the only one of the Gorgons subject to mortality. She was celebrated for
her personal charms and the beauty of her hair, which Minerva changed
into serpents. According to Apollodorus and others, the Gorgons were
born with snakes on their heads instead of hair, and with yellow wings
and brazen hands. Perseus rendered himself famous by his conquest of
Medusa. He cut off her head and placed it on the ægis of Minerva. The
head had the power of changing those who looked at it into stone.
=Melea´ger.= A celebrated hero of antiquity, who signalized himself in the
Argonautic expedition, and especially by killing the Calydonian boar, a
famous event in mythological history.
=Melpom´ene.= One of the Muses, daughter of Jupiter and Mnemosyne. She
presided over tragedy. She is generally represented as a young woman
wearing a buskin and holding a dagger in her hand.
=Mem´non.= A king of Ethiopia, son of Tithonus and Aurora. He came with
ten thousand men to assist Priam in the Trojan war, where he behaved
with great courage, and killed Antilochus, Nestor's son, on which Nestor
challenged Memnon to fight, but he refused on account of the great age
of the challenger; but he fought Achilles, who killed him. A statue was
erected in his honor, which had the property of uttering a melodious
sound every day at sunrise.
=Menan´der.= A celebrated comic poet of Athens, educated under
Theophrastus. He was universally esteemed by the Greeks. He wrote 108
comedies, but of which only a few fragments remain.
=Menela´us.= A king of Sparta, brother to Agamemnon. He married Helen, the
most beautiful woman of her time. Paris, having arrived in Sparta in the
absence of Menelaus, persuaded her to elope with him, which was the
cause of the Trojan war. In the tenth year of the war Helen, it is said,
obtained the forgiveness of Menelaus, with whom she returned to Sparta,
where, shortly after his return, he died.
=Mene´nius Agrippa.= A celebrated Roman who appeased the Roman populace in
the infancy of the consular government by repeating to them the
well-known fable of the belly and limbs. He lived B.C. 495.
=Menip´pus.= A Cynic philosopher of Phoenicia. He was originally a
slave, and, obtaining his liberty, became notorious as a usurer. He
wrote thirteen books of satires.
=Men´tor.= A faithful friend of Ulysses, and guide and instructor of his
son Telemachus. The term Mentor has become proverbial as applied to any
one who is an educator of youth.
=Mercu´rius.= A celebrated god of antiquity, called Hermes by the Greeks.
He was the messenger of the gods, and conducted the souls of the dead
into the infernal regions. He presided over orators, merchants, and was
also the god of thieves. The invention of the lyre is ascribed to him.
This he gave to Apollo, and received in exchange the Caduceus, which the
god of poetry used to drive the flocks of King Admetus.
=Mer´ope.= One of the Atlantides. She married Sisyphus, son of Æolus, and
was changed into a constellation.
=Me´rops.= A king of the island of Cos, who married Clymene, one of the
Oceanides. He was changed into an eagle, and placed among the
constellations.
=Messali´na, Vale´ria=, was notorious for her vices. She married the
emperor Claudius, who, wearied with her misconduct, cited her to appear
before him and reply to the accusations which were brought against her,
on which she attempted to destroy herself, but failing to do so, was
slain by one of the tribunes who had been sent to summon her.
=Metel´li.= The surname of the family of the Cæcilii at Rome, the most
noted of whom are--a general who defeated the Achæans, took Thebes, and
invaded Macedonia; Quintus Cæcilius, rendered famous by his successes
against Jugurtha, the king of Numidia; Q. Cæcilius Celer, who
distinguished himself against Catiline. He died fifty-seven years B.C.,
greatly lamented by Cicero, who was one of his warmest friends; L.
Cæcilius, a tribune in the civil wars of Cæsar and Pompey, who favored
the cause of Pompey; Q. Caæilius, a warlike general who conquered Crete
and Macedonia; Metellus Cimber, one of the conspirators against Cæsar.
He gave the signal to attack and murder the dictator.
=Micip´sa.= A king of Numidia, son of Masinissa, who, at his death, B.C.
119, left his kingdom between his sons Adherbal and Hiempsal, and his
nephew Jugurtha.
=Mi´das.= A king of Phrygia, son of Gordius or Gorgias. According to some
traditions, in the early part of his life he found a treasure, to which
he owed his greatness and opulence. He showed hospitality to Silenus, in
return for which Bacchus permitted him to choose whatever recompense he
pleased. He demanded of the god that whatever he touched might be turned
into gold. His wish was granted, but when the very food which he
attempted to eat became gold in his mouth he prayed Bacchus to revoke
the favor, and he was ordered to wash himself in the river Pactolus, the
sands of which were turned into gold by the touch of Midas. Afterwards,
in consequence of maintaining that Pan was superior to Apollo in singing
and playing the flute, he had his ears changed into those of an ass by
the god.
=Mi´lo.= A celebrated athlete of Crotona in Italy. He is said to have
carried on his shoulders a bullock for a considerable distance, and to
have killed it with a blow from his fist, and eaten it in one day. In
his old age he attempted to pull up a tree by the roots, which, when
half-cleft, reunited, and his hands remaining imprisoned in the tree, he
was eaten by wild beasts about 500 years before the Christian era.
=Milti´ades=, son of Simon, was sent by the Athenians to take possession
of the Chersonesus. On his arrival he seized some of the principal
inhabitants of the country, made himself absolute in Chersonese, and
married the daughter of Olorus, king of the Thracians. He was present at
the celebrated battle of Marathon, where the command was ceded to him,
owing to his superior abilities. He obtained the victory, but an olive
crown, which he demanded from his fellow-citizens as a reward for his
valor, was refused. Afterwards he was intrusted with a fleet of seventy
ships, with which to punish some islands which had revolted to the
Persians. At first he was successful, but afterwards fortune frowned on
him. He was accused of treason and condemned to death, but his sentence
was, owing to his great services, commuted. He died in prison of some
wounds he had received, which became incurable.
=Miner´va=, the goddess of wisdom, war, and all the liberal arts, sprang,
full-grown and armed, from the head of Jupiter, and was immediately
admitted to the assembly of the gods, and became one of the most
faithful counselors of her father. Her power in heaven was great: she
could hurl the thunders of Jupiter, prolong the life of men, and bestow
the gift of prophecy. She was known amongst the ancients by many names.
She was called Athena, Pallas, Parthenos, Tritonia (because she was
worshiped near the lake Tritonis) and Hippia (because she first taught
mankind how to manage the horse), Sais (because she was worshipped at
Sais), and some other names. She is usually represented with a helmet on
her head with a large plume on it, in one hand holding a spear, and in
the other a shield with the head of Medusa on it. Temples were erected
for her worship in different places, one of the most renowned of which
was the Parthenon at Athens. From this building a large collection of
ancient sculpture was brought to the British Museum by Lord Elgin more
than sixty years ago, which is known as the "Elgin Marbles."
=Mi´nos.= A king of Crete, son of Jupiter and Europa, who gave laws to his
subjects, B.C. 1406, which remained in full force in the age of Plato.
=Mi´nos the Second= was a son of Lycastes, the son of Minos the first, and
king of Crete. He married Pasiphae, the daughter of Sol and Perseis.
=Minotau´rus.= A celebrated monster, half a man and half a bull, for which
a number of young Athenian men and maidens were yearly exacted to be
devoured. The Minotaur was confined in a famous labyrinth, where at
length it was slain by Theseus, who was guided out of the labyrinth by a
clue of thread given to him by Ariadne, daughter of King Minos.
=Mithrida´tes First=, king of Pontus. He was tributary to the crown of
Persia: his attempts to make himself independent of that fealty proved
fruitless, being defeated in a battle which he had provoked, and having
to sue for peace.
=Mithrida´tes=, surnamed "Eupator" and "The Great," succeeded to the
throne of Pontus when eleven years of age. The beginning of his reign
was marked by ambition and cruelty. At an early age he inured himself to
hardships by devoting himself to manly exercises, and sleeping in the
open air on the bare earth. He was constantly engaged in warfare against
the Romans, and his contests with them are known as the Mithridatic
wars. His hatred of the Romans was so great that, to destroy their
power, he ordered all of them that were in his dominions to be
massacred, and in one night 150,000, according to Plutarch, or 80,000,
according to another authority, were slaughtered. This cruel act called
for revenge, and great armies were sent against him. After varied
fortunes Mithridates had to succumb to Pompey, and, worn out with
misfortune, attempted to poison himself, but unsuccessfully, as the
numerous antidotes to poison which in early life he had taken
strengthened his constitution to resist the effect. He then ordered one
of his soldiers to give him the fatal blow with a sword, which was done.
He died about sixty-three years before the Christian era, in his
seventy-second year. He is said to have been the most formidable
opponent the Romans ever had, and Cicero estimates him as the greatest
monarch that ever sat upon a throne. It is recorded of him that he
conquered twenty-four nations, whose different languages he knew and
spoke fluently. There were a number of persons of the same name, but of
inferior note.
=Mnemos´yne.= A daughter of Coelus and Terra, mother of the nine Muses.
Jupiter assumed the form of a shepherd in order to enjoy her company.
=Mo´mus=, the god of mirth amongst the ancients, according to Hesiod, was
the son of Nox. He amused himself by satirizing the gods by turning into
ridicule whatever they did.
=Mor´pheus.= A minister of the god Somnus, who imitated very naturally the
gestures, words, and manners of mankind. He is sometimes called the god
of sleep. He is generally represented as a sleeping child, of great
corpulence, with wings.
=Mos´chus.= A Greek Bucolic poet in the age of Ptolemy Philadelphus. His
eclogues are characterized by sweetness and elegance, and are said to be
equal in merit to the productions of Theocritus.
=Mure´na.= A celebrated Roman who invaded the dominions of Mithridates, at
first with success, but afterwards he met with defeat. He was honored
with a triumph on his return to Rome.
=Mu´sæ.= The Muses, certain goddesses who presided over poetry, music,
dancing, and all the liberal arts. They were daughters of Jupiter and
Mnemosyne, and were nine in number, Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene,
Terpsichore, Erato, Polyhymnia, Calliope, and Urania.
=Myce´næ.= A town of Argolis, said to have been built by Perseus. It
received its name from Mycene, a nymph of Laconia. It was taken and
destroyed by the Argives.
=Nai´ades.= Inferior deities who presided over rivers, springs, wells, and
fountains. The Naiads generally inhabited the country, and resorted to
the woods and meadows near the stream over which they presided. They are
represented as young and beautiful girls leaning on an urn, from which
flows a stream of water. Ægle was the fairest of them, according to
Virgil. The word Naiad has become Anglicized, and is in frequent use,
especially by the poets.
=Narcis´sus=, a beautiful youth, son of Cephisus and the nymph Liriope,
was born at Thespis in Boeotia. He saw his image reflected in a
fountain and became in love with it, thinking it to be the nymph of the
place. His fruitless attempts to reach this beautiful object so provoked
him, that he killed himself. His blood was changed into a flower which
still bears his name.
=Nemæ´a.= A town of Argolis, with a wood where Hercules in the sixteenth
year of his age killed the celebrated Nemæan lion. It was the first of
the labors of Hercules to destroy the monster, and when he found that
his arrows and clubs were useless, against an animal whose skin was
impenetrable, he seized it in his arms and strangled it.
=Nem´esis.= One of the infernal deities, daughter of Nox. She was the
goddess of vengeance. She is made one of the Parcæ by some mythologists,
and is represented with a helm and a wheel. The term is sometimes used
to signify vengeance itself.
=Neoptol´emus.= A king of Epirus, son of Achilles and Deidamia, called
also Pyrrhus. He greatly signalized himself during the siege of Troy,
and he was the first who entered the wooden horse. He was inferior to
none of the Grecian warriors in valor. Ulysses and Nestor alone were his
superiors in eloquence and wisdom.
=Ne´pos, Corne´lius.= A celebrated historian in the reign of Augustus,
and, like the rest of his literary contemporaries, he enjoyed the
patronage and obtained the favor of the emperor. He was the intimate
friend of Cicero and Atticus, and recommended himself to notice by
delicacy of sentiment and a lively disposition. Of all his valuable
works the only one extant is his lives of illustrious Greek and Roman
generals.
=Neptu´nus.= One of the gods, son of Saturn and Ops, and brother to
Jupiter and Pluto. He was devoured by his father as soon as he was born,
and restored to life again by a potion given to Saturn, by Metis, the
first wife of Jupiter. Neptune shared with his brothers the empire of
Saturn, and received as his portion the kingdom of the sea. He did not
think this equivalent to the empire of heaven and earth, which Jupiter
had claimed, therefore he conspired to dethrone him. The conspiracy was
discovered, and Jupiter condemned Neptune to build the walls of Troy.
He married Amphitrite, who thus broke a vow she had made of perpetual
celibacy.
=Nere´ides.= Nymphs of the sea, daughters of Nereus and Doris. According
to most of the mythologists, they were fifty in number. They are
represented as young and handsome girls, sitting on dolphins and armed
with tridents.
=Ne´ro, Clau´dius Domit´ius Cæ´sar.= A celebrated Roman emperor, son of
Caius Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina, the daughter of Germanicus.
His name is the synonym for cruelty and vice. In the night it was his
wont to sally out from his palace to visit the meanest taverns and the
different scenes of depravity that were to be found. He appeared on the
stage, sometimes representing the meanest characters. He resolved to
imitate the burning of Troy, and caused Rome to be set on fire in
different places, the flames being unextinguished for nine days, and he
enjoyed the terrible scene. During the conflagration he placed himself
on the top of a tower and sang, accompanying himself on a lyre, of the
destruction of Troy. Many conspiracies were formed against him, the most
dangerous of which he was saved from by the confession of a slave. He
killed himself A.D. 68, in the thirty-second year of his age, after a
reign of thirteen years and eight months. Wretch that he was, it is said
that he had some few to mourn for him, and Suetonius records that some
unseen hand had placed flowers on his tomb.
=Ner´va, M. Cocce´ius.= A Roman emperor after the death of Domitian A.D.
96. He rendered himself popular by his mildness and generosity. In his
civil character he set an example of good manners and sobriety. He made
an oath that no senator should suffer death during his reign, which he
carried out by pardoning two members of the Senate who had conspired
against his life. He died in his seventy-second year, A.D. 98, and was
succeeded by his son Trajan.
=Nes´sus.= A celebrated Centaur killed by Hercules for insulting Dejanira.
=Nes´tor.= A son of Neleus and Chloris, nephew to Pelias, and grandson to
Neptune. He was present at the bloody battle between the Lapithæ and the
Centaurs, which took place at the nuptials of Pirithous. As king of
Pylos he led his soldiers to the Trojan war, where he distinguished
himself among the Grecian chieftains by eloquence, wisdom, and prudence.
Homer makes his character as the most perfect of all his heroes. After
the Trojan war Nestor retired to Greece, where he lived during his
declining years in peace and tranquillity. The manner and time of his
death are unknown.
=Ni´nus.= A son of Belus. He built Nineveh and founded the Assyrian
monarchy, of which he was the first sovereign, B.C. 2059. He married
Semiramis, whose husband had destroyed himself through fear of Ninus. He
reigned fifty-two years.
=Ni´obe.= A daughter of Tantalus, king of Lydia, and Euryanassa, or Dione.
She married Amphion, and, according to Hesiod, they had ten sons and ten
daughters. All the sons of Niobe expired by the darts of Apollo, and all
the daughters, except Chloris, were destroyed by Diana. Niobe,
overwhelmed with grief, was changed into a stone.
=Nito´cris.= A celebrated queen of Babylon, who built a bridge across the
Euphrates in the middle of that city, and dug a number of reservoirs for
the superfluous water of the river.
=Nom´ades.= A name given to people who had no fixed habitation, and who
continually changed their place of residence in quest of fresh pastures
for the cattle they tended. There were Nomades in Scythia, India,
Arabia, etc. The word is in constant use as Anglicized--Nomad--meaning
any one who leads a wandering and unsettled life.
=Nox.= One of the most ancient deities among the heathens, daughter of
Chaos. She gave birth to the Day and the Light, and was mother of the
Parcæ, Hesperides, Dreams, Death, etc.
=Nu´ma Pompil´ius.= A celebrated philosopher of Cures. He married Tatia,
daughter of Tatius, king of the Sabines, and at her death he retired
into the country to devote himself to literary pursuits. At the death of
Romulus the Romans fixed on him to be their new king. Numa at first
refused the offer of the crown, but at length was prevailed on to accept
it. He endeavored to inculcate into the minds of his subjects a
reverence for the deity, and he did all he could to heal their
dissensions. He encouraged the report of his visits to the nymph Egeria,
and made use of her name to give sanction to the laws which he had made.
He dedicated a temple to Janus, which, during his whole reign, remained
closed as a mark of peace and tranquillity at Rome. Numa died after a
reign of forty-three years (B.C. 672), during which he had given
encouragement to the useful arts, and had cultivated peace.
=Nym´phæ.= Certain female deities among the ancients. They were generally
divided into two classes--nymphs of the land and nymphs of the sea. Of
the former some presided over woods, and were called Dryades and
Hamadryades. Of the sea nymphs some were called Oceanides, Nereides,
Naiades, etc.
=Ocean´ides and Oceanit´ides.= Sea nymphs, daughters of Oceanus, from whom
they received their name. According to Apollodorus they were 3000 in
number, whilst Hesiod speaks of them as consisting of forty-one.
=Oce´anus.= A powerful deity of the sea, son of Coelus and Terra. He
married Tethys, the Oceanides being their children.
=Octa´via.= A Roman lady, sister to the emperor Augustus, celebrated for
her beauty and virtues. She married Claudius Marcellus, and, after his
death, Antony, who for some time was attentive to her, but eventually
deserted her for Cleopatra.
=Octavia´nus, or Octa´vius Cæ´sar.= A famous Roman who, after the battle
of Actium, had bestowed on him by the senate the surname _Augustus_, as
expressing his dignity and greatness.
=Odena´tus.= A celebrated prince of Palmyra. At an early period of his
life he inured himself to bear fatigue by hunting wild beasts. He was a
faithful ally of the Romans, and gave great offense to Sapor, king of
Persia, in consequence. In the warfare which ensued he obtained
advantage over the troops of Sapor, and took his wife prisoner, besides
gaining great booty. He died by the hand of one of his relations whom he
had offended. Zenobia succeeded him on the throne.
=OE´dipus.= A son of Laius, king of Thebes, and Jocasta. Laius was
informed by the oracle, as soon as he married Jocasta, that he would
perish by the hands of his son. On his birth OEdipus was given to a
domestic, with orders to expose him to death on the mountains, where he
was found by one of the shepherds of Polybus, king of Corinth.
Periboea, the wife of Polybus, educated him as her own child, tending
him with great care. In after life he met Laius in a narrow lane in a
chariot, and being haughtily ordered to make way for Laius, a combat
ensued in which Laius was slain. After this OEdipus was attracted to
Thebes by the fame of the Sphinx, who devoured all those who attempted
to explain without success the enigmas which she propounded. The enigma
proposed by the Sphinx to OEdipus was:--What animal in the morning
walks upon four feet, at noon upon two, and in the evening upon three?
OEdipus solved the riddle by replying that the animal was man, who in
childhood crawls on his hands and feet, on attaining manhood walks on
two feet erect, and in the evening of life supports his tottering steps
with a staff. The monster on hearing the correct solution of the riddle,
dashed her head against a rock and perished.
=OE´neus.= A king of Calydon, son of Parthaon or Portheus and Euryte. He
married Althæa, their children being Clymenus, Meleager, Gorge, and
Dejanira. In a general sacrifice he made to the gods he slighted Diana,
who, in revenge, sent a wild boar to waste his country. The animal was
killed by Meleager in the celebrated Calydonian boar hunt. After this
misfortunes overtook OEneus, and he exiled himself from Calydon, and
died on his way to Argolis.
=OEnom´aus.= King of Pisa, in Elis, and father of Hippodamia. He was
told by the oracle that he would perish by his son-in-law. Being
skillful in driving a chariot, he announced that he would give his
daughter in marriage only to some one who could defeat him in a race,
death being the result of those who were defeated. After a number of
aspirants had contended and failed, Pelops, son of Tantalus, entered the
lists, and by bribing the charioteer of OEnomaus, who provided a
chariot with a broken axle-tree, Pelops won the race, and married
Hippodamia, becoming king of Pisa. OEnomaus was killed in the race.
=Olym´pia.= Celebrated games which received their name either from
Olympia, where they were observed, or from Jupiter Olympius, to whom
they were dedicated.
=Olym´pus.= A mountain in Macedonia and Thessaly. The ancients supposed
that it touched the heavens, and thus they have made it the residence of
the gods, and the place where Jupiter held his court. On the top of the
mountain, according to the poets, eternal spring reigned.
=Om´phale.= A queen of Lydia, daughter of Jardanus. She married Tmolus,
who at his death left her mistress of his kingdom. She had heard of the
exploits of Hercules, and wished to see him. After he had slain Eurytus,
Hercules was ordered to be sold as a slave, and was purchased by
Omphale, who gave him his liberty. He became in love with Omphale, who
reciprocated his passion. He is represented by the poets as being so
infatuated with her that he sat spinning by her side surrounded by her
women, whilst she garbed herself with his lion's skin, arming herself
with his club.
=Oppia´nus.= A Greek poet of Cilicia. He wrote some poems celebrated for
their sublimity and elegance. Caracalla gave him a piece of gold for
every verse in one of his poems. Oppian died of the plague in the
thirtieth year of his age.
=Ops.= A daughter of Coelus and Terra, the same as the Rhea of the
Greeks, who married Saturn, and became mother of Jupiter. She was known
amongst the ancients by the different names of Cybele, Bona Dea, Magna
Mater, Thya, Tellus, and Proserpina.