Term | Definition |
Andromeda | Daughter Cepheus and Cassiopeia / Rulers of Aethiopia (Upper
Nile)
• Mom’s boast, beauty to Nereids / Poseidon sent the Cetus to
punish / Perseus saved and killed Cetus
• Marries Perseus / Returns to Argos /9 kids
• Made into a constellation |
Arachne | Athena weaved human hubris / Arachne weaved Gods mean /
• Athena weaved city contest Poseidon / Killed herself after Athena touched forehead /
Brought back to life as spider
• Zeus will judge / Loser never to touch a loom again |
Callisto | Nymph & Daughter of King Lycaon; follower of Artemis
• Zeus transformed into figure of Artemis and seduced her
• Son Arcas and her transformed into bears by Hera; made
constellations by Zeus
• One of the Galilean Moons of Jupiter |
Camilla | King Metabus; tied her to spear tip; promised Artemi that she could have Camilla as a Warrior Virgin Aeneid Amasenus River blocked his escape from the Volsci Suckled by a mare; Javelin in one hand; Bow in other; Runs on water killed by Trojan ally Arruns |
Cassandra | Helenus, twin-brother, also had prophecy powers. believed
Apollo gave her gift of prophecy, but cursed her with non-believers She is taken as concubine by Agamemnon; Killed by Clytemnestra
in Mycenae; Agamemnon killed by Aegistheus. |
Cassiopeia | Queen of Aethiopia / Married to Cepheus / Daughter Andromeda
• Daughter of Coronus & Zeuxo
• Boasted Andromeda’s beauty to the Nereids / Poseidon sent
Cetus
• Also, that Poseidon could have sent a flood to the lands
-Chair upside down |
Circe | • Odysseus’ men transformed into pigs; Hermes give Odysseus
Moly, immunity to her magic; Took Odysseus into her bed
• Scylla and Charybdis
• Purified the Argonauts for killing a fellow Greek;
• Scylla and Glaucus; Made her into the monster |
Clytemnestra | Queen of Mycenae; Married to Agamemnon; Daughter of Tyndareus and
Leda (Sparta); Half-Sister to Helen and Pollux; Sister of Castor; Lover of
Aegistheus; Mother of Iphiginia; Killed Cassandra; Killed by son
Orestes.
When she has Agamemnon killed |
Danae | Queen of Seriphos; Mother of Perseus; Seduced by Zeus’ rainshower;
Imprisoned by her father Acrisius of Argos (prophecy that he would be killed
by his son); placed in a wooden coffin; in the hands of the Gods |
Danaides | 50 daughters of King Danaus; or grand-daughters of Beleus
(Belides); different mothers; forced to marry the 50 sons of Danaus’
twin brother, King Aegyptus.
• Represents the futility of a task that can never be completed;
Tantalus and Sisyphus. |
Daphne | Naiad Nymph; Realm of fountains, wells, springs
• Daughter of Peneus (or Ladon) and Creusa
• Her beauty inspired Apollo, and he began to chase her
• Pleaded to Gaia or Peneus to save her
• Transformed into the Laurel Tree, became sacred to Apollo |
Dido | Founder and Queen of Carthage (Colony of Tyre) & Lover of Aeneas
• Brother Pygmalion was heir when dad died
• Married her uncle Acerbus, Pygmalion killed uncle for his gold
• Dido ordered her aides to throw Gold into sea, but just sand-bags |
Eurydice | Orpheus traveled to the Underworld to get her back
• Made a deal with Hades; Play a song so sad, that he can take her back
• Allowed to take her back, but warned not to look back at her
• She called out, he looked back, she slipped back into underworld |
Helen of
Troy | Demi-Goddess of Beauty; Bribe of Paris by Aphrodite
• Hera (Kingdom) and Athena (Army) were not accepted
• Kidnapped by Theseus at age 11; Brother Pollux killed in rescue
• Sister to Clytemnestra (Agamemnon) and Cousin to Penelope
(Odysseus) Heromine |
Io | Transformed into a white cow onto the island of Crete.
• Hera saw this cow and had Argus Panoptes guard .
• Hermes sent to kill Argus; eyes became back of peacock.
• Io would have a son, who would free PrometheusEpahpus, whose descendent was
Hercules |
Iphigenia | Artemis not sacrificed at Aulis; Calchas said that she demanded
Iphigenia; Agamemnon must hold the knife.
• Told Clytemnestra that Achilles would be marrying her; sent to
Aulis
• Artemis may have exchanged her for a stag, she was transported to |
Medea | Guardian of the Golden Fleece; forced by Eros to fall in love with
Jason; Killed her brother, Aspyrtus, and chopped him up into the sea to
slow down her father’s pursuit. Married Jason, New Queen of Athens |
Medusa | Once a golden haired priestess of Athena; Seduced by Poseidon
inside Athena’s temple.
• Athena transforms her into Gorgon (Hair snakes; Eyes red orbs;
Skin into green)
• Perseus sought her head with the Adamantine Sickle |
Niobe | Daughter of Tantalus and Dione; Brother of Pelops
• Married Amphion (King of Cadmeia)
• Made a boastful comment to Leda about her children
• Apollo kills her 7 sons; Artemis kills her 7 daughters |
Pasiphae | Daughter of Helios and Oceanid Perse; Sister of Circe; Marries
Minos; Knossos or Crete
• Poseidon curses her to fall in love with the Cretean Bull
• Daedelus builds her a cow suit so that she can scrabble with bull
• Mother of the Minotaur |
Penelope | Helen and Clytemnestra cousin; Odysseus wins foot race Married & loyal to Odysseus for 20 years
• Odysseus builds their wedding bed around their tree, room around
Odysseus disguised as a beggar; String bow, shoot through axe heads |
Penthesileia | Daughter of Ares; Name means mourned by the people.
• Kills Macheon, Medic
• Achilles kills her
He is mournful of her beauty lost; in anger he strikes a fellow Greek
soldier (Theristes) and kills him. Soul turns black, and Diomedes
purifies. |
Phaedra | Daughter of Minos and Pasiphae; Married Theseus, fell in love
with her stepson, Hippolytus, because he mocked Aphrodite
Rejected by Hippolytus, accuses him of seduction, Theseus kills
son, or curses him to painful death by horses dragged into sea. |
Psyche | Mortal woman; Aphrodite was jealous of her beauty; Sent Eros to
have her fall in love with the most hideous ugly loser guy. |
Scylla &
Charybdis | Scylla – Beautful Nymph; Glaucas in love with her; Circe was in love with
Glaucas; Circe transforms Scylla into the beast; 6 Snake Heads on 1 body
on the side of a cliff.
• Odysseus – Circe said you will lose 6 sailors
• Argonauts – Did not encounter |
Sirens | Songs; Lure Sailors; Island off W. Italy;
• Not Mermaids; Bird Women (Head Torso Woman, body of bird)
• Daughters of the River God Achelous; They were tasked with
protecting Persephone, but cursed by Demeter when she was
taken. |
Sphinx | Echidna (mom) and Typhon (dad)
• Cursed Thebes with Riddle (Walks on 4, 2, then 3 legs = human)
• Eaten if did not answer the riddle
• Torso of Woman; Lion body; Wings of Eagle; Tail snake
• Defeated by Oedipus; Vanished or Killed Self |