THE YOUTH’S DICTIONARY OF MYTHOLOGY.
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Ellis, Edward Sylvester
Alcestis (Alces′tis), wife of Admetus, who, to save her husband’s life, died in his stead, and was restored to life by Hercules.
Alcides (Alci′des), one of the names of Hercules.
Alcmena (Alcme′na), the mother of Hercules, was daughter of Electryon, a king of Argos.
Alecto (Alec′to) was one of the Furies. She is depicted as having serpents instead of hair on her head, and was supposed to breed pestilence wherever she went.
Alectryon (Alec′tryon), a servant of Mars, who was changed by him into a cock because he did not warn his master of the rising of the sun.
Alfadur (Al′fadur), in Scandinavian Mythology the Supreme Being—Father of all.
Alma Mammosa (Al′ma Mammo′sa), a name of Ceres.
Alpheus (Alphe′us), a river god. See Arethusa.
Altar. A structure on which a sacrifice was offered. The earliest altars were merely heaps of earth or turf or rough unhewn stone; but as the mode of sacrificing became more ceremonious grander altars were built. Some were of marble and brass, ornamented with carvings and bas-reliefs, and the corners with models of the heads of animals. They varied in height from two feet to twenty, and some were built solid; others were made hollow to retain the blood of the victims. Some were provided with a kind of dish, into which frankincense was thrown to overpower the smell of burning fat. This probably was the origin of the custom of burning incense at the altar.
Amalthaea (Amal′thae′a), the goat which nourished Jupiter.
Amazons (Am′azons) were a nation of women-soldiers who lived in Scythia. Hercules totally defeated them, and gave Hippolyte, their queen, to Theseus for a wife. The race seems to have been exterminated after this battle.
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Ambarvalia (Ambarva′lia) were festivals in honor of Ceres, instituted by Roman husbandmen to purge their fields. At the spring festival the head of each family led an animal, usually a pig or ram, decked with oak boughs, round his grounds, and offered milk and new wine. After harvest there was another festival, at which Ceres was presented with the first-fruits of the season. See Ceres.
Amber, see Heliades.
Ambrosia (Ambro′sia) were Bacchanalian festivals.
Amica (Ami′ca), a name of Venus.
Amphion (Amphi′on) was the son of Jupiter and Antiope. He was greatly skilled in music; and it is said that, at the sound of his lute, the stones arranged themselves so regularly as to make the walls of the city of Thebes.
“Amphion, too, as story goes, could call Obedient stones to make the Theban wall.” Horace.
“New walls to Thebes, Amphion thus began.” William King.
“Such strains I sing as once Amphion played, When list’ning flocks the powerful call obeyed.” Elphinston.
Amphitrite (Amphitri′te) (or Salatia), the wife of Neptune, was a daughter of Oceanus and Tethys. She was the mother of Triton, a sea god.
“His weary chariot sought the bowers Of Amphitrite and her tending nymphs.” Thomson.
Amycus (Amy′cus) was king of Bebrycia. He was a son of Neptune, and was killed by Pollux.
Ancaeus (Ancae′us). A son of Neptune, who left a cup of wine to hunt a wild boar which killed him, and the wine was untasted. This was the origin of the proverb—“There’s many a slip ’twixt cup and lip.”
Ancilia (Ancil′ia), the twelve sacred shields. The first Ancile was supposed to have fallen from heaven in answer to the prayer of Numa Pompilius. It was kept with the greatest care, as it was prophesied that the fate of the Roman people would depend upon its preservation. An order of priesthood was established to take care of the Ancilia, and on 1st March each year the shields were carried in procession, and in the evening there was a great feast, called Coena Saliaris.
Andromeda (Androm′eda), the daughter of Cepheus, king of the Ethiopians, was wife of Perseus, by whom she was rescued when she was chained to a rock and was about to be devoured by a sea-monster.
Anemone (Anem′one). Venus changed Adonis into this flower.
Angeronia (Angero′nia), otherwise Volupia, was the goddess who had the power of dispelling anguish of mind.
Anna Perenna (Anna Peren′na), one of the rural divinities.
Antaeus (Antae′us), a giant who was vanquished by Hercules. Each time that Hercules threw him the giant gained fresh strength from touching the earth, so Hercules lifted him off the ground and squeezed him to death.
Anteros (An′teros), one of the two Cupids, sons of Venus.
Anticlea (Antic′lea), the mother of Ulysses.
Antiope (Anti′ope) was the wife of Lycus, King of Thebes. Jupiter, disguised as a satyr, led her astray and corrupted her.
Anubis (Anu′bis) (or Hermanubis (Herman′ubis)). “A god half a dog, a dog half a man.” Called Barker by Virgil and other poets.
Aonides (Aon′ides), a name of the Muses, from the country Aonia.
Apaturia (Apatur′ia), an Athenian festival, which received its name from a Greek word signifying deceit.
Aphrodite (Aph′rodi′te), a Greek name of Venus.
Apis, a name given to Jupiter by the inhabitants of the Lower Nile. Also the miraculous ox, worshiped in Egypt.
Apis (A′pis), King of Argivia. Afterward called Serapis, the greatest god of the Egyptians.