Name ▲▼ | Origin ▲▼ | Description ▲▼ |
---|---|---|
God name "Adrammelech" | Assyria | God of the people of Sepharvaim, to whom infants were burnt in sacrifice (Kings xvii, 31). Probably the Sun. |
Nymph name "Adrasteia" | Greek | A Cretan nymph, daughter of Melisseus, to whom Rhea entrusted the infant Zeus to be reared in the Dictaean grotto. |
God name "Aega" | Greek | A daughter of Olenus, who was a descendant of Hephaestus. Aega and her sister Helice nursed the infant Zeus in Crete, and the former was afterwards changed by the god into the constellation called Capella. Greek |
Nymph name "Aix" | Greek | A nymph and the wife of Pan. She was seduced by Zeus and bore him Aigipan. Aix is also mentioned as the nurse of the infant Zeus and may also identified with the Gorgon Aix. |
Goddess name "Amaltheia" | Crete | The nurse of the infant Zeus after his birth in Crete. The ancients themselves appear to have been as uncertain about the etymology of the name as about the real nature of Amaltheia. Hesychius derives it from the verb to nourish or to enrich, others from firm or hard; and others again from to signify the Divine goat, or the tender goddess. The common derivation is from to milk or suck. |
God name "Ambrosia" | Greek | In ancient mythology, Ambrosia is sometimes the food, sometimes the drink, of the gods. The word has generally been derived from Greek a- ("not") and mbrotos ("mortal"); hence the food or drink of the immortals. Thetis anointed the infant Achilles with ambrosia and påśśed the child through the fire to make him immortal - a familiar Phoenician custom - but Peleus, appalled, stopped her. |
"Amphilochus" | Greek | A son of Amphiaraus and Eriphyle, and brother of Alcmaeon. (Apollodorus iii) When his father went against Thebes, Amphiloehus was, according to Pausanias, yet an infant, although ten years afterwards he is mentioned as one of the Epigoni, and according to some traditions åśśisted his brother in the murder of his mother. |
Spirit name "Anjea" | Australasia | Animistic fertility spirit. Known to tribesmen on the Pennefather River, queensland, Australia and believed to place mud babies in the wombs of pregnant women. The grandmother of a newly born infant buried the afterbirth, which was collected by Anjea and kept in a hollow tree or some such sanctuary until the time came to instill it into another child in the womb.... |
Goddess name "Aveta" | Roman / Celtic / Gallic | Goddess of birth and midwifery. Known mainly from clay figurines found at Toulon-sur-Allier, France. The models show the goddess with infants at the breast and apparently she is concerned especially with nursing mothers. The figure is often accompanied by a small lapdog.... |
God name "Babes" | Roman | In Rome, the god who caused infants to utter their first cry. |
Supreme god name "Bagisht" | Kafir / Afghanistan | God of flood waters and prosperity. The son of the supreme goddess DISANI, conceived when she was raped from behind by an obscure demonic entity in the shape of a ram who violated her while she was milking cows by a lakeside. Bagisht is said to have been born in the current of the Prasun river whereupon the turbulent waters became smooth-flowing and parted to allow the infant to reach the bank. There seem to have been no elaborate sanctuaries but rather an abundance of simple shrines always placed close to water. The god was celebrated at the main festivals of the Kafir agricultural year and received sacrificial portions of meat. Also Opkulu.... |
King name "Camilla" | Roman | Of the Volsci was the daughter of king Metabus and Casmilla. Driven from his throne, Metabus was chased into the wilderness by armed Volsci, his infant daughter in his hands. The river Amasenus blocked his path, and, fearing for the child's welfare, Metabus bound her to a spear. He promised Diana that Camilla would be her servant, a warrior virgin. He then safely threw her to the other side, and swam across to retrieve her. Roman |
"Cuba" | Roman | Cunina and Rumina, three Roman genii, who were worshipped as the protectors of infants sleeping in their cradles, and to whom libations of milk were offered. |
Goddess name "Cunina" | Roman | Goddess of infants who are in the cradle. Roman |
Goddess name "Cunina" | Roman | Minor goddess of infants. Responsible for guarding the cradle.... |
"Dame du Lac" | Britain | A fay, named Vivienne, who plunged with the infant Lancelot into a lake. This lake was a kind of mirage, concealing the demesnes of the lady "en la marche de la petite Bretaigne." Britain |
"Delias" | Greek | The sacred vessel made by Theseus and sent annually from Athens to Delos. This annual festival lasted 30 days, during which no Athenian could be put to death, and as Socrates was condemned during this period his death was deferred till the return of the sacred vessel. The ship had been so often repaired that not a stick of the original vessel remained at the time, yet was it the identical ship. So the body changes from infancy to old age, and though no single particle remains constant, yet the man 6 feet high is identical with his infant body a span long. Greek |
Demon name "Dimme" | Sumeria | Female demon of fever and and diseases of infants. There were seven evil spirits of this kind, who were apparently regarded as being daughters of Anu, the god of the heavens. Sumeria |