Achaei
the ruling nation among the Greeks in historic times
Achilles
son of Peleus and Thetis
Acis
son of Faunus loved by Galatea
Actaeon
a huntsman torn to pieces by his own dogs for having seen Diana bathing
Adonis
son of Cinyras, king of Cyprus, beloved by Venus; beautiful young man
Aegeus
father of Theseus
Lucius Aemilius Paullus
victor over Perseus, king of Macedon, at Pydna in 168 BC
Aeneas
son of Anchises and Venus
Aeolus
god of the winds
Agamemnon
king of Mycenae, commander-in-chief of the Greek forces at Troy
Agathocles
(361-289 BC) king of Sicily, celebrated for his victory over the Carthaginians to win Sicily
Gnaeus Iulius Agricola
governor of Britain for seven years (77-84 AD)
Aiax
name of two Greek heroes in the Trojan War
Alexander
(356-23 BC) king of Macedon from 336 to 23 BC)
Alcmaeon
son of Amphiaraus, who killed his mother Eriphyle
Alcyone
wife of Ceyx; she was changed into a kingfisher
Amata
in Virgil’s Aeneid, the wife of Latinus and mother of Lavinia
Amphitrite
wife of Neptune; goddess of the sea
Anchises
father of Aeneas
Andromacha
wife of Hector
Andromeda
daughter of Cepheus and Cassiope; rescued by Perseus from a sea-monster
Anna
in Virgil’s Aeneid, sister of Dido
Marcus Antonius
(83-30 BC) the lover of Cleopatra defeated by Octavius Caesar at Actium in 31 BC
Anubis
Egyptian dog-headed god
Apelles
renowned Greek painter
Apollo
god of the sun, prophecy, music and poetry, archery and medicine, son of Jupiter and Leto
Arachne
a Lydian woman who challenged Athena to a contest of weaving and was turned into a spider
Castor
twin-brother of Pollux, son of Tyndareus
Lucius Sergius Catilina
supposedly a conspirator against the Roman state when Cicero was consul (63 BC), killed on the battlefield near Pistoria in 62 BC
Marcus Porcius Cato
(234-149 BC) censor, author of the phrase ‘delenda est Carthago’
Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis
an opponent of Caesar; committed suicide at Utica when his cause was defeated, 49 BC
Centauri
a wild race of Thessaly, half-man, half-horse
Cephalus
husband of Procris, beloved by Eos (Dawn); he accidentally killed his wife
Cerberus
three-headed dog, guarding the entrance to Hell
Charon
ferryman of the Lower World
Chimaera
a fire-breathing monster with the head of a lion, body of a she-goat, and tail of a snake
Chiron
a Centaur who tutored Aesculapius, Hercules and Achilles
Marcus Tullius Cicero
(106-43 BC) one of the greatest politicians, writers and lawyers of the ancient world
Cincinnatus
Roman dictator (485 BC)
Circe
a famous sorceress
Cleopatra
queen of Egypt, daughter of Ptolemy Auletes; loved by Mark Antony
Clio
the Muse of History
Clotho
one of the Fates (who span the thread of life)
Clytaemnestra
wife of Agamemnon
Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus
became an enemy of his countrymen, the Romans
Marcus Licinius Crassus
a member (with Julius Caesar and Pompey) of the First Triumvirate; killed by the Parthians near Carrhae in 53 BC
Creusa
in Virgil’s Aeneid, daughter of the Trojan king Priam and his wife Hecuba, and mother of Ascanius
Croesus
king of Lydia; a (proverbially) rich man
Cupido
love god, son of Venus
Cybele
the great Phrygian mother goddess
Cyclops
a one-eyed giant, workman in Vulcan’s smithy
Daedalus
legendary Athenian craftsman and inventor, creator of the labyrinth and father of Icarus
Danae
mother of Perseus
Daphne
daughter of the river god Peneus, loved by Apollo
Dardanus
ancestor of the Trojan dynasty
Gradivus
a title of Mars
Hamilcar
father of Hannibal
Hannibal
Punic surname; the great Carthaginian general during the Second Punic War, son of Hamilcar
Hanno
Punic surname; opponent of Hannibal
Harpyae
mythical rapacious monsters, half-bird, half-woman
Hasdrubal
(1) brother of Hannibal; (2) son-in-law of Hamilcar
Hebe
goddess of youth, cupbearer to the gods
Hecate
goddess of the Lower World, worshipped as goddess of spells and enchantments
Hector
warrior son of Priam and Hecuba
Helena
(1) daughter of Jupiter and Leda, wife of Menelaus; (2) mother of Constantine the Great
Helenus
after the fall of Troy, husband of Hector’s widow Andromache and king of Chaonia, a part of Epirus
Helle
daughter of Athamas, king of Boeotia, who was drowned in the narrow sea called after her
Hercules
son of Jupiter and Alcmene, a demigod and divine hero
Hesperides
daughters of Erebus and the Night; they lived in an island garden beyond Mt. Atlas and guarded the golden apples which Juno received on her wedding
Hesperus
son of Atlas, or of Cephalus, and Aurora; planet Venus as evening-star
Horae
the Hours, goddesses of the seasons
Hyacinthus
beautiful youth beloved by Apollo, and accidentally killed by him
Hydra
seven-headed serpent, killed by Hercules
Hylas
beautiful youth who accompanied Hercules on the Argonautic expedition
Hyperion
son of a Titan and the Earth; the Sun
Iason
son of Aeson, king of Thessaly, Grecian hero
Icarus
son of Daedalus; tried to fly from Crete and fell into the sea
Io
daughter of Inachus; beloved of Zeus, turned into a cow and pursued by Argus
Iphigenia
daughter of Agamenon and Clytemnestra; sacrificed at the beginning of the Trojan War
Iris
daughter of Thaumus and Electra, messenger of the gods and goddess of the rainbow
Isis
Egyptian goddess, wife of Osiris
Itys
son of Tereus and Procne; made into a stew and served up to his father
Meleager
son of Oeneus and Althaea, who took part in the Calydonian boar hunt; his survival depended on the continuing existence of a fire brand
Melpomene
one of the Muses, later associated with tragedy
Memnon
son of Tithonus and Aurora, king of the Ethiopians
Menelaus
brother of Agamemnon
Mentor
faithful friend of Ulysses
Mercurius
son of Jupiter and Maia, the messenger of the gods; the god of eloquence and of merchants and thieves
Mezentius
in Virgil’s Aeneid, a brutal tyrant of Caere in Etruria
Midas
king of Phrygia; all he touched was turned into gold
Minerva
daughter of Zeus, goddess of wisdom, of the arts, of handicraft and women’s works
Minos
son of Zeus and Europa, king of Crete
Minotaurus
monster with the head of a bull in the Labyrinth of Crete
Misenus
in Virgil’s Aeneid, the Trojan trumpeter who roused the jealousy of the sea-god Triton and was drowned
Mnemosyne
Memory, the mother of the Muses
Morpheus
god of dreams
Musa
one of the nine patron goddesses of the arts
Narcissus
son of Cephissus, enamoured of his own beauty and turned into a flower named after him
Nemesis
goddess of retribution
Neoptolemus
(also called Pyrrhus) son of Achilles and Deidamia, the brutal killer of the Trojan king Priam