Arcadian Nights

by John Spurling

  Hyacinthos Son of a Spartan king and lover of the god Apollo. Killed while playing at discus throwing with Apollo, who turned him into the hyacinth.

  Hylas Son of the king of the Dryopes, a beautiful boy with whom Herakles fell in love. Herakles took him on the voyage of the Argo but Hylas disappeared while fetching water for the ship on the coast of Mysia.

  Hyllos Eldest son of Herakles and Deïaneira, leader of the Herakleidai.

  Hyperboreans Worshippers of Apollo, who often visited them. They inhabited a land of perpetual sunshine (‘beyond the north wind’), feeding only on plentiful fruits, never eating animals, peaceful, happy and long-lived, ignorant of violence, war and disease.

  Hypsipyle Queen of Lemnos, the only woman on the island who did not murder all her menfolk, but hid her father. When the Argonauts visited the island on their way to Colchis, she slept with Jason and bore twin sons.

  Ikaros Son of Daidalos, who made wings for them both so as to escape from the island of Crete. Ikaros, however, in his excitement at being in the air, flew too near the sun. The wax holding his wings together melted and he fell into the sea and was drowned.

  Iolaos Son of Iphikles and nephew of Herakles, whom he helped to kill the Lernaian Hydra.

  Iole Daughter of King Eurytos of Oechalia. Herakles competed at archery with her father and brothers for her hand in marriage and won. But Eurytos accused him of cheating and drove him out of the city. Herakles later killed Eurytos and his sons and took Iole to live with him, but he was by then married to Deïaneira and the consequences were fatal.

  Ion Son of Apollo and the Athenian princess Creousa. Legendary founder of the Ionian race.

  Iphigeneia Daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, sacrificed at Aulis to appease the goddess Artemis.

  Iphikles Herakles’ step-twin, born of the same mother, Alkmene, by her husband Amphitryon. Herakles’ father was Zeus, who had taken Amphitryon’s form and slept with Alkmene while her husband was away.

  Iphitos Youngest son of King Eurytos of Oechalia. Killed by Herakles.

  Iris Messenger of the gods and perhaps originally a goddess of rain, since the rainbow was supposed to be the path of her flight to earth with a message from Zeus or Hera to mortals, much as modern jet-planes leave a trail of vapour behind them in a clear sky.

  Jason Legendary hero from Thessaly. Led the Argonauts to steal the Golden Fleece from Colchis, on the eastern side of the Black Sea (now Georgia) and was helped to do so by the local princess, Medea. But when they returned to Greece he married the daughter of the king of Corinth. Medea in revenge killed both her and her own two children by Jason.

  Kerkyon King of Eleusis and keen wrestler, who generally killed his opponents. Theseus defeated and killed him on his journey to Athens.

  Keyx King of Trachis, kinsman and friend of Herakles.

  Kokalos King of the Sikani (Sicilians). Gave asylum to Daidalos after he left Crete.

  Kynouria Mountainous district on the western side of the Gulf of Argos in the Peloponnese, part of Argolis in ancient times, now part of the modern province of Arcadia.

  Kythera Small island off the south coast of the Peloponnese, where Aphrodite, goddess of love, according to one myth, was born from the sea foam. Homer, however, says that she was the daughter of Zeus and a sea-nymph called Dione.

  Kyzikos King of the Doliones on an island of the same name as the king in the Sea of Marmara. Received the Argonauts hospitably, but after they had left and been blown back during the night, took them for enemies and was killed with many of his people in the ensuing fight.

  Laonome Herakles’ sister, married to the Lapith Polyphemos who accompanied Herakles on the first part of the voyage of the Argo.

  Lapiths A people living in Thessaly, possibly the original prehistoric inhabitants. Best known for the wedding feast given by their king Peirithoös and his bride Hippodameia (not the same person as the bride of Pelops). They invited the centaurs, who became as usual very drunk and tried to carry off the bride and the other women present. A battle followed and the centaurs were driven out of Thessaly.

  Leda Wife of Tyndareus, King of Sparta. Clytemnestra was their daughter. Leda’s other daughter, Helen, and her twin siblings Castor and Polydeukes were the children of Zeus, who ravished Leda in the form of a swan.

  Leonidas Historical king of Sparta in the fifth century BC who held the enormous invading army of the Persians at bay with 300 Spartans in the pass of Thermopylae.

  Lerna Town, now called Myli, at the head of the Gulf of Argos, next to the Lernaian Marsh, where Herakles performed his second labour, killing the Lernaian Hydra.

  Leto Daughter of a Titan, mother by Zeus of the twin gods, Apollo and Artemis.

  Lichas Young follower of Herakles, who took him Deïaneira’s poisoned shift.

  Lykomedes King of the island of Skyros, who received Theseus after his exile from Athens.

  Maenads Ecstatic women, followers of the god Dionysos.

  Makaria Daughter of Deïaneira and Herakles, his only known daughter.

  Marathon The plain on the coast of Attika where the Athenians defeated the first great invading army of Persians in 490 BC. The modern long-distance race commemorates the messenger who ran from Marathon to Athens to bring news of their victory.

  Marsyas A satyr (half-human, half-goat) or silenos (part-horse) who played the double flute with great skill and foolishly boasted that his music was better than Apollo’s on the lyre. Their contest ended in his death by flaying.

  Medea Legendary daughter of the king of Colchis in what is now Georgia on the eastern shore of the Black Sea. A sorceress. She helped Jason steal the Golden Fleece but when he deserted her for the daughter of the king of Corinth, she murdered both her and her own children by Jason. After that she fled to Athens and was given asylum by king Aegeos, until she conspired to poison his son Theseus and fled again to find refuge in Asia.

  Medusa One of three monstrous Gorgons, the only one that was mortal. She had been a beautiful woman until she slept with the god Poseidon in one of Athene’s temples. Athene punished her by making her so hideous that anyone looking at her was turned to stone and later sent Perseus to cut off her head. Athene then wore the head at the centre of her aigis or cape.

  Megara Herakles’ first wife, daughter of King Creon of Thebes. In a fit of madness caused by his perennial enemy, the goddess Hera, Herakles murdered Megara and their six children. He performed his Twelve Labours in expiation for this crime.

  Menestheus Theseus’ cousin and usurper as king of Athens.

  Midas Greedy and foolish King of Phrygia whose choice of a gift from the god Dionysos was that everything he touched should turn to gold. He soon asked for the gift to be taken back, but was no wiser when asked to judge the musical contest between Apollo and Marsyas. He voted for Marsyas and Apollo gave him ass’s ears.

  Minos Son of Zeus and Europa. The great Bronze Age Minoan civilisation of Crete, which preceded and influenced the Mycenaean civilisation in the Peloponnese, was called after this king of Crete. He may have been a real person as well as a mythical one. His palace at Knossos was excavated and partly restored by Sir Arthur Evans. The legendary Minos married Pasiphaë, a daughter of Helios, the sun, and they had at least eight children, not including the Minotaur, which was the child of Pasiphaë and a prize bull given to Minos by the sea god Poseidon.

  Minotaur Half-man, half-bull, the savage, man-eating son of Pasiphaë, queen of Crete.

  Muses Nine divinities, originally nymphs of wells and springs, who presided over the arts, under the leadership of Apollo. Clio was the muse of history; Euterpe of lyric poetry; Thalia of comedy and bucolic poetry; Melpomene of tragedy; Terpsichore of choral dance and song; Erato of love songs; Polymnia of sacred songs; Ourania of astronomy; Calliope of epic poetry. They had a temple at Delphi near the Castalian spring on Mount Parnassos.

  Mycenae A fortress city built on a small hill among the mountains north of the plain of Argolis. Centre of the Mycenaean civilisation in
the late Bronze Age. Perseus was its legendary founder.

  Myrtilos Son of Hermes, charioteer to King Oinomaos of Elis. After he had tried to rape Hippodameia, he was thrown off a cliff in Kynouria by Pelops. The Myrtoan Sea was called after him.

  Narcissus A beautiful youth who fell in love with his own reflection in a pool, pined away and was changed into the flower of his name.

  Nauplia The port of Argolis. Briefly capital of Greece from 1828-1834 after it gained its independence from the Turks. The Venetians occupied it before the Turks and made it perhaps the most elegant city in Greece.

  Nemea In ancient times a valley in the state of Argolis, where Herakles killed the monstrous Nemean lion, whose skin he wore ever afterwards. Now famous for its vineyards.

  Nereus Sea god with 50 daughters, the Nereids. Herakles went to him for advice on how to find the Hesperides, but had to wrestle with him first. Like the other sea gods, Proteus and Glaucos, encountered by Odysseus and the Argonauts respectively, Nereus could change his shape at will.

  Nessos Centaur acting as ferryman across the river Evenos. He tried to rape Herakles’ wife Deïaneira and was killed by Herakles with a poisoned arrow.

  Nestor King of Pylos on the western coast of the Peloponnese. The oldest Greek warrior in the Trojan War, he did not do much fighting but a lot of talking in councils of war, mostly about his own great deeds when he was younger.

  Odysseus Legendary king of the small island of Ithaka, chief Greek strategist in the war against Troy. Due to the enmity of the sea god Poseidon he spent ten years returning home to his faithful wife Penelope.

  Oedipus Legendary King of Thebes, who unwittingly killed his father and married his mother. His story is told by Sophocles in his great trilogy, King Oedipus, Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone.

  Oeneus King of Kalydon in Aitolia, father of Herakles’ wife Deïaneira.

  Oinomaos King of Elis, father of Hippodameia, whose hand in marriage he promised to anyone who could defeat him in a chariot race from Elis to Olympia.

  Olympia Site of the Olympic Games in north-west Peloponnese.

  Olympos Mountain in northern Greece, home to the gods.

  Omphale Lydian queen, whom Herakles served as a slave.

  Oreithyia Succeeded her sisters Hippolyte and Antiope as Queen of the Amazons.

  Orestes Son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, he murdered his mother in revenge for her murder of his father.

  Orpheus Legendary musician, whose music charmed animals and birds and even the gods of the underworld. They allowed his dead wife Eurydice to follow him back to earth on condition he didn’t turn back to look at her on the way up. He did and lost her a second time.

  Ouranos Child and husband of Gaia. Father of Cronos, who mutilated and dethroned him, the same treatment afterwards meted out to Cronos in turn by his son Zeus.

  Pan The Arcadian god of flocks and shepherds, forests and hunters, usually represented with horns and goat’s legs and often playing the pan-pipes or syrinx.

  Paris Son of King Priam of Troy. Three goddesses – Athene, Aphrodite and Hera – made him judge which of them was the most beautiful, offering various bribes in return. He chose Aphrodite, who promised him the most beautiful woman in the world as his wife. Visiting Sparta in the Peloponnese he collected his reward by eloping with King Menelaos’ wife Helen. The outcome was the Trojan War and the eventual destruction of Troy.

  Parnassos Mountain in Phokis on which Deukalion’s ship grounded after the great flood. On its southern slope were Apollo’s principal sanctuary and oracle at Delphi and nearby the temple of the Muses, beside the Castalian Spring. Hence Parnassos is always associated with the arts.

  Peirithoös King of the Lapiths, friend of Theseus, who accompanied him into the underworld to kidnap Persephone.

  Pelasgians Original inhabitants of Greece, before the invasions of the Achaians and later the Dorians.

  Pelopeia Priestess and daughter of Thyestes, who raped her without knowing who she was. Their incestuous child was Aigisthos. Pelopeia later married, again in ignorance of their relationship, her uncle Atreus.

  Peloponnese Literally ‘the island of Pelops’, named after the legendary ancestor of the House of Atreus. The southern area of mainland Greece, in ancient times joined to it only by the narrow isthmus of Corinth, now, since the cutting of the Corinth Canal in 1882-93, actually an island. The ancient states of Corinth, Achaia, Argos, Arcadia, Troezen and Lakonike (Sparta) were all in the Peloponnese.

  Pelops Son of Tantalos and grandson of Zeus. As a boy he was loved by the sea god Poseidon. Married Hippodameia, princess of Elis. Ruled over the whole Peloponnese, to which he gave his name. Ancestor of Atreus, Thyestes, Agamemnon, Menelaos and Theseus.

  Penelope Sister of Tyndareus, king of Sparta, and wife of Odysseus, king of Ithaka. He reluctantly joined the Greeks in attacking Troy and was away for twenty years: ten besieging Troy; ten contending with innumerable setbacks and adventures on the way home by sea. Penelope, the legendary faithful wife, kept her many greedy and lustful suitors at bay through all these years by telling them she must first finish weaving a robe for her father-in-law. Each night she unpicked the work she had done during the day. Her only son Telemachos was too young to drive the suitors out of the palace, but Odysseus returned at last in disguise and killed them with the great bow which none of them could draw.

  Penthesileia Queen of the Amazons who fought for the Trojans during the Trojan War. Killed by Achilles.

  Perigune Daughter of the robber Sinis. Travelled briefly with Theseus and bore his child.

  Periphetes Hunchback robber encountered by Theseus near Epidauros.

  Perseus Legendary hero and demigod from Argos in the Peloponnese, who decapitated Medusa, rescued the princess Andromeda from a sea monster and turned his enemies to stone with Medusa’s head. Son of Zeus and Danaë.

  Phaedra Daughter of King Minos of Crete and younger sister of Ariadne. She married Theseus, but fell fatally in love with Hippolytos, Theseus’ son by Antiope.

  Pholos A centaur, friend of Herakles.

  Phyleus Son of King Augeias of the Epians, the man with the filthy cowsheds cleaned by Herakles.

  Pindar Lyric poet from Thebes, active in the sixth century BC, author of Triumphal Odes, celebrating the winning athletes in sporting contests such as the Olympic Games.

  Pittheus King of Troezen, son of Pelops, grandfather of Theseus. Famous for his wisdom.

  Plato (428-347 BC) Athenian philosopher, teacher and pupil of Socrates. Among his many extant works are the Socratic dialogues. The philosopher Aristotle was one of his pupils.

  Polydektes King of the island of Seriphos who gave a home to Danaë and the baby Perseus in the hope of making Danaë his wife.

  Polydeukes Son of Leda, twin of Castor, brother of Helen. More often known as Pollux.

  Polyphemos

  1. The Cyclops who captured Odysseus and his ship’s crew on their way home from the Trojan War.

  2. A Lapith of the same name, brother-in-law of Herakles, who joined him on the voyage of the Argo.

  Polyxena Trojan princess, sacrificed after the capture and sack of Troy as an offering to the dead Achilles.

  Poseidon God of the sea, earthquakes and tsunamis, brother of Zeus. Known to the Romans as ‘Neptune’.

  Priam King of Troy, married to Hecuba. Their many children included Hector, Paris, Cassandra and Polyxena.

  Prokrustes Hotelier at Korydallos. He gave his guests beds which were either too short or too long and adjusted the guests to fit the beds. Theseus stayed with him on his way to Athens.

  Prometheus A Titan, brother of Atlas, who gave fire and other amenities, such as astronomy, mathematics, medicine, writing and metalworking, to mortals and was punished by Zeus. Chained to a peak in the Caucasus mountains, Prometheus’ liver was pecked away each day by an eagle and restored during the night. This torture was to last until some other immortal should willingly take his place in Tartaros. Herakles killed the eagle and the immortal c
entaur Chiron, suffering from an incurable wound in his leg, agreed to take Prometheus’ place in Tartaros.

  Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemaeus, Alexandrian mathematician, astronomer and geographer of the second century AD. He catalogued and named the stars and constellations and wrote a textbook on geography.

  Pylades Son of the king and queen of Phokis, first cousin to Agamemnon’s son Orestes and his close friend, helping him to avenge his father’s murder.

  Python The monstrous snake which inhabited Delphi until Apollo killed it and made Delphi his own chief sanctuary.

  Satyrs Nature deities of mountain forests and streams, followers of Dionysos. They had small horns, pointed ears, goat tails and permanently erect penises.

  Scythians Wild horsemen from the shores of the Black Sea.

  Semele Daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia, grandaughter of Ares and Aphrodite. Zeus loved her and she bore him the god Dionysos, but demanding to see Zeus in all his glory she was consumed by flames.

  Silenos In the singular, the old obese man accompanying the god Dionysos. In the plural, nature deities connected with springs and running water, with the tail, ears and hooves of horses.

  Sinis Robber on the Isthmus of Corinth who bent trees down, made travellers sit on them and catapulted them to death. Killed by Theseus on his journey to Athens.

  Sisyphos King of Corinth, said to have built the city and improved its commerce, but accused of avarice, fraud and deceit. He was also said to have chained Death when it came for him, so that no one would die any more and would lose their fear of the gods. Death was set free by Ares, the war god, and Sisyphos condemned to eternal punishment in the underworld. He had to push a huge stone up a hill, but the stone always rolled down again just before it reached the top.

  Skiron Robber on Mount Geraneia who made travellers wash his feet and as they did so kicked them over the cliff. Killed by Theseus.

  Sophocles Athenian tragic dramatist of the fifth century BC, a generation younger than Aeschylus, half a generation older than Euripides. He increased Aeschylus’ two actors to three and the Chorus from twelve to fifteen. The Athenians preferred him to either of his great rivals. Author of the Oedipus trilogy.