Listed 100 (total found 277) sub titles with search on: Mythology for wider area of: "WEST GREECE Region GREECE" .
PATRAI (Ancient city) ACHAIA
An aboriginal of land of Patrae, taught by Triptolemus to sow.
ACHELOOS (River) ETOLOAKARNANIA
It was this silt (brought down by the Achelous) which in early times caused the country called Paracheloitis, which the river overflows, to be a subject of dispute, since it was always confusing the designated boundaries between the Acarnanians and the Aetolians; for they would decide the dispute by arms, since they had no arbitrators, and the more powerful of the two would win the victory; and this is the cause of the fabrication of a certain myth, telling how Heracles defeated Achelous and, as the prize of his victory, won the hand of Deianeira, the daughter of Oeneus, whom Sophocles represents as speaking as follows:
For my suitor was a river-god, I mean Achelous, who would demand me of my father in three shapes, coming now as a bull in bodily form, now as a gleaming serpent in coils, now with trunk of man and front of ox.
Some writers add to the myth, saying that this was the horn of Amaltheia, which Heracles broke off from Achelous and gave to Oeneus as a wedding gift. Others, conjecturing the truth from the myths, say that the Achelous, like the other rivers, was called "like a bull" from the roaring of its waters, and also from the the bendings of its streams, which were called Horns, and "like a serpent" because of its length and windings, and "with front of ox" for the same reason that he was called "bull-faced"; and that Heracles, who in general was inclined to deeds of kindness, but especially for Oeneus, since he was to ally himself with him by marriage, regulated the irregular flow of the river by means of embankments and channels, and thus rendered a considerable part of Paracheloitis dry, all to please Oeneus; and that this was the horn of Amaltheia.
ALFIOS (River) ILIA
There is another legend about the Alpheius. They say that there was a hunter called Alpheius, who fell in love with Arethusa, who was herself a huntress. Arethusa, unwilling to marry crossed, they say, to the island opposite Syracuse called Ortygia, and there turned from a woman to a spring. Alpheius too was changed by his love into the river. This account of Alpheius...to Ortygia. But that the Alpheius passes through the sea and mingles his waters with the spring at this place I cannot disbelieve, as I know that the god at Delphi confirms the story. For this reason, therefore, because the water of the Alpheius mingles with the Arethusa, I am convinced that the legend arose of the river's love-affair.
Argyra (Argura), the nymph of a well in Achaia, was in love with a beautiful shepherd-boy, Selemnus, and visited him frequently, but when his youthful beauty vanished, she forsook him. The boy now pined away with grief, and Aphrodite, moved to pity, changed him into the river Selemnus. There was a popular belief in Achaia, that if an unhappy lover bathed in the water of this river, he would forget the grief of his love. (Paus. vii. 23.2)
EFYRA ILIAKI (Ancient city) ILIA
For the fifth labor, Eurystheus ordered Hercules to clean up King
Augeas' stables. Hercules knew this job would mean getting dirty and smelly, but
sometimes even a hero has to do these things. Then Eurystheus made Hercules' task
even harder: he had to clean up after the cattle of Augeas in a single day.
For the fifth labor, Eurystheus ordered Hercules to clean up King
Augeas' stables. Hercules knew this job would mean getting dirty and smelly, but
sometimes even a hero has to do these things. Then Eurystheus made Hercules' task
even harder: he had to clean up after the cattle of Augeas in a single day.
Every night the cowherds, goatherds and shepherds drove the thousands
of animals to the stables. Every night the cowherds, goatherds and shepherds drove
the thousands of animals to the stables.
Hercules went to King Augeas, and without telling anything about Eurystheus,
said that he would clean out the stables in one day, if Augeas would give him
a tenth of his fine cattle. Augeas couldn't believe his ears, but promised. Hercules
brought Augeas's son along to watch. First the hero tore a big opening in the
wall of the cattle-yard where the stables were. Then he made another opening in
the wall on the opposite side of the yard.
Next, he dug wide trenches to two rivers which flowed nearby. He turned the course
of the rivers into the yard. The rivers rushed through the stables, flushing them
out, and all the mess flowed out the hole in the wall on other side of the yard.
When Augeas learned that Eurystheus was behind all this, he
would not pay Hercules his reward. Not only that, he denied that he had even promised
to pay a reward. Augeas said that if Hercules didn't like it, he could take the
matter to a judge to decide.
The judge took his seat. Hercules called the son of Augeas to testify. The
boy swore that his father had agreed to give Hercules a reward. The judge ruled
that Hercules would have to be paid. In a rage, Augeas ordered both his own son
and Hercules to leave his kingdom at once. So the boy went to the north country
to live with his aunts, and Hercules headed back to Mycenae. But Eurystheus said
that this labour didn't count, because Hercules was paid for having done the work.
This text is cited July 2004 from Perseus Project URL bellow, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Eleius had a son Augeas. This Augeas had so many cattle and flocks of goats that actually most of his land remained untilled because of the dung of the animals. Now he persuaded Heracles to cleanse for him the land from dung, either in return for a part of Elis or possibly for some other reward. Heracles accomplished this feat too, turning aside the stream of the Menius into the dung. But, because Heracles had accomplished his task by cunning, without toil, Augeas refused to give him his reward, and banished Phyleus, the elder of his two sons, for objecting that he was wronging a man who had been his benefactor.
Heracles. 5. The stables of Augeas. Eurystheus imposed upon Heracles the task of cleaning the stables of Augeas in one day. Augeas was king of Elis, and extremely rich in cattle. Heracles, without mentioning the command of Eurystheus, went to Augeas, offering in one day to clean his stables, if he would give him the tenth part of the cattle for his trouble, or, according to Pausanias (v. i.7) a part of his territory. Augeas, believing that Heracles could not possibly accomplish what he promised, agreed, and Heracles took Phyleus, the son of Augeas, as his witness, and then led the rivers Alpheius and Peneius through the stables, which were thus cleaned in the time fixed upon. But Augeas, who learned that Heracles had undertaken the work by the command of Eurystheus, refused the reward, denied his promise, and declared that he would have the matter decided by a judicial verdict. Phyleus then bore witness against his father, who exiled him from Elis. Eurystheus declared the work thus performed to be unlawful, because Heracles had stipulated with Augeas a payment for it. (Apollod. ii. 5.5; Theocrit. xxv. 88, &c.; Ptolem. Heph. 5; Athen. x.; Schol. ad Pind. Ol. xi. 42.) At a subsequent time Hferacles, to revenge the faithlessness of Augeas, marched with an army of Argives and Tirynthians against Augeas, but in a narrow defile in Elis he was taken by surprise by Cteatus and Eurytus, and lost a great number of his warriors. But afterwards Heracles slew Cteatus and Eurytus, invaded Elis, and killed Augeas and his sons. After this victory, Heracles marked out the sacred ground on which the Olympian games were to be celebrated, built altars, and instituted the Olympian festival and games. (Apollod. ii. 7.2; Paus. v. 1.7. 3.1, &c., 4.1; viii. 15.2; Pind. Ol. xi. 25, &c., comp. v. 5, iii. 13, &c.)
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Nov 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ERYMANTHOS (Mountain) ACHAIA
There is also a legend that Heracles at the command of Eurystheus hunted by the side of the Erymanthus a boar that surpassed all others in size and in strength. The people of Cumae among the Opici say that the boar's tusks dedicated in their sanctuary of Apollo are those of the Erymanthian boar, but the saying is altogether improbable.
For the fourth labor, Eurystheus ordered Hercules to bring him the
Erymanthian boar alive. Now, a boar is a huge, wild pig with a bad temper, and
tusks growing out of its mouth.
This one was called the Erymanthian boar, because it lived on a mountain
called Erymanthus. Every day the boar would come crashing down from his lair on
the mountain, attacking men and animals all over the countryside, gouging them
with its tusks, and destroying everything in its path...
...It wasn't too hard for Hercules to find the boar. He could hear
the beast snorting and stomping as it rooted around for something to eat. Hercules
chased the boar round and round the mountain, shouting as loud as he could. The
boar, frightened and out of breath, hid in a thicket. Hercules poked his spear
into the thicket and drove the exhausted animal into a deep patch of snow.
Then he trapped the boar in a net, and carried it all the way to Mycenae.
Eurystheus, again amazed and frightened by the hero's powers, hid in his partly
buried bronze jar.
This extract is cited July 2004 from Perseus Project URL bellow, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Heracles. 4. The Erymanthian boar. This animal, which Heracles was ordered to bring alive, had descended from mount Erymanthus (according to others, from mount Lampe,) into Psophis. IIeracles chased him through the deep snow, and having thus worn him out, he caught him in a net, and carried him to Mycenae. (Apollod. ii. 5.4; Diod. iv. 12.) Other traditions place the hunt of the Erymanthian boar in Thessaly, and some even in Phrygia. (Eurip. Herc. Fur. 368; Hygin. Fab. 30.) It must be observed that this and subsequent labours of Heracles are connected with other subordinate ones, called Parerga, and the first of these parerga is the fight of Heracles with the Centaurs ; for it is said that in his pursuit of the boar he came to the centaur Pholus, who had received from Dionysus a cask of excellent wine. Heracles opened it, contrary to the wish of his host, and the delicious fragrance attracted the other centaurs, who besieged the grotto of Pholus. Heracles drove them away: they fled to the house of Cheiron, and Heracles, eager in his pursuit, wounded Cheiron, his old friend. Heracles was deeply grieved, and tried to save Cheiron; but in vain, for the wound was fatal. As, however, Cheiron was immortal, and could not die, he prayed to Zeus to take away his immortality, and give it to Prometheus. Thus Cheiron was delivered of his burning pain, and died. Pholus, too, was wounded by one of the arrows, which by accident fell on his foot and killed him. This fight with the centaurs gave rise to the establishment of mysteries, by which Demeter intended to purify the hero from the blood he had shed against his own will. (Apollod. ii. 5.4; Diod. iv. 14; Eurip. Herc. Fur. 364, &c.; Theocrit. vii. 150; Apollon. Rhod. i. 127; Paus. viii. 24.2; Ov. Met. ix. 192.)
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Nov 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
On his way to hunt the Erymanthian boar, Hercules stopped to visit
his friend Pholus, who was a centaur and lived in a cave near Mount Erymanthus.
Everyone knows that centaur is a human from his head to his waist, and a horse
for the rest of his body and his legs. Hercules was hungry and thirsty, so the
kindly centaur cooked Hercules some meat in the fireplace, while he himself ate
his meat raw.
When Hercules asked for wine, Pholus said that he was afraid to open
the wine jar, because it belonged to all the centaurs in common. But Hercules
said not to worry, and opened it himself.
Soon afterwards, the rest of the centaurs smelled the wine and came
to Pholus's cave. They were angry that someone was drinking all of their wine.
The first two who dared to enter were armed with rocks and fir trees.
Hercules grabbed burning sticks from the fireplace and threw them
at the centaurs, then went after them with his club.
He shot arrows at the rest of them and chased after them for about
twenty miles. The rest of the centaurs fled in different directions. One of the
centaurs, Chiron, received a wound that no amount of medicine would heal...but
what happened to Chiron is another story.
While Hercules was gone, Pholus pulled an arrow from the body of one
of the dead centaurs. He wondered that so little a thing could kill such a big
creature. Suddenly, the arrow slipped from his hand. It fell onto his foot and
killed him on the spot. So when Hercules returned, he found Pholus dead. He buried
his centaur friend, and proceeded to hunt the boar.
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EVINOS (River) ETOLOAKARNANIA
And there (at Evenus River) Nessus, it is said, who had been appointed ferryman, was killed by Heracles because he tried to violate Deianeira when he was ferrying her across the river.
Nessus, (Nessos). A Centaur, who used to ferry travellers over the river Evenus. On attempting to outrage Deianira, the wife of Heracles, he was shot by the latter with one of his poisoned arrows. Upon this he presented Deianira with a portion of his poisoned blood, professedly to enable her to regain her husband's affections, should he prove false to her. A robe smeared with this blood proved fatal to Heracles.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Nessos : Various WebPages
ILIA (Ancient country) GREECE
Endymion, (Endumion). In Greek mythology, the
beautiful son of Aethlius (or, according to another story, of Zeus) and Calyce,
daughter of Aeolus, king of Elis, father of Epeus, Aetolus, and Paeon, the first
of whom won the government of the country by conquering in a race which his father
had set on foot. He was loved by Selene, the moon-goddess, by whom he had fifty
daughters. They were supposed to symbolize the fifty lunar months which intervened
between the Olympic Games. His grave was at Olympia. Another story made him a
shepherd or hunter on Mount Latmos in Caria. Zeus bestowed on him eternal youth
and eternal life in the form of unbroken slumber. Selene descended every night
from heaven to visit and embrace the beautiful sleeper in his grotto. The usual
story, however, makes Selene to have thrown him into a sleep so that she might
kiss and caress him without his knowledge. A beautiful statue in the British Museum
represents Endymion, and the legend inspired Keats to write one of the most exquisite
poems in English literature.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Endymion (Endumion), a youth distinguished for his beauty, and renowned in ancient story by the perpetual sleep in which he spent his life. Some traditions about Endymion refer us to Elis, and others to Caria, and others again are a combination of the two. According to the first set of legends, he was a son of Aethlius and Calyce,or of Zeus and Calyce, and succeeded Aethlius in the kingdom of Elis (Paus. v. 1.2). Others again say that he expelled Clymenus from the kingdom of Elis, and introduced into the country Aeolian settlers from Thessaly (Apollod. i. 7.5, &c.; Paus. v. 8.1). Conon (Narrat 14) calls him a son of Zeus and Protogencia, and Hyginus (Fab. 271) a son of Aetolus. He is said to have been married to Asterodia, Chromia, Hyperippe, Neis, or Iphianassa; and Aetolus, Paeon, Epeius. Eurydice, and Naxus are called his children. He was, however, especially beloved by Selene, by whom he had fifty daughters (Paus. v. 1.2). He caused his sons to engage in the race-course at Olympia, and promised to the victor the succession in his kingdom, and Epeius conquered his brothers, and succeeded Endymion as king of Elis. He was believed to be buried at Olympia, which also contained a statue of his in the treasury of the Metapontians (Paus. vi. 19.8, 20.6). According to a tradition, believed at Heracleia in Caria, Endymion had come from Elis to mount Latmus in Caria, whence he is called the Latmian (Latmius; Paus. v. 1. § 4; Ov. Ars Am. iii. 83, Trist. ii. 299). He is described by the poets either as a king, a shepherd, or a hunter (Theocrit. iii. 49, xx. 37 with the Scholiast), and while he was slumbering in a cave of mount Latmus, Selene came down to him, kissed, and lay by his side (Comp. Apollon. Rhod. iv. 57). There also he had, in later times, a sanctuary, and his tomb was shewn in a cave of mount Latmus (Paus. v. 1.4; Strab. xiv.). His eternal sleep on Latmus is assigned to different causes in ancient story. Some said that Zeus had granted him a request, and that Endymion begged for immortality, eternal sleep, and everlasting youth (Apollod. i. 7.5.); others relate that he was received among the gods of Olympus, but as he there fell in love with Hera, Zeus, in his anger, punished him by throwing him into eternal sleep on mount Latmus (Schol. ad Theocrit. iii. 49). Others, lastly, state that Selene, charmed with his surpassing beauty, sent him to sleep, that she might be able to kiss him without being observed by him (Cic. Tuscal. i. 38). The stories of the fair sleeper, Endymion, the darling of Selene, are unquestionably poetical fictions, in which sleep is personified. His name and all his attributes confirm this opinion : Endymion signifies a being that gently comes over one; he is called a king, because he has power over all living creatures; a shepherd, because he slumbered in the cool caves of mount Latmus, that is, "the mount of oblivion". Nothing can be more beautiful, lastly, than the notion, that he is kissed by the soft rays of the moon (Comp. Plat. Phaed.; Ov. Am. i. 13. 43). There is a beautiful statue of a sleeping Endymion in the British Museum.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Dec 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Endymion, on Pausanias:
The first to rule in this land, they say, was Aethlius, who was the
son of Zeus and of Protogeneia, the daughter of Deucalion, and the father of Endymion.
The Moon, they say, fell in love with this Endymion and bore him fifty daughters.
Others with greater probability say that Endymion took a wife Asterodia--others
say she was Cromia, the daughter of Itonus, the son of Amphictyon; others again,
Hyperippe, the daughter of Arcas--but all agree that Endymion begat Paeon, Epeius,
Aetolus, and also a daughter Eurycyda. Endymion set his sons to run a race at
Olympia for the throne; Epeius won, and obtained the kingdom, and his subjects
were then named Epeans for the first time.(Paus. 5.1.4)
...Later on there (at Olympia) came (they say) from Crete Clymenus, the son of
Cardys, about fifty years after the flood came upon the Greeks in the time of
Deucalion. He was descended from Heracles of Ida; he held the games at Olympia
and set up an altar in honor of Heracles, his ancestor, and the other Curetes,
giving to Heracles the surname of Parastates (Assistant). And Endymion, the son
of Aethlius, deposed Clymenus, and set his sons a race in Olympia with the kingdom
as the prize. (Paus. 5.8.1)
... At the end of the stadium (at Olympia), where is the starting-place for the
runners, there is, the Eleans say, the tomb of Endymion. (Paus. 6.20.9)
Endymion, on Apollodorus:
Calyce and Aethlius had a son Endymion who led Aeolians from Thessaly and founded
Elis. But some say that he was a son of Zeus. As he was of surpassing beauty,
the Moon fell in love with him, and Zeus allowed him to choose what he would,
and he chose to sleep for ever, remaining deathless and ageless.
Endymion had by a Naiad nymph or, as some say, by Iphianassa, a son Aetolus, who
slew Apis, son of Phoroneus, and fled to the Curetian country. There he killed
his hosts, Dorus and Laodocus and Polypoetes, the sons of Phthia and Apollo, and
called the country Aetolia after himself.( Apollod. 1.7.5-6)
Selene. The Greek goddess of the moon, daughter of the Titan Hyperion and Theia, sister of Helios and Eos. She was described as a beautiful woman with long wings and golden diadem, from which she shed a mild light, riding in a car drawn by two white horses or mules or cows. The horns of the latter symbolized the crescent moon. In later times she was identified with Artemis (or else with Hecate and Persephone), as was Helios with Phoebus Apollo, and therefore was herself called Phoebe. After this she was also regarded as a huntress and archer, recognizable by her crescent as the goddess of the moon. She was worshipped on the days of the new and full moon. She bore to Zeus a daughter, Pandia, worshipped at Athens with her father at the festival of Pandia. On her love for Endymion, see Endymion. The Romans called her Luna, and had two temples to her at Rome--one on the Aventine and one on the Palatine.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
KALYDON (Ancient city) IERA POLIS MESSOLONGIOU
Hercules married a second wife, Deianira. He won her hand in marriage by wrestling with the river-god Acheloos, who took the form of a centaur. During the fight, Hercules broke off one of Acheloos' horns.
Once, when Deianira and Hercules were traveling, they came to the Evenus River. A centaur, Nessos, had been appointed ferryman there. As he carried Deianira across, he tried to assault her, and Hercules, hearing her screams, ran to rescue his damsel in distress. Hercules shot the centaur in the heart with one of his arrows.
Just before he died, Nessos set up his revenge by telling Deianira that the blood spilling from his wound could be used as a love potion, if need be. Deianira picked up some of the centaur's blood and saved it. Later, she put it onto a cloak she'd woven for Hercules, hoping it would renew his love for her.
The blood, of course, was not a love potion, but a deadly poison instead, and its touch burned Hercules' skin. His eventual death is described in the biography section (see ancient Argos).
The story of Deianira and Hercules became the subject of one of Sophocles' tragic plays, Trachiniae (The Women of Trachis). Like many Greek tragedies. this play explored the disruptive and horrible consequences when gods and mortals interacted.
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Deianeira. The daughter of king Oeneus of Calydon and Althaea, but sometimes
it was whispered that Dionysus was her real father. Deianeira had many sisters
and brothers: Toxeus, Agelaus, Thyreus, Clymenus (or Periphas), Meleager, Gorge,
Eurymede and Melanippe.
Althaea died of grief when Meleager died, still a young boy, and his
sisters turned into guinea hens out of sorrow. Dionysus then intervened and spared
Deianeira and Gorge.
Deianeira was very beautiful, and both Heracles and the river god
Achelous wanted to marry her. A fight broke out between the two, and Achelous
transformed himself into a snake and then a bull. Heracles managed to break off
one of the bull's horn, and so won the battle.
The couple lived in Calydon for a few years, but when Heracles killed
a local boy by mistake, they were forced to leave. When they reached the Euenus
river they met the Centaur Nessus. When he saw the beautiful Deianeiera he tried
to rape her after he had carried her across the river, but Heracles killed him
with an arrow, its tip had been dipped in the blood of the Hydra. The dying Centaur
gave Deianeira a piece of cloth soaked with his blood, and told her to keep it.
With it, he said, she would have Heracles' love if she ever came near to losing
it.
Heracles and Deianeira settled in Trachis
where they had several children: Hyllus, Ctesippus, Glenus, Hodites and Macaria.
Heracles often went away on various adventures, but he always came back.
After many years, Deianeira was horrified to hear that her husband
had taken a young wife, and that he was coming back with her. The young bride,
Iole, was also rumoured to be very beautiful, and Deianeira was at her wits end.
When she had made sure her husband was really coming with Iole through a servant,
she put the Centaur's cloth in a barrel of water, and then put a shirt in it that
she sent to Heracles.
When Heracles put the shirt on it stuck on his skin and caused him
great pain. When he tried to take it off, pieces of his own flesh came with it.
He made it to Trachis, only
to find that Deianeira had hung herself when she had realised what she had done.
Heracles made a funeral pyre for himself by Mt.
Oeta, and then ascended it.
This text is cited Sept 2003 from the In2Greece URL below.
Coresus was a priest of Dionysus. He was in love with Callirhoe, a maiden. But his love for her was equalled by her hatred of him. When she refused to change her mind, he went as a suppliant to the image of Dionysus. The god listened to his prayer and death overtook the Calydonians. So they appealed to the oracle at Dodona. It declared that it was the wrath of Dionysus that caused the plague, which would not cease until Coresus sacrificed to Dionysus either Callirhoe herself or one who had the courage to die in her stead. When everything was ready for the sacrifice according to the oracle from Dodona, the maiden was led like a victim to the altar. Coresus stood ready to sacrifice, when, his resentment giving way to love, he slew himself in place of Callirhoe. When Callirhoe saw Goresus lying dead, she repented and cut her throat at the spring in Galydon and later generations call the spring Callirhoe after her.
Callirrhoe, a maiden of Calydon, who, when she was loved by Coresus, a priest of Dionysus, rejected all the offers he made to her. At length, he implored his god to punish the cruel maid. Dionysus now visited the people of Calydon with a general madness, which raged there like a plague. The Dodonaean oracle, which was consulted about the mode of averting the calamity, answered, that Dionysus must be propitiated, and that Callirrhoe must be sacrificed to him, or some one else in her stead. The maiden endeavoured in vain to escape her fate; but when she was led to the altar, Coresus, instead of performing the sacrifice, felt his love for her revive so strongly, that he sacrificed himself in her stead. But she also now put an end to her life near a well which derived its name from her (Paus. vii. 21.1). There are two more mythical personages of this name. (Steph. Byz. s. v. Alabanda; Plut. Parallel. Gr. et Rom. 23)
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Nov 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
KASTRIA (Village) KALAVRYTA
Above Nonacris are the Aroanian Mountains, in which is a cave. To this cave, legend says, the daughters of Proetus fled when struck with madness (Paus. 8,18,7). It is the Cave of Kastrion of today (Ekd. Athinon, Pausaniou Periegissis, vol. 4, p.246, note 2).
KERYNIA (Ancient city) ACHAIA
For the third labor, Eurystheus ordered Hercules to bring him the
Hind of Ceryneia. Now, before we go any further, we'll have to answer two questions:
What is a hind? and, Where is Ceryneia?
Ceryneia is a town in Greece, about fifty miles from Eurystheus' palace in Mycenae.
A hind is simply a female red deer.
You'd think it would have been easy for a hero like Hercules to go
shoot a deer and bring it back to Eurystheus, but a few problems made things complicated.
This was a special deer, because it had golden horns and hoofs of bronze. Not
only that, the deer was sacred to the goddess of hunting and the moon, Diana;
she was Diana's special pet. That meant that Hercules could neither kill the deer
nor hurt her. He couldn't risk getting Diana angry at him; he was already in enough
trouble with Hera.
Hercules set out on this adventure, and he hunted the deer for a whole
year. At last, when the deer had become weary with the chase, she looked for a
place to rest on a mountain called Artemisius, and then made her way to the river
Ladon. Realizing that the deer was about to get away, Hercules shot her just as
she was about to cross the stream. He caught the deer, put her on his shoulders
and turned back to Mycenae. As Hercules hurried on his way, he was met by Diana
and Apollo.
Diana was very angry because Hercules tried to kill her sacred animal.
She was about to take the deer away from Hercules, and surely she would have punished
him, but Hercules told her the truth. He said that he had to obey the oracle and
do the labors Eurystheus had given him. Diana let go of her anger and healed the
deer's wound. Hercules carried it alive to Mycenae.
This text is cited July 2004 from Perseus Project URL bellow, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Heracles. 3. The stag of Ceryneia in Arcadia. This animal hand golden antlers and brazen feet. It had been dedicated to Artemis by the nymph Taygete, because the goddess had saved her from the pursuit of Zeus. Heracles was ordered to bring the animal alive to Mycenae. He pursued it in vain for a whole year: at length it fled from Oenoe to mount Artemisium in Argolis, and thence to the river Ladon in Arcadia. Heracles wounded it with an arrow, caught it, and carried it away on his shoulders. While yet in Arcadia, he was met by Apollo and Artemis, who were angry with him for having outraged the animal sacred to Artemis; but Heracles succeeded in soothing their anger, and carried his prey to Mycenae. According to some statements, he killed the stag. (Apollod. ii. 5.3; Diod iv. 13; Callim. Hymn. in Dian. 100, &c.; Ov. Met. ix. 188; Virg. Aen. vi. 803; Pind. Ol. iii. 24, 53; Eurip. Herc. Fur. 378.)
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Nov 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
MESSATIS (Ancient city) PATRA
The stories told of Dionysus by the people of Patrae, that he was reared in Mesatis and incurred there all sob of perils through the plots of the Titans, I will not contradict, but will leave it to the people of Patrae to explain the name Mesatis as they choose.
OLYMPIA (Ancient sanctuary) ILIA
In the western Peloponnese, in a peaceful, idyllic valley, between Kronos Hill and the confluence of the rivers Alpheios and Kladeos, there flourished in ancient times one of the most important pan Hellenic sanctuaries: the Sanctuary of Olympia. At this Sanctuary, apart from rituals performed for healing, games called Olympic were also established from a very early period and, with the passage of time, attracted the attention of all the Greeks. With the Olympic Games, the ideal of noble rivalry found its complete expression and for many centuries forged the unity and peace of the Greek world. Hence the Sanctuary where they took place was recognized as one of the greatest pan Hellenic centers.
Heracles, being the eldest, matched his brothers, as a game, in a running-race, and crowned the winner with a branch of wild olive. Heracles of Ida, therefore, has the reputation of being the first to have held, on the occasion I mentioned, the games, and to have called them Olympic. So he established the custom of holding them every fifth year, because he and his brothers were five in number. Now some say that Zeus wrestled here with Cronus himself for the throne, while others say that he held the games in honor of his victory over Cronus. The record of victors include Apollo, who outran Hermes and beat Ares at boxing. It is for this reason, they say, that the Pythian flute-song is played while the competitors in the pentathlum are jumping; for the flute-song is sacred to Apollo, and Apollo won Olympic victories.
PATRAI (Ancient city) ACHAIA
Comaetho: Priestess of Artemis Triclaria, sacrificed to goddess for breach of chastity. Melanippos : Lover of Comaetho, sacrificed to Artemis.
SAMIKON (Ancient city) ILIA
One poem entitled Rhadine (of which Stesichorus is reputed to
be the author), which begins, "Come, thou clear-voiced Muse, Erato, begin thy
song, voicing to the tune of thy lovely lyre the strain of the children of Samus,"
refers to the children of the Samus in question; for Rhadine, who had been betrothed
to a tyrant of Corinth, the author says, set sail from Samus (not meaning, of
course, the Ionian Samus) while the west wind was blowing, and with the same wind
her brother, he adds, went to Delphi as chief of an embassy; and her cousin, who
was in love with her, set out for Corinth in his chariot to visit her. And the
tyrant killed them both and sent their bodies away on a chariot, but repented,
recalled the chariot, and buried their bodies.
MAKISTOS (Ancient city) ILIA
As for Eretria, some say that it was colonized from Triphylian Macistus by Eretrieus, but others say from the Eretria at Athens, which now is a marketplace.
KALYDON (Ancient city) IERA POLIS MESSOLONGIOU
Apollodorus, Library and Epitome 1.8.2 & P. Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses 8.260
AGRINION (Ancient city) ETOLOAKARNANIA
Son of Porthaon, accuses Tydeus, some of his sons killed by Tydeus, two of his sons kill Oeneus.
ALIFIRA (Ancient city) ILIA
Alipherus or Halipherus (Alipheros), one of the sons of Lycaon, killed by Zeus with a flash of lightning for their insolence. (Apollod. iii. 8. § 1.) The town of Aliphera or Alipheira in Arcadia was believed to have been founded by him, and to have derived its name from him. (Paus. viii. 3.1, 26.4; Steph. Byz. s. v. Alipheira.)
DYSPONTION (Ancient city) PYRGOS
Son of Oenomaus, founder of Dyspontium.
Dysponteus or Dysponteus (Dusponteus or Duspontios), according to Pausanias (vi. 22.6), a son of Oenomaus, but according to Stephanus of Byzantium (s. v. Duspontion), a son of Pelops, was believed to be the founder of the town of Dyspontium, in Pisatis.
FARES (Ancient city) PATRA
Son of Hermes and Phylodamia, founds Pharae.
KALYDON (Ancient city) IERA POLIS MESSOLONGIOU
Calydon (Kaludon), a son of Aetolus and Pronoe, married to Aeolia, by whom he became the father of Epicaste and Protogeneia. He was regarded as the founder of the Aetolian town of Calydon. (Apollod. i. 7.7; Steph.Byz. s. v. )
KLITOR (Ancient city) KALAVRYTA
Son of Azan.
LEPREON (Ancient city) ILIA
Son of Pyrgeus, challenges Herakles to eating-match, killed by Herakles.
Leprea, a daughter of Pyrgeus, from whom the town of Lepreum, in the south of
Elis, was said to have derived its name (Paus. v. 5.4). Another tradition derived
the name from Lepreus, a son of Caucon, Glaucon, or Pyrgeus (Aelian, V. H. i.
24; Paus. v. 5.4), by Astydameia. He was a grandson of Poseidon (the Schol. ad
Callim. Hymn. in Jov. 39, calls him a son of Poseidon), and a rival of Heracles
both in his strength and his powers of eating, but he was conquered and slain
by him. His tomb was believed to exist at Phigalia. (Athen. x.; Paus. l. c.; Eustath.
ad Hom.)
LETRINI (Ancient city) PYRGOS
Son of Pelops, founds Letrini. (Paus. 6.22.8)
PISSA (Ancient city) ANCIENT OLYMPIA
The founder of the city, they say, was Pisus, the son of Perieres, the son of Aeolus. (Paus. 6.22.2)
PLEVRON (Ancient city) ETOLOAKARNANIA
A hero, his shrine, son of Aetolus, husband of Xanthippe, ancestor of Dioscuri.
PYLOS ILIAS (Ancient city) ILIA
Retires to Peloponnese, founds Pylos.
PISSATIS (Ancient area) ILIA
A robber, slain by Herakles, his tomb, ridge of Saurus.
ARGOS AMFILOCHIKON (Ancient city) ETOLOAKARNANIA
Son of Alcmaeon by Manto, founder of the city.
EPII LAND (Ancient country) ILIA
Perseus Encyclopedia
Epeus, (Epeios). Son of Endymion, king of Elis. From him the Epei derived their
name.
KAFKONIA (Homeric land) ILIA
An Arcadian people, one of the most ancient of Greek races.
ANTHIA (Ancient city) ACHAIA
Triptolemus: with Eumelus founds city Anthea.
ARGOS AMFILOCHIKON (Ancient city) ETOLOAKARNANIA
After Ambracia comes Argos Amphilochicum, founded by Alcmaeon and his children. According to Ephorus, at any rate, Alcmaeon, after the expedition of the Epigoni against Thebes, on being invited by Diomedes, went with him into Aetolia and helped him acquire both this country and Acarnania; and when Agamemnon summoned them to the Trojan war, Diomedes went, but Alcmaeon stayed in Acarnania, founded Argos, and named it Amphilochicum after his brother; and he named the river which flows through the country into the Ambracian Gulf "Inachus", after the river in the Argeian country. But according to Thucydides, Amphilochus himself, after his return from Troy, being displeased with the state of affairs at Argos, passed on into Acarnania, and on succeeding to his brother's dominion founded the city that is named after him (Strab. 7,7,7).
ARINI (Ancient city) ILIA
Aphareus: Son of Perieres, king of Messenia, founds Arene, receives Tyndareus and Neleus, father of Idas and Lynceus and Pisus, his sons slain by Dioscuri and not buried at Sparta, tomb of A. at Sparta, A. and his children invoked as heroes by Messenians, their portraits. Arene: Daughter of Oebalus, half-sister and wife of Aphareus.
Aphareus, a son of the Messenian king Perieres and Gorgophone, the daughter of Perseus (Apollod. i. 9.5). His wife is called by Apollodorus (iii. 10.3) Arene, and by others Polydora or Laocoossa (Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. i. 152; Theocrit. xxii. 106). Aphareus had three sons, Lynceus, Idas, and Peisus. He was believed to have founded the town of Arene in Messenia, which he called after his wife. He received Neleus and Lycus, the son of Pandion, who had fled from their countries into his dominions. To the former he assigned a tract of land in Messenia, and from the latter he and his family learned the orgies of the great gods (Paus. iv. 2.3, &c.). Pausanias in this passage mentions only the two sons of Aphareus, Idas and Lynceus, who are celebrated in ancient story under the name of Apharetidai or Apharetiadai, for their fight with the Dioscuri, which is described by Pindar (Nem. x. 111, &c.). Two other mythical personages of this name occur in Hom. Il. xiii. 541; Ov. Met. xii. 341.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Laocoosa (Laokoosa), the wife of Aphareus, and mother of Idas. (Theocrit. xxii. 206; comp. Apollod. iii. 10. Β§ 3, who, however, calls the mother of Idas Arene.)
AROI (Ancient city) PATRA
An aboriginal of land of Patrae, taught by Triptolemus to sow.
ARPINA (Ancient city) ANCIENT OLYMPIA
Founds city of Harpina.
ELIKI (Ancient city) EGIALIA
Marries Helice daughter of Selinus and succeeds to kingdom of Aegialus, eponymous ancestral hero of the Ionians, names the people Ionians.
PATRAI (Ancient city) ACHAIA
Preugenes: Achaean leader, son of Agenor. Patreus: Son of Preugenes, Achaean leader, founds Patrae, his grave, statue, annual sacrifices to him.
YRMINI (Ancient city) ILIA
Brother of Augeas, father of Eurytus and Cteatus named Molionides after their mother Moline, share kingdom of Elis, marry daughters of Dexamenus, defeat Herakles, murdered by Herakles.
AKTION (Ancient port) ETOLOAKARNANIA
Actiacus, a surname of Apollo, derived from Actium, one of the principal places of his worship. (Ov. Met. xiii. 715; Strab. x.)
ALFIOS (River) ILIA
Demainetus, (Demainetos), a surname of Asclepius, derived from the name of a temple of his on the Alpheius. (Paus. vi. 21.4.)
ARAKYNTHOS (Mountain) ETOLOAKARNANIA
Arakunthias, a surname of Aphrodite, derived from mount Aracynthus, the position of which is a matter of uncertainty, and on which she had a temple. (Rhianus, ap. Steph. Byz. s. v. Arakunthos)
AROI (Ancient city) PATRA
Aesymnetes (Aisumnetes), a surname of Dionysus, which signifies the Lord, or Ruler,
and under which he was worshipped at Aroe in Achaia. The story about the introduction
of his worship there is as follows: There was at Troy an ancient image of Dionysus,
the work of Hephaestus, which Zeus had once given as a present to Dardanus. It
was kept in a chest, and Cassandra, or, according to others, Aeneas, left this
chest behind when she quitted the city, because she knew that it would do injury
to him who possessed it. When the Greeks divided the spoils of Troy among themselves,
this chest fell to the share of the Thessallian Eurypylus, who on opening it suddenly
fell into a state of madness. The oracle of Delphi, when consulted about his recovery,
answered, " Where thou shalt see men performing a strange sacrifice, there shalt
thou dedicate the chest, and there shalt thou settle." When Eurypylus came to
Aroe in Achaia, it was just the season at which its inhabitants offered every
year to Artemis Triclaria a human sacrifice, consisting of the fairest youth and
the fairest maiden of the place. This sacrifice was offered as an atonement for
a crime which had once been committed in the temple of the goddess. But an oracle
had declared to them, that they should be released from the necessity of making
this sacrifice, if a foreign divinity should be brought to them by a foreign king.
This oracle was now fulfilled. Eurypylus on seeing the victims led to the altar
was cured of his madness and perceived that this was the place pointed out to
him by the oracle; and the Aroeans also, on seeing the god in the chest, remembered
the old prophecy, stopped the sacrifice, and instituted a festival of Dionysus
Aesymnetes, for this was the name of the god in the chest. Nine men and nine women
were appointed to attend to his worship. During one night of this festival a priest
carried the chest outside the town, and all the children of the place, adorned,
as formerly the victims used to be, with garlands of corn-ears, went down to the
banks of the river Meilichius, which had before been called Ameilichius, hung
up their garlands, purified themselves, and then put on other garlands of ivy,
after which they returned to the sanctuary of Dionysus Aesymnetes (Paus. vii.
19 and 20). This tradition, though otherwise very obscure, evidently points to
a time when human sacrifices were abolished at Aroe by the introduction of a new
worship. At Patrae in Achaia there was likewise a temple dedicated to Dionysus
Aesymnetes (Paus. vii. 21.12).
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Sep 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
BASSAE (Ancient sanctuary) ILIA
Epicurius, (Epikourios), the helper, a surname of Apollo, under which lie was worshipped at Bassae in Arcadia. Every year a wild boar was sacrificed to him in his temple on mount Lycaeus. He had received this surname because he had at one time delivered the country from a pestilence. (Paus. viii. 383.6, 41.5.)
EGHION (Ancient city) ACHAIA
Homagyrius, (Homagurios), i.e. the god of the assembly or league, a surname of Zeus, under which he was worshipped at Aegium, on the northwestern coast of Peloponnesus, where Agamemnon was believed to have assembled the Greek chiefs, to deliberate on the war against Troy. Under this name Zeus was also worshipped, as the protector of the Achaean league. (Paus. vii. 24.1.)
FIGALIA (Ancient city) ILIA
Acratophorus (Akratophoros), a surname of Dionysus, by which he was designated as the giver of unmixed wine, and worshipped at Phigaleia in Arcadia. (Paus. viii. 39.4)
Eurynome. A surname of Artemis at Phigalea in Arcadia. Her sanctuary which was surrounded by cypresses, was opened only once in every year, and sacrifices were then offered to her. She was represented half woman and half fish. (Paus. viii. 41.4.) There are four more mythical personages of this name. (Hom. Od. xviii. 168; Apollod. iii. 9.2.)
ILIA (Ancient country) GREECE
At the foot of Mount Cronius, on the north...is a sanctuary of Eileithyia, and
in it Sosipolis, a native Elean deity, is worshipped. Now they surname Eileithyia
Olympian, and choose a priestess for the goddess every year. The old woman who
tends Sosipolis herself too by an Elean custom lives in chastity, bringing water
for the god's bath and setting before him barley cakes kneaded with honey. In
the front part of the temple, for it is built in two parts, is an altar of Eileithyia
and an entrance for the public; in the inner Part Sosipolis is worshipped, and
no one may enter it except the woman who tends the god, and she must wrap her
head and face in a white veil. Maidens and matrons wait in the sanctuary of Eileithyia
chanting a hymn; they burn all manner of incense to the god, but it is not the
custom to pour libations of wine. An oath is taken by Sosipolis on the most important
occasions. The story is that when the Arcadians had invaded the land of Elis,
and the Eleans were set in array against them, a woman came to the Elean generals,
holding a baby to her breast, who said that she was the mother of the child but
that she gave him, because of dreams, to fight for the Eleans. The Elean officers
believed that the woman was to be trusted, and placed the child before the army
naked. When the Arcadians came on, the child turned at once into a snake. Thrown
into disorder at the sight, the Arcadians turned and fled, and were attacked by
the Eleans, who won a very famous victory, and so call the god Sosipolis. On the
spot where after the battle the snake seemed to them to go into the ground they
made the sanctuary. With him the Eleans resolved to worship Eileithyia also, because
this goddess to help them brought her son forth unto men. The tomb of the Arcadians
who were killed in the battle is on the hill across the Cladeus to the west. Near
to the sanctuary of Eileithyia are the remains of the sanctuary of Heavenly Aphrodite,
and there too they sacrifice upon the altars.
This extract is from: Pausanias. Description of Greece (ed. W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., & H.A. Ormerod, 1918). Cited August 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
ILIS (Ancient city) ILIA
Acesius (Akesios), a surname of Apollo, under which he was worshipped in Elis, where he had a splendid temple in the agora. This surname, which has the same meaning as akestor and alexikakos, characterised the god as the averter of evil. (Paus. vi. 24.5).
Ammonia, a surname of Hara, under which she was worshipped in Elis. The inhabitants of Elis had from the earliest times been in the habit of consulting the oracle of Zeus Ammon in Libya. (Paus. v. 15.7)
Chamyne (Chamune), a surname of Demeter in Elis, which was derived either from the earth having opened (Chainein at that place to receive Pluto, or from one Chamynus, to whom the building of a temple of Demeter at Elis was ascribed. (Paus. vi. 21.1)
KALYDON (Ancient city) IERA POLIS MESSOLONGIOU
Caledonius Kaludonios), a surname of Dionysus, whose image was carried from Calydon to Patrae (Paus. vii. 21.1), and of Meleager, the hero in the Calydonian hunt. (Ov. Met. viii. 231.)
Laphraeus (Laphraios), a surname of Apollo at Calydon. (Strab. x., where, however, some read Lathrios.)
Laphria (Laphraia), a surname of Artemis among the Calydonians, from whom the worship of the goddess was introduced at Naupactus and Patrae, in Achaia. At the latter place it was not established till the time of Augustus, but it became the occasion of a great annual festival. (Paus. iv. 31. 6, vii. 18. 6. &c.; Schol. ad Eurip. Orest. 1087). The name Laphria was traced back to a hero, Laphrius, son of Castalius, who was said to have instituted her worship at Calydon. Laphria was also a surname of Athena. (Lycoph. 356.)
(Pan). The Greek god of flocks and shepherds, described as the
son of the Arcadian shepherd deity Hermes and Dryops, by others as the son of
Hermes and Penelope, and by still others as the offspring of Penelope by all the
suitors. The Homeric hymn describes him as delighting all the gods, and thus getting
his name. He was perfectly developed from his birth; and when his mother saw him
she ran away through fear; but Hermes carried him to Olympus, where all the gods
were delighted with him, especially Dionysus. He was originally only an Arcadian
god; and Arcadia was always the principal seat of his worship. From this country
his name and worship afterwards spread over other parts of Greece; but at Athens
his worship was not introduced until the time of the battle of Marathon. In Arcadia
he was the god of forests, pastures, flocks, and shepherds, and dwelt in grottoes,
wandered on the summits of mountains and rocks, and in valleys, either amusing
himself with the chase, or leading the dances of the nymphs. As the god of flocks,
both of wild and tame animals, it was his province to increase and guard them;
but he was also a hunter, and hunters owed their success or failure to him. The
Arcadian hunters used to scourge the statue of the god if they had been disappointed
in the chase. During the heat of midday he used to slumber, and was very indignant
when any one disturbed him. As the god of flocks, bees also were under his protection,
as well as the coast where fishermen carried on their pursuit. As the god of everything
connected with pastoral life, he was fond of music, and the inventor of the syrinx
or shepherd's flute, which he himself played in a masterly manner, and in which
he instructed others also, such as Daphnis. He is thus said to have loved the
poet Pindar, and to have sung and danced his lyric songs, in return for which
Pindar erected a sanctuary to him in front of his house.
Pan, like other gods who dwelt in forests, was dreaded by travellers,
to whom he sometimes appeared, and whom he startled with sudden awe or terror.
Thus, when Phidippides, the Athenian, was sent to Sparta to solicit its aid against
the Persians, Pan accosted him, and promised to terrify the barbarians if the
Athenians would worship him. Hence, sudden fright without any visible cause was
ascribed to Pan, and was called a Panic fear (panikon deima). He is further said
to have had a terrible voice, and by it to have frightened the Titans in their
fight with the gods. It seems that this feature--namely, his fondness of noise
and riot-- was the cause of his being considered the minister and companion of
Cybele and Dionysus. He was at the same time believed to be possessed of prophetic
powers, and to have even instructed Apollo in this art. While roaming in the forests,
he fell in love with the nymph Echo, by whom, or by Pitho, he became the father
of Iynx. His love of Syrinx, after whom he named his flute, is well known from
Ovid. Fir-trees (pitues) were sacred to him, since the nymph Pitys, whom he loved,
had been metamorphosed into that tree; and the sacrifices offered to him consisted
of cows, rams, lambs, milk, and honey. Sacrifices were also offered to him in
common with Dionysus and the nymphs. The various epithets which are given him
by the poets refer either to his singular appearance, or are derived from the
names of the places in which he was worshipped. The Romans identified with Pan
their own god Inuus, and also Faunus, which name is merely another form of Pan.
In works of art Pan is represented as a voluptuous and sensual being, with horns,
snub-nose, and goat's feet, sometimes in the act of dancing, and sometimes playing
on the syrinx. His attendant deities or demons were known as Panes or Panisci
(Paniskoi). Famous representations of Pan in sculpture are the so-called Barberini
Faun at Munich, the Dancing Pan at Naples, and the Pan (or Faun) of Praxiteles
at Rome, which suggested to Hawthorne his famous romance, The Marble Faun. In
English literature, besides this romance, Pan is the subject of Landor's Pan and
Pitys, Cupid and Pan, Buchanan's Pan, Browning's Pan and Luna, and Swinburne's
Pan and Thalassius.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Pan : Various WebPages
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