Descriptionary

Nepthys goddess of the dead.

Nut goddess of heavens.

Osiris the supreme god of Egypt and the judge of the dead.

Ra (Re) the sun god; the king of the gods and father of humans; portrayed as a lion, cat, or falcon.

Sebek god of water.

Seth evil god of darkness and storms, often por­trayed with the head and a pig.

Thoth originally, the moon god, but later associ­ated with wisdom and magic; portrayed with the head of an ibis.

Greek and Roman Mythology

(The Romans adopted many of the Greek deities; those that are exclusively Roman are noted as such.) Acheron the underworld river of woe.

Achilles the Greek warrior who slew Hector and who was himself killed by a wound to his vulnerable heel by Paris.

Adonis the beautiful youth loved by Aphrodite.

Aecus a judge of the dead in Hades; son of Zeus.

Aeetes keeper of the Golden Fleece.

Aegeus he drowned himself after thinking his son had been killed; Aegean Sea named after him.

Aeolus keeper of winds.

aether the pure upper air breathed by the Olym­pians.

Ajax the Greek warrior who killed himself because the armor of Achilles was given to Odysseus.

Amazons the women warriors who lived near the Black Sea and who supported Troy against the Greeks.

Amphitrite the wife of Poseidon.

Andromeda the daughter of Cepheus and Casio- peia; she was rescued from a sea monster by her hus­band Perseus.

Anteros the god who avenged unrequited love.

Aphrodite (Venus) goddess of love and beauty; the daughter of Zeus; and mother of Eros.

Apollo the god of the sun, prophecy, music, medi­cine, and poetry.

Arachne the woman who challenged Athena to a weaving contest; she was changed to a spider.

Ares (Mars) god of war; son of Zeus and Hera.

Argo the ship Jason sailed on his quest for the Golden Fleece.

Argus the hundred-eyed monster slain by Hermes; his eyes were said to have been placed in the pea­cock's tail.

Arion the musician saved from drowning by a dolphin.

Artemis (Diana) goddess of the moon, hunting, and chastity.

Asclepius the god of medicine; the son of Apollo.

Astraea the goddess of justice; daughter of Zeus and Themis.

Athena (Minerva) goddess of wisdom and the arts.

Atlas he was condemned to support the world on his shoulders for warring against Zeus.

Bacchus god of wine; son of Zeus and Semele.

Bellona Roman goddess of war.

Briareus the monster with a hundred hands; son of Uranus.

Calliope the goddess of epic poetry.

Calypso a sea nymph who delayed Odysseus on her island for seven years.

Cassandra the prophetess who was never believed; daughter of Priam.

centaur a half-man, half-horse.

Cepheus the king of Ethiopia; father of Andromeda.

Cerberus the three-headed dog guarding the entrance to Hades.

Charon the ferryman who carried the souls of the dead over the River Styx to Hades; son of Erebus.

Charybdis the personification of a whirlpool off the Sicilian coast opposite a cave.

Chimera a fire-breathing monster with the head of a lion, body of a goat, and tail of a serpent.

Chiron the centaur who taught Achilles and Her­cules.

Chronos the personification of time.

Circe the sorceress who transformed the men of Odysseus into swine.

Clio the goddess of history.

Cronus (Saturn) the god of harvest; ruler of the universe until overthrown by his son Zeus; son of Uranus and Gaea.

Cupid see Eros.

Cyclops a one-eyed giant. See Polyphemus.

Daedalus the builder of the Labyrinth; father of Icarus.

Danae princess of Argos.

Daphne a nymph who was changed to a laurel tree. Demeter (Ceres) goddess of agriculture. Diana see Artemis.

Diomedes the prince of Argos and a hero at Troy. Dione Titan goddess; mother of Aphrodite. Dionysus (Bacchus) god of wine; son of Zeus. dryads wood nymphs.

Echo a nymph whose unrequited love for Narcissus made her fade away so that only her voice remained.

Eos (Aurora) goddess of dawn.

Erato goddess of lyric and love poetry.

Erebus the dark region that must be passed before reaching Hades; spirit of darkness.

Eros (Amor, Cupid) god of love; son of Aphrodite.

Eurystheus king of Argos who imposed the 12 labors on Hercules.

Euterpe goddess of music.

Flora Roman goddess of flowers.

Fortuna the Roman goddess of fortune.

Furies the avenging spirits.

Gaea the goddess of earth, mother of Titans. Also known as Gaia.

Ganymede the cupbearer of the gods.

Golden Fleece the fleece of the golden ram, quested for by Jason.

Gorgons the three female monsters who had snakes growing out of their heads; gazing upon them turned the beholder to stone. See Medusa.

Graeae the Gorgons' three sentinels; they shared one eye between them.

Hades the abode of the dead.