Amphiareion To Antigone (Greco-Roman Mythology)

Amphiareion

Greek

The sanctuary of Amphiaraus at Oropos in Attica where he was revered as a healing and oracular deity in classical times. The sanctuary became an important place of pilgrimage, especially for the sick.

Amphilochus

Greek

Son of Amphiaraus, brother of Alcmaeon, and a seer like his father. He joined his brother on the second expedition of the Seven Against

Thebes. Following that successful campaign against Thebes he traveled overland to Colophon and joined with the seer Mopsus in founding the city of Mallus, but they killed each other in a fight for its possession.

Amphion

Greek

Son of Antiope by Zeus and twin brother of Zethus. Antiope was divorced by her husband, Lycus, who then married Dirce, who treated his first wife cruelly. She then married Epopeus of Sicyon. The twins were exposed at birth on Mount Cithaeron, where they were brought up either by a shepherd or cattlemen. In maturity they learned what had happened and returned to Thebes to take their revenge by killing Lycus and Dirce, who was tied to the horns of a bull and her body thrown into a fountain that thenceforth bore her name. They then took possession of Thebes.

Next they fortified the lower part of the city below the Cadmea, Amphion moving his share of the stones by playing so skillfully on the lyre given him by Hermes (increasing the number of strings on the instrument from four to seven) that they moved into place of their own accord. The brothers then jointly ruled the city, Zethus marrying Thebe, eponym of the city, and Amphion marrying Niobe; when Niobe’s seven sons and seven daughters were killed by Apollo and Artemis, and she turned by Zeus into a stone on Mount Sipylus, Amphion also died, either by his own hand or that of Apollo.


Amphitheia

Greek

The wife of Autolycus and mother by him of Anticleia, thus the grandmother of Odysseus.

Amphitrite

Greek

Daughter of Nereus to whom Poseidon turned his attentions after having been told that his first intended wife, Thetis, would bear a son greater than his father. At first Amphitrite rejected Poseidon’s advances and his proposal of marriage, fleeing to Atlas. However, Delphinos pleaded Poseidon’s suit so eloquently that Amphitrite changed her mind and allowed Delphinos to bring her back. In gratitude for his help, Poseidon placed Delphinos in the heavens. Through her marriage to Poseidon, Amphitrite became the goddess of the seas, receiving a wreath of roses from the goddess Aphrodite at her wedding.

Her offspring included Triton and, sometimes, the Nereides, though the latter are usually said to be the children of Nereus, her father. Poseidon, however, was a philanderer like his brother, Zeus, and had many other children by mortals and divinities. When he paid court to the nymph Scylla, who was particularly hateful to Amphitrite, it was said that it was Amphitrite who turned her into a monster with six barking heads and 12 feet.

Another of Poseidon’s children, by Aethra, was Theseus, who on his way to Crete dived into the sea to retrieve a ring that Minos had thrown overboard to challenge his parentage. While underwater Amphitrite entertained him at her court among the Nereides, welcoming him as a son of Poseidon and giving him the wreath of roses she had received from Aphrodite.

Amphitr(y)oniades

Greek

A name given to Heracles in recognition of his putative father, Amphitryon.

Amphitr~yon, ~ion

Greek

Grandson of Pelops and son of Alcaeus. He married Alcmene, the daughter of Electryon, king of Tiryns and Mycenae, sending her home to Thebes to await him while Electryon sent Amphitryon to retrieve from Elis some cattle stolen by the Teleboae or Taphioi who lived on the Taphian Islands off Acarnania. The Taphioi or Taphians had also killed Alcmene’s brothers. However, upon returning from Elis with the stolen cattle Amphitryon accidentally killed Electryon (though some say this act was deliberate), and Electryon’s brother Sthenelus became king and expelled Amphitryon.

Now Amphitryon returned to Thebes, but his wife refused to consummate their marriage until he had avenged the death of her brothers. First Amphitryon sought the help of King Creon of Thebes, who agreed to give assistance on the condition that Amphitryon first rid Thebes of a vixen sent by Hera to ravage Termessus. This vixen was in fact uncatchable, but Zeus turned it and the hound Amphitryon had sent after it into stone.

Now Amphitryon went to the Taphian Islands, but while he was there avenging the deaths of his wife’s brothers the daughter of King Pterelaus of the Teleboae, Comaetho, fell in love with Amphitryon and betrayed her father by plucking out the single golden hair that gave him his immortality. Amphitryon was victorious but executed Comaetho for her treachery.

While away Zeus visited Alcmene in the form of Amphitryon and lay with her, even holding the sun still for a day to extend his night of pleasure. Amphitryon returned the following day, and by their consummation of the marriage Alcmene bore twins, as was usual in such cases, the half-divine Heracles and the mortal Iphicles.

Amphitryon, accompanying Heracles, was killed in battle against the Minyans, and after his death Alcmene married Rhadamanthus.

Amphoretus

Greek

Son of Alcmaeon and brother of Acarnan. The two brothers dedicated the necklace of Harmonia at Delphi.

Amulius

Roman

The king who usurped the throne of his brother, Numitor, whom he exiled; also ordered that the Vestal Virgin mother of Romulus and Remus, Rhea Silvia (the daughter of Numitor), be imprisoned and the twins drowned. However, his instructions to drown the children were ignored, and the babies were left on the riverbank underneath the Ruminalis fig tree. There they were suckled by a she-wolf until found by the shepherd Faustulus, who took them home to his wife, Acca Larentia. Later, when grown up, the twins assassinated Amulius and replaced Numitor on his throne.

Amyclae

Greek

One of the most sacred sites in the Peloponnesos, a sanctuary a few miles from Sparta that was consecrated to Hyacinthos.

Amycus

Greek

King of the savage Bebryces on the island of Bebrycos in Bithynia. He was the son of Poseidon and an expert boxer. Amycus contrived to kill all strangers that came to his kingdom by challenging them to a boxing match, but when the Argonauts landed on Bebrycos, his challenge was met by Polydeuces, who killed him.

Amymone

Greek

One of the fifty daughters of Danaus and thus a Danaid. When she was sent to find water in arid Argolis she began to chase a deer, but when she cast her javelin she disturbed a satyr, who in turn pursued her. Coming to her rescue, Poseidon hurled his trident at the satyr, frightening it away. Having laid with Amymone he removed his trident from the rock into which it had stuck, and the spring of Lerna gushed forth. This spring is alternatively known as Amymone after her.

Amythaon

Greek

The father of the seer Melampus and also of Bias.

Anadyomene

Greek

Epithet of Aphrodite as she was said to have risen out of the sea foam (Greek: rising).

Anatolia

The Asiatic part of modern Turkey, often used in ancient writing and legends to describe Asia Minor.

Ancaeus

Greek

1. The son of Lycurgus of Arcadia. He was responsible for killing the Calydonian Boar and accompanied Jason as one of the Argonauts.

2. The son of Poseidon and one of the Argonauts. He took the helm of the Argo Navis after the death of Tiphys.

Anchises Greco-Roman King of Dardanus on Mount Ida, the descendant of Tros (eponym of Troy), grandson of Ilus, nephew of Laomedon and cousin of Priam. When Zeus grew tired of Aphrodite’s mockery of the other gods and goddesses, whom she caused to fall in love with mortals, Zeus caused her to fall in love with Anchises. Appearing to him on Mount Ida in the guise of a beautiful mortal maiden, Aphrodite lay with Anchises, but when he discovered her true identity he was extremely frightened. However, Aphrodite, already knowing she was pregnant from their union, reassured him and promised to get nymphs to raise the boy until he reached the age of five, after which he would be returned to Anchises, who was to say that the boy was the son of a nymph. This boy, his son by Aphrodite, was Aeneas.

When Anchises was drunk he boasted of his union with the goddess, and as a result Zeus struck him with a thunderbolt and left him lame in one leg and blind. However, some say that it was Aphrodite herself, not Zeus, who inflicted these injuries on Anchises. Following the Trojan War he was carried on the back of his son, Aeneas, to safety through the Dardanian Gate; he accompanied his son and the other Trojan refugees as far as Drepanum in Sicily, where he died, although the Arcadians said that Anchises was buried at the foot of Mount Anchision in Arcadia.

In Roman mythology he became the father of Aeneas by Venus.

Anchision

Greek

An Arcadian mountain at whose foot the Arcadian people said Anchises, the father of Aeneas, was buried.

Ancus Mar~cius, ~tius

Roman

The legendary third successor to Romulus as king, thus the fourth king of Rome, ruling from 640 B.C. to 616 B.C. and succeeding Tullus Hostilius. He was the son of the daughter of Numa Pompilius and regarded as the founding ancestor of the Marcian family. He is spoken of as the first king to bridge the River Tiber and to colonize Ostia; Virgil, unlike other writers, speaks of him as a braggart and a murderer. He was succeeded by Tarquin the Elder.

Ancyra

Turkey

Ancient name, subsequently Angora, of Ankara, the capital of Turkey. It is the site of a temple dedicated by the Galatians to Rome and Augustus that contained the Monumentum Ancyranum (still extant), a marble inscription of the exploits of Augustus, duplicating the bronze tablets ordered to be cut in Rome by the emperor.

Andraemon

Greek

The husband of Gorge and father of Thoas who succeeded Oeneus as the king of Calydon.

Androcl~es, ~us

Roman

Traditionally a legendary Roman slave who ran away from his tyrannical and cruel master into the African desert, where he hid in a cave inhabited by a lion from whose paw he removed a thorn. Later, after being recaptured and brought back to Rome, he was sentenced to face a lion in the arena. There the lion he faced held out his paw to him, recognizing him as his old friend who had removed the thorn, and refused to harm Androcles. Due to this he was freed by Emperor Tiberius, some say along with the lion, which he subsequently took around Rome on a lead. His story was told by Aulus Gellius in the second century A.D.

Androg~eos, ~eus

Greek

The son of King Minos of Crete and wife Pasiphae. Two versions give the account of his death. In the first he was killed while fighting the Bull of Marathon, which Minos attributed to Athenian treachery. In the second, having won every contest in the Panathenaic Games (or Panathenaea), he was slain at the instigation of Aegeus. In any event, the revenge of Minos remains the same. For the death of his son Minos demanded the yearly tribute of seven youths and seven maidens from Athens to be fed to the Minotaur.

Andromache

Greek

Daughter of Eetion, king of Thebe in Cilicia, faithful wife of Hector, the eldest son of Priam, and mother by him of Astyanax. After the fall of Troy, when the baby Astyanax was flung to his death from the walls of the city, she was awarded to Neoptolemus, son of Achilles, and bore him three sons. Either after Neopto-lemus’s death or when he married Hermione, Andromache married Hector’s brother, Hel-enus, who had fled to Epirus. She bore him a son, and her descendants became the rulers of Epirus.

Andromache

Greek

Tragic play by Euripides first performed c. 426 B.C. In it Hermione, wife of Neoptolemus,seeks revenge on Andromache, her husband’s concubine, blaming her for her own childlessness, but she fails in her attempt to murder Andromache and her son. Neoptolemus is murdered by Orestes, one of Hermione’s former suitors.

Andromeda

Greek

The beautiful daughter of Cepheus, king of Aethiopia (Ethiopia), and Queen Cassiopeia. When Cassiopeia boasted that Andromeda was more beautiful than the Nereides, and when they had complained of this to Poseidon, that god sent a sea monster, Cetus, to ravage the land. According to the Oracle of Ammon the only way to appease Cetus was to sacrifice Andromeda to it.

Chained naked to a sea cliff, Andromeda was rescued when Perseus, on his way home from slaying Medusa, rode overhead on Pegasus. Learning her plight from Cepheus and Cassiopeia, he offered to rescue Andromeda provided she became his wife. Her parents quickly agreed. Perseus then flew over Cetus on Pegasus and disposed of the monster in one of two ways. Either he simply felled it with his sickle, the same sickle he had used to behead Medusa, or he simply held the head of the Gorgon aloft, and Cetus was turned to stone.

However, Cepheus and Cassiopeia were reluctant to keep their promise to Perseus, saying that Andromeda had already been betrothed to Phineus, her uncle, who, with his followers, arrived at Perseus and Andromeda’s wedding and attempted to seize the bride. Perseus overcame them by holding the head of Medusa aloft, and they all turned to stone.

Leaving Cepheus’s court, the newly married couple traveled to Seriphos, where they found that Danae and Dictys had been forced by Polydectes to take refuge in a temple. Once again Perseus used the head of Medusa and turned the king and his court to stone. Now Perseus gave the head to Athene, who placed it in the center of her aegis.

Perseus and Andromeda, in the company of Danae, then traveled to Argos before proceeding to jointly found Mycenae with her husband. After her death the gods placed her in the sky as the constellation that bears her name, along with husband Perseus, father Cepheus, and mother Cassiopeia, the latter being placed upside down to humiliate her for her boastfulness.

Astronomical: Andromeda is a major constellation of the northern celestial hemisphere that is visible in the autumn. Its main feature is the Andromeda galaxy; the star Andromedae (Al-pheratz) forms one corner of the famous Square of Pegasus. The Andromeda galaxy is 2.2 million light-years away and is the most distant object visible to the naked eye, also being the largest member of the Local Group of Galaxies, being about 200,000 light-years across.

The constellation Andromeda lies at approximate celestial coordinates: right ascension 23h to +3h, declination +20° to +50°.

Androphonos

Greek

Literally "man killer," a name used for the goddess Aphrodite and reflecting older aspects of her cult.

Anius

Greek

The son and priest of Apollo in Delos whose three daughters had been dedicated to Dionysos. As a gift Dionysos gave the three girls the power to produce corn, oil, and wine at will, and when the Greek host sailed for Troy, Anius and his daughters were taken along to keep the fleet abundantly supplied with provisions.

Ankara

Turkish

Modern name for Ancyra, the capital of Turkey.

Anna

Roman

According to Varro (d. 27 B.C.), Anna was the sister of Dido, and it was she, not Dido, who killed herself for the love of Aeneas.

Anna Perenna

Roman

Minor fertility goddess; noted similarity in name to the Hindu goddess Annapurna.

Anosia

Greek

Literally "the unholy," a name used for the goddess Aphrodite and reflecting older aspects of her cult.

Antaeus

Greek

The giant son of Poseidon and Ge, king of a part of Libya. He liked to wrestle with strangers and was always able to win, for contact with his mother, Earth, kept his strength constant. He used the skulls of those he defeated to roof a temple. However, Heracles, returning from his eleventh labor, learned his secret and, lifting him clean off the ground, killed him by crushing him in a bear hug.

Anteia

Greek

Daughter of Iobates, king of Lycia, and the wife of Proetus, king of Tiryns. When Bellerophon fled to the court of Proetus after killing Bellerus, Anteia fell in love with him, but when he refused her advances she falsely accused him to her husband of trying to seduce her. Reluctant to kill his guest, Proetus sent Bellerophon to Anteia’s father, Iobates, with a letter requesting that the bearer be put to death.

Antenor

Greek

The wisest of the Trojans and father of Laocoon. He was sent by Priam to demand that Telamon return Hesione, but the scornful refusal of the Greeks was later stated as one of the causes of the Trojan War. It was Antenor who courteously entertained the envoys Menelaus, Odysseus, and Palamedes just prior to the start of the Trojan War when they came to request the return of Helen, but even though Antenor advised that she should be returned, the Trojans refused.

When the war was going against the Trojans, Priam sent Antenor to sue Agamemnon for peace, but out of hatred for Deiphobus Antenor conspired with the Greek leader as to how the Greeks might secure the Palladium, and for this task it was decided that Odysseus should gain entry to Troy disguised as a filthy runaway slave.

Following the admission of the Trojan Horse into the city it was Antenor who gave the word for the warriors hidden inside to emerge and take the city from within. For helping the Greeks, Antenor, his wife Theano, and all their children were spared from slavery or death and were said to have sailed to the west coast of the Adriatic Sea, founding Venice and Padua.

Anteros

Greek

A personification of the "love returned," that is, the son of Aphrodite and Ares and the brother of Eros. Anteros’s altar at Athens was erected by the friends of Timagoras in remembrance of him and his love for a beautiful boy, Meles. Meles had asked Timagoras to jump from the Acropolis to prove his devotion, which he did without hesitation. In remorse, Meles followed his example.

Anticle(i)a

Greek

The daughter of the wily thief Autolycus and mother of Odysseus by either Laertes, king of Ithaca, or Sisyphus, with whom she had earlier lived. She died of grief while Odysseus was away at the siege of Troy, but her shade appeared to Odysseus as he endured the difficulties while returning home after the success of the Trojan War.

Antigone

Greek

The daughter of Oedipus by his own mother, Jocasta, and the sister of Eteocles, Polyneices, and Ismene. When her father went into exile she accompanied the blind man as his guide, later to be joined by Ismene, returning to Thebes only after his death. Later, when her brother, Polyneices, was killed fighting with the Seven Against Thebes, a rebellion aimed at dethroning her brother, Eteocles, she went against the orders of the new king, Creon, and buried Polyneices’ body at night, thus complying with the wishes of the gods.

Two versions exist of Antigone’s fate after she defied King Creon. In the first, the subject of the tragedy Antigone by Sophocles, Creon ordered that she be immured as a punishment, but rather than face burial while alive she hanged herself; Haemon, the son of Creon to whom she was betrothed, committed suicide alongside her. In the second version, Creon turned Antigone over to Haemon for punishment, but he smuggled her away, and she later bore him a son. When Creon refused to forgive them, Haemon killed both himself and Antigone.

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