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Son of Agenor and Telephassa. His sister, Europa was carried off by Zeus in the form of a bull, Cadmus went to search for her. Eventually he went to the oracle at Delphi who told him to stop searching for her and instead to follow a cow and found a town where he saw it collapse. He did as instructed and founded the town of Cadmea, later named Thebes.
The local spring was guarded by a dragon, but Cadmus easily killed it. On Athene's advice he planted the dragon's teeth and immediately fully armed warriors sprang up. They fought each other until only five survived, the Sparti.
Zeus gave Harmonia to Cadmus as a wife and it was at their wedding that she received the necklace and robe that were handed down through generations. Their children were Autonoe, Ino, Semele, Agave, Polydorus and Illyrius.
In old age Cadmus resigned the throne, leaving it to his grandson Pentheus. Cadmus and Harmonia were received into the Islands of the Blessed in the form of Serpents.
A Trojan prophet, who was on the Greek side during the Trojan War. He made many important prophecies including -
After the fall of Troy he traveled overland to Colophon. There he had a prophecy contest with Mopsus, but was beaten and died of grief.
The daughter of Achelous, the River god, wife of Alcmæon. She demanded her husband give her the necklace and robe of Harmonia, but he was killed trying to obtain them.
One of the Seven who attacked Thebes, husband of Evadne. He boasted that nothing could stop him climbing the walls of Thebes, but he was struck down by a thunderbolt from Zeus. He became a symbol of what the gods did to those who blasphemed. His son Stheneleus was one of the Epigoni who attacked Thebes again.
The daughter of King Priam of Troy and Hecuba, twin sister of Helenus. Apollo had fallen in love with her and had given her the power of prophecy. But when she rejected him, Apollo cursed her, so that no one could understand what she was saying when she gave a prophecy.
After the fall of Troy she was taken as booty by Agamemnon to Mycenae. However she refused to enter the palace as she could 'see' blood and the curse of Thyestes. However her warnings went unheeded and she was killed by Clytemnestra.
Wife of King Cepheus of Æthopia, mother of Andromeda. She boasted that her daughter was the more beautiful than the Nereids and Poseidon sent a monster to destroy the country as punishment. They had to sacrifice their daughter to save the country. Perseus killed the monster for them, but Cepheus and Cassiopeia were unwilling to fulfill their promise to allow him to marry their daughter. They said Andromeda was promised to another, but at the wedding Perseus used the Medusa's head to turn them all to stone. Poseidon put Cepheus and Cassiopeia among that stars in an 'embarrasing position'.
See Dioscuri for details.
Showed hospitality to Demeter while she was searching for Persephone in Eleusis. She taught Celeus and his son Triptolemus the art of agriculture as a reward, but she punished his son Abas because he was unkind to her.
Generally described as having the lower body of a horse and upper body of a man, the sons of Ixion and a cloud. They lived on Mount Pelion in Thessaly. They fought with Heracles, during which Cheiron, the wisest centaur was accidentally killed. They also battled with the Lapithæ and Theseus.
I - The son of Aleus, one of the Argonauts. He was King of Tegea in Arcadia, but he and seventeen of his twenty sons were killed while helping Heracles against Hippocoon.
II - The King of Æthiopia, husband of Cassiopeia. They had boasted that their daughter Andromeda was more beautiful than the Nereids, Poseidon had sent a monster that ravaged the lands and the only way to appease the god was to sacrifice Andromeda. Perseus rescued her and killed the monster after being promised Andromeda could be his wife. However after the monster was dead Cepheus and Cassiopeia attempted to stop the wedding, but Perseus showed them Medusa's head and they were turned to stone. Poseidon set their image in the stars in an embarrassing position.
The mother of the Gorgons (Medusa, Stheno and Euryale) by Phorcys.
The wife of Hephæstus in the Iliad.
Cheiron (or Chiron or Philyrides) was the wisest of the Centaurs and lived on Mount Pelion. He was taught the skills of prophecy, music, hunting and medicine by Apollo and Artemis. He in turn taught many of the Greek heroes, including Jason, Castor, Polydeuces, Peleus and Achilles.
He was accidentally hit with a poison arrow by Heracles, and although he was immortal so could not die, he was in great pain. He finally died when he gave his immortality to Prometheus and Zeus placed his image in the stars as Sagittarius.
The son of Medusa and Poseidon, he and his brother, the winged horse Pegasus, sprung from their mother's body when she was killed by Perseus. Well known as a warrior.
Son of Pelops, he was killed by his half brothers Atreus and Thyestes and their mother, Hippodameia.
The daughter of Helios and Perse a goddess and witch who lived on the island of Æaea. When Odysseus landed on her island she turned his men into pigs, but he resisted her using 'Moly' a herb given to him by Hermes. They lived together for a year and had a son, called Telegonus. She told him how to get to the underworld and how to avoid the Sirens and Scylla.
Circe received Jason and Medea on their return from Colchis and purified them of murder. After Odysseus' death Telemachus married Circe.
One of the Fates or Moeræ, she was responsible for spinning the thread of life. She rescued the limbs of Pelops from the cauldron Zeus had ordered they be put in.
I - Mother of Phæton by Helios.
II - The wife of Iapetus.
The daughter of Leda and King Tyndareus of Sparta, the half sister of Helen. She was forced to marry Agamemnon, King of Mycenae, after he killed her first husband, their children were Iphigeneia, Orestes and Electra. When Agamemnon went to Troy he sacrificed Iphigeneia for good winds. She was seduced by Ægisthus, who wanted to take revenge on Agamemnon for various crimes committed against his family. When Agamemnon returned from Troy with Cassandra, Clytemnestra killed both of them.
Clytemnestra and Ægisthus ruled for many years, until Electra and Orestes returned to the city. Orestes killed his mother and Æisthus and after being pursued by the Furies and tried by Athene, he was pardoned. The story is told in Æschylus;' Oresteia, and partly in Sophocles' Electra, and Euripides' Electra.
Meaning maiden, or girl. Another name for Persephone, or sometimes Athene.
The mother of Asclepius by Apollo.
I - Creon of Corinth, father of Glauce (or Creusa) they were both killed at her wedding to Jason by the jealous Medea, as described in Euripides' Medea.
II - Creon of Thebes, the brother of Jocasta, he became King of Thebes after sending Oedipus into voluntary exile. As King, Creon decreed that Polyneices should not be given burial after his attack on the city. When Polyneices' sister, Antigone disobeyed him, Creon had her buried alive in a cave. Only after his son, Hæmon, who was betrothed to her appealed did Creon release her. However she had already taken her own life, and Hæmon also committed suicide. These events are described in Euripides' Antigone.
Founder and king of Iolcus, he married Tyro and adopted Pelias and Neleus, her sons by Poseidon. His son by Tyro, Æson was imprisoned by Pelias after Cretheus' death but Æson's son Jason was saved.
I - Another name for Glauce, daughter of Creon of Corinth. She was consumed in flame at her wedding to Jason by a jealous Medea.
II - Wife of Xuthus.
The youngest of the Titans, son of Uranus and Gaea. With the other Titans he rebelled against Uranus, and using a sickle given to him by Gaea he unmanned his father. Cronus now ruled the gods, banishing the Cyclopes and Hecatoncheires again to Tartarus. He married his sister Rhea, but as it had been prophesied that he would be deposed by one of his own children, he swallowed each baby when it was born. However when Zeus was born, Rhea saved the baby by giving Cronus stones.
When Zeus was grown, he and his mother gave Cronus a potion and he disgorged the other Olympians. There was then a great battle between Cronus and the Titans and Zeus and the Olympian. With the assistance of Gaea and Cyclopes, the Titans were beaten and consigned to Tartarus.
The Roman name for Eros.
There are various descriptions of the Cyclopes.
Hesiod says there were three of them, Brontes, Steropes and Arges, sons of Gaea and Uranus. They were imprisoned in Tartarus by their father, re-imprisoned by Cronus, then released by Zeus. They gave Zeus the thunderbolt, Hades the helmet of invisibility and Poseidon the trident.
Homer describes them as one eyed giants who lived in Sicily, guarding their flocks of sheep. Their leader was Polyphemus.
Later tradition says they were helpers of Hephæstus living in Mount Ætna. They were also said to have built the walls of Mycenæ, Tiryns and other cities.
Daughter of Hypseus. Mother of Aristæus by Apollo. Apollo carried her from Mt. Pelion to Libya where the bity of Cyrene was named after her.