=Lares and Penates= (Laʹres and Penaʹtes) were sons of Mercury and

Lara, or, as other mythologists say, of Jupiter and Lamida. They

belonged to the lower order of Roman gods, and presided over homes and

families. Their statues were generally fixed within the doors of

houses, or near the hearths. Lamps were sacred to them, as symbols of

vigilance, and the dog was their sacrifice.

=Lark=, see Scylla and Nysus.

=Latona= (Latoʹna), daughter of Coelus and Phoebe, mother of Apollo

and Diana. Being admired so much by Jupiter, Juno was jealous, and

Latona was the object of the goddess' constant persecution.

=Laughter=, see Momus and Venus.

=Laurel= (Lauʹrel), see Daphne.

=Laverna= (Laverʹna). The Roman patroness of thieves.

=Law=, see Menu.

=Lawgiver=, see Nomius.

=Laws=, see Themis.

=Leander= (Leanʹder), see Hero.

=Leather Bottle=, see Ascolia.

=Leda= (Leʹda) was the mother of Castor and Pollux, their father being

Jupiter, in the shape of a swan. After her death she received the name

of Nemesis.

=Lemnius= (Lemʹnius). One of the names of Vulcan.

=Lemures= (Lemʹures). The ghosts of departed souls. Milton, in his

"Ode to the Nativity," says--

"Lemures moan with midnight plaint."

They are sometimes referred to as the Manes of the dead.

=Lenaeus= (Lenaeʹus). One of the names of Bacchus.

=Lerna= (Lerʹna). The lake or swamp near Argos where Hercules

conquered the Lernaean Hydra.

=Lethe= (Leʹthe). One of the rivers of the infernal regions, of which

the souls of the departed are obliged to drink to produce oblivion or

forgetfulness of everything they did or knew while alive on the earth.

"A slow and silent stream,

Lethe, the river of oblivion, rolls

Her watery labyrinth, whereof who drinks

Forthwith his former state and being forgets,

Forgets both joy and grief, pleasure and pain."

Milton.

[Illustration: Hera

_See page 64_]

=Leucothea= (Leucothʹea). The name of Ino after she was transformed

into a sea nymph.

=Levana= (Levaʹna). The deity who presided over new-born infants.

=Level, The=, see Daedalus.

=Liakura= (Liakʹura). Mount Parnassus.

=Liberal Arts=, see Minerva.

=Liber Pater= (Liʹber Paʹter). A name of Bacchus.

=Liberty=, see Bacchus.

=Libissa= (Libʹissa). Queen of fays and fairies.

=Libitina= (Libitiʹna). A Roman goddess, the chief of the funeral

deities.

=Licentiousness=, see Belphegor.

=Ligea= (Ligeʹa). A Greek syren or sea-nymph, one of the Nereides.

=Lightning=, see Agni.

=Lilith= (Liʹlith). A Jewish myth representing a finely dressed woman

who is a great enemy to new-born children. She was said to have been

Adam's first wife, but, refusing to submit to him, was turned from

Paradise and made a specter.

=Lina= (Liʹna). The goddess of the art of weaving.

=Lindor= (Linʹdor). A lover in the shape of a shepherd, like Corydon;

a love-sick swain.

=Lion=, see Atalanta, Chimaera.

=Liver=, see Tityus and Prometheus.

=Locks=, see Janus.

=Lofen= (Loʹfen). The Scandinavian god who guards friendship.

=Lofua= (Lofʹua). The Scandinavian goddess who reconciles lovers.

=Loke.= The Scandinavian Satan, the god of strife, the spirit of evil.

Written also Lok, and Loki.

=Lotis= (Loʹtis). A daughter of Neptune, who fled from Priapus, and

only escaped from him by being transformed into a lotus-plant.

=Lotus-Plant= (Loʹtus-Plant), see Lotis.

=Love=, see Cupid, Eros, Venus.

=Lucian= (Luʹcian). The impersonation of folly, changed into an ass.

=Lucifer= (Luʹcifer). The morning star.

=Lucina= (Luciʹna). The goddess who presides at the birth of children.

She was a daughter of Jupiter and Juno, or, according to others, of

Latona.

"Lucina, hail! So named from thine own grove,

Or from the light thou giv'st us from above."

Ovid.

=Lud.= In ancient British mythology the king of the Britons. He is

said to have given his name to London.

=Luna= (Luʹna). The name of Diana as a celestial divinity. See Diana

and Hecate. Also, the Italian goddess of the moon.

=Lupercus= (Luʹpercus), or Pan. The Roman god of fertility; his

festival day was 15th February, and the festivals were called

Lupercalia.

=Lycaonian Food= (Lycaonʹian). Execrable viands, such as were

supplied to Jupiter by Lycaon. To test the divine knowledge of the god

he served up human flesh, which Jove discovered, and punished Lycaon

by turning him into a wolf.

=Lycian Clowns= were turned into frogs by Latona or Ceres.

=Lymniades= (Lymniʹades). Nymphs who resided in marshes.

=Lynceus= (Lynʹceus). One of the Argonauts. The personification of

sharpsightedness.

=Lyre.= This musical instrument is constantly associated with the

doings of the ancient deities. Amphion built the walls of Thebes by

the music of his lyre. Arion charmed the dolphins in a similar way.

Hercules broke the head of Linus, his music-master, with the lyre he

was learning to use; and Orpheus charmed the most savage beasts, and

even the Harpies and gods of the infernal regions, with the enchanting

music of the stringed lyre. See Mercury.

=Maenades= (Maenʹades). Priestesses of Bacchus.

=Magicians=, see Telchines.

=Magna Dea= (Magʹna Deʹa), a name of Ceres.

=Magpies=, see Pierides.

=Mahasoor= (Maʹhaʹsoor). The Hindoo god of evil.

=Maia= (Maʹia). The mother of the Grecian Mercury.

=Mammon= (Mamʹmon). The money god.

=Manes= (Maʹnes). The souls of the departed. The Roman god of

funerals and tombs.

"All have their Manes, and their Manes bear.

The few who're cleansed to those abodes repair,

And breathe in ample fields the soft Elysian air."

=Manuring Land=, see Picumnus.

=March 24=, Bellona's Day. See Bellona.

=Marina= (Mariʹna). A name of Venus, meaning sea-foam, from her having

been formed from the froth of the sea. See Aphrodite.

=Marriage=, see Cama, Hymen, Juno, Jugatinus.

=Mars=, the god of war, was the son of Jupiter and Juno. Venus was his

favorite goddess, and among their children were Cupid, Anteros, and

Harmonia. In the Trojan War Mars took the part of the Trojans, but was

defeated by Diomedes. The first month of the old Roman year (our

March) was sacred to Mars.

=Marshes=, see Lymniades.

=Marsyas= (Marʹsyas). The name of the piper who challenged Apollo to a

musical contest, and, being defeated, was flayed to death by the god.

He was the supposed inventor of the flute.

=Marut= (Maʹrut). The Hindoo god of tempestuous winds.

=Matura= (Matuʹra). One of the rural deities who protected the growing

corn at time of ripening.

=Maximus= (Maxʹimus). One of the appellations of Jupiter, being the

greatest of the gods.

=Measures and Weights=, see Mercury.

=Medea= (Medeʹa). Wife of Jason, chief of the Argonauts. To punish

her husband for infidelity, Medea killed two of her children in their

father's presence. She was a great sorceress. See Jason.

"Now to Medaea's dragons fix my reins."

F. Lewis.

"Let not Medea draw her murdering knife,

And spill her children's blood upon the stage."

Lord Roscommon.

=Medicine=, see Apollo.

=Meditation=, see Harpocrates.

=Medusa= (Meduʹsa). One of the Gorgons. Minerva changed her beautiful

hair into serpents. She was conquered by Perseus, who cut off her

head, and placed it on Minerva's shield. Every one who looked at the

head was turned into stone.

Ulysses, in the Odyssey, relates that he wished to see more of the

inhabitants of Hades, but was afraid, as he says--

"Lest Gorgon, rising from the infernal lakes,

With horrors armed, and curls of hissing snakes,

Should fix me, stiffened at the monstrous sight,

A stony image in eternal night."

Pope.

"Medusa with Gorgonian terror guards

The ford."

Milton.

"Remove that horrid monster, and take hence

Medusa's petrifying countenance."

Addison.

=Megaera= (Megʹaera). One of the three Furies--Greek goddesses of

vengeance.

=Megale= (Megʹale). A Greek name of Juno, meaning great.

=Melicerta= (Melicerʹta), see Palaemon.

=Mellona= (Melloʹna). One of the rural divinities, the goddess of

bees.

=Melpomene= (Melpomʹene). One of the nine Muses, the goddess of

tragedy.

=Memnon= (Memʹnon), son of Tithonus and of Eos, who after the death of

Hector brought the Aethiopians to the assistance of Priam in the war

against Troy.

=Memory=, see Mnemosyne.

=Mendes= (Menʹdes). An Egyptian god like Pan. He was worshiped in the

form of a goat.

=Menelaus= (Menelaʹus). A Spartan king, brother of Agamemnon. The

elopement of his wife Helen with Paris was the cause of the siege of

Troy. See Helena.

=Menu= (Meʹnu), or =Manu= (Maʹnu). The Hindoo law-giver. See

Satyavrata.

=Merchants=, see Mercury.

=Mercury= (Merʹcury), the son of Jupiter and Maia, was the messenger

of the gods, and the conductor of the souls of the dead to Hades. He

was the supposed inventor of weights and measures, and presided over

orators and merchants. Mercury was accounted a most cunning thief, for

he stole the bow and quiver of Apollo, the girdle of Venus, the

trident of Neptune, the tools of Vulcan, and the sword of Mars, and he

was therefore called the god of thieves. He is the supposed inventor

of the lyre, which he exchanged with Apollo for the Caduceus. There

was also an Egyptian Mercury under the name of Thoth, or Thaut, who is

credited with having taught the Egyptians geometry and hieroglyphics.

Hermes is the Greek name of Mercury. In art he is usually represented

as having on a winged cap, and with wings on his heels.

"And there, without the power to fly,

Stands fix'd a tip-toe Mercury."

Lloyd, 1750.

"Then fiery expedition be my wing,

Jove's Mercury, and herald for a king."

"Be Mercury, set feathers to thy heels

And fly, like thought, from them to me again."

Shakespeare.

=Meru= (Meʹru). The abode of the Hindoo god Vishnu. It is at the top

of a mountain 8,000 leagues high. The Olympus of the East Indians.

=Midas= (Miʹdas). A king of Phrygia, who begged of Bacchus the special

gift that everything that he touched might be turned into gold. The

request was granted, and as soon as he touched his food it also was

turned to gold, and for fear of being starved he was compelled to ask

the god to withdraw the power he had bestowed upon him. He was told to

bathe in the river Pactolus. He did so, and the sands which he stood

on were golden forever after. It was this same king who, being

appointed to be judge in a musical contest between Apollo and Pan,

gave the satyr the palm; whereupon Apollo, to show his contempt,

bestowed on him a pair of asses' ears. This gave rise to the term

"Midas-eared" as a synonym for ill-judged, or indiscriminate.

"He dug a hole, and in it whispering said,

What monstrous ears sprout from King Midas' head."

Ovid.

=Milo= (Miʹlo), a celebrated Croton 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 to be an old man he attempted to split an oak tree, but

having lost his youthful vigor, the tree closed on his hand and he was

held a prisoner till the wolves came and devoured him.

=Mimallones= (Mimalloʹnes). The "wild women" who accompanied Bacchus,

so called because they mimicked his actions, putting horns on their

heads when they took part in his orgies.

=Mimir= (Miʹmir). In Scandinavian mythology the god of wisdom.

=Mind=, see Erinnys.

=Minerva= (Minerʹva), 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 worshiped 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 aegis or shield, covered with the skin of

Amalthaea, 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, London, were brought from the

Parthenon, her temple at Athens.

=Minos= (Miʹnos). The supreme of the three judges of hell, before whom

the spirits of the departed appeared and heard their doom.

=Minotaur= (Minʹotaur). The monster, half man, half bull, which

Theseus slew.

=Mirth=, see Momus.

=Misery=, see Genii.

=Mithras= (Mithʹras). A Persian divinity, the ruler of the universe,

corresponding with the Roman Sol.

=Mnemosyne= (Mnemosʹyne). Mother of the Muses and goddess of memory.

Jupiter courted the goddess in the guise of a shepherd.

=Moakibat= (Moakʹibat). The recording angel of the Mohammedans.

=Moloch= (Moʹloch). A god of the Phoenicians 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."

Milton.

=Momus= (Moʹmus). The god of mockery and blame. The god who blamed

Jove for not having made a window in man's breast, so that his

thoughts could be seen. His bitter jests occasioned his being driven

from heaven in disgrace. He is represented as holding an image of

Folly in one hand, and raising a mask from his face with the other. He

is also described as the god of mirth or laughter.

=Moneta= (Moneʹta). A name given to Juno by those writers who

considered her the goddess of money.

=Money=, see Moneta.

=Money-God=, see Mammon.

=Moon.= The moon was, by the ancients, called _Hecate_ before and

after setting; _Astarte_ when in crescent form; _Diana_ when in full.

See Luna.

"Soon as the evening shades prevail

The moon takes up her wondrous tale,

And nightly to the list'ning earth

Repeats the story of her birth."

Addison.

=Morpheus= (Morʹpheus). The Greek god of sleep and dreams, the son and

minister of Somnus.

"Morpheus, the humble god that dwells

In cottages and smoky cells;

Hates gilded roofs and beds of down,

And though he fears no prince's frown,

Flies from the circle of a crown."

Sir John Denman.

=Mors.= Death, a daughter of Nox (Night).

=Mountain=, see Atlas, Nymph.

=Mulciber= (Mulʹciber). A name of Vulcan, sometimes spelled Mulcifer,

the smelter of metals. See Vulcan.

=Munin= (Munʹin). The Scandinavian god of memory, represented by the

raven that was perched on Odin's shoulder.

=Muscarius= (Muscaʹrius). A name given to Jupiter because he kept off

the flies from the sacrifices.

=Muses, The= (Muʹses), were nine daughters of Jupiter and Mnemosyne.

They presided over the arts and sciences, music and poetry. Their

names were, Calliope, Clio, Erato, Thalia, Melpomene, Terpsichore,

Euterpe, Polyhymnia, and Urania. They principally resided in Mount

Parnassus, at Helicon.

"Be thou the tenth Muse, ten times more in worth,

Than those old nine which rhymers advocate."

Shakespeare.

=Music=, see Apollo, Muses.

=Mythras= (Myʹthras). The Egyptian name of Apollo.

=Naiads, The= (Naiʹads), were beautiful nymphs of human form who

presided over springs, fountains, and wells. They resided in the

meadows by the sides of rivers. Virgil mentions Aegle as being the

fairest of the Naiades.

=Nandi= (Nanʹdi). The Hindoo goddess of joy.

=Narrae= (Narʹrae). The name of the infernal regions amongst the

Hindoos.

=Narayan= (Naʹraʹyan). The mover of the waters. The Hindoo god of

tides.

=Narcissus= (Narcisʹsus), son of Cephisus and the Naiad Liriope, was a

beautiful youth, who was so pleased with the reflection of himself

which he saw in the placid water of a fountain that he could not help

loving it, imagining that it must be some beautiful nymph. His

fruitless endeavors to possess himself of the supposed nymph drove him

to despair, and he killed himself. There sprang from his blood a

flower, which was named after him, Narcissus.

"Narcissus so himself forsook,

And died to kiss his shadow in the brook."

"Hadst thou Narcissus in thy face, to me

Thou wouldst appear most ugly."

Shakespeare.

=Nastrond= (Nasʹtrond). The Scandinavian place of eternal punishment,

corresponding with Hades.

[Illustration: Hero and Leander

_See page 66_]

=Natio= (Naʹtio). A Roman goddess who took care of young infants.

=Nemaean Lion= (Nemaeʹan), see Hercules.

=Nemesis= (Nemʹesis), the goddess of vengeance or justice, was one of

the infernal deities. Her mother was Nox. She was supposed to be

constantly traveling about the earth in search of wickedness, which

she punished with the greatest severity. She is referred to by some

writers under the name of Adrasteia. The Romans always sacrificed to

this goddess before they went to war, because they wished to signify

that they never took up arms but in the cause of justice.

"Forbear, said Nemesis, my loss to moan,

The fainting, trembling hand was mine alone."

Dr. J. Wharton.

=Nephalia= (Nephaʹlia). Grecian festivals in honor of Mnemosyne, the

mother of the Muses.

=Neptune= (Nepʹtune), god of the sea, was a son of Saturn and Cybele,

and brother to Jupiter and Pluto. He quarreled with Jupiter because he

did not consider that the dominion of the sea was equal to Jupiter's

empire of heaven and earth; and he was banished from the celestial

regions, after having conspired with Pluto to dethrone Jupiter.

Neptune was married to Amphitrite, daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, by

whom he had a son named Triton. He was also father of Polyphemus (one

of the Cyclopes), Phoreus, and Proteus. Neptune is represented as

being seated in a shell chariot, drawn by dolphins or sea-horses, and

surrounded by Tritons and sea-nymphs. He holds in his hand a trident,

with which he rules the waves. Though a marine deity, he was reputed

to have presided over horse-training and horse-races; but he is

principally known as the god of the ocean; and the two functions of

the god are portrayed in the sea horses with which his chariot is

drawn, the fore-half of the animal being a horse, and the hind-half a

dolphin. Ships were also under his protection, and whenever he

appeared on the ocean there was a dead calm.

=Nereides, The= (Nereʹides), were aquatic nymphs. They were daughters

of Nereus and Doris, and were fifty in number. They are generally

represented as beautiful girls riding on dolphins, and carrying

tridents in the right hand or garlands of flowers.

=Nereus= (Nereʹus). A sea deity, husband of Doris. He had the gift of

prophecy, and foretold fates; but he had also the power of assuming

various shapes, which enabled him to escape from the importunities of

those who were anxious to consult him.

=Nessus= (Nesʹsus). The name of the Centaur that was destroyed by

Hercules for insulting his wife Deianira. Nessus's blood-smeared robe

proved fatal to Hercules.

=Nestor= (Nesʹtor). A grandson of Neptune, his father being Neleus,

and his mother Chloris. Homer makes him one of the greatest of the

Greek heroes. He was present at the famous battle between the Lapithae

and the Centaurs, and took a leading part in the Trojan war.

"... Here's Nestor

Instructed by the antiquary times,

He must, he is, he cannot but be wise."

Shakespeare.

=Nicephorus= (Nicephʹorus). A name of Jupiter, meaning the bearer of

victory.

=Nidhogg= (Nidʹhogg). In Scandinavian mythology the dragon who dwells

in Nastrond.

=Niflheim= (Niflʹheim). The Scandinavian hell. It was supposed to

consist of nine vast regions of ice beneath the North Pole, where

darkness reigns eternally. See Nastrond.

=Night=, see Nox.

=Nightingale=, see Philomela.

=Nightmare=, see Incubus.

=Nilus= (Niʹlus), a king of Thebes, who gave his name to the Nile, the

great Egyptian river.

=Nine, The=, see Muses.

=Niobe= (Niʹobe) was a daughter of Tantalus, and is the

personification of grief. By her husband Amphion she had seven sons

and seven daughters. By the orders of Latona the father and sons were

killed by Apollo, and the daughters (except Chloris) by Diana. Niobe,

being overwhelmed with grief, escaped further trouble by being turned

into a stone.

=Nomius= (Noʹmius). A law-giver; one of the names of Apollo. This

title was also given to Mercury for the part he took in inventing

beneficent laws.

=Norns.= Three Scandinavian goddesses, who wove the woof of human

destiny. The three witches in Shakespeare's "Macbeth" have their

origin in the Scandinavian Norns.

=Notus= (Noʹtus). Another name for Auster, the south wind.

=Nox= was the daughter of Chaos, and sister of Erebus and Mors. She

personified night, and was the mother of Nemesis and the Fates.

=Nundina= (Nundiʹna). The goddess who took charge of children when

they were nine days old--the day (_Nona dies_) on which the Romans

named their children.

=Nuptialis= (Nuptiaʹlis). A title of Juno. When the goddess was

invoked under this name the gall of the victim was taken out and

thrown behind the altar, signifying that there should be no gall

(bitterness) or anger between married people.

=Nuriel= (Nuʹriel). In Hebrew mythology the god of hailstorms.

=Nyctelius= (Nycteʹlius). A name given to Bacchus, because his

festivals were celebrated by torchlight.

=Nymphs.= This was a general name for a class of inferior female

deities who were attendants of the gods. Some of them presided over

springs, fountains, wells, woods, and the sea. They are spoken of as

land-nymphs or Naiads, and sea-nymphs or Nereids, though the former

are associated also with fountains and rivers. The Dryads were

forest-nymphs, and the Hamadryads were nymphs who lived among the

oak-trees--the oak being always specially venerated by the ancients.

The mountain-nymphs were called Oreads.

"With flower-inwoven tresses torn,

The nymphs in twilight shade

Of tangled thickets mourn."

Milton.

=Nysae= (Nyʹsae). The names of the nymphs by whom Bacchus was nursed.

See Dionysius.

=Nysaeus= (Nyʹsaeus). A name of Bacchus, because he was worshiped at

Nysa, a town of Aethiopia.

=Nysus= (Nyʹsus). A king of Megara who was invisible by virtue of a

particular lock of hair. This lock his daughter Scylla cut off, and so

betrayed her father to his enemies. She was changed into a lark, and

the king into a hawk, and he still pursues his daughter, intending to

punish her for her treachery.

=Oannes= (Oanʹnes). An Eastern (Babylonian) god, represented as a

monster, half-man, half-fish. He was said to have taught men the use

of letters in the day-time, and at night to have retired to the depth

of the ocean.

=Oath=, see Lapis.

=Obambou= (Obamʹbou). A devil of African mythology.

=Ocean=, see Neptune.

=Oceanides= (Oceanʹides). Sea-nymphs, daughters of Oceanus and Tethys.

Their numbers are variously estimated by different poets; some saying

there were as many as 3,000, while others say they were as few as

sixteen. The principal of them are mentioned under their respective

names, as Amphitrite, Doris, Metis, etc.

=Oceanus= (Oceʹanus), son of Coelus and Terra, and husband of Tethys.

Several mythological rivers were called his sons, as Alpheus, Peneus,

etc., and his daughters were called the Oceanides. Some of the

ancients worshiped him as the god of the seas, and invariably invoked

his aid when they were about to start on a voyage. He was also thought

to personify the immense stream which it was supposed surrounded the

earth, and into which the sun and moon and other heavenly bodies sank

every day.

=Ocridion= (Ocridʹion). A king of Rhodes, who was deified after his

death.

=Ocypete= (Ocyʹpete). One of the Harpies, who infected everything she

touched. The word means swift of flight.

=Ocyroe= (Ocyʹroe). A daughter of Chiron, who had the gift of

prophecy. She was metamorphosed into a mare.

=Odin= (Oʹdin). In Scandinavian mythology the god of the universe,

and reputed father of all the Scandinavian kings. His wife's name was

Friga, and his two sons were Thor and Balder. The _Wodin_ of the early

German tribes.

=Oeagrus= (Oeʹagrus). King of Thrace, and father of Orpheus.

=Oedipus= (Oedʹipus). A son of Laius, King of Thebes, best known as

the solver of the famous enigma propounded by the Sphinx. In solving

the riddle Oedipus unwittingly killed his father, and, discovering the

fact, he destroyed his own eyesight, and wandered away from Thebes,

attended by his daughter Antigone. Oedipus is the subject of two

famous tragedies by Sophocles.

=Oenone= (Oenoʹne). Wife of Paris, a nymph of Mount Ida, who had the

gift of prophecy.

=Ogygia= (Ogygʹia). An island, the abode of Calypso, in the

Mediterranean Sea, on which Ulysses was shipwrecked. It was so

beautiful in sylvan scenery that even Mercury (who dwelt on Olympus)

was charmed with the spot.

=Ointment=, see Phaon.

=Olenus= (Oleʹnus). A son of Vulcan, who married Lathaea, a woman who

thought herself more beautiful than the goddesses, and as a punishment

she and her husband were turned into stone statues.

=Olives=, see Aristaeus.

=Olympius= (Olymʹpius). A name of Jupiter, from Olympia, where the god

had a splendid temple, which was considered to be one of the seven

wonders of the world.

=Olympus= (Olymʹpus) was the magnificent mountain on the coast of

Thessaly, 9,000 feet high, where the gods were supposed to reside.

There were several other smaller mountains of the same name.

"High heaven with trembling the dread signal took,

And all Olympus to the center shook."

Pope.

=Olyras= (Olyʹras). A river near Thermopylae, which, it is said,

attempted to extinguish the funeral pile on which Hercules was

consumed.

=Omophagia= (Omophaʹgia). A Bacchanalian festival at which some

uncooked meats were served.

=Omphale= (Omʹphale). The Queen of Lydia, to whom Hercules was sold as

a bondsman for three years for the murder of Iphitus. Hercules fell in

love with her, and led an effeminate life in her society, wearing

female apparel, while Omphale wore the lion's skin.

=Onarus= (Onaʹrus). A priest of Bacchus, said to have married Ariadne

after she had been abandoned by Theseus.

=Onuva= (Onuʹva). The Venus of the ancient Gauls.

=Opalia= (Opaʹlia). Roman festivals in honor of Ops, held on 14th of

the calends of January.

=Opiate-rod=, see Caduceus.

"Eyes ... more wakeful than to drowse,

Charmed with Arcadian pipe--the pastoral reed

Of Hermes or his opiate-rod."

Milton.

=Ops.= Mother of the gods, a daughter of Coelus and Terra. She was

known by the several names of Bona Dea, Rhea, Cybele, Magna Mater,

Proserpine, Tellus, and Thya; and occasionally she is spoken of as

Juno and Minerva. She personified labor, and is represented as a

comely matron, distributing gifts with her right hand, and holding in

her left hand a loaf of bread. Her festival was the 14th day of the

January calends.

=Oracles=, see Themis.

=Oraea= (Oraeʹa). Certain sacrifices offered to the goddesses of the

seasons to invoke fair weather for the ripening of the fruits of the

earth.

=Orbona= (Orboʹna). Roman goddess of children, invoked by mothers when

they lost or were in danger of losing their offspring.

=Orchards=, see Feronia.

=Oreades= (Oʹreades) were mountain nymphs, attendants on Diana.

=Orgies.= Drunken revels. The riotous feasts of Bacchus were so

designated.

=Orion= (Oriʹon). A handsome hunter, of great stature, who was blinded

by Oenopion for a grievous wrong done to Merope, and was therefore

expelled from Chios. The sound of the Cyclops' hammers led him to the

abode of Vulcan, who gave him a guide. He then consulted an oracle,

and had his sight restored, as Longfellow says, by fixing

"His blank eyes upon the sun."

He was afterward slain by Diana and placed amongst the stars, where

his constellation is one of the most splendid.

=Orithyia= (Oriʹthyʹia). A daughter of Erechtheus, whose lover,

Boreas, carried her off while she was wandering by the river Ilissus.

Her children were Zetus and Calais, two winged warriors who

accompanied the Argonauts.

=Ormuzd= (Orʹmuzd). In Persian mythology the creator of all things.

=Oros= (Oʹros). The Egyptian Apollo.

=Orphans=, see Orbona.

=Orpheus= (Orʹpheus) was son of Apollo and the Muse Calliope. He was

married to Eurydice; but she was stung by a serpent, and died. Orpheus

went down to Hades to claim her, and played so sweetly with his lute

that Pluto allowed Eurydice to return to the earth with Orpheus, but

on condition that he did not look behind him until he had reached the

terrestrial regions. Orpheus, however, in his anxiety to see if she

were following him, looked round, and Eurydice disappeared from his

sight, instantly and forever.

"Orpheus' lute was strung with poets' sinews."

Shakespeare.

=Osiris= (Osiʹris). The Egyptian god of the sun, the source of warmth,

life, and fruitfulness; he was worshiped under the form of a sacred

bull, named Apis.

"... After these appeared

A crew who, under names of old renown,

Osiris, Isis, Orus, and their train,

With monstrous shapes and sorceries abused

Fanatic Egypt and her priests to seek

Their wandering gods, disguised in brutish forms

Rather than human."

Milton.

=Ossa= (Osʹsa). One of the mountains of Thessaly (once the residence

of the centaurs) which the giants piled on the top of Mount Pelion to

enable them to ascend to heaven and attack the gods.

=Ox=, see Apis.

=Owl=, see Aesculapius and Itys.

=Pactolus= (Pactoʹlus). The river in Lydia where Midas washed himself

by order of Bacchus, and the sands were turned to gold.

=Paean= (Paeʹan). A name given Apollo, from _paean_, the hymn which

was sung in his honor after he had killed the serpent Python. Paeans

were solemn songs, praying either for the averting of evil and for

rescue, or giving thanks for help vouchsafed.

"With hymns divine the joyous banquet ends,

The Paeans lengthened till the sun descends."

Pope.

=Palaemon= (Palaeʹmon), or Melicerta, a sea-god, son of Athamas and

Ino.

=Pales= (Paʹles). The goddess of shepherds and sheepfolds and

protectress of flocks; her festivals were called by the Romans

Palilia.

"Pomona loves the orchard,

And Liber loves the wine,

And Pales loves the straw-built shed,

Warm with the breath of kine."

Macaulay.

"Great Pales help, the pastoral rites I sing,

With humble duty mentioning each thing."

Pope.

=Palladium= (Pallaʹdium). A famous statue of the goddess Pallas

(Minerva). She is sitting with a spear in her right hand, and in her

left a distaff and spindle. Various accounts are given of the origin

of the statue. Some writers say that it fell from the skies. It was

supposed that the preservation of the statue would be the preservation

of Troy; and during the Trojan War the Greeks were greatly encouraged

when they became the possessors of it.

=Pallas= (Palʹlas), or Minerva. The name was given to Minerva when she

destroyed a famous giant named Pallas. The Greeks called their goddess

of wisdom Pallas Athene. See Minerva.

"Apollo, Pallas, Jove, or Mercury,

Inspire me that I may this treason find."

Shakespeare.

[Illustration: Iris

_See page 73_]

=Pan.= The Arcadian god of shepherds, huntsmen, and country folk, and

chief of the inferior deities, is usually considered to have been the

son of Mercury and Penelope. After his birth he was metamorphosed

into the mythical form in which we find him depicted, namely, a

horned, long-eared man, with the lower half of the body like a goat.

He is generally seen playing a pipe made of reeds of various lengths,

which he invented himself, and from which he could produce music which

charmed even the gods. These are the Pan-pipes, or _Syrinx_. Pan's

terrific appearance once so frightened the Gauls when they invaded

Greece that they ran away though no one pursued them; and the word

_panic_ is said to have been derived from this episode. The Fauns, who

greatly resembled Pan, were his attendants.

"Piping on their reeds the shepherds go,

Nor fear an ambush, nor suspect a foe."

Pope.

=Pandora= (Pandoʹra), according to Hesiod, was the first mortal

female. Vulcan made her of clay, and gave her life. Venus gave her

beauty; and the art of captivating was bestowed upon her by the

Graces. She was taught singing by Apollo, and Mercury taught her

oratory. Jupiter gave her a box, the famous "Pandora's Box," which she

was told to give to her husband, Epimetheus, brother of Prometheus. As

soon as he opened it there issued from it numberless diseases and

evils which were soon spread all over the world, and from that moment

they have afflicted the human race. It is said that Hope alone

remained in the box. Pandora means "the all-gifted."

"More lovely than Pandora, whom the gods

Endowed with all their gifts."

Milton.

=Pantheon= (Pantheʹon) (lit. "the all-divine place"). The temple of

all the gods, built by Agrippa at Rome, in the reign of Augustus (B.C.

27). It was 144 feet in diameter, and 144 feet high; and was built in

the Corinthian style of architecture, mostly of marble; while its

walls were covered with engraved brass and silver. Its magnificence

induced Pliny to give it rank among the wonders of the world.

=Paphia= (Paʹphia), a name of Venus.

=Papremis= (Papʹremis). The Egyptian Mars.

=Parcae, The= (Parʹcae), were goddesses who presided over the destiny

of human beings. They were also called the Fates, and were three in

number, Atropos, Clotho, and Lachesis. See Fates.

=Paris= (Parʹis), the son of Priam, king of Troy, and of his mother

Hecuba. It had been predicted that he would be the cause of the

destruction of Troy, and his father therefore ordered him to be

strangled as soon as he was born; but the slave who had been entrusted

with this mission took the child to Mount Ida, and left it there. Some

shepherds, however, found the infant and took care of him. He lived

among them till he had grown to man's estate, and he then married

Oenone, a nymph of Ida. At the famous nuptial feast of Peleus and

Thetis, Discordia, who had not been invited, attended secretly; and

when all were assembled, she threw among the goddesses a golden apple,

on which was inscribed "Let the fairest take it." This occasioned a

great contention, for each thought herself the fairest. Ultimately,

the contestants were reduced to three, Juno, Pallas (Minerva), and

Venus; but Jove himself could not make these three agree, and it was

decided that Paris should be the umpire. He was sent for, and each of

the goddesses courted his favor by offering all sorts of bribes. Juno

offered him power, Pallas wisdom, and Venus promised him the most

beautiful woman in the world. Paris gave the golden apple to Venus.

Soon after this episode Priam owned Paris as his son, and sent him to

Greece to fetch Helen, who was renowned as being the most beautiful

woman in the world. She was the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta; but

during his absence Paris carried Helen away to Troy, and this gave

rise to the celebrated war between the Greeks and the Trojans, which

ended in the destruction of Troy. Paris was among the 676,000 Trojans

who fell during or after the siege.

=Parnassides= (Parnasʹsides), a name common to the Muses, from Mount

Parnassus.

=Parnassus= (Parnasʹsus). The mountain of the Muses in Phocis, and

sacred to Apollo and Bacchus. Any one who slept on this mountain

became a poet. It was named after one of the sons of Bacchus.

=Parthenon= (Parʹthenon). The temple of Minerva (or Pallas) on the

Acropolis at Athens. It was destroyed by the Persians, and rebuilt by

Pericles.

=Parthenos= (Parʹthenos) was a name of Juno, and also of Minerva. See

Pallas.

=Pasiphae= (Pasiphʹae) was the reputed mother of the Minotaur killed

by Theseus. She was said to be the daughter of Sol and Perseis, and

her husband was Minos, king of Crete.

=Pasithea= (Pasithʹea). Sometimes there are _four_ Graces spoken of;

when this is so, the name of the fourth is Pasithea. Also called

Aglaia.

=Pavan= (Pavʹan), the Hindoo god of the winds.

=Peace=, see Concordia.

=Peacock=, see Argus.

=Pegasus= (Pegʹasus). The famous winged horse which was said to have

sprung from the blood of Medusa when her head was cut off by Perseus.

His abode was on Mount Helicon, where, by striking the ground with his

hoof, he caused water to spring forth, which formed the fountain

afterward called Hippocrene.

"Each spurs his faded

Pegasus apace."

Byron.

"Thy stumbling founder'd jade can trot as high

As any other Pegasus can fly."

Earl of Dorset.

"To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus,

And witch the world with noble horsemanship."

Shakespeare.

=Peleus= (Peʹleus). A king of Thessaly, who married Thetis, one of the

Nereides. It is said that he was the only mortal who married an

immortal.

=Pelias= (Peʹlias). A son of Neptune and Tyro. He usurped the throne

of Cretheus, which Jason was persuaded to relinquish and take the

command of the Argonautic expedition. On the return of Jason, Medea,

the sorceress, undertook to restore Pelias to youth, but required that

the body should first be cut up and put in a caldron of boiling water.

When this had been done, Medea refused to fulfil her promise. Pelias

had four daughters, who were called the Peliades.

=Pelias= (Peʹlias) was the name of the spear of Achilles, which was so

large that none could wield it but the hero himself.

=Pelion= (Peʹlion). A well-wooded mountain, famous for the wars

between the giants and the gods, and as the abode of the Centaurs, who

were expelled by the Lapithae. See Ossa, a mount, which the giants

piled upon Pelion, to enable them to scale the heavens.

"The gods they challenge, and affect the skies,

Heaved on Olympus tottering Ossa stood;

On Ossa, Pelion nods with all his wood."

Pope.

=Pelops= (Peʹlops), son of Tantalus, king of Phrygia. His father

killed him, and served him up to be eaten at a feast given to the

gods, who, when they found out what the father of Pelops had done,

restored the son to life, and he afterward became the husband of

Hippodamia.

=Penates= (Penaʹtes). Roman domestic gods. The hearth of the house was

their altar. See Lares.

=Perpetual Punishment=, see Sisyphus.

=Persephone= (Persephʹone). The Greek name of Proserpine.

=Perseus= (Perʹseus) was a son of Jupiter and Danae, the daughter of

Acrisius. His first famous exploit was against the Gorgon, Medusa. He

was assisted in this enterprise by Pluto, who lent him a helmet which

would make him invisible. Pallas lent him her shield, and Mercury

supplied him with wings. He made a speedy conquest of the Gorgons, and

cut off Medusa's head, with which he flew through the air, and from

the blood sprang the winged horse Pegasus. As he flew along he saw

Andromeda chained to the rock, and a sea-monster ready to devour her.

He killed the monster, and married Andromeda. When he got back, he

showed the Gorgon's head to King Polydectes, and the monarch was

immediately turned into stone.

"Now on Daedalian waxen pinions stray,

Or those which wafted Perseus on his way."

F. Lewis.

=Persuasion=, goddess of, see Pitho.

=Phaeton= (Phaʹeton). A son of Sol, or, according to many

mythologists, of Phoebus and Clymene. Anxious to display his skill in

horsemanship, he was allowed to drive the chariot of the sun for one

day. The horses soon found out the incapacity of the charioteer,

became unmanageable, and overturned the chariot. There was such great

fear of injury to heaven and earth, that Jove, to stop the

destruction, killed Phaeton with a thunderbolt.

"Now Phaeton, by lofty hopes possessed,

The burning seat with youthful vigor pressed."

"The breathless Phaeton, with flaming hair,

Shot from the chariot like a falling star

That in a summer's evening from the top

Of heaven drops down, or seems at least to drop."

Addison.

=Phaon= (Phaʹon). A boatman of Mitylene, in Lesbos, who received from

Venus a box of ointment, with which, when he anointed himself, he grew

so beautiful that Sappho became enamored of him; but when the ointment

had all been used Phaon returned to his former condition, and Sappho,

in despair, drowned herself.

=Pheasant=, see Itys.

=Philoctetes= (Philoctʹetes) was son of Poeas, and one of the

companions of Jason on his Argonautic expedition. He was present at

the death of Hercules, and received from him the poisoned arrows which

had been dipped in the blood of Hydra. These arrows, an oracle

declared, were necessary to be used in the destruction of Troy, and

Philoctetes was persuaded by Ulysses to go and assist at the siege.

He appears to have used the weapons with great dexterity and with

wonderful effect, for Paris was among the heroes whom he killed. The

story of Philoctetes was dramatized by the Greek tragedians Aeschylus,

Euripides, and Sophocles.

=Philomela= (Philomeʹla) was a daughter of Pandion, king of Athens,

who was transformed into a nightingale. She was sister to Procne, who

married Tereus, King of Thrace. The latter having offered violence to

Philomela, her sister, Procne, came to her rescue, and to punish her

husband slew her son Itylus, and at a feast Philomela threw Itylus's

head on the banquet table.

"Forth like a fury Philomela flew,

And at his face the head of Itys threw."

Pope.

"And thou, melodious Philomel,

Again thy plaintive story tell."

Sir Thomas Lyttleton.

=Phlegethon= (Phlegʹethon). A river of fire in the infernal regions.

It was the picture of desolation, for nothing could grow on its

parched and withered banks. Also called Pyriphlegethon.

"... Infernal rivers ...

... Fierce Phlegethon,

Whose waves of torrent fire inflame with rage."

Milton.

=Phlegon= (Phleʹgon) (burning), one of the four chariot horses of Sol.

=Phlegyas= (Phleʹgyas). Son of Mars and father of Ixion and Coronis.

For his impiety in desecrating and plundering the temple of Apollo at

Delphi, he was sent to Hades, and there was made to sit with a huge

stone suspended over his head, ready to be dropped on him at any

moment.

=Phoebus= (Phoeʹbus). A name of Apollo, signifying light and life.

"Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds,

Toward Phoebus' lodging."

Shakespeare.

=Phorcus= (Phorʹcus), or =Porcys=. A son of Neptune, father of the

Gorgons. The same as Oceanus.

=Phryxus= (Phryxʹus), see Golden Fleece.

=Picumnus= (Picumʹnus). A rural divinity, who presided over the

manuring of lands, also called Sterentius.

=Picus= (Piʹcus). A son of Saturn, father of Faunus, was turned into a

woodpecker by Circe, whose love he had not requited.

=Pierides= (Pierʹides). A name of the Muses, derived from Pieria, a

fountain in Thessaly, near Mount Olympus, where they were supposed to

have been born. Also, the daughters of Pierus, a king of Macedonia,

who settled in Boeotia. They challenged the Muses to sing, and were

changed into magpies.

=Pietas= (Pieʹtas). The Roman goddess of domestic affection.

=Pillar=, see Calpe.

=Pilumnus= (Pilumʹnus). A rural divinity that presided over the corn

while it was being ground. At Rome he was hence called the god of

bakers.

=Pine-Tree=, see Atys.

=Pirithous= (Pirithʹous). A son of Ixion and great friend of Theseus,

king of Athens. The marriage of Pirithous and Hippodamia became famous

for the quarrel between the drunken Centaurs and the Lapithae, who,

with the help of Theseus, Pirithous, and Hercules, attacked and

overcame the Centaurs, many of whom were killed, and the remainder

took to flight.

=Pitho= (Piʹtho), the goddess of Persuasion, daughter of Mercury and

Venus. She is sometimes referred to under the name of Suada.

=Plants=, see Demogorgon.

=Pleasure=, see Rembha.

=Pleiades, The= (Pleiʹades). Seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione.

Their names were Electra, Alcyone, Celaeno, Maia, Sterope, Taygete,

and Merope. They were made a constellation, but as there are only six

stars to be seen, the ancients believed that one of the sisters,

Merope, married a mortal, and was ashamed to show herself among her

sisters, who had all been married to gods.

"... The gray

Dawn and the Pleiades before him danced.

Shedding sweet influence."

Milton.

=Pluto= (Pluʹto). King of the infernal regions. He was a son of Saturn

and Ops, and husband of Proserpine, daughter of Ceres. He is

sometimes referred to under the name Dis, and he personifies hell. His

principal attendant was the three-headed dog Cerberus, and about his

throne were the Eumenides, the Harpies, and the Furies.

"With equal foot, rich friend, impartial fate

Knocks at the cottage and the palace gate.

. . . . .

Night soon will seize, and you must go below,

To story'd ghosts and Pluto's house below."

Creech.

=Plutus= (Pluʹtus), the god of riches, was son of Jasion or Iasius and

Ceres (Demeter), the goddess of corn. He is described as being blind

and lame; blind because he so often injudiciously bestows his riches,

and lame because fortunes come so slowly.

=Pluvius= (Pluʹvius). A name of Jupiter, because he had the rain in

his control.

=Podalirius= (Podalirʹius). A famous surgeon, a son of Aesculapius and

Epione. His skill in medicine made him very serviceable among the

soldiers in the Trojan war.

=Poet=, see Parnassus.

=Poetry=, see Apollo, Calliope, The Muses.

=Poisonous Herbs=, see Circe.

=Poisonous Lake=, see Avernus.

=Pollear= (Pollʹear). Son of Siva, the Hindoo god of wisdom.

=Pollux= (Polʹlux). Twin brother of Castor. Their father was Jupiter

and their mother Leda. He and his brother form the constellation

Gemini. His Greek name was Polydeuces. Castor and Pollux are also

known under the name of Dioscuri, the presiding deities of public

games in Rome, Castor being the god of equestrian exercise, and Pollux

the god of boxing. See Aedepol.

=Polybotes= (Polyboʹtes). One of the giants who made war against

Jupiter. He was killed by Neptune.

=Polydectes= (Polydecʹtes) was turned into stone when Perseus showed

him Medusa's head. See Perseus.

=Polydeuces= (Polydeuʹces). The Greek name of Pollux.

=Polyhymnia= (Polyhymʹnia). Daughter of Jupiter and Mnemosyne. One of

the Muses who presided over singing and rhetoric.

=Polyphemus= (Polypheʹmus), one of the most celebrated of the Cyclops,

a son of the nymph Thoosa and Neptune, or Poseidon, as the Greeks

called the god of the sea. He captured Ulysses and twelve of his

companions, and it is said that six of them were eaten. The remainder

escaped by the ingenuity of Ulysses, who destroyed Polyphemus's one

eye with a fire-brand.

"Charybdis barks and Polyphemus roars."

Francis.

=Polyxena= (Polyxʹena). Daughter of Hecuba and Priam, king of Troy. It

was by her treachery that Achilles was shot in the heel.

[Illustration: Laocoon

_See page 79_]

=Pomona= (Pomoʹna). The Roman goddess of fruit-trees and gardens.

"So to the sylvan lodge

They came, that like Pomona's arbor smiled

With flowerets decked and fragrant smells."

Milton.

=Poplar-Tree=, see Heliades.

=Portunus= (Portuʹnus) (Palaemon), son of Ino, was the Roman god of

harbors.

=Poseidon= (Poseiʹdon). The Greek name of Neptune, god of the sea.

=Pracriti= (Pracʹriti). The Hindoo goddess of nature.

=Predictions=, see Cassandra.

=Priam= (Priʹam). The last king of Troy. See Paris.

=Priapus= (Priaʹpus), the guardian of gardens and god of natural

reproduction, was the son of Venus and Bacchus.

"Priapus could not half describe the grace

(Though god of gardens) of this charming place."

Pope.

=Prisca= (Prisʹca). Another name of Vesta.

=Procris= (Proʹcris). Daughter of Erechtheus, king of Athens. See

Cephalus, her husband.

=Progne= (Progʹne), wife of Tereus. Commonly called Procne, whose

sister was Philomela. See Itys and Tereus.

"Complaining oft gives respite to our grief,

From hence the wretched Progne sought relief."

F. Lewis.

=Prometheus= (Promeʹtheus), the son of Japetus and father of

Deucalion. He presumed to make clay men, and animate them with fire

which he had stolen from heaven. This so displeased Jupiter that he

sent him a box full of evils, which Prometheus refused; but his

brother Epimetheus, not so cautious, opened it, and the evils spread

over all the earth. Jupiter then punished Prometheus by commanding

Mercury to bind him to Mount Caucasus, where a vulture daily preyed

upon his liver, which grew in the night as much as it had been reduced

in the day, so that the punishment was a prolonged torture. Hercules

at last killed the vulture and set Prometheus free.

=Prophecy=, see Nereus.

=Proserpine= (Proserʹpine). A daughter of Jupiter and Ceres. Pluto

carried her off to the infernal regions and made her his wife. She was

known by the names of "the Queen of Hell," Hecate, Juno Inferna, and

Libitina. She was called by the Greeks Persephone.

"He sung, and hell consented

To hear the poet's prayer,

Stern Proserpine relented,

And gave him back the fair."

F. Lewis.

=Proteus= (Proʹteus). A marine deity, who could foretell events and

convert himself at will into all sorts of shapes. According to later

legends, Proteus was a son of Poseidon.

"The changeful Proteus, whose prophetic mind,

The secret cause of Bacchus' rage divined."

The Lusiad.

"What chain can hold this varying Proteus fast?"

Budgell.

=Psyche= (Psyʹche). The wife of Cupid. The name is Greek, signifying

the soul or spirit.

=Pygmalion= (Pygmaʹlion). A famous sculptor who had resolved to remain

unmarried, but he made such a beautiful statue of a goddess that he

begged Venus to give it life. His request being granted, Pygmalion

married the animated statue.

"Few, like Pygmalion, doat on lifeless charms,

Or care to clasp a statue in their arms."

=Pylades= (Pyʹlades). The son of Strophius, King of Phanote, and

husband of Electra; famous on account of his faithful friendship with

Orestes.

"His wine

Was better, Pylades, than thine.

... If you please

To choose me for your Pylades."

F. Lewis.

=Pylotis= (Pyloʹtis). A Greek name of Minerva.

=Pyracmon= (Pyrʹacmon), one of the chiefs of the Cyclopes.

=Pyramus and Thisbe= (Pyrʹamus and Thisʹbe). Two Babylonian lovers,

the children of hostile neighbors. See Shakespeare's burlesque of the

story of their loves, in "Midsummer Night's Dream."

=Pyrois= (Pyʹrois) (luminous). One of the four chariot horses of Sol,

the Sun.

=Pythia= (Pyʹthia). The priestess of Apollo at Delphi, who delivered

the answers of the oracle. Also the name of the Pythian games

celebrated in honor of Apollo's victory over the dragon Python.

=Python= (Pyʹthon). A famous serpent killed by Apollo, which haunted

the caves of Parnassus. See Septerion.

=Quadratus= (Quadraʹtus). A surname given to Mercury, because some of

his statues were four-sided.

=Quadrifrons= (Quadʹrifrons). Janus was sometimes depicted with four

faces instead of the usual two, and he was then called Janus

Quadrifrons.

=Quies= (Quiʹes). The Roman goddess of rest; she had a temple just

outside the Colline gate of Rome.

=Quietus= (Quieʹtus). One of the names of Pluto.

=Quirinus= (Quiriʹnus). A name given to Mars during wartime; Virgil

refers to Jupiter under the same name.

=Quoit=, see Hyacinthus.

=Race=, see Atalanta.

=Radamanthus= (Radamanʹthus), see Rhadamanthus.

=Rage=, see Furies.

=Rainbow=, see Iris.

=Rama= (Raʹma). A Hindoo god, who was the terrestrial representative

of Vishnu.

=Ram's Hide=, see Golden Fleece.

=Reeds=, see Pan, also Syrinx.

=Rembha= (Remʹbha). The Hindoo goddess of pleasure.

=Reproduction=, see Priapus.

=Rest=, see Quies.

=Revenge=, see Ate.

=Rhadamanthus= (Rhadamanʹthus), a son of Jupiter and Europa, was the

ruler of the Greeks in the Asiatic islands, and judge of the dead in

the infernal regions.

"These are the realms of unrelenting fate:

And awful Rhadamanthus rules the state.

He hears and judges each committed crime,

Inquires into the manner, place, and time;

The conscious wretch must all his acts reveal,

Loth to confess, unable to conceal;

From the first moment of his vital breath,

To the last hour of unrepenting death."

Dryden.

=Rhamnusia= (Rhamnuʹsia). A name of Nemesis, from Rhamnus, a town in

Attica, where she had a temple in which was her statue, made of one

stone ten cubits high.

=Rhea= (Rheʹa). The Greek name of Cybele. She was a daughter of Uranus

and Gaea, and was called Mother of the gods.

=Rhetoric=, see Calliope, also Polyhymnia.

=Riches=, see Plutus.

=Riddle=, see Sphinx.

=Rimmon= (Rimʹmon). A Phrygian god of whom Milton says--

"... Rimmon, whose delightful seat

Was fair Damascus, on the fertile banks

Of Abana and Pharpar, lucid streams."

=Riot=, see Saturnalia.

=River of Fire=, see Phlegethon.

=Roads=, see Vialis.

=Robber=, see Cacus, Coeculus.

=Romulus= (Romʹulus). The traditional founder of Rome. He was a son

of Mars and Ilia, and twin brother of Remus. The infants were thrown

into the Tiber, but were miraculously saved and suckled by a she-wolf,

till they were found by Faustulus, a shepherd, who brought them up.

Remus was killed in a quarrel with his brother, and Romulus became the

first King of Rome.

=Rumia Dea= (Rumiʹa Dea). The Roman goddess of babes in arms.

=Rumina= (Ruʹmina). Roman pastoral deities, who protected suckling

cattle.

=Runcina= (Runciʹna). The goddess of weeding or cleansing the ground.

=Sacrifices= were ceremonious offerings made to the gods. To every

deity a distinct victim was allotted, and the greatest care was always

taken in the selection of them. Anything in any way blemished was

considered as an insult to the god. At the time of the sacrifice the

people were called together by heralds led by a procession of

musicians. The priest, clothed in white, was crowned with a wreath

made of the leaves of the tree which was sacred to the particular god

to whom the sacrifice was offered. The victim had its horns gilt, and

was adorned with a chaplet similar to that of the priest, and was

decorated with bright-colored ribbons. The priest then said, "Who is

here?" to which the spectators replied, "Many good people." "Begone

all ye who are profane," said the priest; and he then began a prayer

addressed to all the gods. The sacrifice was begun by putting corn,

frankincense, flour, salt, cakes, and fruit on the head of the victim.

This was called the Immolation. The priest then took a cup of wine,

tasted it, and handed it to the bystanders to taste also; some of it

was then poured between the horns of the victim, and a few of the

saturated hairs were pulled off and put in the fire which was burning

on the altar. Then, turning to the east, the priest drew with his

knife a crooked line along the back of the beast from the head to the

tail, and told the assistants to kill the animal. This was done

directly, and the entrails of the victim taken out and carefully

examined by the Haruspices to find out what was prognosticated. The

carcase was then divided, and the thighs, covered with fat, were put

in the fire, and the rest of the animal was cut up, cooked, and eaten.

This feast was celebrated with dancing, music, and hymns, in praise of

the god in whose honor the sacrifice was made. On great occasions as

many as a hundred bullocks were offered at one time; and it is said

that Pythagoras made this offering when he found out the demonstration

of the forty-seventh proposition of the book of Euclid.

=Saga= (Saʹga). The Scandinavian goddess of history. The word means a

_saw_ or saying; hence Sagas, which embody Scandinavian legends, and

heroic or mythical traditions.

=Sagittarius= (Sagittaʹrius), see Chiron.

=Sails=, see Daedalus.

=Salamanders= (Salʹamanʹders). The genii who, according to Plato,

lived in fire.

"The spirits of fiery termagants in flame,

Mount up and take a Salamander's name."

Pope.

=Salatia= (Salaʹtia), or Salacia, a Roman goddess of the salt water.

See Amphitrite.

=Salii= (Salʹii). The priests of Mars who had charge of the sacred

shields.

=Salmoneus= (Salmoʹneus). A king of Elis who, for trying to imitate

Jupiter's thunders, was sent by the god straight to the infernal

regions.

=Salus= (Saʹlus). The Roman goddess of health.

=Sappho= (Sapʹpho), a celebrated poetess, a native of Lesbos, who

flourished in the seventh century B.C. Her only connection with the

goddesses of the time is that the Greeks called her "The tenth Muse."

=Sarcasm=, see Momus.

=Saron= (Saʹron), a sea-god.

=Sarpedon= (Sarpeʹdon), son of Jupiter by Europa. He accompanied

Glaucus, when the latter set out to assist Priam against the Greeks in

the Trojan War. He was slain by Patroclus.

=Saturn= (Satʹurn), king of the Universe, was father of Jupiter,

Neptune, and Pluto. These gods quarreled amongst themselves as to the

division of their father's kingdom, which ended in Jupiter having

heaven and earth, Neptune the sea, and Pluto the infernal regions.

=Saturnalia= (Saturnaʹlia). Festivals held in honor of Saturn about

the 16th or 18th of December. Principally famous for the riotous

disorder which generally attended them.

=Saturnius= (Saturʹnius). A name given to Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto,

as sons of Saturn.

=Satyavrata= (Satyaʹvraʹta). The Hindoo god of law. The same as Menu.

=Satyrs= (Satʹyrs). Spirits of the woodland, half men, half goats, and

fond of wine and women. They were the attendants of Dionysus, and were

similar in most respects to the fauns who attended Pan. See Silenus.

"Five satyrs of the woodland sort.

. . . . . .

With asses' hoofs, great goggle eyes,

And double chins of monstrous size."

Yalden.

=Scylla= (Scylʹla). A beautiful nymph who excited the jealousy of

Neptune's wife, Amphitrite, and was changed by the goddess into a

frightful sea-monster, which had six fearfully ugly heads and necks,

and which, rising unexpectedly from the deep, used to take off as many

as six sailors from a vessel, and carry them to the bottom of the

sea. An alternative danger with the whirlpool, Charybdis, which

threatened destruction to all mariners.

"There on the right her dogs foul Scylla hides,

Charybdis roaring on the left presides."

Virgil.

=Scylla= (Scylʹla). A daughter of Nysus, who was changed into a lark

for cutting off a charmed lock of her father's hair. See Nysus.

=Sea=, see Neptune.

=Seasons=, see Vertumnus.

=Sea-Weed=, see Glaucus.

=Segetia= (Segeʹtia). A rural divinity who protected corn during

harvest-time.

=Sem.= The Egyptian Hercules.

=Semele= (Semʹele), daughter of Cadmus and the mother of Bacchus

(Dionysus), who was born in a miraculous manner after Jupiter had

visited her, at her special request, in all his terrible splendor. She

was deified after her death, and named Thyone.

=Semi-Dei= were the demi-gods.

=Semones= (Semoʹnes). Roman gods of a class between the "immortal" and

the "mortal," such as the Satyrs and Fauns.

=Septerion= (Septeʹrion). A festival held every nine years at Delphi

in honor of Apollo, at which the victory of that god over the Python

was grandly represented.

=Serapis= (Seraʹpis). The Egyptian Jupiter, and generally considered

to be the same as Osiris. See Apis.

=Serpent.= The Greeks and Romans considered the serpent as symbolical

of guardian spirits, and as such were often engraved on their altars.

See Aesculapius, Apollo, Chimaera, Eurydice, and Medusa.

"Pleasing was his shape,

And lovely; never since of serpent kind,

Lovelier; not those that in Illyria changed

Hermione and Cadmus, or the god

In Epidaurus, nor to which transformed

Ammonian Jove, or Capitoline, was seen."

Milton.

=Seshanaga= (Seshʹanagʹa). The Egyptian Pluto.

=Sewers=, see Cloacina.

=Sharp-sightedness=, see Lynceus.

=Shepherds=, see Pan.

=Shields=, see Ancilia.

=Ships=, see Neptune.

=Silence=, see Harpocrates and Tacita.

=Silenus= (Sileʹnus). A Bacchanalian demi-god, the chief of the

Satyrs. He is generally represented as a fat, drunken old man, riding

on an ass, and crowned with flowers.

"And there two Satyrs on the ground,

Stretched at his ease, their sire Silenus found."

=Singing=, see Polyhymnia, Thamyris.

=Sirens, The= (Siʹrens). Sea nymphs, who by their music allured

mariners to destruction. To avoid the snare when nearing their abode,

Ulysses had the ears of his companions stopped with wax, and had

himself tied to the mast of his ship. They thus sailed past in safety;

but the Sirens, thinking that their charms had lost their powers,

drowned themselves.

=Sisyphus= (Sisʹyphus), son of Aeolus and Enaretta. He was condemned

to roll a stone to the top of a hill in the infernal regions, and as

it rolled down again when he reached the summit, his punishment was

perpetual.

"I turned my eye, and as I turned, surveyed

A mournful vision! The Sisyphian shade.

With many a weary step and many a groan,

Up the high hill he leaves a huge round stone,

The huge round stone, resulting with a bound

Thunders impetuous down, and smokes along the ground."

Pope.

"Thy stone, O Sisyphus, stands still

Ixion rests upon his wheel,

And the pale specters dance."

F. Lewis.

=Siva= (Siʹva). In Hindoo mythology the "changer of form." He is

usually spoken of as the "Destroyer and Regenerator."

=Slaughter=, see Furies.

=Slaves=, see Feronia.

=Sleep=, see Caduceus, Morpheus, and Somnus.

=Sleipner= (Sleipʹner). The eight-legged horse of Odin, the chief of

the Scandinavian gods.

[Illustration: Winged Mercury

_See page 86_]

=Sol.= The sun. The worship of the god Sol is the oldest on record,

and though he is sometimes referred to as being the same as the god

Apollo, there is no doubt he was worshiped by the Egyptians, Persians,

and other nations long before the Apollo of the Greeks was heard of.

See Surya.

"Sol through white curtains shot a timorous ray,

And oped those eyes that must eclipse the day."

Pope.

=Somnus= (Somʹnus). The Roman god of sleep, son of Erebus and Nox

(Night). He was one of the infernal deities, and resided in a gloomy

cave, void of light and air.

=Sospita= (Sosʹpita). A name of Juno, as the safeguard of women. She

is called the "saving goddess."

=Soter= (Soʹter). A Greek name of Jupiter, meaning Savior or

deliverer.

=Soul=, see Psyche.

=South Wind=, see Auster.

=Spear=, see Pelias.

=Sphinx, The.= A monster having the head and breast of a woman, the

body of a dog, the tail of a serpent, the wings of a bird, the paws of

a lion, and a human voice. She lived in the country near Thebes, and

proposed to every passer-by the following enigma: "What animal is that

which walks on four legs in the morning, two at noon, and three in the

evening." Oedipus solved the riddle thus: Man is the animal; for, when

an infant he crawls on his hands and feet, in the noontide of life he

walks erect, and as the evening of his existence sets in, he supports

himself with a stick. When the Sphinx found her riddle solved she

destroyed herself.

=Spider=, see Arachne.

=Spindle=, see Pallas.

=Spinning=, see Arachne, Ergatis.

=Spring=, see Vertumnus.

=Stable=, see Augaeas.

=Stars=, see Aurora.

=Sterentius= (Sterenʹtius). The Roman god who invented the art of

manuring lands. See also Picumnus.

=Steropes= (Sterʹopes). One of the Cyclopes.

=Stone=, see Medusa and Phlegyas.

=Stone= (rolling), see Sisyphus.

=Streets=, see Apollo.

=Stymphalides= (Stymʹphaliʹdes). The carnivorous birds destroyed in

the sixth labor of Hercules.

=Styx.= A noted river of hell, which was held in such high esteem by

the gods that they always swore "By the Styx," and such an oath was

never violated. The river has to be crossed in passing to the regions

of the dead. See Achilles and Thetis.

"To seal his sacred vow by Styx he swore:--

The lake with liquid pitch,--the dreary shore."

Dryden.

"... Infernal rivers that disgorge

Into the burning lake their baleful streams,

Abhorrèd Styx, the flood of deadly hate."

=Suada= (Suaʹda), the goddess of Persuasion. See Pitho.

=Success=, see Bonus Eventus.

=Sun=, see Aurora, Belus, Sol, and Surya.

=Sunflower=, see Clytie.

=Suradevi= (Suraʹdeʹvi). The Hindoo goddess of wine.

=Surgeon= (Surʹgeon), see Podalirius.

=Surya= (Suʹryʹa). The Hindoo god corresponding to the Roman Sol, the

sun.

=Swallow=, see Itys.

=Swan=, see Cygnus and Leda.

=Swiftness=, see Atalanta.

=Swine=, see Circe.

=Sylphs.= Genii who, according to Plato, lived in the air.

"The light coquettes as Sylphs aloft repair,

And sport and flutter in the fields of air."

Pope.

=Sylvester= (Sylvesʹter). The name of Mars when he was invoked to

protect cultivated land from the ravages of war.

=Syrinx.= The name of the nymph who, to escape from the importunities

of Pan, was by Diana changed into reeds, out of which he made his

celebrated pipes, and named them "The Syrinx."

=Tacita= (Tacʹita). The goddess of Silence. See Harpocrates, also

Horus.

=Tantalus= (Tanʹtalus). Father of Niobe and Pelops, who, as a

punishment for serving up his son Pelops as meat at a feast given to

the gods, was placed in a pool of water in the infernal regions; but

the waters receded from him whenever he attempted to quench his

burning thirst. Hence the word "tantalizing".

Speaking of this god, Homer's Ulysses says: "I saw the severe

punishment of Tantalus. In a lake, whose waters approached to his

lips, he stood burning with thirst, without the power to drink.

Whenever he inclined his head to the stream, some deity commanded it

to be dry, and the dark earth appeared at his feet. Around him lofty

trees spread their fruits to view; the pear, the pomegranate, and the

apple, the green olive, and the luscious fig quivered before him,

which, whenever he extended his hand to seize them, were snatched by

the winds into clouds and obscurity."

"There, Tantalus, along the Stygian bound,

Pours out deep groans,--his groans through hell resound.

E'en in the circling flood refreshment craves

And pines with thirst amidst a sea of waves."

"... And of itself the water flies

All taste of living wight, as once it fled

The lip of Tantalus."

Milton.

=Tartarus= (Tarʹtarus). An inner region of hell, to which the gods

sent the exceptionally depraved.

=Telchines= (Telchiʹnes). People of Rhodes, who were envious sorcerers

and magicians.

=Tellus= (Telʹlus). A name of Cybele, wife of Saturn, and the Roman

deity of mother-earth.

=Tempests=, see Fro.

=Temple.= An edifice erected to the honor of a god or goddess in which

the sacrifices were offered.

=Tenth Muse.= Sappho was so called.

=Tereus= (Terʹeus) was a son of Mars. He married Procne, daughter of

the king of Athens, but became enamored of her sister Philomela, who,

however, resented his attentions, which so enraged him that he cut out

her tongue. When Procne heard of her husband's unfaithfulness she took

a terrible revenge (see Itys). Procne was turned into a swallow,

Philomela into a nightingale, Itys into a pheasant, and Tereus into a

hoopoe, a kind of vulture, some say an owl.

=Tergemina= (Tergemiʹna). A name of Diana, alluding to her triform

divinity as goddess of heaven, earth, and hell.

=Terminus= (Terʹminus). The Roman god of boundaries.

=Terpsichore= (Terpsichʹore). One of the nine Muses; she presided over

dancing.

=Terra.= The Earth; one of the most ancient of the Grecian goddesses.

=Thalestris= (Thalesʹtris). A queen of the Amazons.

=Thalia= (Thaliʹa). One of the nine Muses; she presided over

festivals, pastoral poetry and comedy.

=Thalia= (Thaliʹa). One of the Graces. (See Charities).

=Thamyris= (Thamʹyris). A skilful singer, who presumed to challenge

the Muses to sing, upon condition that if he did not sing best they

might inflict any penalty they pleased. He was, of course, defeated,

and the Muses made him blind.

=Theia= (Theʹia) or =Thea=. A daughter of Uranus and Terra, wife of

Hyperion.

=Themis= (Theʹmis), a daughter of Coelus and Terra, and wife of

Jupiter, was the Roman goddess of laws, ceremonies, and oracles.

=Theseus= (Theʹseus). One of the most famous of the Greek heroes. He

was a son of Aegeus, king of Athens. He rid Attica of Procrustes and

other evil-doers, slew the Minotaur, conquered the Amazons and married

their Queen.

"Breasts that with sympathizing ardor glowed,

And holy friendship such as Theseus vowed."

Budgell.

=Thesmorphonis= (Thesmorphoʹnis). A name of Ceres.

=Thetis= (Theʹtis). A sea-goddess, daughter of Nereus and Doris. Her

husband was Peleus, king of Thessaly, and she was the mother of the

famous Achilles, whom she rendered all but invulnerable by dipping him

into the River Styx. See Achilles.

=Thief=, see Laverna, Mercury.

=Thor.= The Scandinavian war-god (son of Odin), who had rule over the

aerial regions, and, like Jupiter, hurled thunder against his foes.

=Thor's Belt= is a girdle which doubles his strength whenever the

war-god puts it on.

=Thoth.= The Mercury of the Egyptians.

=Thread of Life=, see Fates.

=Thunderbolts=, see Cyclops.

=Thunderer, The=, Jupiter. See Tonitrualis.

"O king of gods and men, whose awful hand

Disperses thunder on the seas and land,

Disposing all with absolute command."

Virgil.

"The eternal Thunderer sat enthroned in gold."

Homer.

"So when thick clouds enwrap the mountain's head,

O'er heaven's expanse like one black ceiling spread;

Sudden the Thunderer, with flashing ray,

Bursts through the darkness and lets down the day."

Pope.

=Thya= (Thyʹa), a name of Ops.

=Thyades= (Thyaʹdes). Priestesses of Bacchus, who ran wild in the

hills, wearing tiger-skins and carrying torches.

=Thyrsus= (Thyrʹsus), a kind of javelin or staff carried by Dionysus

and his attendants. It was usually wreathed with ivy and topped by a

pine-cone. See Bacchus.

=Tides=, see Narayan.

=Time= (or Saturn). The husband of Virtue and father of Truth.

=Tisiphone= (Tis-iphʹone). One of the Furies, daughter of Nox and

Acheron, who was the minister of divine vengeance upon mankind.

=Titan= (Tiʹtan). Elder brother of Saturn, who made war against him,

and was ultimately vanquished by Jupiter.

=Titans= (Tiʹtans) were the supporters of Titan in his war against

Saturn and Jupiter. They were the sons of Uranus and Gaea, men of

gigantic stature and of great strength. Hence our English word

_Titanic_.

=Tithonus= (Ti-thoʹnus). The husband of Aurora. At the request of his

wife the gods granted him immortality, but she forgot at the same time

to ask that he should be granted perpetual youth. The consequence was

that Tithonus grew old and decrepit, while Aurora remained as fresh as

the morning. The gods, however, changed him into a grasshopper, which

is supposed to moult as it gets old, and grows young again.

=Tityus= (Titʹyus). A son of Jupiter. A giant who was thrown into the

innermost hell for insulting Diana. He, like Prometheus, has a vulture

constantly feeding on his ever-growing liver, the liver being supposed

to be the seat of the passions.

=Toil=, see Atlas.

=Tombs=, see Manes.

=Tongue=, see Tereus.

=Tonitrualis= (Tonitruaʹlis), or Tonans. The Thunderer; a name of

Jupiter.

=Towers=, see Cybele.

=Tragedy=, see Melpomene.

=Trees=, see Aristaeus.

=Tribulation=, see Echidna.

=Triformis= (Triforʹmis), see Tergemina.

=Triptolemus= (Triptolʹemus). A son of Oceanus and Terra. He was a

great favorite of the goddess Ceres, who cured him of a dangerous

illness when he was young, and afterwards taught him agriculture. She

gave him her chariot, which was drawn by dragons, in which he carried

seed-corn to all the inhabitants of the earth, and communicated the

knowledge given to him by Ceres. Cicero mentions a Triptolemus as the

fourth judge of the dead.

"Triptolemus, whose useful cares intend

The common good."

Pope.

=Triterica= (Triteriʹca). Bacchanalian festivals.

=Tritons= (Triʹtons) were sons of Triton, a son of Neptune and

Amphitrite. They were the trumpeters of the sea-gods, and were

depicted as a sort of mermen--the upper half of the body being like a

man, and the lower half like dolphins.

=Trivia= (Triʹvia). A surname given to Diana, because she presided

over all places where three roads meet.

=Trophonius= (Trophoʹnius). A legendary hero of architecture, and one

of Jupiter's most famous oracles.

=Troy.= The classic poets say that the walls of this famous city were

built by the magic sound of Apollo's lyre. See Dardanus, Helen,

Hercules, Paris.

=Trumpeters=, see Tritons.

=Truth.= A daughter of Time, because Truth is discovered in the

course of Time. Democritus says that Truth lies hidden at the bottom

of a well.

=Tutelina= (Tutelʹina). A rural divinity--the goddess of granaries.

=Two Faces=, see Janus.

=Typhoeus= (Typhoeʹus), see Typhon.

=Typhon= (Tyʹphon). A monster with a hundred heads who made war

against the gods, but was crushed by Jove's thunderbolts, and

imprisoned under Mount Etna.

"... Typhon huge, ending in snaky twine."

Milton.

=Typhon= (Tyʹphon). In Egyptian mythology the god who tried to undo

all the good work effected by Osiris. According to the Greek writer,

Hesiod, Typhon or Typhoeus was a monster giant, son of Terra and

Tartarus.

=Uller= (Ulʹler). The Scandinavian god who presided over archery and

duels.

=Ulysses= (Ulysʹses). A noted king of Ithaca, whose exploits in

connection with the Trojan war, and his adventures on his return

therefrom, are the subject of Homer's Odyssey. His wife's name was

Penelope, and he was so much endeared to her that he feigned madness

to get himself excused from going to the Trojan war; but this artifice

was discovered, and he was compelled to go. He was of great help to

the Grecians, and forced Achilles from his retreat, and obtained the

charmed arrows of Hercules from Philoctetes, and used them against the

Trojans. He enabled Paris to shoot one of them at the heel of

Achilles, and so kill that charmed warrior. During his wanderings on

his homeward voyage he was taken prisoner by the Cyclopes and escaped,

after blinding Polyphemus, their chief. At Aeolia he obtained all the

winds of heaven, and put them in a bag; but his companions, thinking

that the bags contained treasure which they could rob him of when they

got to Ithaca, cut the bags, and let out the winds, and the ships were

immediately blown back to Aeolia. After Circe had turned his

companions into swine on an island where he and they were shipwrecked,

he compelled the goddess to restore them to their human shape again.

As he passed the islands of the Sirens he escaped their allurements by

stopping the ears of his companions with wax, and fastening himself to

the mast of his ship. His wife Penelope was a pattern of constancy;

for, though Ulysses was reported to be dead, she would not marry any

one else, and had the satisfaction of finding her husband return after

an absence of about twenty years. The Greek name of Ulysses is

Odysseus.

"To show what pious wisdom's power can do,

The poet sets Ulysses in our view."

=Undine= (Unʹdine). A water-nymph, or sylph, who, according to fable,

might receive a human soul by marrying a mortal.

=Unknown God, An.= With reference to this God, nothing can be more

appropriate than St. Paul's address to the Athenians, as recorded in

the 17th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles:

"_Ye_ men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too

superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions,

I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.

Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.

God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that

he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made

with hands; neither is worshiped with men's hands, as though

he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath,

and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men

for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath

determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of

their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply

they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far

from every one of us: for in him we live, and move, and have

our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For

we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the

offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is

like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's

device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but

now commandeth all men everywhere to repent: because he hath

appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in

righteousness by _that_ man whom he hath ordained; _whereof_

he hath given assurance unto all _men_, in that he hath

raised him from the dead."

=Unxia= (Unxʹia). A name of Juno, relating to her protection of newly

married people.

=Urania= (Uraʹnia). A daughter of Jupiter and Mnemosyne--one of the

Muses who presided over astronomy.

[Illustration: Venus de Milo

_See page 142_]

=Uranus= (Uraʹnus), literally, heaven. Son and husband of Gaea, the

Earth, and father of Chronos (Time) and the Titans. The Greek name of

Coelus; his descendants are sometimes called Uranides.

=Urgus= (Urʹgus). A name of Pluto, signifying the Impeller.

=Ursa Major= (Urʹsa Maʹjor), see Calisto.

=Ursa Minor= (Urʹsa Miʹnor), see Arcas.

=Usurers=, see Jani.

=Utgard Loki= (Utʹgard Loʹki). In Scandinavian mythology the king of

the giants.

=Valhalla= (Valhalʹla). The Scandinavian temple of immortality,

inhabited by the souls of heroes slain in battle.

=Vali= (Vaʹli). The Scandinavian god of archery.

=Valleys=, see Vallonia.

=Vallonia= (Valloʹnia). The goddess of valleys.

=Varuna= (Varuʹna). The Hindoo Neptune--generally represented as a

white man riding on a sea-horse, carrying a club in one hand and a

rope or noose to bind offenders in the other.

=Vedius= (Veʹdius). The same as Vejovis.

=Vejovis= (Vejoʹvis). "Little Jupiter"--a name given to Jupiter when

he appeared without his thunder.

=Vejupiter= (Vejuʹpiter), see Vejovis.

=Vengeance=, see Nemesis.

=Venus= (Veʹnus). The goddess of beauty, and mother of love. She is

said to have sprung from the foam of the sea, and was immediately

carried to the abode of the gods on Olympus, where they were all

charmed with her extreme beauty. Vulcan married her, but she permitted

the attentions of others of the gods, and notably of Mars, their

offspring being Hermione, Cupid, and Anteros. After this she left

Olympus and fell in love with Adonis, a beautiful youth, who was

killed when hunting a wild boar. Venus indirectly caused the Trojan

War, for, when the goddess of discord had thrown among the goddesses

the golden apple inscribed "To the fairest," Paris adjudged the apple

to Venus, and she inspired him with love for Helen, wife of Menelaus,

king of Sparta. Paris carried off Helen to Troy, and the Greeks

pursued and besieged the city (see Helen, Paris, and Troy). Venus is

mentioned by the classic poets under the names of Aphrodite, Cypria,

Urania, Astarte, Paphia, Cythera, and the laughter-loving goddess. Her

favorite residence was at Cyprus. Incense alone was usually offered on

her altars, but if there was a victim it was a white goat. Her

attendants were Cupids and the Graces.

=Verticordia= (Vertiʹcorʹdia). A Roman name of Venus, signifying the

power of love to change the hard-hearted. The corresponding Greek

name was Epistrophia.

=Vertumnus= (Vertumʹnus) ("the Turner," "Changer"). God of spring, or,

as some mythologists say, of the seasons; the husband of Pomona, the

goddess of fruits and orchards.

=Vesta= (Vesʹta), daughter of Saturn and Cybele, was the goddess of

the hearth and its fire. She had under her special care and protection

a famous statue of Minerva, before which the Vestal Virgins kept a

fire or lamp constantly burning.

=Vestal Virgins= (Vesʹtal Virʹgins) were the priestesses of Vesta,

whose chief duty was to see that the sacred fire in the temple of

Vesta was not extinguished. They were always selected from the best

families, and were under a solemn vow of chastity, and compelled to

live perfectly pure lives.

=Vialis= (Viaʹlis). A name of Mercury, because he presided over the

making of roads.

=Victory= (Vicʹtory). A goddess, the daughter of Styx and Acheron,

generally represented as flying in the air holding out a wreath of

laurel. Her Greek name is Nike (_Nicē_). See Nicephorus.

=Vidor.= A Scandinavian god, who could walk on the water and in the

air. The god of silence (corresponding with the classic Harpocrates).

=Virtue.= A goddess worshiped by most of the ancients under various

names. The way to the temple of honor was through the temple of

virtue.

=Virtuous Women=, see Juno.

=Vishnu= (Vishʹnu). The Preserver, the principal Hindoo goddess.

=Volupia= (Voluʹpia), see Angeronia.

=Vulcan= (Vulʹcan), the god of fire, was the son of Jupiter and Juno.

He offended Jupiter, and was by him thrown out of heaven; he was nine

days falling, and at last dropped into Lemnos with such violence that

he broke his leg, and was lame forever after. Vulcan was married to

Venus. He is supposed to have formed Pandora out of clay. His servants

were the Cyclopes. He was the patron deity of blacksmiths, and as the

smelter or softener of metal bears also the name of Mulciber.

"Men call him Mulciber; and how he fell

From heaven, they fabled, thrown by angry Jove,

Sheer o'er the crystal battlements."

Milton.

=Vulcanalia= (Vulcān-alʹia) were Roman festivals in honor of

Vulcan, at which the victims (certain fish and animals) were thrown

into the fire and burned to death.

=War=, see Bellona, Chemos, Mars.

=Water=, see Canopus.

=Water-Nymphs=, see Doris.

=Wax Tablets=, see Calliope.

=Wealth=, see Cuvera.

=Weaving=, see Ergatis.

=Weeding=, see Runcina.

=Weights and Measures=, see Mercury.

=Well=, see Truth.

=West Wind=, see Favonius.

=Winds=, see Aurora, Auster, Boreas, Zephyr.

=Wine=, see Bacchus, Suradevi.

=Wisdom=, see Pollear, Minerva.

=Woden= (Woʹden), the Anglo-Saxon form of the Scandinavian god Odin;

Wednesday is called after him.

=Women's Safeguard=, see Sospita.

=Woodpecker=, see Picus.

=Woods=, see Dryads.

=World=, see Chaos.

=Xanthus= (Xanʹthus), the name of the wonderful horse of Achilles.

=Yama= (Yaʹma). The Hindoo devil, generally represented as a terrible

monster of a green color, with flaming eyes.

=Ygdrasil= (Ygʹdraʹsil). The famous ash-tree of Scandinavian

mythology, under which the gods held daily council.

=Ymir= (Yʹmir). The Scandinavian god, corresponding to Chaos of the

classics.

=Youth= (perpetual), see Tithonus.

=Zephyr= (Zephʹyr) or =Zephyrus= (Zephʹyrus). The west wind and god

of flowers, a son of Astraeus and Aurora (Eos). See Favonius.

"Wanton Zephyr, come away.

. . . . .

The sun, and Mira's charming eyes,

At thy return more charming grow.

With double glory they appear,

To warm and grace the infant year."

John Hughes, 1700.

=Zetes= (Zeʹtes), with his brother Calais, drove the Harpies from

Thrace.

=Zethus= (Zeʹthus), twin brother of Amphion. He was the son of Antiope

and Zeus. See Amphion.

=Zeus= (Zūs). The Greek name of Jupiter, the greatest god in

Grecian mythology. He was the god of the sky and its phenomena, and as

such was worshiped on the highest mountains, on which he was

enthroned. From Zeus come all changes in the sky or the winds; he is

the gatherer of the clouds which dispense fertilizing rain; and is

also the thunderer and hurler of lightning.