Name ▲▼ | Origin ▲▼ | Description ▲▼ |
---|---|---|
Hero name "Acheron" | Greek | Acheron a son of Helios and Gaea or Demeter, and was changed into the river bearing his name in the lower world, because he had refreshed the Titans with drink during their contest with Zeus. |
"Antheia" | Greek | The blooming, or the friend of flowers, a surname of Hera, under which she had a temple at Argos. Before this temple was the mound under which the women were buried who had come with Dionysus from the Aegean islands, and had fallen in a contest with the Argives and Perseus. Antheia was used at Gnossus as a surname of Aphrodite. Greek |
God name "Ares" | Greek | The god of war and one of the great Olympian gods of the Greeks. He is represented as the son of Zeus and Hera. A later tradition, according to which Hera conceived Ares by touching a certain flower, appears to be an imitation of the legend about the birth of Hephaestus, and is related by Ovid. |
King name "Cecrops" | Greek | According to Apollodorus the first king of Attica, which derived from him its name Cecropia, having previously borne the name of Acte. He is described as an autochthon, the upper part of whose body was human, while the lower was that of a dragon. Hence he is gemimis. Greek |
"Charon" | Greek | A son of Erebos, the aged and dirty ferryman in the lower world, who conveyed in his boat the shades of the dead - though only of those whose bodies were buried across the rivers of the lower world. Greek |
King name "Charopus" | Greek | Or Charops, bright-eyed or joyful-looking, a surname of Heracles, under which he had a statue near mount Laphystion on the spot where he was believed to have brought forth Cerberus from the lower world. Greek |
Nymph name "Clytie" | Greek | A water-nymph, in love with Apollo. Meeting with no return, she was changed into a Sunflower, which, traditionally, still turns to the Sun, following him through his daily course. Greek |
"Danace" | Greek | A coin placed by the Greeks in the mouth of the dead to pay their påśśage across the ferry of the Lower world. |
King name "Europa" | Greek | The daughter of Agenor, king of Phoenicia, or Telephåśśa, Her famous brother was Cadmus. She was a beautiful girl who caught the eye of Zeus one day while on the spéñïś at Sidon (Tyre). He transformed himself into a snow-white bull with crescent horns among the herds of Agenor and lay down at her feet as she gathered flowers in the meadows with her attendants. Greek |
"Eurylochus" | Greek | One of the companions of Odysseus in his wanderings. He was the only one that escaped from the house of Circe, while his friends were metamorphosed into swine; and when Odysseus went to the lower world, Eurylochus and Perimedes performed the prescribed sacrifices. It was on his advice that the companions of Odysseus carried off some of the oxen of Helios. Greek |
"Eurynomus" | Greek | A daemon of the lower world, concerning whom there was a tradition at Delphi, according to which, he devoured the flesh of dead human bodies, and left nothing but the bones. Greek |
God name "Hades" | Greek | Or Pluton, Pluto, Plouton, Dis (Roman), and Aidoneus, the god of the lower world; Plato observes that people preferred calling him Pluton (the giver of wealth) to pronouncing the dreaded name of Hades or Aides. Hence we find that in ordinary life and in the mysteries the name Pluton became generally established, while the poets preferred the ancient name Aides or the form Pluteus. Greek |
"Ichthyocentaurus" | Greek | A fish-centaur, or a particular kind of Triton. Ichthyocentauri were fabulous beings, the upper part of whose body was conceived to have a human form, and the lower that of a fish, while the place of the hands was occupied by a horse's feet. Greek |
Nymph name "Oceanides" | Greek | The Oceanids were the three thousand children of the Titans Oceåñuś and Tethys. Each of these nymphs was the patron of a particular spring, river, ocean, lake, pond, pasture, flower or cloud. Greek |
"Phlegethon" | Greek | I. e. the flaming, a river in the lower world, is described as a son of Cocytus; but he is more commonly called Pyriphlegethon. It flowed with fire that burned but did not consume fuel. In the Divine Comedy the river is made of boiling blood and is part of the seventh circle of hell, containing the shades of tyrants, murderers, robbers and those guilty of sins involving violence against others. Greek |
God name "Pluton" | Greek | The giver of wealth, at first a surname of Hades, the god of the lower world. Greek |
King name "Rhadamanthys" | Greek | A son of Zeus and Europa, and brother of king Minos of Crete, or, according to others, a son of Hephaestus. From fear of his brother he fled to Ocaleia in Boeotia, and there married Alcmene. In consequence of his justice throughout life, he became, after his death, one of the judges in the lower world, and took up his abode in Elysium. Greek |
King name "Scylla" | Greek | And Charybdis, the names of two rocks between Italy and Sicily, and only a short distance from one another. In the midst of the one of these rocks which was nearest to Italy, there dwelt, according to Homer, Scylla, a daughter of Crataeis, a fearful monster, barking like a dog, with twelve feet, six long necks and mouths, each of which contained three rows of sharp teeth. The opposite rock, which was much lower, contained an immense fig-tree, under which there dwelt Charybdis, who thrice every day swallowed down the waters of the sea, and thrice threw them up again: both were formidable to the ships which had to påśś between them. Greek |