Chapter II: Part 2

"When Dido found Aeneas would not come,
She mourned in silence, and was _Dido dumb_."

=Dies Pater= (Diʹes Paʹter), or Father of the Day, a name of Jupiter.

=Dii Selecti= (Dii Selecʹti) composed the second class of gods. They were Coelus, Saturn, Genius, Oreus, Sol, Bacchus, Terra, and Luna.

=Dindymene= (Dinʹdymeʹne). A name of Cybele, from a mountain where she was worshiped.

"Nor Dindymene, nor her priest possest,
Can with their sounding cymbals shake the breast
Like furious anger."
Francis.

=Diomedes= (Diomeʹdes), the cruel tyrant of Thrace, who fed his mares on the flesh of his guests. He was overcome by Hercules, and himself given to the same horses as food.

=Dione= (Dioʹne). A poetic name of Venus.

=Dionysia= (Dionyʹsia) were festivals in honor of Bacchus.

=Dionysius= (Dionyʹsius). A name of Bacchus, either from his father Jupiter (Dios), or from his nurses, the nymphs called Nysae.

=Dioscuri= (Diosʹcuri). Castor and Pollux, the sons of Jupiter.

=Dirae= (Diʹrae). A name of the Furies.

=Dis.= A name of Pluto, god of hell, signifying riches.

"... That fair field
Of Enna, where Proserpine gathering flowers,
Herself a fairer flower, by gloomy Dis
Was gathered."
Milton.

=Discord=, see Ate.

=Discordia= (Discorʹdia), sister of Nemesis, the Furies, and Death, was driven from heaven for having sown discord among the gods.

=Diseases=, see Pandora.

=Distaff=, see Pallas.

=Dithyrambus.= A surname of Bacchus.

=Dodona= (Dodoʹna) was a celebrated oracle of Jupiter.

"O where, Dodona, is thine aged grove,
Prophetic fount, and oracle divine?"
Byron.

=Dodonaeus= (Dodonaeʹus). A name of Jupiter, from the city of Dodona.

=Dog=, see Lares.

=Dolabra= (Dolaʹbra). The knife used by the priests to cut up the sacrifices.

=Dolphin=, see Arion.

=Doorga= (Doorʹga). A Hindoo goddess.

=Doris= (Doʹris) was daughter of Oceanus, and sister of Nereus, two of the marine deities. From these two sisters sprang the several tribes of water nymphs.

=Doto= (Doʹto). One of the Nereids or sea nymphs.

=Draco= (Draʹco). One of Actaeon's hounds.

=Dragon=, seven-headed, see Geryon.

=Dreams=, see Morpheus.

=Dryads= (Dryʹads) were rural deities, the nymphs of the forests, to whom their votaries offered oil, milk, and honey.

"Flushed with resistless charms he fired to love
Each nymph and little Dryad of the grove."
Ticknell.

=Dumbness= (Dumbʹness), see Atys.

=Dweurgar= (Dweurʹgar). Scandinavian god of the Echo--a pigmy.

=Eacus= (Eʹacus), son of Jupiter and Egina, one of the judges of the infernal regions, who was appointed to judge the Europeans. See Aeacus.

=Earth=, see Antaeus.

=Eblis= (Ebʹlis), the Mohammedan evil genius.

=Echidna= (Echidʹna). A woman having a serpent's tail. She was the reputed mother of Chimaera, and also of the many-headed dog Orthos, of the three-hundred-headed dragon of the Hesperides, of the Colchian dragon, of the Sphinx, of Cerberus, of Scylla, of the Gorgons, of the Lernaean Hydra, of the vulture that gnawed away the liver of Prometheus, and also of the Nemean lion; in fact, the mother of all adversity and tribulation.

=Echnobas= (Echnoʹbas), one of Actaeon's hounds.

=Echo= (Echʹo) was a nymph who fell in love with Narcissus. But when he languished and died she pined away from grief and died also, preserving nothing but her voice, which repeats every sound that reaches her. Another fable makes Echo a daughter of Air and Tellus. She was partly deprived of speech by Juno, being allowed only to reply to questions.

"Sweet Echo, sweetest nymph, that liv'st unseen
Within thy airy shell.
. . . .
Sweet queen of parley, daughter of the sphere,
So may'st thou be translated to the skies,
And give resounding grace to all heaven's harmonies."
Milton.

"Oft by Echo's tedious tales misled."
Ovid.

=Egeon.= A giant sea-god, who assisted the Titans against Jupiter.

=Egeria= (Egeʹria). A nymph who is said to have suggested to Numa all his wise laws. She became his wife, and at his death was so disconsolate, and shed so many tears, that Diana changed her into a fountain.

=Egil= (Eʹgil). The Vulcan of northern mythology.

=Egipans= (Egipʹans) were rural deities who inhabited the forests and mountains, the upper half of the body being like that of a man, and the lower half like a goat.

=Egis= (Eʹgis) was the shield of Minerva. It obtained its name because it was covered with the skin of the goat Amalthaea, which nourished Jupiter. See Aegis.

=Eleusinian Mysteries= (Eleusinʹian). Religious rites in honor of Ceres, performed at Eleusis, in Attica.

=Elysium= (Elysʹium), or the =Elysian Fields=. The temporary abode of the just in the infernal regions.

=Empyrean, The= (Empyreʹan). The fifth heaven, the seat of the heathen deity.

=Endymion= (Endymʹion). A shepherd, who acquired from Jupiter the faculty of being always young. One of the lovers of Diana.

=Entertainments=, see Comus.

=Envy=, see Furies.

=Enyo= was the Grecian name of Bellona, the goddess of war and cruelty.

=Eolus= (Eʹolus), see Aeolus.

=Eos= (Eʹos). The Grecian name of Aurora.

=Eous= (Eʹous). One of the four horses which drew the chariot of Sol, the sun. The word is Greek, and means red.

=Ephialtes= (Ephʹialʹtes). A giant who lost his right eye in an encounter with Hercules, and the left eye was destroyed by Apollo.

=Erato= (Erʹato). One of the Muses, the patroness of light poetry; she presided over the triumphs and complaints of lovers, and is generally represented as crowned with roses and myrtle, and holding a lyre in her hand.

=Erebus= (Erʹebus), son of Chaos, one of the gods of Hades, sometimes alluded to as representing the infernal regions.

=Ergatis= (Ergaʹtis). A name given to Minerva. It means the work-woman, and was given to the goddess because she was credited with having invented spinning and weaving.

=Erictheus= (Ericʹtheus), fourth King of Athens, was the son of Vulcan.

=Erinnys= (Erinʹnys). A Greek name of the Furies. It means Disturber of the Mind.

=Erisichthon= (Erisichʹthon) was punished with perpetual hunger because he defiled the groves of Ceres, and cut down one of the sacred oaks.

=Eros= (Erʹos). The Greek god of love.

=Erostratus= (Erosʹtratus). The rascal who burnt the temple of Diana at Ephesus, thereby hoping to make his name immortal.

=Erycina= (Erycʹina). A name of Venus, from Mount Eryx in Sicily.

=Erythreos= (Erythreʹos). The Grecian name of one of the horses of Sol's chariot.

=Esculapius= (Esculaʹpius), see Aesculapius.

=Eta= (Eʹta), see Aeetes.

=Ethon= (Eʹthon), one of the horses who drew the chariot of Sol--the sun. The word is Greek, and signifies hot.

=Etna= (Etʹna). A volcanic mountain, beneath which, according to Virgil, there is buried the giant Typhon, who breathes forth devouring flames.

=Eudromos= (Euʹdromos). The name of one of Actaeon's hounds.

=Eulalon= (Euʹlalon), one of the names of Apollo.

=Eumenides= (Eumeʹnides), a name of the Furies, meaning mild, and referring to the time when they were approved by Minerva.

=Euphrosyne= (Euphroʹsyne), one of the three Graces, see Graces.

"Come, thou goddess fair and free,
In heaven ycleped Euphrosyne."
Milton.

=Eurus= (Euʹrus). The east wind. A son of Aeolus.

=Euryale= (Euryʹale) was one of the Gorgons, daughter of Phorcus and Ceto.

=Eurydice= (Eurydʹice), wife of Orpheus, who was killed by a serpent on her wedding night.

"Nor yet the golden verge of day begun.
When Orpheus (her unhappy lord),
Eurydice to life restored,
At once beheld, and lost, and was undone."
F. Lewis.

=Eurythion= (Eurythʹion). A seven-headed dragon. See Geryon.

=Euterpe= (Euʹterpe), one of the Muses, the patroness of instrumental music. The word means agreeable.

=Euvyhe= (Euʹvyhe), an expression meaning "Well done, son." Jupiter so frequently addressed his son Bacchus by those words that the phrase at last became one of his names.

=Evening Star=, see Hesperus.

=Evil=, see Cacodaemon.

=Evils=, see Pandora.

=Eye=, of one, see Cyclops and Glaukopis.

=Fame= was a poetical deity, represented as having wings and blowing a trumpet. A temple was dedicated to her by the Romans.

=Fate=, see Nereus.

=Fates=, or =Parcae=, were the three daughters of Necessity. Their names were Clotho, who held the distaff; Lachesis, who turned the spindle; and Atropos, who cut the thread with the fatal shears.

=Faun.= A rural divinity, half man and half goat. They were very similar to the Satyrs. The Fauns attended the god Pan, and the Satyrs attended Bacchus.

=Favonius= (Favoʹnius). The wind favorable to vegetation, that is, Zephyr--the west wind.

"... Time will run
On smoother, till Favonius reinspire
The frozen earth, and clothe in fresh attire
The lily and the rose, that neither sowed nor spun."
Milton.

=Fays.=

"The yellow-skirted Fays
Fly after the night-steeds,
Leaving their moon-loved maze."
Milton.

=Feasts=, see Comus.

=Febris= (Feʹbris) (fever), one of the evil deities, was worshiped that she might not do harm.

=Februus= (Febʹruus). A name of Pluto, from the part of the funeral rites which consisted of purifications.

=Feronia= (Feroʹnia), the Roman goddess of orchards, was patroness of enfranchised slaves. Some authors think Feronia is the same as Juno.

=Fertility=, see Lupercus.

=Festivals=, see Thalia.

=Fidelity=, see Iolaus.

=Fides= (Fiʹdes), the goddess of faith and honesty, and a temple in the Capitol of Rome.

=Fine Arts=, see Minerva.

=Fire=, see Salamander, Vesta, and Vulcan.

=Fire Insurance=, see Canopus.

=Fisherman=, see Glaucus.

=Flath-innis= (Flathʹ-inʹnis), in Celtic mythology, is Paradise.

=Fleece, Golden=, see Golden Fleece, Argonauts, and Jason.

=Flies=, see Muscarius.

=Flocks=, see Pales (goddess of pastures).

=Flora= (Floʹra), goddess of flowers and gardens, was wife of Zephyrus. She enjoyed perpetual youth. Her Grecian name was Chloris.

=Floralia= (Floraʹlia) were licentious games instituted in honor of the goddess Flora.

=Flowers=, see Flora, Chloris, Hortensis, and Zephyrus.

=Flute=, see Marsyas.

=Fortuna= (Fortuʹna), the goddess of fortune, had a temple erected to her by Servius Tullius. She was supposed to be able to bestow riches or poverty on mankind, and was esteemed one of the most potent of the ancient goddesses. She is usually represented as standing on a wheel, with a bandage over her eyes, and holding a cornucopia.

=Fraud=, one of the evil deities, was represented as a goddess with a human face and a serpent's body, and at the end of her tail was a scorpion's sting. She lived in the river Cocytus, and nothing but her head was ever seen.

=Freyr= (Freyʹr). The Scandinavian god of fertility and peace. The patron god of Sweden and Iceland.

=Freyja= (Freyʹja). The Scandinavian Venus. The goddess of love.

=Friga= (Friʹga). The Saxon goddess of earthly enjoyments. The name Friday is derived from her. In Scandinavian mythology she is the goddess of marriage.

=Fro.= The Scandinavian god of tempests and winds.

=Frogs=, see Clowns of Lycia.

=Fruits=, see Ceres, and Pomona.

=Funerals=, see Libitina, and Manes.

=Furies, The=, were the three daughters of Acheron and Nox. They were the punishers of evil-doers. Their names were Tisiphone, Megaera, and Alecto, and were supposed to personify rage, slaughter, and envy.

=Futurity=, see Cassandra.

=Gabriel= (Gaʹbriel), in Jewish mythology is the prince of fire and thunder, and the angel of death to the favored people of God.

=Galataea= (Galataeʹa). A sea nymph. Polyphemus, one of the Cyclops, loved her, but she disdained his attentions and became the lover of Acis, a Sicilian shepherd.

=Gallantes= (Gallanʹtes), madmen, from Galli (which see).

=Galli= (Galʹli) were priests of Cybele who used to cut their arms with knives when they sacrificed, and acted so like madmen that demented people got the name of Gallantes.

=Ganesa= (Ganʹesa). The Indian Mercury. The god of wisdom and prudence.

=Ganga.= One of the three Indian river goddesses.

=Ganymede=, a beautiful Phrygian youth, son of Tros, King of Troy. He succeeded Hebe in the office of cup-bearer to Jupiter. He is generally represented sitting on the back of a flying eagle.

=Gardens=, see Pomona (goddess of fruit-trees).

=Gates=, see Janus.

=Gautama= (Gauʹtama) (Buddha). The chief deity of Burmah.

=Genii= were domestic divinities. Every man was supposed to have two of these genii accompanying him; one brought him happiness, the other misery.

=Genitor= (Genʹitor). A Lycian name of Jupiter.

=Geometry=, see Mercury.

=Geryon= (Geʹryon) was a triple-bodied monster who lived at Gades, where his numerous flocks were guarded by Orthos, a two-headed dog, and by Eurythion, a seven-headed dragon. These guardians were destroyed by Hercules, and the cattle taken away.

=Gimlet=, see Daedalus.

=Girdle=, see Cestus (Venus's).

=Glaucus= (Glauʹcus) was a fisherman who became a sea-god through eating a sea-weed, which he thought invigorated the fishes and might strengthen him.

=Glaukopis= (Glaukoʹpis). A name given to Minerva, because she had blue eyes.

=Gnomes= (Gnoʹmes), a name given by Plato to the invisible deities who were supposed to inhabit the earth.

=Gnossis= (Gnosʹsis), a name given to Ariadne, from the city of Gnossus, in Crete.

=Goat=, see Iphigenia, Mendes, and Venus.

=Goat's Feet=, see Capripedes.

=Golden Apple=, see Atalanta.

=Golden Fleece, The=, was a ram's hide, sometimes described as white, and at other times as purple and golden. It was given to Phryxus, who carried it to Colchis, where King Aeetes entertained Phryxus, and the hide was hung up in the grove of Mars. Jason and forty-nine companions fetched back the golden fleece. See Argonauts.

=Gopya= (Gopyʹa). Indian mythological nymphs.

=Gorgons, The= (Gorʹgons), were three sisters, named Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa. They petrified every one they looked at. Instead of hair their heads were covered with vipers. Perseus conquered them, and cut off the head of Medusa, which was placed on the shield of Minerva, and all who fixed their eyes thereon were turned into stone.

=Graces, The=, were the attendants of Venus. Their names were, Aglaia, so called from her beauty and goodness; Thalia, from her perpetual freshness; and Euphrosyne, from her cheerfulness. They are generally depicted as three cheerful maidens with hands joined, and either nude or only wearing transparent robes--the idea being that kindnesses, as personified by the Graces, should be done with sincerity and candor, and without disguise. They were supposed to teach the duties of gratitude and friendship, and they promoted love and harmony among mankind.

=Graces= (fourth), see Pasithea.

=Gradivus= (Gradʹivus). A name given to Mars by the Romans. It meant the warrior who defended the city against all external enemies.

=Gragus= (Graʹgus). The name by which Jupiter was worshiped in Lycia.

=Granaries=, see Tutelina.

=Grapsios= (Grapʹsios). A Lycian name of Jupiter.

=Grasshopper=, see Tithonus.

=Grief=, see Niobe.

=Hada= (Haʹda). The Babylonian Juno.

=Hades= (Haʹdes). The Greek name of Pluto, the god of hell, the word signifying hidden, dark, and gloomy; the underworld, or infernal regions; sometimes written _Ades_.

=Hailstorms=, see Nuriel.

=Halcyone= (Halcyʹone) (or =Alcyone=), one of the Pleiades, was a daughter of Aeolus.

=Halcyons= (Halcyʹons) were sea birds, supposed to be the Greek kingfishers. They made their nests on the waves, and during the period of incubation the sea was always calm. Hence the modern term Halcyon Days.

=Hamadryades= (Hamadryʹades) were wood-nymphs, who presided over trees.

=Happiness=, see Genii.

=Haroeris= (Haroeʹris). The Egyptian god, whose eyes are the sun and moon.

=Harpies, The= (Harʹpies), (literally, snatchers, demons of destruction, or, in the modern sense, extortioners). They were monsters, half-birds, half-maidens, having the heads and breasts of women, the bodies of birds, and the claws of lions. Their names were Aello, Ocypete, and Celeno. They were loathsome creatures, living in filth, and poisoning everything they came in contact with.

"Such fiends to scourge mankind, so fierce, so fell,
Heaven never summoned from the depth of hell.
A virgin face, with wings and hookèd claws,
Death in their eyes, and famine in their jaws,
While proof to steel their hides and plumes remain
We strike the impenetrable fiends in vain."

=Harpikruti= (Harpiʹkruti). The Egyptian name of the god Harpocrates.

=Harpocrates= (Harpocʹrates), or Horus, an Egyptian god, son of Osiris and Isis. He was the god of silence and secrecy. He is usually represented as a young man, holding a finger of one hand to his lips (expressive of a command to preserve silence), while in the other hand he holds a cornucopia, signifying early vegetation.

=Harvest=, see Segetia. A Roman divinity, invoked by the husbandman that the harvest might be plentiful.

=Hawk=, see Nysus.

=Hazis= (Haʹzis). The Syrian war-god.

=Health=, see Hygeia and Salus.

=Heaven=, =Queen of=, (Heaʹven) see Belisama. =God of=, see Coelus.

=Hebe= (Heʹbe), daughter of Zeus (Jupiter) and Hera (Juno), was the goddess of youth. She was cup-bearer to Jupiter and the gods, until she had an awkward fall at a festival, causing her to alight in an indecent posture, which so displeased Jupiter that she was deprived of her office, and Ganymede was appointed in her stead.

"Wreathed smiles,
Such as hung on Hebe's cheek,
And love to live in dimples sleek."
Milton.

"Bright Hebe waits; by Hebe ever young
The whirling wheels are to the chariot hung."
Pope.

=Hecate= (Hecʹate). There were two goddesses known by this name, but the one generally referred to in modern literature is Hecate, or Proserpine, the name by which Diana was known in the infernal regions. In heaven her name was Luna, and her terrestrial name was Diana. She was a moon-goddess, and is generally represented in art with three bodies, standing back to back, a torch, a sword, and a lance in each right hand.

=Hecuba= (Hecʹuba). The wife of Priam, king of Troy, and mother of Paris. Taken captive in the Trojan war, she fell to the lot of Ulysses after the destruction of Troy, and was afterwards changed into a hound.

"What's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba?"
Shakespeare.

=Heifer=, see Ino.

=Helena= (Helʹena) when a child was so beautiful that Theseus and Perithous stole her, but she was restored by Castor and Pollux. She became the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta, but eloped with Paris, and thus caused the Trojan War. After the death of Paris she married Deiphobus, his brother, and then betrayed him to Menelaus. She was afterward tied to a tree and strangled by order of Polyxo, king of Rhodes.

=Heliades, The= (Heʹliades), were the daughters of Sol, and the sisters of Phaeton, at whose death they were so sad that they stood mourning till they became metamorphosed into poplar trees, and their tears were turned into amber.

=Helicon= (Helʹicon). A mountain in Boeotia sacred to the Muses, from which place the fountain Hippocrene flowed.

"Yet still the doting rhymer dreams,
And sings of Helicon's bright streams;
But Helicon for all his clatter
Yields only uninspiring water."
Broom, 1720.

=Heliconiades= (Helicoʹniades). A name given to the Muses, from Mount Helicon.

=Heliopolis= (Heliopʹolis), in Egypt, was the city of the sun.

=Helios= (Heʹlios). The Grecian sun-god, or charioteer of the sun, who went home every evening in a golden boat which had wings.

=Heliotrope= (Helʹiotrope). Clytie was turned into this flower by Apollo. See Clytie.

=Helle= (Helʹle) was drowned in the sea, into which she fell from off the back of the golden ram, on which she and Phryxus were escaping from the oppression of their stepmother Ino. The episode gave the name of the Hellespont to the part of the sea where Helle was drowned, and it is now called the Dardanelles. She was the daughter of Athamas and Nephele.

=Hellespontiacus= (Hellespontiaʹcus). A title of Priapus.

=Hemphta= (Hemphʹta). The Egyptian god Jupiter.

=Hephaestus= (Hephaesʹtus). The Greek Vulcan, the smith of the gods.

=Hera= (Heʹra). The Greek name of Juno.

=Heracles= (Herʹacles) is the same as Hercules.

=Hercules= (Herʹcules) was the son of Jupiter and Alcmena. The goddess Juno hated him from his birth, and sent two serpents to kill him, but though only eight months old he strangled them. As he got older he was set by his master Eurystheus what were thought to be twelve impossible tasks which have long been known as the "Twelve Labors of Hercules." They were:

_First_, To slay the Nemean Lion.

_Second_, To destroy the Hydra which infested the marshes of Lerna.

_Third_, To bring to Eurystheus the Arcadian Stag with the golden horns and brazen hoofs.

_Fourth_, To bring to his master the Boar of Erymanthus.

_Fifth_, To cleanse the stable of King Augeas, in which 3,000 oxen had been kept for thirty years, but had never been cleaned out.

_Sixth_, To destroy the Stymphalides, terrible carnivorous birds.

_Seventh_, To capture the Bull which was desolating Crete.

_Eighth_, To capture the mares of Diomedes, which breathed fire from their nostrils, and ate human flesh.

_Ninth_, To procure the girdle of Hippolyte, queen of the Amazons.

_Tenth_, To bring to Eurystheus the flesh-eating oxen of Geryon, the monster king of Gades.

_Eleventh_, To bring away some of the golden apples from the garden of the Hesperides.

_Twelfth_, To bring up from Hades the three-headed dog, Cerberus.

All these tasks he successfully accomplished, and, besides, he assisted the gods in their wars with the giants. Several other wonderful feats are mentioned under other headings, as Antaeus, Cacus, etc. His death was brought about through his endeavors to preserve Deianira from the attacks of Nessus, the centaur, whom he killed. The centaur, before he expired, gave his mystic tunic to Deianira, who in turn gave it to Hercules, and he put it on, but his doing so brought on an illness of which he could not be cured. In a fit of desperation he cast himself into a funeral pile on Mount Oeta; but Jupiter had him taken to heaven in a four-horse chariot, and only the mortal part of Hercules was consumed.

"Let Hercules himself do what he may,
The cat will mew, and dog will have his day."
Shakespeare.

=Herdsmen=, see Bubona.

=Hermae= (Herʹmae) were statues of Hermes (Mercury), which were set up in Athens for boundaries, and as direction marks for travelers.

=Hermanubis= (Herʹmanuʹbis), see Anubis.

=Hermathenae= (Hermatheʹnae) were statues of Mercury and Minerva placed together.

=Hermes= (Herʹmes). A Greek name of the god Mercury.

"Hermes obeys. With golden pinions binds
His flying feet and mounts the western winds."
Virgil.

=Hermione= (Hermiʹone), daughter of Mars and Venus, who was turned into a serpent, and allowed to live in the Elysian Fields. There was another Hermione, daughter of Menelaus and Helen; she was betrothed to Orestes, but was carried away by Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles.

=Hero= (Heʹro). A priestess of Venus, with whom Leander was so enamored that he swam across the Hellespont every night to visit her, but at last was drowned; when Hero saw the fate of her lover she threw herself into the sea and was also drowned.

=Heroes=, see Valhalla.

=Hesperides= (Hesperʹides). Three daughters of Hesperus, King of Italy. They were appointed to guard the golden apples which Juno gave Jupiter on their wedding day. See Hercules.

=Hesperus= (Hesʹperus), brother of Atlas, was changed into the evening star.

"To the ocean now I fly,
And those happy climes that lie
Where day never shuts his eye,
Upon the broad fields of the sky:
There I suck the liquid air,
All amidst the gardens fair
Of Hesperus and his daughters three,
That sing about the golden tree."
Milton.

=Hestia= (Hesʹtia). The Greek name of Vesta, the goddess of the hearth.

=Hieroglyphics= (Hieroglyʹphics), see Mercury.

=Highways=, see Janus.

=Hildur= (Hilʹdur). The Scandinavian Mars.

=Hippia= (Hipʹpia). A surname of Minerva.

=Hippius= (Hipʹpius). A surname of Neptune.

=Hippocampus= (Hippocamʹpus). The name of Neptune's favorite horse, a fabulous marine animal, half horse and half fish.

=Hippocrenides= (Hippocreʹnides), a name of the Muses, from the fountain of Hippocrene (the horse fountain), which was formed by a kick of the winged horse Pegasus.

=Hippolyte= (Hippolʹyte), queen of the Amazons, daughter of Mars. Her father gave her a famous girdle, which Hercules was required to procure (see Hercules). She was conquered by Hercules, and given by him in marriage to Theseus.

=Hippolytus= (Hippolʹytus) was the son of Theseus and Hippolyte; he was killed by a fall from a chariot, but was raised to life again by Diana, or, as some say, by Aesculapius.

=Hippona= (Hippoʹna) was a rural divinity, the goddess of horses.

=History=, see Clio and Saga.

=Honey=, see Aristaeus and Dryads.

=Hope=, see Pandora.

=Horae= (Hoʹrae) were the daughters of Sol and Chronis, the goddesses of the seasons.

=Horse=, see Cyllaros.

=Horse Races=, see Neptune.

=Horses=, see Hippona.

=Hortensis= (Hortenʹsis), a name of Venus, because she looked after plants and flowers in gardens.

=Horus= (Hoʹrus). The name of two deities, one Sol, the Egyptian day god; the other, the son of Osiris and Isis. See Harpocrates.

=Hostilina= (Hostilʹina). A rural divinity; goddess of growing corn.

=Hunger=, see Erisichthon.

=Hunting=, see Diana.

=Huntsmen=, see Pan.

=Hyacinthus= (Hyacinʹthus) was a boy greatly loved by Apollo; but he was accidentally slain by him with a quoit. Apollo caused to spring from his blood the flower Hyacinth.

=Hyades= (Hyʹades) were seven daughters of Atlas and Aethra, and they formed a constellation which, when it rises with the sun, threatens rain.

=Hydra= (Hyʹdra). A monster serpent, which had a hundred heads. It was slain by Hercules. See Hercules.

=Hygeia= (Hygeʹia), the goddess of health, was a daughter of Aesculapius and Epione. She was represented as a young woman giving a serpent drink out of a saucer, the serpent being twined round her arm.

=Hylas= (Hyʹlas). A beautiful boy beloved by Hercules. The nymphs were jealous of him, and spirited him away while he was drawing water for Hercules. See Wm. Morris's tragedy, "The Life and Death of Jason."

=Hymen= (Hyʹmen), the Grecian god of marriage, was either the son of Bacchus and Venus, or, as some say, of Apollo and one of the Muses. He was represented as a handsome youth, holding in his hand a burning torch.

"Some few there are of sordid mould
Who barter youth and bloom for gold:
But Hymen, gen'rous, just, and kind,
Abhors the mercenary mind;
Such rebels groan beneath his rod,
For Hymen's a vindictive god."
Dr. Cotton, 1736.

=Hymn=, see Paean.

=Hyperion= (Hypeʹrion). Son of Coelus and Terra. The model of manly beauty, synonymous with Apollo. The personification of the sun.

"So excellent a king; that was to this
Hyperion to a satyr."
Shakespeare.

=Hypermnestra= (Hypermnesʹtra). One of the fifty daughters of Danaus, who were collectively called the Danaides. She was the one who refused to kill her husband on the wedding night. See Danaus.

=Iacchus= (Iacʹchus). Another name for Bacchus.

=Iapetos= (Iapʹetos). The father of Atlas. See Japetus.

=Iblees= (Ibʹlees). The Arabian Satan.

=Icarus= (Icʹarus), son of Daedalus, who with his father made themselves wings with which to fly from Crete to escape the resentment of Minos. The wings were fixed to the shoulders by wax. Icarus flew too near the sun, and the heat melting the wax, caused the wings to drop off, and he fell into the Aegean or Icarian sea and was drowned.

=Ichnobate= (Ichnobaʹte). One of Actaeon's hounds; the word means tracker.

=Idaea= (Idaeʹa). A name of Cybele, from Mount Ida, where she was worshiped.

=Idaean Mother= (Idaeʹan Mother). Cybele was sometimes so called, in Cyprus, in which there is a grove sacred to Venus.

=Idalia= (Idaʹlia). A name of Venus, from Mount Idalus, in Cyprus, in which there is a grove sacred to Venus.

=Imperator= (Imperaʹtor) was a name of Jupiter, given to him at Praeneste.

=Inachus= (Iʹnachus) was one of the earliest of the demi-gods or heroes, King of Argos.

=Incendiary=, see Erostratus.

=Incense=, see Venus.

=Incubus= (Inʹcubus). A Roman name of Pan, meaning The Nightmare. See Innus.

=Indigetes= (Indigʹetes) were deified mortals, gods of the fourth order. They were peculiar to some district.

=Indra= (Inʹdra). The Hindoo Jupiter; his wife was Indrant, who presides over the winds and thunder.

=Infants=, see Natio.

=Innus= (Inʹnus). A name of Pan, the same as Incubus.

=Ino= (Inʹo), second wife of Athamas, King of Thebes, father of Phryxus and Helle. Ino had two children, who could not ascend the throne while Phryxus and Helle were alive. Ino therefore persecuted them to such a degree that they determined to escape. They did so on a ram, whose hide became the Golden Fleece (see Phryxus and Helle). Ino destroyed herself, and was changed by Neptune into a sea-goddess.

=Inoa= (Inoʹa) were festivals in memory of Ino.

=Instrumental Music=, see Euterpe.

=Io= (Iʹo) was a daughter of Inachus, and a priestess of Juno at Argos. Jupiter courted her, and was detected by Juno, when the god turned Io into a beautiful heifer. Juno demanded the beast of Jupiter, and set the hundred-eyed Argus to watch her. Jupiter persuaded Mercury to destroy Argus, and Io was set at liberty, and restored to human shape. Juno continued her persecutions, and Io had to wander from place to place till she came to Egypt, where she became wife of King Osiris, and won such good opinions from the Egyptians that after her death she was worshiped as the goddess Isis.

=Iolaus= (Iolaʹus), son of Iphicles, assisted Hercules in conquering the Hydra, by burning with hot irons the place where the heads were cut off; and for his assistance he was restored to youth by Hebe. Lovers used to go to his monument at Phocis and ratify their vows of fidelity.

=Iothun= (Ioʹthun). Celtic mythological monsters, or giants.

=Iphicles= (Iphʹicles) was twin brother of Hercules, and father of Iolaus.

=Iphigenia= (Iphigeniʹa) was a daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. Agamemnon made a vow to Diana, which involved the sacrifice of Iphigenia, but just at the critical moment she was carried to heaven, and a beautiful goat was found on the altar in her place.

=Iris= (Iʹris), daughter of Thaumas and Electra, was the attendant of Juno, and one of the messengers of the gods. Her duty was to cut the thread which detained expiring souls. She is the personification of the rainbow.

=Iron=, see Vulcan.

=Isis= (Iʹsis), wife of Osiris, and a much worshiped divinity of the Egyptians. See Io.

=Itys= (Iʹtys) was killed by his mother Procne when six years old, and given to his father Tereus, a Thracian of Daulis, as food. The gods were so enraged at this that they turned Itys into a pheasant, Procne into a swallow, and Tereus into a hawk.

=Ixion= (Ixiʹon), the son of Phlegyas, King of the Lapithae. For attempting to produce thunder, Jupiter cast him into hell, and had him bound to a wheel, surrounded with serpents, which is forever turning over a river of fire.

"The powers of vengeance, while they hear,
Touched with compassion, drop a tear;
Ixion's rapid wheel is bound,
Fixed in attention to the sound."
F. Lewis.

"Or, as Ixion fix'd, the wretch shall feel
The giddy motion of the whirling wheel."
Pope.

=Jani= (Jaʹni) was a place in Rome where there were three statues of Janus, and it was a meeting-place for usurers and creditors.

=Janitor= (Jaʹnitor). A title of Janus, from the gates before the doors of private houses being called Januae.

=Janus= (Jaʹnus). A king of Italy, said to have been the son of Coelus, others say of Apollo; he sheltered Saturn when he was driven from heaven by Jupiter. Janus presided over highways, gates, and locks, and is usually represented with two faces, because he was acquainted with the past and the future; or, according to others, because he was taken for the sun, who opens the day at his rising, and shuts it at his setting. A brazen temple was erected to him in Rome, which was always open in time of war, and closed during peace.

"Old Janus, if you please,
Grave two-faced father."

"In two-faced Janus we this moral find,--
While we look forward, we should glance behind."
Colman.

=Japetus= (Japʹetus), son of Coelus and Terra, husband of Clymene. He was looked upon by the Greeks as the father of all mankind. See Iapetos.

=Jason= (Jaʹson), the son of Aeson, king of Iolcos; he was brought up by the centaur Chiron. His uncle Aeeta sent him to fetch the Golden Fleece from Colchis (see Argonauts). He went in the ship Argo with forty-nine companions, the flower of Greek youth. With the help of Juno they got safe to Colchis, but the King Aeetes promised to restore the Golden Fleece only on condition that the Argonauts performed certain services. Jason was to tame the wild fiery bulls, and to make them plow the field of Mars; to sow in the ground the teeth of a serpent, from which would spring armed men who would fight against him who plowed the field of Mars; to kill the fiery dragon which guarded the tree on which the Golden Fleece was hung. The fate of Jason and the rest of the Argonauts seemed certain; but Medea, the king's daughter, fell in love with Jason, and with the help of charms which she gave him he overcame all the difficulties which the king had put in his way. He took away the Golden Fleece and Medea also. The king sent his son Absyrtus to overtake the fugitives, but Medea killed him, and strewed his limbs in his father's path, so that he might be delayed in collecting them, and this enabled Jason and Medea to escape. After a time Jason got tired of Medea, and married Glauce, which cruelty Medea revenged by killing her children before their father's eyes. Jason was accidentally killed by a beam of the ship Argo falling on him.

=Jocasta= (Jocasʹta) (otherwise Epicasta), wife of Laius, King of Thebes, who in after-life married her own son, Oedipus, not knowing who he was, and, on discovering the fatal mistake, hanged herself.

=Jove.= A very general name of Jupiter.

"From the great father of the gods above
My muse begins, for all is full of Jove."
Virgil.

=Judges in Hell, The=, were Rhadamanthus for Asiatics; Aeacus for Europeans; Minos was the presiding judge in the infernal regions. See Triptolemus.

=Jugatinus= (Jugatinʹus) was one of the nuptial deities.

=Juno= (Juʹno) was the daughter of Saturn and Ops, _alias_ Cybele. She was married to Jupiter, and became queen of all the gods and goddesses, and mistress of heaven and earth. Juno was the mother of Mars, Vulcan, Hebe, and Lucina. She prompted the gods to conspire against Jupiter, but the attempt was frustrated, and Apollo and Neptune were banished from heaven by Jupiter. Juno is the goddess of marriage, and the protectress of married women; and she had special regard for virtuous women. In the competition for the celebrated Golden Apple, which Juno, Venus, and Minerva each claimed as the fairest among the goddesses, Juno was much displeased when Paris gave the apple to Venus. The goddess is generally represented riding in a chariot drawn by peacocks, with a diadem on her head, and a scepter in her hand.

=Jupiter= (Juʹpiter), son of Saturn and Cybele (or Ops), was born on Mount Ida, in Crete, and nourished by the goat Amalthaea. When quite young Jupiter rescued his father from the Titans; and afterward, with the help of Hercules, defeated the giants, the sons of earth, when they made war against heaven. Jupiter was worshiped with great solemnity under various names by most of the heathen nations. The Africans called him Ammon; the Babylonians, Belus; and the Egyptians, Osiris (see Jove). He is represented as a majestic personage seated on a throne, holding in his hands a scepter and a thunderbolt; at his feet stood a spread eagle.

=Justice=, see Astrea, Nemesis.

=Kali.= A Hindoo goddess, after whom Calicut is named.

=Kaloc= (Kaʹloc). One of the chief of the Mexican gods.

=Kama= (Kamʹa). The Hindoo god of love.

=Kebla= (Kebʹla). The point of the compass which worshipers look to during their invocations. Thus the Sol or Sun worshipers turn to the east, where the sun rises, and the Mohammedans turn toward Mecca.

=Kederli= (Keʹderli), in Mohammedan mythology, is a god corresponding to the English St. George, and is still invoked by the Turks when they go to war.

=Kiun= (Kiʹun). The Egyptian Venus.

=Kneph.= An Egyptian god, having a ram's head and a man's body.

=Krishna= (Krishʹna). An Indian god, the revenger of wrongs; also called the Indian Apollo.

=Krodo= (Kroʹdo). The Saxon Saturn.

=Kumara= (Kuʹmaʹra). The war-god of the Hindoos.

=Kuvera= (Kuʹvera). The Hindoo god of riches.

=Labe= (Laʹbe). The Arabian Circe, who had unlimited power of metamorphosis.

=Labor= (Labʹor), see Atlas, Hercules.

=Labyrinth=, see Theseus.

=Lachesis= (Lachʹesis). One of the three goddesses of Fate, the Parcae. She spun the thread of life.

=Lacinia= (Lacinʹia). A name of Juno.

=Lactura.= One of the goddesses of growing corn.

=Ladon= (Laʹdon). The dragon which guarded the apples in the garden of the Hesperides. Also the name of one of Actaeon's hounds. Also the river in Arcadia to which Syrinx fled when pursued by Pan, where she was changed into a reed, and where Pan made his first pipe.

=Laelaps= (Laeʹlaps). One of Diana's hunting-dogs, which, while pursuing a wild boar, was petrified. Also the name of one of Actaeon's hounds.

=Laksmi= (Laksʹmi) Hindoo goddess of wealth and pleasure. One of the husbands of Vishnu.

=Lamentation=, see Cocytus.

=Lamia= (Lamʹia). An evil deity among the Greeks and Romans, and the great dread of their children, whom she had the credit of constantly enticing away and destroying.

=Lamp=, see Lares and Penates.

=Lampos= (Lamʹpos). One of Aurora's chariot horses, the other being Phaeton.

=Laocoon= (Laocʹoon). One of the priests of Apollo, who was, with his two sons, strangled to death by serpents, because he opposed the admission of the fatal wooden horse to Troy.

=Laomedon= (Laomʹedon), son of Ilus, a Trojan king. He was famous for having, with the assistance of Apollo and Neptune, built the walls of Troy.

=Lapis= (Lapʹis). The oath stone. The Romans used to swear by Jupiter Lapis.

=Lapithus= (Lapʹithus), son of Apollo. His numerous children were called Lapithae, and they are notorious for their fight with the centaurs at the nuptial feast of Perithous and Hippodamia.

=Lares and Penates= (Laʹres and Penaʹtes) were sons of Mercury and Lara, or, as other mythologists say, of Jupiter and Lamida. They belonged to the lower order of Roman gods, and presided over homes and families. Their statues were generally fixed within the doors of houses, or near the hearths. Lamps were sacred to them, as symbols of vigilance, and the dog was their sacrifice.

=Lark=, see Scylla and Nysus.

=Latona= (Latoʹna), daughter of Coelus and Phoebe, mother of Apollo and Diana. Being admired so much by Jupiter, Juno was jealous, and Latona was the object of the goddess' constant persecution.

=Laughter=, see Momus and Venus.

=Laurel= (Lauʹrel), see Daphne.

=Laverna= (Laverʹna). The Roman patroness of thieves.

=Law=, see Menu.

=Lawgiver=, see Nomius.

=Laws=, see Themis.

=Leander= (Leanʹder), see Hero.

=Leather Bottle=, see Ascolia.

=Leda= (Leʹda) was the mother of Castor and Pollux, their father being Jupiter, in the shape of a swan. After her death she received the name of Nemesis.

=Lemnius= (Lemʹnius). One of the names of Vulcan.

=Lemures= (Lemʹures). The ghosts of departed souls. Milton, in his "Ode to the Nativity," says--

"Lemures moan with midnight plaint."

They are sometimes referred to as the Manes of the dead.

=Lenaeus= (Lenaeʹus). One of the names of Bacchus.

=Lerna= (Lerʹna). The lake or swamp near Argos where Hercules conquered the Lernaean Hydra.

=Lethe= (Leʹthe). One of the rivers of the infernal regions, of which the souls of the departed are obliged to drink to produce oblivion or forgetfulness of everything they did or knew while alive on the earth.

"A slow and silent stream,
Lethe, the river of oblivion, rolls
Her watery labyrinth, whereof who drinks
Forthwith his former state and being forgets,
Forgets both joy and grief, pleasure and pain."
Milton.

=Leucothea= (Leucothʹea). The name of Ino after she was transformed into a sea nymph.

=Levana= (Levaʹna). The deity who presided over new-born infants.

=Level, The=, see Daedalus.

=Liakura= (Liakʹura). Mount Parnassus.

=Liberal Arts=, see Minerva.

=Liber Pater= (Liʹber Paʹter). A name of Bacchus.

=Liberty=, see Bacchus.

=Libissa= (Libʹissa). Queen of fays and fairies.

=Libitina= (Libitiʹna). A Roman goddess, the chief of the funeral deities.

=Licentiousness=, see Belphegor.

=Ligea= (Ligeʹa). A Greek syren or sea-nymph, one of the Nereides.

=Lightning=, see Agni.

=Lilith= (Liʹlith). A Jewish myth representing a finely dressed woman who is a great enemy to new-born children. She was said to have been Adam's first wife, but, refusing to submit to him, was turned from Paradise and made a specter.

=Lina= (Liʹna). The goddess of the art of weaving.

=Lindor= (Linʹdor). A lover in the shape of a shepherd, like Corydon; a love-sick swain.

=Lion=, see Atalanta, Chimaera.

=Liver=, see Tityus and Prometheus.

=Locks=, see Janus.

=Lofen= (Loʹfen). The Scandinavian god who guards friendship.

=Lofua= (Lofʹua). The Scandinavian goddess who reconciles lovers.

=Loke.= The Scandinavian Satan, the god of strife, the spirit of evil. Written also Lok, and Loki.

=Lotis= (Loʹtis). A daughter of Neptune, who fled from Priapus, and only escaped from him by being transformed into a lotus-plant.

=Lotus-Plant= (Loʹtus-Plant), see Lotis.

=Love=, see Cupid, Eros, Venus.

=Lucian= (Luʹcian). The impersonation of folly, changed into an ass.

=Lucifer= (Luʹcifer). The morning star.

=Lucina= (Luciʹna). The goddess who presides at the birth of children. She was a daughter of Jupiter and Juno, or, according to others, of Latona.

"Lucina, hail! So named from thine own grove,
Or from the light thou giv'st us from above."
Ovid.

=Lud.= In ancient British mythology the king of the Britons. He is said to have given his name to London.

=Luna= (Luʹna). The name of Diana as a celestial divinity. See Diana and Hecate. Also, the Italian goddess of the moon.

=Lupercus= (Luʹpercus), or Pan. The Roman god of fertility; his festival day was 15th February, and the festivals were called Lupercalia.

=Lycaonian Food= (Lycaonʹian). Execrable viands, such as were supplied to Jupiter by Lycaon. To test the divine knowledge of the god he served up human flesh, which Jove discovered, and punished Lycaon by turning him into a wolf.

=Lycian Clowns= were turned into frogs by Latona or Ceres.

=Lymniades= (Lymniʹades). Nymphs who resided in marshes.

=Lynceus= (Lynʹceus). One of the Argonauts. The personification of sharpsightedness.

=Lyre.= This musical instrument is constantly associated with the doings of the ancient deities. Amphion built the walls of Thebes by the music of his lyre. Arion charmed the dolphins in a similar way. Hercules broke the head of Linus, his music-master, with the lyre he was learning to use; and Orpheus charmed the most savage beasts, and even the Harpies and gods of the infernal regions, with the enchanting music of the stringed lyre. See Mercury.

=Maenades= (Maenʹades). Priestesses of Bacchus.

=Magicians=, see Telchines.

=Magna Dea= (Magʹna Deʹa), a name of Ceres.

=Magpies=, see Pierides.

=Mahasoor= (Maʹhaʹsoor). The Hindoo god of evil.

=Maia= (Maʹia). The mother of the Grecian Mercury.

=Mammon= (Mamʹmon). The money god.

=Manes= (Maʹnes). The souls of the departed. The Roman god of funerals and tombs.

"All have their Manes, and their Manes bear.
The few who're cleansed to those abodes repair,
And breathe in ample fields the soft Elysian air."

=Manuring Land=, see Picumnus.

=March 24=, Bellona's Day. See Bellona.

=Marina= (Mariʹna). A name of Venus, meaning sea-foam, from her having been formed from the froth of the sea. See Aphrodite.

=Marriage=, see Cama, Hymen, Juno, Jugatinus.

=Mars=, the god of war, was the son of Jupiter and Juno. Venus was his favorite goddess, and among their children were Cupid, Anteros, and Harmonia. In the Trojan War Mars took the part of the Trojans, but was defeated by Diomedes. The first month of the old Roman year (our March) was sacred to Mars.

=Marshes=, see Lymniades.

=Marsyas= (Marʹsyas). The name of the piper who challenged Apollo to a musical contest, and, being defeated, was flayed to death by the god. He was the supposed inventor of the flute.

=Marut= (Maʹrut). The Hindoo god of tempestuous winds.

=Matura= (Matuʹra). One of the rural deities who protected the growing corn at time of ripening.

=Maximus= (Maxʹimus). One of the appellations of Jupiter, being the greatest of the gods.

=Measures and Weights=, see Mercury.

=Medea= (Medeʹa). Wife of Jason, chief of the Argonauts. To punish her husband for infidelity, Medea killed two of her children in their father's presence. She was a great sorceress. See Jason.

"Now to Medaea's dragons fix my reins."
F. Lewis.

"Let not Medea draw her murdering knife,
And spill her children's blood upon the stage."
Lord Roscommon.

=Medicine=, see Apollo.

=Meditation=, see Harpocrates.

=Medusa= (Meduʹsa). One of the Gorgons. Minerva changed her beautiful hair into serpents. She was conquered by Perseus, who cut off her head, and placed it on Minerva's shield. Every one who looked at the head was turned into stone.

Ulysses, in the Odyssey, relates that he wished to see more of the inhabitants of Hades, but was afraid, as he says--

"Lest Gorgon, rising from the infernal lakes,
With horrors armed, and curls of hissing snakes,
Should fix me, stiffened at the monstrous sight,
A stony image in eternal night."
Pope.

"Medusa with Gorgonian terror guards
The ford."
Milton.

"Remove that horrid monster, and take hence
Medusa's petrifying countenance."
Addison.

=Megaera= (Megʹaera). One of the three Furies--Greek goddesses of vengeance.

=Megale= (Megʹale). A Greek name of Juno, meaning great.

=Melicerta= (Melicerʹta), see Palaemon.

=Mellona= (Melloʹna). One of the rural divinities, the goddess of bees.

=Melpomene= (Melpomʹene). One of the nine Muses, the goddess of tragedy.

=Memnon= (Memʹnon), son of Tithonus and of Eos, who after the death of Hector brought the Aethiopians to the assistance of Priam in the war against Troy.

=Memory=, see Mnemosyne.

=Mendes= (Menʹdes). An Egyptian god like Pan. He was worshiped in the form of a goat.

=Menelaus= (Menelaʹus). A Spartan king, brother of Agamemnon. The elopement of his wife Helen with Paris was the cause of the siege of Troy. See Helena.

=Menu= (Meʹnu), or =Manu= (Maʹnu). The Hindoo law-giver. See Satyavrata.

=Merchants=, see Mercury.

=Mercury= (Merʹcury), the son of Jupiter and Maia, was the messenger of the gods, and the conductor of the souls of the dead to Hades. He was the supposed inventor of weights and measures, and presided over orators and merchants. Mercury was accounted a most cunning thief, for he stole the bow and quiver of Apollo, the girdle of Venus, the trident of Neptune, the tools of Vulcan, and the sword of Mars, and he was therefore called the god of thieves. He is the supposed inventor of the lyre, which he exchanged with Apollo for the Caduceus. There was also an Egyptian Mercury under the name of Thoth, or Thaut, who is credited with having taught the Egyptians geometry and hieroglyphics. Hermes is the Greek name of Mercury. In art he is usually represented as having on a winged cap, and with wings on his heels.

"And there, without the power to fly,
Stands fix'd a tip-toe Mercury."
Lloyd, 1750.

"Then fiery expedition be my wing,
Jove's Mercury, and herald for a king."

"Be Mercury, set feathers to thy heels
And fly, like thought, from them to me again."
Shakespeare.

=Meru= (Meʹru). The abode of the Hindoo god Vishnu. It is at the top of a mountain 8,000 leagues high. The Olympus of the East Indians.

=Midas= (Miʹdas). A king of Phrygia, who begged of Bacchus the special gift that everything that he touched might be turned into gold. The request was granted, and as soon as he touched his food it also was turned to gold, and for fear of being starved he was compelled to ask the god to withdraw the power he had bestowed upon him. He was told to bathe in the river Pactolus. He did so, and the sands which he stood on were golden forever after. It was this same king who, being appointed to be judge in a musical contest between Apollo and Pan, gave the satyr the palm; whereupon Apollo, to show his contempt, bestowed on him a pair of asses' ears. This gave rise to the term "Midas-eared" as a synonym for ill-judged, or indiscriminate.

"He dug a hole, and in it whispering said,
What monstrous ears sprout from King Midas' head."
Ovid.

=Milo= (Miʹlo), a celebrated Croton athlete, who is said to have felled an ox with his fist, and to have eaten the beast in one day. His statue is often seen with one hand in the rift of a tree trunk, out of which he is vainly trying to withdraw it. The fable is, that when he got to be an old man he attempted to split an oak tree, but having lost his youthful vigor, the tree closed on his hand and he was held a prisoner till the wolves came and devoured him.

=Mimallones= (Mimalloʹnes). The "wild women" who accompanied Bacchus, so called because they mimicked his actions, putting horns on their heads when they took part in his orgies.

=Mimir= (Miʹmir). In Scandinavian mythology the god of wisdom.

=Mind=, see Erinnys.

=Minerva= (Minerʹva), the goddess of wisdom, war, and the liberal arts, is said to have sprung from the head of Jupiter fully armed for battle. She was a great benefactress of mankind, and patroness of the fine arts. She was the tutelar deity of the city of Athens. She is also known by the names of Pallas, Parthenos, Tritonia, and Glaukopis. She was very generally worshiped by the ancients, and her temple at Athens, the Parthenon, still remains. She is represented in statues and pictures as wearing a golden helmet encircled with an olive branch, and a breastplate. In her right hand she carries a lance, and by her side is the famous aegis or shield, covered with the skin of Amalthaea, the goat which nourished Jupiter; and for the boss of the shield is the head of Medusa. An owl, the emblem of meditation, is on the left; and a cock, the emblem of courage, on the right. The Elgin Marbles in the British Museum, London, were brought from the Parthenon, her temple at Athens.

=Minos= (Miʹnos). The supreme of the three judges of hell, before whom the spirits of the departed appeared and heard their doom.

=Minotaur= (Minʹotaur). The monster, half man, half bull, which Theseus slew.

=Mirth=, see Momus.

=Misery=, see Genii.

=Mithras= (Mithʹras). A Persian divinity, the ruler of the universe, corresponding with the Roman Sol.

=Mnemosyne= (Mnemosʹyne). Mother of the Muses and goddess of memory. Jupiter courted the goddess in the guise of a shepherd.

=Moakibat= (Moakʹibat). The recording angel of the Mohammedans.

=Moloch= (Moʹloch). A god of the Phoenicians to whom human victims, principally children, were sacrificed. Moloch is figurative of the influence which impels us to sacrifice that which we ought to cherish most dearly.

"First Moloch, horrid king, besmeared with blood
Of human sacrifice, and parents' tears,
Though for the noise of drums and timbrels loud,
Their children's cries unheard, that poured through fire
To this grim idol."
Milton.

=Momus= (Moʹmus). The god of mockery and blame. The god who blamed Jove for not having made a window in man's breast, so that his thoughts could be seen. His bitter jests occasioned his being driven from heaven in disgrace. He is represented as holding an image of Folly in one hand, and raising a mask from his face with the other. He is also described as the god of mirth or laughter.

=Moneta= (Moneʹta). A name given to Juno by those writers who considered her the goddess of money.

=Money=, see Moneta.

=Money-God=, see Mammon.

=Moon.= The moon was, by the ancients, called _Hecate_ before and after setting; _Astarte_ when in crescent form; _Diana_ when in full. See Luna.

"Soon as the evening shades prevail
The moon takes up her wondrous tale,
And nightly to the list'ning earth
Repeats the story of her birth."
Addison.

=Morpheus= (Morʹpheus). The Greek god of sleep and dreams, the son and minister of Somnus.

"Morpheus, the humble god that dwells
In cottages and smoky cells;
Hates gilded roofs and beds of down,
And though he fears no prince's frown,
Flies from the circle of a crown."
Sir John Denman.

=Mors.= Death, a daughter of Nox (Night).

=Mountain=, see Atlas, Nymph.

=Mulciber= (Mulʹciber). A name of Vulcan, sometimes spelled Mulcifer, the smelter of metals. See Vulcan.

=Munin= (Munʹin). The Scandinavian god of memory, represented by the raven that was perched on Odin's shoulder.

=Muscarius= (Muscaʹrius). A name given to Jupiter because he kept off the flies from the sacrifices.

=Muses, The= (Muʹses), were nine daughters of Jupiter and Mnemosyne. They presided over the arts and sciences, music and poetry. Their names were, Calliope, Clio, Erato, Thalia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Euterpe, Polyhymnia, and Urania. They principally resided in Mount Parnassus, at Helicon.

"Be thou the tenth Muse, ten times more in worth,
Than those old nine which rhymers advocate."
Shakespeare.

=Music=, see Apollo, Muses.

=Mythras= (Myʹthras). The Egyptian name of Apollo.

=Naiads, The= (Naiʹads), were beautiful nymphs of human form who presided over springs, fountains, and wells. They resided in the meadows by the sides of rivers. Virgil mentions Aegle as being the fairest of the Naiades.

=Nandi= (Nanʹdi). The Hindoo goddess of joy.

=Narrae= (Narʹrae). The name of the infernal regions amongst the Hindoos.

=Narayan= (Naʹraʹyan). The mover of the waters. The Hindoo god of tides.

=Narcissus= (Narcisʹsus), son of Cephisus and the Naiad Liriope, was a beautiful youth, who was so pleased with the reflection of himself which he saw in the placid water of a fountain that he could not help loving it, imagining that it must be some beautiful nymph. His fruitless endeavors to possess himself of the supposed nymph drove him to despair, and he killed himself. There sprang from his blood a flower, which was named after him, Narcissus.

"Narcissus so himself forsook,
And died to kiss his shadow in the brook."

"Hadst thou Narcissus in thy face, to me
Thou wouldst appear most ugly."
Shakespeare.

=Nastrond= (Nasʹtrond). The Scandinavian place of eternal punishment, corresponding with Hades.

=Natio= (Naʹtio). A Roman goddess who took care of young infants.

=Nemaean Lion= (Nemaeʹan), see Hercules.