Cross-references are indicated by names in boldface
Abydos A town on the Asian coast of the Hellespont opposite Sestos. Acanthides Goldfinches (or, in Chapman’s version, thistle-warps), into which Hero and Leander were metamorphosed.
Accius, Lucius (d. 180 B.C.). Roman tragedian, translator of Sophocles.
Achelous Son of Oceanus, or alternatively of the sun. He was a rival for the hand of Deianira, and fought against Hercules, changing himself first into a serpent and then into an ox. Hercules broke off one of his horns, which became the Cornucopia or horn of plenty. Upon his defeat, Achelous was transformed into the river in Epirus that bears his name. Acheron A river in Epirus, called by Homer one of the rivers of Hades. The name is also used for Hades itself.
Achilles Son of Peleus and Thetis. In his infancy, his mother attempted to make him immortal by dipping him in the Styx (or, alternatively, by holding him in a fire), but the heel by which she held him remained vulnerable and ultimately bore the wound that caused his death. He attempted to avoid the Trojan War by dressing as a woman, but was discovered and conscripted by Ulysses. He was the greatest of the Greek heroes and necessary to their victory, but with his glory went a reputation for surliness and dishonorable behavior. He was killed by Paris.
Actaeon A huntsman. He came upon Diana and her nymphs bathing, and as a punishment for seeing them naked was transformed into a stag and killed by his own hounds.
Adolesche The name means “chatterer”; the character is Chapman’s invention.
Adon or Adonis Child of Myrrha by an incestuous relationship with her father Cinyras. Adonis was the lover of Venus, who cautioned him against indulging his favorite passion, hunting, lest the wild beasts, who are her inveterate enemies, attempt to make her suffer through wounding him. The advice was ignored, and he was killed by a boar who gored him in the groin.
Aedone Chapman apparently coined the name from hedone, pleasure.
Aeneas Trojan prince, son of Anchises and Venus. He fled the sack of Troy, was shipwrecked at Carthage, where he loved the queen, Dido, but was prevailed upon by divine command to abandon her. She committed suicide, and he sailed to Italy to conquer Latium and found the Roman empire.
Aesope Asopus, a Thessalian river-god who loved Thebe.
Aetolia A country in central Greece.
Agamemnon Son of Atreus, and commander of the Greek forces during the Trojan War. Upon his return to his kingdom of Mycenae, he was murdered by his queen Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus, his cousin; they in turn were killed by his son Orestes.
Agave Daughter of Cadmus and Hermione and mother of Pentheus, king of Thebes. She was a votary of Bacchus, and when Pentheus undertook to suppress the bacchic cult she joined in the rout of bacchantes that tore him to pieces.
Agneia The name means “purity.”
Ajax Name of two heroes. 1. Son of Telamon, and after Achilles the greatest of the Greek warriors at Troy. When the dead Achilles’ armor was awarded to Ulysses, instead of to him, Ajax went mad and slew a flock of sheep, thinking they were the Atrides, who had deprived him of the prize. He then committed suicide. 2. Son of Oïleus. During the sack of Troy he tried to rape Cassandra, for which Minerva destroyed his ship as he was returning home.
Alba Longa The oldest Roman city, founded by Ascanius, son of Aeneas.
Alcides Hercules; a matronymic from his mother Alcmena’s father Alcaeus.
Alcinous In the Odyssey, king of Phaeacia. He was a patron of agriculture and had fruit that grew all the year.
Alcmane Chapman takes the name from a Spartan poet of the seventh century B.C.
Alcmena Wife of Amphitryon. Jupiter slept with her and tripled the length of the night to increase his time with her. She bore twin sons, Hercules, the child of Jupiter, and Iphicles, the child of Amphitryon.
Alpheus Arcadian river. The river god loved the nymph Arethusa and pursued her until, in Ortygia, near Syracuse, Diana transformed her into a spring.
Amymone One of the Danaides, daughter of Danaus and Europa. She married Enceladus, but murdered him on their wedding night on the instructions of her father. She was attacked by a satyr, but rescued by Neptune (or Poseidon), who loved her and created a fountain bearing her name.
Andromache Wife of Hector.
Andromeda Ethiopian princess, daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopea. Her mother boasted that she was more beautiful than the Nereids. This angered Neptune, who sent a sea monster to ravage the land. To appease the god, Andromeda was thrown to the monster, but was rescued by Perseus.
Anubis Egyptian dog-headed god, often identified with Mercury; he is ruler of the dead and conducts their spirits to Hades.
Aonian Pertaining to the muses, from their sacred mountain Helicon, in Aonia.
Apis Egyptian bull-god associated with the worship of Isis.
Apollo Son of Jupiter and Latona (or Leto), god of the sun, patron of rational poetry and song and of the music of strings, bringer of plagues and also their healer, incumbent of numerous oracles, the most famous of which was at Delphi.
Arachne A superlative weaver. She challenged Minerva to a contest, and wove a tapestry depicting the love affairs of the gods. The work was perfect, but the subject offended the goddess, who tore the cloth in shreds. Arachne hanged herself in despair and was transformed into a spider.
Araris The river Saone.
Aratus Greek poet of the third century B.C., author of the Phaenomena, a poem on astronomy.
Arcadia In the central Peloponnesus, a mountainous and landlocked country; traditionally the home of Pan and hence of pastoral poetry and music.
Argo or Argos Jason’s ship.
Argos Capital of Argolis in Peloponnesus.
Argus See Io.
Ariadne Princess of Crete, daughter of Minos and Pasiphae. She fell in love with Theseus, prince of Athens, whom she rescued from the labyrinth. He later abandoned her on the island of Naxos.
Arruns A soothsayer in Lucan.
Ascraeus Hesiod, born in Ascra, in Boeotia.
Atalanta Arcadian beauty, a superlative runner. Her suitors were required to race with her. Hippomenes prayed to Venus for aid, and she gave him three golden apples, which he threw before Atalanta whenever she took the lead; she stopped to pick them up and he won the race. The lovers subsequently offended Venus by not giving thanks and were transformed into wild beasts. Atalanta was with Meleager at the hunt of the Calydonian boar and was first to wound the animal.
Atax The river Aude.
Ate Goddess of discord.
Atreus King of Mycenae, son of Pelops, father of Agamemnon and Menelaus. His brother Thyestes seduced Atreus’s wife, by whom he had two sons. In revenge, Atreus killed the sons and served them up to Thyestes at a banquet. He was eventually assassinated by Aegisthus, Thyestes’s son.
Atrides Agamemnon and Menelaus, sons of Atreus.
Atthaea Oreithyia, wife of Boreas the north wind. The name is Chapman’s coinage, from the fact that she was princess of Attica.
Aurora The dawn. She married Tithonus, who was granted immortality but not eternal youth. She also loved Cephalus and Orion.
Auster The south wind.
Averni Properly Arverni, a Gallic tribe in the Auvergne.
Avernus, Averne A lake in Campania (southern Italy) reputed to be the entrance to hell. Also one of the rivers in hell and a poetic name for the underworld.
Axon The Axones, who lived near the river Axona (now the Aisne) in Gallia Belgica.
Bacchus or Dionysus God of wine, theater, and ecstatic poetry. He is said to have ridden in triumph as far as the Ganges; his chariot was drawn by tigers. See Semele.
Bardi An order of sacred poets in ancient Gaul.
Batavia Holland.
Bellona Goddess of war.
Bidental A place struck by lightning that was afterward consecrated by the sacrifice of a sheep (bidens.)
Bithynia A country in Asia Minor.
Bituriges A tribe of Aquitanian Gaul.
Briseis Achilles’ concubine, captured in battle. She was expropriated by Agamemnon and this produced the wrath of Achilles that is the subject of the Iliad. See Chryseis.
Boreas The north wind. He carried off Oreithyia, daughter of Erechtheus, king of Athens, to be his wife. See Atthaea.
Caesar The title adopted by Roman emperors, after C. Julius Caesar, founder of the empire (d. 44 B.C.).
Callimachus (third century B.C.) Alexandrian elegiac poet.
Callisto Princess of Arcadia and an attendant of Diana. Jupiter loved her and seduced her by taking the form of Diana. Their child was called Arcas. Juno transformed Callisto into a bear, but Jupiter stellified her as Ursa Major.
Calpe Gibraltar.
Calvus, Cornelius Licinius Famous orator and poet and close friend of Catullus.
Calydon A city in Aetolia, capital of King Oeneus, the father of Meleager and Deianira. The Calydonian Boar was a monstrous animal sent by Diana to ravage the country as punishment for the neglect of her worship. It was hunted and killed by Meleager, accompanied by the greatest heroes of the time. See Atalanta.
Calypso In the Odyssey, one of the Oceanides, who reigned on the island of Ogygia. She fell in love with Ulysses, who was shipwrecked there, and offered him immortality if he would remain with her. He refused, though he stayed for seven years and had two sons by her.
Camillus, M. Furius (d. 365 B.C.) Roman hero who freed Rome from the invading Gauls.
Canopus A city near Alexandria connected with the worship of Isis.
Capitol Marlowe uses the term to refer to the capital of Latium, Alba Longa.
Cares Caria, in Asia Minor.
Carpathus An island in the Aegean between Crete and Rhodes, from which the sea between Crete and Rhodes is called the Carpathian Sea.
See Proteus.
Carra Properly Carrae or Carrhae, in Mesopotamia, where Crassus was defeated and killed in 53 B.C.
Cassandra Daughter of Priam, king of Troy. She was reputedly mad, but had the gift of prophecy; her predictions, however, were invariably disregarded. She became the spoil of Agamemnon, who took her home to Argos, where she was murdered with him.
Cassiopea See Andromeda.
Castor and Pollux Children of Leda by Jupiter, and the patrons of navigation. Because they were twins and half-mortal, they spent alternate days in heaven.
Cato, M. Porcius Great-grandson of Cato the Censor, republican and opponent of Caesar. He was besieged by Caesar’s forces at Utica in 46 B.C., and committed suicide.
Cayc The Cayci (or Chauci), a German tribe.
Centaurs A race in Thessaly, half man and half horse. They were descended from Ixion. See Lapiths.
Cephalus A famous hunter, husband of Procris, loved by Aurora.
Cepheus King of Ethiopia, father of Andromeda by Cassiopea. He was one of the Argonauts. See Andromeda.
Cerannia The Ceraunian mountains in Epirus.
Ceremony The goddess is Chapman’s invention.
Ceres or Demeter Goddess of agriculture and mother of Proserpine.
When her daughter was carried off by Pluto (or Dis), god of the underworld, she went into deep mourning, but managed to persuade Jupiter to allow Proserpine to spend six months of the year on earth with her. Proserpine’s annual return is the beginning of spring. Ceres’ home is traditionally said to be in Crete.
Chaos The oldest of the gods, the original matter from which the universe was formed. His wife was Darkness, his children Nox and Erebus.
Charybdis A dangerous whirlpool on the Sicilian coast opposite the shoals of Scylla. Charybdis was a woman who stole the cattle of Hercules. and was punished by a metamorphosis embodying her greed.
Chreste Chapman’s coinage from chrestos, good, with a pun on Latin crista, a bird’s crest, hence “Chreste with the tufted crown” (H and L, IV 232).
Chryseis Daughter of Chryses, a priest of Apollo. She was captured and held prisoner by Agamemnon, but Apollo sent a plague upon the Greeks and Chryseis was returned to her father. It was the loss of Chryseis that prompted Agamemnon to demand Achilles’ prisoner Briseis for himself.
Cilicia A country in Asia Minor.
Cimbrians The Cimbri, a German tribe who invaded Rome in 109 B.C. They were defeated by Marius.
Cinga The Cinca River, in Spain.
Circe An enchantress, queen of the island of Aeaea, the daughter of the sun and the sea nymph Perseis. Ulysses visited her on his voyage home, and his shipmates were transformed into swine by her sensual pleasures. The hero himself was protected from this metamorphosis by the magic herb moly, which he had received from Mercury. He remained with Circe for a year and had a child, or in some versions two children by her. After Ulysses’ death either Circe or her daughter Cassiphone became the wife of his son Telemachus.
Cisalpine The south, or Roman side of the Alps.
Colchis On the Black Sea, home of Medea. See Jason.
Corcyra Corfu; Ovid recalls that Tibullus had once been taken ill there.
Corsic Corsican.
Cotta, G. Aurelius (124–73 B.C.). Statesman and orator. He was consul in 75 B.C., and in 74 B.C. became pro-consul of Gaul. In 73 he was granted a triumph, but died of an old wound the day before its celebration.
Crassus, M. Licinius (d. 53 B.C.). Roman general. He put down the rebellion of Spartacus, and was made consul with Pompey. He subsequently became censor, and triumvir with Pompey and Caesar. He was betrayed and murdered on an expedition to Parthia.
Creusa 1. Daughter of Creon, king of Corinth, Jason’s second wife. She was killed by a poisoned robe sent her by Medea. See Jason. 2. Daughter of Priam and Hecuba, first wife of Aeneas and mother of Ascanius. 3. Daughter of Erechtheus, king of Athens, wife of Xuthus (Xanthus in Marlowe) and mother of Ion.
Cupid God of love (literally, “desire”), son of Venus and Mars, or in another version, Mercury.
Curio, C. Scribonius Tribune, originally a supporter of Pompey, but finally one of Caesar’s most devoted followers. He was the son of Q. Curio, who in the Senate had called Caesar “every woman’s man and every man’s woman.”
Curius M. Curius Dentatus, Roman leader of the third century B.C. famous for his frugality and piety.
Cyclops A race of giants, sons of Heaven and Earth. They had a single eye in the middle of the forehead. They assisted Vulcan at his forge, and made Jupiter’s thunderbolts. Their king Polyphemus captured Ulysses and twelve of his shipmates, and devoured all but the hero, who succeeded in blinding the Cyclops and escaping.
Cybele Daughter of Heaven and Earth, and wife of Saturn. She is goddess of nature and of the underworld. Marlowe confuses her with Sybil.
Cynthia The moon, a name of Diana, born on Mount Cynthus.
Cyprias Venus, from Cyprus, her birthplace.
Cyprides Venus, born on the island of Cyprus.
Cythera Now Cerigo, an island in the Peloponnesus. It was the favorite home of Venus (and in some versions her birthplace), hence her surname Cytherea.
Danae Princess of Argos. She was locked in a tower by her father, who had been told by an oracle that his grandson would put him to death. But Jupiter, who loved her, gained access to her as a shower of gold. Their child was Perseus.
Danaus King of Egypt, and later of Argos. He commanded his fifty daughters, the Danaides, to murder their husbands on their wedding night, because an oracle had warned him that he would be destroyed by a son-in-law. All but one daughter complied.
Dapsilis The name means “abundant”; Chapman’s invention.
Deianira Princess of Aetolia and wife of Hercules who competed with Achelous for her hand. While she was traveling with Hercules the centaur Nessus attempted to carry her off, and Hercules killed him with a poisoned arrow. As he died, Nessus gave Deianira a cloak stained with his infected blood, which he told her would strengthen her husband’s love for her. Years later, jealous of Hercules’ liaison with Iole, Deianira gave him the cloak, which immediately poisoned and destroyed him.
Delia One of Tibullus’s mistresses, to whom he addressed poems.
Delphian Pertaining to the oracle of Apollo at Delphi, hence oracular.
Demophoön Son of Theseus and Phaedra, and king of Athens. Returning from the Trojan War, he was hospitably received by Phyllis, queen of Thrace, and became her lover. He subsequently abandoned her, however, and she hanged herself.
Deucalion Son of Prometheus and husband of Pyrrha. He was a Greek Noah, and, after the universal flood, Deucalion repeopled the earth by throwing stones behind him, which became men and women. Diana In Greek, Artemis, goddess of the hunt. She was devoted to chastity, but as the moon goddess was also known as Lucina, the patroness of childbirth, and Hecate, the goddess of the underworld.
Dido or Elisa Founder and queen of Carthage. Her husband, Sichaeus, had been murdered by Pygmalion, king of Tyre, and Dido fled with her followers to found a new colony. She was wooed by Iarbas, a neighboring king, but fell in love with Aeneas when he was shipwrecked on her shores. After he abandoned her she had a funeral pyre built and stabbed herself on top of it; it was this action that earned her the name of Dido, or “valiant.”
Diomedes Son of Tydeus and king of Aetolia, a Greek hero in the Trojan War. He wounded the goddess Venus in battle before Troy.
Dipsas An old bawd who corrupts Ovid’s Corinna. The name means “thirsty.”
Dis Pluto, king of the underworld, son of Saturn and Ops, and brother of Jupiter and Neptune, with whom he divided the universe.
See Ceres.
Doric, Dorian The solemn and heroic mode, apparently confused by Marlowe with the gentle and pathetic Lydian.
Ecte The name means “pity”; the figure is invented by Chapman.
Egeria A water nymph. According to Ovid she became the wife of Numa Pompilius, second king of Rome, and was transformed into a fountain after his death.
Electra 1. Chief of the Pleiades, seven daughters of Pleione and Atlas, who were stellified after their death. 2. The sister of Orestes.
Eleius Pertaining to Elis, where the Olympic games were held. The country was famous for its horses.
Eleusina Ceres, or Demeter, from Eleusis, where her mysteries were celebrated.
Elisa Dido Elisa was in fact her name, and Dido was an honorific surname meaning “valiant.”
Elysium That part of the underworld where the souls of heroes spent the afterlife in eternal bliss.
Emathia Old and poetic name of Macedonia and Thessaly.
Enceladus The most powerful of the giants, son of Earth and Titan. He was a leader of the attempt to overthrow the Olympian gods, and was thwarted by Jupiter’s thunderbolts. He was imprisoned beneath Mount Etna in Sicily.
Endymion A shepherd loved by the moon. He was granted eternal youth and eternal sleep, so that Diana could enjoy his beauty forever.
Enipeus A river in the Peloponnesus. The nymph Tyro fell in love with the river god, but she was seduced by Neptune, who took the shape of Enipeus.
Ennius (239–169 B.C.). Founder of Roman epic poetry.
Erebus Son of Chaos and Darkness, husband of Night; their children were Light and Day. His name is often used to mean the underworld.
Erinnyes The Eumenides, or Furies, the gods’ ministers of vengeance and retribution. Their names were Tisiphone, Megaera, and Alecto, and, according to some writers, Nemesis. “Eumenides” is a euphemism, meaning “the kindly ones.”
Eronusis Dissimulation; the figure is Chapman’s invention.
Eryx A mountain in Sicily where Venus had a shrine, whence her surname Erycina.
Eteocles See Polynices.
Etruria Country of the Etruscans, across the Tiber from Rome. Eucharis The name means “gracious.”
Euripus A narrow strait separating the island of Euboea from Greece.
Europa A princess of Phoenicia. Jupiter transformed himself into a bull and carried her off. She had three sons by him, Minos, king of Crete, Sarpedon, and Rhadamanthus.
Eurus The east wind.
Euxine Sea The modern Black Sea.
Evadne Marlowe’s error for Euanthe, daughter of the river god Asopus; she was loved by Nilus, the river Nile.
Figulus A soothsayer in Lucan.
Flamensflamines, the fifteen chief priests of Rome, each of whom presided over the worship of a particular god.
Flora Goddess of flowers. She was originally a nymph named Chloris, and, according to Ovid, was transformed into the goddess of flowers after her rape by Zephyrus the west wind.
Furies See Erinnyes.
Gabine Relating to a particular way of wearing the toga, with one end over the head and the other around the waist.
Galatea A sea nymph, daughter of Nereus. She was loved by the cyclops Polyphemus, but rejected him in favor of the shepherd Acis. Polyphemus killed Acis with a huge rock, and Galatea transformed the dead shepherd into a fountain.
Gallus, Cornelius (d. A.D. 26). Roman amatory poet. His poems were written to a mistress called Lycoris; he was a friend of Virgil, and is the subject of his tenth Eclogue.
Ganymede A beautiful Phrygian boy carried off by Jupiter in the form of an eagle, to be his cupbearer in place of Hebe, and to be his lover. In some versions of the myth he became the constellation Aquarius.
Gebenna The Cevennes mountains, in Gaul.
Gracchus, Tiberius, and Caius Popular reformers overthrown by the Senate in 133 and 121 B.C.
Graces Or Charites, daughters of Venus and Bacchus, or in some versions Jupiter. Their names are Aglaia, Thalia, and Euphrosyne, and they are attendants of Venus.
Gyges Properly Gyes, one of the giants, a son of Uranus.
Haemus A mountain dividing Thessaly from Thrace. Haemus was the son of Boreas, transformed into a mountain for aspiring to divinity.
Halesus Son of Agamemnon, founder of the Falisci, a tribe in Campania.
Hannibal Carthaginian commander during the Second Punic War, 218–201 B.C. He crossed the Alps with a huge army and elephants, and conquered northern Italy, inflicting great losses on the Romans at Carrae. But he neglected to press his advantage to the gates of Rome, and withdrew to Capua, which became his base of operations for the next thirteen years. He was recalled to Carthage to repel a Roman invasion of North Africa, and was defeated by Scipio.
Hebe The daughter of Jupiter and Juno, Jupiter’s cupbearer before Ganymede. The name means “youth.”
Hector Prince of Troy, son of Priam and Hecuba, and the greatest of the Trojan heroes. He died at the hands of Achilles and his myrmidons, and his body was dragged behind Achilles’ chariot around the walls of Troy.
Helen Daughter of Leda and Tyndarus. She married Menelaus, king of Sparta, but was carried off by Paris to Troy, thus precipitating the Trojan war. After Paris’s death she married his brother Deiphobus; however when Troy fell, she returned to Sparta with Menelaus. See Leda.
Helle Daughter of Athamas, king of Thebes. To avoid the persecution of her stepmother, Ino, she fled on a golden flying ram, but became dizzy and fell into the sea and drowned. The spot where she fell was named for her, the Hellespont.
Hercules Son of Jupiter and Alcmena. In his adolescence he chose to follow the goddess of Virtue rather than Pleasure, but this appears to have been his last moral action. His heroism consisted in the exercise of pure power. By Jupiter’s command Hercules was subject to the will of Eurystheus, king of Argos, and it was at his behest that the famous twelve labors were performed. He married Deianira, by whom he was inadvertently killed.
Hermaphroditus Son of Venus and Mercury. When he was bathing in a fountain the local nymph Salmacis fell in love with him. He rejected her, but she embraced him, and at her prayer the gods united them in a single body.
Hermes See Mercury.
Hermione Leander’s sister, an invention of Chapman’s. The name is that of the wife of Orestes, daughter of Menelaus and Helen.
Hesiod One of the most ancient Greek poets whose work is extant; he himself says he lived at Ascra, near Mount Helicon, and ancient tradition makes him contemporary with Homer.
Hesperides The three daughters of Hesperus, or, in some versions, of his brother Atlas by Hesperus’s daughter Hesperis. In their garden were the golden apples of immortality, guarded by a dragon. Obtaining the apples was one of the labors of Hercules.
Hesperus The evening star, brother of Atlas.
Hespery, Hesperia In Lucan, the west coast of Italy. The name derives from Hesper, the evening star (or the setting sun); hence Hesperia was Italy to the Greeks, Spain to the Romans.
Hesus Esus, a Gallic god identified with Mercury.
Hetrurian Etrurian, Tuscan.
Hippodamia 1. Wife of Pelops. 2. Daughter of Adrastus, king of Argos, and wife of Pirithous, king of the Lapiths. At her wedding, the Centaur Eurytus attacked her, precipitating the great war between the Lapiths and Centaurs.
Hippolytus Son of Theseus, king of Athens. Phaedra, his stepmother, fell in love with him, but he refused her, and she denounced him to Theseus. Hippolytus fled, but perished when his horses were terrified by Neptune, to whom Theseus had prayed for vengeance. According to some writers, Hippolytus was restored to life by Diana, who took pity on his chaste virtue.
Hippomenes See Atalanta.
Hymen God of marriage.
Hypsipyle Queen of Lemnos, abandoned by Jason, to whom she was betrothed. She is the writer of the sixth of Ovid’s Heroides.
Hyrcania A country in Asia on the Caspian Sea.
Iasion A Cretan youth loved by Ceres, by whom she had a son named Plutus.
Iberia The Spanish peninsula.
Icarius An Athenian to whom Dionysus gave the secret of his vine. He was murdered by peasants to whom he gave wine. His daughter Erigone was led by his faithful dog Moera to the place where his body was hidden. As a reward, the dog was translated to the heavens as Canicula, or Canis Minor. Icarius became Boötes, and Erigone the constellation Virgo.
Idalium A town in Cyprus where there was a grove consecrated to Venus.
Ide, Ida A mountain near Troy upon which Paris, with a golden apple to award to the goddess of wisdom, Minerva; of power, Juno; or of beauty, Venus, chose the last. The decision precipitated the Trojan War, and was universally deplored by commentators from antiquity to the Renaissance.
Ilia or Rhea Silvia Daughter of Numitor, king of Alba. Her uncle Amulius was next in line of succession for the crown, and made her a vestal to prevent her having sons who would dispossess him. But she was raped by Mars, and bore Romulus and Remus. She eventually became the wife of Tiburinus, the god of the river Tiber.
Inachus A river god in Argos, who loved the nymph Melie.
Io Daughter of Inachus and priestess of Juno at Argos. Jupiter fell in love with her, but Juno discovered them together, and to protect Io from Juno’s rage, Jupiter transformed her into a cow. Juno detected the metamorphosis, however, and sent the hundred-eyed monster Argus to watch Io. Argus was killed by Mercury at Jupiter’s command, but Io was then pursued by a gadfly of Juno’s. She was restored to her proper form when she reached the Nile. She became the goddess Isis.
Ionian One of the four Greek races; they migrated to Asia Minor and founded Ionia.
Isara The river Isère.
Isis The Egyptian moon goddess, controlling fertility. She was identified with Venus, Minerva, and Diana. She was sister of Osiris, whom she also married. See Io.
Itys See Philomel.
Iulus Ascanius, son of Aeneas.
Ixion An ungrateful and treacherous king of Thessaly. When he was ostracized by his countrymen for the murder of his father-in-law, Jupiter took pity on him and brought him to Olympus; but Ixion repaid this kindness by trying to seduce Juno. Apprised of this attempt, Jupiter created a false Juno out of cloud and sent it to Ixion, and from this union the Centaurs were born. Ixion was punished by being bound on a wheel perpetually turning in hell.
Janus Guardian of doorways, protector of the state during wars, bringer of peace, controller of the seasons and of the beginning and end of the year. The gates of his temple in Rome were open during war, shut in peacetime. He is depicted as having two faces, looking forward and behind.
Jason The Argonaut, son of Aeson. He formed an expedition to recover the Golden Fleece from Aeëtes, king of Colchis, and was accompanied by the greatest heroes of Greece. In Colchis Jason fulfilled all the conditions Aeëtes set for him, which included taming fire-breathing oxen, sowing dragons’ teeth and defeating the soldiers that sprang from them, and killing a dragon. He married Medea, Aeëtes’ daughter, and a famous enchantress, and returned in triumph to Greece. He later divorced Medea, who in revenge killed their children and his new wife, Creusa.
Jove See Jupiter.
Julia (d. 54 B.C.). Daughter of Caesar and wife of Pompey.
Juno Sister and wife of Jupiter and queen of the Olympian gods. The peacock was sacred to her, as was the lily, originally a purple flower that turned white when a drop of her milk fell on it. She was patroness of marriage and motherhood, as well as of riches and power.
Jupiter Ruler of the Olympian gods. He was the son of Saturn, who attempted to devour him in his infancy, but he was saved by his mother, Ops. He overthrew his father, and divided the kingdom of the world with his brothers Neptune and Pluto. His wife was Juno, but his consorts were numerous and his progeny innumerable.
Lachesis One of the Parcae, or Fates. She spins the thread that determines the length of man’s life.
Laelius Chief centurion under Caesar, credited by Lucan with persuading the army to march on Rome.
Lais Famous Greek courtesan, daughter of Timandra the mistress of Alcibiades.
Laodamia Wife of Protesilaus.
Laomedon King of Troy, father of Priam. He was the son of Ilus, whence the name Ilium for Troy.
Lapiths A Thessalian tribe. Their great battle with the Centaurs began at the wedding of the Lapith Pirithous and Hippodamia.
Latinus See Lavinia
Latium The Italian district in which Rome is situated.
Lavinia Daughter of Latinus, king of Latium, and wife of Aeneas. She had been engaged to her kinsman Turnus, but an oracle said she must marry a foreign prince, and Latinus determined to give her to Aeneas. To prevent the marriage, Turnus attempted to drive the Trojans from Italy, and was killed in the war.
Lemannus Lake Geneva.
Leda Daughter of Thespius and queen of Sparta. Jupiter loved her, and seduced her in the shape of a swan. She gave birth to an egg, from which hatched Castor and Pollux. She also gave birth to Clytemnestra and Helen.
Leuca 1. Leucas, or Leucadia, an island in the Ionian sea, now Santa Maura. 2. Incorrectly the country of the Leuci, a tribe in Gallia Belgica.
Leucote Chapman’s name for Venus’s swan is derived from leukotas, whiteness.
Ligurians The Ligures, a people in modern Piedmont.
Lingones A Gallic tribe pacified by Julius Caesar.
Linus Mythical poet, the son of Apollo.
Luca An Etrurian town, now Lucca; also called Luna because of the crescent shape of its harbor.
Lucifer The morning star, literally “light-bringer.”
Lucina Goddess of childbirth. See Diana.
Lucretius Carus, T.T. Roman poet and philosopher (98-55 B.C.), author of De Rerum Natura.
Luna The moon. Also a name for Luca.
Lycoris See Gallus
Lycurgus King of Thrace. He abolished the worship of Bacchus, for which he was blinded by the gods. In some versions of the story, he cut off his own legs, thinking they were vines.
Lydian Pertaining to Lydia, the country in Asia Minor from which, according to legend, the Etruscans came. It gave its name to one of the three principal modes of Greek music, soft and pathetic, though Marlowe apparently confused the Lydian with the warlike Dorian mode.
Macareus Son of Aeolus, and brother and husband of Canace. He is the subject of the ninth of Ovid’s Heroides.
Macer, Aemilius Epic poet. Friend of Ovid’s.
Maenas A priestess of Bacchus or Dionysus.
Malea Southern tip of the Spartan peninsula.
Marcellus In Lucan, M. Claudius Marcellus, leading opponent of Caesar.
Marius, Gaius (157-86 B.C.). Roman general. He waged successful campaigns in Africa, and conquered the Cimbri. He was elected consul seven times, but opposed the dictator Sulla, and in 88 B.C. was defeated by him. He escaped to Africa, but shortly returned to Rome, joined forces with Cinna, captured the city after exceptionally blood-thirsty engagements, and declared himself and Cinna consuls. He died sixteen days later.
Mars Son of Jupiter and Juno, god of war, adulterous consort of Venus (wife of Vulcan) by whom he was the father of Cupid and Harmonia.
Megaera One of the Furies.
Memnon Son of Aurora and Tithonus. He was killed at Troy by Achilles, but Jupiter granted him immortality. A flock of birds rose from his funeral pyre, and fought till half of them fell into the blaze to appease his spirit. The birds were said to return annually to the tomb of Memnon and repeat the battle.
Memphis Egyptian city connected with the worship of Isis.
Menander (341–291 B.C.). Greek comic dramatist.
Mercury or in Greek Hermes, son of Jupiter and Maia. He is the messenger of the gods, and hence the patron of prose and rhetoric, inventor of the lyre, patron of thieves and lying, but also of philosophy and “hermetic” (from Hermes) knowledge, since he was identified with the Egyptian Thoth, god of wisdom.
Mevania Bevágna, in Umbria, birthplace of Propertius.
Midas King of Phrygia. When Dionysus offered to grant him any wish, he foolishly asked that whatever he touched might turn to gold, but had to beg for the gift to be rescinded when even his food was transformed. Midas preferred the music of Pan to that of Apollo, and as a reward for this further instance of stupidity, Apollo gave him an ass’s ears.
Milo T. Annius Milo Papianus, tribune in 57 B.C. He murdered Publius Clodius, formerly his cotribune, in 52 B.C., and was unsuccessfully defended by Cicero.
Minerva or Pallas Athene, sprang fully grown from the head of Jupiter. She was the goddess of wisdom and the arts, but also of war.
The owl and the cock were sacred to her.
Minos King of Crete, son of Jupiter and Europa, and a renowned lawmaker. After his death he became the chief judge of the underworld. (His grandson, also named Minos, was the husband of Pasiphaë, father of Ariadne and Phaedra and builder of the labyrinth.) Morpheus Son of Somnus and the god of sleep.
Mulciber Vulcan, god of fire. The name means “melter.”
Munda A town in Spain where in 45 B.C. Caesar defeated the sons of Pompey, and thus put an end to the Roman republic.
Musaeus Fifth-century Alexandrian Greek grammarian, author of the Hero and Leander on which Marlowe’s and Chapman’s poem is based. Until the seventeenth century, however, he was commonly confused with the mythical ur-poet Musaeus, contemporary of Orpheus, and by some accounts his son.
Mutina Roman province in Cisalpine Gaul, now Modena, scene of a battle in the Civil Wars between Mark Antony and Decius Brutus in 43 B.C.
Mya Chapman takes the name from an ancient Spartan poetess.
Mycenae In the Peloponnesus. See Atreus.
Nar The river Nera, in Umbria.
Neaera A nymph loved by the river god Scamander.
Nemes The country of the Nemetes, in Gallia Belgica.
Nemesis One of Tibullus’s mistresses, to whom he addressed poems.
Neptune God of the sea, creator of the horse, brother of Jove and Pluto.
Nereus A sea god, father of the fifty Nereids by the sea goddess Doris.
Nero Emperor of Rome, A.D. 54–68, notorious for his tyranny and cruelty. Lucan’s Pharsalia was composed during his reign.
Nervians The Nervii, a people in Gallia Belgica renowned for their fierceness.
Nilus The river Nile. See Evadne.
Niobe Daughter of Tantalus and wife of Amphion, by whom she had seven sons and seven daughters. She boasted herself happier than Latona, who had only two children, Apollo and Diana, and ridiculed her cult. As punishment for this hubris, Apollo killed all the sons and Diana all but one of the daughters, Niobe, weeping, was turned to stone.
Notus The south wind.
Numa (Pompilius) Second king of Rome, renowned philosopher and lawgiver. He established the college of Vestal Virgins, reformed the religion and kept peace. According to Ovid he was married to the nymph Egeria, though less poetic sources make his wife Tatia, a Sabine princess.
Olympus A mountain on the border of Macedonia and Thessaly, the home of the gods.
Ops or Rhea The daughter of Coelus and Terra, wife of Saturn and mother of Jupiter.
Orestes Son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. When his father was murdered by his mother and her lover Aegisthus, he was saved by his sister Electra, and was brought up by Strophius, king of Phocis, who had married Agamemnon’s sister. With Pylades, Strophius’s son, he eventually avenged his father’s murder by killing Aegisthus and Clytemnestra. For this he was pursued by the Furies, but ultimately purified by Apollo. Orestes and Pylades were considered archetypes of friendship.
Orion A giant created by Jupiter, Neptune, and Mercury as a reward for the peasant Hyrieus, who had treated them hospitably and was childless. He was famous as a hunter, and was stellified at his death.
Orpheus Archetype poet. His music calmed wild beasts and controlled nature. When his wife Eurydice was killed by a serpent, he journeyed to Hades and persuaded Pluto to send her back to earth with him, on condition that he did not look at her until the journey was complete. The condition was not met, and Eurydice returned to the underworld. Inconsolable, Orpheus avoided women entirely, and is credited with the introduction of pederasty into Greece. For this he was attacked and torn in pieces by enraged women, the Bacchantes.
Osiris Egyptian fertility god, brother and husband of Isis. He was included in the classical pantheon as the son of Jupiter and Niobe.
Ossa A mountain in Thessaly. The giants, in their war against the gods, undertook to storm heaven by piling Mount Pelion on Ossa.
Ovid P. Ovidius Naso, born at Sulmo, 43 B.C., died in banishment in Tomi, on the Euxine Sea, in A.D. 17. In addition to the Amores, his Metamorphoses, Heroides, Fasti, Tristia, Ars Amatoria, and a few minor poems survive.
Paean A surname of Apollo, literally “healer.”
Pallas A name of Athena or Minerva.
Pangaeus A mountain in Macedonia.
Paphos A city in Cyprus specially favored by Venus. The inhabitants were notorious for lasciviousness.
Parian From the island of Paros in the Aegean, famous for its white marble.
Paris Son of Priam and Hecuba. He was exposed on Mount Ida as a baby because of a prophetic dream of Hecuba’s that he would destroy Troy, but was preserved and raised by shepherds. In his youth he was required to judge among Venus, Juno, and Minerva, and awarded the prize to Venus. This was universally considered a foolish choice, since it indicated a preference for beauty over power or wisdom. His reward from Venus was Helen, the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta, and his abduction of her brought on the Trojan War.
Parthia A warlike nation in Asia; Parthia was east of Media.
Pelides Achilles, son of Peleus.
Peleus King of Thessaly, husband of the Nereid Thetis, and father of Achilles.
Pelion A mountain in Thessaly. See Ossa.
Pelops Son of Tantalus, by whom he was murdered, cut up, and served at a feast of the gods. Only Demeter (or Ceres) partook, however, and ate his shoulder. Hermes subsequently reconstituted Pelops and supplied a shoulder of ivory. Later, Pelops wooed and won Hippodamia by defeating her father, Oenomaus in a chariot race; the victory, however, was gained by bribing Oenomaus’s charioteer, whom Pelops killed after the marriage, thus drawing down a curse on his house. He was the father of Atreus and Thyestes.
Penelope Queen of Ithaca, wife of Ulysses, famous for her fidelity, patience, and ingenuity. During the twenty years of her husband’s absence, she kept all suitors at bay by saying she would choose a husband when she finished the tapestry she was weaving. But she undid at night what she had woven during the day.
Peneus A Thessalian river god who loved Creusa, the daughter of Erectheus, king of Athens, and wife of Xuthus (Xanthus in Marlowe). Peristera The name means “dove”; the figure is Chapman’s invention. Perseus Child of Jupiter and Danae, and the prototype of manly virtue for the Renaissance. He killed the gorgon Medusa with the assistance of wings for his feet from Mercury, a helmet that made him invisible from Pluto, and a highly polished shield from Minerva. To look directly at the monster was fatal, but Perseus used the shield as a mirror. He married Andromeda, whom he rescued from a sea monster.
Perusia The ancient Perugia.
Phaedra Daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë and wife of Theseus, king of Athens. See Hippolytus.
Phaemius In the Odyssey, a superlative musician.
Phaëthon Son of Apollo, the sun god. He undertook to drive the chariot of the sun, but lost control of the horses, and was destroyed by Jupiter lest he set the world on fire.
Pharos An Egyptian island with a famous lighthouse.
Pharsalia The plain near the town of Pharsalus, in Thessaly, where Pompey was defeated by Caesar in 48 B.C. Lucan also uses it as a general name for Thessaly.
Phemenoe Daughter (or priestess) of Apollo.
Philippi A Macedonian town where Octavianus and Antony defeated Brutus and Cassius in the crucial battles of the Civil War, 42 B.C. The place was also conventionally identified with Pharsalia.
Philomel Daughter of Pandion, king of Athens. Her sister Procne (or Progne) was married to Tereus, king of Thrace. While conducting Philomel from Athens to visit her sister, Tereus fell in love with her and raped her. He cut out her tongue to hide the crime, imprisoned her, and told Procne that her sister had died. But Philomel wove the story in a tapestry and sent it to Procne, who, in revenge, murdered her son Itys and served him up to Tereus at dinner. Tereus’s own revenge on the two sisters was forestalled by the metamorphosis of all the figures in the tragedy into birds: Tereus into a hawk, Philomel a nightingale, Procne a swallow, and Itys a sandpiper.
Phoebe A name of Diana, the moon. The word means “bright.”
Phoebus Apollo, the sun.
Phrygia The country in Asia Minor in which Troy was located. Its chief deity was Cybele.
Phthia A town in Thessaly, birthplace of Achilles.
Phyllis Queen of Thrace. She was abandoned by Demophoön, king of Athens, and hanged herself. She is the writer of the second of Ovid’s Heroides.
Pierian Relating to the Muses, from Pierus, their sacred mountain, near Mount Olympus.
Pindus A mountain in Thessaly sacred to the Muses.
Plautus, T. Maccius or M. Accius (third century B.C.). Roman comic playwright.
Pluto See Dis.
Po A large river in northern Italy; its ancient names were Eridanus and Padus. Phaëthon was drowned in it when he fell from the chariot of the sun.
Pollux Child of Leda and brother of Castor.
Polynices Son of Oedipus and Jocasta, and brother of Eteocles. The brothers inherited the throne of Thebes jointly and were to reign in alternate years. But after Eteocles’s first year, he refused to resign; and Polynices fled to Argos, married the king’s daughter Argia, and raised an army with which he marched on Thebes. The ensuing battle was settled by single combat, in which the two brothers killed each other. They are used as the types of inveterate enemies.
Pompey, Cnaeus (106–48 B.C.). Roman general. He was allied with Sulla. He put an end to piracy in the western Mediterranean, and concluded the war with Mithridates. He married Caesar’s daughter Julia, and was triumvir with Caesar and Crassus in 60 B.C. After the death of Julia in 54, he grew increasingly distant from Caesar, and began the Civil War in 49 B.C. He was defeated at Pharsalus in 48 B.C., and though he escaped, he was murdered by one of his centurions.
Pontus A kingdom in Asia Minor. Under Mithridates IV, it engaged in a long war with Rome, lasting from 88 B.C. until Mithridates’s death in 63 B.C. Peace was made with Sulla in 84 B.C., but its duration was brief, and he was finally conquered only by Pompey, in 66 B.C. Pontus became a Roman province under Julius Caesar.
Priam King of Troy during the Trojan War, husband of Hecuba, and father of Hector, Paris, Troilus, Cassandra, and thirteen other legitimate children according to Cicero, or fifteen according to Homer. He was killed by Achilles’ son Neoptolemus.
Progne, Procne See Philomel.
Prometheus Literally “foresight,” son of Iapetus, and brother of Atlas, Menoetius, and Epimetheus (“hindsight”). He was famous for his cunning, and deceived even Jupiter, from whom he stole fire to give to men. For this he was bound on a rock in the Caucasus, and his liver endlessly devoured by a vulture. He was released by Hercules. He is credited with the creation of mankind out of clay, which he brought to life with divine fire.
Proserpine See Ceres.
Protesilaus Son of Iphicles and the brother of Hercules. He was the first of the Greeks to be killed on the landing at Troy. His wife, Laodamia, killed herself when his death was reported to her.
Proteus A sea god, son of Neptune, or according to some, Oceanus. He had the gift of prophecy and lived in the Carpathian Sea, on the shores of which, as he sunned himself, men came to consult him. He answered unwillingly, however, and unless bound, would assume various shapes to escape. He was thus the god of disguise.
Psittacus A parrot.
Pylades See Orestes.
Pylius Nestor, from Pylos.
Pyrrhus King of Epirus, who invaded Italy and Sicily (280-75 B.C.) and suffered heavy defeats at the hands of the Romans. The original “Pyrrhic victory” in which the victor loses more than the vanquished, was his at the battle of Asculum, 280 B.C.
Quirinus A surname of Mars, also applied to Romulus.
Remus See Romulus.
Rhene Rhenus, the Rhine.
Rhesus King of Thrace. He marched to the aid of Priam, because an oracle had foretold that Troy could not be taken so long as the horses of Rhesus were there. But Diomedes and Ulysses secretly entered Rhesus’s camp, slew him, and stole his horses.
Rhodanus The river Rhone.
Romulus, Remus Children of Ilia and Mars. They were ordered to be destroyed by Ilia’s uncle, Amulius, but were saved and fed by a she-wolf and raised by shepherds. When they came of age they overthrew their uncle and restored the throne of Alba to their grandfather Numitor. Romulus founded Rome in 753 B.C., and angered by Remus’s scorn for the meagerness of the city’s defenses, put his brother to death. He populated the city with fugitives, and got wives for them by abducting the Sabine women. After forty years’ reign Romulus disappeared and became the god Quirinus.
Ruthens The Ruteni, a tribe in Aquitanian Gaul.
Sabines The aboriginal Italians. The legendary rape of their women took place at a festival to which Romulus had deceitfully invited them. Their chastity and high moral character were famous, as were their superstition and skill in magic. They eventually became the allies of Rome, and were granted citizenship in the fourth century B.C.
Sabinus, Aulus Roman poet, friend of Ovid. He composed answers to several of Ovid’s Heroides.
Salii Priests of Mars, so called from the leaping movements of their dances.
Salmacis See Hermaphroditus.
Santoni The Santons, a people in Aquitania.
Sappho Greek lyric poet, born in Lesbos in the seventh century B.C. Though her passions for women were famous, she is said to have thrown herself into the sea for love of Phaon, a young man of Mytilene.
Sarmata Sarmatia, in modern Poland.
Saturn or Kronos Father of Jupiter, whom he attempted to devour in infancy, but who was saved by his mother Ops. Saturn’s reign was the Golden Age; he was castrated and deposed by Jupiter, after which he lived in Latium, reigning jointly with Janus, and taught the inhabitants agriculture and the other arts of civilization. He was identified with Time through a late classical confusion of Kronos and Chronos.
Scamander Trojan river, the god of which loved the nymph Neaera.
Scylla 1. Daughter of Nisus, king of Megara. She fell in love with Minos, king of Crete, when he was laying siege to her father’s city, and she offered to betray Nisus if Minos would marry her. Minos agreed. The prosperity of Megara depended on a single golden hair on the head of its king, and this hair Scylla cut off while her father slept. Minos triumphed, but rejected Scylla, and she killed herself and was transformed into a bird. 2. Daughter to Typhon. The sea god Glaucus loved her, but she scorned him. He asked Circe’s aid; she, however, desired Glaucus for herself, and transformed Scylla into a monster. (In some versions of the story the agent of the metamorphosis is Amphitrite). Scylla threw herself into the sea, and was changed again into the particularly dangerous rocks which bear her name, on the Italian coast opposite the whirlpool of Charybdis in Sicily. (In some versions, the two figures are identified.)
Scythia A vast area including northeastern Europe and Asian Russia.
Semele Daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia. She was loved by Jupiter, but Juno, in her jealousy, took the shape of Semele’s nurse and persuaded her to ask her lover to come to her in his true shape. Jupiter was sworn to grant her whatever she wished, and so complied, but she was consumed by his fire. The child she had conceived, however, was kept for nine months in Jupiter’s thigh; it was the god Dionysus, or Bacchus.
Semiramis Queen of Assyria, famous for her beauty.
Sequana The Seine, and the area around it.
Seres The Chinese, famous for their silk.
Sestos A town in Thrace on the Hellespont, opposite Abydos on the Asian coast.
Sicilia Sicily, home of Vulcan and the Cyclops; its chief gods were Ceres and Proserpine, and it was from the Sicilian field of Enna that Proserpine was carried off to Hades by Pluto.
Simois A river near Troy.
Sisyphus King of Corinth, famous for his cunning. All authorities agree that he was condemned in Hades to roll a huge rock endlessly up a mountain, but what crime this punishment fits is uncertain.
Sol The sun.
Stygian See Styx.
Styx The major river in Hades, whence “Stygian,” pertaining to the underworld.
Sulla, L. Cornelius (138–78 B.C.). Dictator of Rome, 82–79 B.C.
Sybil See Cybele.
Sylvanus God of the forest. He loved the youth Cyparissus, who was transformed into a cypress tree after killing a favorite deer of Apollo’s. Syrtes Sandbanks on the coast of North Africa.
Tages Son of Genius and grandson of Jupiter. He first taught the Etrurians soothsaying.
Tagus A river in Spain said to have golden sands.
Tantalus King of Lydia, son of Jupiter and a nymph, father of Pelops and Niobe. He was condemned in hell to suffer thirst and hunger in a pond whose waters recede when he tries to drink, and with fruit trees nearby that withdraw when he reaches for them. Various reasons are given for the punishment: that he stole the gods’ nectar and ambrosia and gave it to mortals; that he revealed their secrets; that he killed his son Pelops and served the dismembered body at a banquet of the gods.
Tarbel The country of the Tarbelli, a Gallic tribe in Aquitania.
Tarpeia Daughter of Tarpeius, governor of Rome. She betrayed the city to the Sabines under Tatius, and as a reward asked for what they wore on their arms. Instead of giving her their rich bracelets, the Sabines crushed her with their shields as punishment for her treachery.
Tartary Country of the Tartars, in central Asia, famous for its barbarity.
Tatius Sabine king. He attacked the Romans after the rape of the Sabines, and Rome was betrayed into his hands by Tarpeia. He ruled for six years jointly with Romulus, but was murdered in 742 B.C.
Taverone Marlowe’s Tav’ron, a river near Rome called Anio in ancient times. By order of Sulla, the body of Marius was exhumed and thrown into the Anio.
Tellus Earth.
Tempe A valley in Thessaly famous for its beauty.
Tenedos A small island opposite Troy, where the Greeks hid to make the Trojans believe the siege had been abandoned.
Teras The name means “portent”; the figure was invented by Chapman.
Tereus See Philomel.
Thamyris In the Odyssey, a musician blinded by the Muses. Thebe Wife of the Thessalian river god Asopus (Aesope in Marlowe).
Thersites In the Iliad, the most ignoble and cynical of the Greeks.
Theseus King of Athens, son of Aegeus. He went to Crete as one of the seven youths whom King Minos annually exacted as tribute and threw to the Minotaur to be devoured. Theseus was sent into the Minotaur’s labyrinth, but killed the monster, and returned by means of a thread provided by Ariadne, Minos’s daughter. They escaped together, but Theseus abandoned Ariadne on the island of Naxos, and returned to Athens. He married Phaedra, another daughter of Minos. He was the father of Hippolytus by the Amazon Hippolyta.
Thesme The name is derived from thesmos, law. The figure is Chapman’s invention.
Thessale, Thessaly In Greece, reputedly the home of witchcraft.
Thetis A sea nymph, wife of Peleus and mother of Achilles, whom she attempted to make immortal by dipping in the Styx, or, in another version, by burning away his mortality.
Thyestes See Atreus.
Tibullus (c. 60–19 B.C.). Roman elegiac poet.
Tibur Tiburinus, god of the river Tiber, and husband of Ilia or Rhea Silvia.
Tisiphone One of the Furies.
Titan The sun.
Tithon, Tithonus See Aurora.
Tityrus Traditionally Virgil’s name for himself in the Eclogues.
Tityus An enormous giant, son of Earth. He attempted to rape Latona (or Leto), and was killed by her children Apollo and Diana. In hell, where he was seen by Ulysses, his liver was continually devoured by a serpent, or in some versions, by vultures.
Trevier The country of the Treveri, a German tribe.
Triton A sea god, son of Neptune and Amphitrite. Troy Priam’s capital, located in Asia Minor near the Hellespont.
Tydides Diomedes, son of Tydeus.
Tyro A nymph who fell in love with the river god Enipeus. She was seduced by Neptune, who adopted the form of Enipeus.
Ulysses The Greek Odysseus, king of Ithaca, shrewdest and wisest of the Greek heroes at the siege of Troy. It was he who persuaded Achilles to join the expedition, thereby assuring the Greeks of success, and himself carried off the sacred Palladium of Troy. His adventures during the ten years of his return voyage are the subject of the Odyssey. His wife, Penelope, was renowned for her chastity and fidelity.
Vangions The Vangiones, a German tribe on the Rhine.
Varro (116–27 B.C.). Roman poet, lexicographer, and antiquarian.
Varus The river Var.
Vogesus Properly Vosegus, the Vosges mountains.
Vulcan God of fire, the blacksmith of the gods. He created Achilles’ armor, Hercules’ shield, Jove’s thunderbolts, etc.; his forge was in Mount Etna, and his assistants were the Cyclops. Though lame and ugly, he was given Venus as his wife, but her adultery with Mars was notorious, and Vulcan trapped the lovers in a net and hung them in the great hall of Olympus for all the gods to see.
Xanthus 1. Another name for Scamander. 2. In Marlowe’s Ovid, an error for Xuthus, husband of Creusa, daughter of Erechtheus, king of Athens.
Zephyrus The west wind.