Descriptionary

hamadryads tree nymphs.

Harpies women with the bodies of birds.

Hecate goddess of sorcery.

Helen fairest woman in the world; her kidnapping caused Trojan War; daughter of Zeus and Leda.

Helios (Sol) god of the sun.

Hephaestus (Vulcan) god of fire; son of Zeus and Hera.

Hera (Juno) queen of heaven; wife of Zeus.

Hercules strongman and hero; performed the 12 labors (killing Nemean lion, killing Lernaean Hydra, capturing Erymanthian boar, capturing Cretan bull, etc.) to win immortality.

Hermes (Mercury) the god of physicians and thieves; messenger of the gods; conducted dead to Hades.

Hippolyta the queen of the Amazons.

Hyacinthus the beautiful youth Apollo loved but accidentally killed; Apollo made a hyacinth grow from his blood.

Hydra the nine-headed monster slain by Hercules.

Hymen the god of marriage.

Hyperion the father of Helios.

Hypnos (Somnus) the god of sleep.

Icarus fell into the sea and drowned after wax wings melted when he flew too close to the sun; son of Daedalus.

Iris goddess of rainbow.

Janus the Roman god of gates and doorways, depicted with two opposite faces.

Jason the leader of the Argonauts in the quest for the Golden Fleece.

Juno see Hera. Jupiter see Zeus.

Lucina the Roman goddess of childbirth. Mars see Ares.

Medea the princess sorceress who helped Jason obtain the Golden Fleece.

Medusa the Gorgon whose head was cut off by Perseus.

Melpomene the goddess of tragedy.

Midas the king of Phrygia; all he touched turned to gold.

Minos the king of Crete; after death he became a judge of the dead in Hades; son of Zeus and Europa.

Minotaur the half-man, half-bull kept in the Laby­rinth in Crete; slain by Theseus.

Mnemosyne the goddess of memory.

Momus the god of blame and ridicule.

Morpheus the god of sleep and dreams.

Muses the nine goddesses of arts and sciences: Cal­liope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polymnia, Terpsichore, Thalia, Urani. The daughters of Mnemo­syne and Zeus.

naiads the nymphs who preside over brooks, springs, and fountains.

Narcissus the beautiful youth who fell in love with and pined away for his own reflection in a pool, and was transformed into a flower.

Nemesis the goddess of retribution and revenge.

Neptune see Poseidon.

Nereids the sea nymphs who attended Poseidon. Nike goddess of victory. nymph any female spirit of nature. Nyx goddess of the night.

Oceanus a Titan and god of the sea circling the earth.

Odysseus (Ulysses) king of Ithaca and leader of the Greeks in the Trojan War.

Oedipus king of Thebes; was abandoned at birth; grew up to unwittingly kill his father and marry his mother.

oreads mountain nymphs.

Orion a great hunter made into a constellation. Pales Roman goddess of shepherds and herdsmen. Pan god of woods and fields.

Pandora the woman who opened the box and unwittingly released all the ills of humankind.

Paris he slew Achilles; son of Priam.

Pegasus the winged horse that left Medusa's body after her death.

Pelops his father cooked and served him to the gods.

Penates the gods of Roman households.

Persephone (Proserpine) queen of the underworld; wife of Pluto.

Perseus he killed Medusa and rescued Andromeda from a sea monster; son of Zeus and Danae.

Pleiades the seven daughters of Atlas; they were changed into a constellation.

Pluto god of Hades; brother of Zeus.

Plutus god of wealth.

Polyphemus the Cyclops who ate six of Odysseus's men.

Pomona Roman goddess of fruits.

Poseidon (Neptune) god of the sea; brother of Zeus.

Priam king of Troy.

Priapus god of procreation and the guardian of gar­dens; the personification of an erect phallus.

Procrustes a giant who stretched or shortened vic­tims to make them fit one of his iron beds; slain by Theseus.

Prometheus the Titan who stole fire from heaven and gave it to humans; punished by being chained to a rock, where vultures ate from his liver each day.

Proteus a sea god who could change his shape.

Pygmalion king of Cyprus; carved statue of maiden who was brought to life by Aphrodite.

Python the serpent slain by Apollo.

Remus brother of Romulus; was slain by Romulus.

rivers of the underworld Acheron (woe), Cocy- tus (wailing), Lethe (forgetfulness), Phlegethon (fire), Styx (souls carried across it by Charon).

Romulus son of Mars; raised by a wolf after being abandoned as an infant; he killed his brother Remus; founded Rome in 753 b.c.

Saturn see Cronus.

satyrs woodland goatlike gods or demons.

Scylla a rock opposite Charybdis, personified as a sea monster who devoured sailors.

Selene goddess of the moon.

Silvanus Roman god of woods and fields.