Intro to Greek Myth Id's 2

Perseus

Son of Zeus and Danae; kills Medusa with divine assistance; rescues Andromeda from a sea monster.

Danae

Daughter of Acrisius; impregnated by Zeus; cast into the sea in a chest with her infant son.

Acrisius

King of Argos and father of Danae; warned his grandson would kill him; imprisons his daughter to prevent the prophecy.

Dictys

Fisherman on Seriphos; rescues Danae and her infant son from the sea; brother of King Polydectes.

Polydectes

King of Seriphos and brother of Dictys; desires Danae; demands Medusa's head from her son after a feast.

The Graiai

Three sisters named Enyo, Pemphredo, and Deino; share one eye and one tooth; forced to reveal information when their eye is stolen.

Cap of Hades

Magical helmet containing the shadows of Night; makes its wearer invisible; used during the quest to kill Medusa.

The Gorgons

Three monstrous sisters named Sthenno, Euryale, and Medusa; daughters of Phorcys and Ceto; only one is mortal.

Medusa

Only mortal sister among the three Gorgons; her gaze turns people to stone; decapitated by Perseus with divine assistance.

Chrysaor

Son of Poseidon and Medusa; emerges from his mother's severed neck; associated with a golden sword.

Pegasus

Winged horse born from Poseidon and Medusa; emerges from his mother's neck after decapitation; helps Bellerophon defeat the Chimaira.

Andromeda

Daughter of Cepheus and Cassiepeia, rulers of Ethiopia; offered as a sacrifice to a sea monster; rescued and married by Perseus.

Cetus

Sea monster sent by Poseidon to attack Ethiopia; a princess is offered as its victim; killed by Perseus.

Phineus

Brother of Cepheus; originally engaged to Andromeda; turned to stone after plotting against Perseus.

Bellerophon

Corinthian hero exiled after accidentally killing his brother; rejects Proitos's wife; defeats the fire-breathing Chimaira with Pegasus.

Proitos

Twin brother of Acrisius and ruler of Argos or Tiryns; receives an exiled hero; sends him to another king with a message intended to cause his death.

Stheneboia / Anteia

Wife of Proitos; falls in love with Bellerophon; falsely accuses him of sexual assault after he rejects her.

Chimaira

Fire-breathing monster with lion, goat, and serpent heads; offspring of Typhaon and Echidna in Hesiod; killed by Bellerophon with Pegasus.

Heracles/Herakles

Son of Zeus and Alcmene, raised by Amphitryon; Hera delays his birth and persecutes him; performs twelve canonical labors.

Iphicles

Son of Alcmene and Amphitryon; maternal twin or near-twin of Zeus's son; conceived on the night after his brother.

Linos

Son of Apollo and brother of Orpheus; teaches the lyre to a young hero; killed by his pupil after striking him during a lesson.

Eurystheus

Descendant of Perseus born prematurely through Hera's intervention; becomes ruler instead of Zeus's intended son; assigns the twelve labors.

Nemean Lion

Monstrous offspring of Typhaon and Echidna; killed during the first canonical labor; its skin becomes the hero's protective cloak and hood.

Omphale

Queen of Lydia; receives the famous hero as a servant or slave; associated with reversed gender roles and an exchange of clothing.

Deianeira

Later wife of the famous hero; rescued from the centaur Nessus; unknowingly causes her husband's death with a poisoned garment.

Amphitryon

Husband of Alcmene and father of Iphicles; raises Zeus's son as his own; survives the family murders in Euripides' tragedy.

Alcmene

Mortal wife of Amphitryon; Zeus visits her disguised as her husband; mother of two sons with different fathers.

Megara

Daughter of Creon, ruler of Thebes; wife of the famous hero and mother of his children; murdered with them during his divinely induced madness.

Madness (Lyssa)

Personification of insanity; ordered by Iris on Hera's behalf to afflict the hero; reluctantly drives him to murder his wife and children.

Theseus

Son of Aethra and Aegeus/Poseidon; legendary hero and king of Athens; defeats the Minotaur with Ariadne's help.

Aethra

Princess of Troezen and daughter of Pittheus; sleeps with Aegeus and Poseidon; mother of Athens' legendary hero.

Aegeus/Aigeus

King of Athens who consults the Delphic Oracle about having children; hides a sword and sandals beneath a rock; throws himself into the sea after seeing his son's ship with dark sails.

Minos

Son of Zeus and king of Crete; keeps a sacred white bull sent by Poseidon instead of sacrificing it; father of Ariadne and Phaedra.

Pasiphae

Wife of Minos and queen of Crete; cursed by Poseidon to desire a white bull; gives birth to the Minotaur with Daedalus's assistance.

Asterion (Minotaur)

Monstrous offspring of Pasiphae and Poseidon's white bull; has the body of a man and head of a bull; imprisoned in the Labyrinth and killed by Theseus.

Ariadne

Daughter of Minos and Pasiphae; gives Theseus thread to escape the Labyrinth; abandoned on Naxos and later becomes Dionysus's wife.

Daedalus

Brilliant craftsman and inventor; constructs the wooden cow for Pasiphae and the Labyrinth for the Minotaur; creates wings of feathers and wax to escape Crete.

Icarus

Son of Daedalus; escapes Crete using wings made of feathers and wax; falls into the sea and dies after flying too close to the sun.

Antiope

Amazon warrior associated with Theseus's expedition against the Amazons; abducted by the Athenian hero; mother of Hippolytus.

Phaedra

Daughter of Minos and Pasiphae and sister of Ariadne; wife of Theseus and stepmother of Hippolytus; falsely accuses her stepson after Aphrodite causes her to fall in love with him.