Part 213

=Lemures.=--The specters or spirits of the dead. They were said to wander about at night, as specters, and to torment and frighten the living. In order to propitiate them the Romans celebrated the festival of the _Lemuralia_ or _Lemuria_.

=Lerna= (_ler´na_).--A forest and marsh near Argos, through which flowed a stream of the same name. Here Hercules killed the famous Lernean hydra. See “Hercules.”

=Lesbos= (_les´bos_).--A celebrated island in the Ægean Sea, off the coast of Mysia. Its principal city was Mytilene. It was the birthplace of Sappho, Arion, Alcæus and Theophrastus.

=Lethe= (_lē´thē_)--_lit._ “forgetfulness” (Gr.).--A river in the lower world, the water of which was drunk by the shades, who thus obtained forgetfulness of the past.

=Leto.=--See “Latona.”

=Liber= (_lī´ber_).--An old Italian deity who presided over planting and fructification. Subsequently the name was applied to Bacchus.

=Libera= (_lī´ber-a_).--Another name for Proserpine, daughter of Ceres, and sister of Liber.

=Libitina= (_lib-i-tī´na_).--The goddess of the dead, in whose temple at Rome everything pertaining to burials was sold or hired out.

=Lidskialf.=--The throne of Alfadir, whence he can view the whole universe.

=Lif.=--In Norse mythology the name given to a man who is to occupy the purified earth when goodness resumes its sway.

=Lilinau.=--In American Indian folk-lore Lilinau was wooed by a phantom. She followed his green waving plume through the forest, and was never seen again.

=Lilith.=--In Hebrew mythology a female specter who lies in wait for children in order to destroy them. The older traditions tell of Lilith as a former wife of Adam and the mother of demons. Amulets were worn as protection from her powers.

=Lobaircin.=--In Irish mythical tales a fairy shoemaker resembling an old man, who resorts to out-of-way places where he is discovered by the noise of his hammer. He is rich, and, while anyone keeps his eye fixed upon him, cannot escape, but the moment the eye is withdrawn he vanishes.

=Lofu.=--The Scandinavian god who guards friendship.

=Lofua.=--The Scandinavian goddess who reconciles lovers.

=Loki.=--The great god of fire in Norse mythology.

=Lorelei.=--In German legend a siren who haunted a rock of the same name on the right bank of the Rhine. She combed her hair with a golden comb, and sang a wild song which enticed fishermen and sailors to destruction on the rocks and rapids at the foot of the precipice. In northern mythology Lorelei is represented as immortal, a daughter of the Rhine, and dwelling in the river bed.

=Lotis= (_lō´tis_).--A nymph who, to escape from Priapus, son of Bacchus, was changed into the lotus tree.

=Lotophagi= (_lō-tof´a-jī_)--_i. e._ lotus-eaters.--A people visited by Ulysses during his voyage homewards from Troy. The lotus was a fruit the taste of which was so delicious that all who ate it lost all desire to return to their native land.

=Lua= (_lu´a_).--A goddess to whom were devoted the arms taken in battle.

=Lucifer= (Lat.), or =Phosphorus= (Gr.)--_i. e._ the light-bringer. The planet Venus when it appears as the morning-star.

=Lucina= (_lū-sī´na_).--The goddess that presides over the birth of children. It was used as a surname for Juno.

=Lud.=--In ancient British mythology the king of the Britons.

=Luna= (_lū´na_).--Goddess of the moon, called by the Greeks Selene (_sel-ē´nē_), and identified with Diana.

=Lupercus= (_lu-per´kus_).--A deity who protected the flocks from wolves.

=Lycæus= (_li-sē´us_).--A lofty mountain in Arcadia, where Jupiter and Pan were worshiped.

=Lycaon= (_li-kā´ōn_).--King of Arcadia, who impiously placed a dish of human flesh before Jupiter when the god visited him. He and all his sons were metamorphosed into wolves.

=Lyceum= (_li-sē´um_).--A gymnasium at Athens, outside of the city; celebrated as the place where Aristotle and the Peripatetics taught. It derived its name from the temple of Apollo Lyceus (_li-sē´us_) in the neighborhood.

=Lycomedes= (_li-ko-mē´dēz_).--King of Scyros, to whose court Achilles was sent, disguised as a maiden, by his mother Thetis, in order to prevent him going to the Trojan war.

=Lycurgus= (_li-sur´gus_).--Son of Dryas, and king of the Edones in Thrace. He prohibited the worship of Bacchus, and was hence driven mad by the gods, and subsequently killed.

=Lynceus= (_lin´sūs_).--One of the Argonauts, famous for the keenness of his sight.

=Lyncus= (_lin´sus_).--A Scythian king, who was changed by Ceres into a lynx.

=M=

=Machaon= (_ma-kā´on_).--Son of Æsculapius, a famous surgeon of the Greeks before Troy.

=Maia= (_mā´i-a_)--Daughter of Atlas and Pleione, and the eldest and most beautiful of the several Pleiades. She became, by Jupiter, the mother of Mercury.

=Manes= (_mā´nēz_)--_lit._ “the good, benevolent.”--The name given by the Romans to the souls of the dead, who were worshiped as gods.

=Mani.=--Name given in ancient Norse mythology to the moon. Later known as the son of Mundilfori; taken to heaven by the gods to drive the moon-car. He is followed by a wolf, which, when time shall be no more, will devour both Mani and his sister Sol.

=Manitou.=--The great spirit of American Indians.

=Marica= (_ma-rī´ka_).--A Latin nymph, the mother of Latinus.

=Mars= (_märz_); called by the Greeks Ares (_ā´rē_).--The god of war, of husbandry, of shepherds, and seers, who, as father of Romulus, was the progenitor of the Roman people. He was the son of Jupiter and Juno. He loved, and was beloved by Venus. The wolf and the woodpecker were sacred to Mars.

=Marsyas= (_mar’si-as_).--A satyr who, having found the flute which Minerva had thrown away because it distorted her features whilst playing it, rashly challenged Apollo to a musical contest. Apollo played upon the cithara and Marsyas upon the flute, and the Muses were the umpires. They decided in favor of Apollo, who then bound Marsyas to a tree and flayed him alive in accordance with the conditions of the contest--namely, that the victor should do what he pleased with the vanquished.

=Medea= (_mē-dē´a_).--Daughter of Æëtes, king of Colchis; celebrated for her skill in magic. She assisted Jason in obtaining the Golden Fleece (see “Argonautæ”), and accompanied him to Greece. She effectually stopped her father’s pursuit by killing her brother Absyrtus (_q.v._), and strewing his body cut in pieces on the seashore. See “Jason.”

=Medusa= (_me-dū´sa_).--See “Gorgons.”

=Megæra= (_me-gē´ra_).--See “Furiæ.”

=Megin-giord.=--A magic belt worn by the god Thor. He once proposed to show his strength by lifting great weights, but when challenged to pick up the giant’s cat, he tugged and strained, only to succeed in raising one paw from the floor, although he had taken the precaution to enhance his strength as much as possible by tightening his belt Megin-giord.

=Meleager= (_mel-e-ā´ger_).--Son of Œneus, king of Calydon; was one of the Argonauts, and also the leader of the heroes who took part in the celebrated Calydonian boar hunt. See “Calydon.”

=Melicerta= (_mel-i-ser’ta_), or =Melicertes=.--Son of Ino and Athamas. When Athamas was seized with madness he pursued Ino and Melicertes, who in order to escape had to throw themselves into the sea, whereupon both were changed into marine deities. Ino becoming Leucothea, and Melicertes a sea-god, called by the Greeks Palaemon, and by the Romans Portunus.

=Melos= (_mē´los_).--An island in the Ægean Sea, and the most southwesterly of the Cyclades. It is now called Milo, and here was found the celebrated statue known as the “Venus of Milo.” See “Venus.”

=Melpomene= (_mel-pom’en-ā_).--The muse of tragedy. See “Musæ.”

=Memnon= (_mem’nōn_).--The handsome son of Tithonus and Aurora; was king of the Ethiopians. He went to the aid of Priam, king of Troy, towards the end of the Trojan war, but was slain by Achilles. His colossal marble statue at Thebes (which, however, in reality represented the Egyptian king Amenophis) when struck by the first rays of the rising sun was said to emit a sound resembling that of a plucked string.

=Menelaus= (_men-e-lā´us_).--Son of Atreus, the husband of the beautiful Helen and father of Hermione; king of Lacedæmon (or Sparta), younger brother of Agamemnon. Paris (_q.v._), having been promised the most beautiful woman in the world for his wife, sailed to Greece under the protection of Venus, and was hospitably received in the palace of Menelaus at Sparta. Here he succeeded in carrying off Helen, and thus arose the Trojan war, the object of which was to recover Helen. In the Trojan war Menelaus met Paris in single combat, and would have killed him had he not been carried off in a cloud by Venus. After the death of Paris, Helen married his brother Deiphobus, who was barbarously put to death by Menelaus at the taking of Troy. Helen secretly introduced Menelaus into the chamber of Deiphobus, and thus became reconciled to him. Menelaus and Helen then sailed away from Troy, and after eight years’ wandering about the shores of the Mediterranean finally reached Sparta, where they passed the rest of their lives in peace and wealth.

=Mentor= (_men’tor_).--The faithful friend of Ulysses.

=Mephistopheles.=--One of the seven chief devils in the old demonology, the second of the fallen archangels, and the most powerful of the infernal legionaries after Satan. He figures in the old legend of _Dr. Faustus_ as the familiar spirit of that magician. To modern readers he is chiefly known as the cold, scoffing, relentless fiend of Goethe’s _Faust_, and the attendant demon in Marlowe’s _Faustus_.

=Mercurius= (_mer-kū´ri-us_), or =Mercury= (_mer´kū-ri_), called Hermes (_her´mēz_) by the Greeks.--Son of Jupiter and Maia; the messenger of the gods, and the god of commerce and gain. As the herald of the gods, he was the god of eloquence. He was the god of prudence and cunning, also of fraud and theft. Being the messenger of the gods, he was likewise looked upon as the god of roads who protected travelers; and was the god of music and of chemistry, hence the words _hermetic_, _hermetically_ (sealed). He was employed by the gods to conduct departed souls to the lower world. He invented the lyre, which he first made by stretching strings across the shell of a tortoise. The palm tree, the tortoise, the number 4, and several kinds of fish were sacred to him. He is generally represented with a hat having two wings; a pair of winged sandals, which carried him with the speed of wind across land and sea; and, as messenger of the gods, he carries in his hand a wand or _caduceus_ (_ka-dū´se-us_), having two serpents intertwined at one end of it.

=Meriones= (_mē´ri-o-nēz_).--The charioteer of Idomeneus, and one of the bravest heroes in the Trojan war.

=Mermaids.=--Wave maidens of northern mythology and classed with nymphs in Grecian and Roman. They were generally represented as young and beautiful virgins, partially covered with a veil or thin cloth, bearing in their hands vases of water, or shells, leaves, or grass, or having something as a symbol of their appropriate offices. They were attendants of the gods.

=Meru.=--In Hindu mythology a sacred mountain, eighty thousand leagues high, situated in the center of the world. It is the abode of Indra, and abounds with every charm that can be imagined. The Olympus of the Indians.

=Merope= (_mer´o-pē_).--Daughter of Atlas, one of the Pleiades.

=Metis= (_mē´tis_)--_lit._ wisdom, prudence (Gr.).--Daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, and the first wife of Jupiter. Fearing that she might give birth to a child who should become more powerful than himself, Jupiter swallowed her. Afterwards Minerva sprang from his head.

=Midgard.=--In Scandinavian mythology the name given to the earth. Out of the giant’s flesh they fashioned Midgard (middle garden), as the earth was called, which was placed in the exact center of the vast space, and hedged all around with Ymir’s eyebrows, which formed its bulwarks or ramparts. The solid portion of Midgard was surrounded by the giant’s blood or sweat, which now formed the ocean, while his bones made the hills, his flat teeth the cliffs, and his curly hair the trees and all vegetation.

=Midgard Sormen= (earth’s monster).--The great serpent that lay in the abyss at the root of the celestial ash. Child of Loki.

=Milo.=--The modern name for the island of Melos (_q.v._).

=Mimir.=--In Scandinavian mythology the god of wisdom. Also god of the ocean, which is called “Mimir’s well,” in which wit and wisdom lay hidden, and of which he drank every morning from the horn Gjallar.

=Minerva= (_min-er´va_); called Athena (_a-thē´na_), Pallas Athene (_pal´las_), or simply Pallas, by the Greeks.--The goddess of wisdom, of the arts and sciences, of poetry and of spinning and weaving, and the protectress of agriculture. She was also a goddess of war. She was the daughter of Jupiter and Metis (_q.v._). She was the protective deity of Athens, which was so named in honor of her (Athena): see “Athenæ.” The owl, serpent, cock and olive tree were sacred to her.

=Minos= (_mī´nos_).--(i) Son of Jupiter and Europa, brother of Rhadamanthus, king and lawgiver in Crete, and after death one of the three judges of the shades in the infernal regions (the other two being Rhadamanthus and Æacus). (ii) Grandson of the former, likewise king of Crete, the husband of Pasiphaë and the father of Ariadne and other children. His son Androgeos (_q.v._) having been shamefully treated by the Athenians, he made war against the latter and compelled them to send every year to Crete, as tribute, seven young men and seven maidens to be devoured by the Minotaur. This Minotaur was a terrible monster, with the head of a bull and the body of a man, the offspring of Pasiphaë and a bull. It was kept in a labyrinth constructed by Dædalus, but was slain by Theseus (_q.v._), with the help of Ariadne, the daughter of Minos.

=Minotaur= (_mī´no-tawr_)--_i.e._ the bull of Minos (Lat.).--See “Minos.”

=Minyæ= (_min´i-ē_).--The Minyans, an ancient Greek race dwelling in Thessaly. The Argonauts, being mainly Minyans, are called Minyæ.

=Mithras= (_mith´ras_).--The sun-god of the Persians.

=Mjolnir.=--From mythology of northern lands. The name of Thor’s celebrated hammer--a type of the thunderbolt--which, however far it might be cast, was never lost, as it always returned to his hand; and which, whenever he wished, became so small that he could put it in his pocket.

=Mnemosyne= (_nē-mos´i-nē_)--_i. e._ memory (Gr.).--The mother of the Muses.

=Moakkibat.=--A class of angels, according to the Mohammedan mythology. Two angels of this class attend every child of Adam from the cradle to the grave. At sunset they fly up with the record of the deeds done since sunrise. Every good deed is entered ten times by the recording angel on the credit or right side of his ledger, but when an evil deed is reported the angel waits seven hours, “if happily in that time the evil-doer may repent.”

=Moloch.=--A god of the Phœnicians to whom human victims, principally children, were sacrificed. Moloch is figurative of the influence which impels us to sacrifice that which we ought to cherish most dearly.

=Momus= (_mō´mus_).--The god of mockery and censure.

=Mona= (_mon´a_).--The isle of Anglesey; sometimes supposed to be the isle of Man. It was one of the chief seats of the Druids.

=Moneta= (_mon-ē´ta_).--A Roman surname of Juno as the protectress of money.

=Mopsus= (_mop´sus_).--The name of two soothsayers, one being the prophet of the Argonauts, and the other the son of Apollo and Manto. He contended in prophecy with Calchas (_q.v._), whose superior he proved himself to be.

=Morpheus= (_mor´fe-us_).--The son of sleep and the god of dreams. The name signifies (Gr.) the fashioner, moulder, so called from the shapes he calls up before the sleeper.

=Mowis.=--The bridegroom of Snow, who (according to American Indian tradition) wooed and won a beautiful bride; but when morning dawned, Mowis left the wigwam, and melted into the sunshine. The bride hunted for him night and day in the forests, but never saw him more.

=Musæ= (_mū´zē_).--The Muses, daughters of Jupiter and Mnemosyne, were nine in number, and presided over the different kinds of poetry, the arts and sciences. Their names and special attributes were as follows: (i) Calliope (_kal-lī´o-pē_), the muse of epic poetry; (ii) Clio (_klī´ō_), of history; (iii) Erato (_er´a-tō_), of erotic poetry and mimic imitation; (iv) Euterpe (_ū-ter´pē_), of lyric poetry; (v) Melpomene (_mel-pom´en-ē_), of tragedy; (vi) Polyhymnia (_pol-i-him´ni-a_), of the sublime hymn; (vii) Terpsichore (_terp-sik´o-rē_), of choral song and dancing; (viii) Thalia (_tha-li´a_), of comedy; and (ix) Urania (_ū-rā´ni-a_), of astronomy. The favorite haunt of the Muses was Mount Helicon in Bœotia, where were the sacred fountains of Aganippe and Hippocrene. Mount Parnassus was also sacred to them.

=Myrmidones= (_mer-mid´on-ēz_), or =Myrmidons= (_mer´mid-ons_).--A people of Thessaly, under the rule of Achilles, whom they accompanied to Troy.

=Myrtilus= (_mer´til-us_).--Son of Mercury, and charioteer of Œnomaus. See “Pelops.”

=Mysterious Three, The.=--In Scandinavian mythology were Har “the Mighty,” the “Like-Mighty,” and the “Third Person,” who sat on three thrones above the rainbow. Then came the Æsir, of which Odin was chief, who lived in Asgard (between the rainbow and earth); next came the Vanir, or gods of the ocean, air, and clouds, of which deities Niörd was chief.

=N=

=Naiades= (_nā´i-a-dēz_), or =Naiads= (_nā´yadz_).--The nymphs of freshwater. See “Nymphæ.”

=Naraka.=--The hell of the Hindus. It has twenty-eight divisions, in some of which the victims are mangled by ravens and owls; in others they are doomed to swallow cakes boiling hot, or walk over burning sands.

=Narcissus= (_nar-sis´us_).--A beautiful youth, inaccessible to the feeling of love. The nymph Echo fell in love with him, but, her love not being returned, she pined away in grief (see “Echo”). In order to punish him, Nemesis made him see his own reflected image in a fountain, whereupon he became so enamored of it that he gradually pined away until changed into the flower that bears his name.

=Nausicaa= (_naw-sik´a-a_).--Daughter of Alcinous, who conducted Ulysses, when shipwrecked on the coast of Scheria (an island), to her father’s court.

=Neleus= (_nē´lūs_).--Son of Neptune and the nymph Tyro; king of Pylos, in Peloponnesus, and father of Nestor (_q.v._).

=Nemea= (_ne-mē´a_).--A city in Argolis, near which Hercules slew the Nemean lion.

=Nemesis= (_nem´e-sis_)--_i. e._ vengeance (Gr.).--The goddess of retribution, who brings down all immoderate good fortune. She was also regarded as the goddess who punished crimes. She was the daughter of Night, and was represented as a crowned virgin, of great beauty and grace, with a whip in one hand and a pair of scales in the other.

=Neoptolemus= (_ne-op-tol´em-us_).--Son of Achilles and Deidamia. He was also called Pyrrhus (_pir´us_), on account of his reddish hair (Gr.); his other name, Neoptolemus, which signifies _New-to-war_ (Gr.), having been given to him because he _came late to Troy_. He displayed great valor at Troy, and was one of the heroes concealed in the wooden horse (see “Troy”). He slew Priam and his daughter Polyxena. At the distribution of captives Andromache, the widow of Hector, fell to his lot, and he took her to Epirus. He married Hermione, the beautiful daughter of Menelaus and Helen, but was slain by Orestes, to whom she had been previously promised.

=Neptunus= (_nep-tū´nus_), or =Neptune=; called Poseidon (_po-sī´don_) by the Greeks.--The god of the sea and other waters, the brother of Jupiter, and husband of Amphitrite. His palace was in the depth of the sea, near Ægæ, in Eubœa, where he kept his horses with brazen hoofs and golden manes, which drew his chariot over the waves of the sea. His celebrated contest with Minerva for the possession of Athens is narrated under “Athenæ.” In the Trojan war he sided with the Greeks. He not only created the horse, but also taught men the art of managing horses by the bit and bridle. The symbol of his power was a trident, or spear with three prongs, with which he called forth or hushed storms, shook the earth, etc. Besides the trident, his attributes are the dolphin and the horse.

=Nereides= (_nē´re-i-dēz_ or _nē-rē´id-ēz_); the Nereids (_nē´-re-ids_).--The fifty daughters of Nereus and Doris. They were the marine nymphs of the Mediterranean (see “Nymphæ”). Thetis, the mother of Achilles, was a Nereid.

=Nereus= (_nē´rūs_).--Son of Pontus and Gæa, and husband of Doris, father of the fifty Nereids. He dwelt at the bottom of the sea, and was regarded as the wise old man of the sea. Like other marine divinities, he was supposed to have the power of prophesying the future, and of appearing to mortals in various shapes. The Ægean Sea was his empire--possibly the whole of the Mediterranean.

=Nessus= (_ness´us_).--A Centaur who was slain with a poisoned arrow by Hercules (_q.v._).

=Nestor= (_nes´tor_).--Son of Neleus and king of Pylos. He was famous among the heroes before Troy for his wisdom, justice and eloquence. In early life he was a distinguished warrior, and took part in the fight between the Centaurs and the Lapithæ, and was one of the Calydonian hunters and one of the Argonauts. He is said to have lived through three generations of men. He safely reached Pylos again after the fall of Troy.

=Nicneven.=--A gigantic and malignant female spirit of the old popular Scottish mythology. The hag is represented as riding at the head of witches and fairies at Hallowe’en.

=Nidhogg.=--The dragon that gnaws at the root of Yggdrasil, the tree of the universe in Scandinavian mythology.

=Niflheim.=--Mist-home of old Norse mythology. The region of endless cold and everlasting night, ruled over by Hela. It consists of nine worlds, to which are consigned those who die of disease or old age. This region existed “from the beginning” in the north, and in the middle thereof was the well Hvergelmir, from which flowed twelve rivers.

=Niobe= (_nī´o-bē_).--Daughter of Tantalus and wife of Amphion, king of Thebes. Having seven sons and seven daughters, she imprudently boasted of her superiority to Latona, who had but two children--Apollo and Diana. The latter, indignant at her presumption, slew all her children with their arrows. Niobe herself was changed into a stone.

=Niord.=--The Scandinavian sea-god. He was not one of the Æsir. Niord’s son was Frey (the fairy of the clouds), and his daughter was Freyja. His home was Noatun. Niord was not a sea-god like Neptune, but the spirit of water and air. The Scandinavian Neptune was Ægir, whose wife was Skadi. His temples were near the seashore and all aquatic plants belonged to him.

=Nisus= (_nī´sus_).--A friend of Euryalus (_ū-rī´a-lus_).--The two accompanied Æneas to Italy, and perished in a night attack on the Rutulian camp.

=Nix.=--Little creatures not unlike the Scotch brownie and German kobold. They wear a red cap, and are ever ready to lend a helping hand to the industrious and thrifty.

=Nokomis.=--Daughter of the moon, American Indian myths. Sporting one day with her maidens on a swing made of vine canes, a rival cut the swing, and Nokomis fell to earth, where she gave birth to a daughter named Wenonah.

=Nornir=, or =Norns=.--The three fates of Scandinavian mythology, past, present, and future. They spin the events of human life, sitting under the ash-tree Yggdrasil which they carefully tend. Their names are Urda (the past), Verdandi (the present), and Skuld (the future). Besides these three Norns, every human creature has a personal Norn or fate. The home of the Norns is called in Scandinavian mythology Doomstead.

=Notus= (_nō´tus_) (Gr.); called Auster by the Romans.--The south or southwest wind.

=Nox= (_noks_); called Nux (_nūks_) by the Greeks.--Night, daughter of Chaos.