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The Probert Encyclopaedia of Greek & Roman Mythology

HADES

Picture of Hades

Hades was the Greek god of the underworld. He was a son of Cronos.
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HAEMUS

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.
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HARMONIA

Harmonia was the daughter of Ares and Aphrodite. She married Cadmus. At the wedding she was given a necklace made by Hephaestus which conferred irresistible beauty upon the wearer.
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HARPIES

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 nymph Electra. 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.
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HEBE

Picture of Hebe

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.
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HEBRUS

In Greek mythology, Hebrus was a river god. He was the son of Haemus and Rhodope.
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HECATE

Picture of Hecate

Hecate was a Greek goddess of the moon and spirits. Dogs were sacred to her.
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HECTOR

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 heroes Agamemnon, Ajax, Diomedes and Odysseus until he was killed by Achilles - who was assisted with a gift of armour from the gods.
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HEKATONCHEIRES

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.
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HELEN

Picture of Helen

In Greek mythology, Helen was the daughter of Zeus and Leda, and the most beautiful of women. She married 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.
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HELICE

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.
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HELICON

Helicon was a mountain in central Greece, on which was situated a spring and a sanctuary sacred to the Muses.
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HELIOS

Picture of Helios

In Greek mythology, Helios was the god of the sun (the Roman Sol), son of the Titan Hyperion 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.
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HELLE

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.
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HEMERA

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.
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HEPHAESTUS

Hephaestus was the Greek god of volcanic fire. The Romans called him Vulcan. He was the son of Zeus and Hera.
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HERA

Picture of Hera

Hera was a Greek goddess. She was mother to Hephaestus.
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HERCULES

Picture of Hercules

In Greek and Roman mythology, Hercules (Heracles) was considered as the perfect athlete. He was given twelve labours:


  1. Kill the Nemean lion.
  2. Destroy the Lernean hydra.
  3. Capture alive the Erymanthian boar.
  4. Capture alive the Ceryneian stag.
  5. Kill the Stymphalian birds.
  6. Clean the Augean stables.
  7. Bring alive into Peloponnesus the Cretan bull.
  8. Obtain the horses of Diomedes.
  9. Obtain the girdle of Hippolyte.
  10. Kill the monster and cattle of Geryon.
  11. Obtain the apples of Hesperides.
  12. Bring from the infernal regions Cerberus the three headed dog of Hades.

Hercules wife, Deianira, having been told by Nessos that anyone given a shirt steeped in his blood would love her with undying love gave Hercules such a shirt. The shirt caused hercules such agony that he threw himself on a funeral pyre and died. Deianira then killed her self also through grief.
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HERMAPHRODITUS

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.
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HERMES

Picture of Hermes

Hermes was the Greek god of oratory. He was a son of Zeus and Maia. In ancient Greece, statues of Hermes were set up by inhabitants at the doors of their houses, and sometimes also in the peristyle. They also set statues to mark land boundaries, at road junctions, street corners and other prominent places.
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HESPERIDES

The Hesperides were daughters of Atlas and Hesperis.
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HESTIA

Hestia was a Greek goddess. She was a daughter of Cronos and Rhea. She was goddess of the hearth. She was also called Vesta.
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HILARIA

Hilaria was an ancient Roman festival observed at the vernal equinox in honour of the goddess Cybele. The festival was renowned for its joy and mirth.
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HIPPOCOON

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.
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HIPPOLYTUS

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.
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HORAE

Picture of Horae

The Horae were the Greek goddesses of the seasons. They were daughters of Zeus and Themis.
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HYDRA

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.
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HYDRIAD

In Greek mythology, Hydriad was a Naiad (water nymph).
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HYGEA

Picture of Hygea

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.
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HYMEN

Picture of Hymen

Hymen was the Greek and Roman god of marriage. He was the son of Bacchus and Venus.
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HYMENAEUS

Hymenaeus is an alternative name for Hymen.
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HYPNOS

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.
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