| Abarbare |
| ah bar bar EE |
| A Naiad, i.e. a water nymph; the consort of Boukolion (Boucolion) and mother of the twins, Pedasos and Aisepos. |
| Nymph is a general term for maidens who occupy rivers, springs, mountains, etc. |
| The name nymph literally means Bride; there are several specific types of nymphs: |
| Okeanid (a nymph of the ocean); |
| Naiad (a nymph of a river, lake and spring); |
| Hamadryad or Dryad (a nymph of a tree); |
| Sylph (a nymph of the air); and |
| Oread (a nymph of a mountain). |
| When the Titan, Kronos (Cronos), attacked his father, Ouranos (the Heavens), the blood that issued from Ouranos’ wounds produced the Nymphs of the Ash Trees, the Furies, the Giants and the goddess of Love, Aphrodite. |
| (Theogony, line 187) |
| (Iliad (Lattimore and Loeb), book 6, line 22) |
| (Iliad (Fagles), book 6, line 25) |
| (Iliad (Fitzgerald), book 6, line 23) |
| Cite this entry |
| Abdera |
| AB dee rah |
| A Greek city on the coast of Thrace, east of the river Nestos (Nestus). |
| The city of Abdera was first settled by a man named Timesias of Klazomenae (Clazomenae) in the mid-seventh century BCE; this attempt at colonization was not successful and Timesias and his followers were driven from Thrace by the native inhabitants. |
| As a result of the Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BCE, the Great King’s general, Harpagus, assaulted the land of the Teians who lived in Ionia; the Teians fled to Thrace and re-established Abdera as a Greek city; of all the Ionians who were besieged by the Persians, the Teians were the only ones to flee the Great King’s wrath; the other Ionians were reduced to slavery. |
| The city prospered and, by 545 BCE, had a protective wall, holy sanctuaries and a well equipped harbor; the city continued to grow and prosper until the Romans conquered the area; from that time on, the city declined into obscurity and finally became nothing more than a cemetery. |
| (Histories, book 1, chapter 168, book 6, chapter 46, book 7, chapter 109, 120 and 126, book 8, chapter 120) |
| Cite this entry |
| Abydos (Abydus) 1 |
| ah bee DOS |
| A Greek city on the Asian side of the Hellespont; the city of Sestos lies across the Hellespont on the European side of the narrow channel. |
| Abydos was the home of a young man named Leander who was in love with a priestess of Aphrodite named Hero; Leander would regularly swim the channel at night in order to meet with Hero in Sestos but one night he lost his way and drowned; this tale from antiquity has inspired many young adventurers to swim the strait to duplicate Leander’s feat. |
| There is a point of land jutting into the Hellespont from the European side of the waterway and it was at this spot, in 480 BCE, that the Persian king, Xerxes, built a pontoon bridge by lashing ships together and crossing the Hellespont from Abydos to Sestos. |
| Before he arrived at Abydos, Xerxes instructed the townspeople to construct a platform of stones on a hill so that he could stand atop it and survey the massive army and navy he had assembled for the invasion of Greece. |
| The other Greek cities of the Hellespont were required to supply soldiers and ships for Xerxes’ invasion forces but the people of Abydos were ordered to stay at home and protect the pontoon bridge from attack; the bridge was not harmed by any enemy of the Great King but, when Xerxes retreated back to Abydos after his invasion of Greece had failed, the waves and wind had made the pontoon bridge unstable and unusable; Xerxes and his army crossed from Sestos to Abydos via ship. |
| When the people of Abydos and Sestos learned that the Greeks who had not allied themselves with the Persians were approaching the Hellespont, they dismantled the pontoon bridge and stored the gear at Sestos; when the Greeks arrived, they focused their attention on punishing the traitor-Greeks on the European side of the Hellespont and left Abydos alone. |
| Because of its strategic location, Abydos played a major role in the long and brutal Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE); many sea battles were fought in the narrow channel between Abydos and Sestos. |
| Abydos is now known as Canakkale, Turkey. |
| Approximate East Longitude 26º 40' and North Latitude 40º 15'. |
| (Histories, book 5, chapter 117; book 7, chapter 33-37, 44-45, 95, 147; book 8, chapter 117; book 9, chapter 114) |
| (Iliad (Lattimore and Loeb), book 2, line 836; book 4, line 500; book 17, line 584) |
| (Iliad (Fagles), book 2, line 948; book 4, line 577; book 17, line 661) |
| (Iliad (Fitzgerald), book 2, line 1005; book 4, line 604; book 17, line 656) |
| Cite this entry |
| Academy (Akademeia or Academeia) |
| An olive grove near the city of Athens which was sacred to the hero, Akademus (Academus) who assisted Kastor (Castor) and
Polydeukes (Polydeuces or Pollux) in the rescue of their sister, Helen. |
| Plato and his followers taught in the grove and, thus, their school was called The Academy. |
| Modern scholars have divided the teachings of The Academy into “schools” because the world-view and style evolved as
time passed and as different teachers presided over The Academy; the divisions are: |
| The Old Academy (circa 400-265 BCE), typified by Plato. |
| The Middle Academy (circa 265-150 BCE), typified by Arkesilas (Arcesilas). |
| The New Academy (circa 150-86 BCE), typified by Karneades (Carneades). |
| The direct, continuous influence of The Academy was finally broken in 86 BCE by the Romans when Athens was burned; attempts were
made to re-build on the centuries-old reputation of The Academy but the Roman domination of the entire Mediterranean area was overwhelming and later
incarnations of The Academy were mere shadows of the original school. |
| Cite this entry |
| Acharnians |
| A comic play by the Athenian poet, Aristophanes, which was produced in the first years of the Peloponnesian War (425 BCE). |
| The play was an undisguised plea for peace between the cities of Athens and Sparta but despite the potentially unpopular theme
of the play, it was well received in Athens. |
| The main character of the play, Dikaiopolis (Dicaiopolis), served as the voice of peace but regardless of the passion
demonstrated by the play’s characters, no one could foresee that the war would drag on for twenty eight years. |
| The setting of the story is the market in Athens where Dikaiopolis is confronted by an angry group of Acharnians who want to
kill him because he has tried to negotiate a private peace with Sparta; the Acharnians want to stone and then decapitate Dikaiopolis but he persuades them to
hear his reasoning for wanting peace with Sparta before they kill him. |
| Dikaiopolis harangues a variety of people including the poet Euripides, the government of Athens, the Athenian military,
farmers, merchants and even participants in a wedding. |
| At the end of the play, the comic lampoons of Dikaiopolis are juxtaposed against the mournful laments of a wounded soldier. |
| This play is somewhat difficult to read but worth the effort; there is one particularly enjoyable scene where Dikaiopolis is
arguing with a desperate Megarian farmer who is trying to raise money by disguising his daughters as pigs and offering them for sale; the underlying message
of the scene is that the farmer has been brought to ruin by the war but his destitution is comically relieved by the farcical hoax he’s trying to foist
on Dikaiopolis. |
| Aristophanes’ plays are sometimes difficult to appreciate because he was a very contemporary poet, i.e. he was writing for
the Athenian audience of his day; he would use puns, parody regional accents and speak directly to the audience in ways that force modern translators to seek
out the contextual meaning rather than the literal meaning of the poet’s words; for that reason, I suggest that if you find a translation that is
difficult to enjoy, please don’t blame Aristophanes, simply look for a translation that you can enjoy; when trying to find a readable translator, I
suggest Patric Dickinson; you may find his books at your local library in the 882 section but his books are out of print and sometimes difficult to find; I
also recommend the Penguin Classics book Lysistrata & Other Plays: The Acharnians, the Clouds, Lysistrata by Aristophanes, Alan H. Sommerstein
(Translator), ISBN: 0140448144; you can also find this book at your local library or you can purchase it through the Book
Store on this site which is linked to Amazon.com. |
| Cite this entry |
| Acheloios 1 |
| ah heh LOW eos |
| The god of the river Achelous who was the lord of all rivers. |
| Acheloios was one of the sons of Okeanos (Ocean) and Tethys. |
| Acheloios and the Muse, Terpsichore, were the parents of the Sirens. |
| Zeus gave the Rivers, Apollon and the Okeanids the special obligation of having the young in their keeping. |
| The name, Acheloios, may also be rendered as Achelous. |
| (Iliad (Lattimore and Loeb), book 21, line 194) |
| (Iliad (Fagles), book 21, line 220) |
| (Iliad (Fitzgerald), book 21, line 226) |
| (Theogony, line 340) |
| Cite this entry |
| Acheron |
| ah HEH ron |
| The River of Woe. |
| A river in the Underworld over which Charon ferries the souls of the dead. |
| Herodotus relates the story of the king of the city of Corinth, Periander, sending an emissary to the Oracle of the Dead on the river Acheron; the king’s dead wife, Melissa, revealed, through the oracle, the hiding place of some treasure that she had hidden and Periander could not find without her help. |
| The Romans thought that the Acheron was a lake. |
| (Histories, book 5, chapter 92) |
| (Odyssey (Lattimore), book 10, line 514) |
| (Odyssey (Loeb), book 10, line 513) |
| (Odyssey (Fagles), book 10, line 563) |
| (Odyssey (Fitzgerald - Sorrowing Waters), book 10, line 569) |
| Cite this entry |
| Achilles (Achilleus) |
| The most beautiful and bravest warrior in the Greek army at the siege of the city of Troy; he was the son of king Peleus and the
Nereid, Thetis. |
| After Achilles was born, Thetis tried to make him immortal by cleansing him with nektar (nectar) and bathing him in fire but Peleus caught her putting the infant Achilles in the fire and, in his ignorance of Immortal affairs, went into a rage; Thetis, in frustration, threw Achilles
to the ground, deserted Peleus and returned to her home under the Aegean Sea. |
| Achilles was contentious and proud because of his obvious skill as a warrior and his semi-divine parentage; he acknowledged
the authority of Agamemnon as the captain of the Greek army but refused to fight because he felt that he had been wronged in the division of the spoils of
war. |
| When his lifelong companion, Patroklos (Patroclus), was killed by the Trojans, Achilles went into a rage that only the blood of
countless Trojans would quell; he killed Hektor (Hector), the leader of the Trojan army, and defiled his corpse as revenge for Patroklos’ death but, at
the command of Zeus, returned the dead body to Hektor’s father, king Priam. |
| Achilles was killed before the fall of Troy and the rivalry for his armor between Aias (Ajax) and Odysseus caused Aias to go insane and die in disgrace. |
| Cite this entry |
| Acrocorinth |
| The citadel of ancient city of Corinth; strategic in the control of the Isthmus of Corinth. |
| The traveler and historian, Pausanias (fl. 160 CE) described the Acrocorinth as mountain peak above the city which was assigned
to Helios (the Sun); on the way to the summit there were two precincts dedicated to Isis: 1) Isis Pelagian, i.e. Isis of
the Sea, and 2) the Egyptian Isis; another Egyptian deity represented on the Akrocorinth was Serapis. |
| On the summit of the Acrocorinth was the temple of Aphrodite (goddess of Love) with images
of Aphrodite, Helios and Eros (the primal god of Love); the spring behind the temple was
said to have been created by the river god, Asopos (Asopus) as a reward to king Sisyphus for informing the river god that Zeus had abducted his daughter,
Aegina. |
| (Description of Greece, book 2 iv 4, v 1-2) |
| Cite this entry |
| Acropolis 1 |
| ah KROW po lis |
 |
| The citadel of Athens and site of the Parthenon. |
| The Acropolis is a rocky plateau rising 200 feet (61 meters) above the city; it measures 300 feet (91 meters) by 150 feet (46
meters) forming the flat rectangular plateau which overlooks the city and the sea. |
| In prehistoric times the Acropolis served as the site of at least three distinct cultures known as: |
| 1) The Early Helladic (2500-1900 BCE); |
| 2) The Middle Helladic (1900-1580 BCE); and |
| 3) The Late Helladic (1580-1100 BCE); the Late Helladic period was the setting for the mythical kings of Attica such as Kekrops (Cecrops), Erechtheus and Akteus (Acteus). |
| The historic accounts of the Acropolis begin after the Persian army sacked Athens in 480 BCE; the ruins of the burned and demolished temples atop the Acropolis were used by Themistokles (Themistocles) and Kimon (Cimon) as the foundation for re-construction of the walls and temples; the Parthenon and the Propylaea were added by Perikles (Pericles) in 431 BCE. |
| Cite this entry and see pictures |
| Admetos (Admetus) 1 |
| A king of Pherae in Thessaly; Admetos was drawn into the plots and dramas of the Immortals when Zeus made Apollon into Admetos’ slave for one year as retribution for Apollon’s
vengeful attack on the cyclops. |
| Admetos was a kind master and treated Apollon with respect; in repayment for such noble treatment, Apollon arranged for Admetos
to marry a lovely woman named Alkestis (Alcestis). |
| When Apollon found out that Admetos was destined to die immediately after the marriage, he wooed the Eumenides (Fates) with wine until they agreed to allow Admetos to live; the Eumenides were not easily persuaded; they would
only allow Admetos to live on the condition that someone else volunteer to die in his place; Alkestis loved her husband so much that she agreed to die for
him. |
| Herakles (Heracles) was so moved by such an act of selflessness that he intercepted Thanatos
(Death) as he was escorting Alkestis to the Underworld and returned her to the land of the living and reunited her with Admetos. |
| (Argonautika, book 1, lines 49-50) |
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| Adonis |
| There are conflicting stories as to Adonis’ life and death; he was the son of Kinyras (Cinyras) king of the island of
Cyprus and the king’s daughter Myrrha (Zmyrna); the unholy union was the result of the goddess of Love, Aphrodite’s, revenge for Myrrha’s disrespect. |
| At this point, the story of Adonis is unclear, either: |
| 1) His mother was turned into a myrrh tree and Adonis was born from this tree; he grew to be a beautiful young man and Aphrodite
fell in love with him; or |
| 2) Aphrodite put Adonis in a chest and sent him to the Underworld; Zeus had sympathy for the
beautiful young man and allowed him to live half of the year with Persephone in the Underworld and the other half with
Aphrodite on the earth’s surface; or perhaps; |
| 3) Adonis was raised by nymphs and met Aphrodite while he was hunting; he was killed by a wild boar sent by Ares (god of War) and from his blood sprang the rose. |
| The worship of Adonis reached the city of Athens in the fifth century BCE and is assumed to have originated on the island of
Cyprus or in the Far East; regardless of his origins, by the mid-seventh century BCE, his name was used by the singer/poet, Sappho, as a general term meaning
a favorite or a darling. |
| Cite this entry |
| Adrastus (Adrestos) 1 |
| The mythical king of Argos whose life was closely tied to the legend of king Oedipus of the city of Thebes and, indirectly, to
the fall of the city of Troy. |
| Adrastus was the son of Talaus and Lysimache; as a young man he was forced to flee Argos and live in the city of Sikyon (Sicyon)
where he was made heir to the throne and later became the king; as king of Sikyon, he returned to Argos and made peace; he welcomed the exiled son of
Oedipus, Polynikes (Polynices), and also another exile, Tydeus. |
| Polynikes married one of Adrastus’ daughters, Argeia, and Tydeus married another named Deipyle. |
| Adrastus helped Polynikes mount an attack on the city of Thebes and their company became known as Seven Against Thebes; their
campaign failed and Polynikes was killed but Adrastus managed to escape on his immortal steed, Arion. |
| A generation later, Adrastus led the sons of the Seven (known as the Epigoni) back to Thebes and successfully took the city; the
only casualty of the second battle was Adrastus’ son, Aigialeus; because of the loss of his beloved son, Adrastus supposedly died of grief on the way
back to Argos. |
| Although his name is more properly rendered as Adrestos, it is almost always translated as Adrastus. |
| Cite this entry |
| Adrastus (Adrestos) 2 |
| The son of Gordius and the grandson of king Midas. |
| Adrastus accidentally killed his brother and was banished from Phrygia by his father; he went to Lydia as a supplicant and was
absolved of his blood-guilt by the king of Lydia, Kroesus (Croesus). |
| Kroesus had a dream that his son, Atys, was going to die on the point of an iron spear and became very protective of Atys; when
Atys went to nearby Mysia to help rid that country of a rampaging wild boar, Kroesus ordered Adrastus to accompany Atys as his guardian and protector; during
the hunt, Adrastus accidentally killed Atys with his iron spear just as the dream had predicted. |
| When he returned to Lydia, Adrastus confessed his guilt but Kroesus said that Atys’ death was the will of the Immortals
and that Adrastus was not to blame. |
| Adrastus believed that the accidental murder of his brother and Atys was nothing less than a curse and, to forestall any further
innocent bloodshed, he committed suicide by cutting his own throat over Atys’ grave. |
| Although his name is more properly rendered as Adrestos, it is almost always translated as Adrastus. |
| (Histories, book 1, chapters 34-45) |
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| Aegaios’ Son |
| Another name for Briareos; he and his brothers, Kottos (Cottos) and Gyes, are three of the most terrible creatures ever to be
produced by Gaia (Earth) and Ouranos (the Heavens). |
| Briareos and his brothers have fifty heads and fifty arms sprouting from their massive shoulders. |
| The Immortals use the name Briareos but mere mortals call him Aigaios’ son. |
| When Briareos and his brothers were in the womb of Gaia, Ouranos would not let them be born; when they attempted to come out,
Ouranos would push them back inside; it wasn’t until the Titan, Kronos (Cronos), attacked and wounded his father,
Ouranos, that the brothers were allowed to be free; Gaia made a sickle of flint and begged for one of her Titan children to attack Ouranos but only Kronos
came to her aid; Kronos laid in ambush for his father and struck him down with the flint sickle; the three fifty-headed brothers were allowed to escape
Gaia’s womb and the blood of Ouranos created the Furies, the Giants, the Nymphs of the Ash Trees and the goddess of Love, Aphrodite. |
| Kronos had helped his mother, Gaia, free Briareos and his monstrous brothers but he feared their strength and was jealous of
their beauty so he imprisoned them under the earth where they remained until the war between the Titans and the Olympians began. |
| Zeus, the son of Kronos, brought Briareos and his brothers back into the light and gave them nektar (nectar) and ambrosia to renew their vitality; Briareos, Kottos and Gyes joined the Olympians in the war against the Titans. |
| After ten years of war, Zeus let loose all his fury and the earth and heavens trembled under his thunderbolts; at that moment,
Briareos, Kottos and Gyes bombarded the rebel Titans with three-hundred boulders that buried them, thus ending the war. |
| After ten years of war, Zeus let loose all his fury and the earth and heavens trembled under his thunderbolts; at that moment,
Briareos, Kottos and Gyes bombarded the rebel Titans with three-hundred boulders that buried them, thus ending the war. |
| Briareos was wedded to the daughter of Poseidon, Kymopolea (Cymopolea). |
| Briareos is also referred to as Obriareos. |
| (Iliad, book 1, line 403) |
| (Theogony, lines 149, 615, 712 and 817) |
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| Aegeus (Aigeus) |
| A mythical king of Athens; the son of Pandion and the consort of Aethra. |
| Aegeus forced his brother, Lykus (Lycus), to flee Athens and settle in southern Asia Minor. Lykus and Aegeus lived one
generation before Herakles (Heracles), i.e. before 1200 BCE). |
| Aegeus is most noted as the father of Theseus; Aegeus left Aethra before Theseus was born and instructed her to place a sword
and a pair of sandals under a boulder so that if and when Theseus was strong enough to move the boulder and remove the sword and sandals he would be manly
enough to join his father in Athens and claim his royal inheritance. |
| When Theseus arrived in Athens as a young man bearing the sword and sandals Aegeus did not immediately recognize him; in the
intervening years, Aegeus had married the sorceress, Medeia (Medea), and she knew exactly who Theseus was and began devising plans to dispose of him. |
| Medeia persuaded Aegeus to send Theseus to the plains of Marathon to capture a fierce bull that had been ravaging the
countryside; Theseus successfully captured the bull and sacrificed it to Apollon. |
| Medeia then tried to poison Theseus but Aegeus finally recognized the sword that Theseus carried and saved him from
Medeia’s plotting. |
| When Androgeus, the son of king Minos of the island of Crete, attended the first Panathenaea in Athens he attracted the ire of
Aegeus by winning all the prizes; Aegeus had Androgeus killed and king Minos waged war on Athens to avenge the death of his son; peace was won only with the
promise that Athens would send seven young men and seven young women every year to Minos to be slain by the ungodly bull-monster known as the Minotaur;
the tradition continued until Theseus successfully killed the Minotaur. |
| Theseus and his father had devised a signal by which Aegeus would be able to tell, by the color of the ship’s sails,
whether Theseus had defeated the Minotaur and was returning safely to Athens; Aegeus saw the ship in the distance and incorrectly interpreted the signal;
thinking that Theseus was dead, he threw himself into the sea and drowned; this is perhaps the way the Aegean Sea got its name. |
| (Iliad, book 1, line 265) |
| (Histories, book 1, chapter 173) |
| (Shield of Herakles, line 182) |
| Cite this entry |
| Aegina (Aigina) 2 |
| An island in the Saronic Gulf between Argolis and Attica, i.e. between the Greek mainland and the Peloponnesian
Peninsula. |
| Approximately 52 square miles (135 square kilometers) in area with a shoreline of approximately 35 miles (56 kilometers). |
| Named after the nymph, Aegina; the island has been occupied since the Neolithic Period (3000 BCE) and was subsequently settled
by the Minoans, the Achaeans (Achaians) and, finally, the Dorians. |
| After the defeat of the Persians in 480 BCE near the neighboring island of Salamis, the Athenians took control of Aegina and it
ceased to be an independent state. |
| The island of Aegina was also the legendary home of the Myrmidons; Achilles, the son of Peleus, was the leader of the Myrmidons
at the siege of the city of Troy. |
| Approximate East Longitude 23º 26' and North Latitude 37º 46' |
| (Iliad, book 2, lines 562 and 684) |
| (Eoiae, chapter 68(1), line 60) |
| (Hymn to Delian Apollon, line 31) |
| (Contest of Homer and Hesiod, line 331) |
| Cite this entry |
| Aegisthus (Aigisthus) |
| The son of Thyestes and the cousin of Agamemnon. |
| When Agamemnon returned from the siege of Troy, Aegisthus conspired with Agamemnon’s wife, Klytemnestra (Clytemnestra), to
murder Agamemnon. |
| In The Odyssey, Aegisthus set a trap for Agamemnon and killed him without the assistance of Klytemnestra; whether Aegisthus was
acting of his own free will or whether he was simply a pawn of the Immortals is a matter of debate; his uncle, Atreus, had killed Aegisthus’ brothers
and sisters in a blood feud with Aegisthus’ father, Thyestes, and his participation in Agamemnon’s murder was either divine revenge or a selfish
attempt to get Agamemnon out of the way so he could marry Klytemnestra. |
| The play, Agamemnon, by Aeschylus is much more dramatic and has Klytemnestra single-handedly murdering Agamemnon while the
captive sorceress, Kassandra (Cassandra), tries unsuccessfully to warn Agamemnon of his impending doom. |
| Aegisthus was finally killed by Agamemnon’s son, Orestes. |
| His name may also be rendered as Aigisthos. |
| (Odyssey, book 1, lines 29-42 and 300; book 3, lines 194-200, 235, 250-256, 304-310; book 4, lines 518, 524, 529
and 537; book 11, lines 389 and 409; book 24, lines 22 and 97) |
| (Returns, fragment 1) |
| Cite this entry |
| Aegle 1 |
| According to Apollonius of Rhodes, Aegle was one of the three daughters of Nix (Night) known collectively as the Hesperides;
Aegle’s sisters are: Eretheis and Hespere. |
| Aegle and her two sisters lived somewhere in the mythical West and guarded the Golden Apples which were a wedding gift from Gaia (Earth) to Hera upon her wedding to Zeus. |
| The Eleventh Labor of Herakles (Heracles) was to retrieve the Golden Apples of the Hesperides. |
| When the Argonauts were stranded in the Libyan desert, they encountered the Hesperides; Aegle appeared as the trunk of a willow
tree, Eretheis as an elm tree and Hespere as a poplar tree; Aegle told the story of how Herakles (Heracles) had killed
the dragon that guarded the Golden Apples and had created a spring of fresh water by kicking a rock; she showed the Argonauts the spring that Herakles had
created and the Argonauts drank their fill before they continued through the inhospitable desert. |
| (Argonautika, book 4, lines 1422-1449) |
| (Theogony, line 215) |
| Cite this entry |
| Aegyptus (Aigyptus) 1 |
| The son of Belus and brother of Danaus; he was given Egypt to rule and the Egyptians were named after him. |
| Aegyptus was a descendant of the heifer maiden, Io. |
| Aegyptus had fifty sons which were supposed to marry the fifty daughters of his brother, Danaus, but Danaus fled with his
daughters to the city of Argos where he founded the nation of the Danaans. |
| The story of Danaus and his daughters was the theme of the play by Aeschylus, the Suppliants. |
| All but one of the sons of Aegyptus were killed on their wedding night by their brides; the surviving son, Lynkeus, was spared
by his wife, Hypermnestra, against the orders of her father, Danaus. |
| (Eoiae, fragment 17) |
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| Aello |
| One of the two winged-women known as the Harpies. |
| Aello and her sister Okypete (Ocypete) are the daughters of Thaumas and Elektra (Electra). |
| Hesiod refers to them as “Harpies of the lovely hair, winged women soaring aloft like birds”; they are the sisters
of the rainbow goddess, Iris, and are not described as the filthy monsters that we have come to imagine. |
| Their primary role in Greek mythology was to punish the blind seer, Phineus, on the island of Thynias; Phineus had been blinded
by Zeus and, as a double punishment, Helios (the Sun) had the Harpies steal his food; the
winged sons of Boreas (North Wind), Kalais (Calais) and Zetes, chased away the Harpies and freed Phineus from his curse but Zeus would not allow the brothers
to harm the Harpies. |
| Aello’s name literally means Storm. |
| (Theogony, line 267) |
| (Argonautika, book 2, lines 188, 252, 264, 276, 289, 298, 432 and 461) |
| Cite this entry |
| Aeneid |
| The epic poem by the Roman poet Virgil. |
| The Aeneid is the story of Aeneas which proceeds from the fall of the city of Troy to the eventual founding of Rome by
Troy’s survivors. |
| The Aeneid was written between the years 29-19 BCE during the reign of Augustus Caesar (Octavian) and was an undisguised
attempt to re-instill the noble values on which Rome had been founded and to give new faith to the people of Rome after the flagrant excesses of Julius
Caesar and Marcus Antonius. |
| The Greeks, who defeated the Trojans, are cast as villains while Aeneas and his followers are portrayed as defeated, but not
disgraced, noble warriors who suffered many trials as they traveled the seas from Troy to the mouth of the Tiber River and established the foundations of
what would become the mighty empire of Rome. |
| The Greek heroes, such as Menelaos (Menelaus) and Diomedes, are depicted as butchers and cowards; graceful Immortals, such as Iris and Pallas Athena (Athene), were given a dark countenance that was unflattering and sinister. |
| There are many excellent characters in this story including the Amazon-like warrior Camilla and the tragic queen of
Carthage, Dido. |
| The Roman goddess of Love, Venus, is not very lovely in this story; Venus is portrayed as a trickster and devoid of any sympathy
or conscience as she enchants Dido and leaves her heartbroken and suicidal. |
| The Aeneid is unfinished; Virgil had intended to devote three more years to its completion but died before he could complete the
final draft; after Virgil’s death, Augustus Caesar had the poem copied and distributed under the title, Aineis. |
| I highly recommend the Robert Fitzgerald translation of The Aeneid (ISBN 0679729526), which can be found at your library or you
can order this book through the Book Store on this site which is linked to Amazon.com. |
| Cite this entry |
| Aeolia (Aiolia) |
| EE oh leeah |
| The floating island abode of Aeolus, Lord of the Winds. |
| Aeolus lives on Aeolia with his wife and twelve children, six sons and six daughters; the sons became the consorts of the daughters and they all live peacefully on the seemingly magical island; the island of Aeolia is enclosed in bronze and has sheer cliffs to protect it from the waves. |
| Aeolia is the island on which Odysseus and his crew landed while they were lost in the Mediterranean Sea; Odysseus and his crew stayed with Aeolus and his family for a month; Aeolus graciously entertained Odysseus and, in return, Odysseus told Aeolus tales of the Trojan War, the ships of the Argives and the homecoming of the Achaeans (Achaians). |
| (Odyssey, book 10, lines 1-76) |
| Cite this entry |
| Aeolus (Aiolos) 2 |
| EE oh los |
| Aeolus is the son Hippotas and resides on a floating island named Aeolia; Zeus gave Aeolus the powers to command the winds and, as Lord of the Winds, Aeolus could make the winds as mild or as fierce as he desired. |
| Aeolus lives on Aeolia with his wife and twelve children, six sons and six daughters; the sons became the consorts of the daughters and they all live peacefully on the seemingly magical island; the island of Aeolia is enclosed in bronze and has sheer cliffs to protect it from the waves. |
| Odysseus and his crew stayed with Aeolus and his family for a month; Aeolus graciously entertained Odysseus and, in return, Odysseus told Aeolus tales of the Trojan War, the ships of the Argives and the homecoming of the Achaeans (Achaians). |
| When Odysseus asked Aeolus for assistance in finding his way back to Ithaka, Aeolus agreed to help; he put the winds he commanded into a bag which was made from the skin of a nine-year ox and secured it in the hull of Odysseus’ ship with a silver string; Aeolus instructed Odysseus not open the bag of winds; his instructions were clear, Odysseus was not to open the bag even a little; Aeolus then set Zephyros (West Wind) to speed Odysseus on his way home; Odysseus’ crew only knew that Aeolus had given Odysseus a bag but they did not know what was in the bag or of Aeolus’ instructions; after ten days at sea, the island of Ithaka was sighted; Odysseus was so close to the island that he could see people on the shore tending their fires; at the sight of his home, Odysseus fell into an exhausted sleep because he had been personally tending the sails so that they would arrive home as quickly as possible; as Odysseus slept, members of the crew began to speculate as to the riches Aeolus might have put in the mysterious bag; the crew finally opened the bag but, instead of finding treasure, they unleashed the winds which drove them back to the island of Aeolia; this time, Aeolus refused to help Odysseus and he was forced to venture back out on the sea without guidance or a favorable wind. |
| (Odyssey, book 10, lines 1-76) |
| (Argonautika, book 4, lines 764-5) |
| Cite this entry |
| Aerope |
| The wife of Atreus who was seduced by her brother-in-law, Thyestes. |
| When Atreus found out about this betrayal he banished Thyestes and according to the tragic poet, Aeschylus, Atreus killed all
but one of Thyestes’ children and fed them to him at a feast. |
| The only surviving child, Aegisthus, was instrumental in the murder of Atreus’ son, Agamemnon. |
| As a form of justice, Agamemnon’s son, Orestes, murdered Aegisthus. |
| (Eoiae, fragment 68 ii) |
| Cite this entry |
| Aeschylus |
| The a renowned Athenian playwright whose career spanned thirty years (484-455 BCE). |
| Aeschylus was born in Eleusis circa 512 BCE and died in Gela, on the island of Sicily, circa 455 BCE; his grave marker declared
him to be an Athenian veteran of the battle of Marathon (490 BCE). |
| Aeschylus is said to have written as many as seventy plays but only seven have survived; his extant plays are tragic works that
include: The Suppliants, The Persians, Seven Against Thebes, Prometheus Bound, Agamemnon, the Libation Bearers and the Eumenides. |
| All the plays are excellent and should be read by even the casual student of Greek literature; my favorites are Prometheus Bound
and the trilogy known as Oresteia, which includes: Agamemnon, the Libation Bearers and the Eumenides. |
| The reconstruction of the lost play Achilles by Aeschylus has finally been completed; the trilogy will be performed by the Thoc
(Cyprus National Theater Company directed by Andy Bargilly) on the island of Cyprus in the Summer of 2004. It was the custom of the ancient Egyptians to wrap
their mummies with papyrus and, over the past few decades, fragments of the play, Achilles, have been found in this fashion; finally, enough fragmented
portions of the play have been unearthed to reconstruct the lost trilogy. The Greek writer, Elias Malandris, has worked on the reconstruction of the play for
over a decade and has humbly (and honestly) stated that the play is simply a faithful adaptation of the original work; the text of the play is currently
unavailable and we can assume that it will remain so until after the theatrical premier in the Summer of 2004. |
| For a more complete biography of Aeschylus I suggest The Complete Greek Tragedies, Aeschylus I and II, edited by David Grene and
Richmond Lattimore, ISBN 0226307786 and 0226307948; you can find these books at your library in the 800 section or you can order them through the Book Store on this site which is linked to Amazon.com. |
| Cite this entry |
| Aeson (Aison) |
| The son of Kretheus (Cretheus) and Tyro and the brother of Athamas. |
| There are two versions of who was Aeson’s wife and the mother of Jason: |
| 1) Aeson and Alkimede (Alcimede) were the parents of Jason; and |
| 2) Aeson and Polymede were the parents of Jason. |
| When news was received that the Jason and the Argonauts were returning from their quest for the Golden Fleece, Aeson was forced
to commit suicide by his step-brother, Pelias; this prompted Jason’s sorceress wife, Medeia (Medea), to trick the daughters of Pelias into thinking
that they could restore their father’s youth by chopping him up and boiling him in a magic potion; the trick worked and Aeson’s death was
avenged. |
| When the Aison spelling is used, the Ai (αι) is a vowel-digraph that is pronounced as a short E. |
| (Theogony, lines 991-1001) |
| (Argonautika, book 1, lines 46 and 253) |
| (Eoiae, fragment 13) |
| Cite this entry |
| Aesop (Aesopos) |
| AEH sop |
| (circa 620-560 BCE) The famous writer of fables. |
| Ironically, the only real information we have about the life of Aesop is due to his enslavement to a man named Iadmon from the island of Samos; the historian Herodotus simply says that Aesop was a “story teller“ and mentioned him only in reference to the famous courtesan, Rhodopis. |
| Aesop’s stories were morality tales involving animals who spoke and displayed all manner of human characteristics. |
| The fables of Aesop seem to have been very popular in Athens as he is mentioned several times by the comic poet, Aristophanes. |
| Aesop lived at the time of the Seven Sages; these seven men were renown for their wisdom but Aesop used his clever wit to poke fun at these famous men; Diodorus Siculus quotes Aesop as saying that the Seven Sages did not know how to act in the company of rulers because a man should either associate with rulers as little as possible or, when in their presence, act with as much grace as possible; Aesop was referring to an incident involving the famous Athenian law maker, Solon; when Solon was at Sardis in Lydia, he had a brief interview with king Kroesus (Croesus); Kroesus was aware of Solon’s reputation and tried to impress him with his wealth; he asked Solon who he thought was the most blessed man in the world because Kroesus fully expected Solon to bestow that honor on him; Solon did not please Kroesus with his answer because he named three men who he thought had lived and died well and were indeed blessed by the Immortals; he went on to explain that a man’s life could not be judged until after his death because seemingly rich men are merely lucky but might still die without honor whereas a poor man who died as nobly as he had lived was truly blessed; according to Aesop, Solon would have been better off to either have never spoken to Kroesus or to have given the egotistical king an answer more to his liking. |
| When you encounter a book of Aesop’s fables, you will notice that each fable is followed by a moral; the morals were added over the ages by unknown authors; some of the morals date from the time of Alexander the Great (circa 350 BCE) and others were added at a later date; the morals seem to have been added as a quick reference for public speakers who wanted to use one of Aesop’s fables to make a point in a concise and humorous way. |
| I personally recommend Aesop: Complete Fables by Robert Temple and Olivia Temple (ISBN 0140446494) which can be found at your local library or can be ordered from the Book Shop on this site which is linked to Amazon.com. |
| (Histories, book 2, chapter 134) |
| (Aristophanes, Wasps and Birds) |
| (Diodorus Siculus, book IX.28) |
| Cite this entry |
| Aethiopis (Aithiopis) |
| The Aethiopis; one of the lost poems of the Epic Cycle. |
| According to the sixth century CE Greek writer, Proklos (Proclus), the Aethiopis told the story of the death of the Amazon
queen, Penthesilea, and Memnon, the Ethiopian, at the hands of Achilles. |
| The few remaining fragments of the Aethiopis inform us that Penthesilea was an Amazon and a daughter of Ares (god of War); she came to the aid of the Trojans when the Greeks assailed the city and was killed by Achilles; when
Achilles was taunted by another Greek named Thersites for loving Penthesilea Achilles killed him too. |
| To avert the anger of the other Greeks, Achilles was required to go to the island of Lesbos and sacrifice to Apollon, Artemis and Leto and then be absolved of his
blood-guilt by Odysseus. |
| The next to die was the Greek soldier, Antilochus; he was killed by Memnon, a son of Eos (the
Dawn) who wore armor fashioned by Hephaistos (Hephaestus); in revenge for the death of Antilochos, Achilles killed
Memnon; Eos successfully petitioned Zeus to make Memnon immortal. |
| Achilles, in his zeal and bloodlust, rushed into the city of Troy and was attacked and killed by Alexandros (Paris) and Apollon;
the Greeks put up a terrible fight to reclaim the body of Achilles; while Odysseus held the Trojans at bay, Aias (Ajax) carried the body back to the Greek
encampment. |
| Before the Greeks could burn the body of Achilles, his mother Thetis, her sisters and the Muse
took his body to the White Island. |
| The woes for the Greeks were not over because Odysseus and Aias began to argue over Achilles’ armor; Odysseus got the
armor and Aias killed himself. |
| The death of Achilles and the dispute over his armor is a very confusing subject because several versions of the story exist but
the one just cited is the account given in the Aethiopis. |
| For the complete translations of the Epic Cycle I recommend the Loeb Classical Library volume 57, ISBN 0674990633; you can
sometimes find this book at the library or you can order it from the Book Store on this site which is linked to
Amazon.com. |
| Cite this entry |
| Aetolia (Aitolia) |
| An ancient coastal district in western Greece bounded by the river Achelous on the west and the Gulf of Patrae on the
south. |
| The most famous city in Aetolia was Kalydon (Calydon); besides their habitations on the Greek mainland, the Aetolians had one
city on the Peloponnesian Peninsula, i.e. Elis. |
| The author of the Catalogues of Women disputes a claim of the poet, Hesiod, and says that the city of Alus in Aetolia was
founded by Poseidon, lord of the Sea. |
| (Histories, book 6, chapter 127; book 8, chapter 73) |
| (Catalogues of Women, fragment 6) |
| Cite this entry |
| Agamemnon 1 |
 |
| His name literally means Very Steadfast; he was the legendary king of the city of Mycenae and the son of Atreus and brother of Menelaos (Menelaus) and Anaxibia. |
| When Menelaos’ wife, Helen, was enchanted by Aphrodite (goddess of Love) and taken to
the city of Troy by Alexandros (Paris), Agamemnon formed an army and sailed to Troy to retrieve Helen and her dowry. |
| There were two major incidents which tested Agamemnon’s leadership: |
| 1) When the Argive fleet had gathered at Aulis and was preparing to sail to the city of Troy, Agamemnon offended
the goddess, Artemis, and Boreas (North Wind) would not let the ships leave the harbor; the seer, Kalchas (Calchas), said
that unless Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter, Iphianassa, to Artemis, the fleet would not be allowed to leave Aulis; Agamemnon had Iphianassa brought to
Aulis on the pretext that she was to marry Achilles; when the time for the sacrifice came, Artemis took Iphianassa from the altar and substituted a deer in
her stead; Iphianassa was saved from the cruel sacrifice but the deed would later come back to haunt Agamemnon and cost him the love of his wife and,
consequently, his life. |
| 2) The second incident to test Agamemnon’s leadership was when a young girl named Briseis was taken as a slave by the
Greeks during the ninth year of the siege of Troy. |
| Briseis was awarded to Achilles as a “prize” but when Agamemnon took her from Achilles, the two men began a long and
bitter feud; Achilles swore that he and his troops would not fight for Agamemnon and that no apology or act of contrition could end the dispute. |
| Finally, the Greeks were being overwhelmed by the Trojans and Agamemnon offered to return Briseis to Achilles with many other
gifts including one of his daughters and a part of his kingdom; Achilles refused these offers until his life-long friend, Patroklos (Patroclos), was
killed by the Trojans; at that point, he accepted Briseis and the other gifts that Agamemnon offered, although they meant nothing to him, donned his armor
and entered the battle. |
| In the tenth year of the siege Agamemnon was finally able to trick the Trojans and gain entrance to the city; after his
triumphant return from Troy he was murdered by his cousin, Aegisthus, who was the lover of his wife Klytemnestra (Clytemnestra) and the instrument of her
revenge for his long absence and the attempted sacrifice of their daughter. |
| (Odyssey, book 1, lines 29-42) |
| (Iliad, book 1, line 392 and book 19, lines 260-300) |
| (Returns, fragment 1) |
| Cite this entry and see a photo |
| Agamemnon 2 |
| One of the seven surviving tragedies by the Athenian playwright Aeschylus. |
| Agamemnon is the first in the Oresteia trilogy dealing with the murder of Agamemnon and the revenge meted out by his son,
Orestes. |
| This play is set at Agamemnon’s home where he enters, after a ten year absence, triumphant from his sack of the city of
Troy; Agamemnon’s wife, Klytemnestra (Clytemnestra), knows that her husband’s fate is sealed and that he will die before the sun sets; when
Agamemnon enters he is accompanied by the daughter of the dead king of Troy, Kassandra (Cassandra); she has the ability to predict the future but she has
also been cursed by Apollon and no one believes her prophecies; Agamemnon ignores Kassandra’s warnings and is lured
into his house where Klytemnestra murders him without mercy. |
| There is an interesting element to this play that deserves to be noted: at the beginning of the play, a watchman is stationed on
the walls of Agamemnon’s home to watch for a signal fire that will signify the end of the Trojan War; a series of fires were to be set on various
islands and promontories from Troy to Agamemnon’s home in Mycenae; this is an inventive example of sending a message (information) at the
speed of light at a distance of over 200 miles (322 kilometers) at a time when it was believed that the fastest mode of communication was by horseback. |
| The story of Agamemnon is a fine story and well worth reading; if you wish to read this play I suggest The Complete Greek
Tragedies, Aeschylus I, edited by David Grene and Richmond Lattimore, ISBN 0226307786; you can find this book at your library in the 800 section or you can
order it through the Book Store on this site which is linked to Amazon.com. |
| Cite this entry |
| Agathokles (Agathocles) |
| (361-289 BCE) The son of Karkinus (Carcinus), a successful pottery maker, and a native of the island of Sicily; born in the
city of Thermae circa 361 BCE. |
| Agathokles was raised in the city of Syracuse during the reign of Timoleon and demonstrated his military skill and political
ambitions while still a young man. |
| After the death of Timoleon (circa 300 BCE), Agathokles was banished by the oligarchy and took refuge in southern Italy; he
helped organize the defense of his father’s hometown of Rhegium from aggression by Syracuse and thereby toppled the oligarchy which had banished
him. |
| Agathokles returned briefly to Syracuse but was soon again banished; this time he did not flee Sicily but instead organized a
revolt and overthrew the government of Syracuse and was elected strategos with powers exceeding those of a mere general. |
| This time Agathokles did not trust the workings of the oligarchy so he instituted a military coup and assumed complete control
of the government which resulted in the murder or banishment of all the previous members of the oligarchy. |
| With or without the support of the populace, Agathokles was now the undisputed tyrant of Syracuse; he immediately began a
campaign against several cities which he felt were politically dangerous to him in that they gave refuge to members of the oligarchy which he had
banished. |
| The African city of Carthage had a considerable interest in the politics of the island of Sicily and in 314 BCE, at the request
of the city of Messana, the Carthaginians brokered a peace in which they would retain control of eastern Sicily but Agathokles would control the eastern
Greek colony cities. |
| In 311 BCE, in violation of the treaty with Carthage, Agathokles tried unsuccessfully to gain control of the entire island of
Sicily; his defeat encouraged the Carthaginians to march against Syracuse; in a desperate, or perhaps inspired, maneuver Agathokles left the defense of
Syracuse to his brother and personally took an army to Africa to attack Carthage; the war went poorly on both fronts and Agathokles was obliged to divide his
attention between the defense of Syracuse and the assault on Carthage. |
| Finally, in 306 BCE, another peace agreement was reached with the Carthaginians with essentially the same boundaries as the
previous treaty. |
| Circa 300 BCE, Agathokles began a campaign of conquest in southern Italy which was somewhat successful; he ventured as far west
and the island of Kerkyra (Corcyra). |
| Agathokles was assassinated circa 289 BCE and, as a testament to his despicable reputation, an attempt was made to have his name
erased from all public records. |
| Cite this entry |
| Age of Heroes |
| The forth generation of mortal men upon the earth and the second race to be created by Zeus. |
| Zeus’ father, Kronos (Cronos), created the first two generations of mortals, i.e. Gold
and Sliver, and Zeus’ first creation was the Bronze age mortals. |
| The Age of Heroes was the period prior to, and including, the Trojan War; it was the Age of Blood and Glory where the sons and
daughters of the Immortals populated the earth alongside the mere mortals. |
| Mortal men were the pawns of the Heroes and the toys of the Immortals; Zeus established a godly domain for the spirits for the
deceased heroes at the end of the world; Zeus also released his father, Kronos (Cronos), from Tartaros to join the heroes in their paradise. |
| (Works and Days, lines 156-169) |
| Cite this entry |
| Age of Iron |
| The fifth and final age of mortal men upon the earth and the third race to be created by Zeus. |
| Zeus’ father, Kronos (Cronos), created the first two generations of mortals, i.e. Gold
and Sliver, and Zeus created the Bronze age mortals and the Heroes. |
| The Age of Iron followed the Trojan War and is the age in which we now live. |
| The Immortals arranged that in the Age of Iron there will be good mingled with evil but it would be an age of hardship and
pitiless destruction. |
| The Age of Iron will end when children are born with gray hair and reverence will be replaced by brute strength; the goddess,
Blapsei (Envy) will rule the hearts of men and the goddesses, Aidos (Shame) and Nemesis (Indignation) will flee the earth. |
| (Works and Days, lines 175-199) |
| Cite this entry |
| Agriope |
| Another name for the wife of Orpheus who was usually known as Eurydike (Eurydice). |
| She was a tree nymph, i.e. a dryad. |
| She was pursued by Apollon’s son, Aristaios and, as she was fleeing, she was bitten by a poisonous snake and died. |
| After her death, Orpheus was so distraught that he ventured into the Underworld in an attempt to bring her back to the sunlight. |
| Orpheus used his wit and talent to charm Hades (lord of the Underworld) and Agriope (Eurydike) was allowed to return to the surface of the earth provided that Orpheus lead the way and not look back to see if she was following him. |
| At the very last moment Orpheus was compelled to look around and, by doing so, Agriope was returned to the land of the dead and lost to Orpheus until he also died. |
| Cite this entry |
