MI′LO, a celebrated Cretan athlete, who is said to have felled an ox
with his fist, and to have eaten the beast in one day. His statue is
often seen with one hand in the rift of a tree trunk, out of which he
is vainly trying to withdraw it. The fable is, that when he got an old
man he attempted to split an oak tree, but having lost his youthful
vigour, the tree closed on his hand and he was held a prisoner till the
wolves came and devoured him.
MIMALLO′NES. The “wild women” who accompanied Bacchus, so called
because they mimicked his actions.
MI′MIR. In Scandinavian mythology the god of wisdom.
MIND, see Erinnys.
MINER′VA, the goddess of wisdom, war, and the liberal arts, is said to
have sprung from the head of Jupiter fully armed for battle. She was a
great benefactress of mankind, and patroness of the fine arts. She was
the tutelar deity of the city of Athens. She is also known by the names
of Pallas, Parthenos, Tritonia, and Glaukopis. She was very generally
worshipped by the ancients, and her temple at Athens, the Parthenon,
still remains. She is represented in statues and pictures as wearing
a golden helmet encircled with an olive branch, and a breastplate. In
her right hand she carries a lance, and by her side is the famous Ægis
or shield, covered with the skin of Amalthæa, the goat which nourished
Jupiter; and for the boss of the shield is the head of Medusa. An owl,
the emblem of meditation, is on the left; and a cock, the emblem of
courage, on the right. The Elgin Marbles in the British Museum were
brought from the Parthenon, her temple at Athens.
MI′NOS. The principal of the three judges of hell, before whom the
spirits of the departed appeared and heard their doom.
MI′NOTAUR. The monster, half man, half bull, which Theseus slew.
MIRTH, see Momus.
MISERY, see Genii.
MITH′RA. A Persian divinity, the ruler of the universe, corresponding
with the Roman Sol.
MNEMOS′YNE. Mother of the Muses and goddess of memory. Jupiter courted
the goddess in the guise of a shepherd.
MOAK′IBAT. The recording angel of the Mohammedans.
MO′LOCH. 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.
“First Moloch, horrid king, besmeared with blood
Of human sacrifice, and parents’ tears,
Though for the noise of drums and timbrels loud,
Their children’s cries unheard, that poured through fire
To this grim idol.”