GLOSSARY
Abdalrahman, founder of the independent Ommiad (Saracenic) power in Spain, conquered at Tours by Charles Martel
Aberfraw, scene of nuptials of Branwen and Matholch
Absyrtus, younger brother of Medea
Abydos, a town on the Hellespont, nearly opposite to Sestos
Abyla, Mount, or Columna, a mountain in Morocco, near Ceuta, now called Jebel Musa or Ape's Hill, forming the Northwestern extremity of the African coast opposite Gibraltar (See Pillars of Hercules)
Acestes, son of a Trojan woman who was sent by her father to Sicily, that she might not be devoured by the monsters which infested the territory of Troy
Acetes, Bacchanal captured by Pentheus
Achates, faithful friend and companion of Aeneas
Achelous, river-god of the largest river in Greece—his Horn of
Plenty
Achilles, the hero of the Iliad, son of Peleus and of the Nereid
Thetis, slain by Paris
Acis, youth loved by Galatea and slain by Polyphemus
Acontius, a beautiful youth, who fell in love with Cydippe, the daughter of a noble Athenian.
Acrisius, son of Abas, king of Argos, grandson of Lynceus, the great-grandson of Danaus.
Actaeon, a celebrated huntsman, son of Aristaeus and Autonoe, who, having seen Diana bathing, was changed by her to a stag and killed by his own dogs.
Admeta, daughter of Eurystheus, covets Hippolyta's girdle.
Admetus, king of Thessaly, saved from death by Alcestis
Adonis, a youth beloved by Aphrodite (Venus), and Proserpine; killed by a boar.
Adrastus, a king of Argos.
Aeacus, son of Zeus (Jupiter) and Aegina, renowned in all Greece for his justice and piety.
Aeaea, Circe's island, visited by Ulysses.
Aeetes, or Aeeta, son of Helios (the Sun) and Perseis, and father of Medea and Absyrtus.
Aegeus, king of Athens.
Aegina, a rocky island in the middle of the Saronic gulf.
Aegis, shield or breastplate of Jupiter and Minerva.
Aegisthus, murderer of Agamemnon, slain by Orestes.
Aeneas, Trojan hero, son of Anchises and Aphrodite (Venus), and born on Mount Ida, reputed first settler of Rome,
Aeneid, poem by Virgil, relating the wanderings of Aeneas from
Troy to Italy,
Ae'olus, son of Hellen and the nymph Orseis, represented in Homer as the happy ruler of the Aeolian Islands, to whom Zeus had given dominion over the winds,
Aesculapius, god of the medical art,
Aeson, father of Jason, made young again by Medea,
Aethiopians, inhabitants of the country south of Egypt,
Aethra, mother of Theseus by Aegeus,
Aetna, volcano in Sicily,
Agamedes, brother of Trophonius, distinguished as an architect,
Agamemnon, son of Plisthenis and grandson of Atreus, king of
Mycenae, although the chief commander of the Greeks, is not the
hero of the Iliad, and in chivalrous spirit altogether inferior to
Achilles,
Agave, daughter of Cadmus, wife of Echion, and mother of Pentheus,
Agenor, father of Europa, Cadmus, Cilix, and Phoenix,
Aglaia, one of the Graces,
Agni, Hindu god of fire,
Agramant, a king in Africa,
Agrican, fabled king of Tartary, pursuing Angelica, finally killed by Orlando,
Agrivain, one of Arthur's knights,
Ahriman, the Evil Spirit in the dual system of Zoroaster, See
Ormuzd
Ajax, son of Telamon, king of Salamis, and grandson of Aeacus, represented in the Iliad as second only to Achilles in bravery,
Alba, the river where King Arthur fought the Romans,
Alba Longa, city in Italy founded by son of Aeneas,
Alberich, dwarf guardian of Rhine gold treasure of the Nibelungs
Albracca, siege of,
Alcestis, wife of Admetus, offered hersell as sacrifice to spare her husband, but rescued by Hercules,
Alcides (Hercules),
Alcina, enchantress,
Alcinous, Phaeacian king,
Alcippe, daughter of Mars, carried off by Halirrhothrus,
Alcmena, wife of Jupiter, and mother of Hercules,
Alcuin, English prelate and scholar,
Aldrovandus, dwarf guardian of treasure,
Alecto, one of the Furies,
Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia, conqueror of Greece,
Egypt, Persia, Babylonia, and India,
Alfadur, a name for Odin,
Alfheim, abode of the elves of light,
Alice, mother of Huon and Girard, sons of Duke Sevinus,
Alphenor, son of Niobe,
Alpheus, river god pursuing Arethusa, who escaped by being changed to a fountain,
Althaea, mother of Meleager, whom she slew because he had in a quarrel killed her brothers, thus disgracing "the house of Thestius," her father,
Amalthea, nurse of the infant Jupiter in Crete,
Amata, wife of Latinus, driven mad by Alecto,
Amaury of Hauteville, false hearted Knight of Charlemagne,
Amazons, mythical race of warlike women,
Ambrosia, celestial food used by the gods,
Ammon, Egyptian god of life identified by Romans with phases of
Jupiter, the father of gods,
Amphiaraus, a great prophet and hero at Argos,
Amphion, a musician, son of Jupiter and Antiope (See Dirce),
Amphitrite, wife of Neptune,
Amphyrsos, a small river in Thessaly,
Ampyx, assailant of Perseus, turned to stone by seeing Gorgon's head,
Amrita, nectar giving immortality,
Amun, See Ammon
Amymone, one of the fifty daughters of Danaus, and mother by
Poseidon (Neptune) of Nauplius, the father of Palamedes,
Anaxarete, a maiden of Cyprus, who treated her lover Iphis with such haughtiness that he hanged himself at her door,
Anbessa, Saracenic governor of Spain (725 AD),
Anceus, one of the Argonauts,
Anchises, beloved by Aphrodite (Venus), by whom he became the father of Aeneas,
Andraemon, husband of Dryope, saw her changed into a tree,
Andret, a cowardly knight, spy upon Tristram,
Andromache, wife of Hector
Andromeda, daughter of King Cephas, delivered from monster by
Perseus
Aneurin, Welsh bard
Angelica, Princess of Cathay
Anemone, short lived wind flower, created by Venus from the blood of the slain Adonis
Angerbode, giant prophetess, mother of Fenris, Hela and the
Midgard Serpent
Anglesey, a Northern British island, refuge of Druids fleeing from
Romans
Antaeus, giant wrestler of Libya, killed by Hercules, who, finding him stronger when thrown to the earth, lifted him into the air and strangled him
Antea, wife of jealous Proetus
Antenor, descendants of, in Italy
Anteros, deity avenging unrequited love, brother of Eros (Cupid)
Anthor, a Greek
Antigone, daughter of Aedipus, Greek ideal of filial and sisterly fidelity
Antilochus, son of Nestor
Antiope, Amazonian queen. See Dirce
Anubis, Egyptian god, conductor of the dead to judgment
Apennines
Aphrodite See Venus, Dione, etc.
Apis, Egyptian bull god of Memphis
Apollo, god of music and song
Apollo Belvedere, famous antique statue in Vatican at Rome
Apples of the Hesperides, wedding gifts to Juno, guarded by daughters of Atlas and Hesperis, stolen by Atlas for Hercules,
Aquilo, or Boreas, the North Wind,
Aquitaine, ancient province of Southwestern France,
Arachne, a maiden skilled in we
aving, changed to a spider by
Minerva for daring to compete with her,
Arcadia, a country in the middle of Peloponnesus, surrounded on all sides by mountains,
Arcady, star of, the Pole star,
Arcas, son of Jupiter and Callisto,
Archer, constellation of the,
Areopagus, court of the, at Athens,
Ares, called Mars by the Romans, the Greek god of war, and one of the great Olympian gods,
Arethusa, nymph of Diana, changed to a fountain,
Argius king of Ireland, father of Isoude the Fair,
Argo, builder of the vessel of Jason for the Argonautic expedition,
Argolis, city of the Nemean games,
Argonauts, Jason's crew seeking the Golden Fleece,
Argos, a kingdom in Greece,
Argus, of the hundred eyes, guardian of Io,
Ariadne, daughter of King Minos, who helped Theseus slay the
Minotaur,
Arimanes SEE Ahriman.
Arimaspians, one-eyed people of Syria,
Arion, famous musician, whom sailors cast into the sea to rob him, but whose lyric song charmed the dolphins, one of which bore him safely to land,
Aristaeus, the bee keeper, in love with Eurydice,
Armorica, another name for Britain,
Arridano, a magical ruffian, slain by Orlando,
Artemis SEE Diana
Arthgallo, brother of Elidure, British king,
Arthur, king in Britain about the 6th century,
Aruns, an Etruscan who killed Camilla,
Asgard, home of the Northern gods,
Ashtaroth, a cruel spirit, called by enchantment to bring Rinaldo to death,
Aske, the first man, made from an ash tree,
Astolpho of England, one of Charlemagne's knights,
Astraea, goddess of justice, daughter of Astraeus and Eos,
Astyages, an assailant of Perseus,
Astyanax, son of Hector of Troy, established kingdom of Messina in
Italy,
Asuias, opponents of the Braminical gods,
Atalanta, beautiful daughter of King of Icaria, loved and won in a foot race by Hippomenes,
Ate, the goddess of infatuation, mischief and guilt,
Athamas, son of Aeolus and Enarete, and king of Orchomenus, in
Boeotia, SEE Ino
Athene, tutelary goddess of Athens, the same as Minerva,
Athens, the capital of Attica, about four miles from the sea, between the small rivers Cephissus and Ilissus,
Athor, Egyptian deity, progenitor of Isis and Osiris,
Athos, the mountainous peninsula, also called Acte, which projects from Chalcidice in Macedonia,
Atlantes, foster father of Rogero, a powerful magician,
Atlantis, according to an ancient tradition, a great island west of the Pillars of Hercules, in the ocean, opposite Mount Atlas,
Atlas, a Titan, who bore the heavens on his shoulders, as punishment for opposing the gods, one of the sons of Iapetus,
Atlas, Mount, general name for range in northern Africa,
Atropos, one of the Fates
Attica, a state in ancient Greece,
Audhumbla, the cow from which the giant Ymir was nursed. Her milk was frost melted into raindrops,
Augean stables, cleansed by Hercules,
Augeas, king of Elis,
Augustan age, reign of Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar, famed for many great authors,
Augustus, the first imperial Caesar, who ruled the Roman Empire 31
BC—14 AD,
Aulis, port in Boeotia, meeting place of Greek expedition against
Troy,
Aurora, identical with Eos, goddess of the dawn,
Aurora Borealis, splendid nocturnal luminosity in northern sky, called Northern Lights, probably electrical,
Autumn, attendant of Phoebus, the Sun,
Avalon, land of the Blessed, an earthly paradise in the Western
Seas, burial place of King Arthur,
Avatar, name for any of the earthly incarnations of Vishnu, the
Preserver (Hindu god),
Aventine, Mount, one of the Seven Hills of Rome,
Avernus, a miasmatic lake close to the promontory between Cumae and Puteoli, filling the crater of an extinct volcano, by the ancients thought to be the entrance to the infernal regions,
Avicenna, celebrated Arabian physician and philosopher,
Aya, mother of Rinaldo,
Aymon, Duke, father of Rinaldo and Bradamante,
B
Baal, king of Tyre,
Babylonian River, dried up when Phaeton drove the sun chariot,
Bacchanali a, a feast to Bacchus that was permitted to occur but once in three years, attended by most shameless orgies,
Bacchanals, devotees and festal dancers of Bacchus,
Bacchus (Dionysus), god of wine and revelry,
Badon, battle of, Arthur's final victory over the Saxons,
Bagdemagus, King, a knight of Arthur's time,
Baldur, son of Odin, and representing in Norse mythology the sun god,
Balisardo, Orlando's sword,
Ban, King of Brittany, ally of Arthur, father of Launcelot,
Bards, minstrels of Welsh Druids,
Basilisk SEE Cockatrice
Baucis, wife of Philemon, visited by Jupiter and Mercury,
Bayard, wild horse subdued by Rinaldo,
Beal, Druids' god of life,
Bedivere, Arthur's knight,
Bedver, King Arthur's butler, made governor of Normandy,
Bedwyr, knightly comrade of Geraint,
Belisarda, Rogero's sword,
Bellerophon, demigod, conqueror of the Chimaera,
Bellona, the Roman goddess of war, represented as the sister or wife of Mars,
Beltane, Druidical fire festival,
Belus, son of Poseidon (Neptune) and Libya or Eurynome, twin brother of Agenor,
Bendigeid Vran, King of Britain,
Beowulf, hero and king of the Swedish Geats,
Beroe, nurse of Semele,
Bertha, mother of Orlando,
Bifrost, rainbow bridge between the earth and Asgard
Bladud, inventor, builder of the city of Bath,
Blamor, a knight of Arthur,
Bleoberis, a knight of Arthur,
Boeotia, state in ancient Greece, capital city Thebes,
Bohort, King, a knight of Arthur,
Bona Dea, a Roman divinity of fertility,
Bootes, also called Areas, son of Jupiter and Calisto, changed to constellation of Ursa Major,
Boreas, North wind, son of Aeolus and Aurora,
Bosporus (Bosphorus), the Cow-ford, named for Io, when as a heifer she crossed that strait,
Bradamante, sister to Rinaldo, a female warrior,
Brademagus, King, father of Sir Maleagans,
Bragi, Norse god of poetry,
Brahma, the Creator, chief god of Hindu religion,
Branwen, daughter of Llyr, King of Britain, wife of Mathclch,
Breciliande, forest of, where Vivian enticed Merlin,
Brengwain, maid of Isoude the Fair
Brennus, son of Molmutius, went to Gaul, became King of the
Allobroges,
Breuse, the Pitiless, a caitiff knight,
Briareus, hundred armed giant,
Brice, Bishop, sustainer of Arthur when elected king,
Brigliadoro, Orlando's horse,
Briseis, captive maid belonging to Achilles,
Britto, reputed ancestor of British people,
Bruhier, Sultan of Arabia,
Brunello, dwarf, thief, and king
Brunhild, leader of the Valkyrie,
Brutus, great grandson of Aeneas, and founder of city of New Troy
(London), SEE Pandrasus
Bryan, Sir, a knight of Arthur,
Buddha, called The Enlightened, reformer of Brahmanism, deified teacher of self abnegation, virtue, reincarnation, Kar
ma (inevitable sequence of every act), and Nirvana (beatific absorption into the Divine), lived about
Byblos, in Egypt,
Byrsa, original site of Carthage,
C
Cacus, gigantic son of Vulcan, slain by Hercules, whose captured cattle he stole,
Cadmus, son of Agenor, king of Phoenicia, and of Telephassa, and brother of Europa, who, seeking his sister, carried off by Jupiter, had strange adventures—sowing in the ground teeth of a dragon he had killed, which sprang up armed men who slew each other, all but five, who helped Cadmus to found the city of Thebes,
Caduceus, Mercury's staff,
Cadwallo, King of Venedotia (North Wales),
Caerleon, traditional seat of Arthur's court,
Caesar, Julius, Roman lawyer, general, statesman and author, conquered and consolidated Roman territory, making possible the Empire,
Caicus, a Greek river,
Cairns, Druidical store piles,
Calais, French town facing England,
Calchas, wisest soothsayer among the Greeks at Troy,
Caliburn, a sword of Arthur,
Calliope, one of the nine Muses
Callisto, an Arcadian nymph, mother of Arcas (SEE Bootes), changed by Jupiter to constellation Ursa Minor,
Calpe, a mountain in the south of Spain, on the strait between the
Atlantic and Mediterranean, now Rock of Gibraltar,
Bulfinch's Mythology Page 96