Part 209

=Achilles= (_a-kill´ẽz_).--The great hero of the Iliad. He was the son of Peleus, king of the Myrmidones, and the Nereid Thetis. His mother, wishing to make him immortal, plunged him, when an infant, into the river Styx, and succeeded with the exception of the ankles, by which she held him. He was educated by Phoenix and Chiron, the centaur--the former teaching him eloquence and the arts of war, the latter the healing art. When he was but nine years old, Calchas declared that Troy could not be taken without his aid. His mother, knowing that this war would be fatal to him, disguised him as a girl and sent him to dwell with the daughters of Lycomedes, at whose court he was called Pyrrha (_pir´ra_), _i.e._, red or tawny, on account of his auburn hair. Seeing, however, that Troy could not be taken without his aid, the crafty Ulysses, disguised as a merchant, sought him out, offering for sale jewels and articles of feminine attire, among which he had placed some arms. The ruse succeeded, as Achilles, by eagerly seizing the arms, at once betrayed his sex, and accompanied Ulysses to the Greek army before Troy. While at Lycomedes’ court he became by Deidamia the father of Pyrrhus, or Neoptolemus. Before Troy he performed great feats of valor. After killing numbers of Trojans, he at length met Hector, whom he chased thrice round the walls of the city, and, having slain him, tied his body to his chariot and dragged it to the ships of the Greeks. He had an invulnerable suit of armor made, at his mother’s request, by Vulcan. Finally, he was slain by Paris, son of Priam, who shot him in the heel, his only vulnerable part. He is the principal hero of the _Iliad_, and is represented as the handsomest and bravest of all the Greeks. After his death Achilles became one of the judges in the lower world, and dwelt in the islands of the blessed, where he was united to Medea, or Iphigenia.

=Acis= _(ā´sis_).--A Sicilian shepherd, beloved by the nymph Galatea. He was crushed, through jealousy, under a huge rock by Polyphemus, the Cyclop, and his blood gushing forth from under was changed by the nymph into the river Acis, at the foot of Mount Etna.

=Actæon= (_ak-tē´ōn_).--A mighty huntsman, son of Aristæus and Autonoë. One day while hunting he saw Diana and her nymphs bathing, and was immediately changed by the goddess into a stag, in which form he was torn to pieces by his fifty dogs.

=Admetus= (_ad-mē´tus_).--King of Pheræ, in Thessaly. On the death of his first wife he sued for the hand of Alcestis, whom he obtained, by Apollo’s aid, only on coming in a chariot drawn by a lion and a wild boar. The god (Apollo) tended the flocks of Admetus for nine years, when he was compelled to serve a mortal for having slain the Cyclops. Apollo prevailed on the Fates to grant that Admetus should never die if another would lay down his life for him. This Alcestis did, but was brought back from the lower world by Hercules.

=Adonis= (_a-dō´nis_).--A beautiful youth beloved by Venus. While hunting he was killed by a wild boar, and was changed by Venus into the anemone. The grief of Venus was so great that the gods of the nether regions allowed him to spend six months of every year with Venus upon the earth. (This myth seems to refer to the apparent death of nature in winter and its revival in spring; hence Adonis spends six months in the lower and a like period in the upper world.)

=Æacus= (_ē´ak-us_).--Son of Jupiter and Ægina. It is related that at his birth in the island of Ægina, which was named after his mother, there were no inhabitants on the island, and that Jupiter changed the ants there into men; hence the latter were called Myrmidones (Gr. ants), and Æacus ruled over them. Æacus was renowned throughout Greece for his justice and piety, and after his death became one of the three judges in Hades (the other two being Rhadamanthus and Minos).

=Aedon= (_a-ē´dōn_).--Daughter of Pandareus and wife of Zethus, king of Thebes. Jealous of Niobe, her brother Amphion’s wife, having six sons and six daughters, while she had but one son, she determined to kill the eldest of Niobe’s sons, but by mistake slew her own son Itylus. Jupiter changed her into a nightingale, whose melancholy notes are represented as Ædon’s lamentations for her son.

=Æetes= (_ē-ē´tēz_) or =Æeta=, (_ē-ē´ta_).--Son of Helios (the sun) and Persëis, and king of Colchis at the time Phrixus had fled to his court on a ram with golden fleece, the gift of Mercury. (See “Phrixus.”) After having sacrificed to Jupiter the ram that had carried him, Phrixus gave its golden fleece to Æetes, who suspended it to an oak tree in the grove of Mars, where it was guarded day and night by an ever-watchful dragon. It was, however, greatly coveted, and an expedition was fitted out, consisting of all the great heroes of the age, with the special object, which proved successful, of obtaining it. (See “Argonautæ.”)

=Ægæon= (_ē-jē´ōn_).--Son of Uranus (heaven) and Gæa (earth). Ægæon and his brothers, Gyas and Cottus, were huge monsters with a hundred arms and fifty heads. Ægæon and his brothers, who are often called the Uranids, conquered the Titans when they made war upon the gods, and secured the victory to Jupiter, who thrust the Titans into Tartarus, and placed Ægæon and his brothers to guard them. Ægæon is often referred to under the name Briareus.

=Æneas= (_ē-nē´as_), the hero of Virgil’s great epic poem the _Æneid_ (_ē-ne´id_), was the son of Anchises and Venus, and was born on Mount Ida. Having been attacked on Mount Ida by Achilles, who also drove away his flocks, he led the Dardanians against the Greeks, and at once took part in the Trojan war. Æneas and Hector were the great Trojan heroes, and the former, being beloved by gods and men, was on more than one occasion saved in battle by the gods. Venus saved him from Diomedes, and Neptune from Achilles, when the latter was on the point of killing him. From the flames of Troy he carried on his back his father, Anchises, and the household gods, and led Ascanius, his son, leaving his wife, Creusa, daughter of Priam, to follow. Æneas then set out on those wanderings that form the subject of the _Æneid_. After visiting Epirus and Sicily he was driven by a storm on the coast of Africa, where he met with Dido, queen of Carthage, who hospitably entertained him and became enamored of him. Æneas, however, left suddenly, and Dido (_q.v._) killed herself. He then sailed to Latium, where he married Lavinia, the daughter of King Latinus, and founded the town of Lavinium, so named in honor of his wife. Turnus, to whom Lavinia had been betrothed, made war against Latinus and Æneas, but was slain by the latter, who now became ruler of the Aborigines and Trojans. Soon afterwards, however, he was slain in battle by the Rutulians.

=Æolus= (_ē´o-lus_).--The happy ruler of the Æolian Islands. He had been given, by Jupiter, dominion over the winds, which he kept enclosed in a mountain. When Ulysses was on his journey from Troy to Ithaca, Æolus gave him all the adverse winds in bags, but his companions, from curiosity, opened them.

=Æsculapius= (_ēs-kū-lā´pi-us_).--The god of healing. He was the son of Apollo and Coronis, and was brought up by Chiron, the centaur, who instructed him in the art of healing and in hunting. When he was grown up, he not only healed the sick, but recalled the dead to life. He was killed by a thunderbolt by Jupiter, who feared lest men should, by his aid, escape death altogether. Serpents were sacred to him, and the cock was sacrificed to him.

=Agamemnon= (_ag-a-mem´nōn_).--King of Mycenæ, and brother of Menelaus. He married Clytemnestra, who bore him Iphigenia, Chrysothemis, Laodice (Electra) and Orestes. He was the most powerful prince in Greece. When Helen (_q.v._) was carried off by Paris, and the Greek chiefs sought to regain her, Agamemnon was chosen commander-in-chief of the expedition. He is not, however, the hero of the _Iliad_, as he is the inferior of Achilles in true nobility of character. At the capture of Troy he received Cassandra, the daughter of Priam, as his prize. On his return home he was murdered by Ægisthus, who, during his absence at Troy, had been living with Agamemnon’s wife Clytemnestra. His son Orestes avenged his father’s death by slaying both Ægisthus and Clytemnestra.

=Aganippe= (_ag-a-nip´pē_).--A fountain at the foot of Mount Helicon, in Bœotia, sacred to the Muses, who were hence called Aganippides (_ag-a-nip´pi-dēz_).

=Ajax= (_ā´jaks_).--There are two heroes having this name, Ajax the Great, or Ajax Telamonius, and The Lesser Ajax, or Ajax Oïleus. (i) Ajax the Great was son of Telamon, king of Salamis, and grandson of Æacus. He took a very prominent part in the Trojan war, and was placed second to Achilles alone in bravery. He was conquered by Ulysses in struggle for the armor of Achilles, and this, according to Homer, was the cause of his death. (ii) The Lesser Ajax, or Ajax, son of Oïleus, also took part in the Trojan war. He was, next to Achilles, the most swift-footed among the Greeks.

=Alcathous= (_al-kath´o-us_).--Son of Pelops and Hippodamia. Obtained his wife by slaying the Cithæronian lion, which had killed the king’s son, and succeeded his father-in-law as king of Megara, the walls of which he restored.

=Alcestis= or =Alceste= (_al-ses´tē_).--Wife of Admetus (_q.v._).

=Alcmene= (_alk-mē´nē_).--Wife of Amphitryon. Jupiter, who appeared disguised as her husband, became by her the father of Hercules.

=Alcyone= (_al´si-on-ē_) or =Halcyone=.--Daughter of Æolus and wife of Ceyx. Her husband having perished in a shipwreck, Alcyone’s grief became so intense that she threw herself into the sea. Out of compassion the gods changed the two into birds, and while these birds (halcyons) were breeding the sea always remained calm.

=Alecto= (_a-lek´tô_).--One of the Furies (_q.v._).

=Aloeus= (_al-lō´-ūs_).--Son of Neptune and Canace. His wife had, by Neptune, two sons, Otus and Ephialtes, the Aloidæ (_a-lō´i-dē_), who were of extraordinary size and strength. At the age of nine years they attempted to scale heaven by piling Mount Ossa upon Olympus and Pelion upon Ossa. To prevent them accomplishing this when they grew older Apollo destroyed them before their beards began to appear.

=Althæa= (_al-the´a_).--Wife of Æneus and mother of Meleager (_q.v._).

=Amalthea= (_am-al-thē´a_).--Nurse of the infant Jupiter in Crete, whom she fed with goat’s milk. Jupiter broke off one of the horns of the goat and gave it the power of becoming filled with whatever the possessor might wish; hence it was called the _cornucopia_--_i.e._, horn of plenty.

=Amazones= (_a-māz´on-ēz_).--The Amazones, a mythical race of warlike women living near the river Thermodon. The female children had their right breasts cut off that they might use the bow with greater ease; hence their name _Amazon_, which means, “without breast.” One of the twelve labors of Hercules was to obtain the girdle of Hippolyte, the queen of the Amazons. They came, under their queen, Penthesilea, to the assistance of Priam in the Trojan war; but she was killed by Achilles.

=Amphion= (_am-fi´ōn_).--Son of Jupiter and Antiope, and twin-brother of Zethus. They were born on Mount Cithæron, and were brought up by a shepherd. Amphion received a lyre from Mercury, on which he learned to play with marvelous skill. Amphion married Niobe (_q.v._).

=Amphitrite= (_am-fi-trī´tē_).--Wife of Neptune and goddess of the sea. She was the mother of Triton.

=Ancæus= (_an-sē´us_).--One of the Argonauts. Having left a cup of wine untasted to pursue a wild boar, he was killed by it, which gave rise to the proverb. “There’s many a slip twixt the cup and the lip.”

=Anchises= (_an-kī´sēz_).--Son of Capys and Themis, the daughter of Ilus, king of Dardanus, on Mount Ida. He was so handsome that he was beloved by Venus, who became by him the mother of Æneas. On the capture of Troy by the Greeks, he was carried off on his son’s shoulders from the burning city. He set forth with Æneas for Italy, but died and was buried in Sicily.

=Androgeos= (_an-droj´e-ōs_).--Son of Minos and Pasiphaë. Slain at the instigation of King Ægus, after having overcome all his opponents in the Panathenæa, at Athens. To avenge his death Minos made war on the Athenians, and compelled them to send every year to Crete seven youths and seven maidens to be devoured by the Minotaur (_q.v._). Theseus, however, slew the monster, and so delivered them from the terrible tribute.

=Andromache= (_an-drom´a-kē_); literal meaning, “fighting with men.”--Daughter of King Eëtion and wife of Hector, by whom she had a son, Scamandrius, or Astyanax. On the taking of Troy she fell to the lot of Neoptolemus (Pyrrhus), the son of Achilles, who took her to Epirus, and treated her as his wife. She afterwards married Hector’s brother Helenus.

=Andromeda= (_an-drom´e-da_).--Daughter of Cepheus, king of Æthiopia, and Cassiopea. Her beauty was so great that her mother boasted that she surpassed in that respect the Nereids, the marine nymphs of the Mediterranean. Consequently, Neptune sent a sea-monster to lay waste the country. The oracle of Ammon promised deliverance, on condition that Andromeda was chained to a rock and left to the fury of the monster. This was done, but she was saved by Perseus (_q.v._), who slew the monster and obtained Andromeda for his wife. Having been previously promised to her uncle Phineus, however, the latter appeared at the wedding, and a great fight ensued in which Phineus and all associated with him were slain. After her death Andromeda was placed among the stars.

=Antaeus= (_an-tē´us_).--A giant of Libya (_i.e._ Africa), son of Neptune and Earth, who remained invincible so long as he touched his mother Earth. Hercules, having discovered this, held him up in the air and squeezed him to death.

=Antenor= (_ant-ē´nor_).--One of the wisest of the elders of Troy. When Menelaus and Ulysses came to Troy as ambassadors he received them, and advised the Trojans to give up Helen to Menelaus, which, however, they refused to do. When the city was captured by the Greeks Antenor’s life was spared.

=Aphrodite= (_af-ro-di´tē_)--_i.e._ sea-foam.--The goddess of love and beauty, called Aphrodite by the Greeks, because she was supposed to have been born from the sea-foam. She was called Venus by the Romans. See “Venus.”

=Apollo= (_a-poll´ō_).--The sun-god. He was the son of Jupiter and Latona, and twin-brother of Diana. Apollo was the god of music and the fine arts, of prophecy, and the god who protects flocks and cattle. He is also represented as taking great interest in the foundation and government of cities, and was looked upon as the god who punishes; hence carrying a bow and arrows. He had a celebrated oracle at Delphi. The invention of the flute and lyre was ascribed to Apollo. He was challenged to musical contests by Marsyas and Pan (see “Marsyas” and “Midas”). Apollo, as sun-god, is frequently called Phœbus--_i.e._ the bright one. There are several statues of Apollo, the most beautiful being the Apollo Belvedere at Rome.

=Arachne= (_ar-ak´nē_).--A Lydian maiden who so greatly excelled in the art of weaving that she challenged Minerva to a trial of skill. Being defeated, she hanged herself, and was changed by the goddess into a spider. This fable indicates that man learned the art of weaving from the spider, and that it was first pursued in Lydia. Arachne is the Greek word for spider.

=Ares= (_ā´rēz_).--The Greek god of war. See “Mars.”

=Arethusa= (_a-re-thū´sa_).--One of the Nereids or marine nymphs of the Mediterranean. She was the nymph of the celebrated fountain of Arethusa in the island of Ortygia, near Syracuse. Arethusa was being pursued by the river-god Alpheus, when she was changed by Diana into the fountain of the same name.

=Argonautæ= (_ar-go-naw´tē_).--The Argonauts, or sailors of the Argo, were the heroes who went with Jason on the celebrated expedition to Colchis to recover the golden fleece. The origin of the expedition was as follows: Jason’s father had been deprived of his kingdom by his half-brother Pelias, who also, to make himself more secure, attempted to take the life of Jason, then an infant. The latter, was, however, saved, and given over to the care of the centaur Chiron. When he grew up Pelias promised to surrender the kingdom to him on what he considered to be an impossible condition--namely that he brought him the golden fleece. This golden fleece (for the history of which see “Phrixus”) was suspended to an oak in the grove of Mars, in Colchis, and was guarded day and night by a dragon. Jason at once undertook the enterprise, and instructed Argus, son of Phrixus, to build a ship with fifty oars, which he called the Argo, from the name of the builder. Minerva herself superintended the building of the ship. In the expedition Jason was accompanied by all the great heroes of the age--Hercules, Laertes, Theseus, Ajax, etc.--to the number of fifty. After an adventurous voyage they at length arrived at their destination. Æëtes (_q.v._), king of Colchis, on learning the object of their visit, promised to give up the golden fleece if Jason would perform the following feats: first, tame two bulls, which had brazen feet and vomited fire, and yoke them to a plow; second, sow the unused teeth of the dragon slain by Cadmus (_q.v._), from which armed men would spring, and slay them with his own hand; third kill the dragon who guarded the fleece. Medea, daughter of Æëtes, who was well skilled in magic, enabled Jason, with whom she had fallen in love, to do all these things; and, after taking the treasure, he and his Argonauts and Medea embarked by night and sailed away. After another eventful journey they finally reached Colchis again.

=Argus= (_ar´gus_).--A being with a hundred eyes; hence called “Panoptes” (_pan-op´tēz_).--_i.e._ the all-seeing. Juno appointed him to watch over the cow into which Io had been changed; but Mercury, at the command of Jupiter, lulled him to sleep by playing on his flute, and then cut off his head. Juno transplanted his eyes to the tail of the peacock, her favorite bird.

=Ariadne= (_ar-i-ad´nē_).--Daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë. When Theseus was sent as part of the yearly tribute of seven youths and seven maidens to be devoured in the labyrinth by the Minotaur, Ariadne fell in love with him, and gave him the clue of thread, by means of which he escaped from the labyrinth. Theseus promised to marry her, and they left Crete together; but he deserted her in Naxos, where she was found by Bacchus, who made her his wife. At their marriage he gave her a crown of seven stars, which after her death was made a constellation.

=Aricia= (_a-ri´si-a_).--A town of Latium, sixteen miles from Rome, near which was a celebrated grove and temple of Diana.

=Arion= (_a-rī´on_).--A celebrated lyric poet and cithara player of Methymna, in Lesbos, about B. C. 625. Once, when returning from a successful musical contest in Sicily, the sailors, in order to possess themselves of his presents, were about to murder him, but, on his urgent entreaty, allowed him to play once more on his cithara. He then invoked the gods, and threw himself into the sea. He was not drowned, however, for one of a number of dolphins that had been attracted round the vessel by his sweet strains took him on his back and bore him safely to land.

=Aristæus= (_ar-is-tē´us_).--Son of Apollo and Cyrene, who is said to have taught men the management of bees, and to have first planted olive trees. He was, after his death, worshiped as a god, and regarded as the protector of flocks and shepherds, of vine and olive plantations.

=Artemis= (_ar´tem-is_).--The Greek name of Diana (_q. v._).

=Ascanius= (_as-kā´ni-us_).--Son of Æneas and Creusa, afterwards called Iulus. He founded Alba Longa, and was succeeded on the throne by his son Silvius.

=Asgard.=--In Scandinavian mythology Asgard represents the city of the gods, situated at the center of the universe, and accessible only by the bridge Bifrost _i. e._, the rainbow.

=Asir.=--In northern mythology the most powerful, though not the oldest, of the deities; usually reckoned as twelve gods and twelve goddesses. The gods are Odin, Thor, Baldur, Niörd, Frey, Tyr, Bragi, Heimdall, Vidar, Vali, Ullur, and Forseti; the best-known of the goddesses, Frigga, Freyja, Iduna, and Saga.

=Assaracus= (_as-sar´a-cus_).--King of Troy, son of Tros, father of Capys, the father of Anchises.

=Astarte= (_as-tar´tē_).--A powerful goddess of Syria, corresponding to the Roman Venus.

=Astræa= (_as-trē´a_).--Goddess of justice, daughter of Jupiter and Themis; lived during the golden age among men.

=Astræus= (_as-trē´us_).--A Titan, husband of Aurora (the goddess of the dawn), and father of the winds and the stars.

=Astyanax= (_as-tī´an-ax_)--_i. e._ lord of the city.--A name given by the people of Troy to Scamandrius (or Scamander), son of Hector and Andromache, because his father was the protector of Troy. His mother saved him from the flames at the fall of Troy, but the Greeks hurled him down from the walls.

=Atalanta= (_at-a-lan´ta_).--A maiden of great beauty and exceedingly swift of foot, who determined to live in celibacy. She was the daughter of Iasus and Clymene, and was exposed by her father in her infancy. She was, however, suckled by a she-bear, the symbol of Diana. She took part in the celebrated Calydonian boar hunt, and received the boar’s hide from Meleager, who slew the animal. She was subsequently recognized by her father, who desired her to marry. She agreed to do so on condition that every suitor should run a race with her, and that the first that outran her should be her husband, but all those whom she beat in the race should be put to death. In this way many suitors perished; but at last came Milanion (_mī-lan´i-on_), who, with the aid of Venus, reached the goal first, and was rewarded with her hand. The goddess gave him three golden apples, which he dropped during the race, one after the other. Attracted by their beauty, Atalanta stopped to pick them up, thus enabling Milanion to reach the goal first. “Atalanta’s race” has formed the subject of several magnificent pictures.

=Athamas= (_ath´am-as_).--King of Orchomenus, in Bœotia. He married Nephele, who bore him Helle and Phrixus. He fell in love, however, with Ino, daughter of Cadmus, whom he married, and became by her the father of Melicertes and Learchus. As he had married Nephele at the command of Juno, he thus incurred the wrath of both Juno and Nephele, and was seized with madness. In this state he slew his son Learchus. Ino and Melicertes then leaped into the sea and became changed into marine deities, Leucothea and Palæmon respectively.

=Athena= (_a-thē´na_).--The great divinity of the Greeks, corresponding to the Roman Minerva (_q. v._).

=Athenæum= (_a-thē-nē´um_).--A school founded by the emperor Hadrian at Rome, about A. D. 133, for the advancement of literature and philosophy. The name Athenæum means a place sacred to Minerva, who was the goddess of wisdom.

=Atlas= (_at´las_).--A Titan, son of Japetus and Clymene, and brother of Prometheus and Epimetheus. It is related that Perseus, after his conquest of the Gorgons, asked Atlas to shelter him, which Atlas declined to do. Whereupon Perseus, by exposing Medusa’s head, changed him into the mountain Atlas (in the northwest of Africa), on which rested heaven and all the stars. Atlas married Pleione (_plē´i-ō-nē_), daughter of Oceanus, and became by her the father of the Pleiades (_plē´i-a-dēz_).