Hercules
The name by which Heracles was known to the Romans. Known as "the Unconquerable," Hercules became the patron of merchants and soldiers. Although the origins of the Roman cult of Hercules may be Phoenician, they certainly exhibit later Etruscan influence (Hercules was known as Herce to the Etruscans). Although it seems likely that the Etruscans introduced the Greek rites for his worship, Roman tradition attributed their introduction to Romulus.
Astronomical: A large constellation lying in the northern celestial hemisphere between approximate right ascensions 16h00m and 18h55m, declination from +5° to +52°. The Babylonians identified the constellation with Gilgamesh, the demigod-hero who overthrew the powers of chaos at the beginning of the world. The Phoenicians recognized it as the sea god Melkarth. The name Hercules has also been applied to an impact crater located in the upper western quadrant of the surface of the moon next to that known as Atlas.
Hermaphrodit~os, ~us
A son of Hermes and Aphrodite who was raised by the nymphs on Mount Ida in Phrygia. While bathing in a spring near Halicarnassus in Caria, the nymph Sal(a)macis fell in love with him. She enfolded him in her arms and prayed to the gods that they should never be parted, a prayer that was answered when their two bodies merged to form a being, half-male and half-female, hence hermaphrodite. Since then, all men who have bathed in the spring of Sal(a)macis have shared Her-maphroditos’s curse.
Statues showing women’s breasts and male genitalia were carved in Greece from at least the fourth century B.C.
Hermes
Identified by the Romans with Mercurius, Hermes has his origins in a pre-Hellenic deity who dwelled in the cairns, or herma, that were set up by shepherds as landmarks in wild countryside. His most common representation in antiquity was as a plain pillar with protruding male genitals, sometimes with a bearded head on top, which stood at street corners and doorways. He is thus a protector against wild animals and a guide to travelers, a delimiter of space, and, in that sense, an intermediary between separate or conflicting parties. He was also identified with a similar deity worshipped in Minoan Crete, a son, or lover, of the Great Goddess and by association a fertility god.
Classical legend, having absorbed the earlier traits of this god, made Hermes the son of Zeus and the Pleiad Maia, herself an embodiment of the Great Goddess, a daughter of Atlas and goddess of midwives, whence Hermes’ name Atlantiades. Said to have been born in a cave on Mount Cyllene in Arcadia, from which he was also sometimes called Cyllenius, Hermes grew to manhood with amazing speed. When just a few hours old Hermes went to Pieria and there stole some of the oxen of Apollo. He drove these to Pylos, dragging them backwards to fool any pursuer by the reversed hoof prints, before returning to Cyllene, where he invented the lyre by stringing cowgut across a tortoise shell covered with an ox hide. Apollo, upon discovering the identity of the cattle thief, denounced him to Zeus, who ordered Hermes to return the oxen to their rightful owner. This he did, but when Apollo heard the lyre he was so delighted that he exchanged the stolen cattle for ownership of the instrument. The two became firm friends, and Apollo led Hermes back to be reconciled with Zeus. He was unusual in Olympus, being one of the few characters ever to find favor with Hera, who was usually hostile to one and all.
Hermes was given supreme power over animals by Zeus and was thus invoked as a protector of flocks against wild animals. He was additionally appointed by Zeus to his best-known post, that of herald or messenger to the gods, by which he became patron of travelers. He was also made herald to Hades as Psychopompus, the god who guided the spirits of the dead through the Underworld to stand before the three eternal judges Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Aeacus. As herald Hermes came to be regarded as the god of eloquence, and it was in this role that St. Paul was mistaken for Hermes in Lystra in Asia Minor (see Acts 14:9-12). As heralds also promoted peace and commerce, Hermes also became looked upon as the god of peaceable trade.
However, his early trait of a thief also featured in his character, for Hermes was also god of prudence and cunning, even theft itself. He was also considered a fertility god, and as god of luck he presided over games of dice and other matters of chance. He also presided over dreams, believed by many to be messages delivered by Hermes from the gods, and it became customary to make the last libation to him before going to sleep. Many inventions other than the lyre were attributed to Hermes. In association with the Fates he was said to have devised the Greek alphabet. Alone he was ascribed with the invention of weights and measures, the game of knuckle-bones, the musical scale, astronomy, olive cultivation, boxing, and gymnastics. All these inventions are clearly pre-Hellenic and were later taken over by the Hellenic god Apollo. The story of Hermes’ theft of Apollo’s oxen, and the subsequent trade-off between the two gods may illustrate the manner in which the Hellenes took over these arts in the name of Apollo, though he shared a patronage of music with Apollo and was later attributed with the invention of the pipes, the instrument favored by his son, Pan.
Hermes features in many well-known, classical stories such as the persuasion of Hephaistos to cleave open the skull of Zeus to release the fully grown Athene; the release of Ares after his imprisonment by the Aloeidae; the delivery of Pandora to Epimetheus; the rescue of Dionysos, whom he escorted to Mount Nysa; the punishment of Ixion; the gift of a lyre to Amphion, the music moving the stones of the Cadmea into place of their own accord; the selling of Heracles to Omphale; the judgment of Paris; the provision of the sickle with which Perseus beheaded Medusa; the giving of the magical plant moly to Odysseus to counter the powers of Circe; the boiling of the limbs of Pelops; the guiding of Heracles into the Underworld to capture Cerberus as his twelfth labor; the return of Protesilaus to Laodameia for just three hours, after which she died; and the leading of Priam to Achilles during the Trojan War to ransom the body of Hector. He is, perhaps, best known for the slaying of Argus, the 100-eyed giant who was sent by Hera to watch over Io.
Hermes became the lover of Aphrodite, Hecate, and Persephone as well as a number of nymphs and several mortals. Several children are attributed to Hermes, notably Echion, the herald to the Argonauts; Autolycus the thief, his son by Chione; Pan by Penelope, whom he visited disguised as a goat; Myrtilus by Clytie, the charioteer of Oenomaus; Cephalos by Herse; Hermaphroditos by Aphrodite; and Daphnis. Later sources say that Hermes, Ares, or Zeus fathered Eros on Aphrodite.
Worship of Hermes flourished in Arcadia, where he was found in the company of the Arcadian deity Pan as well as the Muses, who presided over many of the arts Hermes reportedly invented. Worship spread to Athens, where Hermes became one of the most loved of all the Olympian deities.
In classical art Hermes was usually portrayed as a clean-shaven, youthful or athletic figure wearing the petasus, a wide-brimmed traveling hat that was, in later times, adorned with wings, and the alipes, his winged sandals.
He also carried a kerykeion, or caduceus, the winged herald’s staff, its white ribbons later becoming mistaken for serpents due to his association with Hades. Early artistic representations tended to show Hermes as a bearded man of mature years wearing a long tunic. Sacred to Hermes were the tortoise, the palm tree, the number four, and some kinds of fish. Sacrifices to him usually took the form of incense, honey, cakes, pigs, lambs, and kids.
Astronomical: The name Hermes has been applied to one of the asteroids.
Herminus, Titius
One of the two Roman warriors who responded to the plea of Publius Horatius Cocles to hold off Porsenna’s troops while the Pons Sublicius, the last bridge across the River Tiber, was demolished. His corespondent was Spurius Lartius, the pair of them being sent back to safety moments before the bridge collapsed.
Hermione
Daughter of Menelaus and Helen, wife of Orestes (the son of Agamemnon, her uncle, and his wife, Clytemnestra). Hermione was claimed by Neoptolemus when she and her father came to Sparta, but Tyndareus, her grandfather, had already betrothed her to Orestes, who either killed his rival or had him killed.
Hero
Priestess of Aphrodite at Sestos on the European shore of the Hellespont. She was in love with Leander, a youth who lived in Abydos, a settlement on the other side of the channel. Every night Leander swam the short stretch of water that separated them, guided by a lantern hung out by Hero. One stormy night the lamp blew out and Leander drowned. In her grief Hero threw herself into the sea.
Herodotus
Greek historian (c. 484-424 B.C.) born at Halicarnassus, a Greek colony on the coast of Asia Minor. He traveled widely in Asia Minor, the Aegean Islands, Greece, Macedonia, Thrace, the coasts of the Black Sea, Persia, Tyre, Egypt, and Cyrene before settling in 443 B.C. at Thurii, a colony founded by Athens on the Tarentine Gulf, southern Italy, where he had previously spent some four years. During his travels he collected historical, geographical, ethnographical, mythological, and archaeological material for his nine-book history of the world, which recorded not only the wars fought by Greece but also the reasons behind them. The first four books record the conquest of the Greek colonies in Asia Minor by Croesus as well as the histories of Lydia, Persia, Egypt, and Babylon. The final five books record the history of the two great Persian Wars (500-479 B.C.). Called "the father of history" by Cicero, Herodotus was the first historian to apply critical evaluation to his material.
Herse
Daughter of Cecrops who was loved by Hermes, by whom she became the mother of Cephalos. It was to Herse and her sisters that the infant Erichthonius was entrusted.
Hesiod(us)
Greek didactic poet, flourishing c. 700 B.C., who was born the son of a sea captain in Ascra, at the foot of Mount Helicon. One of the earliest Greek poets, he seems to have lived a little after the time of Homer and is best known for two works, Works and Days and Theogony.
Works and Days tells of country life and is generally considered to consist of two originally distinct poems, one exalting honest labor while denouncing unjust and corrupt judges, the second relating to the work of a farmer, giving advice on what days may be considered lucky or unlucky. The combination of these two poems gives an invaluable picture of an eighth-century B.C. Greek village community.
Theogony gives an account of the origin of the world out of Chaos and the origin and history of the gods. It remains one of the most valuable tools to the comparative mythologist.
Hesione
Daughter of Laomedon who was rescued from a sea monster sent by Poseidon to ravage Troy in revenge for Laomedon refusing to pay him for the work he had done during the construction of the city walls. Her rescuer was Heracles, who had been promised the white horses given to her father by Zeus in exchange for Ganymede as a reward. Once Hesione had been saved, Laomedon refused the reward.
Later, following the successful completion of Heracles’ ninth labor, Heracles and Telamon attacked Troy, sacked the city, killed Laomedon and all his sons, save Podarces, who was ransomed by Hesione, then changed his name to Priam. Hesione was given to Telamon and bore him the son Teucer. A few years later, Priam sent Antenor to demand that Telamon should return Hesione to her home, a request that was scornfully refused. Some have suggested this was one of the causes of the Trojan War.
Hesperides
Anumber of nymphs, their actual number and parentage being variously given—though their name means "Daughters of Evening" and they are usually considered as the daughters of Atlas and Hesperis—who guarded a tree, upon which golden apples grew, given to Hera by Ge on her wedding to Zeus. They were helped in their task by Ladon, a 100-headed serpent or dragon, one of the monstrous offspring of Typhon and Echidne. The garden in which the tree had been planted, and which they watched over, was said by some to be located on the slopes of Mount Atlas or on the Islands of the Blessed.
Heracles was required, as his penultimate labor, to bring the golden apples that grew on the tree back to Eurystheus. He sailed to the garden in a golden vessel on loan from Helios. Once there he tricked Atlas into retrieving the apples for him before making off with them. Eurystheus gave the apples to Heracles, but he dedicated them to Athene, and she returned them to their rightful place. She did, however, give three of the apples to Aphrodite, for that goddess was said to have given these to either Milanion or Hippomenes to enable a race against Atalanta to be won.
Hesperis
The female form of Hesperus, the evening star, the dual-gender offspring of Astraeus and Eos and sister-brother to the four winds. In this form the evening star was said to have been the mother of the Hesperides by Atlas. Possibly at one stage there were two evening stars, Hesperis and Hesperus, but records of the Greek traditions neither confirm nor deny this.
Hesperus
The male aspect of the evening star who in its female form, Hesperis, was said to have been the mother of the Hesperides by Atlas. The offspring of Astraeus and Eos, brother-sister to the four winds, Boreas (north), Zephyrus (west), Notus (south), and Eurus (east). Eurus is sometimes not included in this list and is given different parentage. Called Vesper by the Romans, Hesperus later became identified with Phosphorus (Latin: "Lucifer"), the bringer of light, the morning star.
Hest(i)a
One of the 12 elite Olympian deities; the eldest daughter of Cronos and Rhea; the first to be swallowed, and subsequently disgorged, by her father. Goddess of the hearth, supremely important when fire was so difficult to rekindle, and patroness of the household, she was important in cult, mainly private, but has little mythology, remaining a peculiarly domestic goddess. Later, sometime prior to the fifth century B.C., she was replaced in the Olympian hierarchy by Dionysos, a move that secured a majority of gods over goddesses and seems to reflect a society that was becoming increasingly patriarchal.
Legend says that she scorned the attentions of Apollo and Poseidon and remained unmarried, having sworn to remain a virgin. The eldest sister of Zeus, who installed her in Olympus, where she was revered as the oldest Olympian goddess, Hestia presided over all sacrifices, the first part of any sacrifice to the gods being offered to her. By extension of her patronage of the home, she was credited with the idea of building houses; Hestia also came to preside over the civic hearth in every city and town where a perpetual flame burned in her honor, her sanctuary becoming a place of refuge for those seeking asylum. This practice was later adopted by the Romans, who knew her as Vesta.
Her cultic origins remain unclear, though she does appear to be an aspect of the eastern Mediterranean earth-goddess cult, possibly brought to Greece by the invading Achaeans, though her roots may be Mycenaean, for they worshipped a primitive goddess who displays many of the characteristics of the later Hestia.
Astronomical: The name Hestia has been applied to an asteroid with an orbit that is highly inclined to the ecliptic, taking its aphelion almost to the orbit of Saturn, at perihelion being well within the orbit of Jupiter.
Hiera
A volcanic island that was, along with Lemnos, Lipara, Imbros, and Sicily, one of Hephaistos’s favorite spots on earth.
Hippocoon
Brother of Tyndareus, whom he drove out of Sparta, usurping the throne. He fought against Heracles with Neleus, but Heracles stormed
Sparta, killed Hippocoon and all his sons, and restored Tyndareus to the throne.
Hippocrates
A physician of Cos (c. 460-367 B.C.) and the founder of rational medicine who by the third century was receiving cult at the sanctuary of Asclepios. Little is actually known of Hippocrates other than he taught his science for money. His cult status stems from the belief that he was taught medicine by Asclepios himself.
Hippocrene
A sacred spring on Mount Helicon that was created by the fabulous winged horse Pegasus with a stamp of his hoof, its name actually meaning "fountain of the horse." It was a favorite place of the Muses, to whom it was sacred and who used to dance alongside its waters. It lies some way above the well-known Grove of the Muses on Mount Helicon.
Hippodameia
1. Daughter of Oenomaus who was offered by her father as the prize in a chariot race, a race organized by Oenomaus after an oracle had foretold that he would be killed by his son-in-law. Oenomaus was fairly sure that he would win the race, for his chariot, driven by Myrtilus, was hauled by wind-begotten horse, the gift of his father, Ares. The fate for the losers was death by Oenomaus’s spear, also a gift from Ares. Many young men tried, and died, for their efforts. Finally Pelops arrived in Pisa in Elis and vowed to win the hand of Hippodameia. He already owned a winged chariot, the gift of Poseidon, but to make doubly sure of success he also bribed Myrtilus, the son of Hermes, with a promise of half the kingdom to remove the linchpin from the chariot of Oenomaus and substitute it for one made of wax. During the race the wax linchpin broke,Oenomaus was thrown out of his chariot and killed, and Pelops married Hippodameia.
2. Wife of Peirithous, king of the Lapiths, whose wedding was interrupted when a drunken centaur tried to carry her off. Theseus, who was a guest at the celebrations, joined the Lapithae in the famous battle against the centaurs.
Hippogryph
A fabulous, mythical beast—half-horse, half-gryphon—that appears to have solar connections with the winged horses that pulled Apollo’s chariot.
Hippolyt~e, ~a
Queen of the Amazons and sister of Antiope whose golden girdle, a gift from Ares, was the object of Heracles’ ninth labor. She agreed to give Heracles and his companions, Theseus and Telamon, the girdle, but Hera aroused the Amazon warriors, and in the ensuing fray Hippolyte and many other Amazon leaders were killed. Her sister, Antiope, was taken by Theseus, though some sources say that it was Hippolyte who became Theseus’s wife, and bore him the son Hippolytus.
Hippolytus
The son of Theseus by either Hippolyte or her sister, Antiope, who was raised in Troezen. When Theseus subsequently married Phaedra she fell in love with her stepson, who repulsed her advances as he was a votary of Artemis and sworn to hunting and chastity. Phaedra killed herself but left a letter falsely accusing Hippolytus. Theseus prayed to Poseidon that Hippolytus might die that very day, and the god sent a monster that so terrified the horses drawing Hippolytus’s chariot along the seashore that he was thrown out and dragged to his death. Artemis later persuaded Asclepios to restore him to life when his innocence was finally proven.
Hippolytus had cult in Troezen, where girls about to marry dedicated a lock of their hair to him. The Troezenians held that after his death he became the charioteer constellation, Auriga.
Hippomedon
One of the Seven Against Thebes. His companions on the fated expedition were Adrastus, Amphiaraus, Polyneices, Tydeus, Capaneus, and Parthenopaeus. Of these seven, only Adrastus survived.
Hippomenes
Son of Megareus, he married the Boeotian Atalanta. Some commentators have sought to make Hippomenes simply another name for Milanion, the hero who ran a race against Atalanta during which he threw down three of the golden apples of the Hesperides. Atalanta stopped to pick these up, and so Milanion won the race.
Hippothous
The grandson of Cercyon and father of Aepytus, king of Arcadia.
Homer
One of the main sources for the Greek deities, Homer flourished in the eighth century B.C. Although more than one person may have had a hand in the composition of the writings attributed to him, his work draws on a vast repertoire of oral tradition that stretched for centuries before his time. Homer is attributed with Iliad and Odyssey, two distinct but complimentary epics, the first telling the story of the fall of Troy, the second the wandering of Odysseus back to Ithaca after the end of the Trojan War.
Nothing is confirmed about Homer. Indeed, many scholars think there never was any "Homer" or that two or more poets may have been involved in the works attributed to him. Traditionally, Homer seems to have been Ionian, living directly across from mainland Greece. Four city-states claim to have been his birthplace: the mainland’s Smyrna, Colophon, and Ephesus and the island of Chios. Tradition also said he was blind, but this seems to have little or no foundation.
Homer’s lifetime appears to coincide rather neatly with the introduction of writing into the Greek world, and he may have used this new technique to commit his verses, perhaps dictating them to others. His Iliad appears to date from around the second half of the eighth century B.C.; Odyssey seems to fall around 700 B.C., half a millenium after the date Troy was thought to have fallen, that is, c. 1200 B.C.
If the works attributed to Homer are indeed the product of one man, then he surely is one of the most individual and supreme literary geniuses of all time. They remain essential reference works for any student of classical mythology and, artistically speaking, are the most influential literary works in the world.
Horae
Greco-Roman Minor goddesses representing the seasons and the order of nature. Originating in Greek tradition, they were the children of Zeus and Themis and were named Eunomia (Good Order), Dike (Justice) and Eirene (Peace). Later they became the daughters of Helios and Selene. Some commentators have said that the siring of the Horae by Zeus on Themis indicates that the invading Hellenes took over control of the calendar and introduced their own system.
Horatii
Collective name for three brothers, Roman champions who fought the three Alban Curatii to determine the outcome of the war between Rome and Alba Longa. Only one, Horatius (though they all seem to have been called Horatius), survived. When he returned home he found his sister, who was engaged to one of the Curatii, mourning her loss; he immediately killed her as a traitress. He was arrested but later acquitted, having undergone the purifying ritual of walking veiled beneath a beam.
Horatius
The name of the single surviving Horatii, three Roman champions—all of whom appear to have been called Horatius—who fought the Curatii to determine the war between Rome and Alba Longa.
"Hundred-Handers"
The literal translation from the Greek of the Hecatoncheires or Centimani, the 100-handed, 50-headed giant sons of Uranos and Ge: Briareus, or Aegaeon, Cottus, and Gyas, or Gyges.
Hyacinth~os, ~us
In origin an ancient chthonic deity, Hyacinthos in legend was a beautiful prince of Sparta, the son of Amyclas who was loved by Thamyris, Apollo, and Zephyrus. He was killed out of jealousy by Zephyrus or accidentally by a quoit or discus thrown by Apollo, some sources saying the quoit was blown astray by Zephyrus. From his blood Apollo caused the Hyacinth flower to spring up. Hyacinthos had cult status at Amyclae, where an annual festival was held in his honor.
Hyades
Varying in number from two to seven, the Hyades were the daughters of Oceanos and Aethra or of Atlas and Pleione, the latter alternative making them the sisters of the Pleiades. Often referred to as the nurses of Zeus at Dodona or of Dionysos on Mount Nysa, their name implies they were rain nymphs. When their brother, Hyas, was killed by a wild boar they died of grief and were translated to the heavens, where they became the star grouping that bears their name (though some sources say they became stars after Zeus placed them in the heavens for caring for Dionysos). The setting of these stars in mid-November signaled an end to the seafaring season and for the ploughing to begin. They were sometimes confused, notably by the poet Claudian, with the sisters of Phaethon, the Heliades.
Astronomical: A star cluster within the constellation Taurus that lies within the northern celestial hemisphere at approximate celestial coordinates right ascension 4h20m, declination +18°. The cluster is more than 6° in diameter and 130 light-years distant.
Hyas
The brother of the Hyades who was killed by a wild boar. Mourning his loss, the Hyades were transferred to the heavens by Zeus to ease their grief.
Hydra
A serpent—one of the multitude of monstrous offspring of Typhon and Echidne—with a doglike body and seven, or nine, heads, one of them immortal. Raised by Hera, it lived at the sevenfold source of the River Amymone and haunted the neighboring swampy marshes of Lerna. It was dispatched by Heracles with the help of Iolaus as the second of his 12 labors. However, Heracles’ task was not an easy one, for as soon as a head was lopped off two more grew in its place. To overcome this Heracles had Iolaus cauterize each stump with a firebrand as soon as the head was lopped off. He buried the immortal head of the Hydra under a huge boulder and poisoned his arrows by dipping them in the Hydra’s gall. Some commentators have sought to make Hydra a personification of the malarial miasmas of this marshy region or of the noxious gases it emits.
Astronomical: The largest and worst defined constellation, winding across more than a quarter of the night sky. It may be located, straddling the celestial equator, between approximate right ascensions 8h10m and 15h00m, declination from +7° to -35°.
Hygeia
The goddess of health who was either the wife or daughter of Asclepios. In art she was represented as dressed in a long robe, feeding a serpent from a cup. Her name has given us the word hygiene.
Hylas
The son of Theodamus who, after Heracles had killed his father, became the squire and lover of Heracles, accompanying him when he joined the Argo Navis at the start of the quest for the Golden Fleece. When the Argonauts put into Mysia, Hylas went in search of fresh water. On this search some water nymphs fell in love with Hylas and, drawing him down into their waters, left nothing but an empty pitcher to indicate he had been that way. When Hylas failed to return to the Argo Navis, Heracles searched for him and was left behind when the ship sailed. The search for Hylas became an annual rite in Mysia.
Hyllus
The son of Heracles and Deianeira who built the funeral pyre on which his father immolated himself, having first been made to promise that he would marry Iole. When Eurystheus determined to drive Alcmene and the Heracleidae from Greece, Hyllus, Iolaus, and Theseus led the Athenian forces against him, a battle that they won, either he or Iolaus actually defeating Eurystheus before Alcmene finally dispatched him. He later led the Heracleidae against Mycenae but was killed in the battle by Echemus, king of Tegea.
Apollonius differs from this traditional view by making Hyllus the son of Heracles by a Phaeacian nymph, saying that he later became the eponym of the Hylleis of northern Illyria.
Hymen
Patron god of marriage, being the son either of Apollo and a Muse or of Dionysos and Aphrodite; the personification of the wedding feast and of hymenaioi, hymns sung at wedding celebrations. In art he was represented as a youth carrying a bridal torch and veil.
Hyperborean
One of a legendary race said to live in a land of sunshine and plenty beyond the reach of the north wind—and hence beyond the northernmost point of the known world. Apollo was thought to spend his three-months winter absence from Delphi with the Hyperboreans. They also feature in the story of Perseus, who was said to have visited them in his search for Medusa, some versions saying they actually lived with the Hyperboreans in a land far to the west rather than the north.
Herodotus placed them beyond the Issedones, the one-eyed Arimaspians, and the gold-guarding Griffins, in Central Asia. Aristeas of Proconnesos is thought to have described a visit to the land of the Hyperboreans in his lost poem Arimaspea. The word Hyperborean is a corruption of two Greek words, hyper meaning "beyond," and the name of the north wind (Boreas).
Hyperenor
One of the five Sparti, the "Sown Men" who sprang from the dragon’s teeth sown by Cadmos. With his four compatriots—Echion, Udaeus, Chthonius, and Pelorus—Hyperenor helped to build the Cadmea and became revered as one of the ancestors of Thebes.
Hyperion
A son of Uranos and Ge, thus one of the Titans and brother of Cronos, Oceanos, Iapetus, Rhea, Themis, Tethys, and Mnemosyne. The father of Helios (Sun), Selene (Moon), and Eos (Dawn) by Theia, he was said to drive his chariot daily across the sky, returning to the east each night by the River Oceanos. Due to this similarity with the mythology of his son, Helios, he was often said to have been the original sun god, his position possibly being usurped later by his son.
Astronomical: The ninth-closest satellite of Saturn, between the orbits of Titan and Iapetus.
Hyperm(n)estra
One of the Danaides, the daughters of Danaus, king of Argos. When she and her 49 sisters married the 50 sons of Aegyptus, Hy-permnestra was the only one not to carry out her father’s instructions to kill her new husband on their wedding night. Her sisters were condemned for their actions to Tartarus for eternity, carrying water in sieves or bottomless vessels.
Hypn~os, ~us
The god of sleep.
Hypseus
The father of Cyrene, one of the beloved of Apollo.
Hypsipyle
Queen of Lemnos who set her father, Thoas, adrift in a chest to save him from being killed with the other men of Lemnos when the women of the island decided to rid themselves of men. However, by the time Jason and the Argonauts arrived on Lemnos the women had begun to regret their actions and welcomed the men with open arms. Hypsipyle herself married Jason and bore him twin sons, one of whom appears to be named Euneus.
Later, when the women of Lemnos discovered how she had saved Thoas, they sold her into slavery. She was bought by King Lycurgus of Nemea to act as the nurse to his son, Opheltes. However, she caused the death of her charge by ignoring an oracle that said the child must not be placed on the ground until he could walk. She put Opheltes down to show the Seven Against Thebes where they might find water, and he was bitten by a snake. At Opheltes’ grave the Nemaean Games were instigated. She was imprisoned, but she was later released by Dionysos.
Iacchus
A god invented from the initiates’ ceremonial cry "Iacche!" in the Eleusinian Mysteries. He was often associated with Dionysos, especially in later tradition, when Dionysos had also become known as Bacchus.
