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| Abaris - A priest of Apollo who was given a magic arrow that rendered him invisible and on which he could ride through the air. He cured diseases and spoke oracles. Abas - King of Argolis, grandson to Danaus, and a minor character in the story of Perseus, of whom he was a great-grandfather. He was a favorite of Hera; she blessed his shield, making it resistant to any sword-stroke and thereby making him almost invincible in battle. Semitic meaning of Abas is "father", and it also means "lizard" from another myth in which Demeter changes Abas, son of Celeus, into a lizard. Abderus - The friend of Hercules who was eaten by Diomedes' horses while guarding them. Abeona - She is the Roman goddess guardian of children leaving home to go on their own. Abraxas - One of Aurora's horses. Abundantia - Roman goddess of agriculture and abundance. Acamas - Means unwearying. A warrior at Troy. F = Theseus Acantha - The spirit of the acanthus tree who was once a nymph loved by the sun god Apollo (who she refused as a lover) and who, when she scratched his face as he tried to rape her, was transformed into a sun-loving, but thorny, tree. Acaviser - An Etruscan goddess, one of the Lasas (Fates). Acca - Roman goddess associated with Hercules. Acca Larentia - An earth goddess. The foster-mother, as a she-wolf, that nursed Romulus and Remus. She is also said to be an early Etruscan goddess who passed into Roman myth as a semi-devine prostitute. Achelois - A Greek moon-goddess (she who drives away pain) to whom sacrifice was ordered by the Dodonian Oracle. Achelous - A Greek river god who competed with Heracles for the love of Deianira. In the competition Achelous changed into a raging river, a giant serpent, and a monstrous bull but all to no avail as Heracles surmounted each challenge. Achilles - At birth, his mother supposedly dipped Achilles in the Styx which made him invulnerable except for the part of the heel by which she held him. His most famous adventure is in the Iliad, which is about the Trojan War. In the last year of the war, Achilles sulked and refused to fight after a quarrel with Agamemnon, the Greek leader. This caused the war to start going badly for the Greeks and Achilles agreed to lend his armor and his chariot to his companion Patroclus so he could impersonate him. Hector, the hero and son of the Trojan King Priam, killed Patroclus in the fight. Achilles received new armor from the gods and re-entered the battle where he killed Hector. Paris, another son of King Priam, killed him with an arrow shot into his heel. Acidusa - Called "Mother of Maidens". H = Scamander Acis - He was crushed to death by a rock flung by his rival, Polyphemus (the Cyclop), for the love of Galatea. F = Faunus Actaeon - The Greek huntsman who saw Artemis bathing and was changed into a stag by her, and then was torn to pieces by his own hounds. Adamanthea - The nymph who nursed Zeus. Cronos was supposedly able to see everything that occurred in the realms over which he had dominion (the earth, heavens, and the sea), but Adamanthea deceived him by hanging the baby Zeus (in his cradle) from a tree, so that suspended between earth, sea, and sky he was invisible to his father. Adeona - Roman goddess of schoolchildren; similar to Abeona. Adeos - Roman goddess of modesty. Admete - Heracles brought the girdle of Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons to her. F = Eurystheus Admeta - A priestess of Juno. Admetus - A king of Thessaly whose herds were tended, unknown to him, by an exiled Apollo who he treated kindly as he did all his men. Apollo vowed to himself that he would aid Admetus whenever the opportunity arose. When it came time for Admetus to die, Apollo remembered his vow. See Alcestis for the story. Adonis - Aphrodite saw Adonis at his birth and was so taken by his beauty that she hid him away in a coffer. She told Persephone who opened up the coffer. She was also struck by his beauty. She kidnapped him and refused return him. Aphrodite appealed to Zeus, who decreed that Adonis must spend a third of the year with Aphodite, a third with Persephone and the other third alone. On his own he usually spent the time boar hunting. One day he was killed by a wild boar, after which Aphrodite begged for his life. This time Zeus decreed that Adonis should spend half a year with each goddess. F = King Cinyras, M = Myrrah, Ss = Myrrah Adrastus - King of Argos, who led the expedition in the Seven Against Thebes war. Aeacus - King of Aegina. Hera, angry with Zeus for his love of Aegina, sent a plague that destroyed most of his people. Aeacus prayed to Zeus to change a group of industrious ants into human beings to people his deserted city. His wish was granted, creating a race called the Myrmidons. He ruled over his people with such justice that after his death he became one of the three judges of the underworld. M = Aegina, F = Zeus, S = Peleus. Aédon - 1. She slew her daughter by mistake, whereupon Zeus transformed her into the nightingale who nightly laments her murdered child H = Zethus, D = Itylus 2. A queen of ancient Thebes who plotted to kill a son of her rival Niobe but killed her own son by mistake. Her grief led her to try suicide but she was transformed into the first nightingale by the gods, a bird that still haunts the night with its mournful cry. Aega - When the Titans attacked the gods of Olympus, Gaia placed Aega in a cave to hide her shining loveliness. F = the Sun, Ss = Circe, Pasiphae Aegeria - Roman goddess of prophecy. She is invoked by pregnant women. One of the Camenae. Aegeus - He sent his son to Crete to free his kingdom of having to pay a yearly tribute of 7 youths and 7 maidens. If was successful he was to return with white sails (instead of the usual black) on his ship. He was successful but forgot to change the sails. When Aegeus saw the black sails on the approaching ship he threw himself into the sea. S = Theseus |
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| Key - M = Mother, F = Father, B = Brother(s), Ss = Sister(s), S = Son(s), D = Daughter(s),W = Wife(s), H = Husband(s) |