Heroes and Heroines

ACHILLES (Akhilleus) The great hero of the Trojan War, a son of Peleus and the Nereid Thetis

ACTAEON (Aktaion) A hunter who spied the goddess Artemis bathing and was transformed into a stag and torn apart by his
hounds. (Coming soon)

ADONIS A handsome youth loved by the goddess Aphrodite who was killed by a boar whilst hunting. (Coming soon)

AMYMONE An Argive princess who was seduced by the god Poseidon when she came to Lerna in search of water during a
drought. (New December 2007)

ANDROMEDA A beautiful Ethiopian princess who was chained to the rocks as a sacrifice for the sea-monster ravaging the coast.
She was rescued and married by the hero Perseus. (Coming soon)

ANTIOPE A Boiotian princess seduced by the god Zeus in the guise of a satyr. She bore him twin sons, Amphion and Zethos.
(New October 2007)

ARACHNE (Arakhne) An arrogant weaver who challenged Athena to a contest and was turned into a spider. (New October 2007)

ASCALABUS (Askalabos) An Attican boy who was transformed into a spotted lizard as punishment for mocking the goddess
Demeter when she quaffed a drink to quench her thirst. (New December 2007)

ASCLEPIUS (Asklepios) A physician from Thessalian Tricca who was so skilled in the art of medicine that he could restore the
dead to life. However, since this was a crime against the natural order, Zeus destroyed him with a thunderbolt. He was later
elevated to godhood.

ATALANTA An Arcadian huntress, nursed in the wilderness by a bear. She hunted the Calydonian boar, slew Centaurs, defeated
Peleus in wrestling, and was married by Melanion who defeated her in a race. (New November 2007)

BELLEROPHON (Bellerophontes) A Corinthian prince who captured the winged horse Pegasus and destroyed the monstrous
Chimera which was ravaging the land of Lycia.

BUSIRIS (Bousiris) A king of Egypt who, in accordance with an oracle, sacrificed foreigners passing through his land to the gods.
He was slain by Heracles when the hero was brought before the altar. (New November 2007)

CALLISTO (Kallisto) An Arcadian princess and hunting companion of the goddess Artemis. She was loved by Zeus, but when her
pregnancy was revealed was turned into a bear. (New October 2007)

CECROPS (Kekrops) An early, earth-born king who founded the city of Athens. He had a snake's tail in place of legs. (New
December 2007)

CORONIS (Koronis) A Triccan princess loved by the god Apollo. When she cheated on him with another man, his sister Artemis
slew her with an arrow. (New October 2007)

CYCNUS OF COLONAE (Kyknos Kolonaios) A champion of the Trojans in the first battles of the Trojan War. He was a son of
Poseidon, invulnerable to weapons, slain by Achilles. (New October 2007)

CYCNUS OF ITONUS (Kyknos Itonios) A bandit prince of Thessalian Phthiotis who fought with Heracles, but was slain and
transformed into a swan by his father Ares. (New October 2007)

CYCNUS OF LIGURIA (Kyknos Ligyrios) A Ligurian prince skilled in song. After the death of his close friend Phaethon, he mourned
the boy with dirges on the banks of the river Eridanos, where he was transformed into a swan. (New November 2007)

CYCNUS OF THYRIA (Kyknos Thyrios) An Aetolian youth who demanded many difficult labours of his love Phyllius. When the boy
died carrying out one of these, Cycnus was stricken with remorse, faded away and was transformed into a swan. (New
December 2007)

CYPARISSUS (Kyparissos) A handsome youth of the island of Ceos loved by the god Apollo. He died of grief after accidentally
killing his pet stag and was turned into a cypress tree. (New October 2007)

CYRENE (Kyrene) A Thessalian princess and huntress. She was loved by the god Apollo who first spied her as she was wrestling
a lion. (New October 2007)

DANAE An Argive princess who was locked in a bronze cell by her father Acrisius. She was impregnated by Zeus in the form of a
golden shower and bore him the hero Perseus. (New October 2007)
DEUCALION (Deukalion) A King of Thessaly who survived the Great Deluge sent by Zeus to destroy mankind. He recreated the
race after the devastation with the casting of stones. (New October 2007)

DIOMEDES OF THRACE (Diomedes Thrakios) A king of the Thracian Bistones who fed his mares on human flesh. He was slain by
Heracles who was sent to fetch the horses as one of his twelve labours. (New December 2007)

ENDYMION A handsome shepherd prince loved by the moon-goddess Selene. He was granted immortality and eternal youth in a
state of slumber. (New October 2007)

ERYSICHTHON (Erysikhthon) A Thessalian king who chopped down the sacred grove of the goddess Demeter and was inflicted
with insatiable hunger. (New December 2007)

ERYX A Sicilian king who stole the finest bull from the herd of Geryon, which Heracles was herding through the island. He
challenged the hero to a wrestling match but was defeated and killed. (New November 2007)

EUROPA A Phoenician princess abducted to the island of Crete by the god Zeus who carried her across the sea in the guise of a
bull. (Coming soon)

EVADNE (Euadne) An Arcadian princess loved by the god Apollo, who abandoned their son Iamus in a bed of violets where he
was nursed by bees. (New October 2007)

GANYMEDE A handsome Trojan prince who was carried off to heaven by the god Zeus in the guise of an eagle where he became
the cupbearer of the gods.

GERYON (Geryones) A three-bodied man who kept a fabulous herd of red-skinned cattle on the island of Erythea. Heracles was
sent to fetch these as one of his twelve labours and slew the king in his quest.

HERACLES The great hero of the Greeks who completed the twelve impossible Labours assigned him by King Eurystheus.

HIPPOLYTE A Queen of the Amazons, whose belt Heracles was sent to fetch as one of his twelve labours. She was killed by the
hero in his quest. (Coming soon)

HYACINTHUS (Hyakinthos) A handsome Spartan prince loved by the god Apollo. The boy was accidentally killed by a discus
during a game of quoits and transformed by the god into the larkspur flower. (New October 2007)

IAMUS (Iamos) A seer of the shrine of Olympia who was nursed by bees on a bed of violets. (New October 2007)

IASION A Samothracian prince loved by the goddess Demeter who was struck dead by Zeus with a thunderbolt.

ICARIUS (Ikarios) An Attican man instructed in the making of wine by the god Dionysus. He was killed by local peasants who
thought they had been poisoned by the new beverage. (New December 2007)

IO An Argive princess loved by the god Zeus, who turned her into a heifer to hide her from the jealous gaze of Hera. The
goddess set a gadfly to torment her and she wandered all the way to Egypt where she birthed her son.

IXION An impious Lapith king who sought to rape the goddess Hera but was fooled with a phantom cloud. He was chained to a
fiery wheel for eternity as punishment. (Coming soon)

JASON (Iason) A Thessalian hero who led the Argonauts in the quest for the Golden Fleece. In Colchis he won the witch Medea
for his bride. (For some of the Argonaut stories see the Bronze Bulls, the Colchian Dragon, the Golden Fleece, and the giant
Talos.)

LEDA A queen of Sparta who was seduced by Zeus in the guise of swan. She laid an egg from which was hatched Helen and the
Dioscuri twins. (New October 2007.)

LYCAON (Lykaon) A king of Arcadia who slaughtered a child as a meal for Zeus and was transformed by the disgusted god into a
wolf. (New December 2007)

LYCURGUS (Lykourgos) A Thracian king who attacked the company of the god Dionysus driving him to seek refuge the sea. As
punishment for the crime he was driven mad, murdering his wife and sons, before killing himself by chopping off his own legs.
(New December 2007)

MELEAGER (Meleagros) A prince of Calydon who led the heroes in the hunt for the giant Calydonian Boar. (For one tale see the
Calydonian Boar Hunt.)

MIDAS A king of Phrygia who kindly entertained Dionysus' companion Silenus when he became separated from the god's
company and as reward was given a golden touch. (New December 2007)
MINYADES Three princesses of Orchomenus who scorned the worship of the god Dionysus. They were driven mad and
dismembered one of their sons before being transformed into owls and bats. (New December 2007)

NARCISSUS (Narkissos) An arrogant Boeotian youth who spurned the attention of others and was cursed to fall in love with his
own reflection. Fading away, he was transformed into a daffodil. (New October 2007)

ODYSSEUS A hero of the Trojan War, whose fleet was blown off course in a storm on his return. (For tales of his wanderings
see Polyphemus, Aeolus, the Laestrygones, Circe, the Underworld, the Sirens, Scylla, Charybdis, Lampetia &
Phaethusa, Calypso, Leucothea.)

OEDIPUS (Oidipous) A Boeotian hero who destroyed the Sphinx and was crowned King of Thebes. Tragedy ensued when he
unintentionally killed his father and married his mother. (For one story see the Sphinx.)

ORION A handsome giant and hunter, companion of the goddess Artemis. Gaea sent a scorpion to destroy him when he boasted
he would hunt down all the animals of the earth.

OTRERA A bride of the war-god Ares and the mother of the Amazon nation. (New December 2007)

PANDORA The first woman created by the gods. She delivered evil into the house of man when she opened a jar containing all of
the harmful spirits.

PASIPHAE A Queen of Crete, the wife of King Minos. She fell in love with a bull and by means of a wooden cow, coupled with it
and gave birth to the Minotaur.

PELOPS A king of Pisa and the Peloponesse. (Under construction)

PENTHESILEA (Penthesileia) An Amazon queen who led her troops to the Trojan War. She was slain by Achilles. (New October
2007)

PERSEUS A hero commanded by King Polydectes of Seriphus to fetch the Gorgon's head. He returned with the prize and turned
the king to stone.

PHAETHON A child of Helius the sun, who persuaded his father to let him ride the solar chariot, but lost control and was blasted
from the sky by Zeus.

PSYCHE (Psykhe) A princess loved by Eros, the god of love. He abandoned her when she tried to discover his true identity, but
they were reconciled after she performed many hard labours in the service of the goddess Aphrodite.

PYGMALION A Cypriot king who fell in love with an ivory statue. In answer to his prayers the goddess Aphrodite gave it life.
(New December 2007)

PYRRHA The wife of King Deucalion, who with her husband survived the Great Deluge. (New October 2007)

SALMONEUS A king of Salmonia (Pylos) who pretended to be Zeus and was struck dead by the god with a thunderbolt. (New
October 2007)

SISYPHUS (Sisyphos) A king of Corinth who tried to cheat death, but was forcibly carried off to the underworld and condemned
to eternal torment. (Coming soon)

TANTALUS (Tantalos) A king of Lydia who served his slaughtered son at a feast of the gods. As punishment he was condemned
to eternal torture in Hades. (Coming soon)

TENNES A king of the island of Tenedos who was killed by Akhilleus in a skirmish on the way to Troy. (New October 2007)

THESEUS The great Athenian hero, slayer of the Minotaur and the bandits of the Isthmus.

TITHONUS (Tithonos) A handsome Trojan prince abducted by the goddess Eos for a husband. She requested immortality for her
spouse but neglected to ask for eternal youth, and he shrivelled up with time.

TRIPTOLEMUS (Triptolemos) An agricultural hero of Eleusis who was given a winged chariot by the goddess Demeter to spread
knowledge of agriculture throughout the world.

TYRO A Thessalian princess who was seduced by the god Poseidon in the guise of the river Enipeus. She bore him the sons
Neleus and Pelias.