Figures of Greek Mythology

King of Argos and father of the twin brothers Acrisius and Proetus.

Son of Theseus and Phaedra who participates in Trojan War traditions.

Powerful river god of Aetolia, often regarded as foremost among the river gods.

Greatest Greek warrior of the Trojan War and central hero of the Iliad.

King of Argos, father of Danaë and grandfather of Perseus.

Hunter transformed into a stag and torn apart by his own hounds after offending Artemis.

Beautiful youth loved by Aphrodite and associated with death, lamentation and seasonal renewal.

King of Argos who supports Polynices and leads the expedition known as the Seven Against Thebes.

Aeacus is the legendary king of Aegina, son of Zeus and Aegina, and father of Peleus, Telamon and Phocus. Through Peleus and Telamon he becomes the grandfather of Achilles and Ajax the Great.

King of Colchis and keeper of the Golden Fleece.

King of Athens and mortal father of Theseus in the principal Athenian tradition.

Son of Adrastus and one of the Epigoni, killed during the successful second expedition against Thebes.

Aegina is a nymph and daughter of the river god Asopus. Zeus carries her to the island later called Aegina, where she becomes the mother of Aeacus.

Son of Thyestes and Pelopia who later becomes the lover of Clytemnestra and helps murder Agamemnon.

Aegle is one of the Hesperides, the nymphs associated with the garden of the golden apples at the western edge of the mythical world.

Brother of Danaus and father of the fifty sons.

Trojan hero, son of Aphrodite and Anchises, who escapes the fall of Troy.

Keeper and ruler of the winds in Homeric tradition.

Keeper of the winds who gives Odysseus a bag containing the storm winds.

Aerope is the wife of Atreus and mother of Agamemnon and Menelaus in the familiar tradition. Her relationship with Thyestes becomes a crucial cause of the feud that devastates the House of Atreus.

Father of Jason and rightful king of Iolcus in the Argonaut tradition.

Primordial personification of the bright upper air.

Princess of Troezen and mother of Theseus.

Agamemnon is the king of Mycenae and commander of the Greek coalition in the Trojan War. A son of Atreus and brother of Menelaus, he stands at the centre of the House of Atreus, the sacrifice of Iphigenia, the fall of Troy and the cycle of revenge that ends in his murder by Clytemnestra and Aegisthus.

Agave is a daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia, wife of Echion and mother of Pentheus. She becomes central to the tragedy of Pentheus and Dionysus at Thebes.

Brother of Belus and founder of the Phoenician royal line.

Grace of beauty and splendour.

Ajax the Great is one of the strongest Greek warriors at Troy, second only to Achilles in several traditions. His downfall begins when Odysseus receives Achilles' armour instead of him.

Son of Perseus and Andromeda and father of Amphitryon.

Mother of Jason in a common tradition.

King of the Phaeacians who receives Odysseus and helps him return to Ithaca.

Son of Amphiaraus and Eriphyle who leads the Epigoni and later kills his mother in revenge for his father's fate.

Mother of Heracles.

One of the seven Pleiades.

One of the Erinyes, divine powers of vengeance and punishment.

River god of the Peloponnese, famous for his pursuit of Arethusa.

Mother of Meleager, linked to the fatal brand that determines his life.

Son of Catreus who leaves Crete after learning of a prophecy and later unknowingly kills his father on Rhodes.

Prophetic warrior who knows the expedition against Thebes is doomed but is compelled to join after Eriphyle accepts a bribe.

King of Thebes, husband of Niobe, famed for music that helped raise the walls of Thebes.

Sea goddess and consort of Poseidon.

Mortal husband of Alcmene.

Primordial personification of inevitability and necessity.

Trojan prince loved by Aphrodite and father of Aeneas.

Son of Minos whose death becomes central to the tribute of Athenian youths to Crete.

Wife of Hector and mother of Astyanax, remembered especially for her grief during and after the Trojan War.

Princess rescued by Perseus from the sea monster.

Senior Trojan counsellor associated with diplomacy, hospitality toward the Greek envoys and proposals to return Helen.

Mother of Odysseus.

Daughter of Oedipus, famed for defying Creon to bury her brother Polynices.

Amazon associated with Theseus and commonly named as mother of Hippolytus.

Personification of deceit and deception.

Goddess of love, beauty, desire and attraction.

God of prophecy, music, healing, archery and several forms of divine order.

Son of Aeetes and brother of Medea whose death becomes one of the darkest episodes in the Argonauts' escape from Colchis.

God of the violent and chaotic aspects of warfare.

Queen of the Phaeacians and wife of Alcinous.

Freshwater nymph associated with a famous spring at Syracuse and the river god Alpheus.

Arethusa is one of the Hesperides, the western nymphs connected with the garden of the golden apples and the Labour of Heracles.

Shipwright traditionally credited with constructing the Argo.

Many-eyed guardian appointed by Hera to watch over Io.

Daughter of Minos who helped Theseus escape the Labyrinth.

Rustic god associated with beekeeping, pastoral crafts and fatherhood of Actaeon in a major tradition.

Goddess of the hunt, wilderness, wild animals and young women.

God of medicine and healing.

Oceanid whose genealogy overlaps with Clymene in some traditions.

River god associated with Boeotia and Sicyon and father of many nymphs.

Son of Tros and ancestor of Anchises and Aeneas.

Titaness associated with stars and nocturnal divination.

The bull-headed monster confined within the Labyrinth of Crete.

Titan god associated with stars, planets and the winds.

Young son of Hector and Andromache whose fate becomes one of the most tragic consequences of the fall of Troy.

Wife of Erichthonius and mother of Tros in a common genealogy.

Famed huntress who takes part in the Calydonian Boar Hunt and later races her suitors.

Goddess of wisdom, strategic warfare, crafts and civic order.

Titan condemned to hold up the heavens after the Titanomachy.

Atreus is the king of Mycenae whose feud with his brother Thyestes creates the central curse of the House of Atreus. His revenge at the Feast of Thyestes sets in motion the violence that later reaches Agamemnon, Aegisthus, Clytemnestra and Orestes.

The Fate who cuts the thread of life.

King of Elis whose vast stables Heracles cleans as one of his Labours.

Mother of Actaeon.

Wife of Dardanus and mother of Erichthonius in a major tradition.

Hero famed for taming Pegasus and slaying the Chimera.

Father of Danaus and Aegyptus.

Personification of force and violent strength.

God of the north wind.

Cadmus is the legendary founder of Thebes and one of the central ancestors of the Theban royal house. His search for Europa leads to the foundation of the city, the dragon's teeth and the birth of the Spartoi.

Caeneus is an extraordinary Lapith hero associated with the Centauromachy and described in ancient tradition as invulnerable to ordinary weapons.

Winged son of Boreas and brother of Zetes who joins the Argonaut expedition.

Muse of epic poetry and commonly mother of Orpheus.

Oceanid whose name means beautiful-flowing, linked to several heroic genealogies.

Enormous boar sent by Artemis to ravage Calydon.

Nymph who detains Odysseus on Ogygia for many years.

One of the Seven Against Thebes, famed for his arrogance and killed by Zeus while assaulting the city.

Descendant of Assaracus and father of Anchises.

Trojan princess and prophetess cursed so that her true prophecies would not be believed.

Queen of Ethiopia and mother of Andromeda, whose boast provoked divine punishment.

One of the Dioscuri and a member of the Argonauts.

Son of Minos and Pasiphaë and king of Crete.

Cecrops is an early mythical king of Attica and Athens, traditionally described as autochthonous — born from the land itself. He is closely associated with the earliest Athenian traditions and with the contest between Athena and Poseidon for the city.

One of the seven Pleiades.

King of Ethiopia and father of Andromeda.

River god commonly named as father of Narcissus.

Multi-headed hound guarding the entrance to the Underworld.

Sacred hind of Artemis captured alive by Heracles.

Ancient sea goddess associated with sea monsters and dangers of the deep.

The primordial state or yawning void at the beginning of the Greek cosmos.

Ferryman who carries the dead across the waters of the Underworld.

Devouring whirlpool monster encountered by Odysseus opposite Scylla.

Fire-breathing hybrid monster with lion, goat and serpent features.

Wife of Neleus and mother of Nestor in the major tradition.

Brother of Pegasus, born from Medusa after her death.

Daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra.

Brother of Cadmus and mythical founder of Cilicia.

Divine enchantress associated with magic and transformation.

Muse of history.

The Fate who spins the thread of life.

Oceanid named in several traditions as mother of the sons of Iapetus.

Clytemnestra is the queen of Mycenae, wife of Agamemnon and mother of Iphigenia, Electra and Orestes. After Agamemnon's return from Troy, she and Aegisthus kill him, leading directly to Orestes' revenge and the final crisis of the House of Atreus.

Oceanid associated in later tradition with Helios and transformation into a sun-following flower.

One of the elder Titans.

Thessalian princess and mother of Asclepius by Apollo.

Ruler of Thebes associated with the stories of Oedipus and Antigone.

King of Corinth whose daughter becomes Jason's intended bride, bringing him into the final tragedy of Jason and Medea.

The divine bull associated with Pasiphaë and later captured by Heracles.

Daughter of Priam and wife of Aeneas.

One of the elder Titans.

Youngest of the elder Titans and ruler before Zeus.

Cymopoleia is a daughter of Poseidon in Greek mythology and the wife of Briareus, one of the Hundred-Handers. She survives mainly through a brief but intriguing reference in Hesiodic tradition.

Cyparissus is a beautiful youth associated with Apollo whose grief for a beloved stag leads to his transformation into the cypress tree, which became a symbol of mourning.

Huntress and nymph loved by Apollo.

Master craftsman who designed the Labyrinth for Minos.

The daughters of Danaus, condemned in later tradition to fill leaking vessels in the Underworld.

Legendary king of Argos and father of the Danaids.

Mother of Perseus after Zeus visited her as golden rain.

Nymph pursued by Apollo and transformed into the laurel tree.

Founder ancestor of the Dardanian and Trojan royal house.

Wife of Heracles whose unwitting use of the poisoned blood of Nessus leads to his mortal death.

Personification of terror and dread in battle.

One of the Graeae, the three ancient sisters.

Trojan prince and prominent warrior, later associated with Helen after Paris' death.

Daughter of Adrastus and mother of Diomedes.

Goddess of agriculture, grain and fertility.

Son of Theseus and Phaedra and later king of Athens.

Arcadian mystery goddess whose true cult name was kept secret.

Survivor of the great flood and ancestor of later Greek peoples.

Son of Minos and Pasiphaë and later king of Crete.

Goddess of justice.

King of Argos and one of the foremost Greek warriors in the Iliad.

Thracian king whose man-eating mares Heracles must capture.

Divine figure associated in Homeric tradition with Zeus as mother of Aphrodite.

God of wine, ecstasy, theatre, vegetation and ritual transformation.

Oceanid associated with the bounty and fertility of the sea.

Serpentine monster and mother of many famous monsters.

Echion is one of the Spartoi, the warriors said to have sprung from the dragon's teeth sown by Cadmus at Thebes. He becomes an ancestor of the Theban royal house through his marriage to Agave.

Mountain nymph whose voice survives as an echo in the best-known later tradition.

Goddess of childbirth and labour.

Goddess of peace.

Oceanid and mother of Iris.

One of the seven Pleiades.

Daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra who aids Orestes in avenging their father.

Father of Alcmene.

Beautiful mortal associated with Selene and a mysterious perpetual sleep.

War goddess associated with destruction, bloodshed and the frenzy of battle.

One of the Graeae.

Goddess and personification of the Dawn.

Son of Zeus and Io; legendary king of Egypt.

Titan associated with afterthought and brother of Prometheus.

Muse of lyric poetry.

Primordial personification of darkness.

Wealthy king of Dardania and son of Dardanus.

Wife of Amphiaraus whose decision sends him to the doomed war against Thebes.

Goddess and personification of strife and discord.

Primordial force of attraction and desire in early Greek cosmogony.

God of erotic love and desire in later genealogical traditions.

Wild boar captured alive by Heracles.

Thessalian king punished by Demeter with an insatiable hunger after violating her sacred grove.

Erytheia is one of the Hesperides, the nymphs of the far western garden where the golden apples were guarded.

Son of Oedipus who fights his brother Polynices for control of Thebes.

Goddess of good order and lawful conduct.

Grace of joy and mirth.

Phoenician princess carried to Crete by Zeus in the form of a bull.

God of the east or south-east wind in later tradition.

One of the three Gorgons and traditionally immortal.

Sea goddess associated with mastery over the sea and celestial forces.

Wife of Orpheus, whose death leads to his famous descent into the Underworld.

Oceanid goddess associated in Hesiod with Zeus as mother of the Charites.

Mother of Bellerophon in a common genealogical tradition.

King of Mycenae who imposes the famous Labours upon Heracles.

Herdsman who guards the cattle of Geryon.

Eurytion the Centaur is associated with the outbreak of violence at the wedding of Pirithous and Hippodamia and the beginning of the Centauromachy.

Muse of music.

Primordial goddess and personification of the Earth.

Nereid associated with the calm and milky-white sea.

Later name commonly given to the woman brought to life from Pygmalion's statue.

Trojan prince taken by Zeus to become cupbearer of the gods.

Personification of old age.

Three-bodied ruler whose cattle Heracles must seize.

Daughter of Creon of Corinth and intended bride of Jason, killed by the poisoned gifts sent by Medea.

Prophetic sea god, originally mortal in some traditions.

King of Corinth and father of Bellerophon in the common tradition.

Lycian warrior and ally of Troy, companion of Sarpedon, famous for recognising ancestral guest-friendship with Diomedes.

Three ancient sisters associated with old age, famous for sharing one eye and one tooth.

God of the underworld and ruler of the dead.

Harmonia is the wife of Cadmus and queen of Thebes, whose marriage connects the founding of the city with the later royal family of Semele, Agave, Pentheus and Dionysus.

Winged female beings who torment the prophet Phineus by stealing or fouling his food.

Goddess of youth and cupbearer of the gods in early tradition.

Goddess associated with crossroads, night, magic, boundaries and liminal spaces.

Greatest Trojan warrior and defender of Troy.

Queen of Troy and wife of Priam, mother of many Trojan princes and princesses.

Queen of Sparta whose departure for Troy becomes the central cause of the Trojan War tradition.

Trojan prince and prophetic son of Priam and Hecuba.

God and personification of the Sun.

Sister of Phrixus who falls from the golden ram into the sea later called the Hellespont.

Son of Deucalion and Pyrrha and ancestral figure associated with the Hellenes and the major branches of the Greek peoples.

Primordial goddess and personification of Day.

God of fire, metalworking, craftsmanship and the forge.

Queen of the gods and goddess of marriage and queenship.

Greatest of the Greek heroes, famous for the Twelve Labours.

Divine child of Hermes and Aphrodite associated with combined male and female characteristics.

Messenger of the gods and god of travel, boundaries, trade, thieves and heralds.

Hesperia is a Hesperid nymph whose name reflects the association of the Hesperides with evening, the west and the garden of the golden apples.

Goddess of the hearth, home and domestic life.

Wife of Pelops, won after the famous chariot race against her father Oenomaus.

Hippodamia of the Lapiths is the bride of Pirithous whose wedding feast becomes the setting for the Centauromachy.

Queen of the Amazons whose belt becomes the object of one of Heracles' Labours.

Son of Theseus, devoted to Artemis and central to the tragedy of Phaedra.

Argive warrior and one of the Seven Against Thebes.

Suitor who defeats Atalanta in a footrace using golden apples.

Beautiful youth beloved by Apollo whose death is associated with the hyacinth flower.

Son of Heracles and Deianira and important ancestor of the Heracleidae.

God of marriage ceremonies and the wedding hymn.

Titan associated with heavenly light and father of Helios, Selene and Eos.

Daughter of Danaus who alone among the Danaids spares her husband Lynceus and becomes mother of Abas.

Personification of sleep.

Queen of Lemnos who receives Jason and the Argonauts during their voyage to Colchis.

Titan father of Prometheus, Epimetheus, Atlas and Menoetius.

Mortal associated with Demeter and the birth of Plutus.

Father of Penelope in the standard tradition.

Son of Daedalus who flew too close to the sun using wings of wax and feathers.

King of Crete, son of Deucalion and grandson of Minos, who leads the Cretan contingent in the Trojan War.

Oceanid and consort of Aeetes in a major tradition.

Ilus is an early king of Troy and descendant of Tros, traditionally associated with the foundation or establishment of Ilios, the city later known as Troy.

River god of Argos and ancestor in several Argive royal genealogies.

Later transformed into the sea goddess Leucothea.

Priestess of Hera loved by Zeus. Ancestress of many Greek royal houses.

King of Lycia who sends Bellerophon against the Chimera.

Mortal half-brother and companion of Heracles, son of Amphitryon and Alcmene.

Daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, associated with the sacrifice at Aulis.

Goddess of the rainbow and divine messenger.

Daughter of Oedipus and sister of Antigone.

King punished by Zeus and bound to a fiery wheel for his crimes.

Leader of the Argonauts and seeker of the Golden Fleece.

Queen of Thebes, wife of Laius and later unknowingly wife of her son Oedipus.

Female death-spirits associated particularly with violent or fated death.

Personification of strength, power and authority.

King of Thebes and descendant of Cadmus.

The Fate who measures the thread of life.

Dragon who guarded the golden apples of the Hesperides.

King of Ithaca and father of Odysseus in the standard tradition.

King of Thebes and father of Oedipus.

Laomedon is the king of Troy before Priam and a central figure in the city's earlier conflicts with the gods and with Heracles. His broken promises help lead to an earlier sack of Troy before the famous Trojan War.

Queen of Sparta associated with the births of Helen, Clytemnestra, Castor and Polydeuces.

Many-headed serpent slain by Heracles during his labours.

Daughter of Coeus and Phoebe and mother of Apollo and Artemis.

Sea goddess who aids sailors in distress.

Daughter of Epaphus and ancestress of numerous royal dynasties.

Legendary musician and poet associated with early musical tradition.

Naiad commonly named as mother of Narcissus.

Son of Aegyptus spared by Hypermnestra and later king of Argos, father of Abas.

Divine figure associated in later tradition with blessed death.

One of the Pleiades and mother of Hermes by Zeus.

Sorceress princess of Colchis who helps Jason obtain the Golden Fleece.

The mortal Gorgon whose gaze turned onlookers to stone.

One of the Erinyes, associated with vengeance against grave wrongdoing.

Theban princess and first wife of Heracles.

Prince of Calydon and central hero of the Calydonian Boar Hunt.

Ash-tree nymphs born in the aftermath of the castration of Uranus.

Chthonic goddess associated with ghosts and night terrors in Orphic tradition.

Muse of tragedy.

King of the Aethiopians and ally of Troy who fights Achilles in the post-Iliadic traditions of the Trojan War.

King of Sparta, brother of Agamemnon and husband of Helen.

Titan associated with violent strength and rash action.

Father of Patroclus. Distinct from the Titan Menoetius.

One of the seven Pleiades.

Queen associated with Corinth and foster mother of Oedipus in a major version of his story.

Daughter of Erysichthon who possesses the ability to change her shape in the tradition told by Ovid.

Oceanid associated with wisdom, cunning and good counsel.

King of Phrygia famous for the golden touch and for judging a musical contest between Apollo and Pan.

King of Crete, son of Zeus and Europa, and judge of the dead in later tradition.

Titaness and personification of memory.

Personification of blame, mockery and criticism.

Personification of doom or destined fate.

Mother of Adonis in later mythological tradition.

Beautiful youth who falls in love with his own reflection.

Phaeacian princess who helps the shipwrecked Odysseus.

King of Pylos and father of Nestor.

Invulnerable lion slain by Heracles in his first labour.

Goddess of retribution and divine justice.

Neoptolemus is the son of Achilles who joins the Trojan War after his father's death and becomes one of the warriors required for Troy's fall.

Cloud-form created by Zeus in the likeness of Hera to test Ixion. Ixion coupled with Nephele, and from their union came Centaurus in an important tradition concerning the origins of the Centaurs.

Ancient sea god associated with truth, prophecy and the gentle aspects of the sea.

Aged king of Pylos, famed for wisdom and counsel among the Greek commanders at Troy.

Goddess and personification of victory.

Queen who boasts of her many children and suffers terrible punishment from Apollo and Artemis.

God of the south wind, associated with storms and late-summer rain.

Primordial goddess and personification of night.

Titan god of the great world-encircling river Oceanus.

King of Ithaca, renowned for cunning, central to the Trojan War and the Odyssey.

Thracian king commonly named as father of Orpheus.

King of Thebes who unknowingly kills his father and marries his mother.

King of Calydon and father of Meleager.

Personification of misery, distress and suffering.

The divine spirits or personifications of dreams.

Athenian princess carried away by Boreas, god of the north wind, and mother of the winged Boreads Zetes and Calais.

Orestes is the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra who returns to avenge his father's murder by killing Aegisthus and his own mother. His revenge brings the Erinyes against him and leads to the famous trial at Athens that brings the House of Atreus cycle toward resolution.

Legendary musician and poet whose music could charm gods, humans and nature.

Two-headed guard dog of the cattle of Geryon.

The primordial mountain gods, personifications of the mountains.

Sea god and protector of sailors, associated with harbours.

Palamedes is a clever Greek hero associated with the Trojan War whose rivalry with Odysseus ends in betrayal and death in later tradition.

Titan associated with warfare and father of Nike.

Rustic god of shepherds, flocks, wild countryside and music.

The first woman in Hesiodic myth, fashioned by the gods and associated with the release of human troubles.

Trojan prince whose judgment and relationship with Helen become central to the Trojan War tradition.

Young warrior counted among the Seven Against Thebes in major traditions.

Divine daughter of Helios and queen of Crete.

Companion of Achilles whose death at Troy drives Achilles back into battle.

Winged horse born from Medusa, later ridden by Bellerophon.

Oceanid goddess and personification associated with persuasion and seductive speech.

King of Phthia, husband of the Nereid Thetis and father of Achilles.

King of Iolcus who sends Jason to obtain the Golden Fleece.

Daughter of Thyestes and mother of Aegisthus. Her story connects the revenge of Thyestes directly to the next generation of the House of Atreus and ultimately to the murders of Atreus and Agamemnon.

Son of Tantalus and legendary ruler whose name was associated with the Peloponnese.

One of the Graeae.

Wife of Odysseus, famed for fidelity and cunning during his long absence.

River god of Thessaly, father of several nymphs in later traditions.

Penthesilea is the Amazon queen who comes to aid Troy after Hector's death and fights Achilles during the final stages of the Trojan War.

Pentheus is the king of Thebes who resists the worship of Dionysus. His attempt to control the new god's followers ends with his death at the hands of the Bacchants, including his own mother Agave.

Periboea is a woman of Greek mythological genealogy who appears as the mother of Penelope in one common tradition. She should not be confused with Periboea of Salamis, the mother of Ajax the Great.

Periboea of Salamis is the mother of Ajax the Great in a common Greek mythological tradition. She is distinct from the Periboea associated with Penelope's genealogy.

Oceanid and consort of Helios in Hesiodic genealogy.

Queen of the Underworld and goddess associated with vegetation, seasonal renewal and the mysteries.

Titan associated in genealogy with destruction and father of Hecate.

Son of Perseus and Andromeda and legendary ancestor associated with Persia.

Founder hero who slew Medusa and rescued Andromeda.

Daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë, later wife of Theseus.

Youth famous for attempting to drive the chariot of the Sun.

Philoctetes is the Greek archer who possesses the bow of Heracles. Abandoned on Lemnos because of a terrible wound, he later becomes essential to the prophecy that Troy cannot fall without him.

Daughter of Iobates who marries Bellerophon in a common tradition.

Personification of affection, friendship and intimate attachment.

Blind prophetic king tormented by the Harpies and aided by the Argonauts.

Personification of fear and panic in battle.

Phocus is a son of Aeacus and the Nereid Psamathe. His death at the hands of his half-brothers Peleus and Telamon leads to their exile from Aegina.

Titaness associated with prophecy and the lineage of Apollo and Artemis.

Daughter of Tyndareus and Leda in some traditions.

Brother of Cadmus and legendary ancestor of the Phoenicians.

Ancient sea god associated with hidden dangers of the deep.

Prince carried to Colchis on the golden ram whose fleece later becomes Jason's quest.

Pirithous is king of the Lapiths, close companion of Theseus and bridegroom at the wedding where the Centauromachy begins.

King of Troezen, father of Aethra and grandfather of Theseus.

Oceanid and mother of the Pleiades by Atlas.

God and personification of wealth and agricultural abundance.

King of Corinth who raises Oedipus as his son after the child survives exposure away from Thebes.

One of the Dioscuri and a member of the Argonauts.

Son of Cadmus and Harmonia.

Muse of sacred hymns.

Son of Oedipus who leads the Seven Against Thebes against his brother Eteocles.

Polyphemus is the one-eyed Cyclops and son of Poseidon encountered by Odysseus during the Odyssey. His defeat through Odysseus' 'Nobody' trick leads directly to Poseidon's anger and becomes one of the defining episodes of Odysseus' journey home.

Polyxena is a Trojan princess, daughter of Priam and Hecuba, whose later tradition ends with her sacrifice at the tomb of Achilles after Troy falls.

Primordial personification of the sea, brought forth by Gaia.

God of the sea, earthquakes and horses.

Priam is the last king of Troy, son of Laomedon and father of Hector, Paris and many other Trojan princes and princesses. His reign connects the earlier royal history of Troy with its final destruction in the Trojan War.

Rustic fertility god associated with gardens, livestock and agricultural abundance.

Twin brother of Acrisius and king associated with Tiryns.

King associated with Bellerophon's exile and the beginning of his journey to Lycia.

Titan associated with forethought, humanity and the theft of fire from the gods.

Prophetic sea god famed for changing shape to avoid revealing the future.

Nereid associated with sandy shores.

Sculptor king who falls in love with a statue that Aphrodite brings to life.

Wife of Deucalion and survivor of the Greek flood myth.

Brother of Minos and judge of the dead in later tradition.

Titaness and mother of the first generation of Olympian gods.

Nymph of a spring in Caria whose story becomes closely connected with Hermaphroditus.

Lycian king and ally of Troy, son of Zeus and Laodamia in Homer's Iliad, killed by Patroclus during the Trojan War.

Son of Zeus and Europa and brother of Minos and Rhadamanthys in a major Cretan genealogy, later associated with migration to Lycia.

River god of the Trojan plain, prominent in the Iliad.

Schoeneus is a king or nobleman of Greek mythology best known as the father of Atalanta in an important strand of her tradition.

Sea monster encountered by Odysseus opposite Charybdis.

Goddess and personification of the Moon.

Semele is a daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia and the mortal mother of Dionysus by Zeus. Her death and the unusual birth of Dionysus connect the House of Cadmus directly with one of the major Olympian gods.

Elder rustic deity and companion or tutor of Dionysus, associated with wine, prophecy and woodland revelry.

Dangerous singing beings whose voices lure sailors toward destruction.

Cunning king condemned in the Underworld to roll a boulder uphill forever.

Winged monster associated with Thebes and the riddle answered by Oedipus.

One of the seven Pleiades, also called Asterope.

Wife of Proetus whose accusation against Bellerophon drives the hero to Lycia.

Son of Perseus and Andromeda and father of Eurystheus.

One of the three Gorgons and traditionally immortal.

Dangerous birds driven from Lake Stymphalus by Heracles.

Goddess and personification of the river Styx.

Arcadian nymph pursued by Pan and transformed into reeds from which the panpipes were fashioned.

Bronze guardian of Crete who prevents ships from landing and is overcome by Medea during the Argonauts' return voyage.

Mythic king punished eternally in the Underworld and ancestor of the cursed House of Atreus.

Primordial deity and personification of the deep abyss beneath the world.

One of the seven Pleiades.

King of Salamis and father of Ajax and Teucer.

Son of Odysseus and Penelope, central to the opening movement of the Odyssey.

Telephus is a son of Heracles and king of Mysia whose story connects the Greeks' first failed approach to Troy with the later expedition that finally reaches the city.

Muse of dance.

Titaness associated with fresh water and mother of the river gods and Oceanids.

Famous archer and half-brother of Ajax.

Grace of abundance and festivity.

Muse of comedy.

Personification of death, especially peaceful death.

Ancient sea god associated with wonders of the sea.

Titaness associated with sight and shining light.

Titaness of divine law, order and custom.

Son of Polynices who joins the Epigoni and becomes associated with the restored Theban royal line.

Great Athenian hero famed for slaying the Minotaur and unifying Attica.

Nereid sea goddess and mother of Achilles.

Thyestes is the brother and rival of Atreus whose struggle for the throne of Mycenae culminates in the horrific Feast of Thyestes. His later pursuit of revenge produces Aegisthus and carries the family feud into the generation of Agamemnon.

Timandra is a daughter of Tyndareus and Leda and a sister of Clytemnestra and Helen in Greek mythological genealogy. Her story belongs to the wider family traditions surrounding the Trojan War.

One of the Erinyes, associated with retribution for blood guilt and murder.

Trojan prince loved by Eos and granted immortality without eternal youth.

Giant punished in the Underworld, where vultures consume his liver.

Sea god and herald associated with Poseidon.

Young Trojan prince whose death is associated with Achilles.

Tros is an early king of the Trojan royal line whose name becomes associated with Troy and the Trojans. Through his descendants, he stands near the beginning of the dynasty that leads to Ilus, Laomedon, Priam and the Trojan War.

Hero of the Seven Against Thebes and father of Diomedes.

King of Sparta and husband of Leda.

A vast serpentine storm-monster and one of Zeus's greatest enemies.

Muse of astronomy.

Primordial personification of the sky.

Chthonic divine figure especially important in later Orphic traditions.

Personification of zeal, rivalry and emulation.

God of the west wind and gentle spring breezes.

Winged son of Boreas and member of the Argonauts who helps drive the Harpies away from Phineus.

King of the gods and god of the sky, thunder and divine law.