Wednesday, April 12, 2017

M. E. XL

Fides [L. See FAITH.] Rom. Relig. Faith; goddess of the virtue of good faith; called also || Fides publica ( the Public Faith ), or || Fides populi Romani ( Faith of the Roman People ). Her cult was especially ditrected to honoring the solemn pledge of the right hand. The Dius Fidius was another god of good faith, sometimes regarded as a form of Jupiter.

Levana [LL., fr. levare to raise.] Rom. Relig. The goddess of childbirth, who lifted newborn infants from the ground.

Porsena, Lars A possibly legendary king of the Etruscan Clusium, who conquered Rome after the expulsion of the Tarqun. He is the subject of several legends told by Livy, Tacitus, and Pliny, and of a poem by Macauley.

Calauria [L., fr. Gr. Kalauria.] Gr. Antiq. An island near the coast of Argolis, which according to myth, Poseidon received from Leto in exchange for Delos. It was the center of a religious league in the 7th century B. C.

Antenor [L., fr. Gr. Antēnōr.] 1. A Trojan who, in Homer's Iliad, advises the return of Helen to Menelaus. 2. A Trojan commander in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde and in Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida. See TROILUS.

Tiberinus [L.] Rom. Myth.  A legendary king of Alba Longa who was drowned in the river Tiber, of which he became the god.

Ara [Gr.] Gr. Myth. A goddess of vengeance or destruction.

Phemonoë [L., fr. Gr. Phēmonoē.] Gr. Myth. The first Pythia and the mythical inventor of hexameter verse.

Cottus [Gr. Kottos.] One of the Hecatocheires.

Musaeus [Gr. Mousaios.] A legendary Greek poet, traditonally connected with Orpheus and with the Eleusinian mysteries.

Jugatinus [LL.] Roman Relig. A god of marriage.

Phyteus Class. Myth. an epithet of Apollo. [< L < Gk Phȳtēos ( slayer of the Python )]

Herse [L., fr. Gr. Hersē.] Gr. Relig. Originally a goddess of the dew, in myth one of the three daughters of Cecrops to whom Athena gave a box. Two of them, Herse and Aglauros, yielding to curiosity opened the box, found a snake within, and threw themselves from the Acropolis.

Theagens and Charicleia [Gr. Theagenēs, Charikleia.]  A pair of lovers in the Ethiopica, a Greek romance by Heliodorus ( ?4th century ). Theagenes, a Thessalian, and Charicleia, an Ethiopian princess ignorant of her early history and rank, meet in the temple of Apollo at Delphi, and after wonderful adventures finally marry and rule Ethiopia.

Antiope [Gr. Antiopē.] Gr. Myth. 1. A Theban princess, wife of Lycus, and mother by Zeus of Amphion and Zethus, who were left to be brought up by herdsmen. Maltreated by Dirce, whom Lycus had married after dismissing Antiope, she fled and unknowingly took refuge with her sons. Dirce ordered the young men to tie her to the horns of a wild bull, but, discovering that Antiope was their mother, so they treated Dirce instead. 2. An Amazon, sometimes called queen of the Amazons, whom Theseus married. She was the mother of Hippolytus.

Philoctetes [L., fr. Gr. Philoktētēs.] A warrior who, for lighting the pyre of Hercules received as a heritage the hero's invincible bow and arrows. He joined the Greeks against Troy, but was bitten by a serpent, foully infected, and abandonedcat Lemnos. As it was prophesied that Troy could only be conquered by the arrows of Hercules, Diomedes  ( or, in the tragedy of Sophocles, Odysseus and Neoptolemus ) went to fetch him. After his wound had healed and he had slain Paris, Troy fell. His story was treated in tragedies by Aeschylus, Euripides, and Sophocles, of which only that by Sophocles is extant.

Dictynna [L., fr. Gr. Diktynna.] Gr. Relig. A Cretan goddess, protector of hunters and seafarers, sometimes identified with Artemis. Late mythology combined her attributes with those of anothef Cretan goddess, Britomartis, who also came to be called Dictynna.

Idaean adj. [L. Idaeus, fr. Gr. Idaios, fr. Gr. Idē, L. Ida.] Gr. Myth. Pertaining to, or dwelling on, Mt. Ida. One of the two Mt. Idas anciently famous, the one in Crete was connected with Rhea, the other in Asia Minor with Cybele. As these goddesses became confounded, Idaean Mother ( orig, a local form of Cybele ) was appliec now to one, now to the other. Similarly, the Asiatic Idaean Dactyls ( local counterparts of the Corybantes ) were sometimes placed in Crete by classic writers. See GREAT MOTHER.

Typhoeus [Gr. Typhoēus, Typhōs.] Gr. Myth. A monster, according to Hesiod a son of Tartarus and Gaea, or of Hera alone, having a hundred hands with fearful eyes and voices. He begot the unfavorable or dangerous winds and tried to gain the sovereignty of gods and men, but was conquered by Zeus with a thunderbolt and buried under Mt. Etna. Lster he is identufied with Typhon ( which see ).

Fornax [L., furnace, oven. See FURNACE.] 1. Rom. Relig. Goddess of ovens, whose feast, Fornicalia, was held in February one day for the state, on successive days for the different curiae, and on Feb. 17, in the Stultorum feriae ( festival of fools ), for all sho had missed their proper day.

Pelias [L., fr. Gr. Pelias.] Gr. Myth. A king of Iolcus. He sent Jason after the Golden Fleece, and after Jason's return was cut to pieces and boiled by his own daughters, whom Medea had told that he might thus be restored to youth. His son Acastus drove Jason and Medea out of the country. See JASON, 1.; MEDEA.

Typhon [L., fr. Gr. Typhōn. See TYPHOON.] Gr. & Rom. Myth. A monstr, according to Hesod the son of Typhoeus and the father by Echidna of Cerberus, the Chimera, the Sphinx, and other monsters. Later he is identified with Typhoeus Nd by the Greeks with the Egyptian Set.

Asclepiadae [L., fr. Gr. Asclēpiadai.] Gr. & Rom. Antiq. An association of alleged descendants of Asclepius, practicing the art of healing; later, a school of training for physicians.

helmet of Hades A magic helmet worn by Perseus, making him invisible. Cf. TARNHELM.

a-Webster's Inernational Dictionary 2nd Edition, Unabridged 1938

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

M. E. XXXIX

Ausonia [L.] Italy; so called poetically ( as in Vergil's Aeneid, Xuthus. 54 ) from the lands of the non-Latin tribes, the Ausones, of whom Auson, son of Ulysses, was the fabled progenitor. ─ Ausonian.

Dictys Class. Myth. a fisherman who found the chest in which Danaë and Perseus were cast out to sea.

Carya Class. Myth. a Laconian maiden who was changed into a walnut by Dionysus.

Plisthenes Class. Myth. a son of Atreus and Cleola.

Theophane Class. Myth. a maiden changed into a ewe by Poseidon: she bore him the ram with the Golden Fleece.

Trophonian adj. [L. Trophonius, fr. Trophonius, fr. Gr. Trophonios.] Gr. Relig. Of or pertaining to Trophonius, said to have built the first temple of Apollo at Delphi. He was worshiped after death at a celebrated cave in Boeotia, where inquirers went for purificatory and mystic experience giving knowledge of the future world. The oracle was probably under Orphic influence. Trophonius seems to have been originally an earth-god.

Briareus [L., fr. Gr. Briareōs, fr. briaros strong.] Gr. Myth. A monster of a hundred hands, son of Uranus and Gaea, and represented sometimes as an ally of Zeus, as in Homer, or as an enemy of Zeus, punished by being buried under Aetna. Cf. AEGAEON.

Margarelon A Trjan hero of medieval Troy legend. In Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida he is a valiant bastard son of Priam.

Fortunate Islands Gr. & Rom. Myth. Islands of the Blessed; later applied to the Canary and Madeira Islands.

Calliste 1. The personification of the island of Calliste. She was a daughter of the sea god Triton. 2. A surnameof Artemis, by which she was worshiped at Athens and Tegea. ( Paus. i. 29. § 2, viii. 35. § 7.)

Libitina [L.] Rom. Myth. The goddess of corpses and buriels.

Tisamenus Class. Myth. 1. a son of Orestes and Hermione who ruled in Sparta until he was killed by the invading Heraclidae. 2. a leader of the Boeotians at Troy. 3. a seer whose prophetic powers aided several Spartan victories.

Limenia Class. Myth. an epithet of Aphrodite, meaning "of the harbor."

Copreus Class. Myth. the herald of Eurystheus.

Auxesia [Gr. Auxēsia.] Gr. Relig. One of two closely related divinities, the other being Damia ( see BONA DEA ), worshiped in Aegina as earth goddesses and helpers in childbirth. They were akin to and sometimes identified with Demeter and Kore.

Thrasymedes ( in the Iliad ) a son of Nestor who commanded the Greek sentries and fought bravely in the Trojan War.

Helice [L., fr. Gr. Helikē.] Gr. Myth. An Arcadian nymph confused with Callisto, mother by Zeus of the hero Arcas; also, a Cretan nymph, one of the nurses of the infant Zeus. It was told of each that she ws placed in the heavens as the constellation of the Great Bear.

Earthshaker Translation of Greek Enosichthon, an epithet of Zeus and, esp., Poseidon.

Demodocus [L., fr. Gr. Dēmodokos.] 1. In Homer's Odyssey, the bard of Alcinoüs, king of the Phaeacians, whose songs charmed Odysseus. 2. In Vergil's Aeneid, a Trojan chief, friend of Aeneas.

Alectryon [Gr. alektryōn cock.] 1. Gr. Myth. A youth changed by Ares into a cock. Hence, Poetic, a cock.

Thalestris [Gr. Thalēstris.] An Amazon who figures in mythical stories, chiefly medieval, of Alexander the Great.

Pales [L.] Rom. Relig. God or goddess of shepherds and herdsmen. The festival ( Parilia or Palilia ) of this deity, celebrated on April 21, was the occasion of the lustration of the herds, and it included the building of the bonfires ( cf. NEEDFIRE, 1) ovef which men jumped and through which the herds were driven. Latr the Parilia were celebrated as the anniversary of the founding of Rome, probably from confusion of Pales with Palatua, the tutelary deity of the Palatine.

Ogyges Also Ogygos [Gr. ŌgygēsŌgygos.] Gr. Myth. A legendary king of Boeotia or Attica, in whose reign a destructive flood took place.

Triteia A daughter of Triton, a priestess of Athena, by whom Ares became the father of Melanippus, who gave a town in Achaea the name of his mother. Sacrifices were offered there to Ares and Tritaea in the temple of Athena. ( Paus. viii. 22. § 5, &c.)

Uranidae [Gr. Ouranidai.] Gr. Myth. Descendants of Uranus.

Corycian Cave, the A cave on Mount Parnassus, sacred to Pan and the nymphs.

Adranus [L., fr. Gr. Adranos.] Gr. Relig. A god of the Siculi in Sicily, similar in attributes to Hephaestus.

Metanira Class. Myth. the wife of Celeus and the mother of Abas, Demophoön, and Triptolemus.

Deus Fidius [L. See FIDES.] Rom. Relig. Jupiter, as invoked in oaths.

Ucalegon [L. Ucalegon, fr. Gr. Oukalegōn.] In Trojan legend, one of the ancient counselors who sat with Priam on the wall. Aeneas speaks of the flamed reaching Ucalegon's house, next to that of Anchises, before he fled from the city. Hence, a next-doir neighbor, or a neighbor whose house is on fire.

Peneus [L., fr. Gr. Pēneios.] Gr. Myth. God of the Thessalian river Peneus, and father of Daphne.

Britomartis [L. Britomartis, fr. Gr. Britomartis.] 1. A Cretan goddess, patron of hunters, and sailors, and sometimex identified with Artemis; called also Dictynna. 2. In Spenser's Faerie Queene, a lady knight, representing Chastity. She marries Artegal, or Justice.

Tyndarides [L., fr. Gr. Tyndaridēs.] A male descendant, or a child, of Tyndareus.

Mopsus Class. Myth. 1. a seer who, with Amphilochus, founded the famous oracle in the city of Mallus in Cilicia. 2. a son of Ampyeus who joined the Argonauts as a seer.

Eurymede Class. Myth. a woman thought to be the mother of Bellerophon.

Coryphasia Class. Myth. an epithet of Athena. [< Gk. Koryphasia, from her worship at Coryphasium in Messinia ]

Tarquin In Roman legend, oneo a family to which belonged the fifth king ( Lucius Tarquinius Priscus ) and the seventh king ( L. Tarquinius Superbus ). In consequence of the misdeed of Sextus, son of the latter, the family was expelled from Rome. Cf. LUCRECE, 2.

a-Webster's Inernational Dictionary 2nd Edition, Unabridged 1938