1000 Mythological Characters Briefly Described. Adapted to Private Schools, High Schools and Academies

Graces, The, were the attendants of Venus. Their names were, Aglaia, so called from her beauty and goodness; Thalia, from her perpetual freshness; and Euphrosyne, from her cheerfulness. They are generally depicted as three cheerful maidens with hands joined, and either nude or only wearing transparent robes – the idea being that kindnesses, as personified by the Graces, should be done with sincerity and candor, and without disguise. They were supposed to teach the duties of gratitude and friendship, and they promoted love and harmony among mankind.

Graces (fourth), see Pasithea.

Gradivus (Grad′ivus). A name given to Mars by the Romans. It meant the warrior who defended the city against all external enemies.

Gragus (Gra′gus). The name by which Jupiter was worshiped in Lycia.

Granaries, see Tutelina.

Grapsios (Grap′sios). A Lycian name of Jupiter.

Grasshopper, see Tithonus.

Grief, see Niobe.

Hada (Ha′da). The Babylonian Juno.

Hades (Ha′des). The Greek name of Pluto, the god of hell, the word signifying hidden, dark, and gloomy; the underworld, or infernal regions; sometimes written Ades.

Hailstorms, see Nuriel.

Halcyone (Halcy′one) (or Alcyone), one of the Pleiades, was a daughter of Aeolus.

Halcyons (Halcy′ons) were sea birds, supposed to be the Greek kingfishers. They made their nests on the waves, and during the period of incubation the sea was always calm. Hence the modern term Halcyon Days.

Hamadryades (Hamadry′ades) were wood-nymphs, who presided over trees.

Happiness, see Genii.

Haroeris (Haroe′ris). The Egyptian god, whose eyes are the sun and moon.

Harpies, The (Har′pies), (literally, snatchers, demons of destruction, or, in the modern sense, extortioners). They were monsters, half-birds, half-maidens, having the heads and breasts of women, the bodies of birds, and the claws of lions. Their names were Aello, Ocypete, and Celeno. They were loathsome creatures, living in filth, and poisoning everything they came in contact with.

“Such fiends to scourge mankind, so fierce, so fell,Heaven never summoned from the depth of hell.A virgin face, with wings and hookèd claws,Death in their eyes, and famine in their jaws,While proof to steel their hides and plumes remainWe strike the impenetrable fiends in vain.”

Harpikruti (Harpi′kruti). The Egyptian name of the god Harpocrates.

Harpocrates (Harpoc′rates), or Horus, an Egyptian god, son of Osiris and Isis. He was the god of silence and secrecy. He is usually represented as a young man, holding a finger of one hand to his lips (expressive of a command to preserve silence), while in the other hand he holds a cornucopia, signifying early vegetation.

Harvest, see Segetia. A Roman divinity, invoked by the husbandman that the harvest might be plentiful.

Hawk, see Nysus.

Hazis (Ha′zis). The Syrian war-god.

Health, see Hygeia and Salus.

Heaven, Queen of, (Hea′ven) see Belisama. God of, see Coelus.

Hebe (He′be), daughter of Zeus (Jupiter) and Hera (Juno), was the goddess of youth. She was cup-bearer to Jupiter and the gods, until she had an awkward fall at a festival, causing her to alight in an indecent posture, which so displeased Jupiter that she was deprived of her office, and Ganymede was appointed in her stead.

“Wreathed smiles,Such as hung on Hebe’s cheek,And love to live in dimples sleek.”MILTON.“Bright Hebe waits; by Hebe ever youngThe whirling wheels are to the chariot hung.”POPE.

Hecate (Hec′ate). There were two goddesses known by this name, but the one generally referred to in modern literature is Hecate, or Proserpine, the name by which Diana was known in the infernal regions. In heaven her name was Luna, and her terrestrial name was Diana. She was a moon-goddess, and is generally represented in art with three bodies, standing back to back, a torch, a sword, and a lance in each right hand.

Hecuba (Hec′uba). The wife of Priam, king of Troy, and mother of Paris. Taken captive in the Trojan war, she fell to the lot of Ulysses after the destruction of Troy, and was afterwards changed into a hound.

“What’s Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba?”SHAKESPEARE.

Heifer, see Ino.

Helena (Hel′ena) when a child was so beautiful that Theseus and Perithous stole her, but she was restored by Castor and Pollux. She became the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta, but eloped with Paris, and thus caused the Trojan War. After the death of Paris she married Deiphobus, his brother, and then betrayed him to Menelaus. She was afterward tied to a tree and strangled by order of Polyxo, king of Rhodes.

Heliades, The (He′liades), were the daughters of Sol, and the sisters of Phaeton, at whose death they were so sad that they stood mourning till they became metamorphosed into poplar trees, and their tears were turned into amber.

Helicon (Hel′icon). A mountain in Boeotia sacred to the Muses, from which place the fountain Hippocrene flowed.

“Yet still the doting rhymer dreams,And sings of Helicon’s bright streams;But Helicon for all his clatterYields only uninspiring water.”BROOM, 1720.

Heliconiades (Helico′niades). A name given to the Muses, from Mount Helicon.

Heliopolis (Heliop′olis), in Egypt, was the city of the sun.

Helios (He′lios). The Grecian sun-god, or charioteer of the sun, who went home every evening in a golden boat which had wings.

Heliotrope (Hel′iotrope). Clytie was turned into this flower by Apollo. See Clytie.

Helle (Hel′le) was drowned in the sea, into which she fell from off the back of the golden ram, on which she and Phryxus were escaping from the oppression of their stepmother Ino. The episode gave the name of the Hellespont to the part of the sea where Helle was drowned, and it is now called the Dardanelles. She was the daughter of Athamas and Nephele.

Hellespontiacus (Hellespontia′cus). A title of Priapus.

Hemphta (Hemph′ta). The Egyptian god Jupiter.

Hephaestus (Hephaes′tus). The Greek Vulcan, the smith of the gods.

Hera (He′ra). The Greek name of Juno.

Heracles (Her′acles) is the same as Hercules.

Hercules (Her′cules) was the son of Jupiter and Alcmena. The goddess Juno hated him from his birth, and sent two serpents to kill him, but though only eight months old he strangled them. As he got older he was set by his master Eurystheus what were thought to be twelve impossible tasks which have long been known as the “Twelve Labors of Hercules.” They were:

First, To slay the Nemean Lion.

Second, To destroy the Hydra which infested the marshes of Lerna.

Third, To bring to Eurystheus the Arcadian Stag with the golden horns and brazen hoofs.

Fourth, To bring to his master the Boar of Erymanthus.

Fifth, To cleanse the stable of King Augeas, in which 3,000 oxen had been kept for thirty years, but had never been cleaned out.

Sixth, To destroy the Stymphalides, terrible carnivorous birds.

Seventh, To capture the Bull which was desolating Crete.

Eighth, To capture the mares of Diomedes, which breathed fire from their nostrils, and ate human flesh.

Ninth, To procure the girdle of Hippolyte, queen of the Amazons.

Tenth, To bring to Eurystheus the flesh-eating oxen of Geryon, the monster king of Gades.

Eleventh, To bring away some of the golden apples from the garden of the Hesperides.

Twelfth, To bring up from Hades the three-headed dog, Cerberus.

All these tasks he successfully accomplished, and, besides, he assisted the gods in their wars with the giants. Several other wonderful feats are mentioned under other headings, as Antaeus, Cacus, etc. His death was brought about through his endeavors to preserve Deianira from the attacks of Nessus, the centaur, whom he killed. The centaur, before he expired, gave his mystic tunic to Deianira, who in turn gave it to Hercules, and he put it on, but his doing so brought on an illness of which he could not be cured. In a fit of desperation he cast himself into a funeral pile on Mount Oeta; but Jupiter had him taken to heaven in a four-horse chariot, and only the mortal part of Hercules was consumed.

“Let Hercules himself do what he may,The cat will mew, and dog will have his day.”SHAKESPEARE.

Herdsmen, see Bubona.

Hermae (Her′mae) were statues of Hermes (Mercury), which were set up in Athens for boundaries, and as direction marks for travelers.

Hermanubis (Her′manu′bis), see Anubis.

Hermathenae (Hermathe′nae) were statues of Mercury and Minerva placed together.

Hermes (Her′mes). A Greek name of the god Mercury.

“Hermes obeys. With golden pinions bindsHis flying feet and mounts the western winds.”VIRGIL.

Hermione (Hermi′one), daughter of Mars and Venus, who was turned into a serpent, and allowed to live in the Elysian Fields. There was another Hermione, daughter of Menelaus and Helen; she was betrothed to Orestes, but was carried away by Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles.

Hero (He′ro). A priestess of Venus, with whom Leander was so enamored that he swam across the Hellespont every night to visit her, but at last was drowned; when Hero saw the fate of her lover she threw herself into the sea and was also drowned.

Heroes, see Valhalla.

Hesperides (Hesper′ides). Three daughters of Hesperus, King of Italy. They were appointed to guard the golden apples which Juno gave Jupiter on their wedding day. See Hercules.

Hesperus (Hes′perus), brother of Atlas, was changed into the evening star.

“To the ocean now I fly,And those happy climes that lieWhere day never shuts his eye,Upon the broad fields of the sky:There I suck the liquid air,All amidst the gardens fairOf Hesperus and his daughters three,That sing about the golden tree.”MILTON.

Hestia (Hes′tia). The Greek name of Vesta, the goddess of the hearth.

Hieroglyphics (Hierogly′phics), see Mercury.

Highways, see Janus.

Hildur (Hil′dur). The Scandinavian Mars.

Hippia (Hip′pia). A surname of Minerva.

Hippius (Hip′pius). A surname of Neptune.

Hippocampus (Hippocam′pus). The name of Neptune’s favorite horse, a fabulous marine animal, half horse and half fish.

Hippocrenides (Hippocre′nides), a name of the Muses, from the fountain of Hippocrene (the horse fountain), which was formed by a kick of the winged horse Pegasus.

Hippolyte (Hippol′yte), queen of the Amazons, daughter of Mars. Her father gave her a famous girdle, which Hercules was required to procure (see Hercules). She was conquered by Hercules, and given by him in marriage to Theseus.

Hippolytus (Hippol′ytus) was the son of Theseus and Hippolyte; he was killed by a fall from a chariot, but was raised to life again by Diana, or, as some say, by Aesculapius.

Hippona (Hippo′na) was a rural divinity, the goddess of horses.

History, see Clio and Saga.

Honey, see Aristaeus and Dryads.

Hope, see Pandora.

Horae (Ho′rae) were the daughters of Sol and Chronis, the goddesses of the seasons.

Horse, see Cyllaros.

Horse Races, see Neptune.

Horses, see Hippona.

Hortensis (Horten′sis), a name of Venus, because she looked after plants and flowers in gardens.

Horus (Ho′rus). The name of two deities, one Sol, the Egyptian day god; the other, the son of Osiris and Isis. See Harpocrates.

Hostilina (Hostil′ina). A rural divinity; goddess of growing corn.

Hunger, see Erisichthon.

Hunting, see Diana.

Huntsmen, see Pan.

Hyacinthus (Hyacin′thus) was a boy greatly loved by Apollo; but he was accidentally slain by him with a quoit. Apollo caused to spring from his blood the flower Hyacinth.

Hyades (Hy′ades) were seven daughters of Atlas and Aethra, and they formed a constellation which, when it rises with the sun, threatens rain.

Hydra (Hy′dra). A monster serpent, which had a hundred heads. It was slain by Hercules. See Hercules.

Hygeia (Hyge′ia), the goddess of health, was a daughter of Aesculapius and Epione. She was represented as a young woman giving a serpent drink out of a saucer, the serpent being twined round her arm.

Hylas (Hy′las). A beautiful boy beloved by Hercules. The nymphs were jealous of him, and spirited him away while he was drawing water for Hercules. See Wm. Morris’s tragedy, “The Life and Death of Jason.”

Hymen (Hy′men), the Grecian god of marriage, was either the son of Bacchus and Venus, or, as some say, of Apollo and one of the Muses. He was represented as a handsome youth, holding in his hand a burning torch.

“Some few there are of sordid mouldWho barter youth and bloom for gold:But Hymen, gen’rous, just, and kind,Abhors the mercenary mind;Such rebels groan beneath his rod,For Hymen’s a vindictive god.”DR. COTTON, 1736.

Hymn, see Paean.

Hyperion (Hype′rion). Son of Coelus and Terra. The model of manly beauty, synonymous with Apollo. The personification of the sun.

“So excellent a king; that was to thisHyperion to a satyr.”SHAKESPEARE.

Hypermnestra (Hypermnes′tra). One of the fifty daughters of Danaus, who were collectively called the Danaides. She was the one who refused to kill her husband on the wedding night. See Danaus.

Iacchus (Iac′chus). Another name for Bacchus.

Iapetos (Iap′etos). The father of Atlas. See Japetus.

Iblees (Ib′lees). The Arabian Satan.

Icarus (Ic′arus), son of Daedalus, who with his father made themselves wings with which to fly from Crete to escape the resentment of Minos. The wings were fixed to the shoulders by wax. Icarus flew too near the sun, and the heat melting the wax, caused the wings to drop off, and he fell into the Aegean or Icarian sea and was drowned.

Ichnobate (Ichnoba′te). One of Actaeon’s hounds; the word means tracker.

Idaea (Idae′a). A name of Cybele, from Mount Ida, where she was worshiped.

Idaean Mother (Idae′an Mother). Cybele was sometimes so called, in Cyprus, in which there is a grove sacred to Venus.

Idalia (Ida′lia). A name of Venus, from Mount Idalus, in Cyprus, in which there is a grove sacred to Venus.

Imperator (Impera′tor) was a name of Jupiter, given to him at Praeneste.

Inachus (I′nachus) was one of the earliest of the demi-gods or heroes, King of Argos.

Incendiary, see Erostratus.

Incense, see Venus.

Incubus (In′cubus). A Roman name of Pan, meaning The Nightmare. See Innus.

Indigetes (Indig′etes) were deified mortals, gods of the fourth order. They were peculiar to some district.

Indra (In′dra). The Hindoo Jupiter; his wife was Indrant, who presides over the winds and thunder.

Infants, see Natio.

Innus (In′nus). A name of Pan, the same as Incubus.

Ino (In′o), second wife of Athamas, King of Thebes, father of Phryxus and Helle. Ino had two children, who could not ascend the throne while Phryxus and Helle were alive. Ino therefore persecuted them to such a degree that they determined to escape. They did so on a ram, whose hide became the Golden Fleece (see Phryxus and Helle). Ino destroyed herself, and was changed by Neptune into a sea-goddess.

Inoa (Ino′a) were festivals in memory of Ino.

Instrumental Music, see Euterpe.

Io (I′o) was a daughter of Inachus, and a priestess of Juno at Argos. Jupiter courted her, and was detected by Juno, when the god turned Io into a beautiful heifer. Juno demanded the beast of Jupiter, and set the hundred-eyed Argus to watch her. Jupiter persuaded Mercury to destroy Argus, and Io was set at liberty, and restored to human shape. Juno continued her persecutions, and Io had to wander from place to place till she came to Egypt, where she became wife of King Osiris, and won such good opinions from the Egyptians that after her death she was worshiped as the goddess Isis.

Iolaus (Iola′us), son of Iphicles, assisted Hercules in conquering the Hydra, by burning with hot irons the place where the heads were cut off; and for his assistance he was restored to youth by Hebe. Lovers used to go to his monument at Phocis and ratify their vows of fidelity.

Iothun (Io′thun). Celtic mythological monsters, or giants.

Iphicles (Iph′icles) was twin brother of Hercules, and father of Iolaus.

Iphigenia (Iphigeni′a) was a daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. Agamemnon made a vow to Diana, which involved the sacrifice of Iphigenia, but just at the critical moment she was carried to heaven, and a beautiful goat was found on the altar in her place.

Iris (I′ris), daughter of Thaumas and Electra, was the attendant of Juno, and one of the messengers of the gods. Her duty was to cut the thread which detained expiring souls. She is the personification of the rainbow.

Iron, see Vulcan.

Isis (I′sis), wife of Osiris, and a much worshiped divinity of the Egyptians. See Io.

Itys (I′tys) was killed by his mother Procne when six years old, and given to his father Tereus, a Thracian of Daulis, as food. The gods were so enraged at this that they turned Itys into a pheasant, Procne into a swallow, and Tereus into a hawk.

Ixion (Ixi′on), the son of Phlegyas, King of the Lapithae. For attempting to produce thunder, Jupiter cast him into hell, and had him bound to a wheel, surrounded with serpents, which is forever turning over a river of fire.

“The powers of vengeance, while they hear,Touched with compassion, drop a tear;Ixion’s rapid wheel is bound,Fixed in attention to the sound.”F. LEWIS.“Or, as Ixion fix’d, the wretch shall feelThe giddy motion of the whirling wheel.”POPE.

Jani (Ja′ni) was a place in Rome where there were three statues of Janus, and it was a meeting-place for usurers and creditors.

Janitor (Ja′nitor). A title of Janus, from the gates before the doors of private houses being called Januae.

Janus (Ja′nus). A king of Italy, said to have been the son of Coelus, others say of Apollo; he sheltered Saturn when he was driven from heaven by Jupiter. Janus presided over highways, gates, and locks, and is usually represented with two faces, because he was acquainted with the past and the future; or, according to others, because he was taken for the sun, who opens the day at his rising, and shuts it at his setting. A brazen temple was erected to him in Rome, which was always open in time of war, and closed during peace.

“Old Janus, if you please,Grave two-faced father.”“In two-faced Janus we this moral find, —While we look forward, we should glance behind.”COLMAN.

Japetus (Jap′etus), son of Coelus and Terra, husband of Clymene. He was looked upon by the Greeks as the father of all mankind. See Iapetos.

Jason (Ja′son), the son of Aeson, king of Iolcos; he was brought up by the centaur Chiron. His uncle Aeeta sent him to fetch the Golden Fleece from Colchis (see Argonauts). He went in the ship Argo with forty-nine companions, the flower of Greek youth. With the help of Juno they got safe to Colchis, but the King Aeetes promised to restore the Golden Fleece only on condition that the Argonauts performed certain services. Jason was to tame the wild fiery bulls, and to make them plow the field of Mars; to sow in the ground the teeth of a serpent, from which would spring armed men who would fight against him who plowed the field of Mars; to kill the fiery dragon which guarded the tree on which the Golden Fleece was hung. The fate of Jason and the rest of the Argonauts seemed certain; but Medea, the king’s daughter, fell in love with Jason, and with the help of charms which she gave him he overcame all the difficulties which the king had put in his way. He took away the Golden Fleece and Medea also. The king sent his son Absyrtus to overtake the fugitives, but Medea killed him, and strewed his limbs in his father’s path, so that he might be delayed in collecting them, and this enabled Jason and Medea to escape. After a time Jason got tired of Medea, and married Glauce, which cruelty Medea revenged by killing her children before their father’s eyes. Jason was accidentally killed by a beam of the ship Argo falling on him.

Jocasta (Jocas′ta) (otherwise Epicasta), wife of Laius, King of Thebes, who in after-life married her own son, Oedipus, not knowing who he was, and, on discovering the fatal mistake, hanged herself.

Jove. A very general name of Jupiter.

“From the great father of the gods aboveMy muse begins, for all is full of Jove.”VIRGIL.

Judges in Hell, The, were Rhadamanthus for Asiatics; Aeacus for Europeans; Minos was the presiding judge in the infernal regions. See Triptolemus.

Jugatinus (Jugatin′us) was one of the nuptial deities.

Juno (Ju′no) was the daughter of Saturn and Ops, alias Cybele. She was married to Jupiter, and became queen of all the gods and goddesses, and mistress of heaven and earth. Juno was the mother of Mars, Vulcan, Hebe, and Lucina. She prompted the gods to conspire against Jupiter, but the attempt was frustrated, and Apollo and Neptune were banished from heaven by Jupiter. Juno is the goddess of marriage, and the protectress of married women; and she had special regard for virtuous women. In the competition for the celebrated Golden Apple, which Juno, Venus, and Minerva each claimed as the fairest among the goddesses, Juno was much displeased when Paris gave the apple to Venus. The goddess is generally represented riding in a chariot drawn by peacocks, with a diadem on her head, and a scepter in her hand.

Jupiter (Ju′piter), son of Saturn and Cybele (or Ops), was born on Mount Ida, in Crete, and nourished by the goat Amalthaea. When quite young Jupiter rescued his father from the Titans; and afterward, with the help of Hercules, defeated the giants, the sons of earth, when they made war against heaven. Jupiter was worshiped with great solemnity under various names by most of the heathen nations. The Africans called him Ammon; the Babylonians, Belus; and the Egyptians, Osiris (see Jove). He is represented as a majestic personage seated on a throne, holding in his hands a scepter and a thunderbolt; at his feet stood a spread eagle.

Justice, see Astrea, Nemesis.

Kali. A Hindoo goddess, after whom Calicut is named.

Kaloc (Ka′loc). One of the chief of the Mexican gods.

Kama (Kam′a). The Hindoo god of love.

Kebla (Keb′la). The point of the compass which worshipers look to during their invocations. Thus the Sol or Sun worshipers turn to the east, where the sun rises, and the Mohammedans turn toward Mecca.