Mythology & Beliefs

Momus in Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology

(*Mw=mos), a son of Nyx, is a personification of mockery and censure. (Hes. Th. 214.) Thus he is said to have censured in the man formed by Hephaestus, that a little door had not been left in his breast, so as to enable one to look into his secret thoughts. (Lucian, Hermotim. 20.) Aphrodite alone was, according to him, blameless. (Philostr. Ep...

Read More

Naiades in Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology

[NYMPHAE.] - A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, William Smith, Ed....

Read More

Mezentius in Wikipedia

In Roman mythology, Mezentius was an Etruscan king, and father of Lausus. Sent into exile because of his cruelty, he moved to Latium. He reveled in bloodshed and was overwhelmingly savage on the battlefield, but more significantly to a Roman audience he was a contemptor divum, a "despiser of the gods." He appears in Virgil's Aeneid, primarily ...

Read More

Minotaur in Wikipedia

In Greek mythology, the Minotaur (Greek: Μῑνώταυρος, Latin: Minotaurus, Etruscan Θevrumineś), as the Greeks imagined him, was a creature with the head of a bull on the body of a man[1] or, as described by Ovid, "part man and part bull".[2] He dwelt at the center of the Cretan Labyrinth, which was an elaborate maze-like construction[3] built fo...

Read More

Morpheus in Wikipedia

Morpheus (pronounced /ˈmɔrfiəs/ or /ˈmɔrfjuːs/; Greek: Μορφεύς, Morpheus, or Μορφέας, Morpheas, "shaper [of dreams]") in Greek mythology as the god of dreams, leader of the Oneiroi.[1] Morpheus has the ability to take any human form and appear in dreams. His true semblance is that of a winged daemon, imagery shared with many of his siblings......

Read More

Napaeae in Wikipedia

In Greek mythology, the Napaeae (Ancient Greek: ναπαῖαι, from νάπη; English translation: "a wooded dell") were a type of nymph that lived in wooded valleys, glens or grottoes.[1] Statius invoked them in his Thebaid, when the naiad Ismenis addresses her mortal son Krenaios: "I was held a greater goddess and the queen of Nymphae. Where alas! is ...

Read More

Memnon in Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology

(Μέμνων), a son of Tithonus and Eos, and brother of Emathion. In the Odyssey and Hesiod he is described as the handsome son of Eos, who assisted Priam with his Ethiopians against the Greeks. He slew Antilochus, the son of Nestor, at Troy. (Hes. Th. 984, &c.; Hom. Od. 4.188, 11.522; Apollod. 3.12. § 4.) Some writers called his mother a Cis...

Read More

Lares in Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology

The worship of the Lares at Rome was closely connected with that of the Manes, and that of both was analogous to the hero worship of the Greeks. The name Lar is Etruscan, and signifies lord, king, or hero. The Lares may be divided into two classes, the Lares domestici and Lares publici, and the former were the Manes of a house raised to the di...

Read More

Leda in Wikipedia

In Greek mythology, Leda (Λήδα) was daughter of the Aetolian king Thestius, and wife of the king Tyndareus (Τυνδάρεως), of Sparta. Her myth gave rise to the popular motif in Renaissance and later art of Leda and the Swan. She was the mother of Helen (Ἑλένη) of Troy, Clytemnestra (Κλυταιμνήστρα), and Castor and Pollux (Κάστωρ & Πολυδεύκης, ...

Read More

Lynceus in Wikipedia

In Greek mythology, Lynceus (Ancient Greek: Λυγκεύς) was a king of Argos, succeeding Danaus. He is named as a descendant of Belus through his father Aegyptus, who was the twin brother of Danaus. Danaus had fifty daughters, the Danaides, while Aegyptus had fifty sons including Lynceus, whose name when translated means 'wolf'. Aegyptus commanded...

Read More