Greek &. Roman Mythology (N-Z)

Greek &. Roman Mythology (N-Z)


Na'iads

In Greek mythology, the Na'iads were nymphs of fountains and brooks.

Narcissus

In Greek mythology, Narcissus was a beautiful youth who rejected the love of the nymph Echo and was condemned to fall in love with his own reflection in a pool. He pined away and in the place where he died a flower sprang up that was named after him.

Nauplius

Nauplius was the son of Amymone and Poseidon. He was the wrecker of Nauplia.

Nemesis

Nemesis was the goddess of punishment.

Neptune

Neptune was the Roman name for the Greek god Poseidon.

Nereid

In Greek mythology, the Nereid were 50 sea goddesses, or nymphs, who sometimes mated with mortals. Their father was Nereus and their mother was Doris.

Nereus

Nereus was a sea god. He was a son of Pontys and Gaea.

Nike

Nike was the goddess of victory. She was the daughter of Pallas and Styx.

Niobe

In Greek mythology, Niobe was the daughter of Tantalus and wife of Amphion, the king of Thebes. She was contemptuous of the goddess Leto for having produced only two children, Apollo and Artemis. She died of grief when her own 12 offspring were killed by them in revenge, and was changed to stone by Zeus.

Notus

Notus was the south wind god.

Nymph

A nymph was a higher being than a human, but not immortal like a god. They were respected in mythology.

Nymphs

see "nymph"

Nyx

Nyx was a goddess of night. She was a daughter of Chaos. She married Erebus.

Oceanides

The oceanides were 40 sea nymphs of the ocean. They were the daughters of Oceanus.

Oceanus

Oceanus was the son of Uranus and Gaea. He was the only Titan not to revolt against Uranus.

Ocypete

Ocypete was one of the harpies.

Odysseus

Odysseus was a Greek hero. He devised the strategy of the wooden horse used by the Greeks to conquer Troy.

Oedipus

Oedipus was the son of Laius. The Delphic oracle foretold that Laius would be killed by his son, so Oedipus was abandoned on mount Cithaeron with a nail through his feet. However, he was found by a shepherd and raised by Polybus. Hearing that he would kill his father, Oedipus left Corinth and met Laius on his travel. He killed him in an argument not knowing who he was.

Oeonus

In Greek mythology, Oeonus was a son of Licymnius. He was attacked by a dog belonging to the sons of Hippocoon, he threw a stone at the dog and in revenge the sons of Hippocoon killed him.

Oileus

Oileus was one of the Argonauts, he was the father of Ajax.

Omphale

Omphale was queen of Lydia. She bought Hercules as a slave who stayed with her for 3 years.

Oneiros

Oneiros was the ancient Greek god of dreams.

Ops

Ops was the Roman goddess of plenty and the personification of abundance.

Oreades

The oreades were mountain nymphs.

Orestes

Orestes was the son of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon. As a child he was smuggled out of Mycenae by his sister Electra when Clytemnestra and Aegisthus seized power. He later killed Clytemnestra with the help of Electra and Pylades and was punished by the Erinnyes.

Orion

Orion was a giant and son of Poseidon. He was a hunter and very handsome. He was promised the hand of Merope whom he loved if he could ride Chios. He did but was not given Merope so he seduced her. Apollo caused his death at the hands of Artemis who put his image in the stars.

Orpheus

Orpheus was a mythical Greek poet and musician. The son of Apollo and a muse, he married Eurydice, who died from the bite of a snake. Orpheus went down to Hades to bring her back and her return to life was granted on condition that he walk ahead of her without looking back. He did look back and Eurydice was irretrievably lost. In his grief, he offended the maenad women of Thrace, and was torn to pieces by them.

Pales

Pales was a Roman god of cattle-rearing.

Pallas

In Greek mythology Pallas was one of the Titans. He was a son of Crius and Eurybia and brother of Astraeus and Perses. He married Styx and fathered Zelus, Cratos, Bia and Nike.

Pan

Pan was the Greek god who looked after shepherds and their flocks. His parentage is unsure. In some accounts he is the son of Zeus, in others the son of Hermes. His mother was a nymph.

Pandarus

In Greek mythology, Pandarus was the leader of the forces of Zeleia in Lycia at the Trojan War. He was the second best Greek archer (next to Paris) and fought in the Trojan War as an archer.

Pandion

In Greek mythology, Pandion was a son of Erichthonius, the King of Athens.

Pandora

Pandora was a woman made by the gods. She was taken to Epimetheus by Hermes. He made her his wife, against his brother's advice. Pandora came with a sealed vase. Her husband was tempted and opened the vase from which came all the troubles, weariness and illnesses that mankind is now burderned with.

Paris

In Greek mythology, Paris was a prince of Troy whose abduction of Helen, wife of King Menelaus of Sparta, caused the Trojan War. Helen was promised to him by the goddess Aphrodite as a bribe, in his judgment between her beauty and that of two other goddesses, Hera and Athena. Paris killed the Greek hero Achilles by shooting an arrow into his heel, but was himself killed by Philoctetes before the capture of Troy.

Pasiphae

In Greek mythology, Pasiphae was the wife of King Minos of Crete and mother of Phaedra and of the Minotaur.

Patroclus

Patroclus was a cousin and close friend of Achilles. He was killed by Hector in the Trojan wars.

Pax

Pax is an alternative name for Eirene.

Pegasus

Pegasus was the winged horse offspring of Medusa and Poseidon.

Peirithous

In Greek mythology, Peirithous was a King of the Lapiths and a son of Ixion and Dia. He waged war against the Centaurs and helped Theseus carry off the Amazon Antiope and later Helen. He tried to abduct Persephone, but was bound to a stone seat by her husband Hades and remained a prisoner in the underworld.

Pelias

Pelias was king of Iolcus and half-brother of Jason.

Penelope

In Greek mythology, Penelope was the wife of Odysseus, the king of Ithaca; their son was Telemachus. While Odysseus was absent at the siege of Troy she kept her many suitors at bay by asking them to wait until she had woven a shroud for her father-in-law, but unraveled her work each night. When Odysseus returned, after 20 years, he and Telemachus killed her suitors.

Peneus

Peneus was a river god. He was a son of Oceanus and Tethys.

Persephone

Persephone was a Greek goddess. She was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. Hades obtained sanction from Zeus to carry her off by force and marry her.

Perseus

Perseus found Medusa asleep and cut her head off which he presented to Athene. He married Andromeda.

Phaea

In Greek mythology, Phaea was the Crommyonium Sow a wild pig said to have been the offspring of Echidna and Typhon. It ravaged the town of Crommyon on the Isthmus of Corinth until it was destroyed by Theseus.

Phaedra

In Greek mythology, Phaedra was a daughter of Minos, King of Crete and Pasiphae. Her unrequited love for Hippolytus led to his death and her suicide.

Pheme

Pheme was the goddess of fame. She was a daughter of Gaea.

Phoebus

Phoebus was the Greek god of enlightenment.

Picus

Picus was a Roman god. He was the son of Saturnus and father of Faunus. His wife was Canens. He was a prophet and god of the forest.

Pitho

Pitho was the daughter of Aphrodite. She was the goddess of persuasion.

Pleiades

The Pleiades were the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione. They were turned into doves by Zeus and and their image put into the stars to save them from the attentions of Orion.

Pleuron

In Greek mythology, Pleuron was a son of Aetolus and Pronoe and brother to Calydon. He married Xanthippe by whom he fathered Agenor, Sterope, Stratonice and Laophonte. He is said to have founded the town of Pleuron in Aetolia.

Pluto

Pluto was the Roman name for the Greek god Hades.

Poena

Poena was the attendant of punishment to Nemesis.

Polites

Polites was a son of Priam and Hecabe. He was killed before them by Neoptolemus.

Pollux

Pollux was the Roman name for Polydeuces.

Polybus

Polybus was king of Corinth. He raised Oedipus as his own son.

Polydeuces

Polydeuces was twin brother of Castor. He was a son of Zeus and Leda. He was born from an egg after Zeus visited Leda disguised as a swan.

Polydorus

In Greek mythology, Polydorus was a son of Cadmus and Harmonia. he was King of Thebes and husband of Nycteis by whom he fathered Labdacus.

Polymnia

Polymnia was the muse of song and oratory.

Polynices

In Greek mythology, Polynices was a son of Oedipus. He and his brother Eteocles were supposed to rule Thebes in alternate years, but Eteocles refused to relinquish the throne, and Polynices sought the help of Adrastus. Polynices and Eteocles killed each other in single combat.

Polyphemus

In Greek mythology Polyphemus was the most famous of the Cyclops. He is described as a giant cannibal living alone in a cave on Mount Etna. Odysseus and his companions unwarily sheltered in his cave, and Polyphemus killed and ate four of them before Odysseus intoxicated him with wine and when he fell asleep poked his eye out with a blazing stake. Polyphemus was also the despised lover of Galatea.

Pomona

Pomona was a Roman goddess of garden fruits.

Poseidon

Poseidon was the Greek god of the sea. He was a son of Cronus.

Priapus

Priapus was the Greek god of fertility in nature. He was a son of Dionysus and Aphrodite.

Procne

In Greek mythology, Procne was a daughter of King Pandion and Zeuxippe. She married Tereus.

Procris

In Greek mythology, Procris was a daughter of Erechtheus and wife of Cephalus. Artemis gave her the hound Laelaps which she gave to her husband.

Procrustes

In ancient Greek legends, Procrustes was a robber. He robbed people whilst they slept. If his victim was too short for his bed he was stretched to death. If the victim was too long for his bed, his feet or legs were cut off. Theseus treated Procrustes in the same way.

Proetus

In Greek mythology, Proetus was a son of Abas and the twin brother of Acrisius. In a dispute between the two brothers over the kingdom of Argos, Proetus was defeated and expelled. He fled to Iobates in Lycia and married his daughter Stheneboea. Iobates restored Proetus to his kingdom by force and Acrisius then agreed to share it, surrendering Tiryns to him. When Bellerophon came to Proetus to be purified for a murder, Sthenebeoa fell in love with him. Bellerophon refused her and she charged him with making improper proposals to her. Proetus then sent him to Iobates with a letter asking Iobates to murder Bellerophon.

Prometheus

Prometheus was a Greek hero. He was a son of the Titan Japetus. Prometheus obtained fire for mankind from Zeus.

Psyche

Psyche was the personification of the passion of love. She appears in Roman mythology.

Pygmalion

In Greek mythology, Pygmalion was a king of Cyprus who made an image in ivory of a maiden. He fell in love with the image and asked Venus to endow it with life. She did, and Pygmalion married the maiden.

Pylades

In Greek mythology, Pylades was son of Strophius and Anaxibia. He assisted Orestes in murdering Clytemnestra and eventually married his sister Electra.

Rhadamanthus

Rhadamanthus was a son of Zeus and Europa. He was famed for his wisdom and justice, and so after his death was made one of the judges of the underworld.

Rhamnusia

Rhamnusia was an alternative name for Nemesis.

Rhea

Rhea was the Greek goddess of the earth, mountains and forests.

Sarpedon

Sarpedon was a son of Zeus and Europa. He went to Asia Minor and became the king of the Lycians after helping Cilix of Cilicia to defeat them. He helped Troy in the Trojan wars before being killed by Patroclus.

Saturnus

Saturnus was the Roman god of learning and agriculture. He appeared to king Janus and gave lessons on agriculture to his subjects.

Satyr

The satyrs were attendants to the god Dionysus.

Sceiron

In Greek mythology, Sceiron (Sciron) was a robber who haunted the frontier between Attica and Megaris. He robbed travellers and kicked them into the sea where they were eaten by a tortoise that lived there. He was killed by Theseus.

Selene

Selene was a Greek goddess of the moon.

Semele

In Greek mythology, Semele was a daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia. She was beloved by Zeus and bore him Dionysus.

Silenius

Silenius was the oldest satyr.

Silvanus

Silvanus was a Roman god of the forest.

Sisyphus

In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was an evil King of Corinth. After he died he was condemned in the underworld to roll a huge stone uphill, which always fell back before he could reach the top.

Sol

Sol was the Roman name for the Greek god Helios.

Somnus

Somnus was an alternative name for the Greek and Roman god Hypnos.

Stheino

Stheino was one of the gorgons.

Strophius

In Greek mythology, Strophius was King of Phocis.

Styx

In Greek and Roman mythology, the Styx was the principal river in the underworld. Styx was the name of a nymph who was the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys. She dwelt at the entrance to Hades in a lofty grotto which was supported by silver columns. Styx took her children to help Zeus in the fight against the Titans.

Suada

Suada is an alternative name for Pitho.

Talaus

In Greek mythology, Talaus was King of Argos. He was the son of Nias and Pero. Talaus sailed with the Argonauts.

Talos

In Greek mythology, Talos was a bronze man given to Europa by Zeus to guard Crete. He would clutch people to his breast and jump into a fire so that they were burnt alive.

Tantalus

In Greek mythology, Tantalus was a son of Zeus. He was king of Phrygia, Lydia. He was admitted to the table of the gods, but displeased them and was punished by being put in a lake such that he just couldn't reach the water with his lips, and being tempted by fruit above him which again was just out of reach.

Tartarus

In Greek mythology, Tartarus was the part of Hades where the wicked were punished.

Telepylos

Telepylos was the capital city of the Laestrygones.

Telesphorus

Telesphorus was the god of that which sustains the convalescent. He is depicted with Aesculapius and Hygea.

Terminus

Terminus was the Greek and Roman god of boundaries.

Terpsichore

Terpsichore was the muse of dancing.

Tethys

Tethys was a Titan woman.

Teucer

There are two descriptions for Teucer, both refer to Greek mythology. The first is that Teucer was the first King of Troy. He was a son of the river god Scamander and Idaea. The second that Teucer was son of Telamon and Hesione and the best archer in the Greek army in the Trojan War. He would have shot Hector if Zeus had not broken his sbowstring.

Thalia

Thalia was the muse of comedy and burlesque.

Thanatos

Thanatos was the ancient Greek god of death and of pain.

Themis

In Greek mythology, Themis was a daughter of Uranus and Gaea. She was the Greek goddess of human rights.

Theseus

In Greek mythology, Theseus was a son of Aegeus and Aethra. He was king of Athens. Stories about him include his slaying of the Minotaur.

Thyrsus

A thyrsus was a wand wreathed with ivy leaves, and topped with a pine-cone carried by the Ancient Greeks as a symbol of Bacchus.

Titan

In Greek mythology, the Titans were the 12 sons of Ge and Uranus.

Titanomachia

Titanomachia was the 10 year war waged in Thessaly by Zeus and the Olympian gods against Cronos and the Titans led by Atlas. The war deposed the Titans.

Titans

see "Titan"

Tithonus

In Greek mythology, Tithonus was a son or brother of Laomedon the king of Troy. He was made immortal by by Zeus at the request of Eos who loved him.

Triton

Triton was a Herald of Neptune. In Greek mythology the Tritons were sea-gods with the upper half of a human and the lower part of the body that of a fish. They carried a trumpet which the blew to soothe the waves at the command of Poseidon.

Tros

Tros was the grandson of Dardanus and the father of Ilus. He gave his name to the city of Troy.

Tyche

Tyche was the Greek goddess of luck.

Tydeus

Tydeus was the son of Oeonus and Calydon. After commiting a murder whilst a youth he fled to the court of Adrastus.

Tyndareus

Tyndareus was the king of Sparta. He was deposed by his brother Hippocoon, and reinstated by Hercules.

Typhon

In Greek mythology, Typhon was the father of destructive and fierce winds. He is dereived from the Egyptian Set or Seth.

Ulysses

Ulysses was the Roman name for Odysseus.

Urania

Urania was the muse of astronomy.

Uranus

In Greek mythology, Uranus was a son of Gaea. He later married Gaea.

Venus

Venus was the Roman name for the Greek goddess Aphrodite.

Vertumnus

Vertumnus was a Roman god of garden fruits and seasons. He was the husband of Pomona.

Vesta

see "Hestia"

Victoria

Victoria is an alternative name for Nike.

Vulcan

Vulcan was the Roman name for the Greek god Hephaestus.

Xuthus

In Greek mythology, Xuthus was a son of Helen by the nymph Orseis. He was King of Peloponnesus and the husband of Creusa. After the death of his father, Xuthus was expelled from Thessaly by his brothers and went to Athens, where he married the daughter of Erechtheus.

Zagreus

Zagreus was a son of Zeus. He was torn apart and eaten by Titans apart from his heart which Athene saved. He is sometimes identified with Dionysus.

Zelus

In Greek mythology, Zelus was son of the Titan Pallas and Styx. He was a constant companion of Zeus and personified zeal.

Zethus

In Greek mythology, Zethus was a son of Zeus and Antiope and twin brother of Amphion.

Zeus

Zeus was the third king of the Greek gods. He had his throne on mount Olympus. He was a son of Cronus.

Zeuxippe

In Greek mythology, Zeuxippe was the daughter of Eridanus and the wife of Pandion. (null)