CAB′IRI. The mysterious rites connected with the worship of these
deities were so obscene that most writers refer to them as secrets
which it was unlawful to reveal.
CAC′ODÆ′MON. Greek name of an evil spirit.
CA′CUS, a three-headed monster and robber.
CAD′MUS, one of the earliest of the Greek demigods. He was the reputed
inventor of letters, and his alphabet consisted of sixteen letters.
It was Cadmus who slew the Bœotian dragon, and sowed its teeth in the
ground, from each of which sprang up an armed man.
CADU′CEUS. The rod carried by Mercury. It has two winged serpents
entwined round the top end. It was supposed to possess the power of
producing sleep, and Milton refers to it in _Paradise Lost_ as the
“opiate rod.”
CALIS′TRO, an Arcadian nymph, who was turned into a she-bear by
Jupiter. In that form she was hunted by her son Arcas, who would have
killed her had not Jupiter turned him into a he-bear. The nymph and her
son form the constellations known as the Great Bear and Little Bear.
CALLI′OPE. The Muse who presided over epic poetry and rhetoric. She is
generally depicted using a stylus and wax tablets, the ancient writing
materials.
CAL′PE. One of the pillars of Hercules.
CALYP′SO was queen of the island of Ogygia, on which Ulysses was
wrecked, and where he was persuaded to remain seven years.
CA′MA. The Indian god of love and marriage.
CAMIL′LUS, a name of Mercury, from his office of minister to the gods.
CAN′ACHE. The name of one of Actæon’s hounds.
CANO′BA. The Indian Apollo.
CANO′PUS. The Egyptian god of water, the conqueror of fire.
CAP′IS or CAP′ULA. A peculiar cup with ears, used in drinking the
health of the deities.
CAPITOLI′NUS. A name of Jupiter, from the Capitoline hill, on the top
of which a temple was built and dedicated to him.
CAP′RI′PEDES. Pan, the Egipans, the Satyrs, and Fauns, were so called
from having goats’ feet.
CAPROTI′NA. A name of Juno.
CASSAN′DRA, a daughter of Priam and Hecuba, who was granted by Apollo
the power of seeing into futurity, but having offended that god he
prevented people from believing her predictions.
CASSIOPE′IA. The Ethiopian queen who set her beauty in comparison with
that of the Nereides, who thereupon chained her to a rock and left her
to be devoured by a sea-monster, but she was delivered by Perseus.
CASTA′LIA. One of the fountains in Mount Parnassus, sacred to the Muses.
CASTA′LI′DES, a name of the Muses, from the fountain Castalia or
Castalius.
CAS′TOR, son of Jupiter and Leda, twin brother of Pollux, noted for his
skill in horsemanship. He went with Jason in quest of the Golden Fleece.
CAU′THER, in Mohammedan mythology, is the lake of paradise, whose
waters are as sweet as honey, as cold as snow, and as clear as crystal;
and any believer who tastes thereof is said to thirst no more.
CEL′ENO was one of the Harpies, progenitor of Zephyrus, the west wind.
CEN′TAUR. A huntsman who had the fore-part like a man, and the
remainder of the body like a horse. The Centauri lived in Thessaly.
CEP′HALUS was married to Procris, whom he accidentally slew by shooting
her, while she was secretly watching him, he thinking she was a wild
beast. Cephalus was the type of constancy.
CERAU′NIUS. A Greek name of Jupiter, meaning The Fulminator, from his
thunderbolts.
CER′BERUS. Pluto’s famous three-headed dog, which guarded the gate of
the infernal regions, preventing the living from entering, and the
inhabitants from going out.
“Three-headed Cerberus, by fate
Posted at Plato’s iron gate;
Low crouching rolls his haggard eyes,
Ecstatic, and foregoes his prize.”
CEREMONIES, see Themis.
CE′RES, daughter of Saturn, the goddess of agriculture, and of the
fruits of earth. She taught Triptolemus how to grow corn, and sent him
to teach the inhabitants of the earth. She was known by the names of
Magna Dea, Bona Dea, Alma Mammosa, and Thesmorphonis. Ceres was the
mother of Prosperine. See Ambarvalia.
“To Ceres bland, her annual rites be paid
On the green turf beneath the fragrant shade.--
... Let all the hinds bend low at Ceres’ shrine,
Mix honey sweet for her with milk and mellow wine,
Thrice lead the victim the new fruits around,
On Ceres call, and choral hymns resound.”
“Ceres was she who first our furrows ploughed,
Who gave sweet fruits and every good allowed.”