Wednesday, November 21, 2012

M. E. VI

Castor and Pollux 1. In Greek mythology, the Dioscuri, twin sons of Leda and brothers and Helen and Clytemnestra, set by Zeus among the stars. 2. Astron. The two brightest stars in the constellation Gemini.

Delphi An ancient city in Phocis, Greece; famous for its oracle of Apollo. Also Delfi Delphian adj. & n.

centaur In Greek mythology, one of a race of monsters, having the head, arms, and torso of a man united to the body and legs of a horse.  [< L Centaurvs <  Gk. Kentauros ]

oracle 1. a place where the ancient Greeks consulted one of their gods for advice or prophecy. 2. the reply given. 3. a person or thing regarded as able to give wise guidance. oracular adj.

Philomela In Greek mythology, a princess of Athens who was raped by her sister Procne's husband, Tereus, who then tore out her tongue. When, in revenge, she and Procne killed his son Itys, the gods changed Tereus into a hoopoe, Procne into a swallow, and Philomela into a nightingale.

Golden Fleece In Greek legend, the fleece of gold guarded by a dragon in the sacred grove of Colchis, recovered by Jason and the Argonauts with Medea's help. See PHRIXUS.

Lenaeus Class. Myth. an epithet of Dionysus, as god of the wine press. [ deriv. of lēnós wine, vat, wine press ]

Triton In Greek mythology, a son of Poseidon ( Neptune ) and Amphitrite, represented with a man's head and upper body and a dolphin's tail n.1. In Greek mythology, one of a race of attendants of the sea gods. 2. Heraldry A merman; also, a Neptune holding a trident. ─ Tritoness n. fem.

Helle In Greek legend, the daughter of Athamas and Nephele who was drowned in the strait thereafter called Hellespont, or " sea of Helle."

Eurytis A patronymic of Iolé, daughter of Eurytus ( Ovid, Met. ix. 395 ).

Curitis  Rom. Religion. an epithet of Juno, meaning " of the spear".

Mermerus Class. Myth. a son of Jason and Medea. 

Libya [L., fr. Gr. Libyē.] GrMyth. Mother of Agenor and Belus by Poseidon. She is an eponymous heroine of Libya.

Autolycus Class. Myth. a thief, the son of Hermes and Chione, and the grandfather of Odysseus. He possessed the power of changing the shape of whatever he stole and of making it and himself invisible.

Parnassus 1. A mountain north of the Gulf of Corinth in central Greece, anciently regarded as sacred to Apollo and the Muses; 8,062 ft. Greek Parnassos. 2. The domain of poetry or of literature. 3. A collection of poems or other literary works

Queen of Heaven a The title of any of several goddesses of ancient religons or mythologies; specif., Astarte.

Bacchae 1. In Greek mythology, the female companions of Bacchus or Dionysus. 2. Women taking part in the Dionysian festival.

Lupercus an ancient Roman fertility god, often identified with Faunus or Pan.

Hyperasius A son of Pelles and the husband of Hypso, by whom he became the father of Amphion and Asterius, or Deucalion, the Argonauts. ( Apollon. Rhod. i. 176, &c.; Val. Flacc. i. 167.)

Remus In Roman mythology, the twin brother of Romulus. See ROMULUS.

Acis [L., fr. Gr. Akis.] Gr. & Rom. Myth. A Sicilian youth, beloved by the nymph Galatea, and slain by the Cyclops Polyphemus, who was jealous of his success. His blood was changed into the river Acis near Mt. Etna.

Nausicaa In Homer's Odyssey, the Phaeacian princess who finds the shipwrecked Odysseus and guides him to her father, King Alcinoüs, from which he recieves aid to return to Ithaca.

Damastes Class. Myth. Procrustes.

Aurorian adj. Pertaining to Aurora.
         Curtains of Aurorian clouds.                                          Keats.

Colias [NL., fr. Gr. Kōlias, an epithet of Venus.]

Thunderer, the a Zeus or Jupiter.

Anaxibia Class. Myth.1. a daughter of Atreus and Aerope, and the sister of Agamemnon and Menelaus. 2. the wife of Nestor.

Atheneum 1. A temple of Athena at Athens. 2. An academy founded by Hadrian at Rome. Also Athenaeum.  [< L< Gk. Athēnaion ]

Neoptolemus In Greek legend, a son of Achilles: also called Pyrrhus.

Silvanus In Roman mythology, a god of woods and farming: also Sylvanus.  [< L< silva forest ]

aphrodisian adj. [ Gr. Aphrodisios.] Pertaining to Aphrodite, or Venus.

Gorgon In Greek mythology, one of three sisters ( Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa ) with serpents for hair, so terrifying that the sight of them turned the beholder to stone.  [< L Gorgo, -onis < Gk. Gorgō
< gorgos Gorgonian adj.

Pyramus and Thisbe In classical mythology, two Babylonian lovers. Believing Thisbe slain by a lion, Pyramus killed himself, and Thisbe, finding his body, took her own life.

Hydra 1. In Greek mythology, a nine-headed serpent that grew two heads for each one that was cut off, slain by Hercules with a firebrand. 2. A constellation, the Hydra: see CONSTELLATION.  [< L< Gk. ]

Antimachus 2. ( in the Iliad) a chieftain who believed that the Trojans should not return Helen to Menelaus.

Phrixus In Greek legend, son of Athamas and Nephele, who escaped his stepmother on a ram with a golden fleece and sacrificed the ram upon his arrival in Colchis.

Thetis In Greek mythology, a Nereid, wife of Peleus and mother of Achilles.

Polytechnus An artist of Colophon, who, according to one story, was the husband of Aëdon. See AEDON.

Lycaon In Greek mythology, a king of Arcadia, turned by Zeus into a wolf because he tested the divinity of the disguised god by offering him human flesh as food.

nimbus 1. Class. Myth. a a shining cloud sometimes surrounding a deity when on earth.

Alcyone In Greek mythology: a The daughter of Aeolus who, mouring her husband Ceyx, cast herself into the sea and was changed into a kingfisher. also Halcyone. b One of the Pleiades.  n. Astron The brightest of the six visible stars of the Pleiades.

Aeetes In Greek mythology, king of Colchis; father of Medea and possessor of the Golden Fleece.

Argo 1. In Greek legend, the ship in which Jason and the Argonauts sailed for the Golden Fleece. 2. Argo Navis.  [< L ]

Ariadne In Greek mythology, the daughter of Minos and Pasiphae who gave Theseus the thread by which he found his way out of the Labyrinth.

Romulus In Roman mythology, a son of Mars and founder of Rome, later deified as Quirinus, who with his twin brother Remus, was reared by a she-wolf. Later Romulus slew his brother to become the first ruler of Rome.

Augean stables In Greek mythology, the stables in which Augeas, a king of Elis, kept 3,000 oxen and which unclean for 30 years, were cleaned in a day when Hercules turned the river Alpheus through them.

Hyperborean In Greek mythology, one of the people who lived in the far north in a land of everlasting peace and sunshine and who worshiped Apollo.  adj. Of or pertaining to the Hyperboreans.  [ < L hyperboreus < Gk. hyperboreos < hyper- beyond + Boreas north wind.]

Danaus Class. Myth. a ruler of Argos who ordered his 50 daughters to kill their husbands on their wedding night. Cf. Danaides.

Python In Greek mythology, a monstrous serpent that haunted the caves of Parnassus and was killed by Apollo at Delphi.

Iphigenia 1. Class. Myth. the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra and sister of Orestes and Electra: when she was about to be sacrificed to ensure a wind to take the Greek ships to Troy, whe was saved by Artemis, whose priestess she became. 2. a female given name.

Aeneas In classical legend, a Trojan, son of Anchises and Venus, and hero of the Aeneid. After the sack of Troy he wandered for seven years before reaching Latium, where he founded the city of Lavinium. See ASCANIUS, DIDO.

Aegisthus Class. Myth. a cousin of Agamemnon who seduced Clytemnestra, Agamemnon's wife, and was later killed by Orestes.

Aegyptus In Greek mythology, king of Egypt; brother of Danaus, whose daughters his sons married. See DANAIDES.

aegis 1. In Greek mythology, the breastplate of Zeus, used by several other gods, especially Athena. See GORGONEION. 2. Any shield or armor. 3. A protecting influence or power; sponsership. Also spelled egis.  [< Gk. aigis goatskin ]

Io In Greek mythology, the daughter of Inachus, beloved by Zeus and changed into a heifer because of the jealousy of Hera, who set the giant Argus to watch over her and later sent a gadfly to torment her.

Pythia Gk. Myth. the priestess of Apollo at Delphi who delivered the oracles.  [< L Pÿthia < Gk Pÿthía, fem. of Pÿthiós PYTHIAN]

Melampus Class. Myth. the first seer and healer: his ears were licked by serpents he had raised, enabling him to understand the speech and wisdom of animals.

Pyriphlegethon Class. Myth. Phlegethon ( def. 1).

lares In ancient Rome, tutelary deities, especially the spirits of departed ancestors presiding over the household: associated with the penates.

a-1964 Standard College Dict.

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