds by whom she became the mother of the
until found and raised by a cowherd. Grown Oceanides, including Zeus’s first wife, Metis,
294 Teucer
Continuing on his journey, Theseus next and was taken to the underwater palace of
faced Sciron, who made passers-by wash his Amphitrite. There Thetis not only returned
feet then kicked them over the cliff to their Minos’s ring but also gave him the crown she
deaths. Theseus did likewise to Sciron. At had received from Aphrodite as a wedding
Eleusis he met Cercyon, who wrestled travel- gift. Theseus then returned to the ship and
ers to their deaths, but he met his end when gave Minos his ring.
Theseus duly beat him. Finally he came across Having arrived in Crete, Theseus was seen
Sinis’s father, Polypemon (surname Pro- by Ariadne, one of Minos’s daughters. She fell
crustes), who invited victims to spend the immediately in love with the youth and was
night, stretching them or lopping their limbs as determined to help him. She first made
necessary to fit his bed. Theseus took care of Daedalus reveal to Theseus how the Cretan
him by fitting him to his own bed. Labyrinth—where the Minotaur was
Having been purified of all these killings by housed—could be safely penetrated, then
some men he met at a shrine of Zeus gave Theseus a spool of thread to unwind and
Meilichius, Theseus finally made it to Athens, thereby find his way out. Having cornered the
where he was greeted as a hero. However, Minotaur, Theseus wrestled it and tore off one
Medeä, who had become Aegeus’s consort of its horns, for the beast was vulnerable only
and bore him the son Medus, recognized to its own horns. With this horn Theseus
Theseus and plotted to get rid of him. At that stabbed the creature to death and then, follow-
time the Cretan Bull was terrorizing Marathon ing the thread he had unwound behind him,
(the reason it became known as the Mara- made his escape.
thonian Bull), so Medeä persuaded Aegeus Quickly, Theseus and his companions
that a hero as great as Theseus should be sent escaped from Crete, taking Ariadne along with
to dispatch it. Theseus successfully captured them. However, while she slept on the island
the great bull and brought it back to Athens, of Naxos, or Dia, Theseus abandoned her and
where he offered it to Athene. At the celebra- sailed off. There she was later found by
tory banquet Medeä poisoned a drink and had Dionysos, who made her his bride. Theseus
Aegeus offer it to Theseus, but in the nick of next stopped at Delos, where he instituted the
time Aegeus saw the sword Theseus was car- festival of the Crane Dance around an altar
rying and, recognizing it as the token he had consisting of twisting horns, the festival dance
left under the rock all those years before, wel- imitating the winding intricacies of the Cretan
comed Theseus as his son. Medeä fled, taking Labyrinth.
Medus with her. Unfortunately Theseus forgot to hoist the
However, the time was fast approaching white sails as he had promised and so
when Athens was due to send the tribute of approached Athens with the black sails still in
seven maidens and seven youths to Minos position. Aegeus, from his lookout on the
on Crete, where they would be fed to the Acropolis, saw the black sails. Thinking
Minotaur. Theseus immediately volunteered Theseus dead, he threw himself into the sea,
to be one of the 14, fully intending to kill the which thereafter became known as the
Minotaur and thus put an end to the tribute. Aegean Sea.
He rigged a ship with black sails, promising Theseus was now proclaimed king of
to change them to white should he return Athens and quickly made himself master over
victorious. all Attica. He was later regarded, by fifth-
During the voyage to Crete, Minos and century A.D. Athenians, as the founder of their
Theseus quarreled, each casting doubt on the democracy. He refounded the Isthmian Games
other’s paternity. Minos called on his father, and dedicated them to Poseidon. He then
Zeus, to send thunder and lightning to prove accompanied Heracles against the Amazons
his status. After this had been duly sent Minos and he carried off their queen, Antiope, or
flung his ring into the sea and challenged Hippolyta, who bore him a son, Hippolytus.
Theseus to fetch it back from the realm of his The Amazons tried to take their revenge by
alleged father, Poseidon. Without hesitation attacking Attica, but they were finally defeated
Theseus dived in, was welcomed by Nereides, by Theseus in the very heart of Athens. He
298 Thesmaphoria
then participated in the hunt for the was jealous of Theseus’s fame. He neverthe-
Calydonian Boar and may even have been one less returned in spirit, at least according to a
of the Argonauts. later tradition, to help the Athenians at the
Theseus was with his Lapith friend, Peiri- Battle of Marathon. Though Menetheus had
thous, at his wedding to Hippodameia and been made king in Theseus’s absence, his sons
joined in the famous fight between the were afterwards restored to the throne.
Lapithae and the centaurs, when one of their See also: Aegeus; Aethra; Ariadne; Crommyum;
drunken number tried to carry off the bride. Daedalus; Helen; Heracles; Medeä; Minos; Minotaur;
Periphetes; Phaedra; Procrustes; Sinis
Following the death of Hippodameia the two
decided they would carry off a daughter of
Zeus. They succeeded in abducting the young
Thesmaphoria
Helen from Sparta; she fell, by lot, to Theseus.
However, as she was too young to marry, they Greek
left her in the village of Aphidnae with Annual festival in honor of Demeter that cele-
Theseus’s mother, Aethra. They next decided brates the foundation of laws, held in Athens
to carry off Persephone for Peirithous. and other parts of Greece.
Descending to the Underworld, they were See also: Demeter
invited to sit down. The chairs on which they
sat, however, bound them fast, and there they
stayed until Heracles came to the Underworld Thespius
during his last labor, to fetch Cerberus, and Greek
managed to release Theseus. Peirithous was A ruler in the vicinity of Mount Cithaeron
not so lucky and remained in the Underworld whose herds, along with those of his neighbor,
for all time. Amphitryon, were being attacked by a huge
Theseus now married Phaedra, another of lion. Heracles set out, when aged just 18, to kill
Minos’s daughters, who bore him the sons the lion. The chase lasted for 50 days, during
Acamas and Demophoön. He and his family which time Heracles stayed with Thespius,
were, however, exiled from Athens for a year who rewarded Heracles by giving his 50
for killing the 50 sons of Pallas, the nephew of daughters to him. He slept with a different
Aegeus who had tried to usurp his throne. maiden each night. Heracles killed the animal
They traveled to Troezen, where Phaedra fell with a blow from his wild olive club and made
in love with her stepson, Hippolytus. When himself a garment from the pelt and a helmet
the chaste youth rejected her advances she from the head, though most say that Heracles
falsely accused him to Theseus of attempting made these items later, after he had killed the
to rape her. Theseus believed her and cursed Nemaean Lion.
his son, praying to his father, Poseidon, that Heracles’ sons by the daughters of Thespius
Hippolytus should die that very day. As the were later sent, under the leadership of Iolaus,
youth fled in his chariot along the seashore, to settle in Sardinia.
Poseidon sent a bull that frightened the horses See also: Heracles
and dragged Hippolytus to his death. Phaedra
then hanged herself.
Upon returning to Athens, Theseus found Thessaly
that the hearts of the people had been turned Greek
against him by the Dioscuri, who had come An ancient district of northern Greece that was
during his absence and rescued Helen, taking divided from Macedonia by a mountain
Theseus’s mother, Aethra, captive to act as range. At the eastern end of the range rose
Helen’s slave. They had placed Menetheus on Mount Olympus, and between it and Mount
the throne, and as king he was proving Ossa was the Vale of Tempe, a beautiful valley
immensely popular. Finding no place for him- through which flowed the River Peneus.
self in Athens, Theseus traveled to Scyros, Modern Thessalía, the largest natural area in
where he died after accidentally falling off a Greece, is an administrative district of north-
cliff or being pushed by King Lycomedes, who central Greece. It was the center of an extensive
Thoas 299
Neolithic settlement until c. 2500 B.C. and re- Styx—his ankle, where she held him, remain-
mained cut off from much of the culture and ing his only vulnerable spot—or by immolat-
politics of classical Greece. Thessaly was taken ing him on a fire. Peleus caught her in the act
by Macedonia in 325 B.C. and became a part of and shouted at her to stop, thus breaking the
the province of Macedonia under Roman rule taboo that no mortal shall speak to his mer-
in 148 B.C. It later became a part of the maid wife. She immediately returned to the sea
Byzantine Empire with the decline of Roman but continued to watch over her son during his
rule, passing to the Turks in 1393. It was short but eventful life. She attempted to fore-
annexed to Greece in 1881. stall the prophecy that Achilles would die at
Legend made it the site of the ten-year the Trojan War by hiding him among the
Titanomachia, the war between the Titans and daughters of King Lycomedes on the island of
the Olympian gods. It was also the homeland Scyros, but he was discovered and made to
of the centaurs, the children of King Ixion who enlist along with his great friend, Patroclus.
lived on the slopes of Mount Pelion. The Following the death of Patroclus, Thetis
Myrmidones, a warlike people, lived on the came to Achilles and gave him a new set of
southern borders of Thessaly and were led to armor that had been made by Hephaistos.
the Trojan War by Achilles, a Thessalanian Wearing it he rejoined the fray and drove the
prince who was the son of Peleus and Thetis. terrified Trojans back to their city, killing
See also: Ixion; Myrmidones; Titanomachia Hector in the process. His return to the battle
was short-lived, however, for a short time later
he was killed by an arrow fired by Paris.
Thetis Guided by Apollo, the arrow struck him in his
Greek one vulnerable spot, fulfilling the prophecy
A daughter of Nereus and Doris, chief of the Thetis had attempted to circumvent.
Nereides. When Hephaistos was thrown into See also: Achilles; Eris; Nereus; Peleus
the sea by Hera, Thetis and Eurynome looked
after the unfortunate deity in an underwater
grotto. She was loved by both Zeus and Thisbe
Poseidon. Helped by Briareus, she released Greco-Roman
Zeus on the occasion he was put in chains by Maiden from Babylon who was the lover of
the other Olympians. Upon being told by Pyramus. The couple was forbidden to marry or
Themis, some say Prometheus, that any son even to see each other, so they had to make do
born to her would be greater than his father, with conversing through a crack in the wall sep-
the gods decided that she should marry a mor- arating their houses. Through this they laid their
tal. That mortal was Peleus, king of the plans to meet outside the city at the tomb of
Myrmidones at Phthia in Thessaly. Having Ninus. Thisbe arrived first but fled from a
been advised what to do, he caught her while lioness that had just killed an ox, dropping her
she slept on the shore at Sepias and held on cloak or her veil in the process, which the animal
while she transformed into many different mauled and covered in blood. When Pyramus
shapes. He then made her his wife, their wed- arrived and found the blood-stained clothing he
ding being attended by all the immortals, who thought Thisbe had been killed, and so he
brought wonderful gifts. However, there was stabbed himself under a mulberry tree. Thisbe
one omission from the guest list, the goddess returned and found his body. Grief-stricken, she
Eris, who in a fit of pique threw among the threw herself onto Pyramus’s sword. Their par-
guests a golden apple inscribed with the ents buried the tragic couple in the same urn.
words, “To the fairest.” Ownership of this See also: Pyramus
apple, the Apple of Discord, was contested by
Hera, Athene, and Aphrodite and would ulti-
mately lead to the Trojan War. Thoas
Thetis and Peleus had a single son, Achilles, Greek
whom Thetis attempted to make invulnerable, Son of Andraemon, king of Calydon, who sailed
either by dipping him in the waters of the River with 40 ships to join the Greek forces at Troy and
300 Thrace
was among those chosen to sneak into the city it was six days’ sail from Britain. It was often
within the hollow belly of the Wooden Horse. applied to the Shetland Isles, the Orkneys, and
See also: Andraemon Iceland, though later writers most commonly
used it to refer to Scandinavia.
Thrace
Greek Thy(i)ades
An ancient region of the eastern Balkan Greek
Peninsula that included Bulgaria and eastern The name given to the Attic votaries of the god
Macedonia and was, from about 1300 B.C., Dionysos. Meaning “raging women,” thyades
peopled by savage cannibals. Today the area is an apt description of the Bacchae. They were
is split among Greece, Turkey, and Bulgaria. supposedly known by this name after Thyia,
The Thracians had a rich and flourishing cul- the first Attic woman to make sacrifice to the
ture, passing on many important elements of god.
religion, poetry, and music to the Greeks. See also: Dionysos
Thrace came under Macedonian rule in 342
B.C., but it remained a warring and anarchic
territory until it became a Roman province in Thyestes
46 A.D. From the seventh century A.D. it was Greek
divided between the Byzantine Empire and Son of Pelops and brother of Atreus. With the
the Bulgar kingdom, eventually falling to the connivance of their mother they killed their
Ottoman Turks in 1453. During the nineteenth half-brother, Chrysippus, and were compelled
century Russia tried to extend its influence to flee to Mycenae, where they were hospitably
over Thrace; the region was divided among its received. However, following the death of King
neighbors by treaties following World War I. Eurystheus, Atreus seized the kingdom and
banished his brother. Having already seduced
Atreus’s second wife, Aerope, Thyestes tricked
Threspotus Atreus into killing Pleisthenes, his son by his
Greek first wife, before leaving the city.
King of Sicyon to whom Pelopia, daughter of Atreus planned a grisly reprisal and lured
Thyestes, was priestess. his brother back to Mycenae on the false
promise that he was ready to give him half
the kingdom. Atreus then killed Thyestes’
Thrinicia sons and served them to their father. When
Greek Thyestes realized what he had been eating he
Island where Helios maintained a herd of cat- cursed his brother and fled once again. He
tle. Against the warnings of both Teiresias and now sought the advice of the Delphic Oracle,
Circe, Odysseus’s men slaughtered many of who told him to father a child on his own
the beasts. When they put to sea again all save daughter. Going to Sicyon, where his daugh-
Odysseus were destroyed by Zeus. ter, Pelopia, was a priestess in the service of
See also: Odysseus King Threspotus, he ravished her and fled.
Atreus subsequently visited Sicyon and,
believing Pelopia to be the daughter of
Thrugii Threspotus, married her as his third wife.
Greek When she gave birth to Aegisthus, Thyestes’
Town in Lucania where Herodotus was born. son, she exposed the child, but Atreus, believ-
ing the child to be his own, rescued him and
reared him. Later Thyestes was captured and
Thule brought to Mycenae, where Atreus ordered
Greco-Roman Aegisthus to kill him. However, Thyestes dis-
The Greek and Roman name for the northern- armed the boy and, recognizing him as his
most known land, Roman tradition saying that own son, made himself known to Aegisthus,
Tiryns 301
whom he then had kill Atreus. Thus, finally, Tiber told Aeneas, in a dream, that Helenus’s
Thyestes ruled Mycenae, though he was later prophecy was about to be fulfilled. Fore-
routed by Agamemnon, Atreus’s son, who warned, Aeneas set out next day and soon
had the help of Tyndareus. His son, Aegisthus, came upon the white sow and her 30 piglets at
was later to become the lover of Clytemnestra, the future site of the city of Alba Longa, which
Agamemnon’s wife, and with her connivance would be founded by his son, Ascanius, some
he killed Agamemnon and so avenged his 30 years later.
father. Father Tiber also advised Aeneas to seek the
See also: Atreus; Pelops help of Evander, the Greek king from Arcadia
who now ruled the Palatine Hill. Aeneas fol-
lowed the advice and was promised the help
of the king, whose son, Pallas, joined the noble
Thyia Trojan’s forces.
Greek See also: Aeneas; Ascanius
Reputedly the first Attic woman to sacrifice to
Dionysos. As a result the Attic women who
annually traveled to Parnassus to take part in
Tiberinus
the Dionysiac orgies became known as
Thyiades, or Thyades. However, thyades Roman
means “raging women,” an apt description of Son of Janus and Camise who drowned in a
the Bacchae, which the Thyiades were another river that was thenceforth known as the River
name for. Tiber.
See also: Dionysos
Tilphussa
Thyone Greek
A well near Thebes where the seer Teiresias died
Greek
when he drank the water; whether the water
The deified name of Semele, mother of
was actually poisonous remains unstated.
Dionysos, after her son had rescued her from
See also: Thebes
the Underworld and taken her to live with him
in Olympus.
See also: Dionysos; Semele
Timon
Greek
A legendary Athenian misanthrope, a hermit
Thyrsus who hated mankind and thus would have
Greek nothing to do with it.
A wand or rod wreathed with ivy and
crowned with a fir cone; an attribute of the god
Dionysos. It was also carried by his votaries,
the Bacchae. Tiryns
Greek
A town in the Argolis with massive fortifica-
tions built by Proetus, the king, with the aid of
Tiber the Cyclopes. Proetus was succeeded by
Roman Megapenthes, who later exchanged his king-
The river that runs through Rome, personified dom with his cousin, Perseus, who then became
in Father Tiber, the god of the river, possibly the king of Tiryns. Tiryns is, perhaps, most
the deification of Tiberinus, who appeared to famous as being the home of King Eurystheus,
Aeneas as he sailed into the Tiber estuary fol- who set Heracles his 12 Great Labors.
lowing his journey to the Underworld. Father See also: Cyclopes; Heracles; Proetus
302 Tisamenus
2. One of a class of lesser sea gods, the the beautiful Cressida, the Greek Chryseis,
Tritons, who take their name from the son of and the actions of Pandarus, the lovers’ go-
Poseidon, Triton. Like him they are half-man, between, has no place in classical legend. It
half-fish and carry a shell trumpet, usually a was first described in the twelfth-century
conch, which they blow to soothe the waves, romance Roman de Troie by Benoît de Sainte-
unlike Poseidon’s son, who blows his conch to More and was later celebrated by both
rouse the force of the sea. One legend says that Geoffrey Chaucer and William Shakespeare.
Tritons once attacked the people of Tanagra, Shakespeare’s five-act play Troilus and
though they were normally perceived as nei- Cressida (1602) tells of Cressida falling in love
ther malevolent nor benevolent. with the Trojan Prince Troilus, but after he is
Astronomical: The innermost and largest killed—and she is exchanged for a Trojan
satellite of the planet Neptune, its orbit within prisoner of war—she transfers her attentions
that of Nereid. It is larger than the Moon that to Diomedes.
orbits the Earth. See also: Achilles; Cressida; Hecuba; Priam
See also: Amphitrite; Poseidon
Troad
Greek Trojan War
An ancient region of northwest Asia Minor; Greek
the ancient Troy was its chief city. The greatest epic adventure of classical tradi-
See also: Troy tion concerns the abduction of the beautiful
Helen by Paris and the resulting war.
Traditionally thought to have been fought in
Troezen 1184 B.C., the war probably took place earlier, if
Greek archaeological evidence of the destruction of
The birthplace of Theseus. Its ownership was the city can be accepted. Some people cite the
once disputed by Athene and Poseidon; Zeus refusal of Telamon to return Hesione to her
decreed they should share it equally. father, Priam, as one of the causes of the Trojan
War, but this is not the usual reason for the ten-
year struggle.
Troilus The true cause lies with the Apple of
Greek Discord, which was thrown among the guests
A son of Hecuba by either Priam or Apollo, at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis by Eris,
he was killed by Achilles at the start of the who was in a fit of pique at being omitted from
Trojan War. The famous story of his love for the guest list. Inscribed with the words, “To the
Trojan War 305
fairest,” the apple was immediately claimed the son of Nauplius, joined the expedition
by Hera, Athene, and Aphrodite. To settle the from Euboea.
dispute Zeus ordered that the three goddesses Although he had already assembled a
should be taken to Paris on Mount Ida and mighty force, Agamemnon went to Ithaca
that he should award the apple as he saw fit. along with Menelaus and Palamedes to
The three goddesses paraded naked before the attempt to persuade Odysseus to join them.
hapless Paris, and each attempted to bribe When they arrived they found Odysseus,
him. Aphrodite promised that if she were warned by an oracle not to go to Troy, plough-
awarded the apple she would enable him to ing a field with an ox and an ass, sowing it
carry off the most beautiful woman in the with salt. His pretence of insanity was uncov-
world; Paris decided in her favor. ered when Palamedes placed Telemachus,
The goddess accompanied Paris—who Odysseus’s infant son, in the furrow before the
deserted his lover, Oenone, on Mount Ida—to plough. Odysseus reacted as any sane father
Sparta, where he was warmly welcomed by would, rescuing the child. Thus he was unable
Menelaus and his beautiful wife, Helen. to avoid serving in the war.
While Menelaus was absent from Sparta, Additional forces joined the huge fleet that
Paris and Helen eloped, taking a great deal of Agamemnon was gathering. Ajax the Greater,
Spartan treasure with them, thus precipitating the son of King Telamon, came from Salamis,
the Trojan War, now inevitable, as Helen’s bringing with him 12 ships as well as his half-
suitors had sworn an oath to defend her cho- brother, Teucer, the best archer in all Greece.
sen husband. Ajax the Lesser, the son of Oileus, came from
Helen, the daughter of Zeus by Leda and Locris, bringing with him 40 ships. However,
sister of Castor, Polydeuces, and Clytemnestra, the Greek forces were incomplete, for an oracle
had been brought up in the court of had foretold that Troy would never be taken
Tyndareus, king of Sparta. Her beauty led to unless Achilles was among their number.
her abduction, while she was yet a young girl, Thetis, Achilles’ mother, had been warned
by Theseus and Peirithous. She was later res- by an oracle that her son would die if he went
cued from Attica by her brothers, the Dioscuri. to Troy. She therefore sent him to the court of
All the noblest leaders vied for the hand of the Lycomedes, king of Scyros, where he was hid-
beautiful maiden, and at the instigation of den among the maidens of the court.
Tyndareus they swore to defend the rights of Deidameia, one of Lycomedes’ daughters,
her chosen husband. She married Menelaus, bore him a son, Neoptolemus. When
brother of Agamemnon, who married her sis- Odysseus, Nestor, and Ajax the Greater visited
ter, Clytemnestra; when the Dioscuri were Scyros to recruit forces for the coming war,
immortalized, Menelaus succeeded Tyndareus Odysseus left a bundle of presents for the
as king of Sparta. maidens, among them a shield and a spear.
Having fled with Paris, Helen left behind Achilles naturally chose these and so exposed
her husband and daughter Hermione. himself. At the age of just 15, Achilles joined
Menelaus thus called upon all those who had the Greek forces, taking with him his tutor,
sworn the oath to make good. Agamemnon, Phoenix, and his inseparable friend, Patroclus.
the powerful king of Mycenae, was chosen More forces came from Crete with King
commander in chief, and he gathered together Idomeneos, who in the company of Meriones
the necessary forces. He was joined from the brought 100 ships. Having brought such a siz-
Peloponnesos by Nestor, the only one of able force, he would share command with
Neleus’s 12 sons who had been spared by Agamemnon.
Heracles. Diomedes, the son of Tydeus, had Assembling at Aulis, the huge fleet was
been one of the Epigoni, and he came from the fortunate to have along Anius, son and priest
same region, bringing along 80 ships as well as of Apollo in Delos; his three daughters had
two fellow Epigoni—Sthenelus, the son of been dedicated to Dionysos. They had in
Capaneus, and Euryalus, the Argonaut. return received the power to produce corn,
Tlepolemus, the son of Heracles, came from oil, and wine at will, so the fleet would be
Rhodes and brought nine ships. Palamedes, amply provisioned.
306 Trojan War
Setting out from Aulis, the fleet mistakenly ple that Helen should be returned. The Trojans
landed in and ravaged Mysia, the country of remained obdurate, so war became inevitable.
Telephus, the son of Heracles and Auge. When The Greeks attacked the mainland, though
Telephus began to repel the invading Greeks, no one was eager to be the first to leap onto
Dionysos caused him to stumble and fall over Trojan soil, for an oracle had forewarned that
a vine, allowing Achilles to pounce on and the first to do so would quickly die. Seeing his
wound him. This wound refused to heal, so compatriots hesitate, Protesilaus of Thessaly
Telephus consulted an oracle, who told him leaped from his ship—even though he knew it
that only the inflictor of the wound could cure meant certain death—and was soon cut down
it. Telephus thus went to Achilles, who first by the Trojans. Desolate with grief, his wife,
was at a loss, for nothing he did cured the Laodameia, the daughter of Acastus, pleaded
wound. Finally it dawned on him that he was the gods to let her husband return to her for
not the true inflictor of the wound—the spear just three hours. Zeus ordered Hermes to lead
was. By scratching some rust from the weapon Protesilaus back from the Underworld, and
into the wound, Telephus was cured. The when he died for the second time, Laodameia
Greeks had been told they could not take Troy died with him.
without the help of Telephus, and the grateful The second to jump onto Trojan soil was
king showed them the correct route. Achilles, who soon distinguished himself as
The fleet now reassembled at Aulis but was the greatest of all the Greek warriors. It was
delayed by unfavorable winds after Aga- through him that Aeneas entered the war.
memnon had angered the goddess Artemis by Although he was the son of Priam’s cousin,
killing a hart. The seer Calchas foretold that Anchises, he at first took no part; but Achilles
only the sacrifice of Iphigeneia, Agamemnon’s raided his herds on Mount Ida, and he led his
daughter, would appease the goddess. Dardanian forces against the Greeks. His
Reluctantly Agamemnon gave his permission, mother, Aphrodite, frequently helped him and
and the unfortunate girl was offered to once carried him off after he had been wound-
Artemis. Different sources give varying out- ed by Diomedes. He was even saved from
comes of this phase of the story. Some say that Achilles by Poseidon, even though that god
the girl was indeed sacrificed, thus earning was normally hostile toward Troy.
Agamemnon the enduring hatred of his wife, For the first nine years of the war Troy
Clytemnestra. Others say that the goddess remained impregnable, so the Greeks concen-
substituted a deer for the girl at the final trated on raiding the surrounding countries,
moment, carrying Iphigeneia away to become states, and cities that were allied with the
her priestess in Tauris. Whatever the outcome, enemy. In Thebes, in Cilicia, Achilles killed
the winds changed in the Greeks’ favor, and Eëtion, the father of Andromache, Hector’s
the fleet set sail. wife. Ajax the Greater raided the Thracian
Landing first on the island of Tenedos in Chersonesus and, in Teuthrania, killed King
sight of Troy, Achilles killed the king, Tenes, Teuthras and abducted his daughter,
and his father, Cycnus. But Philoctetes, the Tecmessa.
famous archer-son of Poeas, suffered a fester- In the tenth and final year of the war the
ing wound, inflicted either by one of He- Greeks at last concentrated solely on Troy,
racles’ poisoned arrows, which he now which was defended by Hector and Aeneas
owned, or alternatively by a snakebite. The and many mighty allies, including Sarpedon, a
wound began to smell so offensively that son of Zeus, who was in command of the
Odysseus recommended they maroon Lycian forces.
Philoctetes on the island of Lemnos, which The Greeks were not hampered not only by
the Greeks quickly did. the resistance of the Trojans but also by rival-
Envoys were now sent to Priam to seek a ries between their own chiefs. Odysseus first
peaceable solution to the forthcoming conflict. took his cruel revenge on Palamedes, who had
Menelaus, Odysseus, and Palamedes were uncovered his ruse on Ithaca. By bribing one of
hospitably received in Troy, where they were Palamedes’ servants, Odysseus had a quantity
entertained by Antenor, who advised his peo- of gold and a letter, written in Priam’s name,
Trojan War 307
hidden under Palamedes’ bed. Odysseus then snow-white horses, for an oracle had foretold
accused him of treason, his tent was searched, that once they drank from the River
and the incriminating evidence was discov- Scamander, and after they had eaten the grass
ered. Palamedes was stoned to death by the of the Trojan Plain, Troy would not be taken.
entire Greek army as a traitor. The next day the Trojans once again took the
Next the famous quarrel between Achilles upper hand and victoriously set fire to one of
and Agamemnon broke out, and that is where the Greek ships. Achilles, still refusing to
Homer’s Iliad opens. Agamemnon had been return to the fray, loaned his armor to his
awarded Chryseis, the daughter of the Trojan friend Patroclus, who then led the Myrmi-
priest Chryses, after she had been taken cap- dones back into the thick of things. At first suc-
tive. Chryses came to ransom her but was cessful, Patroclus killed Sarpedon, and his
roughly repulsed by Agamemnon, so he forces drove the Trojans back to their city
prayed to Apollo, who avenged him by send- walls. There Patroclus was wounded by
ing a plague against the Greek forces. Calchas Euphorbus, son of Panthous, and killed by
advised that only the return of Chryseis would Hector, who stripped him of his borrowed
free them of the terrible affliction, so Aga- armor. Menelaus, who had killed Euphorbus,
memnon unwillingly returned the girl to her joined Ajax the Greater in rescuing Patroclus’s
father. He recompensed himself, however, by body.
seizing Briseis, the concubine of Achilles. After Prostrate with grief, Achilles finally made
losing his concubine Achilles sulked in his his peace with Agamemnon, who duly
tent, obdurately refusing to take any further returned Briseis to him. Thetis then visited her
part in the fighting. Some sources, however, son, bringing along new armor that had been
say that this was an attempt by Achilles to made by Hephaistos. Wearing this Achilles
curry favor with Priam, for he had fallen rejoined the fighting and drove the terrified
deeply in love with Priam’s daughter, Trojans back to their city, Hector alone remain-
Polyxena. ing outside to defend, even though Priam and
Things quickly turned in favor of the Hecuba implored their son to return to the
Trojans, so much so that Agamemnon was safety of Troy. Three times Achilles chased
glad to grant a truce while Paris and Menelaus Hector around the walls of the city before he
met in single combat in an attempt to settle the killed him, stripped him of his armor, and,
conflict. However, when Paris was on the tying him by the ankles, dragged him uncere-
point of losing the duel, Aphrodite carried him moniously back to the Greek lines. Some
away, and the fighting once more broke out. sources vary these events, saying that Hector’s
Diomedes wounded Aeneas and, amaz- body was dishonored after death by being
ingly, Aphrodite, then fought with Glaucus, a dragged three times around the city walls with
Lycian prince who was second in command to the purple baldric Ajax had given him.
Sarpedon. However, when they remembered Each morning, at dawn, still crazed with
the friendship of their ancestors they gave up grief for Patroclus, Achilles would pull the
the fight and exchanged gifts. Hector and Ajax corpse of Hector three times around the tomb
the Greater also fought in single combat until of his great friend. Finally, Priam was led by
nightfall, when they too exchanged gifts, Hermes, at night, to beg for the release of his
Hector giving Ajax a sword and receiving a son’s body so that he could be honored with
purple baldric. burial.
The hard-pushed Greeks were now forced With Troy seeking reinforcements, the
to build a wall and trench, but when they were Amazons now came to its aid, led by their
driven even farther back Agamemnon quickly queen, the lovely Penthesilea, daughter of
offered to return Briseis to Achilles, still sulk- Ares and Otrere. She too was killed by
ing in his tent. Achilles politely but firmly Achilles, but as he struck the fateful blow he
refused the offer. Odysseus and Diomedes fell in love with her. Mourning over her,
then made a night raid on the Trojan lines, dur- Achilles was ridiculed by Thersites, the most
ing which they killed the spy Dolon. They then scurrilous and ugliest of all the Greeks.
killed Rhesus of Thrace and drove off his Achilles killed him with a single blow, anger-
308 Trojan War
ing Diomedes, a kinsman of Thersites. He refused, but after relenting too late she took
threw Penthesilea’s body into the Scamander, her own life.
where it was then rescued and buried, some With Paris dead, Helenus and Deiphobus
sources saying Achilles performed these tasks. quarreled over possession of Helen, now
Memnon, the black-skinned son of Eos and homesick for Sparta. When Deiphobus
Priam’s half-brother, Tithones, king of Ethi- forcibly married her, Helenus fled to Mount
opia, now came to reinforce the Trojans. He Ida, where he either freely joined the Greek
killed several Greeks, including Antilochus, forces or was captured by Odysseus, for
the son of Nestor, before the vengeful Achilles Calchas had foretold that only Helenus could
faced him in single combat; Zeus weighed reveal the secret oracles that protected Troy.
their fates in the balance, which tipped in Helenus freely gave the advice that the city
Achilles’ favor. Eos then persuaded Zeus to would fall that summer if a bone of Pelops was
honor her dead son by causing birds, known brought to the Greeks, if Achilles’ son,
as Memnonides, to rise from the flames of his Neoptolemus, joined them, and if Athene’s
funeral pyre and fly above it until they fell Palladium was stolen from the citadel of Troy.
back into the fire as a sacrifice. These birds Agamemnon immediately sent for the
were said to visit Memnon’s tomb on the shoulder blade of Pelops; Odysseus, Phoenix,
Hellespont annually. and Diomedes traveled to Scyros, where they
However, Achilles’ own course had now persuaded Lycomedes to allow Neoptolemus
run, and during a battle with Paris outside the to join their cause. Odysseus then gave
Scaean Gate an arrow, fired by Paris but Achilles’ armor to Neoptolemus.
guided by Apollo, struck Achilles in his vul- By this time the Trojans were also tired of
nerable heel. Ajax the Greater killed Glaucus, the conflict, so Priam sent Antenor to Aga-
and he and Odysseus rescued the body of the memnon to sue for peace. However, out of
fallen Achilles. They now quarreled violently hatred for Deiphobus, Antenor plotted with
over Achilles’ armor. Two sources relate slight- the Greek leader as to how they might secure
ly different outcomes of this quarrel, but both the Palladium and thus ensure the downfall of
say the armor was awarded to Odysseus. In the city. They arranged for Odysseus, dis-
the first, Odysseus simply killed Ajax; the sec- guised as a filthy, runaway slave, to enter the
ond says that after the armor was awarded to city, which he did. Recognized by Helen, he
Odysseus Ajax offended Athene and was sent gained much useful information from her,
mad, after which he killed the Greek sheep, including the fact that she longed to return
believing them to be his enemies, then killed home. He then stole the Palladium, either on
himself with the sword he had received from this occasion or on a later expedition in the
Hector. company of Diomedes.
Seeing so many heroes dead, the Greeks With the required talismans now secured,
lost heart. In an attempt to bolster the Greek Odysseus is said to have devised the strata-
morale, Calchas said they must fetch to their gem of the Wooden Horse, though some
ranks the bow and arrows of Heracles. As sources say the idea was put in his head by
these were now in the possession of Athene. It is generally agreed that the god-
Philoctetes, Odysseus and Diomedes sailed dess supervised the construction of the
to Lemnos to persuade the unfortunate wooden animal by Epeius, the cowardly son
archer to accompany them back to Troy. of Panopeus, who inscribed on the horse a
Having been marooned for nine years, he dedication to Athene. When it was complet-
was at first reluctant to go but was eventually ed, 23 or more of the bravest Greeks, includ-
persuaded. ing Neoptolemus, Odysseus, Thoas, and
At Troy his festering wound was cured by Sthenelus, climbed into its hollow belly and
either Machaon or Podalirius, sons of waited.
Asclepios, after which he challenged Paris to As night fell, Agamemnon ordered the
an archery contest. Mortally wounded, Paris Greek camp burned. They then sailed to the
returned to Mount Ida, where he sought out island of Tenedos, leaving behind just one
his former lover, Oenone, to cure him. She man, Sinon, a cousin of Odysseus and grand-
Trojan War 309
son of Autolycus, whose cunning he appears Cassandra fled to the sanctuary of Athene
to have inherited. but was forcibly dragged away by Ajax the
The following morning the jubilant Trojans Lesser and claimed as booty by Agamemnon.
discovered that the Greeks had gone, leaving Her sister, Laodice, the wife of Helicaon, was
the huge Wooden Horse on the shore. swallowed up when the earth opened beneath
Believing it to be sacred to Athene, it was her. Andromache, the widow of Hector, fell to
drawn, despite some opposition, up to the the lot of Neoptolemus. The Greeks, eager to
citadel. Cassandra rightly declared that the exterminate the entire family of Priam, went so
horse concealed Greek warriors. She was dis- far as to kill her infant son, Astyanax, by throw-
believed, as usual. Laocoön, the son of ing him from the city walls, lest he should one
Antenor and a priest to both Apollo and day rise up to avenge his parents. Polyxena,
Poseidon, supported Cassandra, even going whom Achilles had reportedly loved, was sac-
so far as to throw a spear at the horse’s flank, rificed to him, at his ghost’s demand, by
causing a clatter of arms from within. This Neoptolemus to ensure favorable winds for the
warning too was neglected, partly because of return voyage. Some sources say this hap-
Sinon (he had allowed himself be taken pris- pened at Troy, whereas others report Thrace,
oner, and he said the horse was the Greeks’ where the fleet had once again becalmed.
atonement for having stolen the Palladium) Hecuba, Priam’s widow, fell to the share of
and partly because of the misinterpretation of Odysseus. He took her to the Thracian
the fate that now befell Laocoön. Chersonesus, where she avenged the death of
Being a priest of Apollo, he had sworn one of her sons, Polydorus. According to
celibacy, but nevertheless he had married. To Homer this boy, the youngest of Priam’s sons,
punish him the god sent two huge serpents, had been killed by Achilles, but later sources
which crushed to death the priest and his two speak of another son of the same name.
sons. Priam falsely interpreted this as punish- Shortly before the fall of Troy, Priam had
ment for smiting the Wooden Horse, and it entrusted him, along with a large quantity of
was now welcomed within the city with much gold, to Polymester, the king of the Thracian
feasting and revelry. That evening, Helen and Chersonesus. When Troy fell Polymester mur-
Deiphobus strolled around the horse. She, imi- dered the youth, cast his body into the sea, and
tating the voices of the wives of each hidden made off with the gold. Hecuba discovered the
warrior, called out to the heroes, but they man- body and contrived to kill Polymester and his
aged to stifle their replies. As the city slept— two sons. Having achieved her goal, she then
having celebrated what they believed to be the turned herself into a bitch named Maera in
end of the ten year war—Sinon lit a signal bea- order to evade the angry Thracians.
con, and Agamemnon and the Greek fleet Few of the Trojans escaped slavery or death.
sailed back from Tenedos. On the command of The wise Antenor, his wife, Theano, and all
Antenor the warriors jumped down from their children were spared. They were re-
inside the Wooden Horse, opened the gates, ported to have sailed to the western coast of
and razed the city. the Adriatic Sea, there founding Venice and
Priam had been persuaded by his wife, Padua. Odysseus took ten years to return to
Hecuba, to seek refuge along with she and his island realm of Ithaca, an epic journey
her daughters before an altar sacred to Zeus. related in Homer’s Odyssey.
However, Neoptolemus slew their son, The tradition that Greek survivors of the
Polites, before their eyes, and when the frail Trojan War—notably Epeius, Diomedes,
king tried to intervene Neoptolemus muti- Philoctetes, and Odysseus—later emigrated to
lated him as well. Odysseus and Menelaus Italy was probably current sometime before
came across Deiphobus and Helen. Killing 300 B.C. The origin of Aeneas’s arrival remains
Deiphobus, Menelaus was about to kill unknown, though Homer’s Iliad makes it clear
Helen as well when he once again was over- that he escaped the final sack of the city.
come by her beauty, immediately pardoned Carrying his blind father, Anchises, on his
her, and led her back to the safety of the back and leading his son, Ascanius, he was
Greek fleet. given safe conduct through the Dardanian
310 Trophonius
Gate, some saying that he was afforded safe days and, on the seventh, die peacefully in
passage because he had betrayed Troy out of their sleep.
his hatred for Paris. Later Roman tradition See also: Agamedes
says that he also took with him the Penates of
Troy as well as the Palladium, the Palladium
stolen by Odysseus having been only a copy. Tros
After a total of seven years of wandering he Greek
reached Italy, there becoming the founding King of Phrygia, grandson of Dardanos, father
father of the Roman nation. The epic cycle of of Ilus and Ganymede, the latter of whom he
the Trojan War remains, to this day, one of the gave to Zeus as his cupbearer in return for
most remarkable pseudo-historical accounts of some magnificent white horses. Tros is certain-
a great classic battle and forms the most essen- ly the eponymous founder of Troy, but archae-
tial core of research for any student of the clas- ological evidence suggests the amalgamation
sical period in Greece. of three small towns: Dardania, founded by his
See also: Achilles; Aeneas; Agamemnon; Ajax (1) and grandfather, Dardanos; Tros; and Ilium,
(2); Anchises; Aphrodite; Apple of Discord; Athene; founded by his son, Ilus, the name later used
Briseis; Calchas; Cassandra; Chryseis; Diomedes; by the Romans.
Hector; Helen; Hera; Hermione; Memnon; Menelaus;
See also: Dardanos; Ganymede
Nestor; Odysseus; Palamedes; Palladium; Paris;
Patrocles; Peleus; Penthesilea; Priam; Sparta; Telephus;
Tenedos; Thetis; Tlepolemus; Wooden Horse.
Troy
Greek
Trophonius Once thought of as a purely legendary city, the
Greek historicity of Troy was established between
Son of Erginus (king of Orchomenus in 1871 and 1873 when the German eccentric
Boeotia) and brother of Agamedes. The broth- Heinrich Schliemann, putting his faith in the
ers are credited with building many early tem- descriptions of Homer, excavated a site on the
ples and other religious buildings, including coast of Asia Minor near modern Hissarlik,
Alcmene’s burial chamber at Thebes. They close to the mouth of the Dardanelles. He
were also said to have built the first temple of unearthed the foundations of not only one but
Apollo at Delphi, but its beauty was such that seven Troys, his most remarkable find being a
all those who saw it pined away, so the gods hoard of exquisite gold ornaments. Since then
destroyed it. two further layers of foundations have been
They also built a treasury for Hyrieus, king uncovered, mainly through the work of
of nearby Hyria, but left a secret entrance, Wilhelm Dörpfeld, who worked on the site
through which Agamedes removed a great during the 1890s.
deal of the treasure. Hyrieus caught Agamedes Current thinking says that Bronze Age Troy
in a trap, and, afraid that he too would be was an important trading center on the main
uncovered, Trophonius decapitated his tin route between Europe and Asia. Frequently
brother so that the king would be unable to attacked—and subsequently rebuilt many
recognize the thief he had caught. Trophonius times, as Schliemann’s multiple foundations
was not long to survive his brother, for he was would seem to suggest—the Greeks, Cretans,
swallowed by the earth at Lebadeia, the gulf and Phrygians all claimed to have had a hand
where he vanished becoming the site of an ora- in founding the city. In Homer’s time, when
cle. This oracle was first discovered by Saon, the sixth or seventh Troy would have been
who was led there by a swarm of bees. There standing, it probably had already absorbed
Trophonius instructed him in all the proce- three smaller towns: Dardania, Tros (Troy),
dures of the oracle. and Ilium, each names being represented in
A simpler version of the deaths of the two the early legends of the city’s foundation.
brothers says that as a reward for building the The three towns of Dardania, Tros, and
temple of Apollo at Delphi they were allowed Ilium were reportedly founded by Dardanos,
to live merrily within the sanctuary for six Tros, and Ilus respectively. Dardanos was the
Turnus 311
Nemaean Lion, the Hydra, Orthros, Ladon, and king of Iolcos, he adopted the boys as his
and the Sphinx. own. Tyro then became the mother of Aeson by
See also: Echidne; Etna Cretheus, but upon Cretheus’s death Pelias
imprisoned Aeson and banished Neleus.
See also: Neleus; Pelias
Tyro
Greek
Mother of the twins Pelias and Neleus by Tyrrhenus
Poseidon. She exposed the children at birth, but Romano-Etruscan
they were found and raised by a horseherd. The mythical founder of the Etruscan people;
When Tyro later married Cretheus, founder no mythology remains of this character.
K U k
Udaeus who rightly belonged within its confines but
Greek had yet to die.
One of the five surviving Sparti, or “Sown To decide which region best suited each new
Men,” who sprang, fully grown and fully soul entering the Underworld, Hermes
armed, from the ground when Cadmos sowed brought them before three judges: Aeacus,
dragon’s teeth at Thebes. These warriors start- Minos, and Rhadamanthus. En route they
ed to fight among themselves until just five crossed five rivers: Styx, Acheron, Cocytus,
remained: Udaeus, Echion, Chthonius, Lethe, and Phlegethon, or Pyriphlegethon.
Hyperenor, and Pelorus. They helped Cadmos They encountered the ferryman Charon, who
build the Cadmea and became revered as the ferried them across the Styx upon receipt of an
ancestors of Thebes. obolos, and the two-headed guard dog of the
See also: Cadmos; Sparti Underworld, Cerberus.
See also: Hades; Pluto
Ulysses Urania
Roman 1. Greco-Roman
The Roman form of Odysseus who retained all One of the nine Muses, being that of astro-
his earlier Greek attributes and adventures. nomy and the sciences. Her name simply
means “heavenly,” and she is usually depicted
with a staff pointing to a globe. She was loved
Underworld by Strephon, a shepherd of Arcadia, who
Greco-Roman lamented her when she was lost to him.
The realm of Hades in Greek tradition that
later became the realm of Pluto following 2. Greek
Roman absorption. The world of the dead was A title given to Aphrodite to imply her “heav-
not, as it usually is in modern religious beliefs, enly” countenance, especially in Oriental
a singularly dread realm where only sinners countries; also applied variously to other non-
went after death as Heaven was the sole Greek goddesses.
domain of the gods and no mortal, unless spe- See also: Muses, the
cially blessed by the gods themselves, could
ever aspire to reach its lofty heights. Instead
the Underworld was considered to contain Uran~os, ~us
three very distinct regions: the Elysian Fields, Greek
where righteous and blessed souls were con- The personification and god of the sky and the
signed to live a life of eternal bliss; Asphodel, heavens, the most ancient of all the Greek gods
where the indifferent remained for all eternity; and the first ruler of the universe in the very ear-
and Tartarus, where the wicked were sent to liest Greek cosmology. He was the partheno-
join the likes of Tantalus, Ixion, and Sisyphus. genetic son of Ge and brother of Pontus, who
This lowest region, the nearest equivalent to was similarly created. By his mother, Ge,
Hell, was also the home of the Erinnyes or Uranos became the father of the Heca-
Furies. They were dispatched to hound those toncheires, or Centimani (Cottus, Briareus, also
315
316 Uran~os, ~us
called Aegaeon, and Gyas, or Gyges), the one- Cronos, now supreme, quickly consigned
eyed Cyclopes (Brontes, Steropes, and Arges), them back to Tartarus, where they were
and the 12 Titans. guarded by the Hecatoncheires.
Having first quelled a rebellion by the Astronomical: Discovered by chance in 1781
Cyclopes, whom he consigned to Tartarus, by Sir William Herschel, Uranus is a gas giant
Uranos now had to deal with the uprising of that has its axis tilted over to almost 90°; as
the Titans instigated by his mother, Ge, though such it might be considered to roll around its
one of them, Oceanos, refused to take part in orbit on its polar axis rather than spin around
the rebellion. Cronos, the youngest of the it, as is the case with all other planets in the
Titans, was given a flint sickle by his mother, solar system. It is slightly larger in size than
which he used to castrate Uranos. Drops of Neptune, having an approximate equatorial
blood from the wound fell onto Mother Earth diameter of 50,800 kilometers (31,750 miles),
(Ge), and she bore the Gigantes, Meliae, and and lies at an average distance of 2,869 mil-
the three Erinnyes (Alecto, Tisiphone, and lion kilometers (1,794 million miles) from the
Megaera). From the drops of blood that fell sun. The planet has at least five known satel-
onto Pontus (Sea), Aphrodite was born. lites: Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and
With Uranos deposed a new order took his Oberon.
place. The Titans freed the Cyclopes, but See also: Cronos; Ge; Pontus
K V k
Valerii ordered the lake to be drained, then ordered
Roman his troops to tunnel beneath the city. Having
One of the five powerful families that seem to reached a point directly below the temple they
have dominated the Roman republic toward heard the Veientine king about to sacrifice to
the end of the fifth century B.C. The other four Juno, saying that whosoever made the sacri-
families were the Aemilii, Claudii, Cornelii, and fice should win the war. Quickly bursting
Manlii. Each decisively affected the myths and through the floor the Romans offered the sac-
legends of the Roman era, tampering with con- rifice and then stormed the city. The Veientine
tent to enhance the status of their own family. Juno was then carried to Rome in triumph.
It is not hard to see the parallel between the
tunnel under the city—which gave the
Vegoia Romans a secret entrance to the city—and the
Romano-Etruscan earlier Greek stratagem of the Wooden Horse.
Also: Begoe
Ancient Etruscan goddess who is believed
to be the root of the Roman goddess Egeria. Vela
Greek
The sail of the Argo Navis that was placed in
Veii the heavens along with three other parts of the
Roman ship: Carina, the Keel; Puppis, the Poop; and
Ancient Etruscan city some 12 miles from Pyxis, the Ship’s Compass.
Rome that controlled the crossing of the River Astronomical: A constellation of the southern
Tiber at Fidenae and thus exerted a powerful celestial hemisphere that is located between
influence over the entire area to the south, approximate right ascensions 8h00m and
including a vital salt route. It also rivaled 11h00m, declination from –36° to –57°.
neighboring Caere as the most Hellenized of
the early Etruscan cities.
At the turn of the fifth and fourth centuries Venus
B.C. the Romans attacked Veii, a fact that is not Roman
disputed in history. However, the later belief An ancient Italian goddess of unknown origin
that the city withstood the Romans for ten years who was originally associated with spring-
surely owes more than a little to the stories of time, gardens, and cultivation but also with
the siege of Troy. The city finally fell to Rome in the ideas of charm, grace, and beauty. She was
396 B.C., when Marcus Furius Camillus was later identified by the Romans with Aphrodite
appointed dictator, having been sole governor when her cult was introduced to Rome from
of Rome for the duration of the war. Mount Eryx toward the end of the third cen-
Surviving legend tells very little about the tury B.C., though legend suggests that Aeneas,
siege of Veii other than how at one point the her son, brought her cult with him when he
Romans captured a Veientine soothsayer who landed in Italy to found the Roman race. Thus
revealed that the city would only fall when the she also personified love and fertility and
Alban Lake was drained. When this story was became the mother of the cherubic, impish
confirmed by the Delphic Oracle, Camillus Cupid. She was the patroness of Julius Caesar
317
318 Vergilia
and Augustus as well as the city of Pompeii, hold hearth, regarded as the center of every
where remains of many Venus representations home, she in effect had an altar in every home.
have been recovered. Her Sicilian name was However, her sanctuary on the Forum in
Cythera, which was used as her surname. Rome became of paramount importance, for
Astronomical: The second-closest planet to the so long as the eternal flame burned within,
sun, lying between the orbits of Mercury and Rome would not fall. Entry to her sanctuary
the Earth. Venus is, at times, the brightest object was permitted only to the Vestal Virgins, ser-
in the night sky except the Moon and has vants who tended the sacred flame. As she
become well known as the Morning or Evening was regarded as the national guardian of the
Star. The planet has an equatorial diameter of Roman republic, Vesta’s festival, the Vestalia
12,102 kilometers (7,594 miles) and lies at an (7–15 June), became one of the most important
average distance of 108 million kilometers (68 events of the religious calendar.
million miles) from the sun. Venus has no satel- Astronomical: One of the larger asteroids,
lites and is roughly the same size as the Earth. having an approximate diameter of 550 kilo-
See also: Aeneas; Aphrodite meters (344 miles).
See also: Hestia
Vergilia
Roman Vestal Virgin
The wife of Coriolanus who, with his two Roman
young sons and his mother, Volumnia, Priestess or priestesses of the cult of Vesta who
pleaded with him to withdraw his men, who tended the sacred flame that eternally burned
were besieging Rome after he had sided with in her temples and who officiated at cere-
the Volscians. monies in honor of the goddess. For some
rather vague reason, the Vestal Virgins became
subject to the most intense and jealous disci-
Vertumnus pline. They entered her service at the age of six
Roman or seven and took a vow of chastity, which was
An ancient Etruscan deity who was absorbed absolute for the 30-year period they remained
into the Roman tradition as the god associated in the goddess’s service. Any girl who broke
with the ripening of fruit and hence with the this vow would, in the early years of the cult,
seasons of the years. Having the ability to be whipped to death. In later years the pun-
change shape, he used this power to great ishment consisted of being whipped and then
effect after he had fallen in love with, and been walled in a tomb alive. Due to the national
rejected by, Pomona. Changing himself into an importance of the cult of Vesta, the Vestal
old woman, he pleaded his cause so elo- Virgins enjoyed a position of unrivaled high
quently that Pomona changed her mind. At his prestige within the social order of Rome.
festival, held on August 13 to coincide with the
ripening of fruit, people made offerings of the
first fruits of harvest, a definite forerunner of Victoria
the modern harvest festival. Roman
See also: Pomona An ancient agricultural deity who became
increasingly associated with Roman military
successes. As the personification of victory she
Vesta was associated with both Mars and Jupiter.
Roman
Identified with the Greek Hestia, Vesta was the
goddess of the hearth and household, fire, and Vilvanus
purity and was the patroness of bakers. The Roman
daughter of Saturn, she was supreme in the A god of the woods who had some attributes
conduct of religious ceremonies and prepared in common with Faunus, perhaps being sim-
the food of the gods. As goddess of the house- ply an aspect of the latter.
Vulcan(us) 319
Volcanus as the god of volcanoes, he was born cent shield that depicted the future history of
when a spark fell from the heavens onto a Rome, including the great victory of Augustus
human girl. His temples were sensibly sited at the Battle of Actium. According to Evander in
outside city walls. Often invoked to avert fires, relating a story to Aeneas, his son, Cacus, was
he had associations with thunderbolts and the killed by Heracles on the Palatine Hill.
sun and was finally interpreted in terms of life- See also: Aeneas; Hephaistos; Jupiter
giving warmth. His main festival, the
Volcanalia, was held on August 23.
Having become equated with Hephaistos, Vulci
Vulcan naturally absorbed many of his attri- Romano-Etruscan
butes and qualities. His main legends concern One of the oldest and most powerful Etruscan
his involvement with Aeneas, in the role taken cities that lay in close proximity to the some-
earlier by Hephaistos. He supplied Aeneas with what more powerful Tarquinii, about 40 miles
wonderful armor, which included a magnifi- north of Rome.
K W k
Wandering Rocks Wooden Horse
Greek Greek
Sometimes confused with the Symplegades, Also known as the Trojan Horse, the stratagem
these rocks were off the coast of Sicily, not in by which the besieging Greek forces finally
the Strait of Messina. Safe passage between managed to gain entry to, and thus sack, the
them could be affected, as done by the city of Troy at the end of the ten-year Trojan
Argonauts, with the help of the Nereides. War. Homer reports that the idea of the Wooden
Horse was thought up by Odysseus, though the
scheming Athene seems to have had more than
a passing hand in its conception. It was built by
Werewolf the cowardly Epeius and had room within its
Greek hollow belly to hide upwards of 23 of the great-
Though the concept of a man-wolf—a were- est Greek heroes, Odysseus among them. It was
wolf—might be considered modern, the idea inscribed, “To Athene from the Greeks for their
was current during classical times. Indeed, at safe return,” then left on the shore when the
the feast of Zeus Lycaeus a cauldron of mis- Greek fleet sailed to the island of Tenedos.
cellaneous animal entrails and those of a man Alerted by Sinon, the only Greek that
was stirred. Participants in the celebrations remained on Trojan soil, the warriors within
would eat the resulting mixture, and anyone the horse emerged while the city slept, its citi-
who ate a human part would be instantly zens having dragged the huge edifice within
transformed into a wolf. The transformation the confines of the city amid much celebrating.
of a man into a wolf frequently appears in The warriors opened the gates to the city and
classical mythology, notably the story of allowed the returning Greek forces to enter
Lycaon. and sack Troy.
See also: Lycaon See also: Trojan War; Troy
321
K X k
Xanthus Xuthus
Greek Greek
1. The original name of the River Scamander, Son of Hellen and brother of Dorus and
the river running across the Trojan Plain; its Aeolus, he was allotted the Peloponnesos
name was changed when Scamander of Crete when he and his brothers divided Greece
jumped into its waters. among themselves. Instead he came to
2. One of the horses of Achilles along with Athens, where he married Creusa, daughter
Balius. They were the offspring of Zephyrus, of Erechtheus, the king. Their sons were Ion
the west wind, and Podarge, the Harpy. Given and Achaeus. Following the death of Erech-
to Achilles’ father, Peleus, at his wedding to theus, Xuthus judged that Creusa’s eldest
Thetis, they passed into the ownership of brother, Cecrops, should succeed his father, a
Achilles, who took them to the Trojan War. decision that led his other brothers-in-law to
They wept at the death of Patroclus, and expel him from Athens. After that he settled in
Xanthus was briefly given the power of speech Achaea, though some sources say it was
by Hera to warn Achilles of his approaching Xuthus rather than Cecrops who succeeded
death. Erechtheus.
See also: Achilles; Scamander See also: Aeolus; Cecrops; Creusa; Dorus
323
K Z k
Zagreus Zetes
Greek Greek
A son of Zeus according to a Cretan legend in The twin brother of Calais, the winged off-
which the Titans tore him to pieces and ate spring of Boreas and Oreithyia, and brother of
him alive, though Athene saved his heart. He Cleopatra. The twins accompanied Jason on
was later identified with Dionysos when the his quest for the Golden Fleece and were thus
ceremonies of his cult were designed to pro- Argonauts. In Thrace they drove away the
mote closer harmony and union with the Harpies that were plaguing the blind prophet
god. Phineus, Cleopatra’s husband, and freed from
prison the sons of Cleopatra, their cousins,
whom Phineus had falsely suspected.
Zalmoxis See also: Calais
Greek
A Thracian deity who closely resembled Zethus
Dionysos and provided his votaries with
Greek
immortality after death. Petitions to the god
Twin brother of Amphion, the sons of Antiope
were accompanied by the barbarous ritual of
by Zeus. Having given birth to the divinely
hurling a man onto the points of three
conceived twins, Antiope was divorced by her
spears. If he died it was a sign that the
husband, Lycus, king of Thebes, who then
prayers had been heard. If he lived, they
married Dirce, who treated Antiope cruelly.
tried again.
Meanwhile, Zethus and Amphion had been
See also: Dionysos
reared by cattleherds on Mount Cithaeron.
When they had grown to manhood they were
told the truth and returned to Thebes to exact
Zephyrus their revenge. They killed Lycus and then dis-
Greek posed of Dirce, tying her to the horns of a wild
The god, and thus the personification, of the bull, which threw her body into a well that
west wind. One of the sons of Astraeus and henceforth bore her name. The twins then took
Eos and the brother of Hesperus, Notus, the possession of the city and built the lower forti-
south wind, Eurus, the east wind, and fications below the Cadmea. Zethus married
Boreas, the north wind. He lived with the Thebe, who gave her name to the city;
other three winds in a cave on the floating Amphion married Niobe. The twins then
island of Aeolia, where they were released by jointly ruled Thebes.
Aeolus, either at his whim or at the com- See also: Amphion; Lycus; Niobe; Thebe
mand of the gods. Along with Apollo he
loved the youth Hyacinthos, who was acci-
dentally killed by a quoit thrown by Apollo. Zeus
At first rough and forceful, Zephyrus was Greek
later tamed, perhaps through his marriage to The supreme god of the Greek pantheon, later
Chloris. equated with the Roman Jupiter or Dis (Pater),
See also: Aeolus; Astraeus; Boreas; Eurus; Notus omnipotent king of gods, god of the sky,
325
326 Zeus
weather, thunder, and lightning (hence called help, she administered a potion to his father,
“the Thunderer”), ruler of mankind, gatherer Cronos, which made him vomit first the stone
of clouds, and especially associated with he had swallowed in place of Zeus and then
mountaintops, though his greatest temples, at his other children—Hestia, Demeter, Hera,
Dodona, Olympia, and Nemea, all lie in peace- Hades, and Poseidon. Together they made war
ful valleys. Zeus was also revered as the god of against their father and the other Titans, who
home and hearth and dispenser of good and were led by Atlas, though the latter’s brothers,
evil, of hospitality to strangers, and of oaths. Prometheus and Epimetheus, stood alongside
He was identified with the snake-formed Zeus.
Meilichius, “the Placable,” and Ktesios, the This war, known as the Titanomachia, was
god of storerooms. His attributes were the waged in Thessaly and lasted for ten years
scepter, thunderbolt, eagle, a figure of Victory until Ge promised Zeus victory if he would
in one hand, and his aegis, a sacred goatskin free her sons, the Hecatoncheires, and the
shield, representing the thundercloud. The Cyclopes from their imprisonment in Tar-
oak, the eagle, and mountain summits were tarus. The Cyclopes provided the three
sacred to him, and his sacrifices were usually deities with divine weapons. To Zeus they
bulls, cows, and goats, the latter holding spe- gave his thunderbolt, to Hades his helmet of
cial significance through his legendary connec- invisibility, and to Poseidon his trident. Thus
tion with the she-goat Amalthea. The armed, the three quickly overcame Cronos
Dodonean Zeus was usually portrayed wear- as the Hecatoncheires stoned the other
ing a wreath of oak leaves, whereas the Titans. Defeated, they were consigned to
Olympian Zeus was sometimes wearing one Tartarus, where they were guarded by the
of olive leaves. Hecatoncheires. As punishment Atlas, the
His origins appear to be the Achaeans, who leader of the Titans, was made to carry the
entered Greece and introduced his worship c. sky on his shoulders for eternity. In this way
1450 B.C. together with his consort Dione, who the third generation of deities came to rule
some sources, including Homer, make the supreme.
mother of Aphrodite by Zeus. However, her Dividing the universe by lot, Hades became
worship did not penetrate south of Epirus, god of the Underworld, Poseidon god of the
where the earliest of Zeus’s sanctuaries was sea, and Zeus god of the sky; earth remained
located, at Dodona. Here the sacred rustling of the common territory of all three. Zeus estab-
oak leaves was interpreted as the oracle of the lished his court on the lofty summit of Mount
god. Oak trees are especially sacred to Zeus, Olympus between Macedonia and Thessaly,
for they were believed to be struck by light- and there he lived in a wondrous palace along
ning far more frequently than was any other with Poseidon, their sisters, Hestia, Hera, and
species of tree. He was also worshipped at Demeter, and seven other great deities: Aphro-
Olympia in Thessaly and at Olympia in Elis. dite, Athene, Apollo, Artemis, Hephaistos,
On Crete Zeus was a young god, the consort Ares, and Hermes. Hades also had a palace on
of the dominant Mother Goddess, though the Olympus but usually resided in the Under-
more usual legend makes him the youngest world. Likewise Poseidon, who also had a
son of Cronos and Rhea. He was replaced with palace beneath the sea. At a later date Hestia
a stone wrapped in swaddling when his father was replaced as one of the Olympian deities
sought to swallow him, as he had his other by Dionysos.
children. Rhea, at least according to Minoan A post-Homeric story tells that Zeus had
tradition on Crete, hid the baby Zeus in the to put down a rebellion by the Gigantes, 24
Dictaean Cave, where her priests, the Curetes, giant sons of Ge with serpents’ tails who
clashed their weapons together in order to tried to avenge the imprisonment of their
drown the baby’s cries while the she-goat brothers, the Titans, by attacking Olympus.
Amalthea acted as his nurse. This rebellion was led by Alcyoneus and
Having safely reached manhood, Zeus was included the likes of Porphyrion, Ephialtes,
first counseled by Metis, a daughter of Mimas, Pallas, Enceladus, and Polybutes. A
Oceanos; upon her advice and with Rhea’s terrible struggle ensued on earth and in
Zeus 327
Olympus, and victory was won only after the Zeus’s plans and relayed them to his son,
intervention of Heracles—appearing before Deucalion, who built a wooden vessel in
his apotheosis and indicating the late origin which he and his wife, Pyrrha, daughter of
of the myth—who provided the gods with a Epimetheus, would ride out the storm, which
magic herb of invulnerability and always covered the face of the earth for nine days.
leveled the final blow. Enceladus was impris- Reigning supreme in Heaven, Zeus first
oned beneath Mount Etna on Sicily and married Metis, an Oceanid, the daughter of
Polybutes under Mount Nisyrus, the inter- Oceanos and Tethys. However, while she was
ments being seen as the cause of the volcanic pregnant with Athene an oracle foretold that
natures of the mountains. any son born to Metis would be greater than
Ge now brought forth the terrible monster his father. Mindful of how he had overthrown
Typhon to avenge the destruction of her sons. his own father, Zeus swallowed Metis.
Fathered by Ge’s own son, Tartarus, Typhon Sometime later he was walking on the shores
was the largest being ever created, his huge of Lake Triton when he suffered an agonizing
limbs ending in serpents’ heads, his eyes headache. Realizing the cause of the pain,
breathing fire. As he approached Olympus the Hermes persuaded either Hephaistos or
gods fled, disguised as animals, to Egypt. Zeus Prometheus to cleave open Zeus’s skull. From
assumed the form of a ram, Apollo a crow, the wound sprang the fully grown and fully
Dionysos a goat (his inclusion again indicating armed Athene.
the late origin of the myth), Hera a white cow, Zeus then married Themis, a Titan daugh-
Artemis a cat, Aphrodite a fish, Ares a boar, ter of Uranos and Ge. Their children were the
and Hermes an ibis. Athene alone remained Horae and the Moirae, though some sources
undaunted and persuaded Zeus to attack say that the latter were the children of Erebos
Typhon. After a terrible battle—during which and Night and that even Zeus himself was
Zeus was temporarily incapacitated but res- subject to them. There followed a daylong
cued by Hermes and Pan—Zeus finally marriage to Mnemosyne, during which the
destroyed Typhon with his thunderbolt and nine Muses were conceived. Zeus next mar-
buried him under Mount Etna, once more ried his reluctant sister, Hera, whom he
causing the volcanic nature of that mountain. sought out in the form of a cuckoo on the
Unlike their brothers, the Titans, Pro- island of Crete, perhaps in Argos, their wed-
metheus and Epimetheus had not been ding night being spent on Samos. Zeus
imprisoned, for they had sided with Zeus in became the father by her of Ares, Hebe, and
his epic struggle. Prometheus became Hephaistos. The latter may have been the
regarded as the benefactor of mankind when parthenogenous son of Hera, a situation that
he stole fire from Heaven, an act that brought is more likely, as Hephaistos was apparently
about divine retribution. Prometheus was present at the birth of Athene, and if he had
chained to a crag in the Caucasus, where an been the son of Zeus and Hera he would
eagle or a vulture tore at his liver during the have attended the event before he himself
day, the organ regenerating each night. There was even born.
he remained until Heracles, with Zeus’s per- On one occasion Zeus’s authority was chal-
mission, shot the eagle and freed Prometheus. lenged by his wife in collaboration with
To punish mankind Zeus ordered Hephaistos Poseidon and Apollo. This revolt was success-
to make the first woman, Pandora, who mar- ful in putting Zeus in chains, but he was freed
ried Epimetheus. Having done so she opened by Briareus and Thetis, and he punished Hera,
a box she had been given, and from it all the hanging her by the wrists to the sky, an anvil
ills that plague mankind escaped, Hope alone on each ankle. Apollo and Poseidon were sent
remaining at the bottom. to serve King Laomedon as bondsmen, and
Luxuriating in the warmth of the fire stolen there they built the great, unbreachable walls
for them by Prometheus, mankind became of Troy. Apollo later killed the Cyclopes after
impious, thus ensuring the anger of Zeus. He Zeus had killed his son, Asclepios. Zeus pun-
decided to wipe out mankind by releasing the ished him by sending him to serve King
great Flood. However, Prometheus overheard Admetus of Thessaly.
328 Zeus
Though oft-married, Zeus is perhaps most Hera saw through the deception and turned Io
famous for his many extramarital liaisons. He into a white heifer; she also sent a gadfly to
became the father of numerous beings by these sting it. Io fled to Egypt, where Zeus restored
affairs, which his jealous wife was always try- her human form and she bore their son,
ing to end or at least to hinder. He was the Epaphus. He wooed the nymph Aegina as a
father of Persephone by his own sister, flame, later turning her into the island that
Demeter, and of the Charites or Graces by bears her name, upon which he became a rock.
Eurynome. Four of the Olympian deities were Zeus also had a liking, though not displayed
sons of Zeus by mortal women. Apollo and as often compared to other gods, for beautiful
Artemis by Leto; Hermes, his herald, by Maia; youths, his only real exhibition of any homo-
and Dionysos by Semele, whom he appeared sexual tendency being when he bartered for
before as a mortal. Hera persuaded the hapless Ganymede and had the youth carried up to
Semele to ask her mysterious lover to appear Olympus by an eagle to be made his cupbearer
in his true form. Zeus reluctantly agreed, and and catamite.
Semele was consumed by the fire from his It is impossible to compile an accurate nar-
thunderbolt. Zeus rescued the unborn child rative concerning Zeus, for there are very few
from the ashes and sewed him up in his thigh; Greek myths that do not have some connec-
Dionysos was thus delivered three months tion with the supreme deity. No other deity in
later. Zeus is also one of the possible fathers of any other culture became so entangled in vir-
Eros by Aphrodite, though both Hermes and tually the entire mythology of that culture.
Ares are also credited with his paternity. Zeus remains the most powerful god of
Other mortals were pursued by Zeus. ancient civilization, yet strangely his mytho-
Danaë, imprisoned by her father, Acrisius, logy is merely concerned with the legends of
after an oracle had foretold that her son would other gods and mortals, save for his struggle to
kill him, bore Perseus to Zeus, who had gain supremacy at the start of his life. Various
appeared to her as a shower of gold. Perhaps festivals were connected with the worship of
his most famous son is Heracles, born to the Zeus, notably the Pandia (the Festival of All-
mortal Alcmene after Zeus appeared to her in Zeus), the Diasia, which was celebrated at
the guise of her absent husband, Amphitryon, night and was connected with fertility rites,
who returned the following day amid much and the Dipolieia, in which events centered on
confusion and fathered Iphicles. The twins the commission of a sacrificial act of murder.
were born at the same time, though Heracles Zeus was not normally thought of as having
was in fact one night older than his half- ever died, for that simple task would be
brother. When Heracles finally died and was impossible of an immortal. However, there
brought to Olympus, Zeus persuaded Hera to was a Cretan belief that Zeus did indeed die
adopt him as her son, after which he married and was buried on Mount Youktas, a peak
their daughter, Hebe. approximately 15 kilometers south of Iráklion
In the form of a bull Zeus carried the beau- that from a certain angle has the uncanny look
tiful Europa, daughter of Agenor, to Crete. of a helmeted warrior.
There he fathered her three famous sons: Zeus was often depicted in art either seated
Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Sarpedon. Other on his throne or striding forward, usually
conquests, and mortal children, included the clutching his thunderbolt and sometimes
twins Amphion and Zethus to Antiope, to accompanied by an eagle. He was also often
whom he appeared as a satyr; Dardanos, the shown holding a small figure of Victory and
son of Electra the Pleiad; Tantalus, the son of wearing a wreath of oak or olive leaves. The
the nymph Pluto; Helen, Castor, and most famous representation of Zeus in ancient
Polydeuces by Leda, to whom he appeared as art, regrettably no longer extant, was the mas-
a beautiful white swan; and Boötes, the son of sive statue by Phidias at Olympia. First erected
Callisto, whom he turned into a she-bear as c. 430 B.C., it was almost 12 meters tall, showed
punishment for her lack of chastity. Io was the god enthroned, holding a Victory figure
approached by Zeus disguised as a cloud, but and scepter, and was decorated with ebony,
Zeus 329
ivory, gold, and precious stones. Notable sur- See also: Alcmene; Amalthea; Apollo; Artemis; Castor;
viving representations are a bronze statuette Charites, the; Cronos; Danaë; Demeter; Deucalion;
Dione; Dionysos; Dodona; Europa; Ganymede; Hades;
from Dodona and a larger-than-life-size
Helen; Hera; Heracles; Hermes; Hestia; Io; Jupiter;
bronze figure from Cape Artemisium thought Leda; Leto; Maia; Metis; Mnemosyne; Olympus;
to represent either Zeus or his brother, Pandora; Persephone; Polydeuces; Poseidon;
Poseidon. Prometheus; Semele; Themis; Titanomachia
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Walbank, F. W. The Hellenistic World. London, 1981. One of the best paperback sources for the classical
———. Polybius. California, 1972. texts is the Penguin Classics series. The following
———. Philip V of Macedon. Hamden, Conn., 1967. volumes are essential core materials for any student
Walcot, P. Hesiod and the Near East. Cardiff, 1966. of the classical Greek and Roman cultures. All are
Wardman, A. Religion and Statecraft at Rome. available within the Penguin Classics paperback
London, 1982. series.
Warmington, B. H. Nero, Reality, and Legend.
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———. (trans. Philip Vellacott). The Oresteian Hippocrates (ed. G.E.R. Lloyd; trans. J. Chadwick,
Trilogy. et al.). Hippocratic Writings.
———. (trans. Philip Vellacott). Prometheus Bound Homer (trans. Robert Fagles). The Iliad.
and Other Plays. ———. (trans. Martin Hammond). The Iliad.
Aesop (trans. S. A. Handford). Fables. ———. (trans. E. V. Rieu). The Iliad.
Ammanius (ed. William R. Hamilton). The Later ———. (trans. E. V. Rieu; rev. Dominic Rieu). The
Roman Empire (A.D. 354–378). Odyssey.
Apollonius of Rhodes (trans. E. V. Rieu). The Voyage Horace (trans. W. G. Shepherd). The Complete Odes
of Argo. and Epodes.
Apuleius (trans. Robert Graves; rev. Michael Grant). Horace and Persius (trans. Niall Rudd). The Satires.
The Golden Ass. Justinian (trans. Colin Kolbert). The Digest of Roman
Aristophanes (trans. David Barrett and Alan War.
Sommerstein). Birds/Wealth/Knights/Peace/The Juvenal (trans. Peter Green). The Sixteen Satires.
Assembly Women. Livy (trans. Aubrey de Selincourt). The Early History
———. (trans. Alan Sommerstein). Lysistrata/The of Rome.
Acharnians/The Clouds. ———. (trans. Betty Radice). Rome and Italy.
———. (trans. David Barrett). Wasps/The Poet and ———.(trans. Henry Bettenson). Rome and the
the Women/The Frogs. Mediterranean.
Aristotle (trans. Hugh Lawson-Tancred). The Art of ———.(trans. Aubrey de Selincourt). The War with
Rhetoric. Hannibal.
———.(trans. P. J. Rhodes). The Athenian Longus (trans. Paul Turner). Daphnis and Chloe.
Constitution. Lucretius (trans. R. E. Latham). On the Nature of the
———.(trans. Hugh Lawson-Tancred). De Anima Universe.
(On the Soul). Martial (trans. James Michie). The Epigrams.
———.(trans. J.A.K. Thomson; rev. Hugh Menander (trans. Norma P. Miller). Plays and
Tredennick). The Ethics: The Nicomachean Ethics. Fragments.
———.(trans. T. A. Sinclair; rev. Trevor J. Saunders). Ovid (trans. Peter Green). The Erotic Poems.
The Politics. ———. (trans. Peter Green). The Poems of Exile.
Arrian (trans. Aubrey de Selincourt; rev. J. R. ———. (trans. Harold Isbell). Heroides.
Hamilton). The Campaigns of Alexander. ———.(trans. Mary M. Innes). The Metamorphoses.
Caesar (trans. Jane F. Gardner). The Civil War. Pausanius (trans. Peter Levi). Guide to Greece (2
———.(trans. S. A. Handford). The Conquest of Gaul. vols.).
Cassius Dio (trans. Ian Scott-Kilvert). The Roman Petronius and Seneca (trans. J. P. Sullivan). The
History. Satyricon/Apocolocyntosis.
Catullus (trans. Peter Whigham). The Poems of Pindar (trans. C. M. Bowra). The Odes.
Catullus. Plato (ed. Trevor J. Saunders; trans. T. J. Saunders, et
Cicero (ed. Michael Grant). Murder Trials. al.). Early Socratic Dialogues.
———. (trans. Horace C. P. McGregor). The Nature ———. (trans. Walter Hamilton). Gorgias.
of the Gods. ———. (trans. Hugh Tredennick). The Last Days of
———.(trans. Michael Grant). On Government. Socrates.
———.(trans. Michael Grant). On the Good Life. ———. (trans. Trevor J. Saunders). The Laws.
———.(trans. D. R. Shackleton Bailey). Selected ———. (trans. Walter Hamilton). Phaedrus and
Letters. Letters VII and VIII.
———.(trans. Michael Grant). Selected Works. ———. (trans. Robin A.H. Waterfield). Philebus.
Euripides (trans. Philip Vellacott). Alcestis/Iphegenia ———. (trans. W.K.C. Guthrie). Protagoras/Meno.
in Tauris/Hippolytus. ———. (trans. Desmond Lee). The Republic.
———. (trans. Philip Vellacott). The Bacchae/Ion/The ———. (trans. Walter Hamilton). The Symposium.
Women of Troy/Helen. ———. (trans. Robin Waterfield). Theaetutus.
———. (trans. Philip Vellacott). Medeä/Hecabe/ ———.(trans. Desmond Lee). Timaeus and Critias.
Electra/Heracles. Plautus (trans. E. F. Watling). The Pot of Gold and
———. (trans. Philip Vellacott). Orestes and Other Other Plays.
Plays. ———. (trans. E. F. Watling). The Rope and Other
Herodotus (trans. Aubrey de Selincourt; rev. A. R. Plays.
Burn). The Histories. Pliny the Elder (trans. John F. Healy). Natural
Hesiod and Theognis (trans. Dorothea Wender). History.
Theogony/Works and Dyas/Elegies. Pliny the Younger (trans. Betty Radice). The Letters of
the Younger Pliny.
Bibliography 339
Plutarch (trans. Ian Scott-Kilvert). The Age of ———. (trans. Michael Grant). The Annals of Imperial
Alexander. Rome.
———. (ed. Ian Kidd; trans. Robin Waterfield). ———. (trans. Kenneth Wellesley). The Histories.
Essays. Theocritus (trans. Robert Wells). The Idylls.
———. (trans. Rex Warner). The Fall of the Roman Thucydides (trans. Rex Warner). History of the
Republic. Peloponnesian War.
———. (trans. Ian Scott-Kilvert). The Makers of Virgil (trans. W. F. Jackson Knight). The Aeneid.
Rome. ———. (trans. Robert Fitzgerald). The Aeneid.
———. (trans. Richard J.A. Talbert). Plutarch on ———. (trans. David West). The Aeneid.
Sparta. ———. (trans. Guy Lee). The Eclogues.
———. (trans. C.B.R. Pelling). The Rise and Crisis of ———. (trans. L. P. Wilkinson). The Georgics.
Rome. Xenophon (trans. Hugh Tredennick and Robin
———. (trans. Ian Scott-Kilvert). The Rise and Fall of Waterfield). Conversations of Socrates.
Athens. ———. (trans. Rex Warner). History of My Times.
Polybius (trans. Ian Scott-Kilvert). The Rise of the ———. (trans. Rex Warner). The Persian Expedition.
Roman Empire.
Propertius (trans. W. G. Shepard). The Poems. Other Penguin Classics that are of interest and use
Quintus Curtis Rufus (trans. John Yardley). The to the classical student are as follows.
History of Alexander.
Seneca (trans. E. F. Watling). Four Tragedies and Barnes, Jonathan (trans. and ed.). Early Greek
Octavia. Philosophy.
———. (trans. Robin Campbell). Letters from a Stoic. Birley, Anthony (trans.). Lives of the Later Caesars.
Sophocles (trans. E. F. Watling). Electra and Other Dorsch, T. S. (trans.). Classical Literary Criticism.
Plays. Gibbon, Edward (ed. Dero A. Saunders). The
———. (trans. Robert Fagles). The Three Theban Plays. Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (abridged
———. (trans. E. F. Watling). The Theban Plays. version).
Suetonius (trans. Robert Graves; rev. Michael Stoneman, Richard (trans.). The Greek Alexander
Grant). The Twelve Caesars. Romance.
Tacitus (trans. H. Mattingley; rev. S. A. Handford). Sullivan, John, and Anthony Boyle (eds.). Roman
The Agricola/The Germania. Poets of the Early Empire.
Appendix 1: Chronologies for
K Ancient Greece and Rome k
Ancient Greece Chronology 480 B.C. Another invasion by the Persian Emperor
c. 1600–1200 B.C. The first Greek civilization, Xerxes, after being delayed by the heroic defence
known as Mycenaean, owed much to the of Thermopylae by 300 Spartans, was defeated
Minoan civilization of Crete and may have been at sea off Salamis.
produced by the intermarriage of Greek- 479 B.C. The Persians defeated on land at Plataea.
speaking invaders with the original inhabitants. 478 B.C. The Ionian cities, now liberated, formed a
c. 1300 B.C. A new wave of invasions began. The naval alliance with Athens, the Delian League.
Achaeans overran Greece and Crete, destroying 455–429 B.C. Under Pericles, the democratic leader
the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations and of Athens, Greek drama, sculpture, and architec-
penetrating Asia Minor. ture were at their peak.
1000 B.C. Aeolians, Ionians, and Dorians had set- 433 B.C. The Parthenon in Athens was completed.
tled in the area that is now Greece. Many inde- 431–404 B.C. The Peloponnesian War destroyed
pendent city-states, such as Sparta and Athens, the political power of Athens, but Athenian
had developed. thought and culture remained influential. Sparta
c. 800–500 B.C. During the Archaic period, Ionian became the leading Greek power.
Greeks led the development of philosophy, sci- 370 B.C. The philosopher Plato opened his
ence, and lyric poetry. The Greeks became great Academy in Athens.
sea traders and founded colonies around the 338 B.C. Phillip II of Macedon (359–336 B.C.) took
coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and the Black advantage of the wars between the city-states
Sea, from Asia Minor in the east to Spain in the and conquered Greece.
west. 336–323 B.C. Rule of Phillip’s son, Alexander the
776 B.C. The first Olympic games held. Great. Alexander overthrew the Persian Empire,
594 B.C. The laws of Solon took the first step conquered Syria and Egypt, and invaded the
toward a more democtratic society. Punjab. After his death, his empire was divided
c. 560–510 B.C. The so-called tyranny of the among his generals, but his conquests had
Pisistratids in Athens was typical of a predemo- spread Greek culture across the known world.
cratic stage that many Greek cities passed 280 B.C. Achaean League of 12 Greek city-states
through after overturning aristocratic rule. formed in an attempt to maintain independence
545 B.C. From this date the Ionian cities in Asia against Macedon, Egypt, and Rome.
Minor fell under the dominion of the Persian 146 B.C. Greece became part of the Roman Empire.
Empire. Under Roman rule Greece remained a cultural
507 B.C. Cleisthenes, ruler of Athens, is credited center and Hellenic culture remained influential.
with the establishment of democracy. Other
cities followed this lead, but Sparta remained
unique, a state in which a ruling race, organized Ancient Rome Chronology
on military lines, dominated the surrounding 753 B.C. According to tradition, Rome was founded.
population. 510 B.C. The Etruscan dynasty of the Tarquins was
500–338 B.C. The classical period in ancient expelled and a republic established, with power
Greece. concentrated in patrician hands.
499–494 B.C. The Ionian cities, aided by Athens, 450 B.C. Publication of the law code contained in
revolted unsuccessfully against the Persians. the Twelve Tables.
490 B.C. Darius of Persia invaded Greece, only to 396 B.C. Capture of Etruscan Veii, 15 kilometers (9
be defeated by the Athenians at Marathon and miles) north of Rome.
forced to withdraw. 387 B.C. Rome sacked by Gauls.
341
342 Appendix 1
367 B.C. Plebeians gained the right to be consuls 51 B.C. Caesar conquered Gaul as far as the
(the two chief magistrates, elected annually). Rhine.
343–290 B.C. Sabines to the north and the Samnites 49 B.C. Caesar crossed the Rubicon and returned
to the southeast were conquered. to Italy; a civil war between him and Pompey’s
338 B.C. Cities of Latium formed into a league senatorial party began.
under Roman control. 48 B.C. Pompey defeated at Pharsalus.
280–272 B.C. Greek cities in southern Italy sub- 44 B.C. Caesar’s dictatorship ended by his assassi-
dued. nation.
264–241 B.C. First Punic War against Carthage, 43 B.C. Second Triumvirate formed by Octavian,
ending in a Roman victory and the annexation of Mark Antony, and Lepidus.
Sicily. 32 B.C. War between Octavian and Mark Antony.
238 B.C. Sardinia seized from Carthage. 31 B.C. Mark Antony defeated at Actium.
226–222 B.C. Roman conquest of Cisalpine Gaul 30 B.C. Egypt was annexed after the deaths of
(Lombardy, Italy). More conflict with Carthage, Mark Antony and Cleopatra.
which was attempting to conquer Spain. 27 B.C. Octavian took the name Augustus. He was
218 B.C. Second Punic War. Hannibal crossed the by now absolute ruler, though in title he was
Alps and invaded Italy, winning a series of bril- only princeps (first citizen).
liant victories. A.D. 14 Augustus died; Tiberius proclaimed as his
202 B.C. Victory of Gen. Scipio Africanus Major successor.
over Hannibal at Zama was followed by the sur- 43 Claudius added Britain to the empire.
render of Carthage and the relinquishing of its 70 Jerusalem sacked by Titus.
Spanish colonies. 96–180 The empire enjoyed a golden age under
188 B.C. Peace of Apamea confined the rule of the the Flavian and Antonine emperors: Nerva,
Seleucid King Antiochus the Great to Asia. Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus
168 B.C. Final defeat of Macedon by Rome. Aurelius Antoninus.
146 B.C. After a revolt, Greece became in effect a 115 Trajan conquered Parthia, achieving the peak
Roman province. Carthage was destroyed and of Roman territorial expansion.
its territory annexed. 180 Marcus Aurelius died, and a century of war
133 B.C. Tiberius Gracchus suggested agrarian and disorder followed, with a succession of
reforms and was murdered by the senatorial generals being put on the throne by their
party. Roman province of Asia formed from the armies.
kingdom of Pergamum, bequeathed to Rome by 212 Caracalla granted citizenship to the communi-
the Attalid dynasty. ties of the empire.
123 B.C. Tiberius’s policy adopted by his brother, 284–305 Diocletian reorganized the empire, divid-
Gaius Gracchus, who was likewise murdered. ing power between himself and three others (the
91–88 B.C. Social War: Revolt by the Italian cities Tetrarchy).
forced Rome to grant citizenship to all Italians. 313 Constantine the Great recognized the
87 B.C. While Sulla was repelling an invasion of Christians’ right to freedom of worship by the
Greece by King Mithridates of Pontus (in Asia Edict of Milan.
Minor) Marius seized power. 330 Constantine made Constantinople his new
82–79 B.C. Sulla returned and established a dicta- imperial capital.
torship ruled by terror. 395 The empire divided into eastern and western
70 B.C. Sulla’s constitutional changes were parts.
reversed by Pompey and Crassus. 410 Visigoths sacked Rome; Roman legions with-
66–63 B.C. Pompey defeated Mithridates and drew from Britain.
annexed Syria. 451–452 Huns raided Gaul and Italy.
60 B.C. The First Triumvirate was formed, an 455 Vandals sacked Rome.
alliance between Pompey and the democratic 476 Last Western emperor, Romulus Augustulus,
leaders Crassus and Caesar. deposed.
K Appendix 2: Roman Emperors
k
Name Ruled Name Ruled
343
K Index
k
Abaris, 1, 40 and Polydorus, 6, 256, 309 Aegimus, 187
Abas, 1, 45, 81, 108, 206, 262 and Telephus, 5, 115, 292, 306 Aegina (daughter of Asophus), 9,
Abdera, 1 Thetis protection attempt, 4, 11, 51, 281, 328
Abderus, 1, 112, 156 240, 284, 299 Aegina (island), 11, 20, 35, 51, 69
Aborigines, 1, 13 Trojan War recruiting, 4–5, 20, Aegis, 11, 26, 32, 54–55, 141, 201,
Absyrtus (Apsyrtus), 1, 10, 180, 218, 224, 276, 299, 305 246
200 See also Wrath of Achilles Aegisthus, 11–12, 59, 241,
Abydos, 1–2, 37. See also Acho, Mount, 2, 6 300–301. See also Murder of
Hellespont Acippe, 6. See also Alcippe Agamemnon and Cassandra
Abyla (Abila), 2, 6, 74, 159 Acis, 6–7, 98, 137, 257 Aegle, 141, 149
Academia, 2 Aconite, 7, 83 Aegyptus, 12, 66, 103, 168, 195
Academus, 2. See also Theseus’s Acontius, 7 Aello, 145. See also Harpies
abduction of Helen Acrisius, 1, 7, 45, 103, 188, 244, Aemilii, 12, 198
Acamantides, 2 246, 262. See also Perseus, Aeneas, 3–4, 12–14, 69, 80, 95,
Acamas, 2, 17, 109 infancy of 242, 301, 324
Acarnan, 2, 22, 29 Acrocorinthos (Acrocorinthus), 7, and Anna, 14, 32, 220
Acarnania, 2 21, 35, 68, 92 and Aphrodite, 5, 12, 13, 35, 36,
Acastus, 3, 16, 44, 180, 187, 200, Acropolis, 7, 19, 54, 55, 57, 80 306
240, 241 Actaeon, 7, 47, 49, 85 and Cacus, 13, 71, 131, 320
Acca Larentia, 3, 187. See also Actaeus, 8 and Dido, 13, 32, 111, 181, 285
Romulus and Remus, Actium, 8, 14, 21, 61, 320 and Diomedes, 5, 12, 36–37,
infancy of Actor, 158, 210 112
Acestes, 3, 13, 118, 277 Acypete, 145. See also Harpies escape from Troy, 3, 12, 13,
Achaean League, 3, 17, 92 Aditi, 117 30–31, 50, 98, 118, 309–310
Achaeans, 3, 91, 112, 164, 208, Admete, 8, 130, 156 and Palladium, 12, 234, 310
326. See also Mycenae Admetus, 8, 22, 38, 39, 44, 247, and Trojan War, 5, 12, 13,
Achaei. See Achaea 327 36–37, 80, 306, 309–310
Achaeus, 176 Adonis, 8–9, 36, 70, 87, 250 in Underworld, 13, 62, 97, 111,
Achates, 3–4, 12 Adrasteia, 101 140, 148, 279
Achelous, 4, 51, 74, 105, 158, 249 Adrastus, 9, 106. See also Seven and Venus, 14, 35, 111, 181, 234,
Acheron, 4, 144 Against Thebes 317
Achilles, 4–6, 9, 38, 55, 62, 85, 148, Aeacides, 9 and Vulcan, 14, 234, 320
304 Aeacus, 9, 11, 121, 144, 190 See also Aeneas/Turnus battle;
and Cycnus, 5, 98, 99, 293, 306 Aeaea, 9–10, 87, 129, 224–225. See Alba Longa, founding of
death of, 6, 38, 237, 299, 308 also Circe Aeneas/Turnus battle, 42, 182,
and Deidameia, 4, 105, 194, Aedon, 10 189, 206, 235, 288
216, 305 Aeëtes, 10. See also Golden Fleece, and Amata, 13, 14, 26, 188, 311
and Eëtion, 5, 119, 306 origin of; Jason’s trials in and Arruns, 47, 75
and Hector, 5–6, 18, 68, 146, Colchis and Evander, 13–14, 131, 301,
261, 307 Aegaeon. See Briareus 311
horses of, 145, 275, 323 Aegean Sea, 10, 68 and Juno, 14, 181
and Memnon, 6, 203, 308 Aegeus, 10–11, 17, 31, 194, 209, Aeneid (Virgil), 3, 13, 14, 19, 319
and Myrmidones, 4, 9, 213 235 Aeolia, 14, 15, 52, 67, 192. See also
as Pelides, 241 and Medeä, 180, 200, 297 Winds
and Penthesilea, 6, 27, 112, 146, Aegialeia, 112 Aeolian Islands, 15. See also
232, 243, 275, 296, 307–308 Aegialeos (Aegialeus), 9, 11, 123, Lipari Islands
and Phoenix, 4, 5, 250, 305 291 Aeolians, 15
345
346 Index
Aeolis, 14, 15 and armor of Achilles, 6, 20, Amata, 13, 14, 26, 188, 311
Aeolus (guardian of the winds), 21, 56, 224, 308 Amazons, 24, 25, 26–27, 43, 65,
15, 15, 23, 84, 202, 224. See and Tecmessa, 20, 290, 294, 306 175, 277
also Winds and Trojan War recruiting, 4, girdle of Hippolyte, 8, 27, 130,
Aeolus (son of Hellen and 20, 218, 305 153, 156, 165
Orseis), 15, 53, 127, 149, 197, Ajax the Lesser, 18, 20–21, 79, and Trojan War, 6, 27, 146, 243
202 227, 305, 309 See also Antiope; Hippolyte;
Aepytus, 165 Akri. See Actium Penthesilea
Aerope, 15, 59, 300 Akrocorinth. See Acrocorinthos Ambologera, 27, 35. See also
Aeschylus, 15–16, 43, 103, 120, Alba Longa, 21, 42, 46, 166, 234, Aphrodite
282 269, 270 Ambrosia, 27, 116
Aeson, 16, 95, 175, 179, 180, 200, founding of, 13, 21, 50, 123, Ammon, 27, 32, 79, 84, 277
240, 313 148, 301 Amor, 27, 126. See also Cupid
Aesop, 16 Tarchetius, 223, 288, 293 Amphiaraus, 22, 27–28, 45, 56, 75,
Aether, 124, 218 Alban Lake, 21, 75, 107, 317 202. See also Seven Against
Aethiopia, 16, 32 Alban Mount, 21, 42, 46 Thebes
Aethra, 10–11, 17, 29, 58, 252, 253, Albano, Lake. See Alban Lake Amphiareion, 28
260, 296. See also Theseus’s Alcaeus, 21, 22, 23 Amphilochus, 22, 28, 73, 94, 123,
abduction of Helen Alcathoe, 209–210 211
Aetna, Mount. See Etna, Mount Alcestis, 8, 16, 22, 38, 156, 180, Amphion, 10, 28, 39, 71, 295
Aetolia, 17 200, 240, 241, 294 and Dirce, 28, 34–35, 117, 194,
Aetolus, 17, 121 Alcides, 22. See also Heracles 325
Africus, 17 Alcimoë, 284 Amphitheia, 28, 61
Agamedes, 17, 38, 310 Alcinous (Alcinious), 22, 215, 225, Amphitrite, 28–29, 58, 107, 218,
Agamemnon, 15, 17–19, 59, 69, 246 260, 276, 297
86, 105, 301, 305. See also Alcippe, 22, 42, 43, 145 Amphitryon (Amphitrion), 21,
Iphigeneia, sacrifice of; Alcmaeon, 4, 22, 47, 74, 94, 125, 29, 82, 88, 288, 298. See also
Murder of Agamemnon and 249. See also Epigoni Heracles, birth of
Cassandra; Trojan War; Alcmaeon (Euripides), 22 Amphitryoniades
Trojan War recruiting; Wrath Alcmene (Alcmena), 21, 23, 29, (Amphitroniades), 29. See
of Achilles 120, 137, 269 also Heracles
Agamemnon (Aeschylus), 16 and birth of Heracles, 23, 29, Amphoretus, 2, 22, 29
Aganippe, 19, 66, 149, 211 152, 153, 288 Amulius, 29–30, 193, 220, 270,
Aganippides, 19. See also Muses and Heracleidae, 130, 159, 271
Aganippis, 19 167 Amyclae, 30
Agathyrsans, 19 Alcyone, 23, 84, 177, 253. See also Amyclas, 166
Agave, 19, 119, 145. See also Pleiades Amycus, 30, 65, 80, 180, 256, 260
Pentheus, death of Alcyoneus, 23–24, 123, 138. See Amymone, 30, 103, 154, 190, 260
Agenor (father of Europa and also Giants; Titanomachia Amyntor, 250
Cadmos), 19, 72, 128, 249, Alecto, 24, 96. See also Erinnyes Amythaon, 30, 202
250, 260, 292 Aleus, 24, 82 Anadyomene, 30. See also
Agenor (son of Antenor), 19 Alexander. See Paris Aphrodite
Aglaia (Aglaea), 19, 151. See also Alexander the Great, 24–25, 27, Anakes. See Dioscuri
Graces 76, 114, 205 Ananke, 215
Aglauros, 19, 80, 124 Alexander Romance, 24, 25, 27, 76 Anatolia, 30, 49. See also Asia
Agraulos, 8, 19 Alipes, 25, 72, 161 Minor
Agrigento, 19–20, 91 Alma Mater, 25. See also Ceres Ancaeus, 30, 44
Agrius, 138, 188 Aloeidae (Aloidae), 25–26, 43, 48, Anchises, 30–31, 60–61, 62, 78
Aias, 20. See also Ajax the Greater; 122–123, 176, 260 escape from Troy, 12, 13, 30–31,
Ajax the Lesser and Tartarus, 26, 123, 232, 259, 50, 118, 309
Aides (Aidoneus), 20, 143. See 290 Anchision, Mount, 31
also Hades; Underworld Aloeus, 25, 26, 122–123, 176 Ancus Marcius (Ancus Martius),
Aíyina. See Aegina Alpheus, 26, 44, 60, 156, 232 31
Aíyna. See Aegina Althaea, 26, 115, 133, 140, 202, Ancyra, 31
Ajax (Sophocles), 6, 20, 21 226 Andraemon, 31, 140, 226
Ajax the Greater, 18, 20, 139, 146, Amalthea, 26, 235. See also Zeus, Andreus, 54
307 infancy of Androcles (Androclus), 31
Index 347
Androgeos (Androgeus), 11, 31, and Aeneas, 5, 12, 13, 35, 36, and Hermes, 39, 160–161, 265
209, 236 306 and Hippogryph, 165
Andromache, 31, 52, 119, 146, as Ambologera, 27, 35 and Hyacinthos, 38, 166, 325
148, 217 as Androphonos, 32, 35 and Issa, 177, 197
Andromache (Euripides), 31–32 and Ares, 36, 43, 109, 151 and Laocoön, 186, 309
Andromeda, 32, 212. See also and Atalanta, 36, 53, 163 and Linus, 191, 192
Perseus’s rescue of birth of, 30, 35–36, 96, 99, 100, as Loxias, 37, 106, 192, 238, 266
Andromeda 138, 236, 316 and Lucifer, 193
Androphonos, 32, 35. See also and Cinyras, 8, 35, 87 as Lycius, 37, 106, 194
Aphrodite as Cytherea, 35, 100 and Manto, 38, 198
Anemone, 8 and Diomedes, 112 and Marpessa, 38, 173, 198
Anius, 32, 115, 305 and Eos, 122 and Marsyas, 39, 199, 206–207
Ankara. See Ancyra and Eros, 36, 43, 126, 151, 161, and Miletus, 38, 45, 207
Anna, 14, 32, 220 328 and Niobe, 28, 38, 49, 219
Anna Perenna, 33 and Glaucus, 139 as Nomios, 37, 219
Annapurna, 33 and Hermes, 36, 161 and Orestes, 39, 125, 230
Anosia, 33, 35. See also and Julius Caesar, 50 and Orpheus, 231
Aphrodite and necklace of Harmonia, 36, as Paean, 39, 233
Antaeus, 33, 138, 157, 260 72, 145 as Phoebus, 37, 49, 106, 250
Anteia (Stheneboea), 33, 65, 175, and Pisces, 253 and Psamanthe, 264
262, 283 and Psyche, 264 as Pythian, 37, 106, 266
Antenor, 33, 163, 261, 295, 308, and Pygmalion, 36, 137, 265 as Smintheus, 38, 86, 281
309 and Trojan War, 36–37, 41, 306, and Teiresias, 291
Helen release requests, 33, 204, 307 and Telchines, 291
306 and Venus, 35, 317 Thargelia, 294
Anteros, 33 See also Judgment of Paris and Titanomachia, 138
Anthesteria, 183 Apis (sacred bull of Egyptians), and Tityus, 38, 48, 107, 138,
Anticleia (Anticlia), 28, 33, 61, 87, 122 190, 303
186, 223, 281 Apis (son of Phoroneus), 17, 37 and Troilus, 38, 147
Antigone (daughter of King Apollo, 1, 32, 37–40, 74, 85, 231, and Trojan War, 5, 6, 18, 38, 68
Eurytion), 240 235 See also Apollo and Artemis,
Antigone (daughter of Oedipus), and Achilles, 5, 6, 38 birth of; Delphic Oracle;
33–34, 129, 181, 226, 240 and Admetus, 8, 38, 39, 327 Oracles
and Polyneices, 34, 144–145, and Asclepios, 38, 39, 40, Apollo Aguieus, 39, 40
257, 279 50–51, 327 Apollo and Artemis, birth of, 37,
Antigone (Sophocles), 34 bondage to Laomedon, 9, 38, 48, 99, 152, 190, 232, 296
Antilochus (Antiloch), 34, 203, 39, 187, 311, 327 Apollodorus, 23, 40, 56, 98, 138,
218, 308 and Cassandra, 38, 78–79 144, 154
Antinous (Antinious) (favorite of chaining of Zeus, 38, 68, 152, Apollonius of Rhodes
Hadrian), 34 259, 327 (Apollonius Rhodius), 40,
Antinous (Antinious) (suitor of and Cinyras, 87 44, 87, 167
Penelope), 34, 225, 242, 292 and Coronis, 38, 50, 93 Apostrophia, 35, 40. See also
Antiope, 28, 34–35, 109, 117, 194, and Corvus, 40, 93, 94 Aphrodite
325 and Creusa, 95, 175 Apple of Discord, 41. See also
and Theseus, 27, 34, 156, 165, and Cyclopes, 38, 40, 51, 273 Judgment of Paris
297 and Cyrene, 47, 99, 168 Apsyrtus. See Absyrtus
Anubis, 76 and Daphne, 38, 104, 191, 273, Apuleius, 126, 186, 264
Aphaia, 11, 35, 69 292–293 Apulunas, 37
Apharetidae, 35 and Daphnis, 104 Aquarius, 41
Aphareus, 35 and Delos, 13, 98, 106 Aquila, 41, 137
Aphidnae, 17, 35, 147. See also Didyma oracle, 111, 197, 229 Ara, 41, 81, 302
Theseus’s abduction of and Dorians, 37, 95, 117 Arab, 41
Helen and Dryope, 38, 118 Arachne (Arakne), 42, 56
Aphrodite, 29, 33, 35–37, 40, 47, and Evadne, 171 Arcadia, 42, 48, 55, 161, 235, 239
51, 149, 236, 315 and Glaucus, 139 Arcadians, 42
and Acrocorinthos, 7, 21, 92 and Helios, 40, 149, 277 Arcas, 42, 66, 74, 193–194, 198. See
and Adonis, 8–9, 36, 87, 250 and Heracles, 157 also Boötes
348 Index
Callisto, 42, 49, 52, 74, 84, 294 Castalia, 37, 79, 211, 266. See also Charon, 4, 85, 144, 315
Calpe, 2, 6, 73, 74. See also Pillars Delphic Oracle Charos, 85
of Heracles Castalides, 79. See also Muses Charybdis, 85, 87, 206, 225, 276
Calydon, 26, 31, 74–75. See also Castel Gandolfo. See Alba Longa Chaucer, Geoffrey, 304
Calydonian Boar Hunt Castor, 79–80, 99, 154, 189. See Cheiron (Chiron), 4, 81, 85, 99,
Calydonian Boar Hunt, 3, 26, 30, also Dioscuri 240, 241, 250
75, 203, 226 Catamitus, 137 and Actaeon, 7, 85
and Atalanta, 52, 53, 75, 133 Catulus, Q. Lutatius, 13, 80 and Asclepios, 50, 85
Caeneus, 72–73 Caunus, 70 birth of, 85, 248
Dioscuri, 116, 256 Cecrops, 11, 17, 19, 60, 80, 162, and Euippe, 127, 202
Echion, 119 323 and Heracles, 85, 155, 251
Idas and Lynceus, 173, 195 and Athene, 55, 80, 259 and Jason, 85, 179
Jason, 180 Cedalion, 230–231 and Prometheus, 85, 155, 263
Laertes, 186 Celaeno (Celano), 80, 145, 253. Chersonesus, 20, 39, 224, 256, 306
Meleager, 26, 52, 53, 75, 133 See also Harpies; Pleiades Chimaera (Chimera) (monster),
and Peleus, 3, 75, 240 Celeus, 81, 109, 128, 171 55, 65, 85, 119, 194
Telamon, 291 and Demeter, 81, 108, 120, 206 Chimaera (nymph), 104
Theseus, 298 Celone. See Pleiades Chione, 67, 85, 127, 161
Calypso, 56, 75, 225, 227 Celtic mythology, 117 Chloris, 86, 244, 325
Camenae, 75. See also Nymphs Cenchrias, 252–253 Choephoroe (Aeschylus), 16
Camilla, 75 Centauros (Centaurus), 81–82, Christianity, 51, 102, 232
Camillus, Murcus Furius, 75–76, 178, 217 Saint Paul, 48, 49, 92, 122, 161,
317 Centaurs, 73, 81, 99, 299 195
Camiros, 149 and Heracles, 81, 155, 187, 251 Chronicle (Apollodorus), 40
Camise, 179 and Lapithae, 73, 81, 165, 187, Chrysaor, 86, 138, 140, 201, 239,
Campius Martius, 199 218, 239, 298 245
Canace, 197 Nessus, 81, 105, 158, 218 Chryseis, 86. See also Cressida;
Cancer (Canceri), 76, 78, 153, 155 See also Cheiron Wrath of Achilles
Candace, 24, 25, 76 Centimani. See Hecatoncheires Chryses, 86. See also Wrath of
Candaules, 76 Cephalonia, 82 Achilles
Canes Venatici, 52, 76 Cephalos (Cephalus), 82, 122, Chrysippus, 59, 86, 186, 242, 300
Canis Major, 76 161, 162, 185, 262 Chrysmallus. See Aries
Canis Minor, 76 Cepheus, 16, 66, 82, 158, 201. See Chrysothemis, 17, 18, 86
Canopus, 77 also Perseus’s rescue of Chthonia, 124
Capaneus, 77, 112, 131, 176, 284. Andromeda Chthonic gods, 86
See also Seven Against Cephisus, 215 Chthonius, 86. See also Sparti
Thebes Cerberus, 7, 82–83, 119, 144, 315 Cicero, 162
Capella, 77 and Heracles, 56, 83, 130, 157, Cicones, 86, 224
Capitoline Hill, 61, 75–76, 77, 181, 287 Cilica, 5
182, 271 Cercopes, 83, 157 Cilix, 87, 274
Cappadocia, 66, 77 Cercyon, 83, 297 Cimerii (Cimmerii), 87
Capricorn (Capricornus), 26, Ceres, 25, 83, 108, 319 Cimmerians. See Cimerii
77–78 Cerus, 108 Cinyras, 8, 35, 87
Capys, 78 Ceryneian Hind, 83, 130 Circe, 87, 139, 252, 276
Carina, 78 Ceto, 55, 83, 140, 141, 251 children of, 87, 91, 188, 225,
Carmentia, 78, 131 Cetus, 84. See also Perseus’s 243, 291, 291–292
Carna, 78 rescue of Andromeda and Jason, 87, 180, 200
Carthage, 13, 15, 78, 111, 113 Ceuta. See Abyla and Odysseus, 9–10, 75, 87,
Cassandra, 18, 20, 38, 78–79, 237 Ceyx, 23, 84, 177 129, 188, 210, 225, 243
and Trojan Horse, 39, 56, 79, Chaos, 84, 124, 126, 138 Ciris, 87–88, 208, 219, 276
186, 309 Chara, 52, 76, 84 Cithaeron, Mount, 28, 34, 88, 154,
See also Murder of Chariclo, 291 194, 226, 298
Agamemnon and Chariot race for Hippodameia, Claros, 211, 229
Cassandra 164–165, 213, 226–227, Clashing Rocks. See Symplegades
Cassiopeia (Cassiope), 16, 79, 82, 241–242, 253, 260 Claudian, 167
84, 201. See also Perseus’s Charis, 36, 84, 151 Claudii, 88
rescue of Andromeda Charites. See Graces Cleisthenes, 9
352 Index
Damon, 102, 249 and Teucer, 294 Dictys, 32, 103, 111, 244, 245–246.
Danaë, 32, 102–103, 244, 246, 262. and Theagenes, 295 See also Perseus, infancy of
See also Perseus, infancy of and Theseus, 10 Dido, 78, 111, 265
Danai, 103 and Thyestes, 241, 280, 300 and Aeneas, 13, 32, 111, 181,
Danaides (Danaids), 12, 30, 103, Delphinos (Delphinus), 29, 46–47, 285
168, 174, 195 107–108, 260 Didyma, 111, 197, 229
Danaoi, 103 Delphyne, 38 Digenis Akritas, 85
Danaus, 1, 12, 30, 66, 103, 168 Deluge. See Flood Dike, 166
Daphne, 38, 104, 191, 273, Demaratus, 289 Diktaean (Diktaion) Cave. See
292–293 Demeter, 47, 96, 97, 108–109, 143, Dictaean Cave
Daphnis, 104, 161, 192 244, 254, 274 Diktynna, 111. See also Dictynna
Dardanelles, 104. See also and Abas, 1, 81, 108, 206 Dindymus, Mount, 97
Hellespont and Ascalaphus, 50 Diodorus the Sicilian, 111–112,
Dardania, 5, 12, 30, 104 and Baubo, 64, 171 171, 187
Dardanos (Dardanus), 104, 120, and Cabiri, 71 Diomedes (Diomed) (king of the
294, 310–311 and Celeus, 81, 108, 120, 206 Bistones), 1, 112, 130, 156
Daulia (Daulis), 104 and Ceres, 83, 108 Diomedes (Diomed) (son of
Daulias, 104, 105 and Demophoön, 4, 108–109, Tydeus), 112, 226, 234, 305
Daunia, 105 206 and Achilles, 6, 243, 275, 308
Daunus (Daunos), 105, 127, 182 and Despoena, 110 and Aeneas, 5, 12, 36–37, 112
Day, 218 and Erysichthon, 126 and Dolon, 112, 117, 224
Decuma, 237 and Hecate, 144, 146 and Epigoni, 123
Deianeira (Deianara), 4, 105, 130, and Iambe, 64, 108, 171 and Euippe, 105, 112, 127
158 and Iasion, 108, 171 and Glaucus, 112, 139, 307
and death of Heracles, 81, 105, origins of, 108, 209, 212, 259 Helen release requests, 2
158, 175, 218 and Pelops, 108, 241, 288 and Pandarus, 94, 236
Deidameia, 4, 105, 194, 216, 305 and Poseidon, 47, 108, 110, 260 and Sthenelus, 131, 284
Deimos, 36, 43, 44, 105 Thesmaphoria, 57, 103, 109, and Trojan War recruiting, 73,
Deiphobus, 33, 105, 148, 157, 204, 298 112, 216, 224, 248, 308
224, 308 and Triptolemus, 81, 109, 206, Dione, 36, 112, 326
Deiphyle, 9, 44, 106, 112, 278, 312 303 Dionysia, 57, 112–113, 114, 246
Delia, 106 See also Eleusinian Mysteries Dionysius I (Dionysus I), 102,
Delian League, 106 Demiorgos, 109 113, 249
Delos, 48, 98, 106, 152, 297 Democritus, 1 Dionysos (Dionysus), 5, 9, 45, 81,
oracle of, 13, 37, 106 Demodocos (Demodocus), 36, 113–116, 231, 232
Delphi, 2, 22, 29, 37, 106, 266 109, 211 and Anius, 32
Delphic Oracle, 9, 64, 69, 104, Demogorgon (Demorgorgon), and Antiope, 35
106–107, 229, 249, 279 109 and Aphrodite, 36
and Alban Lake, 21, 75, 107, Demophoön (Demophon), 2, 4, and Apollo, 37
317 17, 23, 81, 109, 159 and Ariadne, 46, 93, 115, 215,
and Auge, 292 and Demeter, 4, 108–109, 206 297
and Brutus, 289 Denone, 237 and Athamas, 53
and Cadmos, 72, 107, 295 Derceto, 277 and Bassarids, 64
and Cecrops, 80 Despoena, 108, 110, 260 as Bromius, 69, 113
and Croesus, 96 Deucalion, 45, 58, 110, 134, 149, and daughters of Minyas,
and Dionysos, 107, 113 238, 266, 296, 327 209–210
and Epigoni, 123 Di manes. See Manes, di and Delphic Oracle, 107, 113
founding of, 37–38, 39, Dia, 252. See also Naxos Dionysia, 57, 112–113, 114
106–107, 238, 266, 293 Diana, 47, 110, 110, 193. See also dithyrambus, 117
and Heracleidae, 159, 302 Artemis and Erigone, 125, 172
and Heracles, 107, 130, 153, Diana of the Ephesians, 110 and Hephaistos, 150–151
154, 157 Diasia, 328 and Hyades, 166, 167
and Ion, 175–176 Dictaean Cave, 110. See also Zeus, and Hypsipyle, 169
and Locris, 21 infancy of and Iacchus, 171
and Oedipus, 107, 186, 226 Dicte, Mount, 69, 110 infancy of, 114, 152, 174, 221,
and Orestes, 230 Dictynna, 48, 69, 95, 110–111, 208. 277
and Phrixus, 53 See also Aphaia and Liber, 113, 191
354 Index
Eris, 36, 41, 43, 53, 56, 125–126, Eurydice (Euridice) (wife of Fortunate Isles, 134–135. See also
190 Creon), 94, 129 Elysium
Eros, 81, 97, 126, 253, 264, 273 Eurydice (Euridice) (wife of Fortunatorum Insulae, 135. See
and Aphrodite, 36, 43, 126, 151, Orpheus), 39, 47, 129, 231 also Fortunate Isles
161, 328 Eurylochus, 10, 87, 129 Fulgur, 181
See also Cupid Eurynome, 129, 139, 150, 299 Furies. See Erinnyes
Erymanthian Boar, 126, 130, 155, Eurypylus, 197
250 Eurystheus, 23, 130, 152 Gabii, 137
Erysichthon, 126, 206 and Delphic Oracle, 107, 153, Gaia (Gaea). See Ge
Erytheia, 138 154 Gaia Caecilia. See Tanaquil
Eryx (king), 156 and Heracleidae, 23, 130, 159, Galanthis, 153
Eryx, Mount, 35, 126 167, 175, 197 Galatea, 6, 36, 98, 137, 257, 265
Esquiline Hill, 234 See also Heracles Galinthias, 137
Esus, 127 Eurytion, 130, 138, 156, 232 Galli, 60, 97
Eteocles, 127, 181, 226. See also Eurytion (king), 240 Ganymede, 41, 137, 156, 172
Seven Against Thebes Eurytus, 118, 130, 157, 158, 175 Ge (Gaia), 39, 84, 117, 137–138,
Ethiopia. See Aethiopia and Heracles, 130, 154, 156
Etna, Mount, 17, 98, 127, 151 176–177 and Daphne, 104
and Titanomachia, 64, 121, Euterpe, 131, 211. See also Muses and Delphic Oracle, 106
138–139, 228, 232, 327 Evadne, 51, 77, 131, 171, 176, 284 and Helios, 149
and Typhon, 55, 127, 312, 327 Evander, 71, 78, 131, 133, 189 and Tellus, 138, 292
Etruscans, 47, 127, 134, 160, 207, and Aeneas/Turnus battle, See also Giants; Hecatoncheires;
287. See also Porsenna, Lars; 13–14, 131, 301, 311 Titanomachia; Titans;
Rome; specific Roman deities Evans, Sir Arthur, 95, 183, 207 Typhon’s attack on
Euboea, 51 Evenus, 131, 173, 218 Olympus
Eubuleus, 143. See also Hades Gemini, 80, 116, 138
Eugammon of Cyrene, 225 Fables (Aesop), 16 Geoffrey of Monmouth, 14
Euippe (daughter of Cheiron), Fates, 60, 88, 133, 185, 218 Geronthrae, 43
127, 202 and Admetus, 8, 38 Geryon (Geryones), 74, 86, 138
Euippe (wife of Diomedes), 105, and Aphrodite, 35 and Heracles, 86, 130, 138, 156,
112, 127 and Erebos, 124, 133 232
Eumaeus, 127, 225, 292 and Keres, 183 Giants, 138–139, 316
Eumenides, 56, 125, 127, 230. See and Meleager, 26, 133, 202 Alcyoneus, 23–24, 123, 138
also Erinnyes and Zeus, 210, 327 Antaeus, 33, 138, 157, 260
Eumenides (Aeschylus), 16 Fauna, 133–134 Argus, 45, 119, 159, 161, 174
Eumolpus, 85, 124, 127–128, 154 Fauns, 133, 275 Corineus, 69, 92
Euneus, 168, 198 Faunus, 6, 131, 133–134, 193, 235, Enceladus, 23, 55, 64, 121, 127,
Eunomia, 166 252 138, 327
Eunomus, 128, 158 and Lupercal, 193 See also Aloeidae; Briareus;
Eupalamus, 101 and Marica, 133, 188, 198 Orion; Titanomachia;
Euphemus, 64, 128 and Vilvanus, 318 Typhon
Euphorbus, 128, 204, 236, 238, Faustulus, 134, 269, 270, 271. See Gibraltar, Rock of, 6, 74
307 also Romulus and Remus, Gigantes. See Giants;
Euphrosyne, 128. See also Graces infancy of Titanomachia; Titans
Euripides, 22, 54, 65, 95, 128, 148 Februus, 134 Glauce (Creusa), 94, 95, 139, 180,
on Andromache, 31–32 Flamens, 134 200
Bacchae, 19, 62, 63, 115 Flight of Jason and Medeä Glauce (daughter of Cychreus),
on Electra, 120 and Absyrtus, 1, 10, 180, 200 291
on Orestes, 230 and Circe, 87, 180, 200 Glaucus (grandson of
Europa, 19, 36, 72, 128–129, 141, and Glauce, 94, 95, 139, 180, Bellerophon), 112, 139, 307,
290, 292, 328 200 308
Eurus, 14, 15, 52, 67, 129, 163. See Flood, 58, 110, 134, 247, 266, 296, Glaucus (King of Ephyra or
also Winds 327 Corinth), 139, 206
Euryale, 55, 83, 129, 201, 245. See Flora, 134 Glaucus (sea deity), 87, 139, 276
also Gorgons Floralia, 134 Glaucus (son of Minos), 139, 256
Euryalus, 123, 129, 219, 284 Fornax, 134 Goddesses, pre-classical
Eurycleia, 129, 225 Fortuna, 134, 312 Artemis, 48, 49
356 Index
and Athene, 53, 54 Hades, 39, 43, 72, 96, 138, release requests, 2, 33, 204, 224,
and Attis, 60 143–144, 253 233, 293, 306
Core, 91 and Alcestis, 8, 22, 156 and Trojan Horse, 148, 309
Crete, 95 and Asclepios, 50, 228 See also Judgment of Paris;
Cybele, 14, 53, 60, 93, 97–98 and Cabiri, 71 Theseus’s abduction of
and Delphic Oracle, 107 and Dionysos, 115 Helen; Trojan War
Demeter, 108, 209, 259 and Heracles, 55–56 Helenus, 31, 50, 73, 105, 148, 224
Europa, 129 and Minthe, 143, 209, 244 and Helen, 148, 308
Hecate, 146 and Orpheus, 39, 129 See also Alba Longa, founding
Hera, 152 and Persephone, 108, 109, 122, of
and Hermes, 160 143, 244 Heliades, 148, 167, 247
Hestia, 164 and Roman gods, 117, 144, 229, Helicaon, 148, 187
Maia, 57, 160 254 Helicon, Mount, 19, 40, 66,
Minerva, 207 and Serapis, 51, 277–278 148–149, 164, 211, 239
Mistress of the Animals, 208, See also Cerberus; Helio-Arconaphus, 58
212, 261 Underworld Helios (Helius), 87, 122, 141, 149,
Mother of the Rocks, 274 Hadrian, 34 223, 244, 270
and Pasiphaë, 238 Haemon, 34, 94, 129, 144–145, and Apollo, 40, 149, 277
and Zeus, 326 257, 279 and Clymene, 89, 149, 247
See also Ge Halae Araphenides, 48, 49–50 and Demeter, 108
Gods, 139 Halbherr, Federico, 247 and Heliades, 148
Golden age, 139–140 Halcyone. See Alcyone and Heracles, 156
Golden Apples of the Halirrhothius, 22, 42, 43, 145, 260 and Horae, 166
Hesperides. See Hesperides, Hamadryads, 145, 220 and Hyperion, 168
Golden Apples of Harmonia, 56, 62, 108, 145, 173, and Odysseus, 149, 225, 300
Golden Ass (Apuleius), 186, 264 295. See also Necklace of and Orion, 231
Golden Bough, 13, 62, 97, 140, Harmonia and Poseidon, 68, 259
279 Harpies (Harpyiae), 80, 120, 145, and Sol, 149, 282
Golden Fleece, 16, 43, 140, 240 183, 236 Helle, 90, 104, 140, 149, 174. See
See also Argonauts; Golden and Argonauts, 67, 73, 145, also Golden Fleece, origin of
Fleece, origin of; Jason 180, 249, 325 Hellen, 118, 149, 266
Golden Fleece, origin of, 10, 46, Hebe, 145, 153, 158, 228 Hellenes, 15, 39, 149–150
53, 90, 140, 149 Hecabe. See Hecuba Hellespont, 1–2, 6, 150, 174
Gordian Knot, the, 140 Hecale, 145–146 and Helle, 46, 53, 149
Gordius, 97, 140, 206 Hecate, 49, 52, 121, 146, 161 Leander and Hero, 2, 37, 162,
Gorge, 26, 31, 140, 226 and Persephone, 144, 146, 244 189, 278
Gorgoneia, 141 Hecatoncheires, 69, 94, 138, 142, Symplegades, 67, 180, 249, 285
Gorgones, 205 146, 166, 316 Helliotis, 129
Gorgons, 55, 83, 129, 140–141, and Titanomachia, 68, 96, 123, Hemera, 124
245, 251, 284. See also 228, 302, 326 Hemithea, 293
Medusa Hector, 31, 43, 52, 146 Hephaistia, 151
Gorgophone, 246 and Achilles, 5–6, 18, 68, 146, Hephaistos (Hephaistus), 8, 71,
Gortyn (Gortys), 141 261, 307 83, 150–151, 152
Gracchus, Sempronius, 191 and Ajax the Greater, 20, 146, and Achilles, 299
Graces, 19, 84, 125, 129, 141, 149 307 and Aphrodite, 36, 43, 109
Graeae, 59, 141, 245, 251 Hecuba (Hecube), 38, 78, 105, and Athene, 55, 124, 151, 304,
Great Goddess. See Goddesses, 146–147, 237, 261 327
pre-classical and death of Polydorus, 147, and Charis, 36, 84
Great Gods. See Cabiri 198, 224, 256, 309 and Cyclopes, 98, 151
Griffins (griffens; griffons), 46, 47, and Odysseus, 224, 309 and Erichthonius, 124
141–142, 168 Helen (Helena; Helene), 15, 36, favorite islands of, 15, 164, 174,
Gryphons. See Griffins 56, 147–148, 263 189, 192
Gubla. See Byblos abduction by Paris, 147, 204, infancy of, 129, 150, 299
Gyas (Gyes; Gyges), 68, 69, 142. 237 and infancy of Zeus, 270
See also Hecatoncheires and Achilles, 6, 148 and necklace of Harmonia, 36,
birth of, 116, 147, 189, 255, 312 72, 145
Hacho, Mount. See Acho, Mount and Deiphobus, 105, 204 and Orion, 230
Index 357
and Pandora, 123, 236, 262, 327 birth of, 23, 29, 152, 153, 288, and Theseus, 130, 157, 159, 253
and Talos, 208, 287 328 and Titanomachia, 24, 56, 121,
and Vulcan, 150, 319, 320 and Cacus, 13, 71, 131, 156, 320 123, 138, 158, 207, 234, 255,
See also Vulcan and Cancer, 76, 153, 155 327
Hera (Here), 96, 114, 119, 145, and centaurs, 81, 155, 187, 250 and Tyndareus, 158, 164, 312
151–153, 156, 327 and Cerberus, 56, 83, 130, 157, in Underworld, 8, 22, 50, 83,
and Aeneas, 13 287 156, 157–158, 253, 287, 294
and Aeolus, 15 and Cheiron, 85, 155, 250 See also Heracles’ sack of troy;
Agrigento temple, 20 and Cretan Bull, 94, 130, Pillars of Heracles
and Aloeidae, 26, 123 155–156, 198 Heracles’ sack of Troy, 153, 158,
and Amphitryon, 29 and Cycnus, 43, 98, 158 163, 187, 254, 259, 261, 291,
and Athamas, 53 death of, 81, 105, 158, 167, 175, 311
and Biton and Cleobis, 66 191, 218, 303 Heraeum, 44, 151
and Callisto, 42, 74, 294 and Delphic Oracle, 107, 130, Herce, 160
and Cancer, 76, 153, 155 153, 154, 157 Hercules, 133, 160, 188. See also
chaining of Zeus, 38, 68, 152, and Diomedes, 1, 112, 130, 156 Heracles
259, 327 and Erymanthian Boar, 126, Hermaphroditos
and Eileithyia, 120, 151 130, 155 (Hermaphroditus), 36, 160,
and Endymion, 121 and Eumolpus, 128, 154 161
and Hecate, 146 and Eurytus, 130, 154, 176–177 Hermes, 8, 36, 42, 85, 138,
and Heracles, 23, 152–153, 153, and Geryon, 86, 130, 138, 156, 160–162, 274
158, 158, 328 232 and Aloeidae, 26, 123
and Hermes, 161 and girdle of Hippolyte, 8, 27, and Amphion, 28
and Hydra, 167 130, 153, 156, 165 and Apollo, 39, 160–161, 265
and Io, 45, 152, 174, 328 and Golden Apples of the and Arcadia, 42
and Ixion, 81–82, 178, 217 Hesperides, 58, 130, 156–157, and Argus, 45, 174
and Jason, 179 163, 185, 263 as Atlantiades, 57, 160, 198
and Juno, 151, 181 and Hebe, 145, 153, 158 attributes of, 25, 50, 72, 161,
and Leto, 37, 38, 48, 107, 152, and Hera, 23, 152–153, 153, 161–162, 246, 287
190, 303 158, 158, 328 and birth of Athene, 55, 206,
and Pandareus, 236 and Hermes, 55, 83, 157 304, 327
and Poseidon, 151, 260 and Hippocoön, 82 and Cabiri, 71
seats of worship, 45, 274 and Hydra, 76, 130, 153, as Cyllenius, 99, 160
and Semele, 114, 152, 277, 328 154–155, 167, 175, 190 and Daphnis, 104
and Teiresias, 152, 291 and Hylas, 155, 167, 180, 213, and Echion, 119
and Trojan War, 152 215 and Eros, 43
and Zeus, 45, 151, 152, 274, 327 and Icarus, 172 and Evander, 131
See also Judgment of Paris; and Iole, 105, 158, 167, 175, and Fates, 133
Juno 176–177, 191, 218 and Heracles, 55, 83, 158
Heracleidae (Heraclidae), 23, 130, and Lycus, 154, 195 and Herse, 82, 161, 162
159–160, 167, 175, 197, 302 and Molionidae, 60, 158, 210 and infant Dionysos, 114, 152,
Heracles (Dactyl), 101 and Mount Cithaeron lion, 88, 174, 221, 277
Heracles (Herakles), 13, 54, 80, 298 and Ion, 175
130, 153–160, 192, 201 and Nemaean Lion, 88, 130, and judgment of Paris, 56, 125
and Abderus, 1, 112, 156 154, 154, 189, 216 and Laodameia, 187, 306
and Achelous, 4, 105, 158 and Nessus, 81, 105, 158 and Mercury, 160, 205
and Alcestis, 8, 22, 294 and Nestor, 158, 216, 218 as Nomios, 219
as Amphitryoniades, 29 and Olympic Games, 158, 227 and Odysseus, 10, 75, 87, 210,
and Antaeus, 33, 157 and Omphale, 83, 157–158, 225
and Argonauts, 44, 155, 176 195, 228, 303 and Pan, 161, 235, 242
and Athene, 55–56, 83 and Orchomenus, 154, 229 and Pelops, 88, 241
and Atlas, 58–59, 157, 163, 185, and Periclymenos, 243 and Penelope, 242
263 and Pholus, 155, 250 and Perseus, 55, 201, 245
and Auge, 24, 60, 158, 292 and Prometheus, 157, 263, 273, and Philemon and Baucis,
and Augean Stables, 60, 120, 327 64–65, 248
130, 155, 251 and Stymphalian birds, 43, 55, and Saint Paul, 161, 195
and Autolycus, 62, 154 130, 155, 284 and Trojan War, 5, 6
358 Index
and Underworld, 144, 315 death of, 49, 165, 247, 260, 298 Ialysos, 149, 171
Herminus, Titius, 90, 162, 188, Hippomedon, 165. See also Seven Iambe, 64, 108, 171
258 Against Thebes Iamus, 171
Hermione, 31–32, 147, 162, 204, Hippomenes, 36, 53, 165, 202 Iapetus, 51, 58, 89, 123, 171. See
217, 230, 265 Hippothous, 165 also Titanomachia; Titans
Hero, 2, 37, 162, 189, 278 Hittites, 37, 58, 194 Iasion (Iasius; Iasus), 101, 108,
Herodotus, 16, 27, 35, 96, 162, 300 Homer, 17, 21, 36, 50, 165–166, 171, 254
on Amazons, 26, 277 183, 256 Icaria, 172
Herophile, 279 on Apollo, 37, 40, 266 Icarius (father of Erigone), 125,
Herse, 80, 82, 124, 161, 162 on Athene, 54 172
Hesiod (Hesiodus), 58, 83, on Atlas, 58 Icarius (father of Penelope), 172,
162–163, 296, 302 on Cyclopes, 98 226, 242
on Aphrodite, 35–36, 99, 236 on Daedalos, 101 Icarus (Icaros), 89, 101, 172, 209
on Clytemnestra, 89 on Danai, 103 Ichneutae (Sophocles), 282
on Cyclopes, 98 on Dione, 112 Ichor, 172
on Eris, 126 on Elysium, 121 Ida, Mount, 101, 160, 172, 251
on Harpies, 145 on Eridanus, 124 and Aeneas, 5, 12, 13, 14, 30
Hesione, 33, 156, 163, 304. See also on Hephaistos, 151 See also Judgment of Paris
Heracles’ sack of Troy and Mycenae, 212 Idaea, 172, 249
Hespera, 122 on Rhesus, 270 Idaean Cave, 172–173
Hesperides, 163, 177, 220, 223. See on Tartarus, 289–290 Idalion, Mount, 8
also Hesperides, Golden See also Iliad; Odyssey Idas (dactyl), 101
Apples of Horae, 166, 177, 228 Idas (son of Aphareus), 35, 44,
Hesperides, Golden Apples of, Horatii, 166 173, 195
59, 151 Horatius, 166 and Dioscuri, 80, 116, 173, 191
and Atalanta, 36, 53, 163, 165 Hubris, 216 and Marpessa, 38, 131, 173, 198
and Heracles, 58, 130, 156–157, “Hundred-Handers,” 166. See Idea, 275
163, 185, 263 also Hecatoncheires Idmon, 44
Hesperis, 163 Hyacinthos (Hyacinthus), 30, 38, Idomeneos (Idomeneus), 18, 147,
Hesperus, 52, 67, 122, 163 88, 166, 294, 325 173, 205, 305
Hestia (Hesta), 38, 96, 163–164, Hyades, 114, 148, 166–167, 220 Ignoge, 69
260, 318 Hyas, 166, 167 Igraine, 58
Hiera, 15, 164 Hydra, 76, 119, 130, 153, 154–155, Ikaros. See Icarus
Hieron I, 16 167, 175, 190 Ikelos, 211
Hilaeira, 116. See also Leucippides Hygeia, 51, 167 Iktinos, 54, 57
Hipparchus, 124 Hylas, 44, 155, 167, 180, 213, 215 Iliad (Homer), 4, 5, 13, 18, 36, 173,
Hippe. See Euippe Hyllus, 23, 105, 119, 130, 159, 167. 307
Hippocamps, 259 See also Heracleidae Astyanax in, 52
Hippocoön, 82, 158, 164, 226 Hymen, 167–168 Ate in, 53
Hippocrates, 94, 164 Hymenaeus, 287 Athene in, 55
Hippocrene, 19, 66, 149, 164, 211, Hymn (Delphic), 38 date of, 166
239 Hymn of Hermes, 99 Diomedes in, 112
Hippodameia (daughter of Hymn to Apollo (Homer), 37, 266 on Hephaistos, 36, 84, 151
Oenomaus), 164–165. See Hyperboreans, 37, 47, 96, 168, 245 Ilithyiae in, 173
also Chariot race for Hyperenor, 168. See also Sparti Iris, 177
Hippodameia Hyperion, 122, 149, 168. See also on Meleager, 203
Hippodameia (wife of Titanomachia; Titans Molionidae in, 210
Peirithous), 17, 81, 165, 187, Hypermnestra (Hypermestra), Odysseus in, 223
252 12, 103, 168, 195 Palladium in, 57
Hippodamus of Miletus, 252 Hypnos (Hypnus), 168, 218, 282 See also Homer; Trojan War
Hippogryph, 165 Hypseus, 99, 168 Ilithyia. See Eileithyia
Hippolyte (Hippolyta), 34, 165, Hypsipyle, 168–169, 228, 278–279 Ilithyiae, 151, 173
297 Hypsos, 211 Illyrius, 72, 145, 173
girdle of, 8, 27, 130, 153, 156, 165 Hyrieus, 17, 230, 310 Ilus, 174, 187, 310
Hippolytus (giant), 138 Imbros, 71, 174
Hippolytus (son of Theseus), 27, Iacchus, 64, 114, 171. See also Inachus, 174, 251
34, 50, 165, 246–247, 297 Dionysos Indiges, 174
Index 359
Inferi, 174 and Cheiron, 85, 179 Laelaps, 82, 128, 185, 208, 262
Ino, 62, 72, 140, 145, 174, 191 death of, 44, 180 Laertes, 33, 45, 61, 186, 225
and Dionysos, 114, 152, 174 and murder of Pelias, 3, 16, 22, Laestrygones, 186, 224, 292
and Melicertes, 53, 54, 174, 203 180, 200, 241 Laius, 181, 185, 186, 226
Io, 45, 67, 122, 152, 174–175, 328 theft of Golden Fleece, 10, 46, and Chrysippus, 59, 86, 242
Iobates, 33, 65, 175, 194, 262, 283 90, 118, 180, 231 Lamia, 186
Iolaus, 139, 175, 201 See also Argonauts; Flight of Lamus, 186, 228, 292
and Heracleidae, 23, 130, 159, Jason and Medeä Laocoön, 33, 39, 79, 186–187, 309
167, 175, 197 Jewish mythology, 121 Laodameia (Laodamia), 3, 187,
and Heracles, 154, 155, 158, Jocasta, 33, 123, 177, 181, 204–205, 263, 306
167, 175 226 Laodice (daughter of
Iolcos (Iolcus), 16, 22, 95, 175 Jove. See Jupiter Agamemnon), 17, 187
Iole, 130, 158, 175 Judgment of Paris, 36, 41, 56, Laodice (daughter of Priam), 2,
and Heracles, 105, 158, 167, 125–126, 147, 152, 237, 240, 148, 187, 292, 309
175, 176–177, 191, 218 299, 304–305 Laomedon, 174, 187
Ion, 15, 95, 175–176 Julian, 107, 229 bondage of Apollo and
Ionia, 176. See also Ionians Julius Caesar, 50, 199, 317 Poseidon to, 38, 39, 156, 163,
Ionians, 15, 37, 95, 259 Juno, 75, 76, 151, 181, 193, 199, 187, 259, 311, 327
Iphianassa, 17, 202, 262 210 See also Heracles’ sack of Troy
Iphicles, 23, 152, 153, 153, 175, and Aeneas, 14, 181, 188, 311 Lapithae, 73, 81, 120, 165, 187,
176, 251. See also Heracles, See also Hera 187, 218, 239, 298
birth of Juno Sororia, 181 Lar, 187
Iphigeneia (Iphigenia), 17, 68, 176 Jupiter, 74, 117, 181–182, 237, 254 Lara, 187, 188
flight from Brauron, 18, 48, 49, and Aeneas, 14, 111, 181, 311 Larentia, 187. See also Acca
67, 176, 230, 265, 290 and Lara, 187, 188 Larentia
See also Iphigeneia, sacrifice of and Zeus, 181, 325 Lares, 187, 189
Iphigeneia, sacrifice of, 18, 49, 61, See also Zeus Larissa, 7, 88, 188
66, 73, 89, 176, 306 Jupiter Elicius, 181, 182 Lartius, Spurius, 90, 162, 188, 258
Iphimedeia (Iphimedia), 25–26, Juturna, 182, 187 Larvae, 188, 189
122, 176 Juventas, 145, 182. See also Hebe Latinus (king of Laurentum), 13,
Iphinoë, 149, 262 14, 26, 133, 188, 189, 198. See
Iphis, 77, 131, 176 Kallipygos, 35. See also Aphrodite also Aeneas/Turnus battle
Iphitus, 157, 176–177 Karagiozis, 76 Latinus (son of Odysseus), 188
Irene, 177, 239 Kargos, 76 Latium, 13, 21, 42, 46, 188
Iris, 120, 126, 177, 287 Kentauros. See Centauros Latmus, Mount, 121, 188
Ischys, 93 Keres, 86, 183 Latona, 188. See also Leto
Ishtar, 35 Kerykeion. See Caduceus Laurentum. See Latium
Isis, 174 Knossos, 102, 183, 185, 207, 208. Laverna, 188
Islands of the Blessed, 34, 72, 121, See also Labyrinth Lavinia, 12, 50, 189. See also
148, 177. See also Elysium Kore. See Core; Persephone Aeneas/Turnus battle
Ismene, 33, 34, 177, 181, 226 Korythalia, 48. See also Artemis Lavinium, 21, 42, 46, 189
Isole Ciclopi, 7, 137, 257 Kourotrophos, 48. See also “Lay of Demodocos,” 36, 109
Issa, 177, 197 Artemis Lays of Ancient Rome (Macaulay),
Isthmian Games, 92, 174, 177, Kronos. See Cronos 90
233, 259–260, 297 Ktesios, 326 Leander, 2, 37, 162, 189, 278
Isthmus, 68 Kyparissos, 38 Lear, King, 14
Ithaca, 177. See also Odysseus Learchus, 53, 54
Itylus, 10, 152 La Fontaine, Jean de, 16 Lebanon, Mount, 8
Itys, 177, 248, 261–262, 293 Labdacus, 185, 186 Leches, 252
Iulus, 50 Labyrinth, 45–46, 95, 101, 185, Leda, 79–80, 116, 147, 189, 255,
Ixion, 81–82, 152, 177–178, 217, 209, 297 312
252 Lacedaemon, 185. See also Sparta Lemnos, 71, 168–169, 180, 189
Iynx, 178, 235 Lachesis, 133, 185. See also Fates Lemures, 189
Laconia, 43, 185, 238 Lenaea, 114
Janus, 179, 220 Lacus Curtius, 185 Leo, 154, 189–190, 216
Jason, 22, 43, 52, 168, 179–180, Ladon, 51, 59, 119, 156, 163, 177, Lepcis Magna, 190
240 185, 251 Lepus, 190, 231
360 Index
Lerna, 30, 155, 167, 190 Lycaon, 42, 67, 74, 193–194, 240, Mastarna, 72, 199, 278
Lethe, 144, 190 321 Matralia, 199–200
Leto, 39, 107, 190 Lycia, 33, 65, 150, 194. See also Medeä, 200
and Niobe, 28, 38, 49, 219 Pelasgians and Jason’s trials in Colchis,
See also Apollo and Art1emis, Lycius, 37, 106, 194. See also 10, 180, 200
birth of Apollo and Medus, 11, 200–201, 297
Leuce (nymph), 143, 190 Lycomedes, 4, 20, 105, 194, 216, and murder of Pelias, 3, 16, 22,
Leuce (White Island), 34, 121, 298, 305 180, 200, 241
148, 190 Lycurgus, 114, 119, 169, 194, 228, and Talos, 200, 287
Leucippe, 209–210 282 and theft of Golden Fleece, 10,
Leucippides, 116, 190–191, 195 Lycus (father of Amphion and 46, 90, 118, 180
Leucippus, 104 Zethus), 28, 34, 35, 117, 194, and Theseus, 11, 180, 200, 297
Leucippus (father of 325 See also Argonauts; Flight of
Leucippides), 173, 190, 191 Lycus (son of Pandion), 194 Jason and Medeä; Jason
Leucippus (son of Oenomaus), Lycus (usurper of Thebes), 94, Medus, 11, 200–201, 297
191 154, 194–195 Medusa (daughter of Sthenelus),
Leucothea, 22, 54, 56, 149, 191, Lydia, 195 284
225, 276 Lynceus/Idas, 12, 35, 44, 103, 195 Medusa (Gorgon), 71, 83, 86, 201,
Leucus, 173 and Dioscuri, 80, 116, 173, 191 239
Libation Bearers, The (Aeschylus), Lyra, 195, 231 and aegis, 11, 54, 141, 201, 244,
120 Lyrnessus, 5, 68 245, 246
Liber (Pater), 113, 191 Lysippe, 202, 262 and Athene, 54, 55, 83, 140,
Libera, 191 Lystra, 195 201, 239
Libertas, 191 See also Gorgons; Perseus
Libitina, 191 Macareus, 177, 197 Megaera, 96, 201. See also
Libra, 52, 296 Macaria, 130, 159, 197 Erinnyes
Libya, 64 Macaulay, Thomas Babington, 90 Megapenthes, 201, 246
Lichas, 158, 191 Macedonia, 17, 197. See also Megara (city), 70
Licymnius, 303 Alexander the Great Megara (Megera) (wife of
Ligurians, 156 Machaereus, 197, 217 Heracles), 154, 157, 201
Lilith, 121 Machaon, 50, 197, 248, 308 Megareus, 165
Lindos, 149, 191 Maenads, 64, 113, 197, 235 Meilichius, 326
Linus, 154, 191–192, 264 and Pentheus, 19, 62, 63, 72, Melampus, 30, 66, 202, 262
Lipara, 192 114–115, 174 Melanion (Milanion), 36, 53, 165,
Lipari Islands, 14, 15, 192 See also Bacchae 202
Liriope, 215 Maera, 124, 147, 172, 198, 254, 309 Melanippe, 127, 202
Lityerses, 192 Maia (Pleiad), 42, 57, 160, 198, Melanippus, 28, 56, 202, 279, 312
Livy, 192 253. See also Pleiades Meleager, 9, 45, 202–203
Locheia, 48. See also Artemis Maia (Roman goddess), 198, 205 and Calydonian Boar Hunt,
Locris, 20, 21, 192 Mallus, 28, 211 26, 52, 53, 75, 133
Lotophagi, 192, 224 Mamercus, 198 and Fates, 26, 133, 202
Lotus-Eaters. See Lotophagi Manes, di, 198, 220, 237 Meles, 33
Loxias, 37, 106, 192, 238, 266. Manto, 22, 38, 198, 210, 291 Melia, 251
See also Apollo; Delphic Marathon, Battle of, 235, 298 Meliae (Meliade), 138, 203, 220,
Oracle Marathonian Bull (Marathon 316
Lua, 192, 274 Bull), 31, 130, 146, 156, 198, Melicertes, 53, 54, 174, 203, 233.
Lucetius, 181 297. See also Cretan Bull See also Palaemon
Lucifer, 193 Marcius, Cnaeus, 319 Melissa, 203
Lucina, 181, 193 Marica, 133, 188, 198, 221 Melite, 190
Lucomo. See Tarquinius Priscus Marpessa, 38, 131, 173, 198 Melkarth, 78, 159, 160
Lucretia (Lucrece), 193, 258. See Mars, 43, 44, 66, 198–199, 267, 294 Melpomene, 203, 211. See also
also Rape of Lucretia and Rhea Silvia, 21, 199, 220, Muses
Luna, 193, 277 270 Memnon, 6, 203, 308
Lupercal, 193 See also Ares and Antilochus, 34, 203, 218,
Lupercalia, 193 Marseilles, 44 308
Lupercus, 133, 134, 193 Marsyas, 39, 199, 206–207 and Eos, 6, 122, 203, 204, 303
Lupus, 193 Massalia, 49 Memnonia, 203–204
Index 361
Memnonides, 6, 203, 204 and Daedalus, 89–90, 101 and Mount Helicon, 19, 66,
Menelaus, 37, 77, 204, 263, 292, as judge of Underworld, 9, 148–149, 164, 211, 239
307 121, 144, 190, 209 and Pan, 235
and Athene, 56, 204 and Procris, 82, 262 as Pierides, 252
and Atreus, 15, 59 and Scylla, 88, 219, 276 and Sirens, 281
and Deiphobus, 105 and Theseus, 11, 29, 297 and Thamyris, 294
Helen release request, 33, 204, See also Cretan Bull See also specific Muses
224, 233, 293, 306 Minotaur, 45–46, 95, 101, 185, 209 Mycenae, 3, 18–19, 32, 98, 212,
and Patroclus, 20 birth of, 94, 208, 209, 238 246. See also Achaeans;
See also Helen; Trojan War tribute to, 11, 31, 209, 236, 297 Agamemnon
Menetheus, 204, 298 Minthe, 143, 209, 244 Myrmidones, 4, 9, 213, 238, 298
Menoeceus, 94, 204–205, 226, 291 Minyans, 108, 209, 259 Myrrha, 8, 87
Menoetius, 238 Minyas, 209–210 Myrtilus, 161, 164, 213, 226–227,
Mentor, 205, 292 Mistress of the Animals, 208, 212, 242, 253. See also Chariot
Mercury (Mercurius), 187, 188, 261 race for Hippodameia
198, 205 Mithras, 210 Myrtion, Mount, 93
attributes of, 72, 287 Mitra, 117 Mysia, 5, 18, 60, 61, 213, 306
and Hermes, 160, 205 Mnemosyne, 74, 210, 327. See
Meriones, 18, 173, 205 also Muses; Titanomachia; Naiades (Naiads), 49, 215, 220
Merlin, 58 Titans Napaeae, 220, 229
Mermaids, 25, 205, 281 Moera (Moira), 210 Narcissus, 119, 215
Mermen, 205–206 Moirae (Moirae). See Fates Nauplius, 215, 233–234
Merope, 51, 139, 206, 230, 231, Molione, 210 Nausicaa (Nausikaa), 22, 215,
253–254, 281. See also Molionidae, 60, 158, 210 225, 246, 276
Pleiades Moly, 10, 87, 210, 225 Naxos, 46, 98, 115, 172, 215, 297
Merops, 89 Momus, 210, 218 and Aloeidae, 26, 48, 123, 232
Messene, 35 Moneta, 210. See also Juno Neaera, 149
Messina, Strait of, 85, 206 Monumentum Ancyranum, 31 Necessitas, 215
Mestra, 126, 206, 260 Mopsus (Argonaut), 44, 210 Necklace of Harmonia
Metabus, 75 Mopsus (prophet), 28, 38, 73, 198, Aphrodite’s gift, 36, 72, 145
Metamorphoses (Ovid), 265 210–211 and Arsinoë, 22, 47, 74, 249
Metaneira, 108–109, 171, 206 Mormo, 211 dedication at Delphi, 2, 22, 29
Metapontus, 202 Moros, 211 and Europa, 128
Metharme, 265 Morpheus, 211, 282 and Seven Against Thebes, 28,
Methymna, 46 Morpho, 35. See also Aphrodite 125, 127, 257, 296
Metis, 55, 96, 206, 223, 326, 327 Mors, 211 Nectanebo, 24, 25, 27
Mezentius, 206 Morta, 237 Nectar, 27, 215
Midas, 39, 98, 140, 192, 206–207 Mother goddesses. See Neleus, 16, 95, 158, 164, 215–216,
and Dionysos, 114, 206 Goddesses, pre-classical 240, 244, 313
and Marsyas, 39, 199, 206–207 Mother of the Rocks, 274 Nemaea (Nemea), 216
and Pactolus River, 206, 233 Mulciber, 211, 319. See also Nemaean (Nemean) Games, 169,
Midea, 59 Vulcan 216, 228, 279
Midsummer Night’s Dream, A Munitus, 2 Nemaean (Nemean) Lion, 88,
(Shakespeare), 265 Murder of Agamemnon and 119, 130, 154, 189, 216
Milanion. See Melanion Cassandra, 12, 79, 212 Nemea, 28
Miletus, 38, 45, 207, 274 and Electra, 12, 18, 120, Nemesis, 215, 216, 218
Mimas, 138, 207 229–230 Neoplatonism, 102
Minerva, 54, 207, 258. See also and Orestes, 18, 49, 89, 120, Neoptolemus, 4, 20, 105,
Athene 229–230, 265, 284 216–217
Minoan civilization, 35, 48, 58, Musae. See Muses birth of, 4, 194, 216, 305
207–208, 209, 212, 247. See Musaeus, 157 and Hermione, 31–32, 162, 204,
also Crete Musagetes, 40, 211. See also 217, 230, 265
Minos, 45, 128, 208–209 Apollo; Muses murder of, 197
and Androgeos, 11, 31, 209, Muses (Musae), 40, 42, 79, 211, and Polites, 217, 255, 261, 309
236, 297 231, 256 and Polyxena, 6, 257
and Aphaia, 11, 69 and Graces, 141 Trojan War recruiting, 112, 148,
and Britomartis, 48, 111 and Hermes, 161 216–217, 224, 308
362 Index
Nephele, 53, 149, 217 and Aeolus, 15, 224 Oebalus, 226
Neptune (Neptunus), 14, 217, and Alcinous and Nausicaa, Oedipus, 33–34, 91, 177, 226, 255,
219, 259, 303. See also 22, 215, 225, 246, 275–276 283
Poseidon and armor of Achilles, 6, 20, Creon’s exile of, 94, 226, 291
Nereides (Nereids), 29, 117, 217, 21, 56, 224, 308 and Delphic Oracle, 107, 186,
220, 297, 321 and Athene, 22, 55, 56, 224, 226
and Andromeda, 32, 79, 82, 84 225, 276 and Jocasta, 33, 181, 186,
Arethusa, 26, 44 and Autolycus, 61–62 204–205
and mermaids, 205 and Calypso, 56, 75, 225, 227 and Menoeceus, 204, 226, 291
See also specific nereides and Cicones, 86, 224 Oedipus cycle, 86
Nereus, 28, 107, 117, 156–157, and Circe, 9–10, 75, 87, 129, Oeneis, 235
217, 218 188, 210, 225, 243 Oeneus, 26, 75, 105, 112, 139, 158,
Nero, 106, 107 and death of Palamedes, 202, 226
Nessus, 81, 105, 158, 218 306–307 Oenomaus, 43, 164, 213, 226–227,
Nestor, 17, 34, 86, 218, 265, 292, and Dolon, 112, 117, 307 241, 253. See also Chariot
305 and Elpenor, 87, 121 race for Hippodameia
and Achilles, 4, 20, 218 and Eumaeus, 127, 225 Oenone (island), 9, 11
and Heracles, 158, 216, 218 and Eurylochus, 10, 87, 129 Oenone (nymph), 172, 227, 237,
Nicippe, 130, 283–284 Helen release request, 33, 204, 308
Night, 124, 133, 210, 211, 216, 218, 224, 233, 293, 306 Oenopion, 230
220 and Helios’s cattle, 149, 225, Ogyges, 227
Nike, 54, 218 300 Ogygia, 227
Ninus, 218–219, 277 and Laestrygones, 186, 224, Oileus, 192, 227
Niobe, 10, 17, 86, 219, 325 292 Olus, 61
and Leto, 28, 39, 49, 219 and Leucothea, 22, 56, 191, 225, Olympia, 227
Niobids, 28, 39, 49, 86, 219 276 Olympians, 227
Nisus, 87, 208, 219, 276 and Lotophagi, 192, 224 Olympic Games, 158, 227
Nisyrus, 64, 139, 219, 255, 327 and Palladium, 20, 33, 57, 224, Olympus, 86, 227–228, 232, 241
Nodens (Nodons), 219 308 Omalos, 228
Nomeia, 104 and Penelope, 34, 172, 223–224, Omphale, 83, 158, 195, 228, 303
Nomios (Nomius), 37, 219. See 225, 242–243 Omphalos, 39, 106, 228
also Apollo and Polyphemus, 98, 224, 257, Onocentaur, 228
Nona, 237 260 Opheltes, 169, 228, 279. See also
Notus, 14, 15, 52, 61, 67, 219. See and Poseidon, 22, 56, 225, 257, Seven Against Thebes
also Winds 260 Ophiuchus, 50, 158, 228–229
Nox. See Night and Scylla and Charybdis, 85, Opis, 231
Numa Pompilius, 119, 133, 198, 87, 225, 276 Ops, 229, 274
220, 234, 252, 258 and Sisyphus, 223, 281 Oracles, 229
Numicius, 14, 220 and Teiresias, 87, 225, 291 Ammon, 27, 32, 79, 84, 277
Numina, 220 and Telegonus, 87, 225, 243, Branchidae, 67
Numitor, 21, 29, 220, 269, 270, 271 291–292 Claros, 211, 229
Nycteus, 34, 194 and Thersites, 296 Delos, 13, 37, 106
Nyctinus, 194 and Trojan Horse, 18, 56, 148, Didyma, 111, 197, 229
Nymphs, 49, 103, 118, 145, 224, 308, 321 Dodona, 112, 117, 229, 326
220–221. See also specific Trojan War recruiting, 4–5, 18, Ephyra, 4, 229
nymphs 73, 112, 204, 216, 224, 233, Tethys, 223, 288
Nysa, Mount, 114, 116, 221, 312 248, 292, 305, 306, 308 Themis, 110, 266
in Underworld, 39, 121, 225 Trophonius, 190
Oannes, 277 Odyssey (Homer), 36, 55, 173, 223, See also Delphic Oracle
Obolos, 85, 144, 315 224–225, 225 Orchomenus, 115, 141, 154, 229
Oceanids, 55, 220, 223, 293–294 Achilles’ armor in, 6, 20 Orcus, 117, 143, 229. See also Pluto
Oceanos, 120, 223, 293. See also Alcinous in, 246, 276 Oreades (Oreads), 220, 229
Titans Circe in, 87 Oreithyia, 67, 85, 124, 229
Ocresia, 223, 278 date of, 166 Oresteia (Aeschylus), 16, 89
Odysseus, 33, 45, 147, 205, “Lay of Demodocos,” 36, 109 Orestes, 12, 17, 32, 229–230
223–225, 292 See also Homer; Odysseus and Areopagus, 39, 42, 56, 57,
and Achilles, 6, 20 Oeagrus, 231 125, 230
Index 363
and Erinnyes, 39, 49, 56, 125, and Odysseus, 20, 33, 57, 224, Parthenopaeus, 53, 203, 238. See
127, 230 308 also Seven Against Thebes
and Hermione, 32, 162, 217, Pallas (daughter of Triton), 56 Parthenos, 54, 57, 238
265 Pallas (giant), 55, 56, 234. See also Pasiphaë, 45, 94, 101, 139, 209,
and Iphigeneia’s flight from Giants; Titanomachia 238
Brauron, 18, 48, 49, 67, 176, Pallas (name of Athene), 54, Pasiphaessa, 35. See also
230, 265, 290 56–57, 218, 234, 234. See also Aphrodite
See also Murder of Athene Pater. See Dis; Liber
Agamemnon and Cassandra Pallas (nephew of Aegeus), 11, Patras, 48, 50
Orestes (Euripides), 148, 230 235, 298 Patroclus (Patrocles), 4, 6,
Origin of the Roman Nation Pallas (son of Evander), 14, 235, 238–239, 250, 305
(Catulus), 13, 80 301, 311 death of, 5, 18, 20, 68, 146, 213,
Orion, 49, 66, 122, 190, 230–231, Pallas (Titan), 235 238, 307, 323
253, 281 Pan, 39, 42, 77, 104, 171, 235 and Euphorbus, 128, 236, 238
death of, 231, 276 and Evander, 131 and Sarpedon, 274, 307
Oropos, 28 and Faunus, 133, 235 Patulicus, 179
Orpheus, 39, 45, 64, 74, 88, 195, and Hermes, 161, 235 Paul, Saint, 48, 49, 92, 122, 161,
231–232, 281 and Iynx, 178, 235 195
and Eurydice, 39, 129, 231 as Nomios, 219 Pausanias, 18, 60, 70, 121
Orphism, 114, 231–232, 235, and Penelope, 235, 242 Pavo, 45, 153, 239
263–264, 296, 302 and Selene, 235, 277 Pax, 177, 239
Orseis, 15 and Silvanus, 280 Pegasus, 32, 55, 65–66, 79, 84, 85,
Orthia, 48. See also Artemis and Syrinx, 235, 285 239
Orthros (Orthrus), 119, 130, 138, Panaceia, 51 birth of, 86, 140, 201, 239, 245
156, 232 Panathenaea/Panathenaic and Equuleus, 124
Ortygia, 26, 37, 44, 48, 75, 152, Games, 11, 31, 54, 57, 124, and Hippocrene, 164, 211
232 236, 246 and Pirene, 92, 252
Osiris, 9, 51, 277–278 Pandareus, 236, 288 Peirithous (Pirithous), 17, 81, 147,
Ossa, Mount, 26, 48, 123, 228, Pandarus, 94, 236, 304 165, 178, 187, 252–253, 298.
232, 241 Pandia, 328 See also Theseus’s abduction
Ostia, 31 Pandion, 10, 124, 194, 236, 248, of Helen
Otionia, 124 277, 293 Peitho, 239
Otrere, 27, 43, 232 Pandora (daughter of Pelasgians, 1, 150, 194, 239
Otus, 25–26, 43, 48, 122–123, 176, Erechtheus), 124 Pelasgus, 239–240
232. See also Aloeidae Pandora (wife of Epimetheus), Peleus, 44, 85, 240, 250
Ovid, 23, 59, 119, 125, 265 123, 150, 183, 236, 262–263, and Calydonian Boar Hunt, 3,
327 75, 240
Pactolus, 206, 233 Pandrasus, 69 and Phocus, 9, 240, 250, 291
Paean (Paion), 39, 233 Pandrosos, 80, 124, 236 See also Judgment of Paris
Paeonius, 101 Pangaeum, Mount, 64 Pelias, 8, 95, 175, 179, 240–241,
Paestum, 233 Panhellenion, Mount, 9 313
Palaemon, 54, 174, 203, 233. See Panopeus, 122, 236 murder of, 3, 16, 22, 180, 200,
also Melicertes Panthous, 236 241
Palamedes, 215, 233–234, Paphos, 35, 36, 236, 265 Pelides, 241. See also Achilles
306–307 Parcae, 237. See also Fates Pelion, Mount, 4, 26, 81, 85, 99,
Helen release request, 33, 204, Parentalia, 198, 237 241
224, 233, 293, 306 Paris, 18, 79, 147, 237 and Aloeidae, 48, 123, 232
See also Trojan War recruiting and Achilles, 6, 38, 237, 299, Pelopia, 11–12, 59, 241, 280, 300
Palatine Hill, 14, 42, 61, 234, 269, 308 Peloponnesian League, 92
270 and Aphrodite, 36, 37, 307 Peloponnesian War, 2, 92, 282
Cacus, 13, 71, 131, 156, 320 and Oenone, 172, 227, 308 Peloponnesos (Peloponnesus),
and Evander, 131 See also Helen; Judgment of 241. See also specific locations
Lupercal, 193 Paris; Trojan War Pelops, 17, 88, 148, 227, 241,
Pales, 234 Parnassus, Mount, 37, 40, 54, 79, 241–242, 260
Palinurus, 13, 234 134, 211, 237–238, 266. See murder of, 59, 88, 108, 242,
Palladium, 56–57, 104, 234 also Delphic Oracle 288
and Aeneas, 12, 234, 310 Parthenon, 7, 54, 57, 114, 238, 246 and Trojan War, 242, 308
364 Index
See also Chariot race for and Polydectes, 102–103, 111, Phocus, 9, 35, 240, 250, 291
Hippodameia 244, 245, 255, 278 Phoebe, 49, 116, 190–191, 250. See
Pelorus, 242. See also Sparti See also Perseus’s rescue of also Artemis; Leucippides
Penates, 13, 188, 242, 310 Andromeda Phoebus, 37, 49, 106, 250. See also
Penelope, 34, 87, 161, 172, Perseus’s rescue of Andromeda, Apollo
223–224, 242–243 32, 79, 82, 84, 141, 201, 239, Phoenicia, 8, 35, 70, 78, 250
and Pan, 235, 242 245 Phoenix (founder of Phoenicia),
and Telegonus, 87, 225, 243, Persian Wars, 15–16, 57, 67, 92, 103, 250
291–292 96, 162, 235, 241, 273, 282 Phoenix (tutor of Achilles), 4, 5,
Peneus (Peneius), 60, 104, 243 Persians, The (Aeschylus), 16 112, 216, 250, 305, 308
Penthesilea, 27, 43, 197, 243 Pesistratus, 57, 113, 114, 120, 244, Pholus, 81, 155, 250, 280
and Achilles, 6, 27, 112, 146, 246 Phorcys, 55, 83, 140, 141, 251, 276,
232, 243, 275, 296, 307–308 Pessinus, 97 281
Pentheus, 119, 243 Petasus, 25, 72, 161, 246 Phoroneus, 37, 251
death of, 19, 62, 63, 72, 114–115, Phaeacia, 22, 246–247 Phosphorus (Phosphoros), 163,
174 Phaedra, 46, 165, 246–247, 298 251. See also Hesperus
Perceforest, 25 Phaedrus, 16 Phrixus (Phryxus), 90, 104, 140,
Perdix (Talos), 101, 243, 287 Phaëthon (Phaëton), 89, 98–99, 149, 174, 240, 251. See also
Pergamum (Pergamon), 50, 243 124, 148, 247 Golden Fleece, origin of
Perge, 73 Phaistós (Phaistus), 207, 247 Phrygia, 60, 66, 71, 93, 97, 251
Periander, 46 Phalanthus, 247 Phryxus, 46
Periboea. See Eëriboea Phanes. See Protogonus Phthia (Phthiotis), 251. See also
Pericles, 54 Phantasos, 211 Achilles
Periclymenos (Periclymenus), 28, Phaon, 274 Phylachus, 251
44, 158, 243, 260, 279 Phasis, 180, 247 Phylacus, 202
Perikles, 151 Phegeus. See Phlegeus Phyleus, 60, 156, 251
Periphetes, 243–244, 296 Pheidippides, 235 Phyllis, 109
Pernier, Luigi, 247 Pherae, 8, 38, 247 Phytalmios, 259. See also
Pero, 244 Pheres, 247. See also Centaurs Poseidon
Perse, 87, 149, 244 Phidias, 54, 328–329 Picus, 87, 133, 252
Persephone, 22, 50, 91, 108–109, Phigaleia, 108 Pieria, 39, 252
161, 244, 253 Philemon, 64–65, 247–248 Pierides, 252
and Adonis, 8–9, 36, 250 Philip of Macedon, 70 Pierus, 252
and Cabiri, 71 Philoctetes, 112, 148, 158, 189, Pillars of Heracles, 2, 6, 58, 73, 74,
and Dionysos, 114 224, 237, 248 156, 159, 252
and Hades, 108, 109, 122, 143, Trojan War recruiting, 73, 112, and Brutus, 69
244 224, 248, 308 and Elysium, 121, 135
and Hecate, 144, 146, 244 wound of, 73, 197, 248, 254, Pimplea, 252
and Helios, 149, 244 293, 306, 308 Pindar, 16, 20, 64
and Minthe, 143, 209, 244 Philomela (Philomel), 104, 105, Pinus, 252
and Proserpina, 263 248, 261–262, 293 Piraeus, 57, 97, 252
See also Eleusinian Mysteries Philonoë, 65 Pirene, 65, 92, 239, 252
Perses, 146, 200–201, 244, 245 Philyra, 248 Pirithous, 45
Perseus, 52, 168, 212, 244–245, Phineus (brother of Cepheus), Pisa, 253
283–284 245 Pisces, 253
and aegis, 11, 32, 201, 246 Phineus (son of Agonor), 32, 73, Pisces Austrinus, 253
and Athene, 55, 201, 245 145, 249, 325 Pitho, 285
and Atlas, 59, 141, 201, 239, and Argonauts, 67, 180, 249, Pittheus, 10, 253
245 285 Platea, 64, 70
and death of Acrisius, 45, 103, Phintias, 102, 249 Plato, 2, 58, 183, 232
188, 246 Phlegethon, 144, 249, 265–266 Pleiades, 23, 52, 120, 206, 220,
and Gorgons, 129, 140–141, Phlegeus, 22, 47, 74, 249 231, 253–254
201, 245 Phlegra, 56, 158 Pleione (Pleone), 23, 198, 253, 254
infancy of, 7, 102, 245, 255, 278, Phlegyas, 93 Pleisthenes (Plisthenes), 15, 59,
328 Phobos, 36, 43, 44, 249 254, 300
and Medusa, 55, 140, 141, 201, Phocaea, 249 Plilomelus, 108
244, 245 Phocis, 249 Pliny, 101
Index 365
Plouton. See Hades Poseidon, 5, 61, 68, 70, 96, 138, Praxiteles, 89
Plutarch, 96 259–251 Praxithea, 124
Pluto (god), 117, 144, 254. See also and Aeneas, 5, 12, 306 Priam (Priamus), 78, 105, 158,
Hades and Ajax the Lesser, 20–21 254, 261
Pluto (nymph), 17, 69, 254 and Aloeidae, 25–26, 122 and Achilles, 5, 6, 18, 68, 146,
Pluton, 254 and Amphitrite, 28–29, 58, 107, 261
Plutus, 108, 171, 254, 312 218, 260, 276 death of, 217, 255, 261, 309
Pluvius, 254 and Amymone, 30, 103, 260 See also Heracles’ sack of Troy
Podalirius, 50, 197, 248, 254, 308 and Andromeda, 32, 79, 84 Priapus, 36, 261
Podarces, 158, 163, 187, 254, 261. and Aphrodite, 36 Procne (Progne), 104, 105, 177,
See also Priam and Apollo, 37 248, 261–262, 293
Poeas, 248, 254, 287 and Arion, 47 Procris, 82, 124, 185, 208, 262
Polias, 54, 124. See also Athene and Athens, 55, 80, 259 Procrustes (Polypemon), 257, 262,
Poliouchos, 54. See also Athene and Bellerophon, 65, 139 297
Polites, 217, 255, 261, 309 bondage to Laomedon, 9, 38, Proculus, Julius, 271
Pollux, 255. See also Polydeuces 156, 163, 187, 259, 311, 327 Procyon, 76
Polybus, 226, 255 and Caeneus, 72 Proetus, 1, 7, 33, 45, 137, 175, 262
Polybutes, 64, 139, 219, 255, 327 and Cercyon, 83 and Bellerophon, 33, 65, 175,
Polydectes, 32, 102–103, 111, 201, chaining of Zeus, 38, 68, 152, 262, 283
244, 245, 255. See also 259, 327 and Megapenthes, 201
Perseus, infancy of and Chione, 85, 127 and Menelaus, 204
Polydeuces, 189, 255–256 and Consus, 91 Promachos, 54, 123. See also
and Amycus, 30, 65, 80, 180, and Demeter, 47, 108, 110, 260 Athene
256, 260 and Dioscuri, 116 Prometheus, 40, 51, 171, 174,
See also Dioscuri as Ennosigaios, 259 262–263, 299
Polydorus, 72, 145, 185, 256 and Erechtheus, 124 and Athene, 55, 206, 263, 304,
death of, 6, 147, 198, 224, 256, and Euphemus, 128 327
309 and Halirrhothius, 42, 43, 145 and Cheiron, 85, 155, 263
See also Epigoni and Hera, 151, 260 and Deucalion, 110, 134
Polyeidus (Polyidus), 139, 256 and Hesione, 156, 163, 187, 259 and Heracles, 157, 263, 273, 327
Polyhymnia, 211. See also Muses and Idas, 173 and Pandora, 123, 236, 262, 327
Polyhymnia (Polymnia), 256 and Isthmian Games, 92, 297 See also Titans
Polymele, 61 and Laocoön, 186 Prometheus Bound (Aeschylus), 16
Polymester, 147, 198, 256, 309 and Medusa, 55, 83, 86, 140, Propylaea (Propylaia), 7, 57
Polyneices (Polynices), 256–257. 201, 239, 260 Proserpina (Proserpine), 191, 263
See also Seven Against and Melanippe, 202 Prosymnus, 115
Thebes Minyan origin of, 209 Protagoras, 1
Polypemon (Procrustes), 257, 262, and Molionidae, 210 Protesilaus, 187, 263, 306
297 and Neptune, 217, 259, 303 Proteus (king of Argos), 115, 202
Polyphemus, 98, 224, 257, 260 and Nereides, 217 Proteus (king of Egypt), 263
and Acis, 6–7, 98, 137, 257 and Odysseus, 22, 56, 225, 246, Proteus (sea deity), 71, 152,
Polyxena, 257, 309 257, 260 156–157, 218, 263
Polyxo, 148 and Pelops, 241, 260 Protogonia, 124
Pomona, 252, 257, 318 and Phocus, 250 Protogonus, 263–264
Pompeii, 257–258, 318 as Phytalmios, 259 Psamanthe, 9, 192, 250, 263, 264
Pompo, 258 and Pirene, 252 Psophis, 47, 126
Pondikonisi, 22 and Theseus, 10, 17, 29, 165, Psyche, 126, 264
Pons Sublicius, 90, 162, 188, 258 247, 260, 296, 298 Psychopompus, 161. See also
Pontus, 117, 138, 218, 251, 258 and Thetis, 28, 260, 296, 299 Hermes
Poplicola, Publius Valerius, 69, and Titanomachia, 138–139 Pterelaus, 29
193, 258. See also Rape of and trident, 30, 303 Ptolemy I, 51, 277
Lucretia and Tyro, 16, 95, 215–216, 240, Puppis, 78, 264–265
Porphyrion, 138, 152, 258. See also 260, 313 Pygmalion (king of Tyre), 265
Giants; Titanomachia See also Cretan Bull; Neptune Pygmalion (sculptor), 36, 137, 265
Porsenna (Porsena), Lars, 88, 89, Postumius, Aulus, 261, 269 Pylades, 12, 89, 120, 176, 229, 230,
162, 188, 258–259, 275 Potina theron, 48, 261. See also 265, 284, 290
Porus, 76 Mistress of the Animals Pylos, 39, 158, 265
366 Index
Pyramus, 265, 299 Sabine women, 77, 91, 97, 271, Scylla (monster), 29, 85, 87, 139,
Pyriphlegethon, 265–266 273, 288, 290 206, 225, 260, 276
Pyrrha, 110, 123, 134, 149, 238, See also specific myths, Scyros, 4, 20, 276
266, 296 personages, and locations Scythia, 26, 43, 46, 276–277
Pyrrhos (Pyrrhus). See Romulus, 271 Seal. See Phocus
Neoptolemus and Quirinus, 267 Sebille, 25
Pythagoras, 198, 220, 231, 232 and Sabine women, 77, 91, 97, Segesta, 3, 277
Pythia, 39, 266. See also Delphic 271, 273, 290 Selene, 40, 49, 121, 166, 188, 277
Oracle See also Romulus and Remus and Pan, 235, 277
Pythian (Pythianius), 37, 106, 266. Romulus and Remus, 62, 137, Selge, 73
See also Apollo 234, 269, 270–271 Semele, 53, 72, 115, 145, 277, 328
Pythian Games, 38, 39, 107, 266 infancy of, 3, 21, 29–30, 134, and Agave, 19
Pythias. See Phintias 193, 220, 269, 270, 271 and Hecate, 146
Python, 37, 38, 39, 106, 107, 238, and Janus, 179 and Hera, 114, 152, 277, 328
266, 293 and Lupercal, 193 as Thyone, 115, 277, 301
Pyxis, 78, 266 and Mars, 199 Semiramis, 218–219, 277
Ruminalis fig tree, 271 Sequana (Sequena), 277
Quinquatria, 207 Serapis, 51, 277–278
Quirinalia, 267 Sabines, 77, 91, 97, 198, 271, 273, Seriphos, 7, 278
Quirinus, 267, 271, 290 288, 290 Serpens, 278
Sagitta, 40, 157, 273 Servius Tullius, 199, 223, 278, 289,
Rape of Lucretia, 69, 90, 91, 193, Sagittarius, 81, 273 311
258, 279, 288, 289, 303 Sainte-More, Benoît de, 304 Sesonchosis, 24
Regillus, 261, 269 Salacia, 217 Sestos, 37, 278. See also
Remus. See Romulus and Remus Salamacis, 160 Hellespont
Rhadamanthus (Rhadamanthys), Salamis, 16, 20, 273, 294 Seven Against Thebes, 22, 27–28,
23, 29, 128, 269 Salmoneus, 273 238, 256–257, 278–279
as judge of Underworld, 9, Salus, 274 and Antigone, 34, 144–145, 257,
121, 144, 190, 269 Samos, 45, 274 279
Rhea, 101, 114, 229, 259, 270. See Samothrace, 71, 171, 231, 274 and Argia, 9, 44
also Titanomachia; Titans; Sandon (Sandan), 159, 274 and Arion, 47
Zeus, infancy of Santas, 274 and Athene, 56, 279, 312
Rhea Silvia, 21, 29, 199, 220, 269, Santorini, 208 Capaneus, 77
270 Saon, 310 and Creon, 94
Rhesus, 112, 224, 270, 307 Sappho, 274 and Jocasta, 181
Rhode (Rhodos), 149, 270 Sarpedon, 128, 207, 274, 307 Melanippus, 28, 202, 312
Rhodes, 15, 149 Saturn (Saturnus), 179, 192, 229, and necklace of Harmonia, 28,
Rhodope, 270 252, 274–275 125, 127, 257, 296
Romaike Archaeologia (Dionysus of and aconite, 7, 83 and Oedipus, 226
Halcarnassus), 116 Saturnalia, 274 and Opheltes, 169, 228
Roman de Troie (Sainte-More), 304 Satyrs, 275, 280 See also Epigoni
Rome, 15, 31, 68, 91, 92, 107 Scaean Gate, 275 Seven Against Thebes (Aeschylus),
Aborigines, 1, 13 Scaevola, Gaius Mucius, 90, 91, 16
and Apollo, 40 258–259, 275 Severus, Septimus, 70
and Athens, 57 Scamander, 5, 74, 172, 275, 307, Sextus (Tarquinius). See
Attis cult, 60 323. See also Penthesilea Tarquinius, Sextus
Camillus, 75–76 Scheria, 56, 215, 275–276. See also Shakespeare, William, 36, 92, 265,
Capitoline Hill, 61, 75–76, 77 Alcinous; Nausicaa 304
and Carthage, 78 Schliemann, Heinrich, 18–19, 66, Sibyl of Cumae, 13, 62, 97, 140,
Collatian uprising, 42, 69–70, 310 148, 279
90, 91 Schoeneus (Schoineus), 53 Sibylline Books, 40, 51, 279–280
dominant families, 12, 31, 50, Sciapodes, 276 Sibyls, 279–280
71, 88, 92, 174, 198, 258, 290, Sciron, 276, 297 Sicharbus. See Sychaeus
317 Scorpio (Scorpius), 231, 276 Sicily. See Etna, Mount; Ortygia;
Horatii, 166 Scott-Elliot, W., 58 Syracuse
Porsenna siege, 88, 89, 162, Scylla (daughter of Nisus), 87–88, Sicyon, 9, 12, 59, 194, 280
188, 258–259, 275 208, 219, 276 Silenoi (Sileni), 275, 280
Index 367
Silenus, 51, 114, 206, 275, 280 Sthenelus (friend of Diomedes), Tarquinius Priscus, 91, 278, 287,
Sillyum, 73 131, 284 288, 289
Silvanus, 199, 280 Sthenelus (son of Perseus), Tarquinius, Sextus, 69, 137, 193,
Silvius, 69, 280 283–284 258, 261, 269, 279, 289. See
Sinis (Sinnis) (brigand), 280, 296 Stheno, 55, 83, 201, 245, 284. See also Rape of Lucretia
Sinis (sow). See Sow of also Gorgons Tarquinius Superbus, 31, 69–70,
Crommyum Story of Atlantis, The (Scott-Elliot), 137, 261, 269, 289
Sinon, 18, 280–281, 308–309, 321 58 and Arruns Tarquinius, 289,
Sipylus, Mount, 28, 39, 49 Strephon, 284 311
Sirens (Sirenes), 87, 211, 281 Stromboli, Mount, 151 and Sibylline books, 279
Sirius, 76, 231, 281 Strophius, 12, 89, 229, 265, 284 See also Rape of Lucretia
Sisyphus, 15, 33, 61, 144, 203, 281 Stymphalian birds, 43, 55, 130, Tartarus, 55, 83, 144, 289–290, 315
and Merope, 139, 206 155, 284 Aloeidae, 26, 123, 232, 259, 290
and Odysseus, 223, 281 Styx, 4, 68, 83, 144, 235, 240, and Chaos, 84
Siwa, 27 284–285, 299 Cyclopes, 96, 98, 144, 289, 316
Smilax, 95 Suada, 285 Erinnyes, 290, 302, 315
Smintheus, 38, 86, 281. See also Sulla, 66, 106, 107, 258 and Hecate, 146
Apollo Sumer, 58 and Hecatoncheires, 142, 144,
Smyrna, 8, 87 Sunion (Sunium), 285 146, 289, 302
Snakes, 281–282. See also Suppliant Women, The Ixion, 152, 178
Asclepios; Erichthonius; (Aeschylus), 16, 103 Tatius, Titus, 77, 271, 288, 290
Python Sychaeus, 13, 111, 265, 285 Tauris, 18, 48, 49, 61, 73, 176, 290
Sodon, 58 Syleus, 157 Tauropolia, 48, 49–50
Sol, 149, 282 Sylvanus, 235. See also Faunus Taurus, 290
Solon, 96 Symplegades, 67, 180, 249, 285 Taygeta, 253. See also Pleiades
Solymi, 65 Syracuse, 16, 44, 49, 144, 285 Tecmessa, 20, 290, 294
Somnus, 211, 282 Dionysius I, 102, 113, 249 Tegea, 43, 60
Soödina, 48. See also Artemis Syrinx, 235, 285 Teiresias (Tiresias), 56, 152, 198,
Sophocles, 16, 34, 50, 54, 105, 282 215, 290–291
on Ajax the Greater, 6, 20, 21 Taenarum, 83, 287 death of, 291, 301
on Electra, 86, 120 Tages, 287 and Odysseus, 87, 225, 291
Sothis, 281 Talaria, 177, 287 and Oedipus, 204–205, 226
Sow of Crommyum, 96, 119, 257, Talassio, 287 Telamon, 44, 60, 273, 291
296 Talaus, 27, 287 and girdle of Hippolyte, 156,
Sown Men. See Sparti Talos (giant), 128, 200, 208, 287 165
Sparta, 3, 57, 67, 282 Talos (nephew of Daedalus). See and Hesione, 33, 158, 163, 304
Ares, 43, 282 Perdix and Phocus, 9, 240, 250, 291
Dioscuri, 80, 116 Tammuz, 9 See also Heracles’ sack of Troy
Peloponnesian War, 2, 92, 282 Tanaquil, 278, 287 Telchines, 259, 291
Sparti (Spartii), 242, 283, 295 Tanit, 78 Telegonus, 87, 225, 243, 291–292
Menoeceus, 204, 226, 291 Tantalus, 59, 88, 108, 287–288, 290 Telegony (Eugammon of Cyrene),
See also Thebes, founding of and Agamemnon, 17, 69 225
Spartoi, 283 and Zeus, 17, 241, 287–288 Teleia, 151. See also Hera
Spes, 283 Taphians (Taphioi), 23, 29, 82, 288 Telemachus, 87, 127, 218, 224,
Sphinx, 119, 144, 186, 211, 226, Tarchetius, 223, 288, 293 225, 233, 242, 243, 292, 305
232, 283 Tarchon, 288 Telephassa, 19, 72, 128, 292, 292
St. Elmo’s fire, 116 Tarpeia, 77, 271, 288 Telephus, 60, 61, 158, 292
Statius, 109 Tarquinii, See also Lucretia and Achilles, 5, 115, 292, 306
Stentor, 283 Tarquinii (Tarquinians), 42, 90, Telepylos, 186, 292
Sterope, 52, 98, 253. See also 91, 107, 193, 288–289. See Tellus (Mater), 138, 292
Pleiades also Porsenna, Lars; Rape of Telphusa, 37, 38
Steropes, 69. See also Cyclopes Lucretia; Tarquinius Temenus, 159
Stheneboea. See Anteia Priscus; Tarquinius Tempe, Vale of, 38, 104, 107, 266,
Sthenelus, 29, 77, 112, 130, 153, Superbus 292–293
283–284, 308 Tarquinius, See also Collatinus, Tenedos, 5, 18, 293
and Epigoni, 123, 284 Lucius Tarquinius Tenes, 5, 98, 293, 306
Sthenelus (father of Cycnus), 284 Tarquinius, Arruns, 278, 289, 311 Teratius, 288, 293
368 Index
Tereus, 104, 177, 248, 261–262, and Amazons, 27, 34, 156, 165, Thyestes, 15, 17, 86, 254, 300–301
293 297 and Aegisthus, 11–12, 59, 212,
Terminus, 293 and Ariadne, 45–46, 95, 101, 300–301
Terpsichore, 211, 293. See also 209, 297 and Pelopia, 11, 59, 280, 300
Muses birth of, 10–11, 17 Thyia, 301
Tethys, 51, 293–294 and centaurs, 81, 165, 187, 252, Thyiades. See Bacchae
Oracle of, 223, 288 298 Thyone, 115, 277, 301. See also
See also Titanomachia; Titans and Cercyon, 83, 297 Semele
Teucer (king of Troad), 104, 172, and Hecale, 145–146 Thyrsoi, 113, 115, 197, 301
275, 294, 311 and Helen, 2, 17, 35 Tiamat, 84
Teucer (son of Telamon), 18, 20, and Heracleidae, 130, 159, 167 Tiber, 13, 90, 162, 179, 258, 301
158, 163, 294, 305 and Heracles, 130, 153, 157, Tiberinus, 179, 301
Teucri, 294. See also Troy 253 Tiberius, 31
Teuthrania, 20, 306 and Lycomedes, 194, 276, 298 Tilphussa, 291, 301
Teuthras, 20, 290, 292, 294, 306 and Marathon Bull, 94, 130, Timaeus (Plato), 58
Thalestris, 27 146, 156, 198, 297 Timagoras, 33
Thalia, 211, 294. See also Graces; and Medeä, 11, 180, 200, 297 Timon, 301
Muses and Minotaur, 95, 101, 185, Tiphys, 30, 44
Thamyris, 166, 211, 294 209, 297 Tiryns, 7, 33, 45, 65, 98, 262, 301
Thanatos, 211, 218, 294 and Pallas, 11, 235 Tisamenus, 159, 302
Thargelia, 294 and Phaedra, 46, 165, 246–247, Tisiphone (daughter of
Thasos, 294 298 Alcmaeon), 22, 94, 302
Thaumas, 145 and Poseidon, 10, 17, 29, 165, Tisiphone (Erinnye), 302. See also
Theagenes, 294, 295 247, 260, 296, 298 Erinnyes
Theano (wife of Antenor), 33, and Procrustes, 257, 262, 297 Titanomachia, 23–24, 138–139,
295, 309 and Sinis, 96, 280, 296 207, 302
Theano (wife of Metapontus), 202 See also Theseus’s abduction of and Aloeidae, 26, 48, 123, 232,
Thebaid (Statius), 109 Helen 259
Thebe, 28, 71, 72, 295, 325 Theseus’s abduction of Helen, 2, and Aquila, 41
Thebes, 23, 24, 29, 66, 71, 295. See 17, 35, 60, 80, 109, 116, 147, and Athene, 55, 56, 118, 138,
also Oedipus; Seven Against 252, 256, 298 234
Thebes; Sparti; Thebes, Thesmaphoria, 57, 103, 109, 298 and Atlas, 58, 96, 302, 326
founding of Thespius, 88, 154, 175, 298 and Cyclopes, 96, 98, 326
Thebes, founding of, 56, 66, Thessaly, 46, 81, 298–299 and Dionysos, 51, 114, 280
71–72, 86, 119, 168, 242, 283, Thestius, 189, 203 and Draco, 118
295, 315 Thetis, 3, 73, 85, 210, 217, 297, 299 and Enceladus, 121, 127
Theia, 122, 149, 295–296 Achilles protection attempt, 4, and Epimetheus, 123
Theias, 8 240, 284, 299 and Hecatoncheires, 68, 96,
Themis, 52, 134, 166, 296, 299, 327 and armor of Achilles, 20, 307 123, 228, 302, 326
and Evander, 131 and chaining of Zeus, 38, 68, and Hera, 152
Oracle of, 110, 266 152, 259, 299, 327 and Heracles, 24, 56, 121, 123,
See also Titanomachia; Titans and Eurynome, 129, 299 138, 158, 207, 234, 255, 327
Themisto, 54 and Hephaistos, 129, 150, 299 and Oceanos, 223
Themistocles, 252 and Poseidon, 28, 260, 296, 299 and Thessaly, 299
Theoclymenus, 263 and Themis, 296, 299 and volcanoes, 64, 68, 121, 127,
Theodamus, 167 See also Judgment of Paris 138–139, 219, 228, 232, 255,
Theodosius, 107, 229 Third Punic War, 78 258, 302, 326–327
Theogony (Hesiod), 162, 163, 296, Thisbe, 265, 299 and Zeus, 96, 98, 138, 302,
302 Thoas, 31, 138, 168–169, 299–300, 326–327
Theos, 140 308 See also Typhon’s attack on
Thera, 58, 64, 128 Thrace, 19, 66, 300 Olympus; Uranos, castration
Theron, 209 Dionysos, 63, 64, 113, 114, 119 of
Thersander, 9, 123, 125, 296 Threspotus, 12, 241, 280, 300 Titans, 90, 144, 250, 295, 302
Thersites, 6, 112, 243, 296, Thrinicia, 225, 300 Astraeus, 14, 15, 52, 67, 122,
307–308 Thrugii, 300 163
Theseus, 17, 177, 204, 226, 243, Thugga. See Dougga and Hecatoncheires, 68, 146
296–298 Thule, 300 Hyperion, 122, 149, 168
Index 369
Iapetus, 51, 58, 89, 123, 171 and Ares, 43, 146 Typhon (Typhoeus), 48, 55, 77,
and Zagreus, 302, 325 and Artemis, 18, 49, 61 119, 312–313
See also Cronos; Giants; and Athene, 55, 56 and Mount Etna, 55, 127, 312,
Themis; Titanomachia and Camillus, 75 327
Tithones (Tithonus), 122, 302–303 Cressida, 94 See also Titanomachia; specific
Tityus, 38, 48, 107, 138, 190, 303 and Dionysos, 5, 32, 115, 292, monstrous offspring
Tlepolemus, 303, 305 305, 306 Typhon’s attack on Olympus, 38,
Tlesimenes, 123 and Epigoni, 129, 305 43, 48, 55, 235, 312, 327
Tmolus, 158, 199, 206–207, 228, Helen release requests, 2, 33, and Aphrodite, 36, 253
303 204, 224, 233, 293, 306 See also Titanomachia
Trachiniae. See Women of Trachis and Hera, 152 Tyro, 16, 95, 122, 215–216, 240,
Trachis, 303 and Hesione, 33, 163, 259, 304 260, 281, 313
Tragic hero, and Ate, 53 and judgment of Paris, 36, 41, Tyrrhenus, 313
Trapezus, 64 56, 125–126, 152, 304–305
Tricipitinus, Spurius Lucretius, and Momus, 210 Udaeus, 315. See also Sparti
69, 193, 258, 303. See also Palladium, 12, 33, 57, 224, 234, Ulysses. See Odysseus
Rape of Lucretia 308 Underworld, 143, 144, 315
Trident, 30, 303 and Pelops, 242, 308 Aeneas in, 13, 62, 97, 111, 140,
Trikka, 50 and Zeus, 172 148, 279
Triptolemus, 81, 109, 206, 303 See also Helen; Trojan refugees; as Aides, 20
Tritogeneia, 54. See also Athene Trojan War recruiting; Ascalaphus, 50
Triton, 29, 56, 64, 205, 260, Wrath of Achilles; specific Charon, 4, 85, 144, 315
303–304 heroes Danaides, 103, 168
Triton, Lake, 55, 304 Trojan War recruiting Dis, 117
Troad, 294, 304. See also Troy Achilles, 4–5, 20, 218, 224, 276, and Eleusinian Mysteries, 120
Troezen (Troizen), 10, 17, 55, 165, 299, 305 Heracles in, 8, 22, 50, 83, 156,
259, 304 Neoptolemus, 112, 148, 157, 253, 287, 294
Troia Nova. See Troynovant 216–217, 224, 308 inferi, 174
Troilus, 6, 38, 94, 147, 236, 304 Odysseus, 4–5, 18, 73, 112, 204, judges of, 9, 23, 121, 144, 190,
Troilus and Cressida (Shakespeare), 216, 224, 233, 248, 292, 305, 209, 269, 303, 315
304 306, 308 Lara, 187, 188
Trojan Horse, 2, 18, 293, 304, Philoctetes, 73, 112, 224, 248, Odysseus in, 39, 121, 225
308–309 308 Orpheus in, 39, 129, 231
and Athene, 56, 122, 308, 321 Trophonius, 17, 38, 190, 310 Psyche in, 264
and Cassandra, 39, 56, 79, 186, Tros, 30, 74, 137, 174, 310, 311 Psychopompus, 161
309 Troy, 9, 38, 104, 187, 259, 310–311, rivers of, 4, 90, 144, 190, 249,
and Helen, 148, 309 327 265–266, 284, 315
and Laocoön, 39, 79, 186 and Heracles, 158, 163, 254 Sisyphus, 144, 281
and Neoptolemus, 217, 308 See also Heracles’ sack of Troy; Tityus, 303
and Odysseus, 18, 56, 148, 224, Trojan War See also Cerberus; Hades;
308, 321 Troynovant, 14, 69 Islands of the Blessed;
and Sinon, 18, 280–281 Tullia, 278, 289, 311 Persephone; Pluto; Tartarus
and Sthenelus, 284, 308 Tullius, Servius. See Servius Upelluri, 58
Trojan refugees, 69, 92 Tullius Urania, 211, 284, 315. See also
Aeneas, escape, 3, 12, 13, Tullus Hostilius, 31, 311 Aphrodite; Muses
30–31, 50, 98, 118, 309–310 Turnus, 13, 14, 26, 42, 311. See also Uranos (Uranus), 39, 68, 71, 84,
Antenor and Theano, 33, 295, Aeneas/Turnus battle 315–316. See also Titans;
309 Tyche, 134, 312 Uranos, castration of
Calchas, 73 Tydeus, 56, 112, 202, 226, 312. See Uranos, castration of, 24, 36, 96,
Trojan War, 304–310 also Seven Against Thebes 125, 138, 142, 203, 302, 316
Achaean participation, 3 Tymborychos, 35. See also Ursa Major, 74
Aeneas, 5, 12, 13, 36–37, 80, Aphrodite Ursa Minor, 74
306, 309–310 Tyndareus, 15, 17, 162, 189, 312
Amazons, 6, 27, 146, 243 and Heracles, 158, 164, 312 Vale of Tempe. See Tempe, Vale
and Aphrodite, 36–37, 41, 306, and Leda, 79–80, 89, 116, 147, of
307 189, 255 Valerii, 317
and Apollo, 5, 6, 18, 38, 68 Typhoeus, 138 Varro, 32, 279
370 Index
Vedic mythology, 116, 117 and Phoenix, 250 and Europa, 19, 36, 72, 128,
Vegoia. See Begoe and Polyxena, 5, 6, 18, 68, 217, 141, 290, 328
Veientia, 21 257 and Fates, 210, 327
Veii, 75, 107, 317 and Thersites, 296 and Ganymede, 137, 156, 310,
Vela, 78, 317 328
Venus, 31, 193, 253, 258, 317–318 Xanthus, 145, 275, 323 and Hera, 45, 151, 152, 274, 327
and Aeneas, 14, 35, 111, 181, Xerxes, 67 and Hermes, 39
234, 317 Xuthus, 15, 95, 149, 175–176, 323 and Horae, 166
See also Aphrodite and Iasion, 171
Venus and Adonis (Shakespeare), Zagreus, 302, 325 and Io, 45, 122, 152, 174, 328
36 Zalmoxis, 325 and Iris, 177
Vergilia, 92, 318, 319 Zenobia, 203 and Iynx, 178
Vertumnus, 257, 318 Zephyrus, 14, 15, 38, 52, 67, 145, and Jupiter, 181, 325
Vespasian, 239 166, 325. See also Winds and Leda, 79–80, 116, 147, 189,
Vesper, 163. See also Hesperus Zetes, 44, 67, 73, 249, 325 255
Vesta, 164, 181, 220, 223, 242, 288, Zethus, 10, 28, 34, 71, 72, 117, 295, and Leto, 37, 38, 48, 152, 190,
318. See also Hestia 325 303
Vestal Virgins, 21, 220, 269, 270, Zeus, 153, 325–329 and Lycaon, 42, 67, 193, 194
318 and Achilles, 6 and Memnon, 6, 203, 204
Veturia, 92 and Adonis, 8, 36, 250 and Metis, 55, 96, 206, 223
Victoria, 239, 318 and Aedon, 10 and Minos, 208
Vilvanus, 318 and Aegina, 9, 11, 281, 328 and Momus, 210
Virgil, 31, 47, 319 and aegis, 11, 55 and Muses, 74
Aeneid, 3, 13, 14, 19, 319 and Alcyone, 23 and Niobe, 28, 49, 219
Virgo, 52, 319 and Ammon, 27 and Pan, 235
Virtus, 319 and Anchises, 12, 30 and Pandareus, 236
Volcanalia, 320 and Antiope, 28, 34 and Pelops, 88, 108, 242
Volscians, 318, 319 and Aphrodite, 36 and Persephone, 109
Volscii, 92 and Apollo, 38 and Philemon and Baucis,
Volumnia, 92, 318, 319 and Aquila, 41 64–65, 248
Vulcan (Vulcanus), 61, 71, 150, and Argus, 45, 174 and Philyra, 85, 248
198, 223, 319–320 and Aries, 46, 140, 149 and Pluto, 17, 69
and Aeneas, 14, 234, 320 and Asclepios, 38, 39, 40, 50, and Salmoneus, 273
as Mulciber, 211 228 and Semele, 53, 114, 152, 277,
See also Hephaistos and Astraea, 52 328
Vulci, 320 and Ate, 53 and Serapis, 51, 277–278
and Athene, 55, 206, 263, 304, and Seven Against Thebes, 28,
Wandering Rocks, 321 327 77
Werewolf, 321 and Athens, 80 and Tantalus, 17, 287–288
White Island (Leuce), 34, 121, and Bellerophon, 65, 239 and Teiresias, 152, 291
148, 190 and Briareus, 68 and Telchines, 291
Winds, 14, 15, 17, 52, 61, 67, 122, and Cabiri, 71 and Thetis, 296, 299
129, 192, 219 and Callisto, 42, 49, 74, 294 and Titanomachia, 96, 98, 138,
and Alcyone, 23, 54, 84 and centaurs, 81 302, 326–327
and Hera, 152 and Cephalos, 82 and Tithones, 303
See also Zephyrus chaining of, 38, 68, 152, 259, and Trojan War, 172, 251
Wine, 116. See also Dionysos 299, 327 See also Heracles, birth of;
Women of Trachis (Sophocles), 105 and Charybdis, 85 Jupiter; Zeus, infancy of
Wooden Horse. See Trojan Horse and cornucopia, 92–93 Zeus, infancy of, 26, 92–93, 96, 97,
Works and Days (Hesiod), 162–163 and Danaë, 7, 102, 245, 328 106, 110, 166, 173, 270
Wrath of Achilles, 5, 18, 38, and Demeter, 108 and aegis, 11
68–69, 86, 238–239, 307 and Deucalion, 110 and importance of Crete, 95,
and Ate, 53 and Dioscuri, 79, 80, 116, 256 208
and Athene, 55 and Dodona, 112, 117, 229, 326 and Mother Goddess, 326
and Calchas, 68, 73 and Electra, 120 Zeuxippe, 124
and Myrmidones, 213 and Eros, 43, 328 Ziusudra, 58, 110