Glossary For Bulfinch's Mythology
Abdalrahman, founder of the independent Ommiad (Saracenic) power in Spain, conquered at Tours by Charles Martel
Aberfraw, scene of nuptials of Branwen and Matholch
Absyrtus, younger brother of Medea
Abydos, a town on the Hellespont, nearly opposite to Sestos
Abyla, Mount, or Columna, a mountain in Morocco, near Ceuta, now called Jebel Musa or Ape's Hill, forming the Northwestern extremity of the African coast opposite Gibraltar (See Pillars of Hercules)
Acestes, son of a Trojan woman who was sent by her father to Sicily, that she might not be devoured by the monsters which infested the territory of Troy
Acetes, Bacchanal captured by Pentheus
Achates, faithful friend and companion of Aeneas
Achelous, river-god of the largest river in Greece--his Horn of Plenty
Achilles, the hero of the Iliad, son of Peleus and of the Nereid Thetis, slain by Paris
Acis, youth loved by Galatea and slain by Polyphemus
Acontius, a beautiful youth, who fell in love with Cydippe, the daughter of a noble Athenian.
Acrisius, son of Abas, king of Argos, grandson of Lynceus, the great-grandson of Danaus.
Actaeon, a celebrated huntsman, son of Aristaeus and Autonoe, who, having seen Diana bathing, was changed by her to a stag and killed by his own dogs.
Admeta, daughter of Eurystheus, covets Hippolyta's girdle.
Admetus, king of Thessaly, saved from death by Alcestis
Adonis, a youth beloved by Aphrodite (Venus), and Proserpine; killed by a boar.
Adrastus, a king of Argos.
Aeacus, son of Zeus (Jupiter) and Aegina, renowned in all Greece for his justice and piety.
Aeaea, Circe's island, visited by Ulysses.
Aeetes, or Aeeta, son of Helios (the Sun) and Perseis, and father of Medea and Absyrtus.
Aegeus, king of Athens.
Aegina, a rocky island in the middle of the Saronic gulf.
Aegis, shield or breastplate of Jupiter and Minerva.
Aegisthus, murderer of Agamemnon, slain by Orestes.
Aeneas, Trojan hero, son of Anchises and Aphrodite (Venus), and born on Mount Ida, reputed first settler of Rome,
Aeneid, poem by Virgil, relating the wanderings of Aeneas from Troy to Italy,
Ae'olus, son of Hellen and the nymph Orseis, represented in Homer as the happy ruler of the Aeolian Islands, to whom Zeus had given dominion over the winds,
Aesculapius, god of the medical art,
Aeson, father of Jason, made young again by Medea,
Aethiopians, inhabitants of the country south of Egypt,
Aethra, mother of Theseus by Aegeus,
Aetna, volcano in Sicily,
Agamedes, brother of Trophonius, distinguished as an architect,
Agamemnon, son of Plisthenis and grandson of Atreus, king of Mycenae, although the chief commander of the Greeks, is not the hero of the Iliad, and in chivalrous spirit altogether inferior to Achilles,
Agave, daughter of Cadmus, wife of Echion, and mother of Pentheus,
Agenor, father of Europa, Cadmus, Cilix, and Phoenix,
Aglaia, one of the Graces,
Agni, Hindu god of fire,
Agramant, a king in Africa,
Agrican, fabled king of Tartary, pursuing Angelica, finally killed by Orlando,
Agrivain, one of Arthur's knights,
Ahriman, the Evil Spirit in the dual system of Zoroaster, See Ormuzd
Ajax, son of Telamon, king of Salamis, and grandson of Aeacus, represented in the Iliad as second only to Achilles in bravery,
Alba, the river where King Arthur fought the Romans,
Alba Longa, city in Italy founded by son of Aeneas,
Alberich, dwarf guardian of Rhine gold treasure of the Nibelungs
Albracca, siege of,
Alcestis, wife of Admetus, offered hersell as sacrifice to spare her husband, but rescued by Hercules,
Alcides (Hercules),
Alcina, enchantress,
Alcinous, Phaeacian king,
Alcippe, daughter of Mars, carried off by Halirrhothrus,
Alcmena, wife of Jupiter, and mother of Hercules,
Alcuin, English prelate and scholar,
Aldrovandus, dwarf guardian of treasure,
Alecto, one of the Furies,
Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia, conqueror of Greece, Egypt, Persia, Babylonia, and India,
Alfadur, a name for Odin,
Alfheim, abode of the elves of light,
Alice, mother of Huon and Girard, sons of Duke Sevinus,
Alphenor, son of Niobe,
Alpheus, river god pursuing Arethusa, who escaped by being
changed to a fountain,
Augeas, a legendary king of Elis, in Greece, and one of the
Argonauts; had a stable with 3000 oxen, that had not been cleaned
out for 30 years, but was cleansed by Hercules turning the rivers
Peneus and Alpheus through it; the act a symbol of the worthless
lumber a reformer must sweep away before his work can begin, the
work of reformation proper.
Althaea, mother of Meleager, whom she slew because he had in a quarrel killed her brothers, thus disgracing "the house of Thestius," her father,
Amalthea, nurse of the infant Jupiter in Crete,
Amata, wife of Latinus, driven mad by Alecto,
Amaury of Hauteville, false hearted Knight of Charlemagne,
Amazons, mythical race of warlike women,
Ambrosia, celestial food used by the gods,
Ammon, Egyptian god of life identified by Romans with phases of Jupiter, the father of gods,
Amphiaraus, a great prophet and hero at Argos,
Amphion, a musician, son of Jupiter and Antiope (See Dirce),
Amphitrite, wife of Neptune,
Amphyrsos, a small river in Thessaly,
Ampyx, assailant of Perseus, turned to stone by seeing Gorgon's head,
Amrita, nectar giving immortality,
Amun, See Ammon
Amymone, one of the fifty daughters of Danaus, and mother by Poseidon (Neptune) of Nauplius, the father of Palamedes,
Anaxarete, a maiden of Cyprus, who treated her lover Iphis with such haughtiness that he hanged himself at her door,
Anbessa, Saracenic governor of Spain (725 AD),
Anceus, one of the Argonauts,
Anchises, beloved by Aphrodite (Venus), by whom he became the father of Aeneas,
Andraemon, husband of Dryope, saw her changed into a tree,
Andret, a cowardly knight, spy upon Tristram,
Andromache, wife of Hector
Andromeda, daughter of King Cephas, delivered from monster by Perseus
Aneurin, Welsh bard
Angelica, Princess of Cathay
Anemone, short lived wind flower, created by Venus from the blood of the slain Adonis
Angerbode, giant prophetess, mother of Fenris, Hela and the Midgard Serpent
Anglesey, a Northern British island, refuge of Druids fleeing from Romans
Antaeus, giant wrestler of Libya, killed by Hercules, who, finding him stronger when thrown to the earth, lifted him into the air and strangled him
Antea, wife of jealous Proetus
Antenor, descendants of, in Italy
Anteros, deity avenging unrequited love, brother of Eros (Cupid)
Anthor, a Greek
Antigone, daughter of Aedipus, Greek ideal of filial and sisterly fidelity
Antilochus, son of Nestor
Antiope, Amazonian queen. See Dirce
Anubis, Egyptian god, conductor of the dead to judgment
Apennines
Aphrodite See Venus, Dione, etc.
Apis, Egyptian bull god of Memphis
Apollo, god of music and song
Apollo Belvedere, famous antique statue in Vatican at Rome
Apples of the Hesperides, wedding gifts to Juno, guarded by daughters of Atlas and Hesperis, stolen by Atlas for Hercules,
Aquilo, or Boreas, the North Wind,
Aquitaine, ancient province of Southwestern France,
Arachne, a maiden skilled in weaving, changed to a spider by Minerva for daring to compete with her,
Arcadia, a country in the middle of Peloponnesus, surrounded on all sides by mountains,
Arcady, star of, the Pole star,
Arcas, son of Jupiter and Callisto,
Archer, constellation of the,
Areopagus, court of the, at Athens,
Ares, called Mars by the Romans, the Greek god of war, and one of the great Olympian gods,
Arethusa, nymph of Diana, changed to a fountain,
Argius king of Ireland, father of Isoude the Fair,
Argo, builder of the vessel of Jason for the Argonautic expedition,
Argolis, city of the Nemean games,
Argonauts, Jason's crew seeking the Golden Fleece,
Argos, a kingdom in Greece,
Argus, of the hundred eyes, guardian of Io,
Ariadne, daughter of King Minos, who helped Theseus slay the Minotaur,
Arimanes SEE Ahriman.
Arimaspians, one-eyed people of Syria,
Arion, famous musician, whom sailors cast into the sea to rob him, but whose lyric song charmed the dolphins, one of which bore him safely to land,
Aristaeus, the bee keeper, in love with Eurydice,
Armorica, another name for Britain,
Arridano, a magical ruffian, slain by Orlando,
Artemis SEE Diana
Arthgallo, brother of Elidure, British king,
Arthur, king in Britain about the 6th century,
Aruns, an Etruscan who killed Camilla,
Asgard, home of the Northern gods,
Ashtaroth, a cruel spirit, called by enchantment to bring Rinaldo to death,
Aske, the first man, made from an ash tree,
Astolpho of England, one of Charlemagne's knights,
Astraea, goddess of justice, daughter of Astraeus and Eos,
Astyages, an assailant of Perseus,
Astyanax, son of Hector of Troy, established kingdom of Messina in Italy,
Asuias, opponents of the Braminical gods,
Atalanta, beautiful daughter of King of Icaria, loved and won in a foot race by Hippomenes,
Ate, the goddess of infatuation, mischief and guilt,
Athamas, son of Aeolus and Enarete, and king of Orchomenus, in Boeotia, SEE Ino
Athene, tutelary goddess of Athens, the same as Minerva,
Athens, the capital of Attica, about four miles from the sea, between the small rivers Cephissus and Ilissus,
Athor, Egyptian deity, progenitor of Isis and Osiris,
Athos, the mountainous peninsula, also called Acte, which projects from Chalcidice in Macedonia,
Atlantes, foster father of Rogero, a powerful magician,
Atlantis, according to an ancient tradition, a great island west of the Pillars of Hercules, in the ocean, opposite Mount Atlas,
Atlas, a Titan, who bore the heavens on his shoulders, as punishment for opposing the gods, one of the sons of Iapetus,
Atlas, Mount, general name for range in northern Africa,
Atropos, one of the Fates
Attica, a state in ancient Greece,
Audhumbla, the cow from which the giant Ymir was nursed. Her milk was frost melted into raindrops,
Augean stables, cleansed by Hercules,
Augeas, king of Elis, in Greece, and one of the Argonauts; had a stable with 3000 oxen, that had not been cleaned out for 30 years, but was cleansed by Hercules turning the rivers Peneus and Alpheus through it; the act a symbol of the worthless lumber a reformer must sweep away before his work can begin, the work of reformation proper.
Augustan age, reign of Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar, famed for many great authors,
Augustus, the first imperial Caesar, who ruled the Roman Empire 31 BC--14 AD,
Aulis, port in Boeotia, meeting place of Greek expedition against Troy,
Aurora, identical with Eos, goddess of the dawn,
Aurora Borealis, splendid nocturnal luminosity in northern sky, called Northern Lights, probably electrical,
Autumn, attendant of Phoebus, the Sun,
Avalon, land of the Blessed, an earthly paradise in the Western Seas, burial place of King Arthur,
Avatar, name for any of the earthly incarnations of Vishnu, the Preserver (Hindu god),
Aventine, Mount, one of the Seven Hills of Rome,
Avernus, a miasmatic lake close to the promontory between Cumae and Puteoli, filling the crater of an extinct volcano, by the ancients thought to be the entrance to the infernal regions,
Avicenna, celebrated Arabian physician and philosopher,
Aya, mother of Rinaldo,
Aymon, Duke, father of Rinaldo and Bradamante,
B
Baal, king of Tyre,
Babylonian River, dried up when Phaeton drove the sun chariot,
Bacchanali a, a feast to Bacchus that was permitted to occur but once in three years, attended by most shameless orgies,
Bacchanals, devotees and festal dancers of Bacchus,
Bacchus (Dionysus), god of wine and revelry,
Badon, battle of, Arthur's final victory over the Saxons,
Bagdemagus, King, a knight of Arthur's time,
Baldur, son of Odin, and representing in Norse mythology the sun god,
Balisardo, Orlando's sword,
Ban, King of Brittany, ally of Arthur, father of Launcelot,
Bards, minstrels of Welsh Druids,
Basilisk SEE Cockatrice
Baucis, wife of Philemon, visited by Jupiter and Mercury,
Bayard, wild horse subdued by Rinaldo,
Beal, Druids' god of life,
Bedivere, Arthur's knight,
Bedver, King Arthur's butler, made governor of Normandy,
Bedwyr, knightly comrade of Geraint,
Belisarda, Rogero's sword,
Bellerophon, demigod, conqueror of the Chimaera,
Bellona, the Roman goddess of war, represented as the sister or wife of Mars,
Beltane, Druidical fire festival,
Belus, son of Poseidon (Neptune) and Libya or Eurynome, twin brother of Agenor,
Bendigeid Vran, King of Britain,
Beowulf, hero and king of the Swedish Geats,
Beroe, nurse of Semele,
Bertha, mother of Orlando,
Bifrost, rainbow bridge between the earth and Asgard
Bladud, inventor, builder of the city of Bath,
Blamor, a knight of Arthur,
Bleoberis, a knight of Arthur,
Boeotia, state in ancient Greece, capital city Thebes,
Bohort, King, a knight of Arthur,
Bona Dea, a Roman divinity of fertility,
Boötes, also called Areas, son of Jupiter and Calisto, changed to constellation of Ursa Major,
Boötes, a name deriving from Egypt, is one of the 88 modern constellations and was also one of the 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy. Boötes is generally referred to as the Bear Watcher, since it appears to be watching over the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. It contains the third brightest star in the night sky, Arcturus.
The constellation is located between 0° and +60° declination, 13 and 16 hours of right ascension on the celestial sphere.
Boreas, North wind, son of Aeolus and Aurora,
Bosporus (Bosphorus), the Cow-ford, named for Io, when as a heifer she crossed that strait,
Bradamante, sister to Rinaldo, a female warrior,
Brademagus, King, father of Sir Maleagans,
Bragi, Norse god of poetry,
Brahma, the Creator, chief god of Hindu religion,
Branwen, daughter of Llyr, King of Britain, wife of Mathclch,
Breciliande, forest of, where Vivian enticed Merlin,
Brengwain, maid of Isoude the Fair
Brennus, son of Molmutius, went to Gaul, became King of the Allobroges,
Breuse, the Pitiless, a caitiff knight,
Briareus, hundred armed giant,
Brice, Bishop, sustainer of Arthur when elected king,
Brigliadoro, Orlando's horse,
Briseis, captive maid belonging to Achilles,
Britto, reputed ancestor of British people,
Bruhier, Sultan of Arabia,
Brunello, dwarf, thief, and king
Brunhild, leader of the Valkyrie,
Brutus, great grandson of Aeneas, and founder of city of New Troy (London), SEE Pandrasus
Bryan, Sir, a knight of Arthur,
Buddha, called The Enlightened, reformer of Brahmanism, deified teacher of self abnegation, virtue, reincarnation, Karma (inevitable sequence of every act), and Nirvana (beatific absorption into the Divine), lived about
Byblos, in Egypt,
Byrsa, original site of Carthage,
C
Cacus, gigantic son of Vulcan, slain by Hercules, whose captured cattle he stole,
Cadmus, son of Agenor, king of Phoenicia, and of Telephassa, and brother of Europa, who, seeking his sister, carried off by Jupiter, had strange adventures--sowing in the ground teeth of a dragon he had killed, which sprang up armed men who slew each other, all but five, who helped Cadmus to found the city of Thebes,
Caduceus, Mercury's staff, the winged rod of Hermes, entwined with two serpents; originally a simple olive branch; was in the hands of the god possessed of magical virtues; it was the symbol of peace.
Cadwallo, King of Venedotia (North Wales),
Caerleon, traditional seat of Arthur's court,
Caesar, Julius, Roman lawyer, general, statesman and author, conquered and consolidated Roman territory, making possible the Empire,
Caicus, a Greek river,
Cairns, Druidical store piles,
Calais, French town facing England,
Calchas, wisest soothsayer among the Greeks at Troy,
Caliburn, a sword of Arthur,
Calliope, one of the nine Muses
Callisto, an Arcadian nymph, mother of Arcas (SEE Bootes), changed by Jupiter to constellation Ursa Minor,
Calpe, a mountain in the south of Spain, on the strait between the Atlantic and Mediterranean, now Rock of Gibraltar,
Calydon, home of Meleager,
Calypso, queen of Island of Ogyia, where Ulysses was wrecked and held seven years,
Camber, son of Brutus, governor of West Albion (Wales),
Camelot, legendary place in England where Arthur's court and palace were located,
Camenae, prophetic nymphs, belonging to the religion of ancient Italy,
Camilla, Volscian maiden, huntress and Amazonian warrior, favorite of Diana,
Camlan, battle of, where Arthur was mortally wounded,
Canterbury, English city,
Capaneus, husband of Evadne, slain by Jupiter for disobedience,
Capet, Hugh, King of France (987-996 AD),
Caradoc Briefbras, Sir, great nephew of King Arthur,
Carahue, King of Mauretania,
Carthage, African city, home of Dido
Cassandra, daughter of Priam and Hecuba, and twin sister of Helenus, a prophetess, who foretold the coming of the Greeks but was not believed,
Cassibellaunus, British chieftain, fought but not conquered by Caesar,
Cassiopeia, mother of Andromeda,
Castalia, fountain of Parnassus, giving inspiration to Oracular priestess named Pythia,
Castalian Cave, oracle of Apollo,
Castes (India),
Castor and Pollux--the Dioscuri, sons of Jupiter and Leda,-- Castor a horseman, Pollux a boxer (SEE Gemini),
Caucasus, Mount
Cavall, Arthur's favorite dog,
Cayster, ancient river,
Cebriones, Hector's charioteer,
Cecrops, first king of Athens,
Celestials, gods of classic mythology,
Celeus, shepherd who sheltered Ceres, seeking Proserpine, and whose infant son Triptolemus was in gratitude made great by Ceres,
Cellini, Benvenuto, famous Italian sculptor and artificer in metals,
Celtic nations, ancient Gauls and Britons, modern Bretons, Welsh, Irish and Gaelic Scotch,
Centaurs, originally an ancient race, inhabiting Mount Pelion in Thessaly, in later accounts represented as half horses and half men, and said to have been the offspring of Ixion and a cloud,
Cephalus, husband of beautiful but jealous Procris,
Cephe us, King of Ethiopians, father of Andromeda,
Cephisus, a Grecian stream,
Cerberus, three-headed dog that guarded the entrance to Hades, called a son of Typhaon and Echidna
CERES (See Demeter)
CESTUS, the girdle of Venus
CEYX, King of Thessaly (See Halcyone)
CHAOS, original Confusion, personified by Greeks as most ancient of the gods
CHARLEMAGNE, king of the Franks and emperor of the Romans
CHARLES MARTEL', king of the Franks, grandfather of Charlemagne, called Martel (the Hammer) from his defeat of the Saracens at Tours
CHARLOT, son of Charlemagne
CHARON, son of Erebos, conveyed in his boat the shades of the dead across the rivers of the lower world
CHARYB'DIS, whirlpool near the coast of Sicily, See Scylla
CHIMAERA, a fire breathing monster, the fore part of whose body was that of a lion, the hind part that of a dragon, and the middle that of a goat, slain by Bellerophon
CHINA, Lamas (priests) of
CHOS, island in the Grecian archipelago
CHIRON, wisest of all the Centaurs, son of Cronos (Saturn) and Philyra, lived on Mount Pelion, instructor of Grecian heroes
CHRYSEIS, Trojan maid, taken by Agamemnon
CHRYSES, priest of Apollo, father of Chryseis
CICONIANS, inhabitants of Ismarus, visited by Ulysses
CIMBRI, an ancient people of Central Europe
Cimmeria, a land of darkness
Cimon, Athenian general
Circe, sorceress, sister of Aeetes
Cithaeron, Mount, scene of Bacchic worship
Clarimunda, wife of Huon
Clio, one of the Muses
Cloridan, a Moor
Clotho, one of the Fates
Clymene, an ocean nymph
Clytemnestra, wife of Agamemnon, killed by Orestes
Clytie, a water nymph, in love with Apollo
Cnidos, ancient city of Asia Minor, seat of worship of Aphrodite (Venus)
Cockatrice (or Basilisk), called King of Serpents, supposed to kill with its look
Cocytus, a river of Hades
Colchis, a kingdom east of the Black Sea
Colophon, one of the seven cities claiming the birth of Homer
Columba, St, an Irish Christian missionary to Druidical parts of Scotland
Conan, Welsh king
Constantine, Greek emperor
Cordeilla, daughter of the mythical King Leir
Corineus, a Trojan warrior in Albion
Cornwall, southwest part of Britain
Cortana, Ogier's sword
Corybantes, priests of Cybele, or Rhea, in Phrygia, who celebrated her worship with dances, to the sound of the drum and the cymbal, 143
Crab, constellation
Cranes and their enemies, the Pygmies, of Ibycus
Creon, king of Thebes
Crete, one of the largest islands of the Mediterranean Sea, lying south of the Cyclades
Creusa, daughter of Priam, wife of Aeneas
Crocale, a nymph of Diana
Cromlech, Druidical altar
Cronos, See Saturn
Crotona, city of Italy
Cuchulain, Irish hero, called the "Hound of Ireland,"
Culdees', followers of St. Columba, Cumaean Sibyl, seeress of Cumae, consulted by Aeneas, sold Sibylline books to Tarquin
Cupid, child of Venus and god of love
Curoi of Kerry, wise man
Cyane, river, opposed Pluto's passage to Hades
Cybele (Rhea)
Cyclopes, creatures with circular eyes, of whom Homer speaks as a gigantic and lawless race of shepherds in Sicily, who devoured human beings, they helped Vulcan to forge the thunderbolts of Zeus under Aetna
Cymbeline, king of ancient Britain
Cynosure (Dog's tail), the Pole star, at tail of Constellation Ursa Minor
Cynthian mountain top, birthplace of Artemis (Diana) and Apollo
Cyprus, island off the coast of Syria, sacred to Aphrodite
Cyrene, a nymph, mother of Aristaeus
D
Daedalus, architect of the Cretan Labyrinth, inventor of sails
Daguenet, King Arthur's fool
Dalai Lama, chief pontiff of Thibet
Danae, mother of Perseus by Jupiter
Danaides, the fifty daughters of Danaus, king of Argos, who were betrothed to the fifty sons of Aegyptus, but were commanded by their father to slay each her own husband on the marriage night
Danaus (See Danaides)
Daphne, maiden loved by Apollo, and changed into a laurel tree
Dardanelles, ancient Hellespont
Dardanus, progenitor of the Trojan kings
Dardinel, prince of Zumara
Dawn, See Aurora
Day, an attendant on Phoebus, the Sun
Day star (Hesperus)
Death, See Hela
Deiphobus, son of Priam and Hecuba, the bravest brother of Paris
Dejanira, wife of Hercules
Delos, floating island, birthplace of Apollo and Diana
The smallest and central island of the Cyclades, the
birthplace of Apollo and Artemis, and where the former had a
famous oracle; it was, according to the Greek mythology, a
floating island, and was first fixed to the spot by Zeus to
provide Leda with a place, denied her elsewhere by Hera, in which
to bring forth her twin offspring; it was at one time a centre of
Apollo worship, but is now uninhabited, and only frequented at
times by shepherds with their flocks.
Definition taken from The Nuttall Encyclopædia, edited by
the Reverend James Wood (1907)
Delphi, shrine of Apollo, famed for its oracles
Demeter, Greek goddess of marriage and human fertility, identified by Romans with Ceres
Demeha, South Wales
Demodocus, bard of Alomous, king of the Phaeaeians
Deucalion, king of Thessaly, who with his wife Pyrrha were the only pair surviving a deluge sent by Zeus
Dia, island of
Diana (Artemis), goddess of the moon and of the chase, daughter of Jupiter and Latona
Diana of the Hind, antique sculpture in the Louvre, Paris
Diana, temple of
Dictys, a sailor
Didier, king of the Lombards
Dido, queen of Tyre and Carthage, entertained the shipwrecked Aeneas
Diomede, Greek hero during Trojan War
Dione, female Titan, mother of Zeus, of Aphrodite (Venus)
Dionysus See Bacchus
Dioscuri, the Twins (See Castor and Pollux)
Dirce, wife of Lycus, king of Thebes, who ordered Amphion and Zethus to tie Antiope to a wild bull, but they, learning Antiope to be their mother, so treated Dirce herself
Dis See Pluto
Discord, apple of, See Eris.
Discordia, See Eris.
Dodona, site of an oracle of Zeus (Jupiter)
Dorceus, a dog of Diana
Doris, wife of Nereus
Dragon's teeth sown by Cadmus
Druids, ancient Celtic priests
Dryades (or Dryads), See Wood nymphs
Dryope, changed to a lotus plant, for plucking a lotus--enchanted form of the nymph Lotis
Dubricius, bishop of Caerleon,
Dudon, a knight, comrade of Astolpho,
Dunwallo Molmu'tius, British king and lawgiver
Durindana, sword of Orlando or Rinaldo
Dwarfs in Wagner's Nibelungen Ring
E
Earth (Gaea); goddess of the
Ebudians, the
Echo, nymph of Diana, shunned by Narcissus, faded to nothing but a voice
Ecklenlied, the
Eddas, Norse mythological records,
Ederyn, son of Nudd
Egena, nymph of the Fountain
Eisteddfod, session of Welsh bards and minstrels
Electra, the lost one of the Pleiades, also, sister of Orestes
Eleusian Mysteries, instituted by Ceres, and calculated to awaken feelings of piety and a cheerful hope of better life in the future
Eleusis:
(i) Grecian city
(ii) a son of Hermes and Daeira, the daughter of Oceanus.
(iii) The town of Eleusis in Attica was believed to have derived
its name from him.
Elgin Marbles, Greek sculptures from the Parthenon of Athens, now in British Museum, London, placed there by Lord Elgin
Eliaures, enchanter
Elidure, a king of Britain
Elis, a district of Greece, on the W. coast of the Peloponnesus, sacred to all Hellas as the seat of the greatest of the Greek festivals in connection with the Olympian Games, a circumstance which imparted a prestige to the inhabitants.
Elli, old age; the one successful wrestler against Thor
Elphin, son of Gwyddiro
Elves, spiritual beings, of many powers and dispositions--some evil, some good
Elvidnir, the ball of Hela
Elysian Fields, the land of the blest
Elysian Plain, whither the favored of the gods were taken without death
Elysium, a happy land, where there is neither snow, nor cold, nor ram. Hither favored heroes, like Menelaus, pass without dying, and live happy under the rule of Rhadamanthus. In the Latin poets Elysium is part of the lower world, and the residence of the shades of the blessed
Embla, the first woman
Enseladus, giant defeated by Jupiter
Endymion, a beautiful youth beloved by Diana
Enid, wife of Geraint
Enna, vale of home of Proserpine
Enoch, the patriarch
Epidaurus, a town in Argolis, on the Saronic gulf, chief seat of the worship of Aeculapius, whose temple was situated near the town
Epimetheus, son of Iapetus, husband of Pandora, with his brother Prometheus took part in creation of man
Epirus, country to the west of Thessaly, lying along the Adriatic Sea
Epopeus, a sailor
Erato, one of the Muses
Erbin of Cornwall, father of Geraint
Erebus, son of Chaos, a region of utter darkness in the depths of Hades, into which no mortal ever penetrated, the proper abode of Pluto and his Queen with their train of attendants, such as the Erinnyes, through which the spirits of the dead must pass on their way to Hades; equivalent to the valley of the shadow of death.
Eridanus, river
Erinys, one of the Furies
Eriphyle, sister of Polynices, bribed to decide on war, in which her husband was slain
Eris (Discordia), goddess of discord. At the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, Eris being uninvited threw into the gathering an apple "For the Fairest," which was claimed by Hera (Juno), Aphrodite (Venus) and Athena (Minerva) Paris, being called upon for judgment, awarded it to Aphrodite
Erisichthon, an unbeliever, punished by famine
Eros See Cupid
Erytheia, island
Eryx, a mount, haunt of Venus
Esepus, river in Paphlagonia
Estrildis, wife of Locrine, supplanting divorced Guendolen
Eteocles, son of Oeipus and Jocasta
Etruscans, ancient people of Italy,
Etzel, king of the Huns
Euboic Sea, where Hercules threw Lichas, who brought him the poisoned shirt of Nessus
Eude, king of Aquitaine, ally of Charles Martel
Eumaeus, swineherd of Aeeas
Eumenides, also called Erinnyes, and by the Romans Furiae or Diraae, the Avenging Deities, See Furies
Euphorbus, a Trojan, killed by Menelaus
Euphros'yne, one of the Graces
Europa, daughter of the Phoenician king Agenor, by Zeus the mother of Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Sarpedon
Eurus, the East wind
Euyalus, a gallant Trojan soldier, who with Nisus entered the Grecian camp, both being slain,
Eurydice, wife of Orpheus, who, fleeing from an admirer, was killed by a snake and borne to Tartarus, where Orpheus sought her and was permitted to bring her to earth if he would not look back at her following him, but he did, and she returned to the Shades,
Eurylochus, a companion of Ulysses,
Eurynome, female Titan, wife of Ophlon
Eurystheus, taskmaster of Hercules,
Eurytion, a Centaur (See Hippodamia),
Euterpe, Muse who presided over music,
Evadne, wife of Capaneus, who flung herself upon his funeral pile and perished with him
Evander, Arcadian chief, befriending Aeneas in Italy,
Evnissyen, quarrelsome brother of Branwen,
Excalibar, sword of King Arthur
F
Fafner, a giant turned dragon, treasure stealer, by the Solar Theory simply the Darkness who steals the day,
Falerina, an enchantress,
Fasolt, a giant, brother of Fafner, and killed by him,
"Fasti," Ovid's, a mythological poetic calendar,
FATA MORGANA, a mirage
FATES, the three, described as daughters of Night--to indicate the darkness and obscurity of human destiny--or of Zeus and Themis, that is, "daughters of the just heavens" they were Clo'tho, who spun the thread of life, Lach'esis, who held the thread and fixed its length and At'ropos, who cut it off
FAUNS, cheerful sylvan deities, represented in human form, with small horns, pointed ears, and sometimes goat's tail
FAUNUS, son of Picus, grandson of Saturnus, and father of Latinus, worshipped as the protecting deity of agriculture and of shepherds, and also as a giver of oracles
FAVONIUS, the West wind
FEAR
FENRIS, a wolf, the son of Loki the Evil Principle of Scandinavia, supposed to have personated the element of fire, destructive except when chained
FENSALIR, Freya's palace, called the Hall of the Sea, where were brought together lovers, husbands, and wives who had been separated by death
FERRAGUS, a giant, opponent of Orlando
FERRAU, one of Charlemagne's knights
FERREX. brother of Porrex, the two sons of Leir
FIRE WORSHIPPERS, of ancient Persia, See Parsees FLOLLO, Roman tribune in Gaul
FLORA, Roman goddess of flowers and spring
FLORDELIS, fair maiden beloved by Florismart
FLORISMART, Sir, a brave knight,
FLOSSHILDA, one of the Rhine daughters
FORTUNATE FIELDS
FORTUNATE ISLANDS (See Elysian Plain)
FORUM, market place and open square for public meetings in Rome, surrounded by court houses, palaces, temples, etc
FRANCUS, son of Histion, grandson of Japhet, great grandson of Noah, legendary ancestor of the Franks, or French
FREKI, one of Odin's two wolves
FREY, or Freyr, god of the sun
FREYA, Norse goddess of music, spring, and flowers
FRICKA, goddess of marriage
FRIGGA, goddess who presided over smiling nature, sending sunshine, rain, and harvest
FROH, one of the Norse gods
FRONTI'NO, Rogero's horse
FURIES (Erinnyes), the three retributive spirits who punished crime, represented as snaky haired old woman, named Alecto, Megaeira, and Tisiphone
FUSBERTA, Rinaldo's sword
G
GAEA, or Ge, called Tellus by the Romans, the personification of the earth, described as the first being that sprang fiom Chaos, and gave birth to Uranus (Heaven) and Pontus (Sea)
GAHARIET, knight of Arthur's court
GAHERIS, knight
GALAFRON, King of Cathay, father of Angelica
GALAHAD, Sir, the pure knight of Arthur's Round Table, who safely took the Siege Perilous (which See)
GALATEA, a Nereid or sea nymph
GALATEA, statue carved and beloved by Pygmalion
GALEN, Greek physician and philosophical writer
GALLEHANT, King of the Marches
GAMES, national athletic contests in Greece--Olympian, at Olympia, Pythian, near Delphi, seat of Apollo's oracle, Isthmian, on the Corinthian Isthmus, Nemean, at Nemea in Argolis
GAN, treacherous Duke of Maganza
GANELON of Mayence, one of Charlemagne's knights
GANGES, river in India
GANO, a peer of Charlemagne
GANYMEDE, the most beautiful of all mortals, carried off to Olympus that he might fill the cup of Zeus and live among the immortal gods
GARETH, Arthur's knight
GAUDISSO, Sultan
GAUL, ancient France
GAUTAMA, Prince, the Buddha
GAWAIN, Arthur's knight
GAWL, son of Clud, suitor for Rhiannon
GEMINI (See Castor), constellation created by Jupiter from the twin brothers after death, 158
GENGHIS Khan, Tartar conqueror
GENIUS, in Roman belief, the protective Spirit of each individual man, See Juno
GEOFFREY OF MON'MOUTH, translator into Latin of the Welsh History of the Kings of Britain (1150)
GERAINT, a knight of King Arthur
GERDA, wife of Frey
GERI, one of Odin's two wolves
GERYON, a three bodied monster
GESNES, navigator sent for Isoude the Fair
GIALLAR HORN, the trumpet that Heimdal will blow at the judgment day
GIANTS, beings of monstrous size and of fearful countenances, represented as in constant opposition to the gods, in Wagner's Nibelungen Ring
GIBICHUNG RACE, ancestors of Alberich
GIBRALTAR, great rock and town at southwest corner of Spain (See Pillars of Hercules)
GILDAS, a scholar of Arthur's court
GIRARD, son of Duke Sevinus
GLASTONBURY, where Arthur died
GLAUCUS, a fisherman, loving Scylla
GLEIPNIR, magical chain on the wolf Fenris
GLEWLWYD, Arthur's porter
GOLDEN FLEECE, of ram used for escape of children of Athamas, named Helle and Phryxus (which See), after sacrifice of ram to Jupiter, fleece was guarded by sleepless dragon and gained by Jason and Argonauts (which See, also Helle)
GONERIL, daughter of Leir
GORDIAN KNOT, tying up in temple the wagon of Gordius, he who could untie it being destined to be lord of Asia, it was cut by Alexander the Great, 48
Gordius, a boor, the father of Midas, who was proclaimed king of Phrygia because he happened, in response to the decree of an oracle, to be the first to ride into Gordium during a particular assembly of the people; he rode into the city on a waggon, to which the yoke was attached by the Gordian knot, and which he dedicated to Zeus.
Gorgons, three monstrous females, with huge teeth, brazen claws and snakes for hair, sight of whom turned beholders to stone, Medusa, the most famous, slain by Perseus
Gorlois, Duke of Tintadel
Gouvernail, squire of Isabella, queen of Lionesse, protector of her son Tristram while young, and his squire in knighthood
Graal, the Holy, cup from which the Saviour drank at Last Supper, taken by Joseph of Arimathea to Europe, and lost, its recovery becoming a sacred quest for Arthur's knights
Graces, three goddesses who enhanced the enjoyments of life by refinement and gentleness; they were Aglaia (brilliance), Euphrosyne (joy), and Thalia (bloom)
Gradas'so, king of Sericane
Graeae, three gray haired female watchers for the Gorgons, with one movable eye and one tooth between the three
Grand Lama, Buddhist pontiff in Thibet
Grendel, monster slain by Beowulf
Gryphon (griffin), a fabulous animal, with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle, dwelling in the Rhipaean mountains, between the Hyperboreans and the one eyed Arimaspians, and guarding the gold of the North,
Guebers, Persian fire worshippers,
Guendolen, wife of Locrine,
Guenevere, wife of King Arthur, beloved by Launcelot,
Guerin, lord of Vienne, father of Oliver,
Guiderius, son of Cymbeline,
Guillamurius, king in Ireland,
Guimier, betrothed of Caradoc,
Gullinbursti, the boar drawing Frey's car,
Gulltopp, Heimdell's horse,
Gunfasius, King of the Orkneys,
Ganther, Burgundian king, brother of Kriemhild,
Gutrune, half sister to Hagen,
Gwern son of Matholch and Branwen,
Gwernach the Giant,
Gwiffert Petit, ally of Geraint,
Gwyddno, Garanhir, King of Gwaelod,
Gwyr, judge in the court of Arthur,
Gyoll, river
H
Hades, originally the god of the nether world--the name later used to designate the gloomy subterranean land of the dead,
Haemon, son of Creon of Thebes, and lover of Antigone,
Haemonian city,
Haemus, Mount, northern boundary of Thrace,
Hagan, a principal character in the Nibelungen Lied, slayer of Siegfried,
HALCYONE, daughter of Aeneas, and the beloved wife of Ceyx, who, when he was drowned, flew to his floating body, and the pitying gods changed them both to birds (kingfishers), who nest at sea during a certain calm week in winter ("halcyon weather")
HAMADRYADS, are Greek mythological beings that live in trees. They are a specific species of dryad, which are a particular type of nymph. Hamadryads are born bonded to a specific tree. If their tree died, the hamadryad associated with it died as well. For that reason, dryads and the gods punished any mortals who harmed trees.
HARMONIA, daughter of Mars and Venus, wife of Cadmus
HAROUN AL RASCHID, Caliph of Arabia, contemporary of Charlemagne
HARPIES, monsters, with head and bust of woman, but wings, legs and tail of birds, seizing souls of the wicked, or punishing evildoers by greedily snatching or defiling their food
HARPOCRATES, Egyptian god, Horus
HEBE, daughter of Juno, cupbearer to the gods
HEBRUS, ancient name of river Maritzka
HECATE, a mighty and formidable divinity, supposed to send at night all kinds of demons and terrible phantoms from the lower world
HECTOR, son of Priam and champion of Troy
HECTOR, one of Arthur's knights
HECTOR DE MARYS', a knight
HECUBA, wife of Priam, king of Troy, to whom she bore Hector, Paris, and many other children
HEGIRA, flight of Mahomet from Mecca to Medina (622 AD), era from which Mahometans reckon time, as we do from the birth of Christ
HEIDRUN, she goat, furnishing mead for slain heroes in Valhalla
HEIMDALL, watchman of the gods
HEL, the lower world of Scandinavia, to which were consigned those who had not died in battle
HELA (Death), the daughter of Loki and the mistress of the Scandinavian Hel
HELEN, daughter of Jupiter and Leda, wife of Menelaus, carried off by Paris and cause of the Trojan War
HELENUS, son of Priam and Hecuba, celebrated for his prophetic powers
HELIADES, sisters of Phaeton
HELICON, Mount, in Greece, residence of Apollo and the Muses, with fountains of poetic inspiration, Aganippe and Hippocrene
HELIOOPOLIS, city of the Sun, in Egypt
HELLAS, Gieece
HELLE, daughter of Thessalian King Athamas, who, escaping from cruel father with her brother Phryxus, on ram with golden fleece, fell into the sea strait since named for her (See Golden Fleece)
HELLESPONt, narrow strait between Europe and Asia Minor, named for Helle
HENGIST, Saxon invader of Britain, 449 AD
HEPHAESTOS, See VULCAN
HERA, called Juno by the Romans, a daughter of Cronos (Saturn) and Rhea, and sister and wife of Jupiter, See JUNO
HERCULES, athletic hero, son of Jupiter and Alcmena, achieved twelve vast labors and many famous deeds
HEREWARD THE WAKE, hero of the Saxons
HERMES (Mercury), messenger of the gods, deity of commerce, science, eloquence, trickery, theft, and skill generally
HERMIONE, daughter of Menelaus and Helen
HERMOD, the nimble, son of Odin
HERO, a priestess of Venus, beloved of Leander
HERODOTUS, Greek historian
HESIOD, Greek poet
HESPERIA, ancient name for Italy
HESPERIDES (See Apples of the Hesperides)
HESPERUS, the evening star (also called Day Star)
HESTIA, cilled Vesta by the Romans, the goddess of the hearth
HILDEBRAND, German magician and champion
HINDU TRIAD, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva
HIPPOCRENE (See Helicon)
HIPPODAMIA, wife of Pirithous, at whose wedding the Centaurs offered violence to the bride, causing a great battle
HIPPOGRIFF, winged horse, with eagle's head and claws
HIPPOLYTA, Queen of the Amazons
Hippolytus, son of Thesus
HIPPOMENES, who won Atalanta in foot race, beguiling her with golden apples thrown for her to
HISTION, son of Japhet
HODUR, blind man, who, fooled by
Loki, threw a mistletoe twig at Baldur, killing him
HOEL, king of Brittany
HOMER, the blind poet of Greece, about 850 B C
HOPE (See PANDORA)
HORAE See HOURS
HORSA, with Hengist, invader of Britain
HORUS, Egyptian god of the sun
HOUDAIN, Tristram's dog
HRINGHAM, Baldur's ship
HROTHGAR, king of Denmark
HUGI, who beat Thialfi in foot races
HUGIN, one of Odin's two ravens
HUNDING, husband of Sieglinda
HUON, son of Duke Sevinus
HYACINTHUS, a youth beloved by Apollo, and accidentally killed by him, changed in death to the flower, hyacinth
HYADES, Nysaean nymphs, nurses of infant Bacchus, rewarded by being placed as cluster of stars in the heavens
HYALE, a nymph of Diana
HYDRA, nine headed monster slain by Hercules
HYGEIA, goddess of health, daughter of Aesculapius
HYLAS, a youth detained by nymphs of spring where he sought water
HYMEN, the god of marriage, imagined as a handsome youth and invoked in bridal songs
HYMETTUS, mountain in Attica, near Athens, celebrated for its marble and its honey
HYPERBOREANS, people of the far North
HYPERION, a Titan, son of Uranus and Ge, and father of Helios, Selene, and Eos, cattle of,
Hyrcania, Prince of, betrothed to Clarimunda
Hyrieus, king in Greece,
I
Iapetus, a Titan, son of Uranus and Ge, and father of Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Menoetius,
Iasius, father of Atalanta
Ibycus, a poet, story of, and the cranes
Icaria, island of the Aegean Sea, one of the Sporades
Icarius, Spartan prince, father of Penelope
Icarus, son of Daedalus, he flew too near the sun with artificial wings, and, the wax melting, he fell into the sea
Icelos, attendant of Morpheus
Icolumkill SEE Iona
Ida, Mount, a Trojan hill
Idaeus, a Trojan herald
Idas, son of Aphareus and Arene, and brother of Lynceus Idu'na, wife of Bragi
Igerne, wife of Gorlois, and mother, by Uther, of Arthur
Iliad, epic poem of the Trojan War, by Homer
Ilioheus, a son of Niobe
Ilium SEE Troy
Illyria, Adriatic countries north of Greece
Imogen, daughter of Pandrasus, wife of Trojan Brutus
Inachus, son of Oceanus and Tethys, and father of Phoroneus and Io, also first king of Argos, and said to have given his name to the river Inachus
INCUBUS, an evil spirit, supposed to lie upon persons in their sleep
INDRA, Hindu god of heaven, thunder, lightning, storm and rain
INO, wife of Athamas, fleeing from whom with infant son she sprang into the sea and was changed to Leucothea
IO, changed to a heifer by Jupiter
IOBATES, King of Lycia
IOLAUS, servant of Hercules
IOLE, was the daughter of Eurytus. Eurytus promised Iole to
whoever could beat his sons in an archery contest. Heracles won
but Eurytus abandoned his promise. Heracles killed him and his
sons, and abducted Iole.
Mentioned in Euripides "Hippolytus".
IONA, or Icolmkill, a small northern island near Scotland, where St Columba founded a missionary monastery (563 AD)
IONIA, coast of Asia Minor
IPHIGENIA, daughter of Agamemnon, offered as a sacrifice but carried away by Diana
IPHIS, died for love of Anaxarete
IPHITAS, friend of Hercules, killed by him
IRIS, goddess of the rainbow, messenger of Juno and Zeus
IRONSIDE, Arthur's knight
ISABELLA, daughter of king of Galicia
ISIS, wife of Osiris, described as the giver of death
ISLES OF THE BLESSED
ISMARUS, first stop of Ulysses, returning from Trojan War ISME'NOS, a son of Niobe, slain by Apollo
ISOLIER, friend of Rinaldo
ISOUDE THE FAIR, beloved of Tristram
ISOUDE OF THE WHITE HANDS, married to Tristram
ISTHMIAN GAMES, See GAMES
ITHACA, home of Ulysses and Penelope
IULUS, son of Aeneas
IVO, Saracen king, befriending Rinaldo
IXION, once a sovereign of Thessaly, sentenced in Tartarus to be lashed with serpents to a wheel which a strong wind drove continually around
J
JANICULUM, Roman fortress on the Janiculus, a hill on the other side of the Tiber
JANUS, a deity from the earliest times held in high estimation by the Romans, temple of
JAPHET (Iapetus)
JASON, leader of the Argonauts, seeking the Golden Fleece
JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA, who bore the Holy Graal to Europe
JOTUNHEIM, home of the giants in Northern mythology
JOVE (Zeus), chief god of Roman and Grecian mythology, See JUPITER
JOYOUS GARDE, residence of Sir Launcelot of the Lake
JUGGERNAUT, Hindu deity
JUNO, the particular guardian spirit of each woman (See Genius)
JUNO, wife of Jupiter, queen of the gods
A Roman goddess of marriage and the long-suffering wife of Jupiter. Like her Greek equivalent, Hera, she was the protector of women, in particular married women. A festival took place in her honor on the calends (first) of March. When referred to as Juno Lucina she was the goddess of childbirth.
Those making offerings to her had to untie any knots about their person, since these could hinder a safe delivery. As Juno Moneta she governed finance, and the Roman mint was located in her temple on the Capitoline Hill.
Juno's name is the feminine counterpart of Jupiter (Heavenly Father) and, whereas all men had their 'Genius', all women had their Juno'.
JUPITER, JOVIS PATER, FATHER JOVE, JUPITER and JOVE used interchangeably, at Dodona, statue of the Olympian
JUPITER AMMON (See Ammon)
JUPITER CAPITOLINUS, temple of, preserving the Sibylline books
JUSTICE, See THEMIS
K
KADYRIATH, advises King Arthur
KAI, son of Kyner
KALKI, tenth avatar of Vishnu
KAY, Arthur's steward and a knight
KEDALION, guide of Orion
KERMAN, desert of
KICVA, daughter of Gwynn Gloy
KILWICH, son of Kilydd
KILYDD, son of Prince Kelyddon, of Wales
KNEPH, spirit or breath
KNIGHTS, training and life of
KRIEMHILD, wife of Siegfried
KRISHNA, eighth avatar of Vishnu, Hindu deity of fertility in nature and mankind
KYNER, father of Kav
KYNON, son of Clydno
L
LABYRINTH, the enclosed maze of passageways where roamed the Minotaur of Crete, killed by Theseus with aid of Ariadne
LACHESIS, one of the Fates (which See)
LADY OF THE FOUNTAIN, tale told by Kynon
LAERTES, father of Ulysses
LAESTRYGONIANS, savages attacking Ulysses
LAIUS, King of Thebes
LAMA, holy man of Thibet
LAMPETIA, daughter of Hyperion LAOC'OON, a priest of Neptune, in Troy, who warned the Trojans against the Wooden Horse (which See), but when two serpents came out of the sea and strangled him and his two sons, the people listened to the Greek spy Sinon, and brought the fatal Horse into the town
LAODAMIA, daughter of Acastus and wife of Protesilaus
LAODEGAN, King of Carmalide, helped by Arthur and Merlin
LAOMEDON, King of Troy
LAPITHAE, Thessalonians, whose king had invited the Centaurs to his daughter's wedding but who attacked them for offering violence to the bride
LARES, household deities
LARKSPUR, flower from the blood of Ajax
LATINUS, ruler of Latium, where Aeneas landed in Italy
LATMOS, Mount, where Diana fell in love with Endymion
LATONA, mother of Apollo
LAUNCELOT, the most famous knight of the Round Table
LAUSUS, son of Mezentius, killed by Aeneas
LAVINIA, daughter of Latinus and wife of Aeneas
LAVINIUM, Italian city named for Lavinia
LAW, See THEMIS
LEANDER, a youth of Abydos, who, swimming the Hellespont to see Hero, his love, was drowned
LEBADEA, site of the oracle of Trophomus
LEBYNTHOS, Aegean island
LEDA, Queen of Sparta, wooed by Jupiter in the form of a swan
LEIR, mythical King of Britain, original of Shakespeare's Lear
LELAPS, dog of Cephalus
LEMNOS, large island in the Aegean Sea, sacred to Vulcan
LEMURES, the spectres or spirits of the dead
LEO, Roman emperor, Greek prince
LETHE, the personification of oblivion, is ailed by Hesiod a daughter of Eris, A river in the lower world likewise bore the name of Lethe drinking whose water caused forgetfulness
LEUCADIA, a promontory, whence Sappho, disappointed in love, was said to have thrown herself into the sea
LEUCOTHEA, a sea goddess, invoked by sailors for protection (See Ino)
LEWIS, son of Charlemagne
LIBER, ancient god of fruitfulness
LIBETHRA, burial place of Orpheus
LIBYA, Greek name for continent of Africa in general
LIBYAN DESERT, in Africa
LIBYAN OASIS
LICHAS, who brought the shirt of Nessus to Hercules
LIMOURS, Earl of
LINUS, musical instructor of Hercules
LIONEL, knight of the Round Table
LLYR, King of Britain
LOCRINE, son of Brutus in Albion, king of Central England
LOEGRIA, kingdom of (England)
LOGESTILLA, a wise lady, who entertained Rogero and his friends
LOGI, who vanquished Loki in an eating contest
LOKI, the Satan of Norse mythology, son of the giant Farbanti
LOT, King, a rebel chief, subdued by King Arthur, then a loyal knight
LOTIS, a nymph, daughter of Poseidon or Nereus. Priapus tried to rape her and she was changed into a lotus tree to escape him. Later, Dryope picked a flower off the tree Lotis had become, and was transformed into a lotus herself.
LOTUS EATERS, soothed to indolence, companions of Ulysses landing among them lost all memory of home and had to be dragged away before they would continue their voyage
LOVE (Eros) issued from egg of Night, and with arrows and torch produced life and joy
LUCAN, one of Arthur's knights
Lucius Tiberius, Roman procurator in Britain demanding tribute from Arthur
LUD, British king, whose capital was called Lud's Town (London)
LUDGATE, city gate where Lud was buried, 387
LUNED, maiden who guided Owain to the Lady of the Fountain
LYCAHAS, a turbulent sailor
LYCAON, son of Priam
LYCIA, a district in Southern Asia Minor
LYCOMODES, king of the Dolopians, who treacherously slew Theseus
LYCUS, usurping King of Thebes
LYNCEUS, one of the sons of Aegyptus
M
MABINOGEON, plural of Mabinogi, fairy tales and romances of the Welsh
MABON, son of Modron
MACHAON, son of Aesculapius
MADAN, son of Guendolen
MADOC, a forester of King Arthur
MADOR, Scottish knight
MAELGAN, king who imprisoned Elphin
MAEONIA, ancient Lydia
MAGI, Persian priests
MAHADEVA, same as Siva
MAHOMET, great prophet of Arabia, born in Mecca, 571 AD, proclaimed worship of God instead of idols, spread his religion through disciples and then by force till it prevailed, with Arabian dominion, over vast regions in Asia, Africa, and Spain in Europe
MAIA, daughter of Atlas and Pleione, eldest and most beautiful of the Pleiades
MALAGIGI the Enchanter, one of Charlemagne's knights
MALEAGANS, false knight
MALVASIUS, King of Iceland
MAMBRINO, with invisible helmet
MANAWYD DAN, brother of King Vran, of London
MANDRICARDO, son of Agrican
MANTUA, in Italy, birthplace of Virgil
MANU, ancestor of mankind
MARATHON, where Theseus and Pirithous met
MARK, King of Cornwall, husband of Isoude the Fair
MARO See VIRGIL
MARPHISA, sister of Rogero
MARSILIUS, Spanish king, treacherous foe of Charlemagne
MARSYAS, inventor of the flute, who challenged Apollo to musical competition, and, defeated, was flayed alive
MATSYA, the Fish, first avatar of Vishnu
MEANDER, Grecian river
MEDE, A, princess and sorceress who aided Jason
MEDORO, a young Moor, who wins Angelica
MEDUSA, one of the Gorgons
MEGAERA, one of the Furies
MELAMPUS, a Spartan dog, the first mortal endowed with prophetic powers
MELANTHUS, steersman for Bacchus
MELEAGER, one of the Argonauts (See Althaea)
MELIADUS, King of Lionesse, near Cornwall
MELICERTES, infant son of Ino. changed to Palaemon (See Ino, Leucothea, and Palasmon)
MELISSA, priestess at Merlin's tomb
MELISSEUS, a Cretan king
MELPOMENE, one of the Muses
MEMNON, the beautiful son of Tithonus and Eos (Aurora), and king of the Ethiopians, slain in Trojan War
MEMPHIS, Egyptian city
MENELAUS, son of King of Sparta, husband of Helen
MENOECEUS, son of Creon, voluntary victim in war to gain success for his father
MENTOR, son of Alcimus and a faithful friend of Ulysses
MERCURY (See HERMES)
MERLIN, enchanter
MEROPE, daughter of King of Chios, beloved by Orion
MESMERISM, likened to curative oracle of Aesculapius at Epidaurus
METABUS, father of Camilla
METAMORPHOSES, Ovid's poetical legends of mythical transformations, a large source of our knowledge of classic mythology
METANIRA, a mother, kind to Ceres seeking Proserpine
METEMPSYCHOSIS, transmigration of souls--rebirth of dying men and women in forms of animals or human beings
METIS, Prudence, a spouse of Jupiter
MEZENTIUS, a brave but cruel soldier, opposing Aeneas in Italy
MIDAS
MIDGARD, the middle world of the Norsemen
MIDGARD SERPENT, a sea monster, child of Loki
MILKY WAY, starred path across the sky, believed to be road to palace of the gods
MILO, a great athlete
MLON, father of Orlando
MILTON, John, great English poet, whose History of England is here largely used
MIME, one of the chief dwarfs of ancient German mythology
MINERVA (Athene), daughter of Jupiter, patroness of health, learning, and wisdom
MINOS, King of Crete
MINO TAUR, monster killed by Theseus
MISTLETOE, fatal to Baldur
MNEMOSYNE, one of the Muses
MODESTY, statue to
MODRED, nephew of King Arthur
MOLY, plant, powerful against sorcery
MOMUS, a deity whose delight was to jeer bitterly at gods and men
MONAD, the "unit" of Pythagoras
MONSTERS, unnatural beings, evilly disposed to men
MONTALBAN, Rinaldo's castle
MONTH, the, attendant upon the Sun
MOON, goddess of, see DIANA
MORAUNT, knight, an Irish champion
MORGANA, enchantress, the Lady of the Lake in "Orlando Furioso," same as Morgane Le Fay in tales of Arthur
MORGANE LE FAY, Queen of Norway, King Arthur's sister, an enchantress
MORGAN TUD, Arthur's chief physician
MORPHEUS, son of Sleep and god of dreams
MORTE D'ARTHUr, romance, by Sir Thomas Mallory
MULCIBER, Latin name of Vulcan
MULL, Island of
MUNIN, one of Odin's two ravens
MUSAEUS, sacred poet, son of Orpheus
MUSES, The, nine goddesses presiding over poetry, etc--Calliope, epic poetry, Clio, history, Erato, love poetry, Euterpe, lyric poetry; Melpomene, tragedy, Polyhymnia, oratory and sacred song Terpsichore, choral song and dance, Thalia, comedy and idyls, Urania, astronomy
MUSPELHEIM, the fire world of the Norsemen
MYCENAS, ancient Grecian city, of which Agamemnon was king
MYRDDIN (Merlin)
MYRMIDONS, bold soldiers of Achilles
MYSIA, Greek district on northwest coast of Asia Minor
MYTHOLOGY, origin of, collected myths, describing gods of early peoples
N
NAIADS, water nymphs
NAMO, Duke of Bavaria, one of Charlemagne's knights
NANNA, wife of Baldur
NANTERS, British king
NANTES, site of Caradoc's castle
NAPE, a dog of Diana
NARCISSUS, who died of unsatisfied love for his own image in the water
NAUSICAA, daughter of King Alcinous, who befriended Ulysses
NAUSITHOUS, king of Phaeacians
NAXOS, Island of
NEGUS, King of Abyssinia
NEMEA, forest devastated by a lion killed by Hercules
NEMEAN GAMES, held in honor of Jupiter and Hercules
NEMEAN LION, killed by Hercules
NEMESIS, goddess of vengeance
NENNIUS, British combatant of Caesar
NEOPTOLEMUS, son of Achilles
NEPENTHE, ancient drug to cause forgetfulness of pain or distress
NEPHELE, mother of Phryxus and Helle
NEPHTHYS, Egyptian goddess
NEPTUNE, identical with Poseidon, god of the sea
NEREIDS, sea nymphs, daughters of Nereus and Doris
NEREUS, a sea god
NESSUS, a centaur killed by Hercules, whose jealous wife sent him a robe or shirt steeped in the blood of Nessus, which poisoned him
NESTOR, king of Pylos, renowned for his wisdom, justice, and knowledge of war
NIBELUNGEN HOARD, treasure seized by Siegfried from the Nibelungs, buried in the Rhine by Hagan after killing Siegfried, and lost when Hagan was killed by Kriemhild, theme of Wagner's four music dramas, "The Ring of the Nibelungen,"
NIBELUNGEN LIED, German epic, giving the same nature myth as the Norse Volsunga Saga, concerning the Hoard
NIBELUNGEN RING, Wagner's music dramas
NIBELUNGS, the, a race of Northern dwarfs
NIDHOGGE, a serpent in the lower world that lives on the dead
NIFFLEHEIM, mist world of the Norsemen, the Hades of absent spirits
NILE, Egyptian river
NIOBE, daughter of Tantalus, proud Queen of Thebes, whose seven sons and seven daughters were killed by Apollo and Diana, at which Amphion, her husband, killed himself, and Niobe wept until she was turned to stone
NISUS, King of Megara
NOAH, as legendary ancestor of French, Roman, German, and British peoples
NOMAN, name assumed by Ulysses
NORNS, the three Scandinavian Fates, Urdur (the past), Verdandi (the present), and Skuld (the future)
NOTHUNG, magic sword
NOTUS, southwest wind
NOX, daughter of Chaos and sister of Erebus, personification of night
Numa, second king of Rome
NYMPHS, beautiful maidens, lesser divinities of nature Dryads and Hamadryads, tree nymphs, Naiads, spring, brook, and river nymphs, Nereids, sea nymphs Oreads, mountain nymphs or hill nymphs
O
OCEANUS, a Titan, ruling watery elements
OCYROE, a prophetess, daughter of Chiron
ODERIC
ODIN, chief of the Norse gods
ODYAR, famous Biscayan hero
ODYSSEUS See ULYSSES
ODYSSEY, Homer's poem, relating the wanderings of Odysseus (Ulysses) on returning from Trojan War
OEDIPUS, Theban hero, who guessed the riddle of the Sphinx (which See), becoming King of Thebes
OENEUS, King of Calydon
OENONE, nymph, married by Paris in his youth, and abandoned for Helen
OENOPION, King of Chios
OETA, Mount, scene of Hercules' death
OGIER, the Dane, one of the paladins of Charlemagne
OLIVER, companion of Orlando
OLWEN, wife of Kilwich
OLYMPIA, a small plain in Elis, where the Olympic games were celebrated
OLYMPIADS, periods between Olympic games (four years)
OLYMPIAN GAMES, See GAMES
OLYMPUS, dwelling place of the dynasty of gods of which Zeus was the head
OMPHALE, queen of Lydia, daughter of Iardanus and wife of Tmolus
OPHION, king of the Titans, who ruled Olympus till dethroned by the gods Saturn and Rhea
OPS See RHEA
ORACLES, answers from the gods to questions from seekers for knowledge or advice for the future, usually in equivocal form, so as to fit any event, also places where such answers were given forth usually by a priest or priestess
ORC, a sea monster, foiled by Rogero when about to devour Angelica
OREADS, nymphs of mountains and hills
ORESTES, son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, because of his crime in killing his mother, he was pursued by the Furies until purified by Minerva
ORION, youthful giant, loved by Diana, Constellation
ORITHYIA, a nymph, seized by Boreas
ORLANDO, a famous knight and nephew of Charlemagne
ORMUZD (Greek, Oromasdes), son of Supreme Being, source of good as his brother Ahriman (Arimanes) was of evil, in Persian or Zoroastrian religion
ORPHEUS, musician, son of Apollo and Calliope, See EURYDICE
OSIRIS, the most beneficent of the Egyptian gods
OSSA, mountain of Thessaly
OSSIAN, Celtic poet of the second or third century
OVID, Latin poet (See Metamorphoses)
OWAIN, knight at King Arthur's court
OZANNA, a knight of Arthur
P
PACTOLUS, river whose sands were changed to gold by Midas
PAEON, a name for both Apollo and Aesculapius, gods of medicine,
PAGANS, heathen
PALADINS or peers, knights errant
PALAEMON, son of Athamas and Ino
PALAMEDES, messenger sent to call Ulysses to the Trojan War
PALAMEDES, Saracen prince at Arthur's court
PALATINE, one of Rome's Seven Hills
PALES, goddess presiding over cattle and pastures
PALINURUS, faithful steersman of Aeeas
PALLADIUM, properly any image of Pallas Athene, but specially applied to an image at Troy, which was stolen by Ulysses and Diomedes
PALLAS, son of Evander
PALLAS A THE'NE (Minerva)
PAMPHA GUS, a dog of Diana
PAN, god of nature and the universe
PANATHENAEA, festival in honor of Pallas Athene (Minerva)
PANDEAN PIPES, musical instrument of reeds, made by Pan in memory of Syrinx
PANDORA (all gifted), first woman, dowered with gifts by every god, yet entrusted with a box she was cautioned not to open, but, curious, she opened it, and out flew all the ills of humanity, leaving behind only Hope, which remained
PANDRASUS, a king in Greece, who persecuted Trojan exiles under Brutus, great grandson of Aeneas, until they fought, captured him, and, with his daughter Imogen as Brutus' wife, emigrated to Albion (later called Britain)
PANOPE, plain of
PANTHUS, alleged earlier incarnation of Pythagoras
PAPHLAGNIA, ancient country in Asia Minor, south of Black Sea
PAPHOS, daughter of Pygmalion and Galatea (both of which, See)
PARCAE See FATES
PARIAHS, lowest caste of Hindus
PARIS, son of Priam and Hecuba, who eloped with Helen (which. See)
PARNASSIAN LAUREL, wreath from Parnassus, crown awarded to successful poets
PARNASSUS, mountain near Delphi, sacred to Apollo and the Muses
PARSEES, Persian fire worshippers (Zoroastrians), of whom there are still thousands in Persia and India
PARTHENON, the temple of Athene Parthenos ("the Virgin") on the Acropolis of Athens
PASSEBREUL, Tristram's horse
PATROCLUS, friend of Achilles, killed by Hector
PECHEUR, King, uncle of Perceval
PEERS, the
PEG A SUS, winged horse, born from the sea foam and the blood of Medusa
PELEUS, king of the Myrmidons, father of Achilles by Thetis
PELIAS, usurping uncle of Jason
PELION, mountain
PELLEAS, knight of Arthur
PENATES, protective household deities of the Romans
PENDRAGON, King of Britain, elder brother of Uther Pendragon, who succeeded him
PENELOPE, wife of Ulysses, who, waiting twenty years for his return from the Trojan War, put off the suitors for her hand by promising to choose one when her weaving was done, but unravelled at night what she had woven by day
PENEUS, river god, river
PENTHESILEA, queen of Amazons
PENTHEUS, king of Thebes, having resisted the introduction of the worship of Bacchus into his kingdom, was driven mad by the god
PENUS, Roman house pantry, giving name to the Penates
PEPIN, father of Charlemagne
PEPLUS, sacred robe of Minerva
PERCEVAL, a great knight of Arthur
PERDIX, inventor of saw and compasses
PERIANDER, King of Corinuh, friend of Arion
PERIPHETES, son of Vulcan, killed by Theseus
PERSEPHONE, goddess of vegetation, 8 See Pioserpine
PERSEUS, son of Jupiter and Danae, slayer of the Gorgon Medusa, deliverer of Andromeda from a sea monster, 116 122, 124, 202
PHAEACIANS, people who entertained Ulysses
PHAEDRA, faithless and cruel wife of Theseus
PHAETHUSA, sister of Phaeton, 244
PHAETON, son of Phoebus, who dared attempt to drive his father's sun chariot
PHANTASOS, a son of Somnus, bringing strange images to sleeping men
PHAON, beloved by Sappho
PHELOT, knight of Wales
PHEREDIN, friend of Tristram, unhappy lover of Isoude
PHIDIAS, famous Greek sculptor
PHILEMON, husband of Baucis
PHILOCTETES, warrior who lighted the fatal pyre of Hercules
PHILOE, burial place of Osiris
PHINEUS, betrothed to Andromeda
PHLEGETHON, fiery river of Hades
PHOCIS
PHOEBE, one of the sisters of Phaeton
PHOEBUS (Apollo), god of music, prophecy, and archery, the sun god. The shining, pure or bright, occurs both as an epithet and a name of Apollo, in his capacity of god of the sun. Some ancients derived the name from Apollo's grandmother Phoebe.
PHOENIX, a messenger to Achilles, also, a miraculous bird dying in fire by its own act and springing up alive from its own ashes
PHORBAS, a companion of Aeneas, whose form was assumed by Neptune in luring Palinuras the helmsman from his roost
PHRYXUS, brother of Helle
PINABEL, knight
PILLARS OF HERCULES, two mountains--Calpe, now the Rock of Gibraltar, southwest corner of Spain in Europe, and Abyla, facing it in Africa across the strait
PINDAR, famous Greek poet
PINDUS, Grecian mountain
PIRENE, celebrated fountain at Corinth
PIRITHOUS, king of the Lapithae in Thessaly, and friend of Theseus, husband of Hippodamia
PLEASURE, daughter of Cupid and Psyche
PLEIADES, seven of Diana's nymphs, changed into stars, one being lost
PLENTY, the Horn of
PLEXIPPUS, brother of Althea
PLINY, Roman naturalist
PLUTO, the same as Hades, Dis, etc. god of the Infernal Regions. A daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, and one of the playmates of Persephone
PLUTUS, god of wealth
PO, Italian river
POLE STAR
POLITES, youngest son of Priam of Troy
POLLUX, Castor and (Dioscuri, the Twins) (See Castor)
POLYDECTES, king of Seriphus
POLYDORE, slain kinsman of Aeneas, whose blood nourished a bush that bled when broken
POLYHYMNIA, Muse of oratory and sacred song
POLYIDUS, soothsayer
POLYNICES, King of Thebes
POLYPHEMUS, giant son of Neptune
POLYXENA, daughter of King Priam of Troy
POMONA, goddess of fruit trees (See VERTUMNUS)
PORREX and FER'REX, sons of Leir, King of Britain
PORTUNUS, Roman name for Palaemon
POSEIDON (Neptune), ruler of the ocean
PRECIPICE, threshold of Helas hall
PRESTER JOHN, a rumored priest or presbyter, a Christian pontiff in Upper Asia, believed in but never found
PRIAM, king of Troy
PRIWEN, Arthur's shield
PROCRIS, beloved but jealous wife of Cephalus
PROCRUSTES, who seized travellers and bound them on his iron bed, stretching the short ones and cutting short the tall, thus also himself served by Theseus
PROETUS, jealous of Bellerophon
PROMETHEUS, creator of man, who stole fire from heaven for man's use
PROSERPINE, the same as Persephone, goddess of all growing things, daughter of Ceres, carried off by Pluto
PROTESILAUS, slain by Hector the Trojan, allowed by the gods to return for three hours' talk with his widow Laodomia
PROTEUS, the old man of the sea
PRUDENCE (Metis), spouse of Jupiter
PRYDERI, son of Pwyll
PSYCHE, a beautiful maiden, personification of the human soul, sought by Cupid (Love), to whom she responded, lost him by curiosity to see him (as he came to her only by night), but finally through his prayers was made immortal and restored to him, a symbol of immortality
PURANAS, Hindu Scriptures
PWYLL, Prince of Dyved
PYGMALION, sculptor in love with a statue he had made, brought to life by Venus, brother of Queen Dido
PYGMIES, nation of dwarfs, at war with the Cranes
PYLADES, son of Straphius, friend of Orestes
PYRAMUS, who loved Thisbe, next door neighbor, and, their parents opposing, they talked through cracks in the house wall, agreeing to meet in the near by woods, where Pyramus, finding a bloody veil and thinking Thisbe slain, killed himself, and she, seeing his body, killed herself (Burlesqued in Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream")
PYRRHA, wife of Deucalion
PYRRHUS (Neoptolemus), son of Achilles
PYTHAGORAS, Greek philosopher (540 BC), who thought numbers to be the essence and principle of all things, and taught transmigration of souls of the dead into new life as human or animal beings
PYTHIA, priestess of Apollo at Delphi
PYTHIAN GAMES
PYTHIAN ORACLE
PYTHON, serpent springing from Deluge slum, destroyed by Apollo
Q
QUIRINUS (from quiris, a lance or spear), a war god, said to be Romulus, founder of Rome
R
RABICAN, noted horse
RAGNAROK, the twilight (or ending) of the gods
RAJPUTS, minor Hindu caste
REGAN, daughter of Leir
REGILLUS, lake in Latium, noted for battle fought near by between the Romans and the Latins
REGGIO, family from which Rogero sprang
REMUS, brother of Romulus, founder of Rome
RHADAMANTHUS, son of Jupiter and Europa after his death one of the judges in the lower world
RHAPSODIST, professional reciter of poems among the Greeks
RHEA, female Titan, wife of Saturn (Cronos), mother of the chief gods, worshipped in Greece and Rome
RHINE, river
RHINE MAIDENS, OR DAUGHTERS, three water nymphs, Flosshilda, Woglinda, and Wellgunda, set to guard the Nibelungen Hoard, buried in the Rhine
RHODES, one of the seven cities claiming to be Homer's birthplace
RHODOPE, mountain in Thrace
RHONGOMYANT, Arthur's lance
RHOECUS, a youth, beloved by a Dryad, but who brushed away a bee sent by her to call him to her, and she punished him with blindness
RHIANNON, wife of Pwyll
RINALDO, one of the bravest knights of Charlemagne
RIVER OCEAN, flowing around the earth
ROBERT DE BEAUVAIS', Norman poet (1257)
ROBIN HOOD, famous outlaw in English legend, about time of Richard Coeur de Lion
ROCKINGHAM, forest of
RODOMONT, king of Algiers
ROGERO, noted Saracen knight
ROLAND (Orlando), See Orlando
ROMANCES
ROMANUS, legendary great grandson of Noah
ROME
ROMULUS, founder of Rome
RON, Arthur's lance
RONCES VALLES', battle of
ROUND TABLE King Arthur's instituted by Merlin the Sage for Pendragon, Arthur's father, as a knightly order, continued and made famous by Arthur and his knights
RUNIC CHARACTERS, or runes, alphabetic signs used by early Teutonic peoples, written or graved on metal or stone
RUTULIANS, an ancient people in Italy, subdued at an early period by the Romans
RYENCE, king in Ireland
S
SABRA, maiden for whom Severn River was named, daughter of Locrine and Estrildis thrown into river Severn by Locrine's wife, transformed to a river nymph, poetically named Sabrina
SACRIPANT, king of Circassia
SAFFIRE, Sir, knight of Arthur
SAGAS, Norse tales of heroism, composed by the Skalds
SAGRAMOUR, knight of Arthur
St. MICHAEL'S MOUNT, precipitous pointed rock hill on the coast of Brittany, opposite Cornwall
SAKYASINHA, the Lion, epithet applied to Buddha
SALAMANDER, a lizard like animal, fabled to be able to live in fire
SALAMIS, Grecian city
SALMONEUS, son of Aeolus and Enarete and brother of Sisyphus
SALOMON, king of Brittany, at Charlemagne's court
SAMHIN, or "fire of peace," a Druidical festival
SAMIAN SAGE (Pythagoras)
SAMOS, island in the Aegean Sea
SAMOTHRACIAN GODS, a group of agricultural divinities, worshipped in Samothrace
SAMSON, Hebrew hero, thought by some to be original of Hercules
SAN GREAL (See Graal, the Holy)
SAPPHO, Greek poetess, who leaped into the sea from promontory of Leucadia in disappointed love for Phaon
SARACENS, followers of Mahomet
SARPEDON, son of Jupiter and Europa, killed by Patroclus
SATURN (Cronos)
SATURNALIA, a annual festival held by Romans in honor of Saturn
SATURNIA, an ancient name of Italy
SATYRS, male divinities of the forest, half man, half goat
SCALIGER, famous German scholar of 16th century
SCANDINAVIA, mythology of, giving account of Northern gods, heroes, etc
SCHERIA, mythical island, abode of the Phaeacians
SCHRIMNIR, the boar, cooked nightly for the heroes of Valhalla becoming whole every morning
SCIO, one of the island cities claiming to be Homer's birthplace
SCOPAS, King of Thessaly
SCORPION, constellation
SCYLLA, sea nymph beloved by Glaucus, but changed by jealous Circe to a monster and finally to a dangerous rock on the Sicilian coast, facing the whirlpool Charybdis, many mariners being wrecked between the two, also, daughter of King Nisus of Megara, who loved Minos, besieging her father's city, but he disliked her disloyalty and drowned her, also, a fair virgin of Sicily, friend of sea nymph Galatea
SCYROS, where Theseus was slain
SCYTHIA, country lying north of Euxine Sea
SEMELE, daughter of Cadmus and, by Jupiter, mother of Bacchus
SEMIRAMIS, with Ninus the mythical founder of the Assyrian empire of Nineveh
SENAPUS, King of Abyssinia, who entertained Astolpho
SERAPIS, or Hermes, Egyptian divinity of Tartarus and of medicine
SERFS, slaves of the land
SERIPHUS, island in the Aegean Sea, one of the Cyclades
SERPENT (Northern constellation)
SESTOS, dwelling of Hero (which See also Leander)
"SEVEN AGAINST THEBES," famous Greek expedition
SEVERN RIVER, in England
SEVINUS, Duke of Guienne
SHALOTT, THE LADY OF
SHATRIYA, Hindu warrior caste
SHERASMIN, French chevalier
SIBYL, prophetess of Cumae
SICHAEUS, husband of Dido
SEIGE PERILOUS, the chair of purity at Arthur's Round Table, fatal to any but him who was destined to achieve the quest of the Sangreal (See Galahad)
SIEGFRIED, young King of the Netherlands, husband of Kriemhild, she boasted to Brunhild that Siegfried had aided Gunther to beat her in athletic contests, thus winning her as wife, and Brunhild, in anger, employed Hagan to murder Siegfried. As hero of Wagner's "Valkyrie," he wins the Nibelungen treasure ring, loves and deserts Brunhild, and is slain by Hagan
SIEGLINDA, wife of Hunding, mother of Siegfried by Siegmund
SIEGMUND, father of Siegfried
SIGTRYG, Prince, betrothed of King Alef's daughter, aided by Hereward
SIGUNA, wife of Loki
SILENUS, a Satyr, school master of Bacchus
SILURES (South Wales)
SILVIA, daughter of Latin shepherd
SILVIUS, grandson of Aeneas, accidentally killed in the chase by his son Brutus
SIMONIDES, an early poet of Greece
SINON, a Greek spy, who persuaded the Trojans to take the Wooden Horse into their city
SIRENS, sea nymphs, whose singing charmed mariners to leap into the sea, passing their island, Ulysses stopped the ears of his sailors with wax, and had himself bound to the mast so that he could hear but not yield to their music
SIRIUS, the dog of Orion, changed to the Dog star
SISYPHUS, condemned in Tartarus to perpetually roll up hill a big rock which, when the top was reached, rolled down again
SIVA, the Destroyer, third person of the Hindu triad of gods
SKALDS, Norse bards and poets
SKIDBLADNIR, Freyr's ship
SKIRNIR, Frey's messenger, who won the god's magic sword by getting him Gerda for his wife
SKRYMIR, a giant, Utgard Loki in disguise, who fooled Thor in athletic feats
SKULD, the Norn of the Future
SLEEP, twin brother of Death
SLEIPNIR, Odin's horse
SOBRINO, councillor to Agramant
SOMNUS, child of Nox, twin brother of Mors, god of sleep
SOPHOCLES, Greek tragic dramatist
SOUTH WIND See Notus
SPAR'TA, capital of Lacedaemon
SPHINX, a monster, waylaying the road to Thebes and propounding riddles to all passers, on pain of death, for wrong guessing, who killed herself in rage when Aedipus guessed aright
SPRING
STONEHENGE, circle of huge upright stones, fabled to be sepulchre of Pendragon
STROPHIUS, father of Pylades
STYGIAN REALM, Hades
STYGIAN SLEEP, escaped from the beauty box sent from Hades to Venus by hand of Psyche, who curiously opened the box and was plunged into unconsciousness
STYX, river, bordering Hades, to be crossed by all the dead
SUDRAS, Hindu laboring caste
SURTUR, leader of giants against the gods in the day of their destruction (Norse mythology)
SURYA, Hindu god of the sun, corresponding to the Greek Helios
SUTRI, Orlando's birthplace
SVADILFARI, giant's horse
SWAN, LEDA AND
SYBARIS, Greek city in Southern Italy, famed for luxury
SYLVANUS, Latin divinity identified with Pan
Silvanus ("of the woods") was a Roman tutelary spirit of woods, a genius loci that was apparently inherited from the Etruscan Selvans. In Cato's De Agricultura an offering to Mars Silvanus is described, to insure the health of cattle.
The Celtic god Sucellos was assimilated into Silvanus.
SYMPLEGADES, floating rocks passed by the Argonauts
SYRINX, nymph, pursued by Pan, but escaping by being changed to a bunch of reeds (See Pandean pipes)
T
TACITUS, Roman historian
TAENARUS, Greek entrance to lower regions
TAGUS, river in Spain and Portugal
TALIESIN, Welsh bard
TANAIS, ancient name of river Don
TANTALUS, wicked king, punished in Hades by standing in water that retired when he would drink, under fruit trees that withdrew when he would eat
TARCHON, Etruscan chief
TARENTUM, Italian city
TARPEIAN ROCK, in Rome, from which condemned criminals were hurled
TARQUINS, a ruling family in early Roman legend
TAURIS, Grecian city, site of temple of Diana (See Iphigenia)
TAURUS, a mountain
TARTARUS, place of confinement of Titans, etc, originally a black abyss below Hades later, represented as place where the wicked were punished, and sometimes the name used as synonymous with Hades
TEIRTU, the harp of
TELAMON, Greek hero and adventurer, father of Ajax
TELEMACHUS, son of Ulysses and Penelope
TELLUS, another name for Rhea
TENEDOS, an island in Aegean Sea
TERMINUS, Roman divinity presiding over boundaries and frontiers
TERPSICHORE, Muse of dancing
TERRA, goddess of the earth
TETHYS, goddess of the sea
TEUCER, ancient king of the Trojans
THALIA, one of the three Graces
THAMYRIS, Thracian bard, who challenged the Muses to competition in singing, and, defeated, was blinded
THAUKT, Loki disguised as a hag
THEBES, city founded by Cadmus and capital of Boeotia
THEMIS, female Titan, law counsellor of Jove
THEODORA, sister of Prince Leo
THERON, one of Diana's dogs
THERSITES, a brawler, killed by Achilles
THESCELUS, foe of Perseus, turned to stone by sight of Gorgon's head
THESEUM, Athenian temple in honor of Theseus
THESEUS, son of Aegeus and Aethra, King of Athens, a great hero of many adventures
THESSALY
THESTIUS, father of Althea
THETIS, mother of Achilles
THIALFI, Thor's servant
THIS'BE, Babylonian maiden beloved by Pyramus
THOR, the thunderer, of Norse mythology, most popular of the gods
THRACE
THRINA'KIA, island pasturing Hyperion's cattle, where Ulysses landed, but, his men killing some cattle for food, their ship was wrecked by lightning
THRYM, giant, who buried Thor's hammer
THUCYDIDES, Greek historian
TIBER, river flowing through Rome
TIBER, FATHER, god of the river
TIGRIS, river
TINTADEL, castle of, residence of King Mark of Cornwall
TIRESIAS, a Greek soothsayer
TISIPHONE, one of the Furies
TITANS, the sons and daughters of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaea (Earth), enemies of the gods and overcome by them
TITHONUS, Trojan prince
TITYUS, giant in Tartarus
TMOLUS, a mountain god
TORTOISE, second avatar of Vishnu
TOURS, battle of (See Abdalrahman and Charles Martel)
TOXEUS, brother of Melauger's mother, who snatched from Atalanta her hunting trophy, and was slain by Melauger, who had awarded it to her
TRIAD, the Hindu
TRIADS, Welsh poems
TRIMURTI, Hindu Triad
TRIPTOL'EMUS, son of Celeus , and who, made great by Ceres, founded her worship in Eleusis
TRISTRAM, one of Arthur's knights, husband of Isoude of the White Hands, lover of Isoude the Fair,
TRITON, a demi god of the sea, son of Poseidon (Neptune) and Amphitrite
TROEZEN, Greek city of Argolis
TROJAN WAR
TROJANOVA, New Troy, City founded in Britain (See Brutus, and Lud)
TROPHONIUS, oracle of, in Boeotia
TROUBADOURS, poets and minstrels of Provence, in Southern France
TROUVERS', poets and minstrels of Northern France
TROY, city in Asia Minor, ruled by King Priam, whose son, Paris, stole away Helen, wife of Menelaus the Greek, resulting in the Trojan War and the destruction of Troy
TROY, fall of
TURNUS, chief of the Rutulianes in Italy, unsuccessful rival of Aeneas for Lavinia
TURPIN, Archbishop of Rheims
TURQUINE, Sir, a great knight, foe of Arthur, slain by Sir Launcelot
TYPHON, one of the giants who attacked the gods, were defeated, and imprisoned under Mt. Aetna
TYR, Norse god of battles
TYRE, Phoenician city governed by Dido
TYRIANS
TYRRHEUS, herdsman of King Turnus in Italy, the slaying of whose daughter's stag aroused war upon Aeneas and his companions
U
UBERTO, son of Galafron
ULYSSES (Greek, Odysseus), hero of the Odyssey
UNICORN, fabled animal with a single horn
URANIA, one of the Muses, a daughter of Zeus by Mnemosyne
URDUR, one of the Norns or Fates of Scandinavia, representing the Past
USK, British river
UTGARD, abode of the giant Utgard Loki
UTGARD LO'KI, King of the Giants (See Skrymir)
UTHER (Uther Pendragon), king of Britain and father of Arthur,
UWAINE, knight of Arthur's court
V
VAISSYAS, Hindu caste of agriculturists and traders
VALHALLA, hall of Odin, heavenly residence of slain heroes
VALKYRIE, armed and mounted warlike virgins, daughters of the gods (Norse), Odin's messengers, who select slain heroes for Valhalla and serve them at their feasts
VE, brother of Odin
VEDAS, Hindu sacred Scriptures
VENEDOTIA, ancient name for North Wales
VENUS (Aphrodite), goddess of beauty
VENUS DE MEDICI, famous antique statue in Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy
VERDANDI, the Present, one of the Norns
VERTUMNUS, god of the changing seasons, whose varied appearances won the love of Pomona
VESTA, daughter of Cronos and Rhea, goddess of the homefire, or hearth
VESTALS, virgin priestesses in temple of Vesta
VESUVIUS, Mount, volcano near Naples
VILLAINS, peasants in the feudal scheme
VIGRID, final battle-field, with destruction of the gods ind their enemies, the sun, the earth, and time itself
VILI, brother of Odin and Ve
VIRGIL, celebrated Latin poet (See Aeneid)
VIRGO, constellation of the Virgin, representing Astraea, goddess of innocence and purity
VISHNU, the Preserver, second of the three chief Hindu gods
VIVIANE, lady of magical powers, who allured the sage Merlin and imprisoned him in an enchanted wood
VOLSCENS, Rutulian troop leader who killed Nisus and Euryalus
VOLSUNG, A SAGA, an Icelandic poem, giving about the same legends as the Nibelungen Lied
VORTIGERN, usurping King of Britain, defeated by Pendragon 390, 397
VULCAN (Greek, Haephestus), god of fire and metal working, with forges under Aetna, husband of Venus
VYA'SA, Hindu sage
W
WAIN, the, constellation
WELLGUNDA, one of the Rhine-daughters
WELSH LANGUAGE
WESTERN OCEAN
WINDS, THE
WINTER
WODEN, chief god in the Norse mythology, Anglo Saxon for Odin
WOGLINDA, one of the Rhine-daughters
WOMAN, creation of
WOODEN HORSE, the, filled with armed men, but left outside of Troy as a pretended offering to Minerva when the Greeks feigned to sail away, accepted by the Trojans (See Sinon, and Laocoon), brought into the city, and at night emptied of the hidden Greek soldiers, who destroyed the town
WOOD NYMPHS
WOTAN, Old High German form of Odin
X
XANTHUS, river of Asia Minor
Y
YAMA, Hindu god of the Infernal Regions
YEAR, THE
YGDRASIL, great ash-tree, supposed by Norse mythology to support the universe
YMIR, giant, slain by Odin
YNYWL, Earl, host of Geraint, father of Enid
YORK, Britain
YSERONE, niece of Arthur, mother of Caradoc
YSPA DA DEN PEN'KAWR, father of Olwen
Z
ZENDAVESTA, Persian sacred Scriptures
ZEPHYRUS, god of the South wind,
ZERBINO, a knight, son of the king of Scotland
ZETES, winged warrior, companion of Theseus
ZETHUS, son of Jupiter and Antiope, brother of Amphion. See Dirce
ZEUS, See JUPITER
ZOROASTER, founder of the Persian religion, which was dominant in Western Asia from about 550 BC to about 650 AD, and is still held by many thousands in Persia and in India