The Probert Encyclopaedia of Greek & Roman Mythology

BACCHANALIA

Bacchanalia were feasts held in honour of Bacchus and characterized by licentiousness and revelry celebrated in ancient Athens. In the processions were bands of Bacchantes of both sexes, who, inspired by real or feigned intoxication, wandered about rioting and dancing. They were clothed in fawn-skins, crowned with ivy, and bore in their hands thyrsi, that is spears entwined with ivy, or having a pine-cone stuck on the point. These feasts passed from the Greeks to the Romans, who celebrated them with still greater dissoluteness until the senate abolished them in 187 BC.
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BACCHUS

Bacchus was a Greek and later Roman form of the Greek god Dionysus, and in this form was the god of wine and drunken happiness. He was the son of Jupiter and Semele, and was depicted in perennial youth, usually as a maiden, with a crown or vine or ivy leaves around his temples, and holding in his hand a spear bound with ivy. Tigers, lions or lynxes are yoked to his chariot, whilst he is accompanied by bacchanals, satyrs and his foster-father and preceptor Silenus.

He first taught the cultivation of the vine and the preparation of wine. To spread the knowledge of his invention he travelled over various countries and received in every quarter divine honours. Drawn by lions (some say panthers, tigers, or lynxes), he began his march, which resembled a triumphal procession. Those who opposed him were severely punished, but on those who received him hospitably he bestowed rewards. His love was shared by several; but Ariadne, whom he found deserted upon Naxos, alone was elevated to the dignity of a wife, and became a sharer of his immortality.
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BATEIA

In Greek mythology, Bateia was a daughter of Teucer. She was married to Dardanus by whom she had two sons, Ilus and Erichthonius.
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BAY

In Roman beliefs, bay - the tree of Apollo - was considered a talisman against lightning, and hence was often worn in a wreath upon the head by the emperors.
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BELLEROPHON

In Greek mythology, Bellerophon was a hero who, having accidentally killed his brother, fled to Proetus, king of Argos, whose wife, Antsea, fell in love with him. Being slighted, she instigated her husband to send him to her father Iobates, king of Lycia, with a letter urging him to put to death the insulter of his daughter. That king, not wishing to do so directly, imposed on him the dangerous task of conquering the Chimaera, which Bellerophon, mounted on Pegasus, a gift from Athena, overpowered. Iobates afterwards gave him his daughter in marriage, and shared his kingdom with him. He attempted to soar to heaven on the winged horse Pegasus, but fell to the earth, where he wandered about blind, until he died.
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BELLONA

Bellona was the Roman goddess of war, and the wife of the god Mars.
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BELTAINE

Beltaine is the name of the feast of the spring equinox.
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BIA

In Greek mythology, Bia was a son of Styx and the Titan Pallas. Bia was the personification of might and force.
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BOAN

Boan was another name for Dana. In this version of events, Boan visited a sacred well which, to punish her for breaking the law, rose up and pursued her to the sea and thus became the river Boyne where lived the salmon of knowledge which fed on nuts dropped from the nine hazel trees at the water's edge.
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BONA DEA

In Roman mythology, Bona Dea was a goddess of chastity, fertility and healing. She was worshipped from the earliest times exclusively by women. A prophetic deity with a sanctuary in the Aventine, she revealed her oracles only to women, and men were not even allowed to know her name. Bona Dea means 'good goddess', and she was also called Fauna. Legend has it that she was related to the god Faunus, but the legends differ as to whether she was his sister, wife or daughter.
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BOREAS

In Greek mythology, Boreas was the north wind god. He was the son of Astraeus and Aurora.
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BRIAREUS

In Greek mythology, Briareus (Briareos) or Aegaeon was a son of Uranus and Gaea. He was one of the Hekatoncheires, a giant with a hundred hands and fifty heads, who helped Zeus to conquer Cronos and his Titan allies, and guarded the Titans when they were imprisoned by Zeus in Tartarus.
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BRITOMARTIS

In Cretan mythology, Britomartis was a daughter of Zeus and Carme. Like Artemis, she was a virgin huntress. Minos loved and pursued her, and to escape from him she threw herself into the sea but was saved by Artemis who made her a goddess.
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BROMIUS

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BUCENTAUR

In Greek mythology, the Bucentaur was a mythical creature, half man and half ox.
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BURYALE

Buryale was one of the Gorgons.
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BUSIRIS

In Greek mythology, Busiris was a king of Egypt and the reputed founder of the city of Thebes. He sacrficied all strangers arriving on his shores to his gods. However, when he captured Hercules, Hercules broke his chain, escaped and killed the king.
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