1000 Mythological Characters Briefly Described (continued 2)
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Ellis, Edward Sylvester
Tides, see Narayan.
Time (or Saturn). The husband of Virtue and father of Truth.
Tisiphone (Tis-iph′one). One of the Furies, daughter of Nox and Acheron, who was the minister of divine vengeance upon mankind.
Titan (Ti′tan). Elder brother of Saturn, who made war against him, and was ultimately vanquished by Jupiter.
Titans (Ti′tans) were the supporters of Titan in his war against Saturn and Jupiter. They were the sons of Uranus and Gaea, men of gigantic stature and of great strength. Hence our English word Titanic.
Tithonus (Ti-tho′nus). The husband of Aurora. At the request of his wife the gods granted him immortality, but she forgot at the same time to ask that he should be granted perpetual youth. The consequence was that Tithonus grew old and decrepit, while Aurora remained as fresh as the morning. The gods, however, changed him into a grasshopper, which is supposed to moult as it gets old, and grows young again.
Tityus (Tit′yus). A son of Jupiter. A giant who was thrown into the innermost hell for insulting Diana. He, like Prometheus, has a vulture constantly feeding on his ever-growing liver, the liver being supposed to be the seat of the passions.
Toil, see Atlas.
Tombs, see Manes.
Tongue, see Tereus.
Tonitrualis (Tonitrua′lis), or Tonans. The Thunderer; a name of Jupiter.
Towers, see Cybele.
Tragedy, see Melpomene.
Trees, see Aristaeus.
Tribulation, see Echidna.
Triformis (Trifor′mis), see Tergemina.
Triptolemus (Triptol′emus). A son of Oceanus and Terra. He was a great favorite of the goddess Ceres, who cured him of a dangerous illness when he was young, and afterwards taught him agriculture. She gave him her chariot, which was drawn by dragons, in which he carried seed-corn to all the inhabitants of the earth, and communicated the knowledge given to him by Ceres. Cicero mentions a Triptolemus as the fourth judge of the dead.
“Triptolemus, whose useful cares intend The common good.” Pope.
Triterica (Triteri′ca). Bacchanalian festivals.
Tritons (Tri′tons) were sons of Triton, a son of Neptune and Amphitrite. They were the trumpeters of the sea-gods, and were depicted as a sort of mermen—the upper half of the body being like a man, and the lower half like dolphins.
Trivia (Tri′via). A surname given to Diana, because she presided over all places where three roads meet.
Trophonius (Tropho′nius). A legendary hero of architecture, and one of Jupiter’s most famous oracles.
Troy. The classic poets say that the walls of this famous city were built by the magic sound of Apollo’s lyre. See Dardanus, Helen, Hercules, Paris.
Trumpeters, see Tritons.
Truth. A daughter of Time, because Truth is discovered in the course of Time. Democritus says that Truth lies hidden at the bottom of a well.
Tutelina (Tutel′ina). A rural divinity—the goddess of granaries.
Two Faces, see Janus.
Typhoeus (Typhoe′us), see Typhon.
Typhon (Ty′phon). A monster with a hundred heads who made war against the gods, but was crushed by Jove’s thunderbolts, and imprisoned under Mount Etna.
“... Typhon huge, ending in snaky twine.” Milton.
Typhon (Ty′phon). In Egyptian mythology the god who tried to undo all the good work effected by Osiris. According to the Greek writer, Hesiod, Typhon or Typhoeus was a monster giant, son of Terra and Tartarus.
Uller (Ul′ler). The Scandinavian god who presided over archery and duels.
Ulysses (Ulys′ses). A noted king of Ithaca, whose exploits in connection with the Trojan war, and his adventures on his return therefrom, are the subject of Homer’s Odyssey. His wife’s name was Penelope, and he was so much endeared to her that he feigned madness to get himself excused from going to the Trojan war; but this artifice was discovered, and he was compelled to go. He was of great help to the Grecians, and forced Achilles from his retreat, and obtained the charmed arrows of Hercules from Philoctetes, and used them against the Trojans. He enabled Paris to shoot one of them at the heel of Achilles, and so kill that charmed warrior. During his wanderings on his homeward voyage he was taken prisoner by the Cyclopes and escaped, after blinding Polyphemus, their chief. At Aeolia he obtained all the winds of heaven, and put them in a bag; but his companions, thinking that the bags contained treasure which they could rob him of when they got to Ithaca, cut the bags, and let out the winds, and the ships were immediately blown back to Aeolia. After Circe had turned his companions into swine on an island where he and they were shipwrecked, he compelled the goddess to restore them to their human shape again. As he passed the islands of the Sirens he escaped their allurements by stopping the ears of his companions with wax, and fastening himself to the mast of his ship.
His wife Penelope was a pattern of constancy; for, though Ulysses was reported to be dead, she would not marry any one else, and had the satisfaction of finding her husband return after an absence of about twenty years. The Greek name of Ulysses is Odysseus.
“To show what pious wisdom’s power can do, The poet sets Ulysses in our view.”
Undine (Un′dine). A water-nymph, or sylph, who, according to fable, might receive a human soul by marrying a mortal.
Unknown God, An. With reference to this God, nothing can be more appropriate than St. Paul’s address to the Athenians, as recorded in the 17th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles:
“Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is worshiped with men’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: for in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent: because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.”
Unxia (Unx′ia). A name of Juno, relating to her protection of newly married people.
Urania (Ura′nia). A daughter of Jupiter and Mnemosyne—one of the Muses who presided over astronomy.