hereafter will be a list of characters, alphabetized, with, if we're lucky, a short description of who they are.
they are arranged by poem, and the poems are listed alphabetically as well. hitting the key combo ctrl + F will allow you to search by character name or title quite easily.
Theogony
Achilles
Aietes - father of Medea
Aeneas - son of Aphrodite. founds Rome in 1 myth. subject of the Aeneid by Virgil.
Aison - father or Jason
Aither - the brightness of the upper air, personified.
Alkmene - mother of Hercules/Herakles
Amphidamas - Hesiod won the tripod cauldron at his funerary games
Amphitrite - daughter of Nereus, wife of Poseidon
Aphrodite - Godess of love, arose full formed from the sea when Kronos' Junk was tossed in
Apollo -brother of Artemis, son of Zeus and Leto. variously recognized as the god of light and the sun; truth and prophecy; archery; medicine, healing and plague; music, poetry, and the arts; and more.
Ares - son of Zeus and Hera. often referred to as the god of warfare, more accurately is the god of bloodlust. slaughter personified, if you will.
Artemis - godess of the hunt. chaste. in later mythology, identified with the moon.
Athena - also called 'the grey-eyed godess'. daughter of Zeus and 1st wife Metis.
Atlas - son of Iapetos, holds up the sky, generally pictured shouldering the earth. father of Maia, Pleiades. the books of maps called Atlases are named after him.
Bellerophon - Slayed Chimaira (chimera)
Cerberus - the dog of Hades. many heads, viscious, deadly.
Chaos - the first being. gave rise to Gaia, Tartaros, Night, and Erebos.
Cheiron - centaur. A great healer, astrologer, and respected oracle, Chiron was said to be the first among centaurs and highly revered as a teacher and tutor. Among his pupils were many culture heroes: Asclepius, Aristaeus, Ajax, Aeneas, Achilles, Jason, Peleus, Telamon, sometimes Heracles, and in 1 tradition, even Dionysus.
Cyclops - myopic beings, make the thunderbolts for Zeus.
Day - personified.
Demeter - mother of Persephone, Pluto, godess of grain/harvest.
Dionysos - husband of Ariadne, god of wine/merriment.
Echidna - monster who mates with Typhoeus (Typhos)
Eileithyia - godess of childbirth.
Eos - Dawn personified. often called 'The Early Born'. mother of the winds (Boreas, Notos, and Zephyros), stars, Memnon (Ethiopian king), Emathion, Phaeton.
Erinys/Erinyes - fury/the furies
Eris - Strife, good and bad, personified
Erobos/Erebos - the darkness below, darkness personified
Eros - the god of Sexual Love. the word Erotic comes from this name and concept.
Eurynome - daughter of Okeanos, mother of the Graces.
Gaia - mother earth, mother of Typhoeus, original parent of gods and men.
Giants - the children of Ouranos and Gaia. involved in a conflict with the Olympian gods called the Gigantomachy, which was eventually settled when Heracles/Hercules decided to help the Olympians. The Greeks believed some of them lay trapped under the earth, and that their tormented quivers resulted in earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
Gorgons - terrifying female creature. descriptions of Gorgons vary across Greek literature, the term commonly refers to any of three sisters who had hair of living, venomous snakes, and a horrifying gaze that turned those who beheld it to stone. Traditionally, while two of the Gorgons were immortal (Stheno + Euryale) their sister Medusa was not, and was slain by the mythical hero Perseus.
Graces - goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity and fertility. ordinarily numbered 3. Aglaea (Beauty), Euphrosyne (Mirth), and Thalia (Good Cheer). either daughters of Zeus and Eurynome, Dionysus and Aphrodite, or Helios and the naiad Aegle. Homer wrote that they were part of the retinue of Aphrodite.
Graiai - the Grey Ones. 3 sisters who share 1 eye + 1 tooth among them. daughters of Phorcys and Ceto. sisters to the Gorgons. took the form of old grey-haired women. Their age was so great that a human childhoodwas hardly conceivable. names are Deino (dread, in anticipation of horror), Enyo (horror, the waster of cities), and Pemphredo (alarm).
Hades - God of the Underworld. kidnapper/raper of Persephone
Harmonia - daughter of Aphrodit
Harpies -
Hebe - youth. daughter of Hera, wife of Hercules/Herakles
Hekate
Hephaistos - Lame-Legged One, creator of 1st woman, god of fire, husband of youngest Grace.
Hera - enemy of Hercules/Herakles, mother of Hephaistos, Hebe, Ares, Eileithyia.
Herakles/Hercules - monster slayer, son of Zeus, Hero.
Hermes - slayer of Argos, messenger of the gods, names Pandora (the 1st woman)
Hesiod - writer of Theogony, Works and Days, considered the 1st 'European' because he's the first writer to tell about himself in his writing. favourite god is Zeus.
Hesperides - Atlas stands in front of them. guard the golden apples that atlas stands before. children of Night.
Hestia
Horai - the Hours or Seasons
Horkos - the Oath-god. born of Eris (Strife), pursues injustice.
Hundred-Handers - help Zeus against the Titans, have, obviously, 100 hands, and also 50 heads each.
Hydra - a monster slain by Herakles/Hercules
Iapetos - a Titan, son of Gaia and Ouranos older brother of Kronos
Iason - Jason, of Jason and the Argonots fame. husband of Medea
Iolaos - assistant of Herakles/Hercules
Iris - fetches water from Styx for Zeus, so that the gods and godesses can swear oaths on it.
Justice - one of the 3 Horai
Kadmos - husband of Harmonia, father of Ino, Semele, Agaue, Autonoe, and Polydoros.
Kronos - king of heaven during the time of the golden race. castrates his father Ouranos, swallows his children, deposed by his son Zeus.
Leto - Mother of Apollo and Artemis
Medea
Medusa
Metis - Wisdom personified. daughter of Okeanos (water god), mother of Athena via Zeus. 1st wife of Zeus. Swallowed by Zeus before giving birth, so that he couldn't be overthrown.
Mnemosyne - Memory personified. mother of the Muses.
Moirai - the Fates. daughters of Night, also daughters of Zeus and Themis (it's confusing).
Muses - there are 9 of them. frequenters of Mt Helikon. inspirers of Hesiod. names are :: Klio, Eusterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, Polyhymnia, Ourania, Kalliope.
Nemesis - daughter of Night
Nereus
Night
Odysseus - also called Ulysses
Oidipous - Oedipus. that guy with the mommy/daddy issues.
Okeanos
Pandora - the first woman. created as a punishment for man, after Prometheus stole the fire from the gods to give to man.
Pegasos - the wingéd horse. fetches thunderbolts for Zeus. helps Bellerophon.
Persephone - daughter of Demeter. kidnapped and raped by Hades. the reason for the seasons.
Perses - father of Hekate.
Perseus - slayer of Medusa.
Ploutos - Pluto. Wealth. son of Demeter.
Polydoros - in Greek "Doris" means "The Giver". so "Polydora" is "The Giver of Many Things". (so Dora the Explorer is The Explorer who Gives.)
Poseidon - shaker of the earth. aka He of the Black Mane. built the gates of Tartaros. father in law of a Hundred-Hander. father of Triton.
Prometheus - son of Iapetos. trickster god, but also man's advocate (sort of). tried to trick Zeus into eating the fat and bones of the ox, instead of the tasty parts, thereby setting up how sacrifices are made. stole back the fire from Zeus, hid it in a fennel stalk. punished by being tied to a pillar with an eagle to eat out his liver every day.
Rhea - wife of Kronos, mother of Zeus
Semele - mother of Dionysos.
Styx - the river of the underworld Personified. mother of Zelos, Nike, Kratos, Bia. honored by Zeus by being what the gods swear on and by.
Themis - mother of the Horai and the Moirai
Thetis - daughter of Nereus, mother of Achilles
Typhoeus - Typhaon/Typhon/Typhoon/Typhus. mates with Echidna. Defeated by Zeus. wild sea winds arise from his body, which is in Tartaros.
Zeus - king of the gods. mysoginistic, cheating husband, deposed his father, swallowed his wife so that he wouldn't have 2 kids with her, and be deposed. alternately wise and loving, and hateful, spiteful, and punisher of man. fathers many children with many ladies (both godesses and mortal women).
if i've forgotten any, please contact me, with the subject 'forgot a character!', at yoboseiyo @ gmail . com . don't worry if you can't find a description of them, just tell me what poem they're missing from, and i'll do the rest.
