Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes, by Edith Hamilton

Important terms from the book Mythology

Mt. Olympus

the abode of the gods and the site of the throne of Zeus

nectar and ambrosia

the food and drink of the gods

Oracle at Delphi

an ancient religious sanctuary dedicated to the Greek god Apollo

Zeus (Jupiter)

the almighty god of the sky and thunder, and king of all the gods

Poseidon (Neptune)

God of the sea, storms, earthquakes, and horses

Hades (Pluto)

god of the underworld

Hestia (Vesta)

the goddess of the hearth

Hera (Juno)

The goddess of women, marriage, and childbirth

Ares (Mars)

god of war

Athena (Minerva)

the goddess of handicrafts, the professions, the arts, and, later, war

Phoebus Apollo

god of sun, medicine, music, poetry, and sciences

Aphrodite (Venus)

goddess of sexual love and beauty

Hermes (Mercury)

god of translators and interpreters

Artemis (Diana)

goddess of wild animals, the hunt, and vegetation and of chastity and childbirth

Hephaestus (Vulcan)

god of blacksmiths, metalworking, carpenters, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metallurgy, fire, and volcanoes

The Graces

three daughters of Zeus, each of whom is described as being able to bestow a particular gift on humanity

The Muses

the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts

Erebus

the personification of darkness and one of the primordial deities

Tartarus

the deep abyss that is used as a dungeon of torment

Charon

the ferryman of Hades

Cerberus

the hound of Hades

Elysian Fields

the paradise to which heroes on whom the gods conferred immortality were sent

Styx

a river that forms the boundary between Earth and the Underworld

The Erinyes (The Furies)

three goddesses of vengeance and retribution who punished men for crimes against the natural order

Pan

the god of the wild, shepherds and flocks, rustic music and impromptus, and companion of the nymphs

The Satyrs

rustic fertility spirits of the countryside and wilds

Aeolus

the divine keeper of the winds and king of the mythical, floating island of Aeolia

The Centaurs

half-men and half-horse beings representing an intermediate stage between human civilization and nature

The Gorgons

three sisters who are described as having hair made of living, venomous snakes and horrifying visages that turned those who beheld them to stone

The Graiae

three sisters who shared one eye and one tooth among them

The Sirens

humanlike beings with alluring voices

The Fates

the personifications of destiny

Demeter (Ceres)

goddess of the harvest

Persephone

the goddess queen of the underworld

pomegranate seed

used to trick Persephone into returning to the underworld for a few months of every year

Dionysus (Bacchus)

the god of wine and pleasure

Zeus and Semele

Zeus had already promised to grant Semele her every wish and thus was forced to grant a wish that would kill her: the splendor of his firebolts, as god of thunder, destroyed Semele. Zeus saved their unborn child, Dionysus, from the womb and kept him in his thigh until the baby was ready to be born.

Maenads

followers of the wine god Dionysus

Chaos

the mythological void state preceding the creation of the universe

Night (Nyx)

Greek goddess and the personification of the night

Erebus

the personification of darkness

Love

Eros was the god of love and sexual desire

Gaea (Earth)

personification of the Earth as a goddess

Ouranos (Heaven)

the primordial god of the sky

Cyclopes

one-eyed giants

Titans

six elder gods

Cronus

the leader and youngest of the first generation of Titans

Rhea

fertility goddess in ancient Greek mythology; wife of Cronus and mother of Zeus; identified with Roman Ops and Cybele of ancient Asia Minor

The Giants

a race of great strength and aggression

Atlas

a Titan condemned to hold up the heavens or sky for eternity

The Hyperboreans

a mythical people who lived in the far northern part of the known world

Prometheus

stole fire, he was celebrated by the mortals and was cruelly punished by God Zeus

Epimetheus

the Titan god of afterthought and excuses

Pandora

the first woman, but —as an instrument of the wrath of Zeus— was held responsible for releasing the ills of humanity into the world

The Deluge

a myth in which a great flood destroys civilization

Deucalion

the Greek equivalent of Noah

Pyrrha

wife of Deucalion

Io

a maiden seduced by Zeus; when Hera was about to discover them together Zeus turned her into a white heifer

Europa

The beauty of Europa inspired the love of Zeus, who approached her in the form of a white bull and carried her away from Phoenicia to Crete.

Polyphemus

loved Galatea, a Sicilian Nereid, and killed her lover Acis

Narcissus

He rejected all romantic advances, eventually falling in love with his own reflection in a pool of water, staring at it for the remainder of his life.

Echo

offended the goddess Hera by keeping her in conversation, thus preventing her from spying on one of Zeus' amours

Cupid

the god of desire, erotic love, attraction and affection

Psyche

goddess of the soul

Pyramus

lived in Babylon, and was the lover of Thisbe, both living in connected houses, but being forbidden to marry by their parents, who were rivals

Thisbe

returned and found her lover mortally wounded under the mulberry tree, she put an end to her own life

Orpheus

a great musician; when his wife Eurydice died he went to Hades to get her back but failed

Eurydice

the wife of Orpheus

Pygmalion

a sculptor who fell in love with a statue he had carved

Galatea

a maiden who was first a sculpture created by Pygmalion and was brought to life by Aphrodite in answer to Pygmalion's prayers

Baucis

hospitably received Zeus and Hermes when their richer neighbors turned away

Philemon

a simple countryman who offered hospitality to Zeus and Hermes when they came to earth without revealing their identities in order to test people's piety

Endymion

a beautiful youth who spent much of his life in perpetual sleep

Selene

the goddess and the personification of the Moon

Daphne

the personification of the laurel

The Argo

a ship built with the help of the gods that Jason and the Argonauts sailed from Iolcos to Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece

Phrixus

the son of Athamas carried ashore to the Colchians by the ram

Helle

fell from the ram's back and was drowned in the strait called, after her, Hellespont

Pelias

the one who sent Jason on the quest for the Golden Fleece

Jason

the husband of Medea and leader of the Argonauts who sailed in quest of the Golden Fleece

Harpies

a half-human and half-bird personification of storm winds

Amazons

a race of warlike women noted for their riding skills, courage, and pride

The Symplegades

a pair of rocks at the Bosphorus that clashed together whenever a vessel went through

Medea

a princess of Colchis who aided Jason in taking the Golden Fleece from her father

King Æetes

King of Colchis and keeper of the golden fleece

Scylla

a supernatural female creature, with 12 feet and six heads on long snaky necks

Charybdis

a ship-devouring whirlpool lying on the other side of a narrow strait from Scylla

Phaethon

youthful son of Helius who begged his father let him drive the chariot of the sun

Helios

the god and personification of the Sun

Pegasus

a winged divine stallion

Bellerophon

a mythical hero of Corinth who performed miracles on the winged horse Pegasus

Chimaera

a monstrous fire-breathing hybrid creature

Daedalus

an Athenian inventor who built the labyrinth of Minos; to escape the labyrinth he fashioned wings for himself and his son Icarus

Icarus

son of Daedalus; while escaping from Crete with his father he flew too close to the sun and the wax melted and he fell into the Aegean and drowned

King Minos

made King Aegeus pick seven young boys and seven young girls to be sent to Daedalus's creation, the labyrinth, to be eaten by the Minotaur

Perseus

the slayer of the Gorgon Medusa and the rescuer of Andromeda from a sea monster

Danaë

mother of the hero Perseus

Polydectes

command the hero Perseus to obtain the head of Medusa

Medusa

the only mortal of the three Gorgons

Andromeda

beautiful daughter of King Cepheus and Queen Cassiope and wife of Perseus