Glossary

A

Admete daughter of Eurystheus

Aethiopes peoples from northern Africa

Alcmene Heracles’s mother

Amphitryon Heracles’s stepfather and husband to Alcmene

Amymone river in the Argolid

Aphrodite goddess of love

Apollo archer god, associated with music, song and healing

Ares god of war

Aretos father-in-law of Nesaia

Artemis moon goddess associated with childbirth, noted for her virginity and vengefulness

Artemisius (Mount) mountain in Attica, sacred to Artemis

Athena goddess of wisdom and warfare

C

Celadon river in Arcadia

Ceryneia region in the northern Peloponnese

Ceryneian Hind a white deer with golden antlers and bronze hooves, sacred to Artemis

Charis high priestess of Hera

Cleonae Mycenaean town

Copreus herald to King Eurystheus

Creon king of Thebes and father of Megara

Creontiades son of Heracles and Megara

Cyclops one-eyed giant

D

Deicoon youngest son of Heracles and Megara

Demeter goddess of agriculture

E

Echidna half-woman, half-snake, known as the ‘Mother of Monsters’

Electryon former king of Mycenae and Tiryns; grandfather of Heracles

Elatos priest at the oracle on Mount Parnassus

Eperitus friend of Odysseus

Erginus king of Orchomenus

Eurycleia Ithacan maid

Eurystheus king of Mycenae and Tiryns; cousin of Heracles

G

Gaea earth goddess

H

Hades god of the Underworld

Hephaistos god of fire; blacksmith to the gods of Olympus

Hera queen of the gods, married to Zeus

Heracles son of Zeus

I

Iolaus nephew and squire of Heracles

Iphicles twin brother of Heracles and adviser to King Eurystheus

Ithaca island in the Ionian Sea

L

Ladon river in Arcadia

Leontius Nemean farmer, killed by the Nemean Lion

Lernea swamp in the Argolid

Lernean Hydra many-headed serpent, offspring of Echidna and Typhon

M

Megara wife of Heracles and daughter of Creon

Molorchus Nemean farmer

Mycenae city in north-eastern Peloponnese

Myrine child, rescued by Heracles on Mount Parnassus

N

Ncippe mother of Eurystheus

Nemea region north of Mycenae

Nemean Lion monster, offspring of Echidna and Typhon

Nesaia widow, rescued by Heracles on Mount Parnassus

Nestor king of Pylos

O

Odysseus king of Ithaca

Omeros Ithacan bard

Orchomenus city in Boeotia, northern Greece

P

Parnassus (Mount) mountain in central Greece and home of the Pythian oracle

Penelope queen of Ithaca and wife of Odysseus

Perseus famed hero; father of Electryon and Sthenelus

Phaedra Theban housemaid

Polycaste wife of Telemachus and daughter of Nestor

Poseidon god of the sea

Pyrasos Tirynian soldier

Python giant serpent, guardian of the Pythian oracle

Pythoness high priestess of the Pythian oracle

S

Sthenelus brother of Electryon; father of Eurystheus

T

Telemachus son of Odysseus and Penelope

Thaleia daughter of Molorchus, kidnapped by the Nemean Lion

Thebes city in Boeotia, northern Greece

Therimachus eldest son of Heracles and Megara

Thrasios Tirynian soldier

Thespius king of Thespiae in Boeotia

Tiryns city in north-eastern Peloponnese

Tretus (Mount) mountain where the Nemean Lion had its lair

Troy chief city of Ilium

Tydeus commander of the Tirynian guard

Z

Zeus the king of the gods