204 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF FACTS. 



Hy'dra. A celebrated monster, or serpent, with 

 seven, or, according to some, fifty heads, which infested 

 the Lake Lerna. It was killed by Hercules. 



II v im-n. Son of Bacchus and Venus, and god of 

 marriage. 



Hyperi'on. Son of Coelns and Terra. 



Ica'rius. Son of CEbalus ; haying received from Bac- 

 chus a bottle of wine, he went into Attica to show men 

 the use of it, but was thrown into a well by some shep- 

 herds whom he had made drunk, and who thought he 

 had given them poison. 



Ic'arus. The son of Daedalus, who, flying with his 

 father out of Crete into Sicily, and soaring too high, 

 melted the wax of his wings, and fell into the sea, thence 

 called the Icarian sea. 



I'o. The daughter of Inachus, turned by Jupiter into 

 a white heifer, but afterward resumed her former shape ; 

 was worshiped after her death by the Egyptians, under 

 the name of Isis. 



Iphigeni'a. The daughter of Agamemnon and Cly- 

 temnestra, who, standing ready as a victim to be sac- 

 rificed to appease the ire of Diana, was by that goddess 

 transformed into a white hart and made a priestess. 



I'ris. The daughter of Thaumas and Electra ; one of 

 the Oceanides, and messenger and companion of Juno, 

 who turned her into a rainbow. 



Ixi'on. A king of Thessaly, and father of the Cen- 

 taurs. He killed his own sister, and was punished by 

 being fastened in hell to a wheel perpetually turning. 



.Ja'ims. The son of Apollo and Creusa, and first king 

 of Italy, who, receiving the banished Saturn, was re- 

 warded by him with the knowledge of husbandry, and 

 of things past and future. 



Ja'son. The leader of the Argonauts, who, with 

 Medea's help, obtained the golden fleece from Colchis. 



Jocas'ta. The daughter of Creon. She unwittingly 

 married her own son, CEdipus. 



Ju'no. The daughter of Saturn and Ops ; sister and 

 wife of Jupiter, the great queen of heaven, and of all 

 the gods, and goddess of marriages and births. 



Ju'piter. The son of Saturn and Ops ; the supreme 

 deity of the 'heathen world, the most powerful of the 

 gods, and governor of all things. 



Lach/esis. One of the three Fates. 



i.auc DOM. A son of Priam and Hecuba, and high 

 priest of Apollo, who opposed the reception of the 

 wooden horse into Troy, for which he and his two sons 

 were killed by serpents. 



L.aom'edon. A king of Troy, killed by Hercules for 

 denying him his daughter Hesione after he had delivered 

 her from the sea-monster. 



l.a'res. Inferior gods at Rome, who presided over 

 houses and families ; sons of Mercury and Lara. 



L,aver'na. A goddess of thieves. 



liean'der. See Hero. 



L,e'the. A river of hell, whose waters caused a total 

 forgetfulness of things past. 



Lube ii 'ti a. Goddess of pleasure. 



Liu'cifer. The name of the planet Venus, or morning 

 star ; said to be the son of Jupiter and Aurora. 



i.uri'na. A daughter of Jupiter and Juno, and a 

 goddess who presided over childbirth. 



I ,u'ii a. The moon ; the daughter of Hyperion and 

 Terra. 



Luper'calia. Feasts in honor of Pan. 



Mars. The god of war. 



Mede'a. The daughter of J5tes, and a wonderful 

 sorceress or magician ; she assisted Jason to obtain the 

 golden fleece. 



Me.du'sa. The chief of the three Oorgons ; killed by 

 Perseus. 



Megje'ra. One of the Furies. 



Meg'ara. Wife of Hercules. 



Melpom'ene. One of the Muses, presiding over 

 tragedy. 



Mem'non. The son of Tithonus and Aurora, and 

 king of Abydon ; killed by Achilles for assisting Priam, 

 and changed into a bird at the request of his mother. 



Menela'ns. The son of Atreus, king of Sparta; 

 brother of Agamemnon, and husband of Helen. 



Men'tor. The faithful friend of Ulysses, the gov- 

 ernor of Telemachus. and the wisest man of his time. 



Itfer'cury. The son of Jupiter and Maia ; messenger 

 of the gods, inventor of letters, and god of eloquence, 

 commerce, and robbers. 



M i 'ilas. A king of Phrygia, who had the power given 

 him of turning whatever he touched into gold. 



Mlner'va. The goddess of wisdom, the arts, and war ; 

 produced from Jupiter's brain. 



Min'otaur. A celebrated monster, half man and half 

 bull. 



M nemos'yne. The goddess of memory, and mother 

 of the nine Muses. 



M <> ' urns. The son of Nox, and god , of folly and pleas- 

 antry. 



Mor'pheus. The minister of Nox and Somnus. and 

 god of sleep and dreams. 



Mors. Goddess of death. 



Mu'ses. Nine daughters of Jupiter and Mnemosyne, 

 named Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Poly- 

 hymnia, Terpsichore, Thalia, and Urania. They were 

 mistresses of all the sciences, and governesses of the 

 feasts of the gods. 



Mu'ta. Goddess of silence. 



Na'iades. Nymphs of streams and fountains. 



Narcis'sus. A beautiful youth, who, falling in love 

 with his own reflection in the water, pined away into a 

 daffodil. 



Nem'esis. One of the infernal deities, and goddess 

 of revenge. 



Nep'tune. The son of Saturn and Ops; god of the 

 sea, and, next to Jupiter, the most powerful deity. 



Ne'reids. Sea nymphs. 



Nes'tor. The son of Neleus and Chloris, and king of 

 Pylos and Messenia. He fought against the Centaurs, 

 was distinguished in the Trojan war, and lived to a 

 great age. 



Ni'obe. Daughter of Tantalus, and wife of Amphion, 

 who, preferring herself to Latona, had her fourteen 

 children killed oy Diana and Apollo, and wept herself 

 into a stone. 



Nox. The most ancient of all the deities, and goddess 

 of night. 



Ocean'ides. Sea nymphs, daughters of Oceanus; 

 three thousand in number. 



Ore 'an us. An ancient sea god. 



CEd'ipus. King of Thebes, who solved the riddle of 

 the Sphinx, unwittingly killed his father, married his 

 mother, and at last ran mad and tore out his e\ t>>. 



Om'phale. A queen of Lydia, with whom Hercules 

 was so enamored that he submitted to spinning and 

 other unbecoming offices. 



Ops. A name of Cybele. 



Ores'tes. The son of Agamemnon. 



Or'pheus. A celebrated Argonaut, whose skill in 

 music is said to have been so great that he could make 

 rocks, trees, etc., follow him. He was the son of Jupiter 

 and Calliope. 



Osi'ris. See Apis. 



Palla'dium. A statue of Minerva, which the Trojans 

 imagined fell from heaven, and with which their city 

 was deemed unconquerable. 



Pal'las and Py'lotis. Names of Minerva. 



Pan. The son of Mercury, and the god of shepherds, 

 huntsmen, and the inhabitants of the country. 



Pando'ra. The first woman, made by Vulcan, and 

 endowed with gifts by all the deities. Jupiter gave her 

 a box which contained all the evils and miseries of life, 

 but with hope at the bottom. 



Par'ia, or Alexander. Son of Priam and Hecuba ; 

 a most beautiful vouth, who ran away with Helen, and 

 thus occasioned the Trojan war. 



Parnas'sus. A mountain of Phocis, famous for a 

 temple of Apollo; the favorite residence of the Muses. 



Peff'asus. A winged horse belonging to Apollo and 

 the Muses, which sprung from the blood of Medusa 

 when Perseus cut off her head. 



Pena'tes. Small statues or household gods. 



Fenel'ope. A celebrated princess of Greece, daugh- 

 ter of Icarus, and wife of Ulysses; celebrated for her 

 chastity and constancy in the long absence of her hus- 

 band. 



Per'seus. Son of Jupiter and Danae; performed 

 many extraordinary exploits by means of Medusa's 

 head. 



Pha'eton. Son of Sol (Apollo) and Climene. He 

 asked the guidance of his father's chariot for one day 

 as a proof of his divine descent ; but, unable to manage 

 the horses, set the world on fire, and was therefore 

 struck by Jupiter with a thunderbolt into the river Po. 



