GLOSSARY OF GREEK AND LATIN TERMS

Aegis: Athena’s goatskin cloak, used as a shield in battle, decorated with a Gorgon’s head

Athanatos (pl. Athanatoi): “One Who Does Not Die” (an immortal)

Caduceus: a snake-twined herald’s staff, the symbol of Hermes/Mercury

Gigantomachy: a great battle between gods and giants at the beginning of the world

Gorgon: a monstrous woman with snakes for hair whose gaze turns men to stone

Heliodromus: “the Sun-Runner,” the penultimate rank in the Mithraic Mysteries

Khairete: a common greeting in both Ancient and Modern Greek

Leo: “a lion,” a rank in the Mithraic Mysteries

Lethe: the River of Forgetfulness in the Underworld

Makarites (pl. Makaritai): “Blessed One”

Maenad: a female follower of Dionysus, often partaking in frenzied rites

Miles: “a soldier,” a rank in the Mithraic Mysteries

Mithraeum (pl. mithraea): a sanctuary dedicated to Mithras

Mnemosyne: “Memory,” also the name of a lake in the Underworld

Omphalos: navel

Parthenona: virgin or young woman

Parthenon: the temple atop the Athenian Acropolis, dedicated to Athena the Virgin

Pater Patrum: Father of Fathers, the leader of the Mithraic Mysteries

Phrygia: a region of ancient Asia Minor, now in modern Turkey

Pneuma: breath, air, or spirit

Promakhos (pl. promakhoi): Frontline soldier (also an epithet of Athena)

Pythia: title given to the prophetess at Delphi, named for the dragon-like Python who once guarded the oracle, later slain by Apollo

Satyr: a drunken, lustful woodland demigod, often portrayed with goat’s horns or hooves and commonly associated with Dionysian revelry

Styx: the river that borders the Underworld. Swearing upon it is the most solemn vow a god can make.

Syndexios (pl. syndexioi): an initiate in the Mithraic Mysteries. Literally, “a joining of the right hands” (one who knows the secret handshake)

Tartarus: a pit far below the Underworld where the Olympians imprison their greatest foes

Tauroctony: “bull killing,” the central image of the Mithraic Mysteries

Taurobolium: “bull sacrifice,” a major ritual in the Magna Mater’s cult

Tetractys: image a triangular figure first discovered by the ancients, consisting of ten total dots arranged in four rows, creating an equilateral triangle with four dots on each side. Considered by followers of Pythagoras to be the “perfect number.”

Thanatos (pl. thanatoi): “one who dies” (a mortal)