In Greek mythology, Haemus was a son of Boreas and Oreithyia. He married Rhodope and by her had a son, Hebrus. He and his wife presumed to assume the names of Zeus and Hera and were turned into mountains for their insolence. Research Haemus
In Greek and Roman mythology the Harpies were creatures employed by the higher gods to carry out the punishment of crime. They were three in number : Aello, Ocypete, and Celaeno, or Podarge; and were said to be daughters of the giant Thaumas and the Oceanid nymphElectra. Their body was that of a bird, their head that of a woman; and it would seem that they were originally goddesses of the storm, which carries everything along with it. Their manner of punishing those whom they were sent to punish was to carry off all the food set before their victim, and devour it, or failing that, to render it uneatable. Among others who were punished in this way was Phineus, a king of Thrace, his crime having been cruelty toward his own son and contempt of the gods. For showing the Argonauts the way to Colchis he was, however, freed from their persecution by Calais and Zetes, the winged sons of Boreas, who, in gratitude, killed them. Research Harpies
Hebe was the Greek and Roman goddess of youth. She was the daughter of Zeus and Hera, or in Roman mythology of Jupiter and Juno. In Olympus she appears as a kind of handmaiden, presenting the nectar at the banquets of the gods, preparing chariots, and tending to wounds. In the arts she is represented as a young virgin crowned with flowers arrayed in a variegated garment, with an eagle by her side. She was believed to have the power of restoring the bloom of youth and beauty to the aged. Research Hebe
In ancient Greece a hecatomb was literally a sacrifice of a hundred oxen, but the term is applied generally to the sacrifice of any large number. It was necessary that the victims should be without blemish. Only parts such as the thighs, legs, or hide were burned, the rest furnishing the festive meal at the close of the sacrifice. Research Hecatomb
In Greek mythology, Hector was a Trojan prince, son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy; husband of Andromache. During the Trojan war, Hector led the forces of Troy and no one could stand against him, he killed nineteen Greek leaders and wounded the heroesAgamemnon, Ajax, Diomedes and Odysseus until he was killed by Achilles - who was assisted with a gift of armour from the gods. Research Hector
In Greek mythology, the Hekatoncheires were three giants, each with a hundred hands and fifty heads. They were children of Gaea and Uranus. When they were born, Uranus pushed them back into Gaea's womb. In her resulting pain Gaea persuaded Cronos to castrate his father and overthrow him. When Cronos became supreme he was scared of the power of the Hekatoncheires and he too imprisoned them, locking them in Tartarus with their brothers the Cyclops. Research Hekatoncheires
In Greek mythology, Helen or Helena was the daughter of Zeus and Leda, and the most beautiful of women. By advice of Ulysses her numerous suitors were bound by oath to respect her choice of a husband, and to maintain it even by arms. She chose to marry Menelaus, King of Sparta, but during his absence, was abducted by Paris, Prince of Troy. This precipitated the Trojan War. Afterwards she returned to Sparta with her husband. After the death of Paris she married his brother Deiphobus. On the fall of Troy she returned to Sparta with Menelaus, but at his death was driven from the country, and was murdered at Rhodes by the queen of the island. Research Helen
In Greek mythology, Helice was the wife of Ion. The town of Helice in Achea on the gulf of Corinth was founded by Ion, who named it after her. Research Helice
In Greek mythology, Helios was the god of the sun (the Roman Sol), son of the TitanHyperion and Theia, and brother of Eos and Selene. He was said to dwell with Eos in the ocean behind Colchis, from which he issued in the morning and to which he returned at night. He later began to be identified with Apollo, but the identification was never complete. His worship was widely spread, and he had temples in Corinth, Argos, Troezen and Elis, but particularly in Rhodes, the Colossus of which was a representation of Helios. The island of Trinacria was also sacred to Helios, and here his daughters, Phoetusa and Lampetia, kept his flocks of sheep and oxen. It was customary to offer up white lambs or boars on his altars. The animals sacred to him were horses, wolves, cocks and eagles. Research Helios
In Greek mythology, Helle was the daughter of Athamas, King of Thessaly, and sister of Phryxes. With her brother she ran away from Ino, their cruel stepmother, on a ram with a Golden Fleece. Helle fell into the sea and drowned, thus giving her name to the Hellespont. Research Helle
Hemera was the Greek goddess of day. She was born from Erebus and Nyx. She emerged from Tartarus as Nyx left it and returned to it as she was emerging from it. Research Hemera
In Greek and Roman mythology, Hercules (called by the Greeks Heracles) was the most celebrated hero or semi-divine personage, he was the son of Zeus (Jupiter) by Alcmena, the wife of Amphitryon and was brought up at Thebes, and before he was eight months old he had strangled two snakes sent by the jealous Hera (Juno) to devour him.
In his youth he had several distinguished instructors, among them the CentaurCheiron. Early in life he had, at the command of Zeus, to subject himself for twelve years to the will of Eurystheus, on the understanding that after he had acquitted himself of this duty he should be reckoned in the number of the gods. He, therefore, went to Mycenae, and performed at the bidding of Eurystheus the tasks known as the twelve labours of Hercules. These were
Bring from the infernal regions Cerberus the three headed dog of Hades.
Besides these labours, he also achieved of his own accord others equally celebrated. Thus, he assisted the gods in their wars against the giants, and it was through him alone that Zeus obtained the victory.
Having attempted to plunder the temple at Delphi, he became engaged in conflict with Apollo, and was punished by being sold to Omphale, queen of Lydia, as a slave, who restored him to liberty and married him. Having latterly returned to Greece, he became the husband of Dejanira, who unwittingly brought about his death by giving him a tunic poisoned with the blood of the Centaur Neasus, which she innocently believed would retain for her Hercules' love. The poison took effect whenever the garment was put on, and as the distemper was incurable, Hercules placed himself on a burning pile on the top of Mount OEta, was received up into heaven, and being there reconciled to Hera, received her daughter Hebe in marriage. At the death of Hercules Deianira killed her self also through grief.
In ancient works of art Hercules is generally represented naked, with strong and well-proportioned limbs; he is sometimes covered with the skin of the Nemaean lion, and holds a knotted club in his hand, on which he often leans. The principal ancient statue of him which remains is the Farnese Hercules at Naples, a work of the Athenian Griycon, The myth of Hercules is believed by many writers to represent the course of the sun through the twelve signs of the zodiac. His marriage with Hebe was explained even by the ancients as symbolic of the renewing of the sun's course after its completion. Research Hercules
In Greek mythology, Hermaphroditus was the son of Hermes and Aphrodite. He was loved by a nymph who asked for eternal union with him. Her request was granted and they became one body with both male and female sex organs. Research Hermaphroditus
Hermes,called by the Romans Mercurius (Mercury), in Greek mythology was the son of Zeus and Maia, the daughter of Atlas. He was born in Arcadia, and soon after his birth left his cradle
and invented the lyre by stringing the shell of a tortoise with three or seven strings. The lyre, however, he resigned to Apollo, with whom it was ever after identified. Hermes also invented the Pandean pipe. The ancients represent Hermes as the herald and messenger of the gods. He conducted the souls of the departed to the lower world. He was the ideal embodiment of grace, dignity, and persuasiveness, but also of prudence, cunning, fraud, perjury, theft, and robbery. His cunning was frequently of service both to the gods and the heroes, and even to Zeus himself.
Later writers ascribe to him the invention of dice, music, geometry, letters, etc. He was worshipped in all the cities of Greece, but Arcadia was the chief place of his worship, his festivals being called Hermcea. In the monuments he is represented as in the flower of youth, or in the full power of early manhood. He often appears with small wings attached to his head and to his ankles. Among his symbols are the cock, the tortoise, a purse, etc, and especially his winged rod, the caduceus. Research Hermes
In Greek mythology, Hero was a Greek priestess of Aphrodite at Sestos, on the coast of Thrace, for love of whom Leander, a youth of Abydos, swam every night across the Hellespont, guided by a torch from her tower. He was at length drowned in the attempt and his body washed ashore, becoming aware of her lover's death, Hero, overcome with anguish, threw herself from the tower on the corpse of her lover, and died. There is a Greek poem by Musseus on this subject. Research Hero
Heroes was a name applied by the Greeks to mythical personages who formed an intermediate link between men and gods. They were demigods, whose mortal nature only was destroyed by death, while the immortal ascended to the gods. The heroic age of Greece is considered to have terminated with the return of the Heraclidae into the Peloponnesus in 1100 BC. There were six great heroic races, descended respectively from Prometheus and Deucalion, Inachus, Agenor, Danaus, Pelops or Tantalus, and Cecrops. Individual families, as, for instance, the AEacidioe, Atridoe, Heraclidoe, belong to one or another of these races. Great sacrifices were not offered to the heroes, as they were to the Olympian deities; but groves were consecrated to them, and libations poured out on their sepulchres. Research Heroes
In Greek mythology, the Hesperides were certain nymphs who lived in gardens, of rather uncertain locality, as guardians of the golden apples that grew there, being assisted in the charge by a dragon. Hesiod places the gardens in an island of the ocean far to the west. It was the eleventh labour of Heracles to kill the dragon and bring the golden apples of the Hesperides to Eurystheus. Research Hesperides
In Greek mythology, Hippocoon was a King of Sparta. He was the son of Oebalus and Gorgophone. He refused to purify Hercules after he murdered Iphitus and further offended Hercules by killing Oeonus. Research Hippocoon
In Greek mythology, Hippolytus was the son of Theseus. When he rejected the love of his stepmother, Phaedra, she falsely accused him of making advances to her and turned Theseus against him. Killed by Poseidon at Theseus' request, he was in some accounts of the legend restored to life when his innocence was proven. Research Hippolytus
In Greek mythology, the Hydra was a huge monster with nine heads. If one were cut off, two would grow in its place. One of the 12 labours of Hercules was to kill it. Research Hydra
In Greek mythology, Hygea or Hygieia, was the daughter of Aesculapius. She was the goddess of health. She was represented as a blooming maid with a bowl in her hand, from which she is feeding a snake, the symbol of health. Research Hygea
In Greek mythology, Hynos or Somnus, was a son of Night, and the twin brother of Thanatos (death), with whom he lived in deep subterranean darkness at the entrance to Tartarus. His influence extended to gods as well as men, and by the latter he was viewed as a special benefactor, giving the weary refreshing rest, and sufferers alleviation of their pain. He was represented in different forms and attitudes, with different attributes - now nude, or lightly or heavily clad, now standing, or striding hastily, or reposing heavily; or as a powerful youth holding a poppy or a horn, from which sleep trickled down on those reposing; or as a child, and sometimes as a bearded, aged man. On his head were the wings of a hawk or a night bird, and beside him frequently a lizard. He was looked on as a favourite of the Muses, apparently because of the dreams he was supposed to communicate to men. Research Hypnos
Abbreviations
Mythology
Research Hades
