Part 211

=Danaides= (_dan-ā´i-dēz_).--The fifty daughters of King Danaus (_q.v._).

=Danaus= (_dan´a-us_).--Son of Belus and twin-brother of Ægyptus (see “Ægyptus”). Lynceus, son of Belus, whose life was spared by Hypermnestra, avenged the death of his brothers by killing his father-in-law, Danaus. The fifty daughters of Danaus--called the Danaides--were punished in the lower world by being compelled everlastingly to pour water into a sieve. From Danaus, who was king of Argos (which was the most ancient city of Greece), the Greeks collectively were called Danai.

=Daphne= (_daf´nē_).--Daughter of the river-god Peneus. Her great beauty attracted the god Apollo, who pursued her; but just as she was being overtaken her prayer for aid was answered by her being changed into a laurel tree, the Greek word for which is Daphne. This tree consequently became the favorite tree of Apollo and was sacred to him.

=Dardanus= (_dar´dan-us_).--Son of Jupiter and Electra, the mythical ancestor of the Trojans.

=Deianira= (_dē-ya-nī´ra_).--Daughter of Œneus and wife of Hercules. She was beloved by the river god Achelous and by Hercules; but Hercules overcame his opponent in a fight for her, and obtained her as his wife. She accidentally killed her husband by giving him a poisoned garment to wear, and on seeing what she had done hanged herself (see “Hercules”).

=Deidamia= (_dē-id-a-mī´a_).--Daughter of Lycomedes, at whose court Achilles was concealed in maiden’s attire. She became, by Achilles, the mother of Pyrrhus or Neoptolemus.

=Deiphobus= (_dē-if´ob-us_).--Son of Priam and Hecuba. After the death of Paris he married Helen. He was killed in a barbarous manner by Menelaus, Helen’s first husband.

=Delos= (_dē´los_).--The smallest of the Cyclades (islands), the birthplace of Apollo and Diana, and the most holy seat of the worship of the former.

=Delphi= (_del´fī_).--A small town in Phocis, very celebrated on account of its oracle of Apollo. Homer always refers to it under its old name, Pytho. It was looked upon as the central point of the whole earth, and was hence called “the navel of the earth.” The oracle was consulted in the center of the splendid temple of Apollo. Here there was a small opening in the ground, from which a mephitic vapor occasionally arose. A tripod was placed over this opening, and the priestess--called Pythia, from Pytho--sat on it. In this way she inhaled the vapor, and the words she then uttered were believed to be inspired by Apollo. The priests took the words down and communicated them to the persons who had desired to consult the oracle.

=Demeter= (_dē-mē-tēr_). See “Ceres.”

=Deucalion= (_dū-kā´li-on_).--Son of Prometheus, king of Phthia, in Thessaly, and husband of Pyrrha. He and his wife were the only human survivors of a great deluge which Jupiter sent to destroy mankind. They were preserved during the nine days’ flood in a ship which Deucalion built on the advice of his father. The ship finally rested on Mount Parnassus, in Phocis. On the direction of Themis, Deucalion and his wife threw “the bones of their mother,” _i. e._ the stones of the earth, behind them, those thrown by Deucalion becoming men, and those thrown by Pyrrha becoming women. In this way the earth was repeopled.

=Diana= (_dī-ā´na_).--Twin-sister of Apollo, the virgin goddess of the moon and of hunting, called by the Greeks Artemis (_ar´te-mis_). She was the daughter of Jupiter and Latona, and was born on the island of Delos. She is represented as armed with a bow, quiver and arrows, and was also regarded as identical with the moon (in Greek, Selene), her brother Apollo being looked upon as the sun (or Helois).

=Dido= (_dī´dō_).--Daughter of the Tyrian king Belus, and reputed founder of Carthage. Æneas, on his journey from Troy, landed at Carthage, and was handsomely entertained by Dido. She fell in love with the hero, and, on his leaving her to proceed to Italy, she, in despair, destroyed herself on a funeral pile. Dido is also called Elissa.

=Diomedes= (_di-o-mē´dēz_).--A famous hero at the siege of Troy. He was the son of Tydeus and Deïpyle, and is hence frequently called Tydides (_ti-dī´dēz_). Next to Achilles, he was the bravest hero in the Greek army. The gods themselves were supposed to be taking part in this memorable siege, some being ranged on one side and some on the other. Diomedes was under the special protection of Minerva. He not only engaged in conflict with the Trojan heroes, Hector and Æneas, but even wounded both Venus and Mars, who had espoused the cause of the Trojans. Diomedes and Ulysses carried off the palladium from the city of Troy, the safety of which was contingent on its possession (see “Troy”). At the end of the Trojan war he returned to Argos, where he found his wife (Ægialea) living in adultery with Hippolytus--a punishment visited upon him by the angry Venus. He consequently left Argos, and went to Ætolia. He afterwards settled at Daunia, in Italy, where he married Evippe, the daughter of Daunus, and died at an advanced age.

=Dione= (_di-ō´nē_).--A female Titan who became, by Jupiter, the mother of Venus.

=Dirce= (_dir´sē_).--Wife of Lycus, king of Thebes, who married her after divorcing his former wife, Antiope (_an´ti-o-pē_). On account of the cruelty with which she treated Antiope, Amphion and Zethus--Antiope’s sons by Jupiter--took terrible vengeance on Dirce. They tied her to a wild bull, which dragged her about till she perished, and then threw her body into a fountain near Thebes, which was from that time called the Fountain of Dirce.

=Dis= (_dīs_).--A contraction of Dives, _i. e._ rich; the god of the infernal regions. See “Pluto.”

=Discordia= (_dis-kor´di-a_); in Greek, Eris (_er´is_).--The goddess of strife or discord. She was the sister of Mars, and, with him, delighted in the noise and tumult of war. It was she who threw the celebrated golden apple into the assembly of gods, for a full account of the results of which see “Paris.”

=Donar.=--A name given, sometimes, to Thor, the thunder-god, in Norse mythology.

=Doris= (_dōr´is_).--Daughter of Oceanus and Thetis. She married her brother Nereus (_q.v._), and became the mother of the fifty Nereides.

=Draupnir.=--The marvelous ring belonging to Odin, with which he worked magic. It was burned on the funeral pyre of his son Balder.

=Droma.=--The chain forged for the purpose of binding the Fenris wolf, but which he broke. Hence the proverb, “to dash out of Droma.”

=Dryades= (_dry´a-dez_), or =Dryads=.--Wood-nymphs. See “Nymphæ.”

=E=

=Echidna= (_e-kīd´na_).--A monster, half woman and half serpent. She was the mother of the Chimæra, Cerberus, the Lernean Hydra, and other monsters. She was killed in her sleep by Argus with the hundred eyes.

=Echo= (_ek´ō_).--A nymph who, because she kept Juno in incessant conversation while Jupiter was sporting with the nymphs, was punished by being changed into an echo. In this state she fell in love with Narcissus--a beautiful youth, who was incapable of the tender passion--and, as her love was not returned, she pined away till nothing remained but her voice.

=Elbegast.=--One of the dwarfs of Scandinavian mythology who dwelt in a magnificent palace underground, and drew their servants from the bosom of the earth.

=Elberich.=--In the German hero-legends a dwarf who aided the Lombard emperor Otnit to win the daughter of the soldan of Syria. He is identical with the Oberon of French and English fairy mythology.

=Egil.=--The Vulcan of northern mythology, one of the three brothers who married the swan-maidens. He was a great archer, killed his brother, Volünd, by command of the king, and himself later became a peasant.

=Electra= (_e-lek´tra_).--Daughter of Agamemnon and Clytæmnestra. She saved the life of her brother Orestes, and afterwards the two avenged the death of Agamemnon by slaying their mother, Clytæmnestra. See “Orestes.”

=Eira.=--An attendant of the goddess Fuigga, and a skillful nurse. She gathered herbs and plants for the cure of both sickness and wounds and taught the science to women.

=Eleusis= (_el-ū´sis_).--A very ancient city of Attica, famous for its mysteries of Ceres, to whom was erected a magnificent temple.

=Elis= (_ē´lis_).--A country on the west coast of the Peloponnesus. In it was Olympia, where every four years a splendid festival was held in honor of Jupiter.

=Elysium= (_e-lizh´i-um_).--The Elysian fields. That part of the lower world which forms the abode of the blessed.

=Enceladus= (_en-sel´ad-us_).--One of the hundred-armed giants who made war upon the gods. He was slain by Jupiter, and buried under Mount Ætna.

=Endymion= (_en-dim´i-on_).--A youth of surpassing beauty who so moved the cold heart of the virgin goddess of the moon (Diana or Selene), that she kept him in a perpetual sleep on Mount Latmus, in Caria, that she might kiss him without his knowledge.

=Eos= (_ē´ōz_).--See “Aurora.”

=Ephesus= (_ef´e-sus_).--The chief of the twelve Ionian cities in Asia Minor, with a celebrated temple of Diana. The latter was regarded as one of the wonders of the world. It was always a very flourishing city, and was visited by St. Paul and St. John.

=Elf.=--The water sprite, known also as Elb, from which the name of the river Elbe is said to be derived. Elves are more properly known as mountain fairies, or those airy creatures that dance on the grass or sit in the leaves of trees and delight in the full moon.

=Elivagar.=--In Norse mythology the name of a great stream in Chaos, flowing from a fountain in the land of mist. This stream was much frequented by the elves at their creation.

=Erato= (_er’a-tō_).--The Muse of amatory poetry. See “Musæ.”

=Erebus= (_er´e-bus_).--The god of darkness, son of Chaos and brother of Nox (night). The name signifies darkness, and is frequently used to designate the lower world.

=Erechtheus= (_e-rek´thūs_).--An ancient and mythical king of Athens. See “Athenæ.”

=Eridanus= (_ē-rid´an-us_).--The Greek name of the river Padus (Po), into which Phaethon fell when struck by the lightning of Jupiter. See “Phaethon.”

=Erinyes= (_er-in´i-es_).--The Furiæ (_q.v._).

=Erl-king.=--Name given to the king of the elves, or a spirit of the air. According to tradition, its home is in the Black Forest of Germany, and it appears as a goblin, working harm and ruin, especially among children.

=Eryx= (_er´ix_).--A high mountain in the northwest of Sicily, on the summit of which stood an ancient and celebrated temple of Venus.

=Eumenides= (_ū-men´i-dēz_).--See “Furiæ.”

=Euphrosyne.=--See “Charites.”

=Europa= (_ū-rō´pa_).--The beautiful daughter of the Phœnician king Agenor. Jupiter was so charmed with her that he obtained possession of her by the following stratagem: He assumed the form of a bull among the herds of Agenor, and Europa and her maidens were delighted with the tameness of the noble animal, so much so that at length Europa ventured to mount his back, whereupon the god plunged into the sea and carried her over to Crete. Here Jupiter assumed his proper shape, and Europa bore him Minos, Rhadamanthus and Sarpedon.

=Eurydice= (_ū-rid´i-sē_).--Wife of Orpheus (_q.v._).

=Eurystheus= (_ū-ris´thūs_).--Son of Sthenelus and grandson of Perseus, a king of Mycenæ. Jealous of the fame of Hercules, and wishing to destroy him, Eurystheus, at the command of Juno, imposed upon Hercules his famous twelve labors.

=Euterpe= (_ū-ter´pē_).--One of the Muses (_q.v._).

=F=

=Fada.=--A fée or kobold of the south of France, sometimes called “Hada.” These house-spirits, of which, strictly speaking, there are but three, bring good luck in their right hand and ill luck in their left.

=Fafnir.=--In northern mythology the eldest son of the dwarf king Hreidmar. The slaying of Fafnir is the destruction of the demon of cold or darkness who had stolen the golden light of the sun.

=Fates.=--See “Parcæ.”

=Faunus= (_faw´nus_).--Son of Picus, grandson of Saturn, institutor of tillage and grazing, and after his death the protecting deity of agriculture and of shepherds, and also a giver of oracles. He is identical with the Greek god Pan, and is represented with horns and goat’s feet.

=Faustulus= (_faws´tu-lus_).--A shepherd who brought up Romulus and Remus.

=Flora= (_flō´ra_).--The Roman goddess of flowers and spring.

=Fortuna= (_for-tū´na_); called Tyche (_tik´ē_) by the Greeks. The goddess of fortune. She is variously represented: with the horn of plenty, indicative of the plentiful gifts of fortune; with a rudder, to signify that she guides the affairs of men; with a ball, emblematic of the shifting and changing character of the fickle goddess.

=Freki= and =Geri=.--The two wolves of Odin. When Odin, seated on his throne, overlooks heaven and earth, his two wolves lie at his feet.

=Frey.=--Scandinavian god of the sun and of rain, and hence of fertility and peace. He was one of the most popular of the northern divinities. No weapons were ever allowed in Frey’s temple, although oxen and horses were sacrificed to him. His name was connected with the taking of any solemn oath, a heavy gold ring being dipped in the blood of the sacrifice and the oath sworn upon the ring. One of the most celebrated of the temples built to Frey was at Therva, in Iceland.

=Freyja.=--She was the sister of Frey, and the wife of Odur, who abandoned her on her loss of youth and beauty, and was changed into a statue by Odin, as a punishment. She is known as the northern goddess of beauty and love; plants were called Freyja’s hair, and the butterfly, Freyja’s hen.

=Frigga.=--In Scandinavian mythology the wife of Odin, the queen of the gods, and the mother of Baldur, Thor, etc. She sometimes typifies the earth, as Odin does the heavens. The Anglo-Saxons worshiped her as Frea. The name survives in Friday.

=Frodi.=--The son of Frey, a god of peace. Under his direction two giantesses turned a pair of magic millstones which ground out gold according to his wish and filled his coffers. Excited by greed he forced them to labor, allowing rest only long enough for the singing of one verse. When Frodi himself slept, the giantesses changed their song and proceeded to grind out an army of troops to invade the land. These troops represent the vikings.

=Furiæ= (_fū´ri-ē_).--The Furies; called Eumenides (_ū-men´-i-dēz_), _i. e._ the gracious or well-meaning ones, by the Greeks; three goddesses of vengeance, whom the Greeks so much dreaded that they dared not to call them by their real names, hence referred to them by the euphemism Eumenides. The Romans also called them Diræ (_dī´rē_). Their names were Alecto (_a-lek´tō_), Megæra (_me-gē´ra_) and Tisiphone (_tī-sif´-onē_). They were the daughters of Earth or of Night, and were terrible winged maidens with serpents twined in their hair and with blood dripping from their eyes. They were stern and inexorable, punishing the guilty both in this world and after death. They dwelt in Tartarus--_i. e._ Hades. The sacrifices offered to them were black sheep and a drink of honey mixed with water, the latter, called a _libation_ (_lī-bā´shun_), being poured forth out of a cup in their honor.

=G=

=Galatea= (_gal-a-tē´a_).--A sea nymph. See “Acis.”

=Ganesa.=--Goddess of wisdom, in Hindu mythology.

=Gangler.=--The gate-keeper in Odin’s palace who gave the explanation of the northern mythology that it might be recorded.

=Ganymedes= (_gan-i-mē´dēz_), or =Ganymede= (_gan´i-mēd_).--Son of Tros and Callirrhoe, a beautiful youth who was carried off by Jupiter’s eagle from Mount Ida to heaven, that he might be cup-bearer to the gods in place of Hebe. Jupiter compensated his father by presenting him with a pair of divine horses.

=Garm.=--A fierce dog that kept guard at the entrance of Hel’s kingdom, the realm of the dead. He could be appeased by the offering of a Hel-cake which always appeared in the hand of one who, on earth, had given bread to the needy.

=Genius= (_jē´ni-us_).--The protecting spirit or genius of a person, place, etc.; called by the Greeks Dæmon. They were represented as the guardians of men and of justice, and the Greek philosophers held that every human being at his birth had a dæmon assigned to him, which accompanied him throughout life. Every place, also, had its genius, which appeared in the form of a serpent eating fruit placed before him. In works of art genii are commonly represented as winged beings.

=Gerda.=--Wife of Frey, and daughter of the frost giant Gymir. She is so beautiful that the brightness of her naked arms illuminates both air and sea.

=Giallar Bridge.=--The bridge of death, over which all must pass.

=Giallar Horn, The.=--Heimdall’s horn, which went out into all worlds whenever he chose to blow it. According to northern mythology, he blew a long-expected blast as a rallying call to the battle which ended the reign of the gods Odin, Frey, and Tyr.

=Gian ben Gian.=--In Arabia, king of the Ginns or Genii, and founder of the Pyramids. He was overthrown by Azazel or Lucifer.

=Gigantes= (_ji-gan´tēz_).--A fabulous race of huge beings, with terrible countenances and the tails of dragons. They endeavored to storm the heavens, being armed with huge rocks and trunks of trees; but the gods, with the assistance of Hercules, destroyed them all, and buried them under Ætna and other volcanoes. This story probably had its origin in volcanic convulsions.

=Glaucus= (_glaw´kus_).--(i) A fisherman who became a sea-god by eating a part of the divine herb sown by Saturn, (ii) Son of Sisyphus. Was torn to pieces by his own mares, because he had despised the power of Venus. (iii) The commander of the Lycians in the Trojan war. He was slain by Ajax.

=Golden Fleece.=--See “Argonautæ.”

=Gill.=--The infernal river of Scandinavian mythology.

=Ginungagap.=--In Norse mythology the vast chaotic gulf of perpetual twilight which existed before the present world, and separated the region of fog from the region of heat. Giants were the first beings who came to life among the icebergs that filled this vast abyss.

=Gorgons= (_gor’gonz_).--Three frightful female monsters who turned all they looked upon into stone. Their names were Medusa (_me-dū´-sa_), Euryale (_ū-rī´al-e_) and Stheno (_sthē´no_), and they were daughters of Phorcys and Ceto. Their heads were covered with serpents in place of hair, and they had wings, frightful teeth and brazen claws. Of the three, Medusa alone was mortal. She was killed by Perseus (_q.v._).

=Gladsheim.=--The palace of Odin, in which were the great hall Valhalla (the hall of the slain) and the twelve seats occupied by the gods when holding council.

=Glasir.=--A marvelous grove in Asgard, in which the leaves were all of shimmering red gold.

=Glendoveer.=--In Hindu mythology is a kind of sylph, the most lovely of the good spirits.

=Gnome.=--One of a class of spirits or imaginary beings which were supposed to tenant the interior parts of the earth, and in whose charge mines, quarries, etc., were left. Rübezahl, of the German legends, is often cited as a representative of the class.

=Goblins and Bogies=.--Familiar demons of popular superstition, a spirit which lurks about houses. It is also called hobgoblin. Goblin is used in a serious sense by Shakespeare in _Hamlet_, where the ghost is supposed to be a “spirit of health or goblin damned.”

=Graces, The Three.=--See “Charites.”

=Gradivus= (_grad-i´vus_).--_i. e._ the marching one. A surname of Mars.

=Grææ= (_grē´ē_), lit., “the old women” (Gr.).--So called because they had gray hair from their birth. They were the sisters of the Gorgons, and were three in number. They had but one eye and one tooth to use between them.

=Gyas= (_jī´as_), =Gyes= (_jī´ēz_), or =Gyges= (_jī´jēz_).--One of the giants with a hundred hands who made war upon the gods.

=H=

=Hades= (_hā´dez_).--See “Pluto.”

=Hæmon= (_hē´mon_).--Son of Creon, king of Thebes. He loved Antigone, and killed himself on hearing that she was condemned by Creon to be shut up in a subterranean cave.

=Harmonia= (_har-mō´ni-a_).--Daughter of Mars and Venus, and wife of Cadmus. On the wedding-day Cadmus received a necklace, which afterwards became famous, inasmuch as it became fatal to all who possessed it.

=Harpocrates= (_har-pok´ra-tēz_).--The god of mystery and silence, and, on that account, represented as having been born with his finger in his mouth. He was the son of Osiris. His statue stood at the entrance of most of the Egyptian temples.

=Harpyiæ= (_har´pi-ē_).--The Harpies--_i. e._ the Robbers or Spoilers, hideous rapacious monsters, half bird and half woman. They were three in number. Homer described them as carrying off people who had disappeared.

=Hebe= (_hē-bē_).--The goddess of youth, daughter of Jupiter and Juno. She was the cup-bearer to the gods, in which office she was afterwards supplanted by Ganymede. She became the wife of Hercules after he was deified.

=Hecate= (_hek´a-tē_).--Daughter of Perses and Asteria, the presider over enchantments, etc. She was looked upon as a kind of threefold goddess--viz., Luna (the moon) in heaven, Diana on earth, and Proserpine in the lower world--and is accordingly represented with three bodies or three heads. Dogs, honey and black female lambs were sacrificed to her.

=Hector= (_hek´tor_).--Eldest son of Priam, king of Troy, and Hecuba, and husband of Andromache. He was the chief hero of the Trojans in their war with the Greeks. He was slain in single combat by Achilles, who chased him thrice round the walls of the city, and, after having slain him, tied his body to his chariot and dragged it thrice round the walls. The character of Hector as a warrior, husband, father and son is very finely drawn by Homer in the _Iliad_.

=Hecuba= (_hek´u-ba_).--Wife of Priam, king of Troy. After the fall of Troy she was carried away as a slave by the Greeks and suffered great misfortunes.

=Heimdall.=--In northern tales a god who lived in the celestial fort Himinsbjorg, under the farther extremity of the bridge Bifrost, and kept the keys of heaven. He is the watchman or sentinel of Asgard, sees even in sleep, can hear the grass grow, and even the wool on a lamb’s back. Heimdall, at the end of the world, will wake the gods with his trumpet.

=Helena= (_hel´en-a_), or =Helene= (_hel´en-ē_); commonly called Helen of Troy. Daughter of Jupiter and Leda, and sister of Castor and Pollux. She was the greatest beauty of her age, and her hand was sought by the noblest chiefs of Greece. She chose Menelaus (_men-e-lā´us_), and became by him the mother of Hermione. She eloped with Paris (_q.v._) to Troy, and hence arose the Trojan war, as all the Greek chiefs, who had been former suitors of Helen, resolved to avenge her abduction, and sailed with Menelaus against Troy. After the death of Paris she married his brother Deiphobus (_de-if´ob-us_). On the capture of Troy, after a ten years’ siege, she became reconciled to Menelaus, and returned with him to Sparta, where they lived for a number of years in peace and happiness.

=Helenus= (_hel´e-nus_).--A celebrated soothsayer, son of Priam, king of Troy, and Hecuba. He deserted his countrymen and joined the Greeks--some say voluntarily, others that he was taken prisoner by the Greeks.

=Heliades= (_hē´li-a-dēz_).--Daughters of the Sun (Helios). They lamented the death of their brother Phaethon so bitterly that the gods, in compassion, metamorphosed them into poplar trees and their tears into amber.

=Helicon= (_hel´i-kon_).--A mountain in Bœotia, sacred to Apollo and the Muses. The famous fountains of the Muses, Aganippe and Hippocrene, sprang here.

=Helios= (_hē´li-os_).--The god of the sun. See “Phœbus” and “Apollo.”

=Helle= (_hel´lē_).--Sister of Phrixus (_q.v._). When she and her brother were riding through the air upon the ram with the golden fleece she fell into the sea, which was thence called the Hellespont--_i. e._ the sea of Helle; now called the Dardanelles.

=Hephæstus= (_hē-fēs´tus_).--The god of fire. See “Vulcan.”

=Hera.=--See “Juno.”