Greco-Roman Mythology

Athamas To Autolycus (Greco-Roman Mythology)

Athamas Greek The son of Aeolus; king of Orchomenus in Boeotia. By his first wife, Nephele, whom he married at Hera’s command, Athamas became the father of Phrixus and Helle, but he secretly loved Ino, the daughter of Cadmos and Harmonia, and took her as his second wife; she bore him two sons, Learchus and […]

Automedon To Brutus, Lucius Junius (Greco-Roman Mythology)

Automedon Greek A charioteer and comrade of Achilles. Eventually his name, like that of Jehu, referred to any charioteer. Autonoe Greek The daughter of Cadmos and Harmonia and sister to Ino, Semele, Agave, Polydorus, and Illyrius. A bacchant, Autonoe, along with sisters Ino and Agave, was involved in the killing of Pentheus, Agave’s son, who […]

Busiris To Carina (Greco-Roman Mythology)

Busiris Greek One of the numerous sons of Poseidon who became the king of either Libya or Egypt, the latter being the more likely as Busiris was the Greek name for the Egyptian Delta city of Djedu, an early cult center for the Egyptian deity Osiris. He had the habit of sacrificing all foreign visitors […]

Carmentia To Ceyx (Greco-Roman Mythology)

Carmentia Roman Said to have been the mother of Evander; a goddess of water, childbirth, and prophecy, she is sometimes credited with having taught the Romans how to write. Carna Roman A goddess of physical fitness. Carthage Greco-Romano-Phoenician Ancient Phoenician port in northern Africa, 16 kilometers (10 miles) north of modern Tunis, Tunisia, lying on […]

Chaos To Colchis (Greco-Roman Mythology)

Chaos Greek In Greek cosmology, the infinite and empty space that existed before the creation that also came to be associated with Tartarus, the lowest and most infernal region of the Underworld. Out of Chaos sprang Ge, "the Earth," who gave birth to Uranos, thus starting the creation. Chara Greek "Beloved"; a greyhound who was […]

Collatia To Cupid (Greco-Roman Mythology)

Collatia Roman The home city of Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus. When Lucretia was raped, the people of Collatia marched against Rome under the leadership of Brutus, roused the city, and persuaded its inhabitants to bar the city gates against Tarquinius, who was absent laying siege to Ardea. Tarquinius and his sons, better known simply as the […]

Curetes To Danaoi (Greco-Roman Mythology)

Curetes Greek Priests of Rhea who attended the infant Zeus according to Minoan tradition. While the baby was being suckled by the she-goat Amalthea, they clashed their weapons, or cymbals, together to mask the sound of the baby’s cries. Their name, cognate with kouros, "youth," specifically identifies them as attendants on the baby Zeus. They […]

Danaus To Despoena (Greco-Roman Mythology)

Danaus Greek The eponym of the Danaoi, at least according to later tradition; son of Belus, king of Libya and later Argos, and brother of Aegyptus, the eponym of Egypt. His family also included his nephew, Phoenix, eponym of the Phoenicians, and displays a mythological treatment of early Mediterranean ethnography and history. Danaus fathered 50 […]

Deucalion To Dirce (Greco-Roman Mythology)

Deucalion Greek The Greek Noah whose story seems to derive from the much earlier Sumerian tale of Ziusudra. The son of Prometheus and Clymene, he married Pyrrha, the daughter of Epimetheus (Prometheus’s brother) and Pandora. When Zeus grew tired of the impiety of mankind he decided to cover the face of earth with a deluge. […]

Dis (Pater) To Ephialtes (Greco-Roman Mythology)

Dis (Pater) Roman The richest of all the Roman gods; the god of death and the Underworld who was equated with the Greek Hades. He was also known as Orcus, even by the euphemism Pluto, which appears to have been adopted from the Greeks, as this title means "the wealth," a reference to his possession […]