Glossary of Greek Names
By A.J. Mittendorf
Acastus (uh KAS toos): One of the Argonauts and the son of king Pelias who instigates the expedition of the Argo. He appears at Calydon to hunt the Boar of Artemis' Anger. He also, presumably, fights for Calydon against the Curetes.
Achaean (uh KEE an): One of several alternate names for the Greeks. Other names include Arcadian, Argive, Aegean, and Danaan.
Achilles (uh KILL eez): The son of the nereid, Thetis, and the mortal, Peleus. According to the original Greek myths, Achilles is the greatest Greek hero who is largely responsible for their victory against Troy. His skill in battle is superior to Memnon's according to the original myths, and his only vulnerable spot is his ankle where his mother held him as she bathed him in the River Styx in an attempt to wash away his mortality.
Aegean (a GEE an): See Achaean.
Aeneas (a NEE uss): One leader of the Trojans. After the destruction of Troy, he, with his father, Anchises, and several hundred other refugee Trojans, survive the Greek invasion and escape certain death at their hands. He ultimately sails to Hesperia (Italy) where he founds a new city (which becomes Rome), thus fulfilling a prophecy of Aphrodite, which says that Aeneas would be the ruler of the Trojans.
Aeolus (ay O loos): The god of the winds.
Aetolia* (ay TOL ya): A region of western Greece just north of the Peloponnese where Calydon is located.
Aetolians (ay TOL yanz): Those who live in Aetolia; they include the Curetes and the Calydonians, among others.
Agamemnon (A ga Mem non): The commander-in-chief of the Greek forces at Troy, Menelaus's brother.
Ajax (Ay jaks): One of the greatest soldiers among the Greeks at Troy. He is the son of Telamon. According to Homer, there are two Greeks named Ajax; the other Ajax is the son of Oileus, who is known for being short and stocky (whereas Telamon's son is known for his great stature).
Alexander: See Paris.
Althaea (al THA ya): The queen of Calydon, the daughter of Thestius of the Curetes, and, according to "The Calydoniad," the mother of both Meleager and Tydeus. (In the original myths, these two are half brothers with Oeneus as their father.)
Amalthea (am OL tha ya): A goat who nurses the infant Zeus, and, with the aid of the Curetes who make great noises by singing and banging their spears on their shields, hides Zeus from Kronos who would otherwise have eaten him, as he had all Zeus's siblings (See Zeus).
Amazons (AM uh zonz): Women warriors who actually remove their right breasts so that they can shoot their arrows unimpaired. They live near the south-east area of the Black Sea in what is now north-central Turkey.
Amphiaraus (AM fee Air oos): Better known in association with that of Tydeus and dealings with Thebes, in Calydon he is noted for his talents as a seer (soothsayer). It is he who interprets the omen of the eagles when Nestor finds Onessimus among the rubble of Calydon's wall.
Ancaeus (an Kah yoos) The helmsman for the Argonauts and one of the three men killed during the hunt for the Boar of Artemis' Anger at Calydon.
Antilochus (an TIL uh koos) Son of Nestor, adopted brother of Onessimus. Antilochus is eventually killed by Memnon.
Apollo (uh PALL oh): The archer god of song and poetry, health and healing, and, according to Apollonius of Rhodes, who recorded the tale of the Argonauts, he was also the god of embarkation. He is the son of Zeus and Leto and the twin brother of Artemis. He and Poseidon build the walls of Troy.
Aphrodite (AF ro Di tee): The goddess of love and one of three goddesses who claims the title of "the fairest" found on the Fruit of Discord. She is also the one to whom Paris awards that honour, and she is the mother of Aeneas.
Aratus (AR uh toos): One of the Curetes, the spokesman during Meleager's final battle. He is not part of the original myths.
Ares (AIR eez): The god of war, an abstraction for war, and war personified. He is a son of Zeus. One who talks about meeting Ares is discussing going to war.
Argo (AR go): The ship on which Jason and his crew, the Argonauts, sail to Colchis in search of the Golden Fleece.
Argolis* (AR go liss): A region of the Peloponnese south-east of the Greek Isthmus.
Argonauts (AR go nauts): The crew of the Argo under Jason's command. It is one of the finest groups of heroes ever assembled.
Artemis (AR tuh miss): Known as the virgin goddess, Artemis is the archer goddess to whom Oeneus forgets to offer harvest sacrifices. So angered is she that she sends a wild boar, the Boar of Artemis' Anger, to make all of Calydon suffer. When the boar is not enough, she leads Calydon and the Curetes to war against each other. Artemis is the twin sister of Apollo and the daughter of Zeus.
Atalanta (AT uh Lan tah): An expert marksman with a bow and arrow, she is known as the virgin huntress and is, according to Ovid alone, counted among the Argonauts. All sources agree, however, that she is among the hunters of the Boar of Artemis' Anger.
Athena (uh THE nah): The goddess of wisdom and one of the goddesses who claims the title of "the fairest" from the Fruit of Discord.
Athens* (A thenz): The capital city of Attica, and named for Athena; it is located on the south-eastern corner of the mainland Greek peninsula.
Atropus (ah TRO poos): The Fate who tells Althaea that her son, Meleager, will live only as long as a certain log is not fully burned. Atropus is the eldest, best, and shortest of the three fates, and she deals primarily with future events.
Attica* (AT ti ca): The region of the south-eastern part of the mainland Greek Peninsula. (See Athens).
Bellerophon (bell AIR o fon): In The Iliad, Book VI, the grandsons of Bellerophon and Oeneus, Glaucus and Diomedes respectively, agree to never fight each other despite the fact that Glaucus is fighting for the Trojans, and Diomedes for the Greeks. Their agreement is based on the friendship between Oeneus and Bellerophon as it is described in both "The Calydoniad" and in The Iliad.
Boar of Artemis' Anger: Also known as the Calydonian Boar, the Wild Boar, or the Great Boar, it is the first wave of aggression against Calydon from Artemis. She is angered because Oeneus forgets to honour her during his harvest sacrifices.
Calliope (KALL yo pee): The muse of heroic poetry.
Calydon* (KALL y don): A city in Aetolia, on the south-western edge of the Greek peninsula. Its king is Oeneus, the father of Meleager and Tydeus.
Calydonian (Kall y Don yan): One who lives in the city of Calydon. Of or associated with Calydon.
Calypso (kall IP so): A beautiful goddess who lives on the island of Ogygia somewhere in the western Mediterranean, but its precise location has been "forgotten." When Odysseus' ship is destroyed by Charybdis while sailing for home from Troy, all his men are lost, and Odysseus alone makes it safely to Ogygia where he is nursed back to health by Calypso. She falls in love with him and promises him eternal life and youth in exchange for his love. He rejects her gift out of longing for his home, Ithaca, and his wife, Penelope. She keeps him in her home, though, and for seven years tries unsuccessfully to persuade him to love her. He would have remained there until his death had Athena not pleaded for him to Zeus.
Cassandra (kuh SAN drah): A daughter of Priam, who is made a prophetess by Apollo, but because she angered him, he made it so that no one would believe her prophecies.
Cephus (SEE foos): One of the Argonauts who participates in the hunt for the Boar of Artemis' Anger. He is also the king of Tagea.
Charybdis (KAR ib dis): A sea monster who lives in the narrows between Italy and Sicily, and who, twice daily, creates a giant whirlpool by sucking in water of the Tyrrhenian Sea, consuming all life in her vicinity, in and on the water.
Cleopatra (KLEE o Pat ra): Not one of the seven queens of Egypt of the same name, this Cleopatra is the daughter of Idas and Marpessa, and is the wife of Meleager. Little else is known of her.
Clio (KLEE o): The muse of history.
Colchis* (KOL kiss): A city in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) east of the Black Sea.
Colossus of Rhodes: A 105-foot-tall statue of Apollo located on the island of Rhodes. It was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Its 12-year construction ended in 304 BC, and it collapsed in an earthquake in 226 BC.
Corinth* (KOR inth): A city located on the western shore of the isthmus between the Peloponnese and the mainland Greek peninsula.
Curetes (kyur EET eez): A people of the Aetolian region of Greece. They are a warrior race, and it is said of them that, to protect the infant Zeus from certain doom at the hands of his father, Kronos, the Curetes made an enormous din of song and ruckus of banging armor so that Kronos would be unable to hear Zeus crying.
Curetian (kyur EE shun): Associated with the Curetes.
Dardanus (DAR dun oos): The son-in-law of Teucer(1) who is the founder of Troy. The region north of Troy is Called Dardania (the modern-day Dardanelles) in his honour, and Trojans are often called Dardanians because of him.
Dawn: The goddess of morning or morning personified.
Diomedes (di OH muh Deez): Leader of the Aetolians as part of the Greek forces against Troy in the Trojan War. He is the son of Tydeus, and grandson of Oeneus, the king of Calydon.
Dioscuri (DI o Sku ree): The name given to the two sons of Leda, Castor and Pullox (or Polyduces). They are brothers of Helen and Clytaemnestra, and are said to be "twins by separate fathers" because after Zeus, in the form of a swan, rapes Leda, her husband, a mortal called Tyndareus, also has sexual relations with her. Leda later gives birth to two eggs. In one egg are Castor and Clytaemnestra, who are fathered by Tyndareus and are, therefore, mortal. In the other egg are Pullox and Helen, who are fathered by Zeus and are semi-divine. The four of them are, then, quadruplets; Castor and Pullox are called "twins" because they are the only members of this foursome who are present in Calydon.
Discord (DIS cord): a.k.a. Eris. The goddess of anger who, having been left uninvited to Thetis's and Peleus's wedding feast, instigates a battle between Hera, Aphrodite, and Athena, by anonymously delivering to the assembly a golden apple, the Fruit of Discord, with a label on it that says, "For the fairest."
Echion (ESH yon): One of the Argonauts who also hunts the Boar or Artemis' Anger at Calydon. He also shares his name with one of the Curetes and, presumably, fights against the Curetes for Calydon.
Echion / Coresus / Evenor / Tyllus / Udaeus / Trachius / Thaumas / Dolops: Those Curetes killed by Meleager in the first wave of the Calydonian battle. Meleager kills others too, including his four uncles, but count is quickly lost.
Elis* (EL iss) Both a region and a city on the north-western area of the Peloponnese.
Eos (Ay oss): Another name for Dawn.
Eris (Air iss): Another name for Discord.
Eros (AIR oss): More commonly known by his Roman name, Cupid, he is the god of sexual love (hence, "erotic") and the son of Aphrodite, and he makes both gods and humans fall in love by piercing them with arrows shot from his bow.
Eternal War: A reverent title for Ares.
Ethiopia* (E thee Oh pya): The area ruled by Memnon. It is not the same as the Ethiopia of today in Africa, but in Susa, by the Tigris River in what is now Iraq.
Eurypylus (ur IP uh loos) The third or fourth of Althaea's brothers killed by Meleager. See also Evippus.
Eurytion (ur IH shun): One of three men killed during the hunt for the Boar of Artemis' Anger.
Euphemus (YOO fe Moos): one of the Argonauts who also participates in the hunt for the Boar of Artemis' Anger, and, presumably fights the Curetes for Calydon.
Evippus (EV Ih poos): The third or fourth of Althaea's brothers (Meleager's uncles) to be killed by Meleager. (See also Eurypylus).
Fates: The fates are three sisters who decide human destiny (hence, "fate" in English): Clotho, who deals with things that were; Lachesis, who deals with things that are; and Atropus, who deals with things that will be. The fates are honored by all the gods because they are renown for their justice.
Fruit of Discord: When Thetis and Peleus are married, they hold a feast on Olympus. All the gods are invited except Discord, the god of anger. In vengeance, she tosses a golden apple into the assembly. On the apple is inscribed, "For the Fairest." Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite all lay claim to the title. This event is one which eventually leads to the Trojan War.
Golden Fleece: The pelt of a golden, winged, talking ram which is sacrificed to Zeus at its own request. The pelt is set in a grove near Colchis, there to be guarded by a dragon until Jason and his Argonauts, assisted by Medea, the daughter of Aeetes, the king of Colchis, steel it and take it home to Alcaeus, in Greece.
Gorgon (GOR gon): Three sisters who have snakes rather than hair, tusks like those of boars, golden wings, and bronze hands. Their names are Medusa (who is mortal), Stheno, and Euryale (who are both immortal). People who look at a gorgon turn instantly to stone.
Greece*: A peninsula east of Italy and west of Turkey. It is bordered by the Aegean, Ionian, and Mediterranean seas.
Greek: Those who live in Greece. See also "Achaean." Of or associated with Greece.
Hades (HA deez): Ruler of the Underworld, which is also known as Hades. He is the brother of Zeus, Hera and Poseidon, and the husband of Persephone.
Hephaestus (ha FES toos): The god of fire; he is a master craftsman with many great works to his credit including the armor that Achilles wears when he fights Memnon.
Harpy (HAR pee): Four hybrid monsters of uncertain or indeterminate origin. By name, they are Aello, Caelaeno, Ocypete, and Podarge. They have bodies of birds and faces of young girls. They are known to be swift thieves, especially of food, and they have a foul stench which remains long after they leave an area; one cannot stand in a harpy's presence for long because of the odour.
Hector (HEK tor): The eldest son of Priam, King of Troy, Hector is Troy's general during the Trojan War. He is known as the pillar of Troy until his death, at which point Troy's future becomes uncertain, and it is ultimately overthrown. According to Homer, Hector is killed by Achilles in revenge for the death of Patroclus near the end of the Trojan War. According to "Onessimus: Troy's Fall Denied," however, Hector would never have died in the Trojan War because Onessimus brings the war to a close before Hector's death.
Hecuba (HEC yu bah): The wife of Priam, the queen of Troy, and the mother of both Paris and Hector.
Helen [of Troy]: The daughter of Zeus and Leda; the wife of Menelaus, and she who is held captive in Troy, thereby causing the Trojan War (see Dioscuri).
Hellespont* (HELL s Pont): The strait that lies between the Sea of Marmara and the Aegean Sea, directly north of Troy , in modern-day Turkey.
Hera (HAIR ah): One of three goddesses who attempts to claim the title of "the fairest" of the Fruit of Discord. She is the daughter of Rhea and Kronos, and thus, the blood sibling of her husband, Zeus. And as his wife, she is also the queen of Heaven (Olympus).
Heracles (HAIR uh Kleez): More commonly known as Hercules, he is thought of as Greece's most famous hero and greatest warrior. Even so, the accounts of him in "The Calydoniad" are accurate according to the original myths. Apollo and Poseidon build the walls of Troy for king Laomedon, Priam's father, who refuses them the promised payment for this task. As a result, Poseidon sends a sea monster to Troy who snatches up the people living on Troy's plains. Laomedon learns that he can rid Troy of the monster if he offers his daughter, Hesione, as a sacrifice. When Heracles sees Hesione, he promises to save her in exchange for the horses that Zeus had given to Laomedon as compensation for the rape (kidnapping) of Ganymede. Laomedon agrees, and Hesoine is saved, but again Laomedon refuses payment, so Heracles kills Laomedon and his elder sons, leaving the throne of Troy to Priam, and he gives Hesione to Telamon who aided him. It is also true to the myths that Heracles goes to conquer several cities on the Peloponnese, as mentioned in "The Calydoniad." The reason for these attacks is uncertain.
Hermes (HER meez): The messenger god often depicted with winged ankles and a winged helmet.
Hesione (HESS ee Own ee): Priam's sister, and a concubine of Telamon granted to him by Heracles as a reward for his assistance against Troy. (See also Heracles).
Hesperia* (hes PAR ya): Meaning "Evening Land" or "Western Land," Hesperia applies to Italy when discussed by the Greeks, and to Spain when discussed by the Romans.
Hestia (HESS tya): The goddess of the hearth.
Hippolytus (hip OL uh Toos): He is the son of Theseus and, as a worshiper of Artemis, the virgin goddess, he keeps himself chaste. When his step-mother, Phaedra, tries to seduce him, he refuses. So Phaedra tells Theseus that he had tried to seduce her. Then Theseus banishes him and prays to his own father, Poseidon, for Hippolytus to perish. His prayer is granted.
Hyleus (HI lyoos): One of three men killed during the hunt for the Boar of Artemis' Anger at Calydon.
Idas (EYE dass): One of the Argonauts who also participates in the hunt for the Boar of Artemis' Anger. He is also, apparently, the father of Cleopatra, Meleager's wife, and presumably fights for Calydon against the Curetes.
Iphiclus (IF ih Kloos): One of Meleager's uncles and a leader of the Curetes. He is the second of Althaea's brothers killed by Meleager, but since the first two are killed prior to the official opening of the war between the Calydonians and the Curetes, their deaths are seen as causes of the war. (See also Plexippus).
Ithaca* (ITH ah kah): An island off the western coast of Greece. It is ruled by Odysseus. (Note: new research indicates that the Ithaca that is associated with Odysseus is not "the Greek island now called Itháki . . ." as has always been assumed, but "is the peninsula of Paliki on the western side of the island of Kefallinía in the Ionian Sea" (Netting 63).
Jason: The king-in-waiting of Iolchus in eastern Greece, and the leader of the Argonauts, the men of the expedition to Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece.
Kraken (KRAK en): A great sea monster used by Zeus to punish cities that displease him. In the original tale of Heracles at Troy, the monster sent is not the Kraken.
Kronos (KRO nos): The son of Uranos, and the second king of the Greek gods. With Rhea, Kronos becomes the father of Poseidon, Hades, and Hera, but he eats each of them as they are born so that they cannot grow up to usurp his throne. Rhea hides baby Zeus, the youngest of Kronos's offspring, at Mountain Ida, where he is nursed by Amalthea and has the sound of his crying covered by the Curetes. Zeus survives and eventually rescues his siblings from Kronos' belly, confines Kronos to Tartarus, and begins his own Olympian regime.
Laconia* (La KOWN Ya): A region on the south-eastern point of the Peloponnese.
Laelaps (LAY laps): The name of Priam's ship in "The Calydoniad." It was named for a dog that was so swift, no prey could escape it.
Laius (LA oos): A king of Thebes and the father of Oedipus. It was prophesied when Oedipus was an infant that he would kill his father, so Laius leaves him for dead in a forest. He is saved, of course, and grows to manhood. When the two meet for the first time outside of Thebes, Laius challenges Oedipus who accepts and kills his father in fair combat, not knowing that he is fighting his father.
Laocoon (Lah Oh Ko oon): A son of Priam and Hecuba, a seer and a priest of Apollo. He is famous for the expression, "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts." According to the original myths, he distrusts the famous Trojan horse and warns teh Trojans to not take it inside the walls of Troy; he even thrusts a javelin into its side, causing a small ruckus within. Shortly after this, Laosoon and his two sons are crushed to death by two sea serpents. His death is a punishment from Apollo for having had sexual relations with his wife before a shrine of Apollo. However, the Trojans misinterpret the timing of this punishment; they assume that it is a result of blaspheming the Trojan horse and conclude that they should take the horse inside the Trojan walls. This event sparks the demise of Troy.
Leda (LEE dah): The mother of the Dioscuri and of Helen. She is impregnated by Zeus when he, in the form of a swan, rapes her. This event is considered the first in a series of events that leads to the Trojan War.
Mountain Ida*: There are actually two such mountains. One is on the island of Crete in east-central Mediterranean Sea, and this is where the infant Zeus is "really" hidden from Kronos. The other is south-east of Troy. For the sake of the story, "The Judgment of Paris: A Retelling," the Cretan Ida is disregarded.
Medusa (muh DOO sa): One of the three Gorgons--the only one who is mortal.
Meleager (mel YEAH gr): The eldest son of Oeneus and Althaea of Calydon. As a hero, he is considered second only to Heracles, even though the less-than-flattering account of him in "The Calydoniad" is essentially accurate according to the original myths. However, there are two distinct but noteworthy traditions about his death: 1) that he gets separated from the other Calydonians and is ambushed by the Curetes. 2) that his mother, in a rage, places a certain log (See Atropus) into the fire for it to be burned, at which point Meleager dies. According to "The Calydoniad," both accounts are true.
Memnon (MEM non): The ruler of Ethiopia (not the one in Africa) during the Trojan War. He is also a nephew of Priam and a mighty warrior. As he makes his way to Troy, he conquers every nation, bringing them into submission to his own rule. According to the original myths, his skill in battle is perhaps greater than that of both Ajax, son of Telamon, and Hector (Homer suggests that these two are equal in skill), but not as great as Achilles' skill.
Menelaus (Men uh LA oos): The king of Sparta, husband of Helen, and the brother of Agamemnon, who led the Greek attack against Troy.
Messenia* (mess EN ya): A region in Greece located on the south-western area of the Peloponnese. Pylos, the home of Nestor, is located there.
Muse: Sources differ on precisely how many Muses there are, but all agree that they are the demigods who inspire writings and/or art, each muse being responsible for a different form. 1)Aoede is song. 2)Calliope is philosophy and epic poetry. 3)Clio is history. 4)Erato is lyric poetry. 5)Euterpe is music. 6)Melete is practice. 7)Melpomene is tragedy. 8)Mneme is memory. 9)Polymnia is works of immortal fame. 10)Terpsichore is dance. 11)Thalia is comedy. 12)Urania is Astronomy. The various narrators of Greek lore would pause in the telling of their stories so that they could invoke the aid and wisdom of the appropriate Muse. In so doing their otherwise feeble language would be empowered to more accurately or more artistically tell the story.
Mygdon (MIG don): A ruler of an area of Phrygia southeast of Troy. Priam and Mygdon are friends in the original myths; they did fight the Amazons, and they did frequently come to each other's aid, but there is no account, in the original myths, of Mygdon or Priam at Calydon.
Nereid (NAE ree id): The fifty or so sea-dwelling demi-goddess--daughters of Nereus, the god of the Aegean sea and the son of Sea and Earth. In the hierarchy of the gods, Nereus would fall under Poseidon's rule. The Nereids, then, would fall under Nereus' authority. Thetis is one of these nereids. While they may be low on the totem pole, they are not to be trifled with. It is when Queen Cassiopea of Ethiopia boasts of being lovelier than they that the Nereids and Poseidon send the Kraken, an enormous sea monster, to destroy Ethiopia. This account takes place during the myth surrounding Perseus and Andromeda.
Nestor (NES tor): The king of Pylos and, in his old age, the chief advisor to Agamemnon during the TrojanWar. He is the father of Antilochus, and the adopted father of Onessimus. There is no account of him, in the original myths, being friends with Priam, nor is there any account of Priam at Calydon. It is interesting to note, however, that Nestor had wanted to be one of the Argonauts but was stayed by Pelias, the king who originally sends Jason after the Golden Fleece. Why Pelias would do so is uncertain.
Oath of Tyndareus: When Helen comes of age, her mortal father, Tyndareus, calls for suitors. Most of the kings of Greece respond. And since most of these suitors are also warriors, Tyndareus fears that if one wins Helen, the others will fight for her. Odysseus, in exchange for the hand of Penelope, Helen's cousin, offers a solution: Before Helen is given in marriage, all the suitors must swear that if she or her husband should come to grief as a result of the marriage, all the other suitors must come to their aid. The oath is successful in as much as none of the suitors wishes to battle what amounts to all the remaining city-states of Greece. However, when Helen is abducted by Paris, nearly all of Greece is constrained to go to war against Troy, Paris's home. Thus, the Oath of Tyndareus is also one of the chief causes of the Trojan War.
Odysseus (o DIS Yoos): One of the more clever members of the Greek army at Troy. It is he who invents the Oath of Tyndareus and who suggests the building of the wooden horse at the close of the Trojan War.
Oedipus (ED ih poos): The king of Thebes who unwittingly kills his father, Laius, and marries his mother--an act which so disgusts the gods that they sentence him to a life of misery, a punishment which, in turn, falls to his two sons, Eteocles and Polynices, and to his famous daughter, Antigone.
Oeneus (OWN yoos): the king of Calydon, Meleager's father. Artemis punishes Oeneus with the Boar of Artemis' Anger after he forgets to honour her with his harvest sacrifice.
Olympus (oh LIM poos): It is the mountain home of the gods where the throne of Zeus stands.
Onessimus (oh NESS ee Moos): The child of unidentified parents who are killed under the breached wall of Calydon. He is adopted and raised by Nestor, king of Pylos. There is no character of this name in the original myths. The name means "useful."
Orion (oh RI on): A great hunter of antiquity. His constellation can be seen in the southern sky in winter; the three stars of his belt are his most identifiable feature. South of the belt, his scabbard is composed of a descending line of stars. The central and brightest of these stars is really the Orion Nebula, an illuminated cloud of dust and gas.
Paris (a.k.a. Alexander) The son of Priam and Hecuba of Troy, Paris is left do die on Mountain Ida as an infant because prophesies say that he will cause Troy's destruction. The baby Paris is found and raised by shepherds who call him Alexander. When Paris is fully grown, three goddesses, Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite, seek his judgment on who among them is "the fairest" (see Fruit of Discord). He finds Aphrodite to be the fairest. She awards him Helen, the recently-made wife of Menelaus of Sparta, and he sails there to abduct her.
Patroclus (Pa TRO Kloos): The beloved friend and squire of Achilles. According to the myths, it is his death at the hands of Hector that brings Achilles back to battle against Troy.
Peleus (PEL yoos): The father of Achilles; one of the Argonauts and one of the hunters of the Boar of Artemis' Anger. He is also the husband of Thetis and the brother of Telamon.
Peloponnese* (PEL o pen Ess a): the large area of the Greek peninsula south of the Isthmus and Gulf of Corinth. It includes the regions of Achaeia, Elis, Arcadia, Argolis, Messenia, and Laconia. Some of the more important cities of the Peloponnese include Tagea, Pylos, Corinth, Mycenae and Sparta.
Penthesilea (PEN thuh Sil ya): The daughter of Ares and Otrere, and the queen of the Amazons during the Trojan War. Despite the fact that Priam had been at war with the Amazons decades earlier, as mentioned in "The Calydoniad," Penthesilea comes to war on Troy's side in order to teach Achilles some manners and humility; she brings with her a retinue of Amazons. (This takes place after Hector's death.) She is quickly defeated by Achilles who shoots her in her remaining breast, and falls in love with her just as she dies.
Persephone (per SEF oh Nee): The wife of Hades and the queen of the Underworld. She had been abducted by Hades while she, as a little girl, was out picking flowers.
Philemon (FI luh mon): A Greek, and friend of Onessimus. While there is a Philemon in the original myths, the character of that name in "Onessimus: Troy's Fall Denied" is not the same.
Phoenix (FEE niks): While Peleus is Achilles' father, Phoenix is primarily responsible for raising him. Phoenix and Peleus are both hunters in Calydon, though Phoenix is not counted among the Argonauts.
Phrygia* (FRIH gya): A large region of what is now called Turkey. It extends from the Sea of Marmara south to Smyrna (modern-day Izmir). The city of Troy is included in the northern part of Phrygia.
Plexippus (PLEX ih Poos): One of the Curetes and the first of Meleager's uncles to be killed by Meleager.
Poseidon (po SI don): The god of the sea, the brother of Hera, Zeus, and Hades, and the patron god of Troy. He and Apollo build Troy's walls.
Priam (PRI um): The final king of Troy and the father of some fifty sons including Paris and Hector. Most of these sons die in the Trojan War. There is no account in the original myths of Priam's friendship with Nestor, nor of his presence at Calydon.
Pylos* (PI lohs): The home city of Nestor located on the south-western tip of the Peloponnese.
River Thermodon: See Thermodon.
River Styx: See Styx.
Satyr (SAT ir): Deities of the woods and mountains. The upper portion of their bodies is essentially human-like, but with the horns of a goat, while the lower portions are traditionally composed of goats' tails, flanks, and hooves. They are common companions of Dionysus, the god of wine, and are known for their dancing, drinking, playing of their Pan flutes (The Pan flute is musical instrument composed of a series of tubes of varying length that are joined by string; it is played by blowing across the tops of the tubes, each of which has its own pitch. It is associated with Pan, who is, himself, a satyr), and chasing nymphs. The latter characteristic gives them their common association with sexuality, but all of these characteristics together identify satyrs as personifications of lasciviousness.
Samothrace* (SAM o thrays) A small Greek island off the southern coast of Thrace and Macedonia in the Aegean Sea.
Sarpedon (sar PEE don): A mortal son of Zeus and the commander of the Lycian contingent that fights for Troy in the Trojan War. According to the original myths, Sarpedon is a major player in the attacks against the Greeks under Hector's command. He is finally killed by Patroclus who fights in Achilles' stead, and there is a great battle fought for possession of his body.
Scaean Gate (SKA un): One of six gates in the walls of Troy.
Siren: Often associated with mermaids (the French word for mermaid is "Siren"), they are quite different in the Greek myths. They have girl's features from the hips up, but birds' features from the hips down; they also have birds' wings. With the use of songs that use deceitful lyrics, the sirens trick sailors into the rocky harbor of their island off the coast of Sicily causing the destruction of their ships and the deaths of the sailors. The number of Sirens that inhabit their island varies from source to source.
Strife: The consort of Discord.
Styx: A river which surrounds the realm of Hades altogether, in some traditions, corralling the souls of the dead into Hades with its nine spiraling circles around Hades. In other, more common traditions, it is the river that souls must cross on the ferry of Charon to enter the realm of the dead where there is relative peace, albeit bleak. These souls can pay Charon for this service with the coins they receive when their bodies are buried; otherwise they remain in a state of limbo and grief. In any event, the River Styx is not something to take lightly. The gods will swear by it and fear breaking their oaths. It is this river in which Thetis washes Achilles, holding him by the ankle only, in order to wash away his mortality. She is somewhat successful; his only vulnerable spot is his ankle where she held him.
Syrtis* (SEER tiss): The large bay on the northern coast of both Libya and Tunisia. According to Apollonius of Rhodes, the author of The Voyage of Argo, no ship can escape this bay because of a combination of several factors: extremely high and frequent flood tides, excessively long beaches, and dangerously rocky shallows at low tide.
Tagea* (tah GEE uh): Ruled by Cephus, Tagea is a city in the east-central region of the Peloponnese.
Tartarus (TAR tah roos): Roughly equivalent to Dante's innermost circle of Hell, Tartarus is a place beneath the Underworld at such a distance that the distance between Hades and the Underworld equals the distance between Heaven and Earth, and it, along with the River Styx, is actually revered, if not feared, even by the Olympians, some of whom are held captive there, including Kronos.
Teucer (Too ser): 1) The original founder of Troy. 2) A son of Telamon by Priam's kidnaped sister, Hesione. He fights against Troy in the Trojan War.
Telamon (TELL uh Mon): The brother of Peleus, one of the Argonauts, and one of the hunters of the Boar of Artemis' Anger. He also, presumably, fights the Curetes for Calydon. Additionally, he and Heracles attack Troy when its former king, Laomedon (Priam's father), refuses them payment for saving Hesione and all of Troy from a sea monster (see Heracles). Heracles awards Hesione, Priam's sister, to Telamon; she becomes his concubine and Telamon and Hesione become the parents of Teucer(2) who joins in the Trojan War with the Greeks (see Ajax). In The Iliad, both Ajax and Teucer stand behind Ajax's shield while Ajax fends off the Trojans, and Teucer shoots them with his bow and arrows; thus, they fight as one.
Thebes* (THEEBZ): A city just north of the Isthmus of Corinth where Oedipus rules at about the time of the "The Caldyoniad" and where war is ever present. The two sons of Oedipus, Eteocles and Polynices, according to agreement, were later to each rule Thebes in successive years. When it becomes Polynices' first turn to rule, Eteocles refuses to step down. War ensues, and Tydeus, son of Oeneus, king of Calydon (and Amphiaraus also) fight Eteocles.
Themis (THEEM iss): The goddess of Law who prophecies that any son of Thetis will be greater than his father. This prophecy is fulfilled in Achilles, Thetis's son by Peleus.
Thermodon* (THUR mo Don): A river on the eastern end of the Black Sea, probably on the boarder between Turkey and Georgia.
Theseus (THESS yoos): The king of Athens and one of the hunters of the Boar of Artemis' Anger. He is one of the few to show hospitality to Oedipus after the latter had been blinded and had been sent away from virtually every other city in Greece. He is one of the eminent heroes of Greek mythology, many of whose exploits are shared with Heracles.
Thestius (THESS tee oos): The Commander-in-Chief of the Curetes and the father-in-law of Oeneus, king of Calydon, who is roughly the same age as Thestius.
Thetis (THEE tiss): She is a Nereid--a third-generation demigod, and the mother of Achilles by Peleus. It is at their wedding that Discord, who is snubbed by all the gods, rolls the Fruit of Discord, causing a din among three goddesses. Additionally, Zeus had had eyes for Thetis, but the prophecy of Themis dissuaded him from her lest he should one day be forced to abdicate his throne.
Titan (TI tan): Sons of Uranoswho, because of their size and strength, dare an attempt at usurping Olympus. Their efforts are mostly frustrated, and they are imprisoned in Tartarus, the deepest part of Hades, but not before making a sizeable name for themselves. (Kronos is also considered a titan and is also imprisoned in Tartarus but for different reasons.)
Toxeus / Thyreus / Clymenus / Aegeleus / Periphas: The brothers of Meleager and Tydeus who are killed in the war of Calydon against the Curetes.
Trojan (TRO juhn): A citizen of Troy . Something associated with Troy.
Trojan War: For the better part of ten years the Greeks fight the Trojans in order to return Helen to her husband, Menelaus. The actual causes of the war, aside from Helen herself, are the Fruit of Discord, and the Oath of Tyndareus.
Troy*: A city in Phrygia east of the Aegean Sea and directly south of the Hellespont, in modern north-western Turkey.
Tydeus (TI dyoos): The father of Diomedes and the son of Oeneus. He is the one son who survives the war in Calydon, only to be killed not much later in Thebes. According to the original myths, Tydeus is Meleager's half-brother, having a different mother.
Urania (ur AYN ya): The muse of astronomy.
Uranos (OOR un ohss): The first king of the gods whose throne was threatened by the Titans, of which, his son, Kronos, is one. Üranos was dethroned by Kronos who was subsequently dethroned by Zeus and confined to Tartarus.
War: See Ares.
Wild Boar: See Boar of Artemis' Anger.
Zeus (ZOOS) or (ZAY oos): The ultimate king of the gods throughout most of Greek mythology, Zeus is known as the cloud gatherer and the lightning bearer. He is the youngest offspring of Kronos and Rhea, and the only one to survive divine infancy without being ingested by Kronos who had eaten all of his previous offspring: Hera, Poseidon, and Hades. Rhea, however, hides the baby Zeus on Mountain Ida (on the island of Crete according to the original myths), has him nursed by the goat Amalthea, and has his crying hidden by the noise of the Curetes so that Kronos won't discover and devour him along with his siblings. When Zeus is grown, he defeats Kronos, saves his siblings from Kronos' belly and confines him to Tartarus. Zeus is often symbolized by golden eagles whose presence often indicates his will. His character is considered to be happy (his Roman name, Jove, is the root of the English, "jovial"), and the Greek gods are frequently called "the happy gods."
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