M. E. XVII

Cressida In medieval legend, in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde, and in Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida, a Trojan girl unfaithful to her lover Troilus: also spelled Criseyde. Also Cressid. See PANDARUS.

Iasis A name given to Atalanta ( q. v.), daughter of Iasus.

Dictaean adj. [L. Dictaeus, fr. Gr. Diktaios, fr. Diktē.] Gr. Geog. Pertaining to a cave ( Dicte ) in the Cretan mountain where the infant Zeus was tended by nymphs. The cave was the center of a prehistoric cult.

Althaea Class. Myth. wife of Oeneus and mother of Toxeus, Tydeus, Meleager, and Deianira.

Phaedra In Greek mythology, a daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë and wife of Theseus, who fell in love with her stepson Hippolytus and killed herself when he spurned her. Also Phædra.

halcyon 1. A legendary bird, identified with the kingfisher, supposedly able to charm the wind and sea into quiescence at the winter solstice so that it might breed in a nest on the water.

Iris In Greek mythology, the goddess of the rainbow, attendant of Zeus and Hera, and in Homer's Iliad, the messenger of the gods.

terpsichorean adj. Of or relating to dancing: also terpsichoreal. ─ n. Informal A dancer.

Oceanid In Greek mythology, one of the 3, 000 sea nymphs, daughters of Oceanus and Tethys.  [< Gk. Ōkeanis, -idos ]

Sibylline Books A collection of nine books reputedly bought from the Cumaean sibyl by Tarquin the Proud and supposed to reveal the destiny of Rome.

Pierian Spring A spring in Pieria, supposed to give poetic inspiration to those who drank it.

Nephele Class. Myth. a woman formed from a cloud by Zeus as a counterfeit of Hera, in order to deceive the lustful Ixion: mother by Ixion of the centaurs.

Argonaut 1. In Greek legend, one who sailed with Jason in the Argo to find the Golden Fleece. 2. One who went to California in 1849 to hunt gold.  [< L Argonauta < Gk. Argonautēs < Argōs the ship + nautēs sailer ] ─ Argonautic adj.

Phlegethon In Greek mythology, the river of fire, one of the five rivers surrounding Hades.  [< Gk. Phlegethōn, lit. blazing ]

sea-maiden Poetic. A sea nymph or mermaid. Also sea-maid.

Hymnus A son of Saturn and Entoria. [See ENTORIA.]

Candybus A son of Deucalion, from whom Candyba, a town of Lycia, was believed to have received its name. ( Steph. Byz. s.v.)

Erechtheïs The well of salt water in the Acropolis at Athens ( Apollod. iii. 14. 1 ). See ERECHTHEUS.

Chariclo Class. Myth. a beloved companion of Athena. She was the motherr, by Everes, of Tiresias.

Febris The goddess, or rather the averter of fever (Val. Max.ii. 5, 6; Cic. N. D. iii. 25 ). She had three sanctuaries at Rome.

Ogygia In the Odyssey, Calypso's island.

Nilus The god of the river Nile in Egypt, is said to have been a son of Oceanus and Tethys, and father of Memphis and Chione. (Hes. Theog. 338; Apollod. ii. 1. § 4; Serv. ad Aen. iv. 250.) Pindar ( Pyth. iv. 90 ) calls him a son of Cronos.

stygian adj. Often cap. 1. Of or pertaining to the river Styx. 2. Infernal; dark and gloomy. 3. Inviolable, as an oath.  [< L Stygius < Gk. Stygios < Styx Styx, prob. < stygein to hate ]

Arion [Gr. Areiōn.] Gr. Myth. A miraculously endowed horse horse, possessing the power of speech, offspring of Poseidon.

Hermes Trismegistus The Greek name for the Egyptian god Thoth regarded as the founder of alchemy, astrology, and other occult sciences.

Eleutherios [Gr., the Deliverer.] An epithet of Dionysus, and of Zeus, as a god who stes free a slave or a people; ─ in Roman times often applied to the emperor.

Antedon [NL., fr. Gr. Anthēdōn, name of a nymph.]

Erymanthian Boar In Greek mythology, a savage boar captured alive by Hercules.

Camenae In Roman mythology, prophetic nymphs of springs or fountains, later identified with the Muses.

bacchante A female votary of Bacchus.  [< F< L bacchans, -antis. See BACCHANT. ]

lemures In ancient Roman religion, the shades or spirits of the dead; ghosts; spectres.  [< L ]

Euphrosyne Class. Myth. one of the Graces.   [< Gk: personification of euphrosýnē mirth, merriment]

Elysian adj. 1. Belonging to, or like, Elysium. 2. Blissful; delightful.

Phoebus In Greek mythology, Apollo as god of the sun. Also Phoebus Apollo. ─ n. Poetic The sun.

cyclopean adj.1. Usually cap. Of or pertaining to the Cyclops. 2. Gigantic: a cyclopean task. 3. Desgnating an ancient style of architecture characterized by the use of massive blocks of stone.

goddess 1. A female deity. 2. A woman or girl of extraordinary beauty.

Philemon In Greek mythology, the husband of Baucis.

Laius In Greek legend, a king of Thebes, husband of Jocasta, who was unwittingly killed by his son Oedipus.

Olenus The husband of Lethaea, and changed with her into a stone. He was the father of the nymphs Aegé and Halicé, who reared the infant Zeus.

a-1964 Standard College Dictionary