324 



THE STANDARD DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



Ach'eron. Acheron. Styx, Cocytus. and Phlegethon, 

 are known as rivers of hell. These regions below the earth 

 were considered as the residence of departed souls, where 

 after death they received rewards or punishments accord- 

 ing to their conduct upon earth. 



Achll'les. The son of Peleus and Thetis. In the 

 Trojan War he was the most distinguished fur his strength 

 and bravery. When Achilles was born, Thetis plunged 

 him in the river Styx, which made him invulnerable in 

 every part except the heel, by which she held him. Ami 

 in this heel he received a fatal wound. 



~. ihe nymph, Galatea, loved Acis. the hand- 

 some shepherd, and the monstrous Cyclop, Polyphemus, 

 sued in vain for her favor. 



Arri- in-*. Son of Abas, King of Argos, grand- 



man supporting himself in the air by wings, and blowing 

 into a slu-ll trumpet like a Triton, while his short mantle 

 is waving in the wind. 



.-tls'acus. A son of Priam, who was enamored of 

 the nymph Heaped*, ami, on her death, threw himself 

 into the sea, and was changed by Thetis into a cormorant. 

 I - ( ula'pius. The son of Apollo and Coronis, the 

 daughter of a Thessalian King. By his father he was 

 committed to the care of the wise Centaur, Chiron, who 

 taught him botany, together with the secret efficacy of 

 plants. By means of this information, /Esculapius be- 

 came the benefactor of mankind. In tradition he ism. ted 

 as having awakened the dead. 



.-Ivsir, plural of As or Asa, the celestial gods of Scan- 

 dinavia, who lived in Asgard (god's ward), situate on the 



An h.-avenly hills between earth and the rainbow. The 



son of Lynceus, and great-grandson of Danaus. An heavenly hills 1 



oracle had declared that Danae, the daughter of Acrisius. chief was Odin. 



would give birth to a son who would kill his grand- i .-fcson. The father of Jason and brother of Pelias 



father. For this reason he kept Danae shut up in a 



subterranean apartment, or in a brazen tower. But 



here she became the mother of Perseus, by Zeus, who 

 visited her in a shower of gold. 



/Eson. 



who seized the kingdom rightfully belonging to jEson. 

 /Es'tas. The god of summer ; he is crowned with 

 corn and generally holds a sickle in his hand. By poets 

 and artists the seasons are all personified. They are 



Acfee'on; Acteeon was the son of AristseHS and j frequently seen together on relievi, medals, and gems. 

 Autonoe, daughter of Cadmos. He was reared by The artists have also followed the poets in representing 

 Chiron, and becoming passionately fond of the chase, i the four ages of life by depicting Ver (spring), as infantile 

 his days chiefly in pursuit of wild beasts that,] and tender; jEstas (summer), as young and sprightly; 



Autumnus (autum), mature and manly; and Hyems 

 (winter), as old and decrepit. 



1 : t a . A king of Colchis, was father of Medea. 

 Agamem'non. King of Argos, in Greece, and com- 

 mander-in-chief of the allied Greeks who went to the 



haantc 



ited Mount Cithaeron 



Adis'sechen. In Indian mythology the serpent of a 

 thousand heads which hold the universe in place. 



Adine'tus. A king of Thessaly, and husband of 

 Alcestis, famous for his misfortunes and his piety. 



Apollo tended the flocks of Admetus for nine years, when siege of Troy. Agamemnon married Clytemnestra, the 

 he was obliged to serve a mortal for having slain daughter of Tyndareus, by whom he became the father of 



the Cyclops. 

 Ado'nis. 



A beautiful youth, loved by Venus, and 



Iphianassa (Iphigenia). When Helen, the wife of Mene- 

 . laus, was carried off by Paris, and the Greek chiefs re- 



slain by a wild boar which he was hunting. Venus was solved to recover her by force of arms, Agamemnon was 

 inconsolable at his loss, and at last obtained from Pro- ; chosen their commander-in-chief. 

 serpine that Adonis should spend six months on earth 

 with her and six months among the shades. Adonis 



also the name given to a Syrian god, who was supposed 

 to be slain by a wild boar in Lebanon, and to revive every 

 year. He is identified with the Greek Adonis, beloved 

 by Venus. 



Ag'anip'pe. A fountain at the foot of Mount Helicon, 

 in Boeotia, consecrated to Apollo and the Muses, and 

 believed to have the power of inspiring those who drank 

 of it. 



Ah'ri'man. A deity of the ancient Persians, being a 

 personification of the principle of evil. To his agency 



Adram'melech. God of the people of Sepharva'im, were ascribed all the evils existing in the world. Ormuzd 



to whom infants were burned in sacrifice (Kings xvii, 31). 

 Probably the sun. 



Adras'lus. A king of Argos, and the institutor 

 of the Nemean games. 



Son of Jupiter and grandson of the river- 



the principle of good, is eternal, but Ahriman is created, 

 and will one day perish. 



A'jax. The son of Tdamon, and one of the Greek 

 heroes in Homer's "Iliad." He was of great stature, 



wu ,. UUK <v. ^.v* 6 <.v.w.. v, v^. A.^.- j strength, and courage, but dull in mind. He killed him- 

 god Asopus. .Eacus was renowned in all Greece for his self out of vexation because the armor of Hector was 

 justice and piety, and after his death became one of the awarded to Ulysses. 

 judges in hades. Ak'uman. Thei 



I ft on. One of three brothers, huge monsters, Alas'tor. A sui 



with fifty heads and a hundred arms. According to gods the name Alastor is given to the unforgetting, 

 the most ancient tradition, ^Egeon and his brothers revengeful spirit, who, in consequence of some crime 



he most malevolent of all the Persian gods, 

 huge monsters, Alas/tor. A surname of Jupiter. Among the lesser 



conquered the Titans when they made war upon the 

 cods, and secured the victory to Zeus, who thrust the 

 Titans into Tartarus, and placed yEgeon and his brothers 

 to guard them. 



/Ege'us. King of Athens, and father of Theseus. 



JEglr'. God ot the ocean, whose wife is Rana. They 

 had nine daughters, who wore white robes and veils. 



perpetrated, persecutes a family from generation to 

 generation. 



Alces'tis, or Alces'te. A daughter of Pelias, and 

 the wife of Admetus. To save her husband's life, she 

 died in his stead. By request of Apollo, the gods had 

 granted eternal life to Admetus but on the condition, 

 that when the appointed time came for the good king's 

 j death, some one should be found willing to die in his 



These daughters are the billows, etc. 



JE> els. The shield of Jupiter made by Vulcan was ; stead. This decree was reported to Alcestis, Admetus' 

 so called, and symbolized "Divine protection." The beautiful young wife, who offered herself as substitute, 

 shield of Minerva was called an aegis also. i and cheerfully gave her life for her husband. But 



/E'gle. The mother of the graces. Also the name immortality was too dearly bought at such a price; and 

 of one of the sisters of Phaeton. I Admetus mourned until Hercules, pitying his grief, 



l.lu'rus. The cat. An Egyptian deity held in the j descended into hades, and brought her back, 

 greatest veneration. Herodotus tells us that Diana, to Alec'to. One of the Furies. She is represented with 



avoid being molested by the giants, changed herself into 

 a cat. The deity used to be represented with a cat's 

 head on a human body. 



le'as. A Troian prince, son of Anchises and the 



Venus. 



. rojan 

 When 



Troy fell, he quitted the city 



with his followers, accompanied by his father and son, 

 visited various countries, settled in Latium, and married 

 Lavinia, the daughter of Latinus. To him tradition 

 ascribes the commencement of the Roman Empire. 



. K olus. Under the name of ^Eolus both Greeks and 

 Romans worshiped a god and ruler of winds and storms. 

 He was called the son of Jupiter, sometimes of Neptune, 

 and by others, of Hippotes, an ancient lord of the Lipari 

 Isles. From Jupiter he received his authority over the 

 winds, which had previously been formed into mythical 

 persons, and were known by the names Zephyrus, B( 

 Notus, and Eurus, and were afterwards considers 

 servants of .llolus. He held them imprisoned in a cave 

 of an island in the Mediterranean Sea, and let them 

 loose only to further his own designs or those of others, 

 in awakening storms, hurricanes, and floods. He is 

 usually described by the poets as virtuous, upright, and 

 friendly to strangers. He is represented as a vigorous 



oreas, 

 lered the 



her head covered with serpents, and breathing ven- 

 geance, war, and pestilence. 



Alec'tryon. A servant of Mars, who was changed by 

 him into a cock because he did not warn his master of the 

 rising of the sun. 



Al'fadur. In Scandinavian Mythology the Supreme 

 Being Father of all. 



Alphe'os and Arethu'sa. The Greek fable says 

 that Alphe'os, the river-god, fell in love with the nymph 

 Arethu sa, who fled from him in affright. Diana came 

 to her rescue. 



AI Si-rat'. A narrow bridge extending from this 

 world to the next over the abyss of hell, which must be 

 passed by every one who would enter paradise. 



AlthaVa. Sister to Atalanta. and mother of Meleager. 

 She caused the death of her son and killed herself in 

 remorse. 



Am'azons. A nation of women-soldiers who lived in 

 Scythia. Hercules defeated them, and gave Hippolyte, 

 their queen, to Theseus for a wife. 



Ambro'sia. The food of the gods; so called because 

 it made them not mortal, i. e., it made them immortal. 



Amaci'tia. The goddess of friendship. In Greek 



