Character Index
Home New Button Myths Index Blank Button Blank Button

A

  • Acoetes- Helmsman of the Tyrrhenian pirates who tried to warn the rest of the crew about Dionysus' divine nature. When the rest of the crew were transformed into dolphins, Acoetes was spared that fate and instead traveled with Dionysus to Naxos where he was inducted into the god's cult. dionysus20 dionysus21 dionysus23 dionysus24 dionysus25 pentheus02 pentheus03 pentheus04

  • Actaeon- Son of Aristaeus and Autonoë. The goddess Artemis transformed him into a stag for the crime of seeing her bathing and Actaeon was killed by his own hounds who no longer recognized their master. cadmus22 actaeon01 actaeon02 actaeon03 actaeon04 actaeon05 actaeon06

  • Agave- Daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia. Her son, Pentheus, succeeded her father as king of Thebes. Later she joined the cult of Dionysus as a Maenad. In a fit of madness sent by Dionysus she slew her own son, who had denied the god's divinity. Afterwards she was exiled to Illyria and married the king Lycotherses, but poisoned him so that her father Cadmus might take his throne. cadmus21 cadmus22 cadmus23 semele05 pentheus06 pentheus19 pentheus20 pentheus21 pentheus22 pentheus23 pentheus24 pentheus27 cadmus25 cadmus26 cadmus27 cadmus28 cadmus29 cadmus40

  • Agenor- King of Phoenicia who was a mortal son of Poseidon. He was husband of Telephassa and father of Europa, Cadmus, Cilix, and Phoenix. cadmus02

  • Amphion- Son of Zeus and the mortal Antiope, Amphion was the twin brother of Zethus. As a newborn he and his brother were abandoned to die on the outskirts of Sicyon, but the brothers were discovered by a local shepherd and raise to adulthood. Upon discovering their parentage, the two brothers usurped the throne of Thebes, which was held by Labdacus, their cousin. The brothers "refounded" the city, building its famous outer wall with seven gates. Amphion know to be an accomplished musician and he married Niobe, the daughter of Tantalus, another son of Zeus. amphion&zethus02 amphion&zethus03 amphion&zethus07 amphion&zethus08 amphion&zethus11 amphion&zethus13

  • Antiope- Youngest daughter of Nycteus, the first regent of Thebes. Seduced by Zeus and pregnant with his twin children, she fled to Sicyron and married the king, Epopeus. But her father besieged the city in an effort to retrieve her, dying in the attempt. Afterwards his brother, Lycus, succeeded in taking the city and killed Epopeus. Antiope was returned to Thebes as a prisoner and her twin sons, born on the return to Thebes, were left on the reoadside in an effort to expose them to death. Lycus gave Antiope over to his wife, Dirce, as a slave. But upon her escape, Antiope once again fled to Sicyron, where she discovered her children, Amphion and Zethus, to be alive. regents03 regents04 regents05 regents11 regents12 amphion&zethus01 amphion&zethus02 amphion&zethus03 amphion&zethus05 amphion&zethus06 amphion&zethus09 amphion&zethus10 amphion&zethus11 amphion&zethus13

  • Aphodite- The goddess of love who was also called Cypris, after the island of Cyprus where she was born. She was the daughter of Zeus and either the titaness Dione or the sea-goddess Thalassa. She was the lover of the god Ares and bore him the goddess Harmonia and the gods Eros, Deimos, and Phobos. She also had a number of mortal lovers including Adonis and Anchises, to whom she bore the Trojan hero Aeneas. cadmus19 cadmus20

  • Ares- The god of war. The son of Zeus and Hera who rode into battle on a chariot pulled by fire-breating horses and followed by his children Deimos (terror) and Phobus (fear). His companion was the goddess Enyo. He was also a lover of the goddess Aphrodite who bore him Deimos, Phobos, and the goddess Harmonia. He supported the side of Troy in the Trojan War. cadmus17 cadmus18 cadmus19

  • Aristaeus- A mortal son of Apollo and the huntress Cyrene. He was the inventor of cheese-making and beekeeping. He married Autonoë, daughter of Cadmus, who bore him a son named Actaeon. After Actaeon's death at the hands of Artemis, Aristaeus traveled to Ceos where he was honored for ending a plague that was tormenting the populace. After his death he was given ambrosia and nectar and was worshipped as a minor god. actaeon01

  • Artemis- The goddess of hunting, she was the daughter of of Zeus and the titaness Leto. Her twin brother was the god Apollo and after she was born on the island of Delos, her first act was to assist her mother in delivering her brother. She was one of the virgin goddesses on Olympus and she was accompanied by a band of nymphs who joined her in her hunting expeditions. She was thought of as the goddess who both protected young maidens and also the one who brought early death to women. cadmus19 actaeon03 actaeon04

  • Athamas- King of Orchomenus. He was given the cloud nymph Nephele to be his wife by Zeus and Hera, but he divorced her to marry Ino, daughter of Cadmus. He was the father of Phrixus and Helle by Nephele, and the father of Learches and Melicertes by Ino. In a bought of madness, he killed Learches and attempted to slay Ino and Melicertes, who fled his wrath by leaping into the sea. pentheus28

  • Athena- The goddess of wisdom and weaving; she was the motherless daughter of Zeus and was born from his head fully grown, dressed in armor. She was one of the three virgin goddesses on Olympus. She supported the Achaeans against the Trojans in the Trojan War and served as guide and protector to many heroes. cadmus11 cadmus14 cadmus20 tiresias09

  • Autonoë- Daughter of Cadmus, king of Thebes. Autonoe married Aristaeus, a son of Apollo, and bore him a son named Actaeon. She later joined the cult of Dionysus and became a Maenad. cadmus21 cadmus22 semele05 pentheus06 pentheus17 pentheus18 pentheus19 pentheus20 pentheus21 pentheus22

B

  • Bacchus- See Dionysus.

C

D

E

  • Echion- father of Pentheus. See Spartes.

  • Epopeus- King of Sicyon. When Antiope, the daughter of Nycteus who was regent of Thebes, fled her father to hide her pregnancy by Zeus, she came to Sicyon and married Epopeus. However Nycteus waged war on Thebes to recover his daughter. When Nycteus was killed in battle, his brother Lycus continued the assault, eventually sacking Sicyon and killing Epopeus. regents04 regents05 regents11

  • Europa- Daughter of King Agenor and Queen Telephassa of Phonecia. She was abducted by Zeus and carried to Crete. She bore him three sons: Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Sarpedon. cadmus03

  • Everes- Son of Udeus who was one of the sown men, Everes was a shepherd who fell in love with the nymph Chariclo and by her became the father of the prophet Tiresias. tiresias01

H

  • Harmonia- Divine daughter of Aphrodite and Ares. She was married to the mortal Cadmus, founder of Thebes, and their marriage was the first between a goddess and a mortal. She bore Cadmus six children; two sons, Polydorus and Illyrius, and four daughters: Semele, Agave, Ino, and Autonoë. cadmus18 cadmus19 cadmus20 cadmus21 cadmus22 cadmus23 semele05 pentheus27 cadmus25 cadmus26 cadmus27 cadmus29 cadmus31 cadmus36 cadmus37 cadmus38 cadmus39

  • Hephaestus- Son of Zeus and Hera, he was cast out of Olympus by his mother and fell to earth, where he was raised by the goddess Thetis. He was the god of blacksmiths and artisans, and his wife was Aglaea, the youngest of the Graces. He secured a spot for himself on Olympus by sending his mother a golden throne as gift that trapped her when she sat upon it. He offered to release her from the throne for in exchange for a place among the Olympians. cadmus19 tiresias09

  • Hera- Queen of the gods, she was the daughter of the titans Cronus and Rhea. Hera married her brother Zeus and was the mother of Ares, Hephaestus, Hebe, and Ilithyia. She was the protector of the hero Jason and supported the side of the Achaeans in the Trojan War, but her most common role in mythology was as the punisher of Zeus' mistresses and the resulting offspring. tiresias09 tiresias10 tiresias11 tiresias12 semele02

  • Hermes- Son of Zeus and the Titaness Maia, Olympian god of messengers and commerce. Hermes was also the Psychopomp; the god who led the sould of the dead to their rest in the underworld. He carried a wand called the Caduceus that was entwined by two serpents in a double helix and he wore winged sandals. He was the slayer of the many-eyed man, Argos, and it was Hermes' anger that set Atreus and Thyestes, the sons of Pelops, against each other. cadmus19 dionysus01 dionysus02 dionysus04 dionysus05

  • Hyperenor- See Spartes.

I

  • Ino- Daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia. Ino was married to king Athamas of Orchomenus. She bore him two sons, Learchus and Melicertes, but she was jealous of Phrixus and Helle, Athamas' children from a previous marriage. She framed Phrixus with ruining the city's grain supply and attempted to have him and his sister killed, a plot that was foiled by the children's natural mother, Nephele. In a fit of madness Athamas slew Learchus and attempted to kill Ino by throwing her off a cliff, but Zeus pitied Ino and transformed her into the sea goddess Leucothea. cadmus21 dionysus02 dionysus03 pentheus06 pentheus19 pentheus20 pentheus21 pentheus28

  • Illyrius- Youngest son of Cadmus and Harmonia. In Greek legend the Illyrians, whom his father Cadmus came to rule in his exile from Thebes, were named for him. cadmus36 cadmus40

L

  • Labdacus- Son of Polydorus and grandson of Cadmus. As a young child Labdacus' father was killed and his maternal grandfather, Nycteus, became regent. After Nycteus' own death his brother Lycus became the second regent continuing to rule for the young Labdacus. Eventually after the overthrow of the regency by Amphion and Zethus, Labdacus fled Thebes. He eventually returned to claim the throne after the death of Amphion and Zetheus and had a son named Laius. pentheus30 regents01 regents02 regents03

  • Lycotherses- A local king among one of the tribes of the Illyria. He was married to Agave, daughter of Cadmus, to secure peace between the two kingdoms, but Agave assassinated her new husband in order to consolidate her him kingdom with that of her father. cadmus27 cadmus28

  • Lycurgus- Eastern king who oppressed the companions of Dionysus who dwelled in his land. He was stricken blind by Zeus and later (in a fit of madness sent by Dionysus) he murdered his own son whom he mistook for a grapevine. dionysus07 dionysus08 dionysus09 dionysus12 dionysus13 dionysus16 dionysus18

  • Lycus- Second regent of Thebes. When his elder brother, Nycteus, was slain in the war against Sicyon, Lycus complete the conquest of the city and captured Antiope, Nycteus' runaway daughter. He lost power and was sent into exile when Antiope's twin sons, Amphion and Zethus, invaded Thebes. regents08 regents09 regents10 regents11 regents12 amphion&zethus01 amphion&zethus02 amphion&zethus03 amphion&zethus04 amphion&zethus05

M

  • Manto- Daughter of Tiresias the famous seer of Thebes. Manto was taught the art of prophecy by her father and also became a seer. During the siege of Thebes by the Epigoni Manto was taken from Thebes. She bore a son named Mopsus to whom she taught the art of prophecy. tiresias06 tiresias07 tiresias08 tiresias14 amphion&zethus04

N

  • Nycteis- Daughter of Nycteus who was himself the son of Chthonius, one of the Spartes. She married Polydorus and bore him a son named Labdacus. pentheus29 pentheus30 regents01 regents02 regents03

  • Nycteus- The eldest son of Chthonius, one of the Spartes. His eldest daughter, Nycteis, married King Polydorus of Thebes and bore a son to him named Labdacus. When Polydorus died early, Nycteus served as the first regent of Thebes, holding the throne for his grandson, Labdacus. But when Nycteus' other daughter, Antiope, ran away and married the king of Sicyon, Nycteus went to war to retrieve his daughter. When Nycteus died in the war against Sicyon, his younger brother Lycus, became the second regent of Thebes. regents01 regents02 regents03 regents06 regents07 regents08

  • Nysan Nymphs- Rain nymphs of the land of Nysa in the east. They were given the child Dionysus to raise so that he might grow up hidden from Hera. They (along with the Seleni and the young Dionysus) were persecuted by Lycurgus, a local king who attempted to eradicate their presence from his land. dionysus05 dionysus06 dionysus07 dionysus08 dionysus14

P

  • Pelagon- King of Phocis who sold Cadmus a cow which he set loose to wander so that it might lead him to the spot where he would found Thebes. cadmus06

  • Pelorus- See Spartes.

  • Pentheus- Grandson of Cadmus who succeed him as king of Thebes. He refused to recognize the divinity of his cousin Dionysus and was torn to pieces by the god's followers including his own mother, Agave, and his aunts, Ino and Autonoë. cadmus22 cadmus23 pentheus01 pentheus02 pentheus03 pentheus07 pentheus08 pentheus09 pentheus13 pentheus14 pentheus15 pentheus16 pentheus17 pentheus18 pentheus19 pentheus20 pentheus21 pentheus22 pentheus23 pentheus24

  • Pholus- A centaur who lived on Mt. Pelion. When the god Dionysus came to visit, Polus was given a jar of wine to keep for Dionysus' return. When Heracles later came to visit, the hero convinced Pholus to open the wine which drove the other centuars into a frenzy. In the ensuring melee, Pholus was accidentally killed by one of Heracles' poisoned arrows. dionysus26 dionysus27

  • Polydorus- The only son of Cadmus and Harmonia, he was passed over for the kingship of Thebes when Cadmus instead gave the crown to Pentheus, Polydorus' nephew. On the death of Pentheus and the exile of Cadmus, Polydorus became king of Thebes but he died while his son Labdacus was too young to take the throne. cadmus21 cadmus23 cadmus24 pentheus26 pentheus29 pentheus30 cadmus34

  • Poseidon - Son of Cronus and Rhea and brother of Zeus, Hades, Demeter, Hestia, and Hera. Poseidon was god of the sea and horses. He was married to the Nereid Amphitrite. Poseidon supported the side of the Achaeans in the Trojan War, but an offense against his son Polyphemus turned Poseidon against the Achaean hero Odysseus. Poseidon kept Odysseus away from his home in Ithaca for an additional ten years after the end of the war. tiresias09

  • Pythia- Priestess of Apollo who had the gift of prophecy. She resided at Delphi where many who sought the wisdom of Apollo came to hear her speak. Her prophecies, though true, were often vague and subject to multiple interpretations. cadmus05

S

  • Satyrs- Half-goat, half-man creatures who are followers of Dionysus. The satyrs spend their time in the leisurely pursuit of drinking wine and chasing nymphs. In Greek vase art satyrs came to assume the role of the sileni, earlier half human creatures who were also followers of Dionysus. dionysus23 dionysus28 pentheus06

  • Semele- youngest daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia. She had an affair with Zeus but was tricked by Hera into asking Zeus for a favor that resulted in her death. Zeus saved their unborn son Dionysus from sharing his mother's fate and carried the child in his own thigh until he was born. semele01 semele02 semele03 semele04

  • Sileni- Half-human, half-horse creatures who gave themselves entirely to the cultivation and drinking of wine. They were said to be unsuited for real work. They were companions of Dionysus and kept company with nymphs and satyrs. dionysus06 dionysus07 dionysus08 dionysus14

  • Spartes- The "sown men" who were born from the teeth of the Draco that were planted by Cadmus. When Cadmus threw a stone into their midst they turned on one another and fought until only five remained: Echion, Udeus, Chthonius, Hyperenor, and Pelorus. These five became the first citizens of Thebes. cadmus13 cadmus14 cadmus15 cadmus16 cadmus17

T

  • Telephassa- Wife of Agenor, king of Phoenicia. When her daughter Europa was abducted by Zeus she traveled with her son, Cadmus, to find her. Telephassa died in Thrace where her son buried her. cadmus02 cadmus04

  • Thetis- One of the Nereids, the fifty daughters of Nereus. A prophecy about Thetis foretold that she would bear a son much greater than his father. Zeus had been courting Thetis, but when he heard of this prophecy he resolved to have her married to a mortal man rather than risk producing a son that would overthrow him. Thetis was married to King Peleus, and their wedding, which was attended by all the gods of Olympus, was the second wedding of a mortal to a goddess. She bore Peleus a son, Achilles, who would become the greatest Achaean hero of the Trojan War. Thetis supported the Achaean side in that conflict, and is depicted as a close confidant of Zeus. dionysus10 dionysus11

  • Thyia- Daughter of the river god Cephissus. Thyia was the first in Greece to honor Dionysus and recognize him as a god. For this reason Dionysus' followers, the Maenads, were sometimes called 'Thyiades' after her name. She bore a son named Delphus to the god Apollo. dionysus24 dionysus25

  • Tiresias- Famous seer of Thebes. Cursed by the gods, Tiresias spent seven years as a woman before the curse was lifted as he became a man again. Asked later by Zeus and Hera to settle an argument about whether men or women enjoyed sex more, Hera blinded him when he sided with Zeus. To compensate him for his loss of sight, Zeus gave him the gift of prophecy and a long lifespan. Living for several generation in Thebes he fled the city during its sack by the Epigoni, and died soon after. The hero Odysseus consulted Tiresias' spirit in the underworld. tiresias01 tiresias02 tiresias03 tiresias04 tiresias05 tiresias06 tiresias07 tiresias08 tiresias10 tiresias11 tiresias12 tiresias13 tiresias14 pentheus07 pentheus22 pentheus23 pentheus25 pentheus26 pentheus30 amphion&zethus04

U

  • Udeus- Father of Everes. See Spartes.

Z

  • Zethus- Son of Zeus and the mortal Antiope, Zethus was the twin brother of Amphion. As a newborn he and his brother were abandoned to die on the outskirts of Sicyon, but the brothers were discovered by a local shepherd and raise to adulthood. Upon discovering their parentage, the two brothers usurped the throne of Thebes, which was held by Labdacus, their cousin. The brothers "refounded" the city, building its famous outer wall with seven gates. The refounded city, which had up until that time been called "Cadmea" after the original founded Cadmus, was renamed "Thebes" after Zethus' wife Thebe. amphion&zethus02 amphion&zethus03 amphion&zethus07 amphion&zethus08 amphion&zethus11 amphion&zethus13

  • Zeus- King of the gods, son of the titans Cronus and Rhea. He overthrew his father, married his sister Hera, and ruled from Mount Olympus. He had numerous offspring both legitimate and illegitimate, both divine and mortal. He was a god of the sky and his weapon was the thunderbolt. He was also the god who protected the sacred relationship between hosts and their guests. cadmus03 tiresias09 tiresias10 tiresias11 tiresias12 tiresias13 semele01 semele03 semele04 dionysus01 dionysus11
All material © 2008-2011 William Abbot Henderson unless otherwise noted.