| |
Goddesses of Ancient Greece - A
Acantha
The spirit of the acanthus tree who was once a nymph loved by the sun
god and who, at her death, was transformed into a sun-loving herb. |
Acanthis
The sister of Acanthus. When she cried over the death of her brother the
gods turned her into a thistle finch.
|
Achelois
A moon-goddess (she who drives away pain) to whom sacrifice was ordered
by the Dodonian Oracle.
|
Achlys
("mist"', "darkness") The Mother who existed before
Chaos, giving birth to it. |
Acidalia
An epithet of Aphrodite, named after the spring with the same name in
Boeotia, where she used to bathe.
|
Adamanthea
The nymph who nursed Zeus (when Rhea gave Cronus a stone to swallow instead
of the new-born Zeus). Cronus was supposedly able to see everything that
occurred in the realms over which he had dominion (the earth, heavens,
and the sea), but Adamanthea deceived him by hanging the baby Zeus (in
his cradle) from a tree, so that suspended between earth, sea, and sky
he was invisible to his father. There are MANY versions of this story
and the nurse has a different name in each: Ida, Adrasteia, Neda, Helice,
Aega, Cynosura.
|
Admete
The daughter of Eurystheus. For her Heracles stole the girdle of Hippolyta.
|
Adrasteia
"She whom none can escape". Properly an epithet of Rhea Cybele
in her attribute of the Mother who punishes human injustice, which is
a transgression of the natural right order of things. The Greeks and Romans
identified her with Nemesis.
|
Aedon
Wife of Zethus and mother of a daughter Itylus, whom she slew by mistake,
whereupon Zeus transformed her into the nightingale who nightly laments
her murdered child -OR- a queen of ancient Thebes who plotted to kill
a son of her rival Niobe but killed her own son by mistake. Her grief
led her to try suicide but she was transformed into the first nightingale
by the gods, a bird that still haunts the night with its mournful cry.
Greece Odyssey XIX, 518.
|
Aegea
She was sister to Circe and Pasiphae, and daughter of the sun. When the
Titans attacked the gods of Olympus, Gaia placed Aega in a cave to hide
her shining loveliness. Japanese (Amaterasu) and Finnish (Paivatar) myths
have the same theme.
|
|
Aegiale
The daughter of Adrastus and Amphithea. She married Diomedes but was unfaithful
to him during his absence.
Aegina
Aegina is the daughter of the river god Asopus. The girl was abducted
Zeus, who carried her off to the island of Attica (in the Sardonic Gulf),
which was later named after her. She gave birth to a son, called Aeacus,
and he became the monarch of the island.
Aello
Aello is one of the Greek Harpies who was employed by the gods to make
peace and carry out punishments for crimes. Aello was described as a beautiful,
winged maiden. Later other writers described her as a winged monster with
the face of an ugly old woman, with crooked and sharp talons and claws.
She also was described as taking people to the Underworld and torturing
them. Aello is known as the Storm Swift of the three. She was also described
as a horrid woman with the body of a bird.
Aerope
The wife of Atreus. She committed adultery with his brother Thyestes and
gave him the Golden Fleece through which Atreus would become the legal
ruler of Mycene. Atreus prevented this.
Aethra
Aethra is the daughter Pittheus, the king of Troezen, and the wife of
Aegeus. She bore him a son: the hero Theseus.
Aetna
A daughter of Uranus and Gaia. She is the personified goddess of Mt. Etna,
a volcano on Sicily. Underneath this volcano the giant Typhon lies buried
(which explains the volcanic eruptions). When Hephaestus and Demeter were
arguing over Sicily, land of volcanoes and corn, Aetna stepped in to act
as arbitrator. She is sometimes regarded as the mother of the Palici,
the twin Sicilian gods of geysers.
Aganippe
"Mare who kills mercifully" A nymph, the daughter of the river-deity
Ternessus. She resides in the well Aganippe near Thespiae, at the base
of the mountain Helicon in Boeotia. The horse Pegasus supposedly created
this well with his hooves. This fountain was also dedicated to the Muses
because it imparted poetic inspiration. Hence the Muses are sometimes
called Aganippides.
|
Agave
("illustrious") The daughter of Cadmus and mother of Pentheus.
Agave killed her son when she was afflicted with Dionysic madness (Ovid
III, 725).
|
Agdistis
The name of the great rock of Asia Minor (Cybele in disguise) that Zeus
raped. The offspring of this union was Agdistis, a hermaphrodite.
|
Aglaia
(Aglaea) One of the three Graces. See also Euphrosyne and Thalia. Sometimes
represented as the wife of Hephaestus. Her name means "the brilliant,
splendor, shining one".
|
Aglaulus
In Greek mythology, the daughter of Cecrops, sister of Herse and Pandrosus.
When the city of Athens was once under siege for a very long time, Aglaulus
voluntarily hurled herself from the Acropolis, because an oracle had spoken
that through such a sacrifice the city would be saved. In her temple young
Athenian men who were called for service made the oath to guard their
fatherland. According to other sources, the goddess Athena had entrusted
the three sisters a small box that was not to be opened under any circumstance;
the young hero Erichthonius had been laid inside the box. When Aglaulus
and Herse opened the box and looked upon the face of the child, they were
stricken with madness, and hurled themselves from the Acropolis.
|
Aglauros
Daughter of Cecrops, the half-dragon half-man creature. Sister of Herse
who was beloved by Hermes. When Hermes visited Herse, Aglauros, who was
jealous, got in his way and said she would not move. The god took her
at her word and turned her into stone so she could not.
|
Agrotora
Another name for the Greek goddess Artemis, under which title she was
regarded as the patron goddess of hunters.
|
Ainia
Ainia was an enemy of Achilles. She fought with Penthesilea at Troy, against
Achilles.
|
Alcestis
"Might of the Home" The daughter of King Pelias, and wife of
Admetus. She volunteered to die in his place, but was returned from the
underworld by Heracles and reunited with her husband. She is a classical
example of love and loyalty. On a piece of art in the temple of Artemis
(rebuilt after the fire of 356 BCE), made by Scopas of Praxiteles, she
is portrayed between the winged god of death and Hermes.
|
Alcimede
The mother of Jason (Jason, the son of Aeson, was the leader of the Argonauts
and the husband of Medea. Because of a prophecy that Jason would someday
do him harm, King Pelias of Iolcos sent Jason on a seemingly impossible
quest to bring the Golden Fleece back from distant Colchis.)
|
Alcippe
The daughter of Ares and Aglaulus. She was raped by a son of Poseidon.
Ares then killed the rapist, and was brought before the other gods to
go on trial for murder; the first murder trial. After hearing the brutal
facts of the case they quickly acquitted him. See: Halirrhotius.
|
Alcmene
The wife of Amphitryon. While he was away, Zeus appeared before her Amphitryon's
guise, and seduced her. She became by him the mother or Heracles. "The
might of the moon".
|
Alcyone
(Halcyon) Greek demi-goddess, sometimes regarded as one of the Pleiades.
More often she was thought of as the daughter of Aeolus and wife of Ceyx,
son of Eosphorus and the king of Thessaly. They were very happy together,
but then Ceyx perished in a shipwreck and Alcyone threw herself into the
sea. Out of compassion, the gods changed them into the halcyon birds.
Since Alcyone made her nest on the beach, and waves threatened to destroy
it, Aeolus restrained his winds and made the waves be calm during seven
days in each year, so she could lay her eggs. These became known as the
"halcyon days", when storms never occur. The halcyon became
a symbol of tranquillity. (Ovid XI, 410). The name means something like
"Queen who wards off (storms)".
|
Alectrona
An early goddess who was a daughter of the sun.
|
Alekto
("unceasing in anger") (Alecto). One of the three Erinyes (Furies).
See also Megaera and Tisiphone. The Furies had snakes for hair and blood
dripped from their eyes. they also had bats' wings and dogs' heads. They
were persecutors of men and women who committed parricide, killed a brother,
or murdered a fellow clansman. Their effect on their victim was madness.
|
Alope
The daughter of Cercyon, son of Poseidon. She was abducted by her grandfather
and gave birth to Hippothoon. When Cercyon discovered this, he had his
daughter buried alive, but Poseidon turned her into the spring Alope near
Eleusis.
|
Althaea
The wife of Oeneus and mother of Meleager. When her child was born, the
three Moirae prophesied that Meleager would live only so long as a brand
burning upon the hearth remained unconsumed. Althaea immediately snatched
the brand from the fire and kept it in a safe place. When Meleager killed
her two brothers in a fight, Althaea removed the half-consumed brand from
its hiding place and cast it upon the fire. Ovid VIII, 455.
|
Amaltheia
The divine goat who suckled Zeus on Crete, his island of birth, when he
was still an infant. In other traditions, Amaltheia was a nymph who nourished
Zeus with honey and the milk of a goat. Out of gratitude Zeus turned one
of the goat's horns into the Cornucopia ("horn of plenty") which
was always filled with whatever its possessor wished. In some traditions,
the goat's skin became the Aegis, the legendary shield of Athena.
|
Amazons
Warrior women, who are described in the Iliad as "antianeirai",
meaning: those who go to war like men. They were also described by Herodotus
as "androktones", killers of males. It is believed they resided
in Pontus, Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) but there are differing views
as to how many nations of Amazons there were. The most famous came from
Pontus, with Themiscyra as their capital, and it is said that it was this
community who built Ephesus on the central west coast of Asia Minor (history
records Ephesus as being built circa 1050 BCE. by Ionian Greeks). The
name Amazon is believed to descend from the word amazoi which in Greek
means "breast less", deriving from the legend that says they
removed their young girls right breast, as to facilitate the drawing of
the bow, as the bow and arrows were their main weapon. They also used
sword, double sided axe and carried a distinctive crescent shaped shield.
Most of their fighting was done from horseback. Some say the breast was
removed by cutting, others that it was burnt off while the child was young,
and one legend says they removed the breast themselves.
As with most mythology, the anciant writers have differing opinions as
to where they were from and where they traveled. It has been written that
they journeyed as far afield as Egypt. According to Diodorus of Sicily,
with Myrine leading them they defeated the Atlantians, occupied Gorgon
and the greater part of Libya, and also crossed Phrygia.
Homer wrote in his great work the Iliad that the Amazons with Penthesilea
went to Troy in aid of King Priam during the Trojan War, and while doing
battle Penthesilea was wounded in her right breast. It was the hero Achilles
who inflicted the wound, but then fell in love with her great beauty.
The great Heracles had to travel to the lands of the Amazons to complete
the ninth labor imposed on him by Eurystheus. This labor became known
as the "Girdle of Hippolyte" and his task was to bring back
this symbolic girdle which had been given to the Amazons by the god of
war Ares. It has been said that the Amazons were descendants of Ares and
Otrera. Heracles took the girdle, but unfortunately he killed queen Hippolyta.
Theseus the Athenian hero abducted Antiope, the sister of Hippolyta, and
he took her back to Athens. In some versions Theseus married her, and
in others he married Hippolyta. The legend tells of the Amazons invading
Attica to take back their queen, and on reaching Athens a great battle
took place, but the Athenians were glorious. This scene has been depicted
in art by the Greeks in many forms, but probably the most famous are the
architectural marble carvings from the Parthenon, this form of sculpture
is known as Amazonomachy.
The Amazons worshiped Artemis, the virgin goddess of the hunt; and Ares,
the god of war. There are many variations to the all female tribe. As
how they multiplied, some say the Amazons met with men from nearby societies,
then after choosing a suitable partner would take them into the darkness
of the forest and there they would couple with them. When the time came,
and if they gave birth to a male, they would kill, blind or cripple the
infant. If they kept them alive they would then use them when they grew
into young men (if they were suitable) as a supply of male seed. They
also took men prisoner in battle, after choosing the most handsome they
then used them for their sexual pleasure, and would either kill them or
use them as slaves once their usefulness had been expended.
|
|
Amphitrite
(third encircler of the sea)Daughter of Nereus, by Doris, and wife of
Poseidon. Sea Goddess. daughter of Oceanus and Tethys or of Nereus and
Doris. When the sea god Poseidon wanted her as his bride, she declined
the honor and hid from him in the Atlantic Ocean. A dolphin not only located
her, but also brought her back to him, and he married her. The dolphin
was awarded a place in heaven. Their son is the fish-man Triton. Amphitrite
was portrayed on Greek amphoras together with her consort, riding in a
chariot pulled by sea creatures, or sitting on a sea creature, surrounded
by Tritons. She is decorated with the attributes of a queen, her waving
hair covered with a net, and sometimes with the pincers of a lobster attached
to her temples. The Romans referred to her as Salacia.
Amymone
A daughter of Danaus. She was once assaulted by a satyr near a spring,
but was saved by Poseidon. She fell in love with him and became by him
the mother of Nauplius (who later founded Nauplia (the current Nafplion),
a port at the gulf of Argolis). Her attribute is a water pitcher.
Ananke
Necessity. Neo-Platonic-Pythagorean Goddess Who governed the world according
to Karmic Law. Aspect of the Triple Goddess with Dike and Heimarmene.
Plato called Ananke the mother of the Moirae or Fates and is the personfication
of (unalterable) necessity or the force of destiny. Also mother of Adrasteia
(daughter of Jupiter and distributor of rewards and punishments). Goddess
of unalterable necessity. She was little worshipped until the advent of
the Orphic mystery cult.
Anaxarete
A girl from Cyprus who was loved greatly by the shepherd Iphis. She reacted
so cooly to his passionate love for her that he killed himself. When she
was not even moved by seeing his dead body, the goddess Aphrodite turned
her into stone.
Andromeda
Andromeda was the daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia, king and queen of
Ethiopia. Cassiopeia boasted that she was more beautiful than the Nereids,
and in revenge Poseidon sent a flood and a sea monster to plague the land.
When Cepheus consulted the oracle of Ammon he was told that the problem
would end if he exposed his daughter as prey for the monster. His people
forced him to comply with the oracle, and he chained Andromeda to a rock
by the sea. She was rescued by Perseus who killed the monster and married
Andromeda. One of their children, Perses, became the ancestor of the kings
of Persia.
|
Antea
The daughter of Iobates, wife of Proetus, the king of Argos. She fell
in love with Bellerophon but when her love was unrequited, she began to
slander him with her husband. Finally, out of desperation, she took her
own life.
|
Antheia
Antheia was the Greek goddess referred to as "the blooming",
or "friend of the flowers." She had a temple at Argos, and was
used by Cnossis as a surname of Aphrodite. She was considered to be the
form of a goddess as a flower-like adolescent. In Crete, she was considered
the goddess of vegetation, lowlands, gardens, blossoms, the budding earth,
and of human love.
|
Antiope
The daughter of king Nycteus of Thebes, or, according to others, of the
river-god Asopus. She was seduced by Zeus and fled of shame to Epopeus,
king of Sicyon, who married her. Nycteus' attempts to get her back were
unsuccessful, and upon his deathbed he charged his brother Lycus to fulfil
that task. Lycus and his army marched towards Sicyon, destroyed the city
and killed Epopeus. He took Antiope with him to Thebes and gave her as
a slave to his own wife Dirce. Dirce mistreated Antiope severely, but
she managed to escape and was finally reunited with her sons Amphion and
Zethus, her children with Zeus. Her twins exacted a terrible vengeance
upon Dirce. Later Antiope married Phocus.
|
Aoide
(Aoede) One of the original three Greek Muses (their number was later
increased to nine). She is the Muse of Song, sister of Melete and Mneme.
Greece.
|
Apate
Apate was the Greek goddess of deceit, daughter of Nyx. Apate was one
of the spirits inside Pandora's box.
|
Aphaea
("not dark", "vanisher") A Greek goddess of local
importance who was worshipped on the island of Aegina where she had a
temple. Some sources say she is the nymph Britomartis who fled from Crete,
but she is also identified with Athena and Artemis.
|
Aphrodite
Aphrodite, the "Golden
One", was the Greek Goddess of Love who was born from the foam of
the sea. She was called The Foam-risen, Queen of the Sea. She was attended
by the Hours and the Graces who made her even more beautiful before she
set foot on shore. As she walked to meet the rest of the goddesses and
gods for the first time, flowers sprang up at her feet. The goddess of
love, beauty and laughter; of birth, life, death, time and fate, reconciling
man to all of them through sensual and sexual mysticism. She was the patroness
of arts and letters, craft and cultur; the irresistible Goddess who stole
away even the wits of the wise.
Before the classical period, Aphrodite's realm was Nature. It was only
after the patriarchal takeover that she became the Goddess of Love in
various forms: as Aphrodite Urania she represented ideal love. According
to Hesiod, she was born when Uranus (the father of the gods) was castrated
by his son Cronus. Cronus threw the severed genitals into the ocean which
began to churn and foam about them. From the aphros ("sea foam")
arose Aphrodite, and the sea carried her to either Cyprus or Cythera.
Hence she is often referred to as Kypris and Cytherea.
Her origins can be traced back to Cyprus, where her temple was decorated
with a star, a crescent moon and a dove, and further back to Mesopotamia
in her form as Inanna-Ishtar where the myth of her consort Tammuz (Dumuzi)
was similar to that of Adonis. The myth of Isis and Osiris had similar
themes. Aphrodite fell in love with Adonis, a beautiful young man who,
one day went hunting and was killed by a boar; she turned him into an
anemone. As the vegetation god, he died and was reborn.
The Dove was her totem, sometimes too the sparrow and swan. Myrtle was
Her sacred plant, her sacred number was 6. Copper, Emerald and Pearl,
Rose and Violet were associated with her; as were the dolphin, the pomegranate
and the lime tree.Cythera and Cyprus are Her sacred places.
Homer calls her a daughter of Zeus and Dione. After her birth, Zeus was
afraid that the gods would fight over Aphrodite's hand in marriage, so
he married her off to the smith god Hephaestus, the steadiest of the gods.
Hephaestus could hardly believe his good luck, and used all his skills
to make the most lavish jewels for her. He made her a girdle of finely
wrought gold and wove magic into the filigree work. That was not very
wise of him, for when she wore her magic girdle no one could resist her,
and she was all too irresistible already.
She loved gaiety and glamour and was not at all pleased at being the wife
of sooty, hard-working Hephaestus. Aphrodite loved, and was loved by,
many gods and mortals. Some of her sons are Eros, Anteros, Hymenaios and
Aeneas (with her Trojan lover Anchises).
Her festival is the Aphrodisiac which was celebrated in various centers
of Greece and especially in Athens and Corinth. Her priestesses were not
prostitutes, but women who represented the goddess, and sacred sexual
intercourse with them was just one of the methods of worship. Her rites
were austere and highly formalized. |
Arachne
Goddess of Spinning, Weaving, Thread arts. Spinner of the Web of Fate.
Arachne was a young woman from Lydia, sometimes said to be a princess,
who offended Athena, and suffered the consequences. Her story helped serve
as a warning to all to take care to not offend the gods. Arachne was gifted
in the art of weaving. Not only were her finished products beautiful to
look at, but the very act of her weaving was a sight to behold. Nymphs
were said to abandon their frolicking to come observe Arachne practice
her magic.
So remarkable were her works that observers often commented that she must
have been trained by the very patron goddess of weaving, Athena herself.
Arachne scoffed at this. She was disgusted at being placed in an inferior
place to the goddess and proclaimed that Athena herself could not do better
than her. Athena was quite perturbed at Arachne's bold claim, but she
decided to give the young woman a chance to redeem herself. She came to
Arachne disguised as an old woman and warned her to be careful not to
offend the gods, lest she incur their wrath. But Arachne told the old
woman to save her breath. She welcomed a contest with Athena, and, if
she lost, would suffer whatever punishment the goddess deemed necessary.
The goddess accepted the challenge and revealed her true form.
The nymphs who had come to watch Arachne's weaving shrunk back in fear,
but Arachne stood her shaky ground. She had made a claim, and she was
sticking to it. So the contest began, the mortal at her loom, the goddess
at hers. Athena began to weave the scene of her contest with Poseidon
for the city of Athens. A beautiful scene developed from the threads,
showing Poseidon and the salt water spring, and Athena with an olive tree,
gifts to the people who would name Athena as their patron, and their city
after her. The bystanders marveled at the goddess' work.
Arachne, for her part, created a tapestry showcasing scenes of Zeus' various
infidelities: Leda with the Swan, Europa with the bull, Danaë and
the golden rain shower. So exquisite was the mortal's work that the bull
seemed lifelike, swimming across the tapestry with a real girl on his
shoulders. Even Athena herself was forced to admit that Arachne's work
was flawless. (Whether or not Arachne was actually better than Athena
is still a mystery.)
Angered at Arachne's challenge, as well as the presumptuousness of her
choice of subjects, Athena tore the tapestry to pieces and destroyed the
loom. Then she touched Arachne's forehead, making sure that she felt full
guilt for her actions. Arachne was ashamed, but the guilt was far too
deep for her poor, mortal mind. Depressed, she hanged herself. Athena
took pity on Arachne. She most likely did not expect that Arachne would
commit suicide. She brought her back to life, but not as a human. By sprinkling
her with the juices of aconite, Athena transformed the woman into a spider,
her and her descendants to forever hang from threads and to be great weavers.
|
Arete
The consort of Alcinous, mother of Nausicaä. She welcomed Odysseus
on his journey.
|
Arethusa
A nymph known in several different parts of Greece, usually the Pelopponnese
and Sicily. She was one of the Nereids. The river-god Alpheus fell madly
in love with her, but she fled to Sicily. There she was changed into a
fountain (the Fonte Aretusa, in Syracuse) by Artemis. Apheus made his
way beneath the sea, and united his waters with those of Arethusa. On
coins from Syracuse the head of Arethusa was often portrayed (ca. 500
BCE). This girls' head has often a net in her hair and is usually surrounded
by fish.
|
Ariadne
"The High Fruitful One," brings Rebirth. This lunar fertility
goddess was known for her athletic prowess. Serpents, symbols of rebirth,
were ritually handled by her priestesses, whose bare-breasted costumes
suggest the sacred role of sexuality in the Minoan culture. An early agrarian
Deity from the Aegean and Cyprus whose story has become inextricably mixed
with that of the hero Theseus. In that tale, she is a mortal carried off
by Theseus after he defeats the Minotaur, but inadvertantly abandoned
to die before he reaches Athens. On Naxos, though, a cult to an Ariadne
as a seasonal or vegetation Goddess was preserved, in which the later
Thesean tale was introduced into her rites as a sad counterpoint to a
joyful rite of springtime renewal, thus completing a seasonal cycle.
|
Arisbe
The daughter of Teucer, married with Dardanus. It is also the name of
the wife of Priam before his marriage with Hecuba.
|
Arne
Daughter of Aeolus, ancestress of the Boeotians.
|
Arsinoe
The wet-nurse of Orestes (the son of Agamemnon), or according to some,
she is the mother of Asclepius by Apollo. She has also been referred to
as the wife and sister of King Ptolemy Philadelphos, deified and identified
with both Aphrodite and Isis. A temple was built for her at Zephyrion
on the Egyptain coast.
|
Artemis
Amazonian Moon Goddess, Mother of all animals, Goddess of the Heart, Divine
Huntress, Patroness of nurture, fertility and birth. Scythian tribes who
worshipped Her were called Alani (Hunting Dogs). Great Bitch, her priestesses
were the Sacred Bitches. The word Bitch took on negative meaning in Christian
Europe because it is one of the most sacred titles of the Goddess. The
term "son of a bitch" did not mean son of a dog, but spiritual
son of the pagan Goddess.
Virgin Moon Goddess, Lady of the Beasts, Mistress of the Animals. Sometimes
depicted as a bear. Mugwort, Wormwood are her plants. Willow, her tree.
A mellissae, Queen Bee, She is sometimes surrounded by bees. She is the
deity of wild places, groves and ponds.
This moon-goddess was "whole without a man," hence immune to
falling in love, and was the Protectress of Animals. Amazonian Moon Goddess,
Mother of all animals, Goddess of the Heart, Divine Huntress, Patroness
of nurture, fertility and birth. She was a goddess of wild places and
wild things, and of personal self-sufficiency and decisiveness. She was
both huntress and protector of wild animals, and as Artemis Eileithyia
the protectressof women in childbirth.
The Golden Bough grew in her sacred grove on the north shore of Lake Nemi
north of Rome. The Romans called her Diana. Twin sister of Apollo although
one day older, a bucolic Divinity, she is not much seen among the dwellers
of Olympus, but she was one of the most popular Divinities among humans.
Ruler of the Nymphs (who are notorious for their sexual dalliance), she
remains a symbol of chastity and indifference to men; she is a patroness
of childbirth, in the role of nurse and midwife. Her temper is legendary
(reflecting the Hellenic view of the hostility of Nature towards the Human
world), but her images invariable display her in a calm and benificent
mood. She was often depicted with the crescent of the moon above her forehead
and was sometimes identified with Selene (goddess of the moon).
Her main vocation was to roam mountain forests and uncultivated land with
her nymphs in attendance hunting for lions, panthers, hinds and stags.
She was armed with a bow and arrows which were made by Hephaestus and
the Cyclopes. Her dark aspect, Taurian Artemis, was worshipped at Sparta
with annual human sacrifices, later modified to ritual flagellation. She
is associated with quartz, moonstone, pearl, crystal, mandrake, almond,
mugwort, hazel and moonwort. Lead, jasmine, ginseng, menstrual blood,
camphor, aloe, and all sweet virginal odours were also associated with
her. The festivals celebrating Artemis occurred on the 12th of February
and the sixth day from the new moon. |
Asia
A Greek sea-nymph and the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys. The continent
of Asia was named after her. Asia was occasionally regarded as the wife
of Iapetus but according to other she was the wife of Prometheus (Herodotus
IV, 45).
|
Asteria
The daughter of the Titan Coeus and Phoebe. She was abducted by Zeus,
but hurled herself in the sea and became the island of the same name.
She was the sixth slain by Heracles in single combat when he came for
Hippolyta's girdle. Even though the Amazons knew he was invulnerable,
they still chose to challenge him one by one. In order to escape being
raped by Zeus, this nymph changed herself into a quail.
|
Astraia
(Astrea) (derived from Astraios: 'starrys) Daughter of Zeus and
Themis, and Goddess of holy innocence and purity. She is often depicted
bearing a scale, with which to weigh the merits of contending issues.
She was, as was her mother, a goddess of justice. During the Golden Age,
when the gods dwelled among mankind, she lived on the earth. When evil
and wickedness increased its grip on humanity and the gods abandoned the
habitations of mankind; Astraea was the last to leave. She took up her
abode among the stars where she was transformed into the constellation
Virgo.
|
Atalanta
Atalanta is the female athlete in Greek myth.
|
Ate
The Greek personification of infatuation, the rash foolishness of blind
impulse, usually caused by guilt and leading to retribution. The goddess
of discord and mischief, she tempted man to do evil, and then lead him
to ruin. She once even managed to entrap Zeus, but he hurled her down
from the Olympus. Now she wanders the earth, as a kind of avenging spirit,
but still working her mischief among mankind. Her sisters, the Litai,
follow her and repair the damage she has wrought to mortals.
|
Athena
Greek Goddess of culture, wisdom, laws, crafts, and political and military
strategy. Her symbols included the owl (wisdom) and the snake (ancient
symbol of female power). Patriarchal Greek mythology tells of Athena being
born from Zeus's head after he swallowed her mother, Metis. However, Metis
can be traced back to North Africa as Medusa whose snake hair symbolized
female wisdom. Athena was the virgin form of the triple Gorgon Mother
of Fate: Neith; Metis or Medusa; Anath or Ath-enna.
Originally, it was said that she was born in Libya from the uterus of
Lake Tritonis (Three Queens). The Goddess of wisdom, her totem was the
owl, the olive tree her tree. Mother Goddess of the city of Athens, the
Holy Virgin.
Gray-eyed, Flashing eyed Embodiment of Wisdom, Reason and Purity. Protectress
of civilized life, handicrafts and agriculture. Inventor of the horse
bridle, Who first tamed horses for human use. Sulfur was sacred to Her.
Her special gift is the tempered wisdom associated with justice and law.
Athena and her uncle Poseidon were both very fond of a certain city in
Greece. Both of them claimed the city and it was decided that the one
that could give the finest gift should have it. Leading a procession of
citizens, the two gods mounted the Acropolis. Poseidon struck the side
of the cliff with his trident and a spring welled up. The people marveled,
but the water was as salty as Poseidon's sea and it was not very useful.
Athena's gift was an olive tree, which was better because it gave the
people food, oil and wood. Athena named her city Athens.
Athena's companion was the goddess of victory, Nike, and her usual attribute
is the owl. Athena possessed the Aegis.
|
Atropos
("inflexible") The third of the three Fates, daughter of Zeus
out of Themis. She is sometimes pictured as an aged crone bearing a pair
of shears. Her office it is to cut the thread of life, and thus finish
the span of a person's life. See also Klotho and Lachesis. In Greek mythology,
Atropos was one of the three Moirae, the Fates, the female deities who
supervised fate rather than determine it. Atropos was the fate who cut
the thread or web of life. She was known as the "inflexible"
or "inevitable" and cut this thread with the "abhorred
shears." She worked along with Clotho, who spun the thread, and Lachesis,
who measured the length. They were the daughters of Zeus and Themis (the
goddess of order.) It is not clear whether the fates were superior to
Zeus or if he was subject to them as mortals were. The Roman name of the
fates are Nona, Decuma, and Morta.
|
Auge
The daughter of the king of Tegea. She became the mother of Telephus with
Heracles and hid the child in the sacred forest of Athena. When the goddess
send a famine over the land, the king had the child abandoned and sold
Auge into slavery. She ended up in Mysia and married there King Teuthras.
Telephus became later, in a rather miraculous fashion, Teuthras' successor
for the throne.
|
Auxesia
A Greek goddess of growth, but probably an epithet of Demeter. Often venerated
together with Damia.
|
| |
