Classical Mythology Final
rve as cupbearer
Aegyptus - king of Egypt (named Egypt), twin brother of Danaus, fathered 50 sons
Aeneas - son of Aphrodite and Anchises; escaped fall of Troy and led his people to Italy; became the ancestor of the Roman people (The Aeneid)
Anchises - Aeneas carried him on his back while fleeing Troy
Ascanius/Iulus - son of Aeneas and Creusa; presented in the Aeneid as a young boy who represents the future of Rome
Dido - queen of Carthage, Phoenician princess; husband (Sychaeus) was killed by her brother (Pygmalion) so she fled and founded city of Carthage; fell in love w/ Aeneas, commits suicide on a funeral pyre after Aeneas leaves Carthage to continue his journey
Evander - king of Pallanteum, father of Pallas; Aeneas befriends him and secures his assistance in the battle against Turnus
Aeolus - god of the winds, ruler of Aeolia; gives Odysseus a bag containing all the unfavorable winds to help him sail home, but his crew opens the bad and they are blown back to Aeolia
Agamemnon - king of Mycenae, brother of Menelaus (husband of Helen)
Aegeisthus - had an affair w/ Clytemnestra while Agamemnon was fighting in Trojan War; helped her kill Agamemnon; ruled Mycenae; killed by Orestes
Atreus - father of Agamemnon; rivalry w/ brother Thyestes; curse of the House of Atreus b/c of the actions of their ancestor Tantalus
Clytemnestra - wife of Agamemnon (half-sister to Helen of Troy); murders her husband w/ lover Aegisthus as revenge for sacrificing Iphigenia; killed by her son Orestes
Electra - daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra; saves Orestes life by sending him away and helps him kill Clytemnestra and Aegisthus
Hermione - daughter of Menelaus and Helen; betrothed to Orestes before Trojan war; Menelaus promised her to Neoptolemus (son of Achilles) during the war; marries Orestes after the war, has a son named Tisamenus
Iphigenia - daughter of Agamemnon; sacrificed by him to secure favorable winds for Greek fleet during Trojan War
Orestes - son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra; kills mother and her lover to avenge his father; pursued by the Furies and eventually pardoned by Athena
Thyestes - brother of Atreus; feud w/ brother b/c he seduced Aerope (Atrues’ wife); Atreus kills his sons and serves them to him at a banquet
Argonautica - myth of the voyage of Jason and the Argonauts to retrieve the Golden Fleece from remote Colchis (King Pelias sends him on the journey hoping he will not return so he will not be overthrown)
Aietes - son of Helios; sorcerer-king of Colchis, keeper of the Golden Fleece, father of Medea; gave Jason a series of tasks to complete before he would give up the fleece
Argonauts - a group of 50 heroes who went w/ Jason on the Argo to get Golden Fleece
Calais & Zetes - winged twin brothers, sons of North Wind god Boreas and Oreithyia; chased away the Harpies from the table of the blind king Phineus; rescued sister Cleopatra who was imprisoned by Phineus; killed by Hercules
Castor & Pollux - twin brothers known for their exceptional skills as horsemen and fighters; Castor was son of Tyndareus (king of Sparta) and Pollux was son of Zeus and Leda; calmed storms at sea during journey w/ Jason; Pollux pleaded w/ Zeus to bring Castor back to life (spent half their time on Earth and half in the heavens - constellation Gemini)
Creusa/Glauce - daughter of King Creon of Corinth; wife of Jason; killed by Medea who sent her a poisoned robe that burned her alive
Phineas & Harpies - Phineas was the blind king of Thrace; tormented by the Harpies (winged creatures w/ body of a woman and face of a bird); Harpies would constantly steal his food just before he ate it, leaving him perpetually starving; punished b/c he abused his own children; gave Jason and the Argonauts navigational info. after they drove away the Harpies
Phryxus & Helle - children of King Athamas and cloud goddess Nephele; hated by stepmother Ino who plotted to have them sacrificed; to escape, a flying ram w/ golden fleece rescued them; Helle fell off during the flight; Colchis reached Colchis and sacrificed the ram to Zeus, gave the golden fleece to King Aietes
Jason - Pelias killed his father and took the throne; w/ the help of Medea, retrieves the fleece and returns to Iolcos and becomes king; reputation tarnished after his treatment of Medea, cursed by Hera; rotting stern of his ship, the Argo, breaks away and crushes him while he is sleeping under it
Medea - sorceress and princess from Colchis; helps Jason obtain the Golden Fleece w/ her magical powers; marries Jason, then he abandons her; murders her two sons by Jason and his daughter; escapes Corinth in a chariot led by dragons sent by her grandfather Helios; marries King Aegeus of Athens, but he drives her away after she tries to poison his son
Telamon - son of Aeacus and Endeis, brother of Peleus; father of Ajaz the Great; participated in Argonaut journey, Calydonian Boar hunt, and fought w/ Hercules in Trojan War
Ate - goddess of mischief, ruin, and destruction; tricks Zeus into swearing that his next child will be a great ruler and human, so Hera switches the children so that Hercules is delayed and Eurystheus is born instead
Bellerophon - son of Poseidon; rode the winged horse Pegasus to slay the Chimera (guided by Athena w/ golden bridle; hubris led him to try to fly to Mount Olympus on Pegasus, Zeus caused him to fall to earth
Chimera - offspring of Typhon and Echidna; fire-breathing creature w/ lion’s head, goat’s body, and serpent tail
Chiron - a centaur who was renowned as a teacher and hero; teacher of heroes - instructed Achilles, Jason, Hercules, and Asclepius; accidentally struck by a poisoned arrow shot by Hercules - gave up his immortality in exchange for Prometheus’s freedom and became constellation Sagittarius
Cypria - epic poem that narrates the events leading up to the Trojan War (specifically the Judgment of Paris)
Apple of Discord - golden apple, inscribed w/ “To the Fairest” thrown by the goddess Eris at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis
Helen - Aphrodite promised Helen to Paris if he chose her to receive the golden apple; caused the Trojan War
Judgment of Paris - led to the Trojan War; Trojan prince Paris was tasked w/ choosing the “fairest” goddess among Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite
Leda - seduced by Zeus in the form of a swan; laid eggs which hatched into Helen of Troy, Clytemnestra, and twin brothers Castor and Pollux
Menelaus - Paris took his wife, Helen, to Troy; asked his brother Agamemnon for help and invaded Troy to retrieve her
Paris/Alexander - sparked Trojan War by abducting Helen; Hera promised him power, Athena offered wisdom and skill in battle, and Aphrodite promised him the most beautiful woman in the world (Helen); Paris chose Aphrodite; fatally wounded Achilles with an arrow guided by Apollo
Peleus & Thetis - their wedding was hold on Mount Pelion and attended by all the Olympian gods besides Eris; Eris threw the Apple of Discord into the crowd
Tyndareus - husband of Leda and father of Castor and Clytemnestra, stepfather of Helen of Troy; before choosing Helen’s husband, he had the suitors swear an oath to defend the chosen husband
Danaus & Danaids - king who fled Egypt w/ his 50 daughters, the Danaids, to Argos to escape a forced marriage w/ the sons of his twin brother Aegyptus
Herakles/Hercules - son of Zeus and Alcmene; Labors of Hercules - series of tasks he was forced to complete after Helen tricked him into killing his wife and children (Nemean lion, Lernaean hydra, Cerberus, etc.)
Alkmene - mother of Hercules (Zeus) and Iphicles (Amphitryon); labor delayed by Hera so that Eurystheus became king before him; Zeus saved her w/ rain from her husband who tried to kill her by burning her alive on a pyre
Deianira - wife of Hercules and daughter of Oeneus and Althaea; centaur Nessus abducted her and tried to rape her, Hercules shot and mortally wounded him; Nessus promised Deianira that if Hercules wore a garment soaked in his blood, he would never look at another woman; Deianira sent the robe to Hercules and when he put it on, the poison killed him
Eurystheus - tricked into becoming king by Hera to ensure Hercules would not; ruler of Mycenae; forced Hercules to perform 12 Labors as punishment for killing his family
Hylas - companion of Hercules; went to fetch water from a spring, abducted by nymphs who fell in love w/ him; Hercules continued his labors alone
Iolaus - Theban hero; nephew and companion of Hercules, served as his charioteer and assisted him in completing several Labors (defeated the Hydra)
Megara - first wife of Hercules; Theban princess given to Hercules by King Creon as a reward for defending Thebes against invaders; tragically killed by Hercules b/c of Hera
Omphale - Queen of Lydia; held Hercules as a slave (gender roles, reversal of power)
Nessus - killed by Hercules after attempting to rape his wife Deianira; has poisoned blood that killed Hercules b/c of poisoned robe
Kleos - concept of glory/fame; a hero’s lasting reputation achieved through great deeds
Laomedon - king of Troy known for his treachery; refused to pay Apollo and Poseidon after they built the walls of Troy
Meleager & Atalanta - Meleager fell in love w/ Atalanta (only woman in the hunt) during hunt of Calydonian boar; his uncles are angered by the honor given to Atalanta and try to steal the spoils; Meleager fights and kills them; to avenge the uncles, Meleager’s mother burns a magical log linked to his life that causes him to die
Nostoi - homecoming of an epic hero after Trojan War; return is not just about physically returning home, but also about the hero’s ability to maintain/elevate their identity and status
Agamemnon and Menelaus argue over the voyage
Diomedes and Nestor set sail and return home safely
Menelaus sets sail, encounters a storm, loses most of his ships, and lands in Egypt
Prophet Calchas goes by land to Colophon, where he dies and is buried
Achilles’s ghost appears to Agamemnon and foretells his fate
Odysseus/Ulixes - king of Ithaca; famed for cunning intellect and resourcefulness; credited w/ the idea of the Trojan horse; protected/supported by Athena
Calypso - nymph who holds Odysseus captive on her island of Ogygia for seven years; Zeus sends Hermes to release Odysseus, and Calypso helps him build a boat to leave
Circe - powerful sorceress and goddess w/ exceptional talent for mixing drugs; Odysseus visited her island, Aeaea, w// his men and she turned them into pigs (Hermes gave Odysseus a magical herb that protected him from her magic)
Palamedes - son of King Nauplius; inventor - alphabet, numbers, weights and measures, and dice; exposed Odysseus’s feigned madness, forcing him to join the war; Odysseus accused him of treachery through a forged letter→ executed by stoning
Penelope - wife of Odysseus; waited 20 years for him and stayed loyal; recognized Odysseus when he returned disguised as a beggar and wins an archery contest she set up
Polyphemus - one-eyed giant (Cyclops); Odysseus and his men break into his cave (xenia); Polyphemus then eats Odysseus’s men in retaliation; Odysseus gets Polyphemus drunk and then blinds him by stabbing him in the eye w/ a stake
Scylla & Charybdis - Odysseus must navigate between them on his journey home; sails closer to Scylla, sacrificing six of his men to avoid ship being destroyed by Charybdis
Sirens - beautiful women w/ bird-like features; Odysseus successfully navigates past the Sirens by having his crew plug their ears w/ wax; ties himself to the ship’s mast so he can hear song w/o being steered off course
Telemachus - son of Odysseus; embarks on a journey to find his father after Trojan War; helps him defeat the suitors who were trying to marry Penelope; story considered a “coming-of-age” story
Perseus - son of Zeus and Danae; killed Medusa w/ the help of Athena (shield); saved Andromeda from sea monster Cetus and married her in Argos
Acrisius - king of Argos, grandfather of Perseus; an oracle told him he would be killed by his grandchild; tried to prevent daughter, Danae, from giving birth by locking her in a tower; Zeus still managed to impregnate her, so he threw her and Perseus into a wooden box in the sea; Perseus accidentally killed him w/ a discus during a funeral game
Andromeda - princess from Ethiopia; chained to a rock as a sacrifice to a sea monster sent by Poseidon b/c her mother boasted about her beauty; rescued by Perseus and married him
Danaë - father tried preventing her from giving birth; Zeus disguised himself as a shower of gold and impregnated her; thrown into the sea in a wooden box/ Perseus; Poseidon saved her and they landed on island of Seriphos
Dictys - fisherman from island of Seriphos; rescued Danae and Perseus; raised Perseus as his own son; became king of Seriphos after Perseus killed Medusa and turned his brother, King Polydectes, to stone w/ her head
Graeae/Graiai - daughters of the sea-deities Ceto and Phorcys, sisters to the Gorgons; old, grey-haired women who share one eye and one tooth; Perseus tricked them into revealing the location of Medusa by stealing their eye while they were passing it around
Medusa - gaze could turn anyone into stone; originally a beautiful woman, but was cursed by Athena; one of the 3 Gorgon sisters; killed by Perseus but severed head retained power
Pegasus - flew out of Medusa’s body after she was killed; tamed by Bellerophon and helped him defeat the Chimera; became a servant of Zeus
Pietas - Roman ideal that you must be dutiful to your parents, blood relatives, and gods
Roman Myth
Brutus - credited w/ founding the Roman Republic by overthrowing the last Etruscan king; extreme devotion to the Republic - had his own sons executed when he found out they were involved in a conspiracy to bring back the monarchy; story is used as an example of the ideal Roman citizen
Faustulus - a shepherd who discovered the infant twins Romulus and Remus (future founders of Rome) as they were being suckled by the she-wolf, Lupa
Julius Caesar - posthumously deified by the Roman Senate; elevated to god-like status; often associated w/ the planet Venus due to his family lineage
Lucretia - noblewoman known for her exceptional virtue and chastity; raped by Sextus Tarquinius (son of Etruscan King of Rome); commits suicide which sparks a rebellion that leads to the overthrow of Roman monarchy and est. Roman Republic
Numa Pompilius - legendary 2nd king of Rome; peaceful and wise leader who prioritized est. religious order and stability
Quirinus - Sabine god of war; became deified version of Romulus
Rhea Silva/Ilia - mother of Romulus and Remus; conceived through a rape by Mars when she was a Vestal Virgin (priestess dedicated to the goddess Vesta)
Romulus & Remus - were left to die as newborns in the Tiber River; rescued by a she-wolf and eventually established Rome; Romulus killed Remus to become sole ruler
Sextus Tarquinius - son of the last Roman king; raped Lucretia which led to overthrow of the monarchy and founding of the Roman Republic
Oedipus - king of Thebes; prophet tells his father, King Laius, that his son will kill him and marry his wife; Laius wants Oedipus killed (cannot do that) so he leaves him w/ a shepherd who gives him to the king and queen of Corinth; Oedipus visits Delphi and learns of the prophecy - leaves Corinth to avoid his fate; encounters his father, Laius, while traveling and kills him in a quarrel; finds Thebes plagued by the Sphinx - solves the riddle and is awarded w/ the throne of Thebes and marries his mother, Jocasta; when truth is discovered - Jocasta commits suicide and Oedipus blinds himself and goes into exile
Individual cannot escape their fate, no matter how hard they try to avoid it
Seven against Thebes - seven champions chosen by the king of Argos to make war on Thebes in order to restore Oedipus’s son Polynices to the throne
Amphiaraus - son of Oicles, a seer, and was consulted as an oracle and healer; convinced by his wife Eriphyle to join the expedition b/c she was bribed by Polynices w/ the Necklace of Harmonia; swallowed up by the earth
Antigone & Ismene - Antigone and Ismene are sisters of Polynices; when Polynices dies, Creon (new king) says he is a traitor and cannot be buried; Antigone secretly buries him anyways; Ismene complies w/ Creon’s law; Antigone is captured and imprisoned, eventually commits suicide
Creon & Haemon - Creon becomes king after both Eteocles (current king) and Polynices die; Haemon (son of Creon) is engaged to Antigone; begs father to not punish Antigone, but Creon doesn’t listen; after Antigone dies Haemon commits suicide
Eteocles & Polynices - cursed by their father (Oedipus) who prophesied that they would fight and kill each other; Eteocles takes the throne and exiles Polynices; Polynices seeks help from Argos - “Seven Against Thebes;” Eteocles and Polynices fight and fatally wound each other
Tydeus - defeated Theban chiefs in combat, but they retaliated and ambushed him; Athena helped Tydeus kill all but one; Tydeus was mortally wounded by Melanippus, but Athena was going to make him immortal; Amphiaraus (hated Tydeus) cut off Melanippus’s head and gave it to Tydeus, who went crazy and ate his brains; Athena withheld the potion and let him die
Trojan Cycle
Achilles - son of Peleus and Thetis; greatest warrior in the Trojan War; powerful but volatile; Hector kills his friend Patroclus which fuels his rage; kills Hector and drags his body around the walls of Troy; struck in the heel w/ an arrow from Paris
Ajax (<), son of Oileus - “Ajax the Lesser” skilled fighter but arrogant and rash; drug Cassandra from a statue of Athena; Athena and Poseidon caused a massive storm as they were leaving Troy that wrecked his ship; Poseidon then had him cast into the sea and drowned
Ajax (>), son of Telemon - fought in a drawn-out duel w/ Hector; competed w/ Odysseus for Achilles’s armor but lost due to Athena’s intervention - drove him into madness and he committed suicide
Andromache - wife of Hector; became one of the spoils of the Trojan War and was given to Neoptolemus (son of Achilles)
Astyanax - son of Hector and Andromache; thrown from the city walls by the Greeks after the fall of Troy
Brises - daughter of Briseus; captured by Achilles and becomes his war prize; seized by Agamemnon which leads Achilles to withdraw from battle (until Patroclus dies)
Cassandra - Trojan princess; prophetic by Apollo but cursed (she rejected him) so that no one would believe her; foresaw the fall of Troy and Trojan Horse but was unable to convince anyone; taken captive by Agamemnon after the war and killed by Clytemnestra
Chryseis - daughter of Chryses, priest of Apollo; taken by Agamemnon as a war prize; he refuses to give her back so Apollo sends a plague upon Greek forces (so Agamemnon returns her)
Dardanus - son of Zeus and Electra; fled from a flood and settled in Samothrace, then moved to Asia Minor; founded city of Dardania, ancestral home of the Trojans
Diomedes - one of the most important Greek leaders, commanded 80 ships; favored by Athena - managed to wound Aphrodite and Ares
Epeus - built the Trojan Horse under guidance of Athena
Hector - son of Priam and Hecuba; killed by Achilles and drug around the walls of Troy
Hecuba - Queen of Troy; mother of Hector and Paris; taken captive and experiences immense grief due to the death of her children; learns that her youngest son, Polydorus, was murdered by Thracian king Polymestor and blinds him and kills his children
Laocoon - Trojan priest who warned against bringing the Trojan Horse into Troy; attempted to destroy the horse w/ a spear but the gods sent serpents to attack him and his sons, killing all of them
Oath of Tyndareus - solemn promise made by all the suitors of Helen of Troy; swore to defend the chosen husband of Helen against anyone who would try to take her (had to fulfill this and retrieve her when Paris kidnapped her)
Neoptolemus - son of Achilles; joined Greek forces after prophecy declared that Troy could not be conquered w/o him; killed Trojan King Priam - vengeance of his father’s death; took Andromache as his captain and had a son w// her after the war
Nestor - king of Pylos; known for exceptional leadership; advised Achilles and Agamemnon
Patroklos - close friend of Achilles; enters war wearing Achilles’s armor; killed by Hector
Penthesilea - Amazonian queen who joined the Trojan side; slain by Achilles (who is overcome w/ remorse b/c of her beauty and bravery in battle)
Philoctetes - renowned archer who possessed powerful bow and arrow of Hercules; stranded on island of Lemnos, Odysseus and Neoptolemus retrieved him
Polyxena - daughter of King Priam and Queen Hecuba; tragically sacrificed on the tomb of Achilles after the fall of Troy to appease his ghost
Priam - king of Troy during the war; pleads w/ Achilles to return Hector’s body; killed by Neoptolemus
Sinon - Greek soldier who pretended by to a deserter and deceived Trojans into bringing Trojan Horse inside their walls
Thersites - low-ranking Greek soldier known for his constant verbal attacks; Odysseus beats him w/ his scepter to silence his disruptive commentary