Location information

Cretan colonists

ASTEROUSSIA (Ancient city) INDIA

Anatis

INDIA (Country) SOUTH ASIAN SUBCONTINENT
Anatis (Anaitis), an Asiatic divinity, whose name appears in various modifications, sometimes written Anaea (Strab. xvi.), sometimes Aneitis (Plut. Artax. 27), sometimes Tanais (Clem. Alex. Protrept.), or Nanaea. (Maccab. ii. 1, 13). Her worship was spread over several parts of Asia, such as Armenia, Cappadocia, Assyria, Persis, &c. (Strab. xi., xii. xv.). In most places where she was worshipped we find numerous slaves (hierodouloi) of both sexes consecrated to her, and in Acilisene these slaves were taken from the most distinguished families. The female slaves prostituted themselves for a number of years before they married. These priests seem to have been in the enjoyment of the sacred land connected with her temples, and we find mention of sacred cows also being kept at such temples (Plut. Lucull. 24). From this and other circumstances it has been inferred, that the worship of Anaitis was a branch of the Indian worship of nature. It seems, at any rate, clear that it was a part of the worship so common among the Asiatics, of the creative powers of nature, both male and female. The Greek writers sometimes identify Anaitis with their Artemis (Paus. iii. 16.6; Plut.), and sometimes with their Aphrodite (Clem. Alex.; Agathias, i. 2; Ammian. Marc. xxiii. 3; Spartian. Carac. 7)

This text is from: A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890) (eds. William Smith, LLD, William Wayte, G. E. Marindin). Cited Oct 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks

A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology (ed. William Smith)
• http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Per...

Griffin

   (grups) or Gryphus. A griffin; a fabulous animal, with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle, dwelling in the Rhipaean Mountains, between the Hyperboreans and the one-eyed Arimaspi, and guarding the gold of the north. The Arimaspi mounted on horseback, and attempted to steal the gold, and hence arose the hostility between the horse and the griffin. The belief in griffins came from the East, where they are mentioned among the fabulous an( )mals which guarded the gold of India.

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

Perseus: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898)
• http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Per...

Alphesiboea

Alphesiboea, an Indian nymph, who was passionately loved by Dionysus, but could not be induced to yield to his wishes, until the god changed himself into a tiger, and thus compelled her by fear to allow him to carry her across the river Sollax, which from this circumstance received the name of Tigris. (Plut. de Fluv. 24)

A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology (ed. William Smith)
• http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Per...