202 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF FACTS. 



A DICTIONARY OF MYTHOLOGY. 



Abeo'na. A goddess of voyages, etc. 



Acha'tes. The trusty friend of ..Eneas. 



Ach'eron. The son of Sol and Terra, changed by 

 Jupiter into a river of hell. Used also for hell itself. 



Xi-iiii'lt-H. A.Greek who signalized himself in the 

 war against Troy. Having been dipped by his mother 

 in the river Styx, he was invulnerable in every part 

 except his right heel, by which she held him, but was 

 at length killed by Paris with an arrow. 



A'cis. A Sicilian shepherd, killed by Polyphemus 

 because he rivaled the latter in the affections of 

 Galatea. 



Actae'on. A famous hunter, who, having surprised 

 Diana as she was .bathing, was turned by her into a 

 stag, and killed by his owa dogs. 



A (1 o'nis. A beautiful youth beloved by Venus and 

 Proserpine. He was killed by a wild boar. When 

 wounded, Venus sprinkled nectar into his blood, from 

 which flowers sprang up. 



JEge'us. A king or Athens, giving name to the 

 JEge&n sea by drowning himself in it. 



JE/gin. A shield given by Jupiter to Minerva. Also 

 the name of a Gorgon whom Pallas slew. 



1 : IK- as. A Trojan prince, son of Anchises and Ve- 

 nus ; the here of Virgil's poem, the jEn&id. 



jE'olus. The god of the winds. 



JEo'us. One of the four horses of the sun. 



-^Escula'pius. The god of medicine and the son of 

 Apollo. Killed by Jupiter with a thunderbolt for hav- 

 ing restored Hippolytus to life. 



jE'thon. One of the four horses of the sun. 



Affamem'non. King of Mycenae and Argos, brother 

 to Menelaus, and chosen captain-general of the Greeks 

 at the siege of Troy. 



Aganip'pe. A fountain at the foot of Mount Heli- 

 con, daughter of the river Permessus. 



Agla'ia. One of the three Graces. 



A'.jax. Next to Achilles, the bravest of all the Greeks 

 in the Trojan war. 



Altjion. The son of Neptune ; went into Britain and 

 established a kingdom. 



Alces'te, or Alcestis. The daughter of Pelias and 

 wife of Admetus, brought back from hell by Hercules. 



Alci'des. A title of Hercules. 



Alec'to. One of the three Furies. 



Alo'a. A festival of Bacchus and Ceres. 



Am'naon. A title of Jupiter. 



Amphi'on. A famous musician, the son of Jupiter 

 and Antiope, who built.the city of Thebes by the music 

 of bis harp. He and his brother Zethus are said to have 

 invented music. 



Amphltri'te. Goddess of the sea and wife of Nep- 

 tune. 



Androm'ache. Wife of Hector. 



Androm'eda. The daughter of Cepheus and Cassio- 

 peia, who, contesting with Juno and the Nereides for 

 the prize of beauty, was bound to a rock by them and 

 exposed to a sea monster, but was rescued and married 

 by Perseus. 



Ange'rona. The goddess of silence. 



Antce'us. The giant son of Neptune and Terra; 

 squeezed to death by Hercules. 



Antever'ta. Goddess of women in labor. 



Antig'one. The daughter of CEdipusand Jocasta, 

 famous for her filial piety. 



An'ubis. An Egyptian god with a dog's head. 



A'pis. Son of Jupiter and Niobe ; called also Serapls 

 and Osiris. Taught the Egyptians to sow corn and 

 plant vines, and was worshiped by them in the form of 

 an ox. 



Apollo. The son of Jupiter and Latona, and the god 

 of music, poetry, eloquence, medicine, and the fine arts. 



Arach'ne. A Lydian princess, turned into a spider 

 for contending with Minerva at spinning. 



Arethu'sa. One of Diana's nymphs, who was changed 

 into a fountain. 



Ar'gus. The son of Aristor ; said to have had a hun- 

 dred eyes : but being killed by Mercury when appointed 

 by Juno to guard Io, she put his eves on the tail of a 

 peacock. Also an architect, who built the ship Argo. 



Arlad'ne. The daughter of Minos, who, from love to 

 Theseus, gave him a clew of thread, to guide him out of 

 the Cretan labyrinth ; being afterward deserted by him, 

 she was married to Barehus, and made his prieste'ss. 



Ari'on. A lyric poet of Methymna, who, in his 

 voyage to Italy, saved his life from the cruelty of the 

 mariners by means of dolphins, which the sweetness of 

 his music brought together. 



Arlstse'us. A son of Apollo and Cyrene. 



Astrae'a. The goddess of justice; changed into the 

 constellation Virgo. 



Atalan'ta. A princess of Scyros, who consented to 

 marry that one of her suitors who should outrun her, 

 llil>l>omenes being the successful competitor. 



Atlas. One of the Titans, and king of Mauretania; 

 said to have supported the world on his shoulders ; he 

 was turned into a mountain by Perseus. 



Anro'ra. The goddess of morning. 



A ut uin'iius. The god of fruits. 



Bacchan'tes. Priests of Bacchus. 



Bac'chus. The son of Jupiter and Semele, and the 

 god of wine. 



r.ap'ta. The goddess of shame. 



Beller'ophon. The son of Glaucus, king of Ephyra. 

 He underwent numerous hardships for refusing an inti- 

 macy with Sthenoboea, wife of Proetus, the king of 

 Argos. With the aid of the horse Pegasus, he destroyed 

 the Chimera. 



Bello'na. Goddess of war ; sister of Mars. 



Bereni'ce. A Grecian lady; the only person of her 

 sex permitted to see the Olympic games. 



Boli'na. A nymph rendered immortal for her mod- 

 esty and resistance to Apollo. 



Bo'reas. The son of Astraeus and Aurora ; the name 

 of the north wind. 



Bria'reus. A giant who warred against heaven, and. 

 was feigned to have had fifty heads and one hundred 

 arms. 



Busi'ris. The son of Neptune ; a tyrant of Egypt, 

 and a monstrous giant, who fed his horses with human 

 flesh ; was killed by Hercules. 



Byblis. The daughter of Miletus ; she wept herself 

 into a fountain through love of her brother Caunus. 



Ca'cus. A son of Vulcan and a most notorious rob- 

 ber; slain by Hercules for stealing his oxen. 



Cad'mus. The sen of Agenor, king of Phoenicia; 

 founder of Thebes, and the reputed inventor of sixteen 

 letters of the Greek alphabet. 



Cadu'ceus. Mercury's golden rod or wand. 



Calli'ope. One of the Muses, presiding over elo- 

 quence and epic poetry. 



Calyp'so. One of the Oceanides who reigned in the 

 island Ogygia, and entertained and became enamored 

 of Ulysses. 



Camae'na, or Cam a. Goddess of infants. 



Cassan'dra. A daughter of Priam and Hecuba, en- 

 dowed with the gift of prophecy by Apollo. 



Cast.al'ides. The Muses, so called from the fountain 

 Castalius, at the foot of Parnassus. 



Cas'tor. A son of Jupiter and Leda. He and his 

 twin brother Pollux shared immortality alternately, 

 and were formed into the constellation Gemini. 



Ce'crops. The first king of Athens, who instituted 

 marriage, altars, and sacrifices. 



Cen'taurs. Children of Ixion, half men and half 

 horses, inhabiting Thessaly, anil vanquished by 

 Theseus. 



CerOberus. The three-headed dog of Pluto, guarding 

 the gates of hell. 



Ce'res. The daughter of Saturn and Cybele, and 

 goddess of agriculture. 



Cha'ron. The son of Erebus and Nox, and ferryman 

 of hell, who conducted the souls of the dead over the 

 rivers Styx and Acheron. 



Charyb'dis. A ravenous woman, turned by Jupiter 

 into a very dangerous gulf or whirlpool on the coast of 

 Sicily. 



Chi'mera. A strange monster of Lycia, killed by 

 Bellerophon. 



Chl'ron. A Centaur, who was preceptor to Achilles, 

 taught ,/ESculapius physic and Hercules astronomy, and 

 who became the constellation Sagittarius. 



Chry'seis. The daughter of Chryses, priest of Apollo, 

 famed for beauty and for her skill in embroidery. 



Cir'ce. A noted enchantress. 



Cli'o. One of the Muses, presiding over history. 



Clo'tho. One of the three Fates. 



Clytemnes'tra. The faithless wife of Agamemnon, 

 killed by her son Orestes. 



Co'mus. The god of merriment. 



Cro'cus. A young man enamored of the nymph Smi- 

 lax, and changed into a flower. 



Crce'sus. King of Lydia : the richest man of his time. 



< 'u 'piil. Son of Mars and Venus ; the god of love. 



CyVele. The daughter of Coelus and Terra ; wife of 

 , and mother of the gods. 



