130 MYTIIOLOOY. 



La'res. — Deified spirits of mortals. 



Lato'na.— The mother of Apollo and Diana. 



Le'da. — The mother of Castor and Pollux. 



Lethe. — A river in the infernal regions, the drinking of whose 

 waters caused forgetful ness of the past. 



Leucothe'a. — Ino, flj'ing from her husband, jumped into the 

 sea with her son Melicertes. The gods out of corapa.ssion 

 made her a goddess of the sea, under the name given, and 

 jNIelicertes a god ; they were powerful to save from ship- 

 wreck, and were invoked by sailors. 



Lo'ki. — A northern deity, the contriver of all fraud and mis- 

 chief. 



Luci'ua. — The goddess of childbirth. 



Mahade'va (Hindu). — The representative of regeneration. 



Ma'nes. — The benevolent infernal deities. 



Ma'nu (Hindu). — The ancestor of the human race. 



Mars. — The god of war, and the son of Jupiter and Juno. 



Medusa. — A personage who was fabled to posse-ss the power 

 of turning all who looked upon her into stone. 



Melicer'tes. — A god of the sea. See Leucothea. 



Melpomene. — See Muses. 



Men tor. — A disguise of Minerva. 



Mercury. — Son of Jupiter and Maia. He presided over com- 

 merce, wrestling, and other exercises which required skill 

 and dexterity. He was also the messenger of Jupiter, and 

 wore a winged cap and winged shoes. 



Metis (Prudence). — Wife of Jupiter. She administered a 

 draught to Saturn which caused him to disgorge his chil- 

 dren whom he had devoured ; these with Jupiter rebelled 

 and vanquished Saturn, whose dominions were then di- 

 vided between Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto. 



Minerva. — The goddess of wisdom. She was a daughter of 

 Jupiter, from whose brain she is said to have leaped ma- 

 ture and in complete armor. She presided over the use- 

 ful and ornamental arts. Athens was her chosen seat, 

 awarded her by the gods for having produced to man the 

 olive. 



Mnemos'yne (Memory). — The mother of the Muses. 



Mo'mus. — The god of laughter. 



Morpheus. — The god of dreams ; son of Somnus. 



Mors (Roman myth.). — The goddess of death, one of the 

 deities of the lower world, born of Night, without a sire. 



