Art and Culture/Mythology
Greek Mythology
Creation Myth
Gaia (Earth), Eros (Love), Tartarus (Abyss) and Erebus (Darkness) emerged from Chaos (Nothingness).
The Titans
Gaia gave birth to Uranus (Sky) and from their union emerged the Titans (list from Hesiod’s “Theogony”):
| Male Titans | Female Titans |
| Coeus | Mnemosyne |
| Crius | Phoebe |
| Cronos | Rhea |
| Hyperion | Theia |
| Iapetus | Themis |
| Oceanus | Tethys |
Other children of Gaia and Uranus were the one-eyed Cyclopes and the hundred-handed Hecatonchires but these were both thrown into Tartarus by Uranus. Following this Gaia persuaded Cronos to castrate Uranus. Cronos ruled the other Titans and married Rhea.
Typhon: the final son of Gaia, fathered by Tartarus. He was the most deadly monster of Greek mythology. Typhon attempts to destroy Zeus at the will of Gaia, because Zeus had imprisoned the Titans. Typhon was known as the Father of all monsters; his wife Echidna (half-woman, half-snake) was likewise the Mother of all monsters.
Cronos: the youngest Titan, he is usually depicted with the harpe, a sickle which was the instrument he used to castrate and depose his father Uranus. Cronus was in turn overthrown by his own son, Zeus.
Rhea: known as ‘the mother of gods’.
Children of Cronos and Rhea: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Demeter, Chiron.
Oceanus: Titan of Water, Seas, Lakes, Rivers, Oceans, Streams and Ponds.
Thethys: goddess of the oceans.
Children of Oceanus and Tethys: Oceanids (3,000 daughters (ocean nymphs) inc Metis, Calypso, Clymene, Asia), Potamoi (3,000 sons (rivers)).
Hyperion: god of the sun and Titan of the east.
Theia: goddess of the moon.
Children of Hyperion and Theia: Helios (Sun), Selene (Moon) and Eos (Dawn – described as “rosy fingered” in The Illiad).
Eos: kidnapped Ganymede and Tithonus, both from the royal house of Troy, to be her lovers.
Phoebe: "radiant, bright, prophetic" - prophetic wisdom.
Coeus: represented rational intelligence.
Children of Coeus and Phoebe: Lelantos, Leto, Asteria.
Iapetus: god of mortality.
Sons of Iapetus (with Asia): Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus, Menoetius.
Atlas was involved in the revolt of the Titans against the gods of Olympus. As punishment he was condemned to hold up the pillars separating heaven and earth
Prometheus was punished for stealing fire, Zeus chained him in unbreakable fetters and set an eagle over him to eat his liver each day.
Crius: god of constellations.
Sons of Crius (with Eurybia): Astraeus, Pallas, Perses.
Themis: the personification of divine order, law, natural law and custom.
Children of Themis and Zeus: Natura and the Horae (hours)
Mnemosyne: goddess of memory, daughter of Gaia and Uranus. She lay with Zeus for nine nights and gave birth to the nine Muses (see below).
The Olympians
Twelve “Olympians” (to match the 12 Titans)
Some lists include Dionysius and others include Hestia.
Aphrodite: goddess of love. Aphrodite was married to her brother Hephaestus, and fell in love with Adonis. Aphrodite landed on Cythera after her birth from the sea. Paris awarded the golden apple to Aphrodite, incurring the wrath of Zeus and Hera. Anchises was a mortal lover of the goddess Aphrodite.
Apollo: god of music and arts. He is a son of Zeus and Leto and therefore brother of Artemis (the Leotides). Patron of Delphi.
Ares: god of war. He is a son of Zeus and Hera. His sons Fear (Phobos) and Terror (Deimos) accompany him on his war chariot.
Artemis: goddess of hunting. She is a daughter of Zeus and Leto. Artemis turned Actaeon into a stag, for watching her bathing. He is then killed by hunting dogs.
Athena: goddess of wisdom. Athena sprang fully grown from the head of Zeus. Athena’s symbol was the owl. Athena destroyed Arachne’s work, and turned her into a spider.
Demeter: goddess of corn and the harvest. She was the mother of Persephone.
Dionysus (or Hestia): Dionysus: god of wine. Dionysus was the son of Zeus and the mortal Semele. In Hesiod and most other accounts, Theseus abandoned Ariadne sleeping on Naxos, and Dionysus rediscovered and wedded her. Bacchae – crazed female followers of Dionysus. Maenads – female followers of Dionysus.
Hephaestus: god of fire. Pandora (‘all gifted’) was the first woman, created by Hephaestus at Zeus’s instruction, as part of the punishment of mankind for Prometheus’ theft of the secret of fire. He is married to Aphrodite.
Hera: queen of the gods. Hera set 100 eyes of the slain giant Argus into a peacock’s tail.
Hermes: messenger of the gods.
Hestia (or Dionysus): goddess of the hearth.
Poseidon: god of the sea and earthquakes.
Zeus: king and father of the gods. Disguised himself in various forms to have sex with nymphs and mortals: Europa (bull – offspring Minos), Danae (shower of gold – offspring Perseus), Leda (swan - four offspring from two eggs: Castor and Clytemnestra from one egg, and Helen and Polydeuces from the other. Therefore, Castor and Clytemnestra were fathered by Tyndareus (her husband), whereas Helen and Polydeuces were fathered by Zeus.)
Other Gods
Asclepius: god of healing. Asclepius’s symbol was the snake, which is why a snake winding round a staff is still used as a symbol of medicine. Son of Apollo. Asclepius represents the healing aspect of the medical arts; his daughters are Hygieia (Health), Iaso (Medicine), Aceso (Healing), Aglaea (Healthy Glow), and Panacea (Universal Remedy). The rod of Asclepius, a snake-entwined staff, remains a symbol of medicine today.
Ate: goddess of rash actions and their consequences
Erebus: god of darkness. He is a son of Chaos.
Eros: god of love. He is either a son of Chaos or a son of Aphrodite.
Hades: god of the underworld. Hades abducted Persephone, the daughter of Demeter.
Hecate: goddess of witchcraft.
Hermes: messenger of the gods.
Hygieia: goddess of health, cleanliness and sanitation.
Hypnos: god of sleep
Irene: goddess of peace
Iris: the personification of the rainbow and messenger of the gods
Morpheus: god of dreams
Nemesis: goddess of retribution
Nike: goddess of victory
Nyx: goddess of the night
Panacea: goddess of healing
Priapus: god of fertility
Proteus: a shape-shifting, prophetic old sea god
Greek Gods and their Roman equivalents
| Greek Name | Roman Name | Description |
| Aphrodite | Venus | Goddess of love |
| Apollo | Apollo | God of music and arts |
| Ares | Mars | God of war |
| Artemis | Diana | Goddess of hunting |
| Athena | Minerva | Goddess of wisdom |
| Demeter | Ceres | Goddess of corn and the harvest |
| Dionysus | Bacchus | God of wine |
| Eos | Aurora | Goddess of the dawn |
| Eros | Cupid | God of love |
| Hades | Pluto | God of the underworld |
| Helios | Sol | God of the sun |
| Hephaestus | Vulcan | God of fire |
| Hera | Juno | Queen of the gods |
| Hermes | Mercury | Messenger of the gods |
| Hestia | Vesta | Goddess of the hearth |
| Hypnos | Somnus | God of sleep |
| Irene (Eirene) | Pax | Goddess of peace |
| Nike | Victoria | Goddess of victory |
| Nyx | Nox | Goddess of the night |
| Pan | Faunus | God of the wilds |
| Persephone | Proserpina | Queen of the underworld |
| Poseidon | Neptune | God of the sea |
| Selene | Luna | Goddess of the moon |
| Zeus | Jupiter | King of the gods |
Roman Mythology
Roman gods
The Dii Consentes was a list of twelve major deities, six gods and six goddesses, in the pantheon of Ancient Rome.
Livy arranges them in six male-female pairs: Jupiter-Juno, Neptune-Minerva, Mars-Venus, Apollo-Diana, Vulcan-Vesta and Mercury-Ceres.
Apollo: god of music and arts.
Aurora: goddess of the dawn. Aurora opened gates for Apollo every morning.
Bacchus: god of wine.
Ceres: goddess of corn and the harvest.
Cloacina: goddess of the sewers.
Diana: goddess of hunting.
Janus: god of doorways and passageways (the portal), gave his name to January. The doors of the Temple of Janus in the Rome were closed in times of peace and opened in times of war.
Juno: goddess of marriage and queen of the gods.
Jupiter: king of the gods.
Mars: god of war.
Mercury: messenger of the gods.
Minerva: goddess of wisdom.
Neptune: god of the sea.
Nox: goddess of the night.
Pax: god of peace.
Proserpina: goddess whose story is the basis of a myth of Springtime. Her Greek goddess' equivalent is Persephone. Jupiter sent Mercury to order Pluto (Jupiter's brother) to free Proserpina. Pluto obeyed, but before letting her go he made her eat six pomegranate seeds, because those who have eaten the food of the dead could not return to the world of the living. This meant that she would have to live six months of each year with him, and stay the rest with her mother.
Pluto: god of the underworld.
Plutus: god of wealth (hence plutocrat).
Saturn: god of the harvest and agriculture.
Somnus: god of sleep.
Terminus: god of land boundaries.
Venus: goddess of love. The goddess Venus, jealous and envious of the beauty of a mortal woman named Psyche, asked her son, Cupid, to use his golden arrows to cause Psyche to fall in love with the vilest creature on earth. Cupid agreed but then fell in love with Psyche on his own. Psyche was given by Jupiter in marriage to Cupid.
Vesta: goddess of the hearth. Vestal Virgins were priestesses of Vesta and the College of the Vestals and its well-being was regarded as fundamental to the continuance and security of Rome. Vestals took a vow of chastity in order to devote themselves to the study and correct observance of state rituals that were off-limits to the male colleges of priests but if found guilty of being unchaste a Vestal could be buried alive as punishment.
Victoria: goddess of victory.
Vulcan: god of fire.
Hercules/Heracles
Hercules is the Roman name for the Greek divine hero Heracles, who was the son of Zeus (Roman equivalent Jupiter) and the mortal Alcmene.
Hercules took Hylas with him on the Argo, making him one of the Argonauts. Hylas was kidnapped by the nymph of the spring of Pegae (Dryope).
Hercules was killed by the blood from a centaur called Nessus.
Eurystheus ordered Hercules to perform ten labours. Hercules accomplished these tasks, but Eurystheus refused to recognize two: the cleansing of the Augeas, because Hercules was going to accept pay for the labour; and the killing of the Lernaean Hydra, as Hercules' nephew and charioteer Iolaus had helped him. Eurystheus set two more tasks (fetching the Golden Apples of Hesperides and capturing Cerberus), which Hercules performed successfully, bringing the total number of tasks to twelve.
The twelve labours were –
- Slay the Nemean Lion
- Slay the nine-headed Lernaean Hydra
- Capture the Golden Hind of Artemis
- Capture the Erymanthian Boar
- Clean the Augean stables in a single day
- Slay the Stymphalian Birds
- Capture the Cretan Bull
- Steal the Mares of Diomedes
- Obtain the girdle of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons
- Obtain the cattle of the monster Geryon
- Steal the apples of the Hesperides
- Capture and bring back Cerberus
To capture the oxen of Geryon, Hercules travelled to the western edge of the known world, where the Pillars of Hercules (Gibraltar) mark the spot. Orthrus was a two-headed dog and a doublet (‘brother’) of Cerberus, slain by Hercules as part of the labour of taking the cattle of Geryon.
Ladon – 100-headed dragon faced by Hercules in the labour to steal the Apples of Hesperides. He had the help of Atlas to pick them after Hercules had slain Ladon.
Apples of Hesperides grew from a tree given to Hera by Gaia. Hesperides are nymphs.
Hercules captured Cerberus with the help of Hermes and Athena.
Trojan War
The Judgment of Paris: when Zeus held a banquet in celebration of the marriage of Peleus and Thetis he did not invite Eris, the goddess of discord. She appeared uninvited and threw a golden apple into the ceremony, with an inscription that read "for/to the most beautiful". Three goddesses claimed the apple: Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. Zeus appointed the Trojan Prince Paris to make the judgement of which of the 3 was the most beautiful. He chose Aphrodite, who had offered him the most beautiful woman in the world as his wife. This was Helen, who was married to Menelaus of Sparta. His “abduction” of Helen was the cause of the Trojan War.
The Trojan Horse was built by Epeius and filled with Greek warriors led by Odysseus. A Greek spy, Sinon, convinced the Trojans that the horse was a gift despite the warnings of Laocoon and Cassandra. This is the origin of the modern adage ‘beware of Greeks bearing gifts’. The story of the Trojan Horse in told in Virgil’s Aeneid. Apollo granted Cassandra the gift of prophesy, and added the curse that no one would believe anything she said.
Deiphobus was a son of Priam and Hecuba, and a Prince of Troy.
Hector was a son of Priam and Hecuba. Achilles killed Hector and dragged him by chariot around the walls of Troy.
Andromache was the wife of Hector.
Thetis: mother of Achilles.
Achilles sulked in his tent after Agamemnon took his captured slave, Chryseis.
Paris was a son of Priam and Hecuba.
Ajax commits suicide after losing a contest for Achilles’s magical armour to Odysseus.
Ilium or Ilion is another name for Troy.
The Trojan royal kinship, in Greek eyes, traced its descent from the Pleiad Electra and Zeus, the parents of Dardanus.
Patroclus: killed by Hector whilst wearing the armour of Achilles.
Aeneas was a Trojan hero who married Lavinia.
Clytemnestra was killed by Orestes (her son) for murdering Agamemnon (her husband) on his return from the Trojan wars. Agamemnon and Cassandra were both murdered by Clytemnestra and Aegisthus. Iphigenia is a daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. Her name means ‘born to strength’.
The Odyssey
The story of the ten-year journey home from Troy to Ithaca made by Odysseus. Odysseus is the king of Ithaca
Timeline of Odysseus’ encounters:
Lotus-eaters – ships blown onto an island where some of his men are fed lotus flowers - a narcotic, causing the people to sleep in peaceful apathy.
Captured by the Cyclops Polyphemus, who is blinded when the crew escape, thus causing Polyphemus’ father Poseidon to delay the return to Ithaca by many years.
Aeolus, the master of the winds gives Odysseus a leather bag containing all the winds, except the west wind, a gift that should have ensured a safe return home. His sailors think the bag contains gold and open it, thus driving the ships back the way they had come.
All but his own ship destroyed by the Laestrygonians.
Circe, a daughter of Helios, turned his men into pigs but changed them back in exchange for Odysseus' love. They stayed on her island for a year and then sailed to the west before returning to Circe, who gave them instructions for the next stage of the voyage.
An encounter with the Sirens: three dangerous bird-women who lived on an island called Sirenum scopuli. Approaching sailors were drawn to them by their enchanting singing, causing them to sail into the cliffs and drown. All of the sailors except for Odysseus, who was tied to the mast as he wanted to hear the song, had their ears plugged up with beeswax.
They then passed between the six-headed monster Scylla and the whirlpool Charybdis.
Charybdis was a sea monster, daughter of Poseidon and Gaia. She takes form as a monstrous mouth. She swallows huge amounts of water three times a day and then belches them back out again creating whirlpools. Charybdis was originally a sea-nymph who flooded land to enlarge her father's underwater kingdom, until Zeus turned her into a monster.
Scylla is one of the two monsters (the other being Charybdis) that live on either side of a narrow channel of water. The two sides of the strait are within an arrow's range of each other, so close that sailors attempting to avoid Charybdis will pass too close to Scylla and vice versa.
Tradition has it that Charybdis and Scylla are in the Straits of Messina.
Odysseus lost six men to Scylla.
After landing on the island of Thrinacia his men hunted down the sacred cattle of the sun god Helios as their food had run short. The Sun God insisted that Zeus punish the men for this sacrilege. All but Odysseus were drowned as they were driven towards Charybdis whilst he clung to a fig tree.
He was washed ashore on the island of Ogygia where he was compelled to remain as Calypso's lover until she was ordered by Zeus to release him after 7 years. Calypso was a sea nymph and the daughter of the Titan god Atlas.
He is then almost drowned by Poseidon but is helped by Ino, a sea-nymph to reach the shore of Phaeacia where he is discovered by the princess Nausicaa. He is eventually welcomed as a guest by her parents Alcinuous and Arete.
During his stay, Odysseus recounts his adventures to Alcinous and his court (which forms a substantial portion of the Odyssey as described above). Alcinous provides Odysseus with the ships that finally bring him home to Ithaca.
Disguised as a beggar he meets his son Telemachus and they agree to kill the 108 suitors who are trying to persuade Odysseus’ “widow” Penelope to marry one of them. Whilst waiting for Odysseus’ return Penelope has devised various schemes to keep the suitors at bay including pretending to be weaving a burial shroud for Odysseus's elderly father Laertes and claiming that she will choose a suitor when she has finished. Every night for three years, she undoes part of the shroud until her deception is discovered.
Odysseus' faithful dog Argos dies on seeing him.
Penelope arranges an archery contest and with the help of Athena, Telemachus, the swineherd Eumaeus and Philoteus the cowherd, he kills all the Suitors and is reunited with his wife and family.
Autolycus: grandfather of Odysseus.
Anticlea: daughter of Autolycus and Amphithea and mother of Odysseus by Laertes.
Theseus and the Minotaur
After Androgeus, the eldest son of King Minos of Crete, is murdered in Athens, Minos demands that at the end of every Great Year (seven solar years), the seven most courageous Athenian youths and the seven most beautiful maidens were to be sent as tribute to Crete. They are never seen again having been devoured by the Minotaur, a half-man, half-bull monster that lives in the Labyrinth created by Daedalus. Minotaur had the head of a bull on the body of a man.
Theseus volunteers to replace one of the youths and slay the Minotaur. He sets sail on a ship with a black sail but promises his father, Aegeus, that if successful he would return with a white sail.
He is helped by Ariadne, a daughter of King Minos, who gives him instructions (go forwards, always down and never left or right) and a ball of string which help him navigate his way back through the labyrinth after he kills the Minotaur.
He escapes with all of the young Athenians and Ariadne as well as her younger sister Phaedra. He leaves Ariadne behind on the instructions of Athena but forgets to put up the white sail. As a result Aegeus commits suicide by throwing himself off a cliff and into the sea (thus naming the Aegean).
Minos was the son of Zeus (as a bull) and Europa.
Pasiphae was the mother of the Minotaur
Phaedra is the daughter of Minos, wife of Theseus and the mother of Demophon and Acamas. Though married to Theseus, Phaedra fell in love with Hippolytus, Theseus' son born by either Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons, or Antiope, her sister
Jason and the Argonauts
Jason was the son of Aeson, the king of Iolchos, who was overthrown by his half-brother Pelias. Jason’s mother Alcimede sent him to be educated by the centaur Chiron and to save him from being killed by Pelias. Meanwhile Pelias was warned to beware of a man with one sandal. Chiron the centaur was placed among the stars as Sagittarius.
Jason arrived back in Iolcus having lost one of his sandals in the river Anauros . After he announced that he was the rightful king, Pelias said, "To take my throne, which you shall, you must go on a quest to find the Golden Fleece."
Jason found a ship, the “Argo” and assembled his crew (the Argonauts) which included a number of heroes: Heracles, Philoctetes, Peleus, Telamon, Orpheus, Castor and Pollux, Atalanta (only female), Meleager and Euphemus.
Many adventures: encountering the women of Lemnos; losing Hylas to the nymphs (Heracles returned to his labours at this point); killing the harpies who were tormenting Phineus of Salmydessus; navigating the clashing rocks (Symplegades).
Jason arrived in Colchis to take the Golden Fleece from King Aeetes. The King made Jason perform 3 tasks – he was helped by Medea, Aeetes’ daughter:
- Plow a field with fire-breathing oxen (Khalkotauroi) which he had to yoke himself. Medea provided an ointment that protected him from the oxen's flames.
- Sow the teeth of a dragon into a field, which immediately sprouted into an army of warriors.
- Overcome the sleepless dragon which guarded the Golden Fleece.
Having completed his tasks Jason sailed away with Medea and the Golden Fleece.
Adventures on the way back to Iolchos: encounter with the Sirens (see The Odyssey above); defeating the bronze warrior Talos on Crete.
Back in Iolchos, Medea persuades the daughters of Pelias that she can make him young again by chopping him up and boiling him in a cauldron. They cut up their father but Medea fails to perform the magic.
Jason and Medea go into exile in Corinth. Medea had two sons by Jason, Mermeros and Pheres. Jason rejects Medea in favour of Creusa (sometimes referred to as Glauce), a daughter of Creon the King of Corinth. Medea gives Creusa a cursed dress, as a wedding gift, that stuck to her body and burned her to death as soon as she put it on. She then kills her sons by Jason.
Jason returns to Iolchos and gains the throne. He dies after the rotting stern of the Argo falls on him.
Oedipus
Oedipus mean “swollen foot”.
King of Thebes, the son and killer of Laius, son and consort of Jocasta, and father and sibling of Polynices, Eteocles, Antigone, and Ismene.
Despite his best efforts he fulfilled a prophecy that he would end up killing his father and marrying his mother, thereby bringing disaster to his city and family. When the truth was discovered, his wife-mother hanged herself, and Oedipus gouged out his own eyes.
In the course of all this he also solved the riddle of the Sphinx.
Antigone: daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta. She is is the subject of a popular story in which she attempts to secure a respectable burial for her brother Polynices, even though he was a traitor to Thebes and the law forbids even mourning for him, on pain of death.
Perseus etc.
After Acrisius, King of Argos, had been told by the Oracle at Delphi that he would be killed by the son of his daughter Danae by the god Zeus, he imprisoned her in a bronze chamber open to the sky. Zeus came to her in the form of a golden shower, and impregnated her with the resultant offspring being Perseus.
Acrisius cast the two into the sea in a wooden chest but they were washed ashore on the island of Serifos, where they were taken in by the fisherman Dictys who raised Perseus.
Perseus was asked to by Polydectes (Dictys’ brother) to bring him the head of Medusa (see Gorgons below).
He was helped by the Graeae, three sisters who shared one eye and one tooth among them.
He was also given various gifts by the gods: a knapsack (kibisis) to safely contain Medusa's head, an adamantine sword, a helm of darkness; winged sandals and a polished shield. He then proceeded to find Medusa and cut off her head. The winged-horse Pegasus sprang from her blood.
There are variants on how Perseus ended up killing Acrisius, thus fulfilling the prophecy.
Pegasus: Bellerophon captured Pegasus, and killed the Chimera, a monster that Homer depicted with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail.
Andromeda was a princess who, as divine punishment for her mother's bragging, (the Boast of Cassiopeia) was chained to a rock as a sacrifice to a sea monster (Cetus). She was saved from death by Perseus, her future husband.
Midas
Midas was King of Phrygia and son of Gordias (who tied the Gordian Knot).
Midas found Silenus, a companion of Dionysus, drunk and treated him well before guiding him back to Dionysius. Told that he could have any reward he wished for this kindness, he chose that whatever he might touch should be changed into gold. Having discovered that this was actually a curse (all his food and drink turned to gold) he prayed for it to be removed. He was sent to wash in the River Pactolus and returned to normal.
Midas was given the ears of an ass by Apollo, after Midas chose Pan over Apollo in a music competition.
The Pactolus was known in ancient times as a source of gold dust and Croesus, the King of Lydia, became rich because he could mint gold coins from the alluvial deposits in the River Pactolus which flowed through his capital at Sardis.
Various metamorphoses
Daphne was rescued from the unwanted attentions of the god Apollo by being turned into a laurel bush.
Io: transformed into a heifer by Zeus, to hide her from Hera.
Zeus turned Tiresias (a blind prophet) into a woman for hitting snakes, and seven years later turned Tiresias back into a man.
Niobe: daughter of Tantalus and sister of Pelops. Niobe was turned into a weeping stone.
Callisto (‘most beautiful’) was a nymph of Artemis. According to Ovid, it was Jove (the Roman Zeus) who took the form of Artemis so that he might evade his wife Juno’s detection, forcing himself upon Callisto while she was separated from Diana and the other nymphs, her pregnant condition discovered nine months later while bathing with Diana and her fellow nymphs. Upon this, the goddess was enraged and expelled Callisto from the group, and subsequently she gave birth to Arcas. Juno transformed Callisto into a bear. Jove placed mother and son amongst the stars as Ursa Major and Minor, respectively.
Niobe was turned into a stone waterfall as she wept when her children were killed.
Syrinx was a nymph and a follower of Artemis. Pursued by the amorous Greek god Pan, she ran to the river's edge and asked for assistance from the river nymphs. In answer, she was transformed into hollow water reeds that made a haunting sound when the god's frustrated breath blew across them. Pan cut the reeds to fashion the first set of pan pipes, which were thenceforth known as syrinx.
Philomela, after being raped and mutilated by her sister's husband, Tereus, obtains her revenge and is transformed into a nightingale.
In Ovid's Metamorphoses, Acis was the spirit of the Acis River in Sicily, beloved of the nereid, or sea-nymph, Galatea (‘she who is milk-white’). Galatea returned the love of Acis, but a jealous suitor, the Sicilian Cyclops Polyphemus killed him with a boulder. Distraught, Galatea then turned his blood into the river Acis.
Adonis: killed by a boar and transformed into an anemone. He was the son of Myrrha.
Nymphs etc.
Doris was a sea nymph and the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys and the wife of Nereus. Doris was mother to the fifty Nereids.
Nereids: sea nymphs, the 50 daughters of Nereus and Doris. They often accompany Poseidon and are always friendly and helpful towards sailors.
Naiads: fresh water nymphs.
Oreads: nymphs that live in and guard mountains.
Dryads: tree nymphs.
Maenads or Bacchai or Bacchantes: frenzied nymphs in the retinue of Dionysus.
Danaids: a group of women who had to everlastingly draw water into a bottomless barrel, for murdering their husbands.
Winds
Anemoi were Greek wind gods (Roman equivalent: Venti):
North: Boreas (Roman: Septentrio)
South: Notos (Auster)
East: Eurus (Subsolanus)
West: Zephyrus (Favonius)
Romulus and Remus
Amulius, brother of Numitor, king of Alba Longa, seized power, killed Numitor's male heirs and forced his daughter Rhea Silvia to become a Vestal Virgin. Romulus and Remus were her twin sons, fathered by the god Mars (or sometimes Hercules). Amulius had them abandoned to die in the Tiber but they were saved after coming ashore and being suckled by a she-wolf and fed by a woodpecker. A shepherd (Faustulus) and his wife (Acca Larentia) found them and fostered them to manhood as simple shepherds.
They eventually discover the truth of their birth, kill Amulius and restore Numitor to his throne. Rather than wait to inherit Alba Longa, they chose to found a new city.
Romulus preferred the Palatine, whilst Remus preferred the Aventine as the site of the new city. They quarreled over the auguries and Romulus killed Remus on the Palatine, founding a city he called Rome.
Romulus arranged the abduction of women from the neighbouring Sabines in order to populate the city.
Roman historians dated the city's foundation to between 758 and 728 BC, and Plutarch reckoned the twins' birth year as c. 27/28 March 771 BC. An earlier tradition that gave Romulus a distant ancestor in the semi-divine Trojan prince Aeneas was further embellished, and Romulus was made the direct ancestor of Rome's first Imperial dynasty.
Miscellaneous Greek/Roman
Gorgons: Euryale (immortal), Sthenno (immortal) and Medusa (mortal). Gorgons had snakes for hair and a glance from a gorgon would turn you to stone. Pegasus sprang from blood of the Gorgon Medusa when Perseus cut off her head.
Three Graces (charities): Aglaea, Euthrosyne and Thalia were the daughters of Zeus and Eurynome.
The Fates: in Greek and Roman mythology, the Moirai /Parcae were the female personifications of destiny. Clotho/Nona spun the thread of life from her distaff onto her spindle; Lachesis/Decima measured the thread of life with her rod; Atropos/Morta cut the thread of life and chose the manner of a person's death.
Furies: Tisiphone, Alecto and Megaera were known as Erinyes (‘the angry ones’) or Eumenides (‘the gracious ones’) were female deities of vengeance or supernatural personifications of the anger of the dead.
The nine Muses lived on Mount Parnassus and had sacred springs on Mount Helicon.
| Calliope | Epic poetry |
| Clio | History |
| Erato | Love poetry |
| Euterpe | Music |
| Melpomene | Tragedy |
| Polyhymnia | Sacred poetry |
| Terpsichore | Dance |
| Thalia | Comedy |
| Urania | Astronomy |
The Harpies (‘robbers’): Aello, Ocypete and Celaeno – sisters of Iris, daughters of Electra and Thaumas. At first they were beautiful winged women but later, they were portrayed as winged hags with sharp bird-talons. They were agents of punishment who abducted people and tortured them on their way to Tartarus. They carried souls of the dead to Hades.
Pandora was the first human woman created by the gods, specifically by Hephaestus and Athena on the instructions of Zeus. She was given a jar (mistranslated as a “box”) by Zeus, and told not to open it. When she did, all the evils of the world were released. Only hope was left behind.
Deucalion’s Flood: when Zeus decided to put an end to the Bronze Age with the Deluge, Deucalion, a son of Prometheus, survived by building a chest.
Sisyphus was punished for chronic deceitfulness by being condemned to push a large boulder up a hill in Hades only to watch it roll back down, repeating this action throughout eternity.
Ixion, king of the Lapiths, killed his father-in-law, Deioneus and on the orders of Zeus was bound by Hermes to a wheel that was always spinning. Therefore, Ixion is bound to a burning wheel for all eternity in Tartarus.
An eagle (constellation Aquila) carried Ganymede to Olympus to be a cup-bearer.
Proteus: herdsman of Neptune (also a moon of Neptune).
Delos is an island in the Cyclades and the birthplace of Artemis and Apollo.
Orion: killed by Artemis, he was followed across the skies by Canis Major and Canis Minor.
Narcissus rejected the nymph Echo and drowned after he fell in love with his own refection in a pool.
Dioscuri: Castor and Polydeuces (Pollux). Castor is son of Tyndareus, Pollux is son of Zeus. Both are the sons of Leda.
Hero and Leander: Hero, a priestess of Aphrodite who dwelt in a tower in Sestos, at the edge of the Hellespont, and Leander, a young man from Abydos on the other side of the strait. Leander fell in love with Hero and would swim every night across the Hellespont to be with her. Hero would light a lamp at the top of her tower to guide his way. Leander was eventually drowned, and Hero threw herself from the tower and died as well.
Delphi was revered throughout the Greek world as the site of the omphalos stone, the centre of the earth and the universe. In the inner hestia (‘hearth’) of the Temple of Apollo, an eternal flame burned. The Pythia was a priestess at Delphi who delivered the Oracle.
Pygmalion made a statue of a lady, in ivory. He called it Galatea, and fell in love with it. He was King of Cyprus (according to Ovid), brother of Dido (in Aenied).
Iphicles is the half fraternal twin brother of Heracles, being the son of Alcmene and her human husband Amphitryon, whereas Heracles was her son by Zeus.
Hebe is the daughter of Zeus and Hera. Hebe was the cupbearer for the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus, serving their nectar and ambrosia, until she was married to Heracles.
Orpheus was married to Eurydice, who died. Orpheus went to the underworld to beg for her return. Pluto agreed, on condition that Orpheus did not look back at Eurydice – he did, and Eurydice was drawn back into the underworld forever. When Orpheus died, his lyre was placed in the heavens as the constellation Lyra.
Hades (the Underworld): divided into two main sections: Erebus and Tartarus. Erebus was where the dead first entered the underworld. Charon ferried the dead across the river Styx where they then went into Tartarus. Tartarus is the section of the underworld where the dead would spend all of eternity in the place where judgment would order them. Tartarus is then further divided into three subsections: the Elysian Fields were for the good and heroic souls where they would be forever happy, similar to the Christian Heaven; the Asphodel Meadows where indifferent and ordinary souls were sent to live after death; and Tartarus was where the evil and treacherous souls were sent to live out eternity in horrible punishment, similar to the Christian Hell. Rivers of Hades: Styx, Lethe, Acheron, Cocytus and Phlegethon.
In the original Greek and Roman sources, Charon took the newly dead across the river Acheron if they had an obolus (a Greek silver coin worth a sixth of a drachma) to pay for the ride. Modern sources suggest the Styx rather than the Acheron.
Tantalus stole ambrosia from Zeus' table in Olympus, brought it back to his people, and revealed the secrets of the gods. He also offered up his son, Pelops, as a sacrifice to the gods, an archetypal story of shamanic initiation in which he cut Pelops up, boiled him, and served him up as food for the gods. Demeter ate his shoulder. Fate, ordered by Zeus, brought the boy to life again. Tantalus was punished by being ‘tantalized’ with hunger and thirst in Tartarus.
Aegis: the shield or breastplate of Athena and Zeus, famously bearing Medusa's head, which, according to Homer was fashioned by Hephaestus.
Marsyas: flute player flayed alive after challenging Apollo to a contest of skill.
Hyacinth: a boy accidentally killed by a discus thrown by Apollo which was blown off course by Zephyrus, the west wind, who was feuding with Apollo. Apollo made a flower, the hyacinth, from his spilled blood (although this is not the plant now known as a hyacinth).
Python was a serpent that dwelt in the caves of Mount Parnassus and was slain by Apollo.
Poppy: flower of sleep and death. The twin brothers Hypnos and Thanatos (sleep and death) were represented as crowned with poppies.
Pyramus and Thisbe: lovers who lived in Babylon in houses separated by a wall.
Two sacred mountains are called Mount Ida in Greek mythology, equally named ‘Mount of the Goddess.’ Both are associated with the Mother Goddess in the deepest layers of pre-Greek myth: Mount Ida, Crete, and Mount Ida, Turkey, known as Phrygian Ida in Classical times
Phaeton was the son of Helios, and drove his chariot (the sun) for a day.
Myrmidons were a legendary tribe of ancient Greece. They were very brave and skilled warriors as described in Homer's Iliad, and were commanded by Achilles.
Sybil: Greek prophetess and oracular seer.
Hippocrene: a fountain on Mount Helicon. It was sacred to the Muses and was formed by the hooves of Pegasus.
Atalanta was a virgin huntress. She agreed to marry only if her suitors could outrun her in a footrace. Those who lost would be killed. Atalanta slowed down to pick up golden apples and was beaten by Hippomenes.
Triton: the messenger of the sea. He is the son of Poseidon, god of the sea, and Amphitrite, goddess of the sea, whose herald he is. He had a twisted conch shell, on which he blew like a trumpet to calm or raise the waves.
A thyrsus was a staff of giant fennel covered with ivy vines and leaves, and always topped with a pine cone. These staffs were carried by Dionysus and his followers.
Antaeus was a half-giant, the son of Poseidon and Gaia, whose wife was Tinjis.
Endymion: a shepherd beloved by the moon goddess Selene.
Lamia was a beautiful queen of Libya who became a child-eating daemon.
Chthonic – pertains to, deities or spirits of the underworld.
Faun: a rustic forest god or goddess of Roman mythology often associated with enchanted woods and the Greek god Pan and his satyrs. The faun is half human–half goat
Nestor was the King of Pylos. He became king after Heracles killed Neleus and all of Nestor's siblings.
Cadmus was a Phoenician prince who founded the city of Thebes. He was accredited by the ancient Greeks with the introduction of the original Alphabet or Phoenician alphabet.
Norse Mythology
Asgard: realm of the gods.
Midgard: realm of the mortals.
Bifrost: rainbow bridge leading from Asgard to Midgard. It is guarded by Heimdallr and is destroyed at Ragnorac.
Jotunheimr: realm of the Giants of Norse Mythology – Rock Giants and Frost Giants.
Aesir: the gods
Vanir: a group of gods associated with fertility, wisdom, and the ability to see the future. After the Aesir–Vanir War, the Vanir became a subgroup of the Aesir.
Mimir: a figure renowned for his knowledge and wisdom who is beheaded during the Aesir-Vanir War.
Ymir: a primeval being fed from the primeval cow Audhumla’s four rivers of milk. The gods Odin, Vili, and Vé fashioned the Earth from his flesh; the oceans from his blood; the hills from his bones; the trees from his hair; the clouds from his brains; and the heavens from his skull. Midgard was formed from his eyebrows.
Yggdrasil: a gigantic ash tree, thought to connect all the nine worlds of Norse cosmology. The only two humans to survive Ragnarok (there are some survivors among the gods), Lif and Lifthrasir, were able to escape by sheltering in the branches of Yggdrasil.
Ratotosk is a red squirrel who runs up and down with messages in the world tree Yggdrasil and spreads gossip. In particular, he ferries insults between the eagle Veðrfölnir at the top of Yggdrasil, and the dragon Níðhöggr beneath its roots.
The Gods
Odin: The ‘All Father’ (The Ruler of the gods) (aka Woden = Wednesday)
Frigg(a): Odin’s wife (=Friday). Goddess of marriage and motherhood.
Odin could travel between the worlds of gods and mortals. Together with his brothers (Vi and Vili), cast down the frost giant Ymir, and created the world from Ymir’s body.
Sleipnir: Odin’s eight-legged horse.
Draupnir: Odin’s gold ring.
Gungnir: Odin’s spear.
Thor: God of thunder and battle (Thursday).
He is the son of Odin and Jord and is married to Sif. Children – Magni and Modi (sons) and Thrud (daughter). His chariot is drawn by goats (Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder).
Mjolnir: Thor’s hammer.
Jarngreipr: Thor’s iron glove.
Megingjoro: Thor’s belt, which, when worn, double’s his strength.
Freyja: Goddess of love, sexuality, fertility and battle. She rides a chariot pulled by two cats.
Huginn and Muninn are a pair of ravens that fly all over Midgard and bring Odin information.
Baldr: God of beauty, innocence, peace, and rebirth. The son of Odin and Frigg. He was killed by a spear made of mistletoe, thrown by his blind brother Hod, who was tricked by Loki. For this act, Odin and the giantess Rindr gave birth to Váli who grew to adulthood within a day and slew Hod.
Loki: Loki is the father of Hel, the wolf Fenrir, and the world serpent Jörmungandr. By his wife Sigyn, Loki is the father of Narfi and/or Nari. By the stallion Svaðilfari, Loki is the mother to the eight-legged horse Sleipnir. He is a shape-shifter who may either help or hinder the gods until he is condemned for his part in the killing of Baldr. He is now generally referred to as a trickster.
Hel: goddess who presides over the realm of Hell.
Tyr: God of War
Ask and Embla were the first man and woman, created by the gods.
Valhalla is an enormous hall located in Asgard.
Chosen by Odin, half of those that die in combat travel to Valhalla upon death, led by valkyries, while the other half go to the goddess Freya's field Fólkvangr.
A valkyrie (“chooser of the slain”) is one of a host of female figures who decide which soldiers die in battle and which live.
In Valhalla, the dead join the masses of those who have died in combat known as Einherjar, as well as various legendary Germanic heroes and kings, as they prepare to aid Odin during the events of Ragnarok.
Fafnir: dragon killed by Siegfried (Sigurd).
Brunhilde: Odin puts a spell on her so that she is to sleep inside a ring of fire until the kiss of a demi-god hero awakens her.
Norns are female beings who rule the destiny of gods and men, comparable to the Fates in Greek mythology.
Skinfaxi and Hrímfaxi are the horses of Dagr (day) and Nott (night). Skinfaxi pulled Dagr's chariot across the sky every day and his mane lit up the sky and the earth below.
Egyptian Mythology
The Ennead: a group of nine deities consisting of the god Atum, his children Shu and Tefnut, their children Geb and Nut and their children Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys.
Amun (-Re/Ra): creator god and the preeminent deity in Egypt during the New Kingdom. Amun-Ra also came to be worshipped as Zeus Ammon in Ancient Greece.
Anubis: jackal-headed god of embalming and protector of the dead.
Apis: live bull seen as a manifestation of Ptah.
Aten: sun-disk deity which briefly came to prominence during the reign of Amenhotep IV, who later took the name Akhenaten.
Atum (Atem): creator god.
Bast or Bastet: cat goddess.
Geb was the father of Osiris, Seth, and Isis.
Hathor: personified the principles of joy, feminine love, and motherhood. She is depicted as a cow goddess with horns in which is set a sun disk with Uraeus.
Horus: usually depicted as a falcon or as a human child and is linked with protection and healing. Often said to be the son of Osiris and Isis. Horus was told by Isis to protect the people of Egypt from Set (Seth), the god of the desert, who had killed his father Osiris. Horus had many battles with Set.
Isis: goddess of fertility, mother of Horus, wife and sister of Osiris. She later became a major deity in Greek and Roman religion.
Mut: “mother goddess”. She was depicted as a woman with the wings of a vulture wearing the united crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. Mut went through various guises and as a result she is sometimes depicted as a cobra, a cat, a cow, or as a lioness as well as the vulture.
Nut: sky goddess and mother of Osiris, Set, Isis, Nephthys and Horus.
Osiris: god of death and judge of the dead in the afterlife. He was the father of Horus and Anubis.
Ptah: god of creation and craftsmen.
Ra: the foremost Egyptian sun god who was involved in both creation and the afterlife. He was considered to be the father of every Egyptian pharaoh.
Serapis: Graeco-Egyptian god introduced by the Macedonian Ptolemaic dynasty in the 3rd century BC as a means to unify the Greeks and Egyptians.
Set(h): a god who is characterized by violence and chaos. He was the murderer of Osiris and enemy of Horus. He was lord of the red (desert) land as opposed to Horus' role as lord of the black (soil) land.
Sopdet: the deification of the star Sirius. Just after Sirius appears in the July sky, the Nile River begins its annual flood, and so the ancient Egyptians connected the two.
Thoth: moon god who is often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or a baboon.
Hindu Mythology
The 4 Vedas: RigVeda, YajurVeda, SamaVeda and the AtharvaVeda.
Hindu Epics: Ramayana and the Mahabharata tell the story of two specific incarnations of Vishnu (Rama and Krishna).
Vishnu: the preserver.
Vishnu is the Supreme God who takes manifest forms or avatars across various ages or periods to save humanity from evil beings, demons or Asuras.
Dasavatara, the 10 incarnations of Vishnu
Avatars of Vishnu
- Matsya - the Fish
- Kurma - the Tortoise
- Varaha - the Boar
- Narasimha - the Man-Lion
- Vamana - the Dwarf
- Parasurama - the Angry Man
- Lord Rama - the Perfect Man
- Lord Krishna - the Divine Statesman
- Balarama - Krishna’s Elder Brother
- Kalki - the Mighty Warrior
Krishna – means ‘the dark one’. Depicted with dark blue skin as a young cowherd boy playing on a flute
Devi or Durga is the Supreme Being in the Shaktism tradition of Hinduism, while in the Smartha tradition, she is one of the five primary forms of God (Shiva, Vishnu, Devi or Durga, Surya and Ganesha).
Durga is a form of Devi. In Bengal, she is said to be the mother of Ganesha, Kartikeya, Saraswati and Lakshmi. Durga is depicted as a warrior woman riding a lion or a tiger with multiple hands carrying weapons and making symbolic hand gestures. This form of the Goddess is the embodiment of feminine and creative energy (Shakti).
Shiva: the god of destruction who lives on Mount Kailasa in the Himalayas. He has a third eye, kept closed in the middle of his forehead. He has a wife Parvati, and two sons, the six-faced Skanda and the elephant-headed Ganesha. Hanuman was the 11th incarnation of Shiva is the monkey devotee and messenger of Rama (incarnation of Vishnu). Shiva is aka: Mahadeva; Mahesh; Bhairava; Nataraja; Pashupati; Rudra.
Agni: god of fire.
Ayyappa: son of Shiva and Mohini and was also called Shastha.
Brahma: the creator of the universe, created by Vishnu. Emerged from Vishnu’s navel, on a lotus flower and rides on a divine swan.
Ganesh(a): elephant-headed god. The son of Shiva and Parvati, he is god of wisdom and remover of all obstacles.
Kali: wife of Shiva and is the goddess of time, change, power and destruction. She is depicted in either in a four-armed form or in the ten-armed Mahakali form. Although she is described as being black in colour she is most often depicted as blue in popular Indian art.
Kamadhenu: aka as Surabhi, is a divine bovine-goddess described as the mother of all cows.
Lakshmi: goddess of wealth and fortune and is the wife of Vishnu. She is known as Sita in the Ramayana, where she is the wife of Rama.
Subramanya: son of Shiva and Parvati and was also called Muruga, Karthik, Kumara or Shanmukha.
Saraswati: aka Gayatri, is the wife of Brahma and goddess of knowledge and the arts.
Surya: the chief solar deity in Hinduism and generally refers to the Sun.
Shesha: is the nagaraja or king of all nāgas (serpents).
The Rainbow Fish is a legendary creature in Hinduism as large as a whale, which ate Vishnu's incarnation Buddha who removed suffering from the world.
Thugees (Thugs): an organized gang of professional assassins who trace their origin to the battle of Kali against Raktabija. Thuggee considered themselves to be children of Kali, created out of her sweat (although historically Thugs were in fact both Hindus and Muslims).
Arthurian Legend
Arthur
Arthur was the first born son of Uther Pendragon and Igraine who, according to the legend, was born in Tintagel and buried in Glastonbury. Merlin advised that Arthur should be raised in a secret place and that none should know his true identity.
Arthur was raised by Ector/Hector, who was the father of Sir Kay.
Merlin set a sword in a stone which had a legend written on it: “Whosoever pulls out this sword from this stone is the true King of the Britons". Arthur took the sword from the stone (see “Kay” below) and was declared King.
Arthur built a castle at Camelot and set up the Round Table of 150 kinights.
Arthur’s sword(s): Caliburn is the Sword in the Stone and Excalibur was given to him by the Lady in the Lake. Excalibur is sometimes considered to be magical. Sometimes Excalibur and Caliburn (the proof of Arthur's lineage) are conflated but in most versions they are considered separate.
Arthur’s dagger: Carnwennan.
Arthur’s spear: Rhongomiant.
Arthur’s horse: Llamrei.
Arthur’s dog: Cavall.
He married Guinevere, the daughter of King Leodegrance.
The discovery of Guinevere’s affair with Lancelot du Lac plunged the country into civil war, partly engineered by Mordred. At Camlann (the “final battle”) Mordred was killed and Arthur mortally wounded. Arthur was set upon a boat and floated down river to the isle of Avalon where he was tended to by three maidens. His body was never found and legend says that he rests under a hill with all his knights - ready to emerge and save the country again.
Guinevere: is the daughter of King Leodegrance who marries Arthur. She has an affair with Lancelot which eventually leads to Arthur's downfall. After their affair is exposed by Agravain and Mordred, Lancelot flees and Arthur reluctantly sentences his wife to be burned at the stake. Lancelot rescues her but Gawain's brothers Gaheris and Gareth are killed. Arthur follows Lancelot to France, leaving Guinevere in the care of Mordred, who schemes to take the throne and marry her. After the battle of Camlann, Guinevere enters a convent.
Merlin: uses magic to enable Uther Pendragon to enter into Tintagel in disguise and father his son Arthur with Igraine, who at the time was the wife of Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall and Uther’s enemy's. Merlin's downfall came from his falling in love with Nimue (or Nymue, Niviane, Niniane, Nyneue, or Viviane), the daughter of the king of Northumberland. She says that she cannot love him unless he swears to teach her all of his magic. She casts a spell over him and places him in a magic tomb so that he can never escape.
King Leodegrance: father of Queen Guinevere he served Uther Pendragon and was entrusted with the keeping of the Round Table at Uther's death. When Guinevere marries Arthur, Leodegrance gives the young king the table as a wedding present.
Morgan le Fay (aka Morgen, Morgaine, Morgain, Morgana, Morganna, Morgant, Morgane, Morgne, Morge, Morgue): a powerful enchantress. Various versions including that she is the daughter of Arthur's mother Lady Igraine and her first husband Gorlois, so that Arthur is her half-brother.
Morgause: she is the mother of Mordred through Arthur’s inadvertent incest with her as she is his estranged half-sister. She is also a sister of Morgan le Fay and the wife of King Lot of Orkney, as well as the mother of Gawain, Gareth, Agravain, and Gaheris.
In some traditions (especially the more modern ones), the character of Morgause is often conflated with that of Morgan le Fay.
Knights of the Round Table
Round table: presented to Arthur as part of Guinevere’s dowry. It was made by Merlin, seated 150 knights. The Siege Perilous was the seat reserved for the knight that completed the quest for the Holy Grail (the chalice from which Jesus drank at the Last Supper).
Agravain: son of King Lot of Orkney with Anna/Morgause (Arthur's sister) and is nephew of King Arthur, and brother to Sir Gawain, Gaheris, and Gareth, and half-brother to Mordred.
Bedivere: he returns Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake at the dying request of Arthur.
Bors: is the name of two knights in the Arthurian legend. Bors the Elder is the King of Gaunnes (Gaul) the brother of King Ban of Benoic and thus Lancelot’s uncle. His son Bors the Younger is a Knight of the Round Table, and achieves the Holy Grail alongside Galahad, and Percival.
Gaheris: the third son of Arthur's sister or half-sister Morgause and her husband Lot, King of Orkney and Lothian, he is the younger brother of Gawain and Agravaine, and the older brother of Gareth and half-brother of Mordred. He is killed by Lancelot during his rescue of the queen from being burned at the stake.
Galahad: the illegitimate son of Lancelot and Elaine of Corbenic his is renowned for his gallantry and purity and is one of the three achievers of the Holy Grail (with Bors and Percival).
Gareth: nicknamed "Beaumains" he was the youngest son of Lot and of Morgause, King Arthur's half-sister, thus making him Arthur's nephew, as well as brother to Gawain, Agravain, Gaheris, and half-brother to Mordred. He is killed by Bors during Lancelot's rescue of the queen from being burned at the stake.
Gawain: the son of Arthur's sister Morgause (or Anna) and King Lot of Orkney and Lothian, and his brothers are Agravain, Gaheris, Gareth, and Mordred. He was well known to be the most trustworthy friend of Sir Lancelot.
Kay: son of Ector and King Arthur's foster brother and later seneschal. At a tournament in London, Arthur is serving as squire to the newly knighted Kay but can’t get to his brother's sword and uses the Sword in the Stone to replace it. Kay tries to claim it was he that pulled the sword from the stone, making him the true King of the Britons, but he later admits it was Arthur. He becomes one of the first Knights of the Round Table and serves his foster-brother throughout his life.
Lancelot du Lac (Lancelot of the Lake): the son of King Ban of Benwick (or Benoic) and Elaine. Ban and Elaine are forced to flee their kingdom with the child Lancelot and whilst Elaine is tending to her wounded husband, Lancelot is carried off by the Lady of the Lake who raises the child in her magical kingdom. He is King Arthur's greatest champion, the lord of Joyous Gard and the greatest swordsman and jouster of the age. When his adultery with Queen Guinevere is discovered it causes a civil war which is exploited by Mordred.
Mordred: he is either Arthur's illegitimate son by his half-sister Morgause (also sometimes Morgan le Fay) or the legitimate son of Morgause, also known as Anna, with her husband King Lot of Orkney. His brothers or half-brothers are Gawain, Agravain, Gaheris, and Gareth. He is the notorious traitor in the legends who fought King Arthur at the Battle of Camlann, where he was killed and Arthur fatally wounded.
Palamedes: a Saracen pagan who converts to Christianity. His unrequited love for Iseult brings him into frequent conflict with Tristan. Palamedes' father is King Esclabor; his brothers Safir and Segwarides also join the Round Table.
Pellinore: the king of Listenoise he is on a seemingly endless hunt of the Questing Beast. He is invited to join the Rund Table after he beats Arthur in jousts. He has many legitimate and illegitimate children; his sons Tor, Aglovale, Lamorak, Dornar, and Percival also join the Round Table. His daughter (sometimes named Dindrane) is the bearer of the Holy Grail.
Perceval: best known for being the original hero in the quest for the Grail before being replaced in later literature by Galahad.
Sagramore: son of the King of Hungar he has a number of nicknames, including "The Impetuous" and "le Desirous." Generally he is characterized as a virtuous but hot-tempered knight. He dies by Mordred's hand at the Battle of Camlann as one of Arthur's last remaining warriors.
The Quest for the Grail
Holy Grail: the chalice from which Jesus drank at the Last Supper (it is also said to be a dish, plate or stone). A tradition also that Joseph of Arimathea used the Grail to catch Christ's blood and later brought it to Britain.
Finding the Grail became the principal quest of Arthur’s knights. Perceval discovered a castle called Corbenic in a land that was sickly like its King, Pelles, who had a spear wound (possibly from the Spear of Destiny/Longinus) which never healed (the “Fisher King”). Perceval had a vision of the grail but failed to ask about it and left empty-hand. Lancelot next reached Corbenic but was prevented from entering because of his adulterous affair with Guinevere. Galahad (who in some traditions is Pelles’ grandson) was permitted entry to the Grail Chapel and allowed to gaze upon the grail after which he entered heaven.
In another tradition Galahad is accompanied by Bors and Perceval. The three go on to achieve the Holy Grail and accompany it to Sarras, a mystical island in the Middle East. Both Galahad and Percival pass away while there; Bors is the only one to return.
Gawain and the Green Knight
A gigantic green knight riding a green horse appears in Camelot on New Year's Day. He carries an axe and a holly bough and challenges someone is to strike him once with his axe on condition that he can return the blow in a year and a day.
Gawain takes up the challenge and beheads him in one stroke. The Green Knight picks up his severed head and rides away. He reminds Gawain that the two must meet again at the Green Chapel.
A year later Gawain sets off to find the Green Chapel and keep his side of the bargain. He arrives at a castle where the owner Bertilak de Hautdesert tells him that the Green Chapel is less than two miles away.
Bertilak and Gawain go hunting and the castellan offers his own catches in exchange for whatever Gawain receives. Over the next 3 days Gawain is appraoched by the castellan’s beautiful wife who gives him over the 3 days, 1 kiss, 2 kisses and 3 kisses plus a belt/girdle of green and gold silk which she says will keep him from all physical harm. In turn Gawain gives Bertilak at the end of each day as agreed the 1 kiss, 2 kisses and 3 kisses which he had received over the 3 successive days. He keeps the belt.
The next day, Gawain heads for the Green Chapel wearing the belt. Finding the Green Knight, Gawain offers his neck. After 2 swings which the Green Knight says were tests, he delivers a blow which causes only a slight wound on Gawain's neck. After this the Green Knight reveals himself to be Bertilak and explains that this was all a trick by the sorceress Morgan le Fay (Arthur's sister) who was testing Arthur's knights and hoped to frighten Guinevere to death.
Tristan and Iseult
The story of the adulterous love between the Cornish knight Tristan (Tristram) and the Irish princess Iseult (Isolde, Yseult, etc.).
Tristan goes to Ireland to bring back the fair Iseult for his uncle King Mark of Cornwall to marry. On the journey back the pair drink a love potion (either accidently or on purpose) which causes them to fall in love. Iseult marries Mark but starts an affair with Tristan are forced by the potion to seek one another as lovers.
Mark eventually learns of the affair and decides to hang Tristan by hanging and burn Iseult at the stake. Tristan escapes and rescues Iseult and they take shelter in the forest of Morrois. Discovered by Mark, Tristan agrees to return Iseult to Mark and leave the country. Tristan goes to Brittany and marries Iseult of the White Hands.
In another tradition Tristan is mortally wounded by Mark with a poisoned lance.
Miscellaneous
Lohengrin: the son of Parzival (Percival), he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his identity.
Lorelei: one of the beautiful Rhine Maidens who, legend has it, lured navigators of this river to their dooms with their alluring singing.
Miscellaneous Mythology
Mesoamerican
Tezcatlipoca: omnipotent universal power ("Smoking Mirror").
Quetzalcoatl: god of life and the wind and the morningstar ("Feathered Serpent").
Mixcoatl: god of war, sacrifice and hunting ("Cloud Serpent”).
Huitzilopochtli: the sun ("Left-handed Hummingbird")
Xochipilli: - means god of happiness, flowers, pleasure and fertility ("Flower Prince").
Xochiquetzal: goddess of pleasure and sex.
Mictlan: the underworld.
Mictlantecutli: Lord of the underworld.
Mictlancihuatl: Queen of the underworld.
Incan
Apu: god or spirit of mountains.
Illapa: weather god. He is depicted as a man in shining clothes, carrying a club and stones.
Inti: sun god.
Wiraqucha: god of everything. In the beginning he was the main god until replaced by Inti.
Mama Allpa: fertility goddess depicted with multiple breasts.
Viracocha (aka Con-Tiki Viracocha): the great creator deity in the pre-Inca and Inca mythology.
Manco Capac was the legendary founder of the Inca Dynasty in Peru and the Cuzco Dynasty at Cuzco
Celtic
The Dagda: chief god in the Irish pantheon.
The Morrigan: tripartite battle goddess of the Irish Celts also referred to as Nemain, Macha, and Badb with each representing different aspects of combat.
Lugh: famed for his skill with a spear or sling.
Taranis: god of thunder.
Cu Chulainn: the son of Lugh and Deichtine, his childhood name was Sétanta.
Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn MacCool): mythical hunter-warrior of Irish mythology. Legend has it he built the Giant's Causeway as stepping-stones to Scotland, so as not to get his feet wet.
Bran and Sceólang: Fionn mac Cumhaill’s hunting dogs.
Trow: troll-like creature from the Orkneys.
Selkies: said to live as seals in the sea but shed their skin to become human on land.
Epona: in Gallo-Roman religion she was a protector of horses, donkeys, and mules. She was also a goddess of fertility.
Rhiannon: a prominent figure in Welsh mythology. She may be associated with the horse goddess Epona.
Wayland the Smith: a master blacksmith. Wayland's Smithy is a Neolithic long barrow and chamber tomb site located near the Uffington White Horse and is named after him.
Chinese
In Chinese mythology, yin (black) and yang (white) are the energies which cause everything to happen.
Monkey is a god-hero in China. As told in Journey to the West, Guan-Yin enlisted Monkey as chief disciple of the young Buddhist monk Tripitaka. Together with Sandy and Pigsy, he protected the boy on his quest to India.
Japanese
In Japanese mythology, Izanami-no-Mikoto is a goddess of both creation and death.
Hotei, Jurojin, Fukurokuju, Bisharmonten, Benzaiten, Daikoku, and Ebisu are the Seven Gods of Fortune (Seven Lucky Gods) in Japanese mythology.
Persian/Zoroastrian
Zoroaster is a Greek rendering of the name Zarathustra.
Zoroastrians believe that there is one universal, transcendent, supreme god, Ahura Mazda, or the "Wise Lord".
In Persian mythology, peris are descended from fallen angels who have been denied paradise until they have done penance.
Ancient Near East
Cybele was a deification of the Earth Mother who was worshipped in Anatolia from Neolithic times. Like Gaia (the Earth) or her Minoan equivalent Rhea, Cybele embodies the fertile earth.
Ishtar: Babylonian goddess of fertility, love, war, and sex. Astarte – Greek name of Ishtar.
Baal: a North-West Semitic title and honorific meaning ‘master’ or ‘lord’ that is used for various gods who were patrons of cities in the Levant and Asia Minor.
Marduk: a late-generation god from ancient Mesopotamia and patron deity of the city of Babylon.
Dagon was originally an Assyro-Babylonian fertility god who evolved into a major northwest Semitic god of grain and fishing.
Miscellaneous
Tane: created the first human from sand, in Maori mythology.
In the Finnish Kalevala, Kullervo was the ill-fated son of Kalervo. He is the only irredeemably tragic character in Finnish mythology.
Basalisk: a small snake said to have the power to cause death with a single glance.
Cocatrice: a two-legged dragon with a rooster's head.
Wyvern: winged creature with a dragon's head, which may be said to breathe fire or possess a venomous bite, a reptilian body, two legs (sometimes none), and a barbed tail.
Sylph is a mythological spirit of the air. The term originates in Paracelsus, who describes sylphs as invisible beings of the air, his elementals of air.
Rainbow Serpent is a common deity, often a creator god, in the mythology and a common motif in the art of Aboriginal Australia.
Wendigo: a cannibalistic monster in Algonquin mythology.
