Important Classical Figures Flashcards
(222 cards)
1
Q
Mars
A
Italian god of war and the most important god after Jupiter. He was equated with the Greek God Ares and consequently regarded as the son of Juno – the equivalent of the Greek goddess Hera. He was also connected with architecture.
2
Q
Marsyas
A
a satyr or silneus, associated with the Marsyas river. He picked up the flute which the goddess Athene ad thrown away and became a proficient player, challenging Apollo to a musical contest. He lost, and Marsyas was flayed alive. The river sprang from his blood or from the tears of his mourners.
3
Q
Medusa
A
one of the three Gorgons, and the only mortal one. Anyone who looked at her was turned to stone. Killed by Perseus.
4
Q
Melpomene
A
the Greek Muse of tragedy
5
Q
Menelaus
A
king of Sparta and younger brother of Agamemnon. Husband of Helen, and starts the expedition to recover her. In the Iliad, he tries to settle the war by duelling with Paris and overwhelms him, but the latter is rescued by Aphrodite. He also appears in the Odyssey, reconciled with Helen.
6
Q
Mercury
A
in Roman religion, the son of Maia and Jupiter. The god of trade, particularly the corn-trade. He was identified with the Greek god Hermes, and thus also shown to be the god of eloquent speech and represented carrying a herald’s staff.
7
Q
Midas
A
legendary king of Phrygia who wished that all he touch might turn to gold – when he realised this applied to food as well he asked to be relieved of this gift. He was told to wash in the river Pactolus - which ever since has contained sands of gold.
8
Q
Minerva
A
In Roman mythology, Italian goddess of crafts and trade guilds. One of the great Capitoline triad (with Jupiter and Juno). Virgil presents her as a goddess of war as well as of crafts).
9
Q
Minos
A
a king of Crete. To defeat his brothers for the throne, he promised to Poseidon he would kill a bull (who was in fact his mother transformed) – he did not and as such Poseidon cursed his wife (see below). In the Odyssey, he is portrayed as a just leader who became a judge of the dead in the Underworld.
10
Q
Minotaur
A
a creature with the body of a man and head of a bull, dwelling at the centre of the Labyrinth. A result of Poseidon cursing Minos’ wife Pashipae to lust after bulls. Killed by Theseus.
11
Q
Morpheus
A
son of Hypnos (Sleep). The Greek god of dreams.
12
Q
Muses
A
the 9 daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (Memory) – the goddesses of literature, music, and dance (and later of all intellectual pursuits. Artists felt a particularly strong bond to the Muses, attributing them with causing their own gifts.
13
Q
Narcissus
A
a beautiful youth, son of the river god Cephisus. The nyph Echo fell in love with him but was rejected – as punishment for his cruelty, Aphordite made him fall in love with his own image reflected in water leading to his despair; he wasted away until he died, and the gods changed him into a flower of the same name.
14
Q
Nemesis
A
a daughter of Nyx (Night) and the personification of righteous anger (particularly that of the gods at humans). According to some legends she laid the egg out of which Helen of Troy was hatched.
15
Q
Neptune
A
ancient Italian god of the water. Under Greek influence he became a sea-god, identified with Poseidon
16
Q
Nereids
A
the sea-maidens/sea-nymphs, the 50 daughters of Nereus, often accompanying Poseidon. Known to be helpful to sailors. Thetis, mother of Achilles, is a Nereid. They symbolise the beauty of the sea.
17
Q
Nessus
A
a famous centaur killed by Heracles – his tainted blood in turn killed Heracles.
18
Q
Nestor
A
king of Pylos. He lived to a great age – in the Iliad he is represented as having outlived two generations whilst retaining his own health. He is seen as an elder statesman, with much anecdotal long winded advice. In the Odyssey he entertains Telemachus (Odysseus’ son).
19
Q
Niobe
A
daughter of Tantalus, mother of six (or seven) children; boasted of her superiority to the goddess Leto, who had only children. Apollo and Artemis then killed all of Niobe’s children - Niobe wept for them until she turned into a column of stone on Mount Siphylus.
20
Q
Odysseus
A
or Ulysses – the son of Laertes (king of Ithaca). Originally a suitor of Helen, but then married Penelope (daughter of Icarius, king of Sparta). When Helen was taken to Troy, he had to go due to his oath. His story of returning home is told in the Odyssey. When he returned, he appeased his enemy Poseidon (god of the sea) by building a shrine and sacrificing animals there.
21
Q
Oedipus
A
the son of Laius (king of Thebes). Supposed to have been killed on Mount Cithaeron but instead given by a servant to a shepherd, who gave them to Polybus (king of Corinth) and Merope his queen, who brought him up as their own. He was told he would marry his mother and kill his father – he decided never to return to Corinth. By change he met Laius whom he killed after a quarrel, married his mother and had four children. When it was discovered that he had married his mother, she hung herself and Oedipus blinded himself.
22
Q
Oenone
A
nymph of Mound Ida near Troy, loved by Paris before he knew that he was a prince. She tried to persuade him not to sail to Greece, as she had prophetic powers and knew the outcome. When Paris was shot, he appealed to her to help but she refused – soon after she repented, but he was already dead. In her grief, she hanged herself.
23
Q
Olympus
A
the highest mountain in Greece, believed to be where the 12 gods had built their houses (by the god Hephaestus) with Zeus occupying the summit
24
Q
Orestes
A
son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. Brother of Iphigeneia and Electra. He killed his more Clytemnestra and her lover and was driven mad by the Furies for this. Electra nurses him whilst they await punishment for their crime (death sentence is expected). Menelaus and Helen, on their way home from Troy, appear but are too cowardly to help them. He and Electra plot to kill Helen and abduct their daughter Hermione – however Apollo appears and dictates a pacification, explaining that it is Orestes’ destiny to be tried and freed at Athens and marry Hermione, becoming ruler of Argos.
25
Orpheus
a pre-Homeric poet. Assoicated with the expeditionof the Argonauts – his singing helped them resist the Sirens’ lure. He married Eurydice, who died – when Orpheus went to the underworld to revover her, he induced Persephone to let her go due to his music – however the condition was he should not look back at her as she followed him, which he failed to do and as such Eurydice disappeared forever. Later he was burdered and his severed head reached the island of Lesbos, the home of lyrical poetry, where it was buried.
26
Pallas
Title of the greek goddess Athena; also (i) a titan; (ii) a giant; (iii) an Attic hero; (iv) a hero who figures in the story of the founding of Rome; (v) son of Evander who is killed in the war against the Italians.
27
Pan
Greek god of shepherds and flocks. Has a human torso and arms, but the legs/ears/horns of a goat. Son of Hermes. Associated with the story of Syrinx and invention of the musical pipe.
28
Pandarus
in the Illiad, leader of the Trojans of the foot of Mount Ida. He breaks the truce by wonding Menelaus with an arrow, and is eventually killed by Diomedes
29
Pandora
the first woman, sent as punishment for Prometheus’ gift of fire to Earth. Each God helped create her by giving her unique gifts. She opened a jar containing all of the evils of the world. The myth is a theodicy – explaining the existence of evil in the world.
30
Paris
son of Priam (king of Troy). Menelaus (king of Sparta)’s wife Helen fell in love with him and they fled to Troy, bringing about the Trojan War. He is portrayed as affectedly bold but in reality unable to withstand the onslaught of Menelaus. Died at the fall of Troy from an arrow from Philoctetes bow (which had belonged to Heracles).
31
Parnassus
a mountain in Greece, seen as sacred and associated with the worship of Apollo and the Muses.
32
Pasiphae
wife of Minos (king of Crete), daughter of Helios (Sun). When Minos refused to sacrifice to Poseidon she was cursed with a passion for the bull to punish him. Subsequently became mother of the Minotaur (part bull, part man).
33
Patroclus
in Homer’s Illiad, the favourite companion of Achilles
34
Pelops
son of the Lydian king Tantalus. Founder of the Pelopid family. He was expelled from Troy. 2 main stories: 1) his father Tantalus killed him in a test of the gods, after which he was restored and granted an ivory shoulder (as Demeter had eaten this part). 2) Pelops bribed the king’s charioteer in order to win a race for the hand of Hippodameia. He reneged on his promise to pay the person he bribed and as such was cursed.
35
Penelope
in the Odyssey – daughter of Icarius of Parta, wife of Odysseus. She faithfully awaits her husband’s return from his 20 year absence – pretends she cannot remarry until she has woven a shroud, which she unravels every night.
36
Penthesilea
queen of the Amazons – she came to the aid of Troy after the death of Hector. She fought well but was eventually killed by Achilles, who grieved over her body.
37
Persephone
the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, snatched away by Hades to be queen of the Underworld. She could not be entirely released as she had eaten some pomegranate seeds – it was arranged that she should spend eight (or six) months of the year on earth, and the rest with Hades.
38
Perseus
legendary founder of Mycenae and the Perseid dynasty of Danaans. Beheaded the Gorgon Medusa, and saved Andromeda from the sea-monster Cetus. Son of Zeus, great-grandfather of Heracles.
39
Phaedra
daughter of Minos (the king of Crete) and Pasiphae, wife of Thesus king of Athens. She becomes ill, choosing to starve herself due to her amorous love for her son Hippolytus. Hangs herself, and lies that Hippolytus raped her – leading to his exile and subsequent death.
40
Phaethon
son of Helios (Sun) and Clymene. When he grew up he found his father who offered him a choice of gift – he chose to drive his father’s chariot for a day (despite Helios’ warnings) and fell into the river Eridanus. His sisters wept for hum until they were turned into poplar trees and their tears into amber.
41
Philoctetes
son of Poeas (who had been persuaded by Heracles to light the pyre which burnt him alive). On the way to Troy, he was bitten by a serpent and subsequently abandoned on the island of Lemnos. He was brought back to Troy after a revelation by the Trojan seer Helenus to Odysseus, and Philoctetes shot Paris thus helping to conquer Troy.
42
Philomel(a)
the princess of Athens, along with her sister Procne. Tereus fell in love with her, raped her, and cut out her tongue, but she communicated this to her sister via a tapestry. Procne then killed Tereus’ son Itys and fed him to his father. Afterwards, she was changed into a swallow (as she had no tongue).
43
Phlegethon
One of the rivers of the underworld
44
Pheobus
also known as Apollo. He represents the ideal of the ‘kouros’ ( a beardless, athletic youth). The son of Zeus and Leto, and brother to Artemis. He is the god of music, truth and prophecy, healing and medicine, the sun and light, plague, and poetry.
45
Phoenix
(i) The son of Amyntor, a king in Thessaly. His mother persuded him to seduce his father’s concubine due to her jealousy. In retaliation his father cursed him to be childless. He left home and was subsequently charged with the care of the child Achilles. In the Trojan War, he was one of the ambassadors send to propose Agamemnon’s reconciliation to Achilles. (ii) the ancestor of the Phonicians, king of Tyre.
46
Pierian
another name for the cult of the muses - it was said to have been brought from Pieria, a district of Macedonia (on the slopes of Mount Olympus)
47
Pluto
(i) a name of Hades god of the Underworld, meaning ‘the wealth-giver’ (as wealth comes from the earth. (ii) the name of a Titaness, mother of Tantalus
48
Polyxena
a daughter of Priam (king of Troy) and his wife Hecuba.
49
Polyphemus
a cyclops, son of Poseidon. He is portrayed in the Odyssey as one of a race of davage, one eyed giants. Odysseus destroys his eye.
50
Poseidon
the god of earthquakes and later of the sea. Associated also with horses. Brother of Zeus and Hades, whusbrand of Amphitrite. His son is Triton. The Romans identified him with the war-god Neptune.
51
Priam
son of Leomedon (king of Troy at the time of the Trojan war). Father of 50 sons and many saughters. Name became almost proverbial for someone who had seen the best and worst of fortunes (many of his sons have died by the Aeneid).
52
Procne
Philomela’s elder sister in the tale of Philomela and Tereus.
53
Procrustes
legendary brigand said to be the sn of Poseidon. He ensnared strangers before either cutting short their limbs or racking them to make them fit a bed. Thesus applied his own treatment to him, cutting off his head.
54
Prometheus
‘forethinker’ – a Titan, thought of as the champion of mankind against the hostility of the gods. Gave humans the gift of fire, as well as many arts and sciences. Punished by Zeus sending Pandora and her box to his brother, but also by having an eagle feed daily on his liver (until he was released by Heracles)
55
Proserpine/a
perhaps an Italian goddess of the earth, or possibly an adaptation of the Greek Persephone (with whom Proserpina in Roman religion was identified). Had a cult in Rome.
56
Proteus
a minor sea-god in Homer’s Odyssey, who: herds the seals; knows all thinks; can assume different shapes.
57
Psyche
‘Soul’. The woman who became Cupid’s lover after Venus’ jealous plot. Cupid placed her in a palace but forbade him to attempt to see her – she disobeyed him and left her. Psyche was distraught and sought out her lover – Venus created various superhuman tasks for her to complete, which she did with the assistance of natural forces. All but the last tasks were completed, as Psyche was overcame by curiosity and she opened the ‘casket of beauty’ which actually contained eternal deadly sleep. Jupiter, after being begged by Cupid, then assented to their marriage and they were brought to heaven. (often seen as an allegory of the soul’s union with the divine after death)
58
Pygmalion
legendary king of Cyprus who fell in love with a beautiful statue (who Ovid claimed he made himself), He prayed to Aphrodite to give him a wife resembling the statue – she gave the statue life and they married.
59
Pyramus
Pyramus and Thisbe were hero and heroine of a love story known by Ovid. The two lovers were forbidden by their parents to marry, but finally arrancged to meet at the tomb of Nisus outside the city walls underneath a white mulberry tree. A lion mauled Thisbe’s shawl, Pyramus thought her dead and killed himself, followed by Thisbe. Their blood flowed to the roots of the mulberry tree making its fruit dark red – their parents buried their ashes in a single urn.
60
Romulus/Remus
the sons of the Vestal Virgin, Rhea Silvia, and Mars, and twin brothers. They were abandoned to die in the Tiber, but survived due to miraculous interventions. They quarrelled whilst founding cities, and Remus was killed. Romulus then founded Rome.
61
Sabine Women
associated with the rape of the sabine women (though may be more correctly translated as ‘abduction’) – the first generation of Roman men acquired wives from the neighbouring Sabine families.
62
Salmacis
a rebellious/atypical nymph. She was vain and idle. In the Metamorphoses, she attempts to rape Hermaphroditus – the only nymph to attempt rape
63
Saturn
ancient Italian god who may have been a blight-god, but may also be a seed-god/god of sowing.
64
Satyrs
attendants of the god Dinoysus, boisterous creatures of the woods and hills – mainly of human form but with some bestial aspect (such as a tail). They are lustful and fond of revelry.
65
Scylla
2) originally human but transformed into a monster by a rival in love. Has six heads, each with a triple row of teeth, and twelve feet; 2) daughter of the king of Megara, who killed Nisus
66
Sibyl
general name given to Greek and Roman prophetesses
67
Sinon
a Greek warrior during the war with Troy, who persuaded the Trojans that the Trojan Horse was a gift – thus cementing Troy’s downfall.
68
Sirens
females who had the power to draw men to them with their song.
69
Sisyphus
: founder of the city of Corinth, the most cunning of men., Zeus sent Death for him, but Sisyphus chained Death up in a dungeon. Mortals ceased to die and so in panic the gods released death. Sisyphus again outwitted him and resumed his life on Earth, living to a great age, but when he died he was given the famous punishment of rolling a rock up a hill which always fell just before it reached the summit.
70
Sphinx
a monster usually depicted with the head of the woman on the body of a winged lion.
71
Styx
: ‘the abbhorent’ – the pirincipal river of the Underworld in which the souls of the dead were ferried across by Charon.
72
Syrinx
a nymph and follower of Artemis, known for her chasitity. Pursued by the amorous Greek god Pan, turned into reeds by the river nymphs as an escape, but then cut into a set of pan pipes by him
73
Tantalus
son of Zeus and the Titaness Pluto (‘wealth’). He married Dione, saughter of Atlas, and fathered Niobe and Pelops – he is thus the ancestor of the Pelopidae. He offended the gods and was punished in Tartatus by being eternally thirsty and hungry.
74
Tarquin
name of two of the semi-legendary Kings of Rome. Seen by some as tyrants, expelled by Brutus from Rome.
75
Tartarus
an elemental deity, son of Aither (Sky) and Gaia (Earth). Also describes art of the underworls where the wicked suffer punishment for their misdeeds, especially those who committed crimes against the Gods.
76
Telemachus
the son of Odysseus and Penelope – takes command of the house at the end of the Odyssey to fight against the suitors of his mother.
77
Tempe
the Vale of Tempe, where the Gods gathered.
78
Tereus
a Theracian king, who raped his wife’s sister Philomela. He then cut her tongue out and held her captive to stop her telling anyone. In revenge, her sister Procne killed Tereus’ son Itys and fed him to his father in a meal. Tereus tried to kill them both, but all three were transformed into birds – Tereus became a hoopoe.
79
Terpsichore
the muse of (choral) dancing
80
Thalia
the muse of comedy and idyllic poetry – her name means ‘flourishing’. Daughter of Zeus
81
Thebes
: 1) the principla city of Boestia in Greece, overshadowed only by Athens and Sparta. Seen by Sophocles as ‘the only city where moral women are the mothers of gods’. 2) Greek name of a city of Upper Egypt which became capital of Egypt around 2000BC.
82
Theseus
the national hero of Athens, son of Aegeus (king of Athens) or the sea god Poseidon. Became king of Athens and is credited for bringing about the union (synoecism) of the various Attic communities into one state with Athens as the capital city. Probably mythological, but believed by Athenians to have been one of their earliest Kings. Killed the Minotaur.
83
Thetis
in Greek mythology, a sea nymph or goddess of the water. One of the earliest deities worshipped. Achilles’ mother.
84
Thisbe
Pyramus and Thisbe were hero and heroine of a love story known by Ovid. The two lovers were forbidden by their parents to marry, but finally arrancged to meet at the tomb of Nisus outside the city walls underneath a white mulberry tree. A lion mauled Thisbe’s shawl, Pyramus thought her dead and killed himself, followed by Thisbe. Their blood flowed to the roots of the mulberry tree making its fruit dark red – their parents buried their ashes in a single urn
85
Thyestes
(i) a Roman tragedy by Seneca; (ii) son of the Lydian king Tantalus and founder of the Pelopid family. Two main stories about him – 1) his father killed and fed him to the gods at a banquet; Demeter ate part of the shoulder, but all the other gods detected the nature of the dish and brought him back to life, replacing the missing shoulder with an ivory one. 2) Pelops saught to marry Hippodamia, daughter of the king of Elis – he bribed Myrtilus, the king’s charioteer, so that he could win the horse race for her hand. However he reneged this bribe and cursed him leading to a curse upon his house. He is also known as Pelops.
86
Tiber
: the chief river of central Italy. Rome stood on its left bank.
87
Tiresias (aka Teiresias)
in Greek myth, the blind Thebian seer. Consulted by Odysseus in the Odyssey, and also figures in Oedipus Tyrannus.
88
Titans
in Greek myth, the oldr gods of the generation preceding the Olympian gods. Children of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaia (Earth). According to Hesiod there were 12 Titans (6 sons, 6 daughters). When Zeus (compelled by his mother Rhea) forced Cronus to disgorge his other children, battle between the Titans and Zeus/his siblings ensued. The Titans lost and were imprisoned in Tartarus, guarded by the Hecatoncheries. (it is sometimes thought that eventually Zeus freed the Titans.)
89
Tithonus
in Greek myth, the son of Laomedon. King of Troy, brother of Priam. Fathered Emathion and Memnon with the goddess Eos (Dawn). Eos obtained immortality for him but forgot to ask also for eternal youth – he therefore became an old shrivelled man (and according to some mythology a cicada).
90
Tityus
in Greek myth, the Giant son of Gaia (Earth), killed for assaulting the Ggoddess Leto. Odysseus (the Odyssey, Book 11) sees him lying in the Underworld with two vultures tearing at his liver.
91
Troilus
in Greek myth, the younger son of Priam (king of Troy) and Hecuba – mentioned in Illiad, as he was already killed by Achilles
92
Troy
an ancient city also known as Illium – its siege by the Greeks for the recovery of Helen is the subject of the Illiad.
93
Turnus
Italian hero in Virgils’ Aeneid. Son of Daunus and the nymph Venilia, brother of the nymph Juturna. King of the Rutulians. He was the suitor of Lavinia, saughter of the kind Latinus – the Latins and Rutulians fought the Trojans, and despite being saved twice by Juno he was finally killed bt Aeneas.
94
Ulysses
see Odysseus – the son of Laertes (king of Ithaca). Originally a suitor of Helen, but then married Penelope (daughter of Icarius, king of Sparta). When Helen was taken to Troy, he had to go due to his oath. His story of returning home is told in the Odyssey. When he returned, he appeased his enemy Poseidon (god of the sea) by building a shrine and sacrificing animals there.
95
Urania
i) one of the Muses; (ii) title of the goddess Aphrodite, describing her as ‘heavenly’ or spiritual (distinguishing her from Aphrodite Pandemos, or vulgar love).
96
Uranus
Heaven in Greek myth or the personification of the heavens. Uranus and Gaia (Earth) were the primeval parents in Greek cosmogony. Tried to prevent his children from being born – Gaia called upon her son Cronus to help, and he castrated his father with a sickle (representing the separation of heaven and Earth), allowing his children to be born. After this he diminished from importance. Aphrodite was born from his genitals being flung into the sea by Cronus
97
Venus
virtually nothing known of her (originally Italian), but her name means ‘charm/beauty’ and she seemed to preside over the fertility of vegetable gardens. In Rome she became identified with and acquired the mythology of the goddess Aphrodite, the goddess of love.
98
Vulcan
: the god of fire, potentially a god of the smithy. An early Roman deity, later identified with the Greek god Hephaestus.
99
Zephyr
the personification of the west wind. Sometimes said to be husband of Iris, goddess of the rainbow.
100
Zeus
the main deity of the Greek pantheon – ‘the father of gods and men - and the only major Greek God. The son of Cronus, whom he dethroned, and Rhea. Married to Hera. Had his court on Mount Olympus. Controls the thunderbolt, symbolic of his irresistible power over both gods and men. He must be supplicated to grant victory in war; he is the protector of political freedoms. To participate in his festival at Olympia asserted his supreme position and the unity of all who worshipped him.
101
Achilles
only son of the moral Peleus (king of Phthia in Thessaly), and of Thetis (sea-nymph, daughter of Nereus). Chief hero on the Greek side in the Trojan War; the Iliad is based on his ungovernable anger and pride, which leads to him refusing to fight, until he feels to grief of the loss of his friend Patroclus and reconciles with Agamemnon, killing Hector. He is viewed as more savage than other Greeks: his treatment of Hector’s body, and the sacrifice of Trojan prisoners at Patroclus’ funeral, are both seen as evil deeds. He seems to have no respect for gods. Later authors added to the legend – notably his heel, and the death wound he would receive from Paris.
102
Actaeon
in Greek myth, son of Aristaeus and Autonoe, daughter of Cadmus. The goddess Artemis changed him into a stag and he was torn to pieces by his own hounds, either because he claimed to be better than her at hunting or because he came across her bathing.
103
Adonis
: a beautiful youth, son of Cinyras (King of Cyprus) by his daughter Zmyrna or Myrrha. Their union was caused by Aphrodite in revenge for Zmyrna’s refusal to honour her; her father was about to kill her, but the gods turned her into a myrrh tree from which Adonis was born. He was beautiful and Aphrodite fell in love with him; one story is that Zeus put him in a chest and shared him between Persephone and Aphrodite; another is that he was raised by nymphs and Aphrodite fell in love with him whilst he hunted, and he was killed by a wild boar – from his tears the rose was created. It is a vegetation myth – the god dies every year and is restored with the new crops.
104
Aeneas
One of the Trojan leaders in the Trojan War (son of Anchises and the godesss Aphrodite), the subject of Virgil’s Aeneid. In the Iliad he is not depicted as an outstanding hero, but the Greek God Poseidon prophesises that he and his descendants will rule over the Trojans. Hence after Homer the legend of his flight from the ruined Troy developed. Rome developed this as a tale of the founder of the Romans, and as such when Pyrrhus launched his attack against Rome in 281BC he saw himself as the descendant of Achilles attacking a colony of Troy. The story of Rome’s Trojan origin was fused in the 3rd century BC with the tale of Romulus. From this Virgil’s tale emerged – he described Aeneas as dutiful, aware of his heavy destiny as founder of Rome, obedient to the will of the gods, a devoted father and son, and a responsible leader.
105
Aeolus
In the Odyssey, the son of Hippotes (a mortal and friend to the gods), to whom Zeus gave control of the winds. He was later thought of as the god of the winds, living on the floating island of Aeolia. He receives Odysseus hospitably, giving him a leather bag in which the winds which would mar his voyage were sealed.
106
Agamemnon
King of Mycenae/Argos, son of Atreus, brother of Menelaus, hustband of Clymenestra. Head of the Greke forces in the Trojan war. Portrayed in the Iliad as a valiant and passionate fighter but who is too easily dissuaded, with no real purpose. In the Odyssey, he was feasted in the palace of his wife’s lover, and then murdered by them both (with his captive Cassandra).
107
Ajax
(i) Son of Telamon, king of Salamis, and Eriboea or Periboea. Called Telamonian Ajax or the Greater Ajax. Leader of the Salaminians who joined the Greeks at the siege of Troy. Represented in the Iliad as of great size and courage.
(ii) Ajax the Lesser, the captain of the Locrian reliant on the Greek side at the Trojan siege. The fastest runner, brave but arrogant and hated by the gods. Killed by the sea-god Poseidon on the way home from Troy for claiming that he had escaped from a shipwreck without divine aid.
108
Amazons
legendary nation of female warriors, supposed to have lived in the times of the heroes. Their name supposedly means ‘breastless’, as the legend states their custom of cutting off the right breast so the arms could be used in battle. They hunt and fight, always from horseback. They rear only their daughters, having children with neighbouring tribes.
109
Ambrosia
the mythical food and drink of the gods, associated with divine immortality – a man who drank it became immortal, and it prevented corpses from decay.
110
Anchises
a Trojan prince, great-grandson of Tros. Aphrodite fell in love with him, and the child of their union was Aeneas. In the Aeneid he is carried from burning Troy on his son’s shoulders.
111
Andromache
wife of Hector. Her father and brother were killed by Achilles and her mother was taken prisoner and ransomed. Her son Astyanax was put to the death by the Greeks after Troy fell, and she was given to Neoptolemus (to whom she bore three sons).
112
Andromeda
daughter of Cepheus (king of the Ethiopians) and his wife Cassiopeia. Cassiopeia offended the Nereids (sea-nymphs) by boasting that Andromeda was more beautiful than they. The Nereids complained to Poseidon, who sent a sea-monster. Andromeda was tied to a rock in sacrifice to appease it. However, Perseus changed the monster to stone with a Gorgon’s head, and married Andromeda (after stoning her uncle Phineus who had been betrothed to her).
113
Antigone
One of the four children of Oedipus by his mother Jocasta. She accompanied the blind Oedipus after his banishment from Thebes, and when Oedipus’ sons Polyneices and Eteocles killed each other and Jocasta’s brother Creon (now King of Thebes) forbade the burial of Polyneices (as he was the aggressor), Antigone gave the body a token burial. When this was discovered, Antigone was ordered by Creon to be walled up alive in a tomb (despite being betrothed to his son Haemon). Antigone then hung herself, and Haemon stabbed himself besides her body.
114
Aphrodite
Greek goddess of love, beauty, and fertility. To Homer she is the child of Zeus and Dione, probably from Cyprus. (To Hesiod she sprang from the foam of the sea from the severed parts of the god Uranus when he was castrated by his son Cronus.) Primarily a goddess of love, but also a protector of sailors and a goddess of war.
115
Apollo
the son of Zeus and Leto, and twin brother of Artemis. Embodied youthful but mature male beauty and moral excellence, associated with the beneficent aspects of civilization (giving the ideal of the beautiful, athletic, virtuous, cultivated young man). God of the plague, but also of healing, music, archery, and prophecy, light, the care of flocks and herds. To birth him and Artemis, his mother was transformed into a quail.
In Roman mythology, the god of oracles and prophecy
116
Arachne
a woman of Lydia who challenged the goddess Athena to a contest in weaving. She depicted in her web the armours of the gods – Athena was angered and tore the web to pieces, beating the weaver. Arachne hanged herself in despair, but Athena turned her into a spider.
117
Arcadia
a mountainous region of Greece in the centre of the Peloponnese. Preserved remarkable myths and cults, especially of Hermes and Pan.
118
Argonauts
the heroes who sailed on the ship Argo with Jason to recover the Golden Fleece, as Jason was the rightful kind of Iolcus in Thessally but had been usurped by Aeson’s half-brother Pelias.
119
Argus
In Greek myth, the herdsman that Hera set to watch Io, given the epithet Panoptes because he had eyes all over his body; when Hermes killed him, Hera placed his eyes in the peacock’s tail. May also refer to the craftsman who built the ship Argo, or the dog in Homer’s Odyssey who died on the return of his master Odysseus.
120
Ariadne
in Greek myth, the daughter of Minos and Pasiphae. When Thesus came to Crete she fell in love with him, providing him with the threat by which he found his way out of the Minotaur’s labyrinth. He took her with him, but abandoned her on the island of Dia where the god Dionysus found her, married her, and made her immortal.
121
Artemis
in Greek myth, the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and twin sister of Apollo. By origin a goddess of wildlife, associated with women in cities in worship. Goddess of fertility and childbirth, but also the virgin huntress whose arrow causes sudden death in childbirth. Slayed Orion; associated with Hippolytus and the death of Callisto. In the Iliad, beaten by Hera with her own bow. To birth her and Apollo, her mother was transformed into a quail.
Known as Diana in Roman mythology.
122
Ascanius
in Roman legend, son of Aeneas and (according to Virgil) the Trojan princess Creusa; followed his father to Italy after the fall of Troy.
123
Astraea
‘starry maiden’, the constellation Virgo – identified with Justice, the last god to leave the earth. She lived among men in the Golden Age, in the mountain sin the Silver Age, and finally feld to heaven during the wickedness of the Bronze Age.
124
Atalanta
in Greek myth, daughter either of Iasos or Schoeneus, her mother was Clymene. She was a huntress averse to marriage. Loved by Meleger. She refused to marry any man who could not defeat her in a race, and any suitor whom she defeated was put to death. Hippomenes took up the challenge, and on the advice of Athena dropped three golden apples during the race which Atalanta picked up, thus losing the race. Their son was Parthenopaeus.
125
Athena
the patron goddess of Athens. A war goddess, as well as of arts and crafts, especially spinning and weaving – thus the personification of wisdom. Also inventor of musical instrument the aulos (a flute). Birth - -after Zeus swallowed Metis for fear of a prophecy, Hephaestus opened Zeus’s head with an axe after complaints of headaches and Athena emerged fully armed. Regularly regarded as a virgin. Often has an owl sitting on her shoulder.
126
Atlantis
huge mythical island, name derived from Atlas. Its empire supposedly was defeated by the Athenians in prehistoric times, and was then swallowed up in great earthquakes and floods.
127
Atlas
in Greek myth, a Titan, son of Iapetus and Clymene, married the Oceanid Pleione. Name means ‘he who carries/endures’. In Homer, he is the father of Calypso, usually his daughers are the Pleiades. Guardian of the pillars of heaven; later, as a punishment for his part in the revolt of the Titans he had to hold up the sky himself. A later tale tells that Perseus turned him into stole with the Gorgon’s head.
128
Atreus
in Greek myth, one of the sons of Pelops; king of Mycenae, father of Agamemnon. After Pelops was cursd, each generation of the family came to disaster. Atreus served up to his brother Thyestes the flesh of his own children at a feast, as punishment for his brother aspiring to his kingship.
129
Aurora
also known as Eos. The dawn-goddess. Ovid cals her a daughter of Pallas the Titan, and sister of Helios (Sun) and Selene (Moon). Carried off youths celebrated for their beauty, including Orion whom Artemis killed.
130
Bacchae
‘women of Bacchus’, female celebrant sof the rites of Bacchus/Dionysus. Greek tragedy writted by Euripedes, first produced in Athens probably in 405BC. About the worship of Dionysus, the power beyond good and evil, and the fate of those who resist him.
131
Bacchus
alternative name for the Greek god Dionysus (in Latin). Son of Zeus and Semele (the daughter of Cadmus king of Thebes). Hera persuaded Semele to ask Zeus to visit and have intercourse with her as a full god - she was consumed by his lightning, but he rescued the unborn child Dionysus and placed him in his thigh, from which he was born. The god of wine and ecstasy. Has two sides – both a soother, and possessed worshippers and dire results (e.g. tale of consumption of animal flesh). Characteristic of the cult of Dionysus is the mask, a symbol of the surrender and transformation of identity. Often represented as a rather effeminate youth with grapes or a wine-cup. He had festivals, Dionysia and Lenaea, at which the dithyrambic form of tragedy and comedy were performed.
132
Boreas
the North wind’ – in Greek myth, son of the Titan Astraios (‘starry one’) and Eos (‘dawn’). He carried off the nympth Oreithya (daughter of Erechteus, an early king of Athens) and so was thought by early Athenians to be connected with them, and so he had a state cult in Athens. Father of Zetes and Calais (from the Argonauts).
133
Calchas
the seer on the Greek Army in the Trojan War. At the opening of the Iliad he reveals the reason for the camp’s plague. Included in post-Homeric works about the fall of Troy.
134
Calliope
: ‘fair voice’, one of the Muses in Greek and Roman myth. The Muse of epic poetry, often depicted with writing tablet and stylus. Orpheus is sometimes said to be her son.
135
Calypso
in Greek myth, a goddess or nymph, the daughter of Atlas. She lived on the island of Ogygia where Odysseus was washed up after being shipwrecked; she kept him there for seven years, promising to make him immortal if he became her husband, but Zeus sent Herms to order her to release him after which she gave him materials to his own boat. Some myths say she had a son with Odysseus, Auson, the eponymous ancestor of the Ausonians of Italy.
136
Cassandra
also called Alexandra. In Greek myth, the prophetic daughter of Priam, king of Troy, and Hecuba his wife. Homer does not mention her prophetic gifts but calls her the most beautiful of Priam’s daughters. According to a later tradition she was loved by Apollo and given the gift of prophecy, but when she refused to return his love he cursed her with never having anyone believe it. In Greek tragedy she appears in this role, vainly foretelling the fall of Troy. Due to her rape by Ajax the Locrian in the Temple of Athena, the Locrians were obliged to send two maidens to Troy every year for a thousand years to serve as slaves in Athena’s temple. After the sack of Troy, Cassandra was awarded to Agamemnon as his concubine, but was murdered by his wife Clymenestra on their return to Mycenae.
137
Castalian Spring
: in Greek myth, a spring on Mount Parnassus near Delpi, held sacred to Apollo and the Muses after Castalia, the nymph, threw herself into the spring when chased by Apollo. All who wished to consult the Delphic Oracle were required to cleanse themselves in the spring. To Rthe Romans, ‘drinking the waters of Castalia’ signified poetic inspiration, since Apollo was the god of poetry.
138
Centaurs
in Greek Myth, half-horse half-man said to be the offspring of Ixion and Nephele (‘cloud’), who lived on Mount Pelion in Thessaly and symbolised the appetites of animal nature (potentially barbarianism). When their neighbours the Lapiths held a wedding feast, the centaurs tried to carry off the bride Hippodamia and other women; they were then driven from Thessaly to the Peloponnese.
139
Cerberus
in Greek myth, monstrous dog guarding the entrance to the Underworld. The offspring of Typhon and Echidna. He had three (or in some myths 50) heads and a mane/tail of snakes. Heracles had to drag Cerberus out of the underworld, show him to Eurystheus, and then return him as one of his labours. On Aeneas’ descent, he was told to drug him with a specially prepared cake.
140
Ceres
a Roman divinity representing the generative power of nature, in later times identified with the Greek Demeter. In cult she was associated with Tellus the earth-goddess. Her worship at Rome was very ancient, and she was worshipped at the festival of the Cerialia (held on 19th April). As she was a deity of the earth, she also received sacrifices after a funeral as a means of purifying the house of the deceased.
141
Ceyx
in Greek myth, husband of Alcyone and son of Eosphorus the Morning Star. Ceyx and Alcyone were very happy, and compared their love to that of Zeus and Hera. This angered Zeus who threw a thunderbolt at Ceyx’s ship. In her grief Alycone threw herself into the sea. Out of compassion the gods changed the pair into halcyon birds.
142
Charon
in Greek myth, the ferryman who conveyed the dead in his boat across the river Styx to the Underworld, as long as they had received the proper rites of burial and paid the fair (an obol, placed in the mouth of the corpse). Unknown to Homer but mentioned by Virgil.
143
Charybdis
in Greek legend, a whirlpool in a narrow channel of water traditionally sited in the Straits of Messina. Homer pictured it as a female monster in the Odyssey – Odysseus had to choose between avoiding Scylla and Charybdis and as such the two have become proverbial to describe to equally unpleasant alternatives.
144
Circe
in Homer’s Odyssey, a goddess living on the fabulous island of Aenea, who turned Odysseus’ men into swine. Odysseus resisted her magic due to the holy herb mole. The daughter of Helios and Perse; the mother of two or three sons by Odysseus.
145
Clytemnestra
in Greek myth, daughter of Tyndarus king of Sparta and Leda; sister of Helen of Troy. She married Agamemnon. During Agamemnon’s absence in the Trojan was she took Aegisthus as lover, and upon Agamemnon’s return with Cassandra she killed them both. When Oretes, her son, reached manhood he killed his mother and Aegisthus.
146
Creon
: ‘prince’, name given to several figures in Greek myth; compare Creusa ‘princess’. Also – King of Corinth, with whom Jason and Medea took refuge; Jason abandoned Medea in favour of marriage with the king’s daughter and in revenge Medea contrived the death of father and daughter. 2) Brother of Jocasta, the wife of Oedipus, king of Thebes. He ruled Thebes on three occasions – after Laius’ death, after Oedipus’ downfall, and after the death of Oedipus’ son Eteocles. He gave his daughter Megara in marriage to Heracles.
147
Cressida
appears in many later retellings of the Trojan War. She is the Trojan daughter of Calchas (a Greek seer); she falls in love with Troilus, the younger son of King Priam, but later forms a liason with the Greek warrior Diomedes. Now seen as archetype of the unfaithful lover.
148
Cupid
the Roman god of love, son of Venus and Vulcan; an adaptation of the Greek god Eros. Venus sends him to take the place of Ascanius in Virgil’s Aeneid, and to excite the love of Dido for Aeneas.
149
Cyclops
a) one-eyed monsters in Greek myth, who dwelled on an distant island; visited by Odysseus who found a cave of Polyphemus, who he later blinded. According to Hesiod they were the sons of Uranus (heaven) and Gaia (Earth), who made the thunderbolts of Zeus and aided him against the Titans. B) a drama by Euripedes about the captured Greek god Dionysus who is rescued by Silenus.
150
Daedalus
‘cunning worker’, a legendary Athenian craftsman and inventor, thought to have lived in the age of Minos. Due to his fear that his nephew and pupil Talos would outdo him, Daedalus threw hum from the Acropolis/into the sea; he then fled to Crete where he constructed the labyrinth for king Minos. Minos would not let him go and so he made wings for himself and his son Icarus (who flew too close to the sun).
151
Daphne
‘laurel’ in Greek myth, a nymph (daughter of a river god). She was a huntress who wanted no lovers, but was persued by Leucippus, who was then killed. She also rejected the love of the god Apollo and fled from him; she was thereupon turned into a laurel tree. Also present in Roman myth (Book I, Metamorphoses).
152
Demeter
in Greek myth, daughter of Cronus and Rhea, sister of Zeus. A corn-goddess and patron of agriculture. Had the child Persephone with Zeus. Demeter sought her daughter all over the world afer she was kidnapped; the earth became barren due to her neglect of it.
153
Deucalion
in Greek myth, son of Prometheus. When Zeus, in anger at the crime sof men, planned to destroy humans in a flood, Deucalion was warned by Prometheus and thus built a boat for himself and his wife Pyrrha. They survived and were advised by an oracle to throw their mother’s bones over their shoulder. They realised that this meant the stones of the earth; the stones thrown by Deucalion became men, by Pyrrha women. Subsequently Deucalion and Pyrrha became the parents of Hellen, the eponymous founder of the Greeks.
154
Diana
Roman goddess of woodlands and wild nature, and protector of women. Identified with the Greek Artemis. Her cult was widespread in Italy. May have been thought of as a moon goddess. She was worshipped a crossroads, giving her the title ‘Trivia’ (place where three roads meet).
155
Dido
legendary daughter of a king of Tyre ; married to her uncle Sychaeus who was murdered for his great wealth by her brother Pygmalion when the latter was King of Tyre. Dido fled with some followers to Libya and founded the city of Carthage. Virgil tells of how she, then a widow, begins an affair with Aeneas after his men land there; she shows him substantial generosity, even welcoming Aeneas’ men as equal to her own, but he abandons her while following his destiny and she throws herself onto a pyre which she tricked her sister into making. Aeneas later sees Dido in the underworld, where she has not forgiven him and instead seeks comfort with her former husband.
156
Diomedes
a) in Greek myth, a Thyracian, son of Ares and the nymph Cyrene. King of the Bistones. Heracles captured one of his man-eating horses for one of his Labours.
b) in Greek myth, a leader of men of Argos and Tiryns in the Trojan War. With the help of Aphrodite he wounded Athena and the war-god Ares; yet showed chivalrous behaviour to his guest-friend Glaucus of Lycia despite him being on the opposite side. Also raids the Trojan camp with Odysseus, killing Rhesus. In the Aeneid, he refuses to join in the resistance against Aeneas.
157
Dionysus
: in Greek myth, son of Zeus and Semele. When Semele was made pregnant by Zeus, his jealous wife Hero persuaded her to pray to Zeus for him to visit her (carnally) in all the splendour of a god; this he did, and she was consumed by his lightning. However, he rescued her unborn child from the ashes and birthed him from his own thigh. Became the god of wine and of ecstasy. He may be Mycenaean in origin, as he is a god of an essentially different kind from the Olympic deities – he is a giver of joy and soother, but also had a wild aspect as seen by his worshipper’s behaviour under Dionysiac possession. Characteristic of the cult of Dionysus is the mask. He is connected with the dithyramb, tragedy, and comedy, due to the Dionysia festival. Often depicted as an affeminate youth with grapes or wine.
158
Dis
in Roman religion, the ruler of the Underworld; the equivalent of the Greek god Pluto/Hades. Beginning in 249 BC, had special festivals of appeasement in Rome. In classical Roman literature, he has become merely a symbol of death.
159
Echo
a) a nymph unsuccessfully wooed by Pan, who in revenge sent the local shepherds mad so that they tore her to pieces and only her voice survived; b) in the Metamorphoses, a nymph punished by Hera (due to talking to her while she wanted to spy on Zeus) to repeat only the last words of what was said to her. She fell in love with Narcissus but was rejected by him, then wasting away to only a voice.
160
Electra
a) daughter of Agamemnon and Clymenestra – in Sophocles, becomes a heroic figure in the story of the house of Atreus due to her faithfulness to her father’s memory, rejecting her mother’s new lover; b) daughter of the Titan Atlas, had the child Dardanus with Zeus.
161
Elysium/Elysian
also known as the ‘Islands of the Blest’; thought of by Homer as a place in the far West beyond the ocean where heroes are sent by the gods instead of dying. In later myth, it is seen as part of the underworld (for instance in Book 6 of the Aeneid); Virgil represents it as the place where the good soul rests before being reborn, as does Plato.
162
Endymion
in Greek myth, a beautiful young man, famed for his eternal sleep n Mount Latmus. He was the son of Calyce and Zeus. He was especially loved by Selene (moon). His eternal sleep has been explained in different ways; one way being that Selene wished to embrace him unobserved.
163
Eros
in Greek myth, the god of Love. In the lyrical poets he personifies physical desire, young and beautiful as well as cruel and unpredictable. He often accompanies (or is seen as the son of) Aphrodite. Often portrayed as a mischievous boy, with bows and arrows.
164
Eumenides
‘the kindly ones’ – euphemistic name for the Furies.
165
Europa
(‘broad-browed’). In Greek myth, Zeus loved her; he took the form of a bull which swam to the shore where she was playing, and was so gentle that she climbed upon its back; it swam away with her to Crete. With Zeus, she bore Minos, Rhadamanthys, and Sarpedon. The bull became the constellation Taurus.
166
Eurydice
a) a nymph and the wife of Orpheus, who died when pursued by Aristaeus and bitten by a snake. Orpheus followed her to the underworld, where the charms of his lyre suspended the tortures and persuaded Hades to allow him to bring her back under the condition that he did not turn to look at her – he broke this condition, thus losing her forever; b) the wife of Creon king of Thebes in Sophocles’ Antigone
167
Fama
the Roman equivalent of the Greek Pheme, the personification of fame and renown who was either the daughter of Gaia or Elpis (hope). In Roman mythology, Fama ‘rumour’ is described by Virgil as having multiple tongues, eyes, ears, and feathers by Virgil (Aeneid).
168
Flora
Italian goddess of flowers and spring. In Metamorphoses, when she is pursued by Zephryus, Chloris she changed into Flora and breathed flowers which spread all over the countryside.
169
Fortuna
Italian goddess, perhaps originally the bringer of fertility but identified with the Greek Tyche and so the goddess of chance or luck. Had a festival in Rome on 24th June which was very popular.
170
Furies
in Greek myth, spirits of punishment avenging without pity the wrongs done to kindred, and especially those done within the family. According to Hesiod, the daughters of Gaia, conceived from the blood spilt when Cronus castrated his father Uranus – therefore they were born of a crime within the family. Also punished perjurers and those who had violated the laws of hospitality and supplication. Represented carrying torches and scourges, wreathed with snakes. Later writers say there are three: Tisiphone, Megaera, and Allecto.
171
Galathea/Galatea
Greek sea-nymph whose name means ‘milk-white’, daughter of Nereus and Doris. She was wooed by the ugly Cyclops Polyphemus, to whom she bore the son who became the eponymous ancestor to the Galatians. In Metamorphoses Ovid tells of how, when her love for the young shepherd Acis is discovered, Polyphemus hurls a rock at him, but as it fell Galatea turned him into a river which bore his name.
172
Ganymede
in Greek myth, son of Tros king of Troy. He was carried off by the gods (or the eagle of Zeus because of his beauty, and in exchange his father was given two divine horses. He was thought to be immortalised as the zodiacal sign Aquarius. From the Middle Ages onwards, he typified homosexual love, though in the Renaissance to some he symbolised the soul’s ascent to the absolute.
173
Golden Age
the earliest race/age of humans, who lived at a time when Cronus ruled. This race was succeeded by progressively inferior races of silver, bronze, and iron – the last being our own. Virgil and Ovid borrowed this idea, the translation meaning that ‘generation’ shifted meaning to ‘age’.
174
Golden Fleece
the fleece of the ram which ahd carried away Phrixus and Helle, sought by Jason and the Argonauts.
175
Gordian Knot
in ancient times in legend a Phrygian peasant called Gordius, his wife, and his son Midas happened to arrive in a card when an assembly of Phyrgians had been told by an oracle that a cart would bring them a king to end their civil disturbances. They made Gordius king, and tied a knot in the cart they had arrived in. A further oracle declared that whoever could untie this knot should rule over all Asia; when Alexander the Great arrived here, he cut the knot with his sword and applied the oracle to himself. ‘To cut the Gordian knot’ thus signifies drastic action to solve a difficulty.
176
Gorgons
in Greek myth, female monsters with snakes for hair and glaring eyes; according to Hesiod there are three - Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa. They are the daughters of the sea deities Phorcys and Ceto. Medusa was the only mortal; her head was so fearful that anyone who look at it was turned to stone. She was loved by Poseidon and pregnant by him when Perseus killed her – at her moment of death she gave birth to Pegasus and Chrysaor. The head of Medusa was said to be buried under a mound in Argos. The image of her head was often carved as a protective figure on armour and walls.
177
Graces
minor goddesses usually said to be the daughters of Zeus. They are the personification of the grace and beauty that enhance the enjoyment of life; they accompany the muses, and the most perfect works of art are called the work of the Graces. For the Romans they were also the symbols of gratitude. In later times they were always portrayed naked.
178
Hades
also known as Pluto or Dis. In Greek myth, one of the three sons of Cronus and Rhea. When the three cast lots for their domains, Hades obtained the Underworld; he and his wife Persephone are the rulers of the dead. He is therefore a grim and dreaded god, but not an enemy to mankind nor to his brothers.
179
Halcyon
one of the most faithful worshippers of Hera, and the daughter of the of the wind-god Aeolus. Ceyx and Alcyone were very happy, and compared their love to that of Zeus and Hera. This angered Zeus who threw a thunderbolt at Ceyx’s ship. In her grief Alycone/Halcyon threw herself into the sea. Out of compassion the gods changed the pair into halcyon birds.
180
Hamadryads
nymphs of trees – their lives existed with the trees.
181
Harpies
in Greek myth, daughters of Thauman and Electra. Perosnfiied as the violent winds which carried off the daughters of Pnadareus, Cleothera and Merope to be slaves to the Furies. They are represented as birds with the faces of women. In Roman mythology, Virgil makes Aeneas encounter them at the islands of the Strophades in Book 3.
182
Hebe
in Greek myth, daughter of Zeus and Hera. The personification of youth, and cupbearer of the gods; wife to Heracles/Hercules after he rises to Olympus. Identified with the Roman god Juventas.
183
Hecate
a Greek goddess, the daughter of the Titans Perses and Asterie. Hesiod described her as the source of innumerable blessings for men (wealth, victory, wisdom, etc). She is uniquely honoured among Titans, as she was able to keep her powers under Zeus’ rule. Associated with the ghost world, an attendant to Persephone; at nights she sent ghosts and demons into the world, and wandered amongst the souls of the dead, with her approach signalled by the howling of dogs. Associated with sorcery and black magic. She was worshipped at crossroads, and statues of her often represent her in triple form due to this.
184
Hector
in Greek legend the eldest son of Priam (king of Troy) and Hecuba, married to Andromache, the father of Astyanax the bravest of the Trojans in the siege of Troy. In the early books of the Iliad he takes part in the fighing and arranges the single combat between Paris and Menelaus. In Book 6 he sees his family for the last time, in a memorable scene of farewell. When he returns to battle Ajax takes up his challenge to single combat, though this is inconclusive. While Achilles s Absent, Hector plays the leading part in the Trojan successes, and eventually kills Patroclus. After Achilles returns to battle, Hector alone awaits Achilles; he is deceived by the goddess Athena in thinking his brother Deiphobus has come to his aid, but when he realises the deception he knows he is to die. Achilles kills hi and mutilates the body by dragging it behind his chariot; Priam calls upon Ahcilles in order to ransom his son’s body, and his funeral ends the Iliad. He is always inferior to Achilles yet still seen as bible, almost god-like, and dies gloriously.
185
Hecuba
in greek myth, the wife of Priam king of Troy, mother to 19 children including Hector and Paris. She survives the sack of Tory, losing her husband and almost all her children; this became a popular focus of tragedies such as Euripedes’ Trojan Women.
186
Helen
one of the 4 children of Leda, Zeus was her father. Zeus visited Leda in the form of a swan, Leda laid an egg, and from this Helen was hatched. Helen and her brothers were worshipped as important deities in Sparta, but in the literary tradition she is the entirely human wife of King Menelaus of Sparta. She is said to be of astounding beauty; during her youth she was carried off to Attica by Theseus, but during her absence she was taken back to Sparta by her brothers. She was subsequently wooed by all the leading men in Greece; Odysseus suggested she could choose whom she pleased, and she chose Menelaus. While Menelaus was absent in Crete, Paris arrived in Sparta and either persuaded or carried off Helen to Troy, starting the Trojan War detailed in the Iliad.
187
Helicon
largest mountain of Boeotia in Greece, celebrated as one of the two favourite locations of the Muses. The fountains on the mountain supplied the streams Olmeios and Permessos which were believed to inspire those who drank from them.
188
Hephaistos
Greek god of fire and of crafts, particularly those involving fire. He was the child of Zeus and Hera, and because he was lame from birth Hera threw him out of Olympus and he fell on Lemnos. He revenged himself on Hera by ensnaring her in a throne where she had to remain, until Dionysus made him drunk and brought him to Olympus to release her. He also trapped his unfaithful wife Aphrodite with the god Ares. In Hesiod, he makes the first woman, Pandora. He also crafts the armour of Achilles.
189
Hera
in Greek myth, the daughter of Cronus and Rhea, and the sister and wife of Zeus (thus queen of the gods). The goddess of marriage and married women. She is often depicted as a jealous wife due to Zeus’ infidelities. She was worshipped all over Greece – the earliest and most important temples are dedicated to her. She is identified with Juno by the Romans.
190
Heracles/Hercules
son of Zeus and Alcmena; descended from Perseus. Famous for his strength, courage, endurance and compassion, thought notes for his appetites, gluttony and lust. He was considered the universal helper and thus invoked on many occasions, even being called the ‘averter of evik’. He later became seen as an ideal of human behaviour – a noble ruler who acts for the good of mankind and is finally elevated to the gods. In his cradle he strangled two snakes which Hera had sent to kill him. He was instructed I the various arts by the greatest experts including Eurytus, Autolyces, and Polydeuces. Creon gave him his daughter Megara to marry; Hera later set a fit of madness upon him so he killed Megara and their children. After this he went into exile and at the advice of the Delphic oracle served in Tiryns for 12 years and won immortality by the labours that their king Eurystheus imposed.
191
Hermaphroditus
in Greek myth, son of Hermes and Aphrodite. Loved by Salmacis, the nymph of the fountain in which he bathed. She embraced him and prayed to the gods to make the one body, which they did. Art thus portrayed him as a beautiful youth with developed breasts.
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Hermes
: in Greek myth, son of Zeus and Maia. Born of Mount Cyllene in Arcadia. By noon on the day he was born he had invented the lyre from the shell of a tortoise. He also drove off fifty cows belonging to Apollo, making them walk backwards so they could not be traced, then returned to his cradle. When Apollo arrived in a rage, Hermes gave him the lyre and he allowed Hermes to keep the cattle, giving them divine powers. He was the god of roads and boundaries, the messenger/herald of the gods, and conductor of the souls off the dead to the Underworld, also the god of sleep and dreams. Known for his furtiveness and trickery. Also the patron of athletics, his statue was commonly erected in gymnasia. Also known as the god of herdsmen and the fertility of herds. Successful communication with enemies and strangers was attributed to Hermes. Je was regarded as the patron of oratory and literature in general. He is represented with wings on his sandals, a winged gap, and the herald’s staff. He was identified with the Roman god Mercury.
193
Hero
heroine of the love story from Ovid; she was a priestess of Aphrodite at Sestus. Leander used to swim across to Hero every night, guided by a light at a tower. One stormy night the light was extinguished and Leander drowned. When his body was washed up, Hero threw herself into the ocean in despair.
194
Hippocrene
fountain sacred to the Muses, on mount Helicon in Boeotia. Supposedly had the power to inspire those who drank from it with poetry.
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Hippolyte/a
a) queen of the Amazons, also known as Antiope, her girdle was the ninth labour of Heracles. She was wed to Theseus, thus becoming the only Amazon to marry; in some renditions other Amazons became enraged at this and attacked Athens (the Attic War). She bore Theseus as son, Hippolytus; (b) in Greek myth, wife of Acastus, sometimes called Astydameia.
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Hippolytus
in Greek myth, the son of Theseus and the Amazon queen Hippolyte/a. After her death, Theseus remarried Pheadra, and druing Thesus’s absence his new wife fell in love with Hippolytus who rejected her advances a he was honourable (and he was a devotee of the goddess Artemis thus living a life of chastity). Phaedra then hung herself and wrote a letter to Theseus falsely denouncing Hippolytus as her seducer. Theseus thus banished him and cursed him with one of the three curses he was granted by Poseidon. As Hippolytus drove away from the castle he was thrown from his chariot and dragged to his death, and Theseus learned of his error too late. Virgil tells that Hippolytus wasbrought back to life by Asclepius, and was moved by Diana to live out his days in the grove of the nymph Aricia under the name of Verbius. His son, who shared his Roman name Verbius, was among the heroes who resisted Aeneas in the Aenead.
197
Hydra
the offspring of Echidna and Typhon, a poisonous water-snake which lived in the marshes near Argos. It had numerous heads and when one was cut off another grew in its place. Formed the second labour of Heracles; Hera sent a huge crab to help it. Heracles had to summon his comrade Iolaus, who seared the head stumps with burning brands. Heracles then dipped his arrows in the Hydra’s blood, making their wounds incurable. The crab, which Heracles killed by crushing with his foot, became the constellation Cancer.
198
Hylas
in Greek myth, son of the king of the Dryopes. Heracles, having killed the father, carried off Hylas to accompany him on the Argonauts’ expedition. When the Argo reached Cios, Hylas was sent for water. The water-nymphs fell in love with him and drew him into the well, where he was lost. Hercules remained to look for him, though the Argonauts left, but he was never recovered. The Mysians held a ritual search for him every year in obedience to Heracles’ orders, a practice still existing in Hellenistic times.
199
Hymen(aeus)
a wedding-song sung by the bride’s attendants as they escorted her to the groom’s house. The name is derived from the custom at Greek weddings to call out ‘Hymen o Hymenaie’, supposedly an invocation to the deity Hymen (who presided over weddings).
200
Icarus
The son of Daedelus the ‘cunning worker’ - a legendary Athenian craftsman and inventor, thought to have lived in the age of Minos. Due to his fear that his nephew and pupil Talos would outdo him, Daedalus threw him from the Acropolis/into the sea; he then fled to Crete where he constructed the labyrinth for king Minos. Minos would not let him go and so he made wings for himself and his son Icarus (who flew too close to the sun).
201
Illion/Illium
another word for Troy, the setting of the Trojan War.
202
Io
in Greek myth, the daughter of Inachus (the mythical first king of Argos). When Zeus fell in love with her she suffered disturbing dreams, and in response to oracles her father sent her out of the house. Zeus (or potentially Hera) turned her into a heifer; Hera sent a gad-fly to sting her continuously so that she would not be still enough for Zeus to make love to her, and sent the herdsman Argus (who had eyes all over his body) to watch over her. Zeus sent Hermes to kill Argus, but Io was haunted by his ghost and forced to wander eternally by the gad-fly. Eventually, she reached Egypt where Zeus changed her back to human form, and they had their son Epaphus.
203
Iphigenia
in Greek myth, a daughter of Agamemnon and Clymenestra, whom Agamemnon was forced to sacrifice when the Greek fleet was held by contrary winds.
204
Iris
: in Greek myth, the goddess of the rainbow; the daughter of Thaumas and Electra, and sister of the Harpies; mother of Zephyrus by Eros. Also a messenger of the gods, oarticularly of Hera. In Virgil, she travels along rainbows.
205
Isis
great Egyptian goddess, sister/wife of Osiris and mother of Horus. Herodotus identified her with Demeter; prior to this she was identified with Aphrodite and her symbol was of the cow. With Osiris, she was also thought of as ruler of the underworld.
206
Ithaca
a Greek island, the island-kingdom of Odysseus. Homer calls it ‘a rugged island’.
207
Iulus
also known as Ascanius, son of Aeneas (the Trojan Cruesa is his mother). His father founded Lavinium, the parent city of Rome; after his death, Iulus/Ascanius founded Alba Longa and ruled it until his own death. Through him, the gens Julia, such as the family of Julius Caesar, trace their descent.
208
Ixion
in Greek myth, a Thessalian (the ruler of the Lapinths) who married Dia (daughter of Deioneus); their son was Pirithious. He was traditionally the first Greek to marry a kinsman – his father in law. For this murder, he could only obtain purification from Zeus, but when Zeus invited him to Olympus for the rite, Ixion tried to seduce Hera. To trap him, Zeus made a cloud shaped of Hera called Nephele. Nephele and Ixion were the parents of the centaurs. As a punishment for his crime, Zeus made Ixion be bound to an eternally spinning fiery wheel in the underworld.
209
Janus
in Roman religion, the god of gates and doorways, and of beginnings in general. He was originally one of the principal Roman gods: the ‘god of gods’ in the hymn of the Salii, and the first to be named in any prayer or sacrifice (even before Jupiter).
210
Jason
in Greek myth, son of Aeson and leader of the Argonauts, who sailed to recover the Golden Fleece.
211
Jocasta
both the mother and wife of Oedipus.
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Jove
alternate name for Jupiter, Roman god of the sky and supreme god of the Romans. Originally the power of the sky, responsible for the weather (especially rain and lightning). Worshipped at the rural Vinalia (grape-harvest) on the 19th August. Also became a god of the state – the magistrates offered sacrifices in his temple before entering their year of office, generals brought their spoils to his altar, and the first meeting of the senate was also held in his temple every year. Also worshipped as the protector in battle and giver of victory – Romulus vowed a temple to him in the midst of a battle.
213
Juno
in Roman religion, the wife of Jupiter (Jove). Identified with the Greek Hera. Closely associated with the lives of women, the moon, fertility, and the sanctity of marriage. However, also became a goddess of the state. Also has a warlike aspect identified with the Greek Athene, and noted for her anger.
214
Jupiter
Roman god of the sky and supreme god of the Romans. Originally the power of the sky, responsible for the weather (especially rain and lightning). Worshipped at the rural Vinalia (grape-harvest) on the 19th August. Also became a god of the state – the magistrates offered sacrifices in his temple before entering their year of office, generals brought their spoils to his altar, and the first meeting of the senate was also held in his temple every year. Also worshipped as the protector in battle and giver of victory – Romulus vowed a temple to him in the midst of a battle.
215
Laocoon
Trojan prince, the brother of Anchises. He was a Trojan priest, attacked by two giant serpents sent by the gods. Laocoon is best known for his depiction with his two sons in a group of statues carved in Rome around 25BC.
216
Leander
in Greek myth, youth of Abydus who was in love with Hero, the beautiful priestess of Aphrodite at Sestus on the opposite shore. Leander used to swim across to Hero every night, guided by a light in a tower. One stormy night this light was extinguished, and Leander was drowned. When his body was washed up, Hero threw herself into the sea in despair.
217
Leda
in Greek myth, daughter of Thestius (king of Aetolia); the wife of Tyndareus (king of Sparta) and mother of Clymenestra, Helen (of Troy), Castor, and Polydeuces. She was loved by Zeus, who approached her in the form of a swan; she subsequently laid an egg out of which Helen (of Troy) emerged – though it should be noted that many Greeks disbelieved or even made fun of the story.
218
Lethe
‘forgetfulness’; the daughter of Eris (Strife). In later Greek literature a place of oblivion in the Underworld, and in the myth at the end of Plato’s Republic a plain which contains the ‘river of unmindfulness’. In the Latin poets, it is one of the five rivers of the Underworld; in Virgil’s Aeneid Book 6 is water was drunk by souls about to be reincarnated, so that tey forgot their previous existence.
219
Lestrygonians
a tribe of giant cannibals in Greek mythology; Odysseus visited them during the Odyssey, and they destroyed 11/12 of his ships with rocks (though Odysseus’ own ship was hidden in a cove near shore).
220
Lotos-Eaters
in Homer’s Odyssey 9, a fabulous people whose land Odysseus visits. They live on the lotus-fruit, which makes those who eat it forget their home and desire to remain in Lotus forever.
221
Lucretia
in Roman history, the wife of Titus Lucreius Carus (a Roman poet and philosopher). In legend, she was raped by Sextus, having revealed this to her husband she took her own life. This led to the insurrection led by Brutus and the expulsion of the Tarquins from Rome.
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Maenads
mad women’; women inspired with ecstatic frenzy by the god Dionysus.
