Note this entire site has moved to http://messagenetcommresearch.com. Please update your links to us to use this new web address. Thank you!
Greek Mythology > People, Places, & Things > Emathia to Eretria
Earth to Elysian Fields Emathia to Eretria Erginos to Eulimene Eumaios to Exomis
A district of Makedon (Macedon) west of the river Axios and sometimes synonymous with the whole of Makedon.
See Emathia by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
An epithet given to Alexander the Great; the name comes from the district of Emathia which was sometimes synonymous with Makedon (Macedon).
See Emathian by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
(circa 490-430 BCE) A Greek philosopher and statesman from the city of Akragas (Acragas) on the island of Sicily; he is perhaps most famous for his division of the phenomenal world into the four elements: earth, air, fire and water.
See Empedokles by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
A frightening creature that could assume various shapes and might be compared to the modern imp or a goblin.
In the play Frogs, by Aristophanes, the main character (the god of wine, Dionysus) encounters a phantom creature that he identifies as the she-beast, Empousa, as he and his servant enter the Underworld.
See Empousa by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
In the Skythian (Scythian) homeland, an Enareis is a hermaphrodite.
When the Skythians invaded what we call the Middle East, they marched through Syria; most of the soldiers did not plunder or harm the Syrians but some of them looted the ancient temple of Aphrodite Orania in the city of Askalon (Ascalon).
The looters and their descendants were afflicted by the goddess of Love with a disease which is generally called the “female sickness” and caused loss of virility; the Skythians call the victims of this illness, Enareis, which is equated to a hermaphrodite.
These stricken Skythian men-women assumed the role of soothsayers in their native land; they would split the bark of a lime tree and foretell the future as they braid the strips of bark.
See Enareis by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
The wife of Aeakus (Aeacus) and most notably, the mother of Peleus and Telamon and thus the grandmother of Akhilleus (Achilles) and Aias (Ajax).
See Endies by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
The son of Kalyke (Calyce) and Aethlios (Aethlius); he was loved by Selene (the Moon) and kept forever youthful through eternal sleep; the father of Aetolus.
See Endymion by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
The name given by Hesiod in the poem, Shield of Herakles (Hercules) as the wife of king Kreon of the city of Thebes.
In the poem Antigone, Sophokles (Sophocles) uses the name Eurydike (Eurydice) but since Hesiod predates Sophokles we should assume that Eniokhe was, in fact, the name of king Kreon’s wife.
See Eniokhe by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
A son of Gaia (Earth) engendered by the blood of Ouranos (the Heavens).
Enkeladus was one of the Giants who rose against the Olympians and, after his defeat, was buried under Mount Etna on the island of Sicily.
See Enkeladus by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
An epithet of Poseidon (lord of the Sea) meaning Earth-Shaker.
See Ennosigaeus by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
A name used to denote the goddess, Hekate (Hecate) which literally means “by the way,” i.e. beside the road; the name could also be applied to any god or goddess with a statue by the roadway.
See Enodias by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
In relation to Ionic architecture, the entire upper portion between the columns and the eaves including the architrave, cornice and frieze.
See Entablature by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
The foul and evil accomplice of wretched mortals.
See Envy by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
1 A name for Ares (god of War); the name means The Warlike.
In the quest for the Golden Fleece, the Argonaut, Idas, sneered at the seer, Mopsos, and said that real men should not heed the signs of birds but rather call upon the name of Enyalios and resolve their problems with the sword; true to his own philosophy, Idas later died by the sword.
See Enyalios (1) by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
An island in the Euxine (Black Sea) known as the Island of Ares.
On their way to retrieve the Golden Fleece, the Argonauts came upon the island of Enyalios and were attacked by a flock of fierce birds; the birds protected the island by dropping their feathers, which struck like arrows, on the sailors; the Argonauts used a trick similar to the one Herakles (Heracles) used during his Sixth Labor (by using krotalon (castanet-like clappers) to frighten the Stymphalian Birds); the Argonauts put on their plumed helmets and pounded on their shields with their swords; the movement of the plumes and the noise from the clanging shields frightened the war-birds away and the Argo was able to land on the island with only one sailor being wounded by the projectile-like feathers.
See Enyalios (2) by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
One of the Graiae (the Gray Sisters); a daughter of Keto (Ceto) and Phorkys (Phorcys).
Enyo and her sister, Pemphredo, were gray from birth; they shared one tooth and one eye between them; they played a crucial role in the story of Perseus when he was on his quest to kill and behead the Gorgon, Medusa.
Athene (Athena) and Hermes advised Perseus to consult the Graiae in order to find out the location of the nymphs who could supply him with the Cap of Hades (to make him invisible), winged sandals (to allow him to fly) and a bag called a kibisis (to carry Medusa’s severed head); Perseus stole the tooth and eye of the Graiae and refused to give them back until they assisted him.
The Graiae are the sisters of the Gorgons and the Hesperides; later descriptions of the Graiae include Deino as one of the sisters.
In The Iliad, Enyo is depicted as warlike and accompanying Ares into battle. The two contrasting characterizations of this goddess, warlike and comely, seem to totally contradict one another.
See Enyo (1) by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
The Eoiae, or Great Eoiae, is usually referred to as the Catalogue of Women which is attributed to the poet Hesiod; the Catalogue was widely quoted in the ancient world and many fragments survive.
Each chapter of the Catalogue began with the English equivalent of the word “Eoiae” which can be translated as “Or like her . . . ,” the poem would then go on to name a particular woman and then tell the story of her ancestors and descendants, for example: from the beginning of the Shield of Herakles which tells the story of Alkmene (Alcmene), “Or like her who left the home of her fathers and came to Thebes with warlike Amphitryon, even Alkmene, daughter of the leader of men, Elektryon . . . etc.”
The Catalogue of Women was an attempt by Hesiod to trace the Greek families as they descended through the mothers rather than the fathers because, it is assumed, the Immortals would seed the mortal race through the women they seduced; the only complete poem from The Catalogue of Women extant is The Shield of Herakles.
For the complete translations of the Catalogue of Women, I recommend the Loeb Classical Library volume 57, ISBN 0674990633; you can sometimes find this book at the library or you can order it from the Book Shop on this site which is linked to Amazon.com.
See Eoiae by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
An indefinitely long period of time.
See Eon by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
The Dawn; the daughter of Hyperion (or Pallas) and the Titan, Theia; she is the sister of Helios (the Sun) and Selene (the Moon).
As the consort of Astraios, she is the mother of Zephyros (West Wind), Boreas (North Wind) and Notos (South Wind).
For more detailed information on Eos I suggest that you consult the Immortals section of this site.
See Eos by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
The daughter of Eos (Dawn); the Morning-Star that we call Venus; the father, if any, of Eosphoros is unknown; also called Aosphoros.
See Eosphoros by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
The son of Io and Zeus; the consort of Memphis and the father of the nymph, Libya.
The historian, Herodotus mentions Epaphos in relation to the Egyptian bull-deity, Apis and, since Io was the heifer-maiden, Epaphos is considered to be bull-like in appearance.
See Epaphos by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
See Ephesia by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
An ancient coastal city in western Asia Minor east of the island of Samos; famous for the Temple of Artemis which was erected there and later declared one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
See Ephesus by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
Usually rendered as The Ephetae; the court at Athens created by Drako (Draco) to try cases of homicide.
See Ephetes by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
He and his brother, Otos, were the giant sons of Aloeus.
The two rebellious Giants tried unsuccessfully to climb to the top Mount Olympos (Olympus) by piling mountains atop one another so that they might reach the abode of the Olympians.
They also bound Ares (god of War) in chains and imprisoned him in a cauldron for thirteen months until their stepmother, Eeriboia, told Hermes of Ares’ plight and he was freed.
See Ephialtes (1) by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
Ephialtes of Malis; Ephialtes was the man who showed the Persians how to circumvent the Spartan defenses at Thermopylae in 480 BCE and, by using a mountain path, attack the outnumbered Greeks from the rear.
The narrow pass at Thermopylae allowed the greatly outnumbered Greeks to hold back the Persian army because the Persians could not bring their full strength to bear on the defenses of the Spartan king, Leonidas; after several days of failed frontal assaults on the Greek defenses, Ephialtes informed the Persian king, Xerxes, that there was a way to attack the Greeks from the rear and thus avoid the narrow pass of Thermopylae.
After the defeat of the Greeks, a price was put on Ephialtes’ head and he was eventually killed by a man named Athenades for reasons other than his treason but the Spartans honored Athenades just the same.
See Ephialtes (2) by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
The name of a creature who inhabited nightmares comparable to the modern bogeyman.
See Ephialtes (3) by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
The Spartan government was ruled by a group of five Ephors who in turn exerted control over the two Spartan kings; the word literally means Overseer or Guardian.
See Ephors by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
The oldest name of the city of Korinth (Corinth).
See Ephyra by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
The Iliad and The Odyssey are what we consider to be the story of the Trojan War; the Epic Cycle also dealt with this momentous event in the form of poetic epics and lays that filled in certain details on which The Iliad and The Odyssey neglected to elaborate; usually referred to as The Trojan Cycle.
Also included in the Epic Cycle is the Theban Cycle and other fragmented references such as: the War of the Titans, the Story of Oedipus, the Thebais, the Epigoni, the Kypria (Cypria), the Aethiopis (Aithiopis), the Little Iliad, the Sack of Ilion (Troy), the Returns and Theogony.
The Epic Cycle has come down to us in fragments but it still captures the spirit and drama of the interaction of the heroes and the Immortals in shaping the Greek culture.
For the complete translations of the Epic Cycle, I recommend the Loeb Classical Library volume 57, ISBN 0674990633; you can sometimes find this book at the library or you can order it from the Book Shop on this site which is linked to Amazon.com.
See Epic Cycle by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
An ancient town in southern Greece in Argolis; the main center of worship for the god of healing, Asklepios (Asclepius); the outdoor theater there is still in use; during the siege of the city of Troy, the soldiers from the city of Epidauros were under the command of Diomedes.
See Epidauros by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
The children of the Seven Against Thebes who, with the leadership of king Adrastus of Argos, captured the city of Thebes after the failure of their fathers.
The name literally means After-Born referring to the sons of the chiefs of the first siege of Thebes.
The Epigoni were: Diomedes, Aigialeus, Alkmaeon (Alcmaeon), Thersandros, Promakhos (Promachus), Sthenelos and Polydorus.
See Epigoni (1) by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
The Epigoni; one of the fragmentary remains of the Epic Cycle which originally described the successful assault on the city of Thebes by the sons of the Seven Against Thebes.
For the complete translations of the Epic Cycle I recommend the Loeb Classical Library volume 57, ISBN 0674990633; you can sometimes find this book at the library or you can order it from the Book Shop on this site which is linked to Amazon.com.
See Epigoni (2) by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
More commonly called Jocasta but her name is more properly rendered as Iokaste.
Iokaste and her husband, Laius, the king of the city of Thebes, were warned by the oracle at Delphi that if they had a son, he would kill Laius and take his throne; when the son was born, Iokaste and Laius gave the infant to a shepherd with instructions to kill the child; the shepherd pierced the child’s ankles and intended to leave him in the wilderness to die but instead, the would-be killer gave the boy to another shepherd with the assumption that the boy would never be seen again and that Laius and Iokaste would never find out that he had disobeyed them.
The infant was taken to the city of Korinth (Corinth) where he was adopted by the king, Polybos; the orphaned child with the injured ankles was named Oedipus (which means “swollen ankles”); upon reaching manhood, Oedipus was told by the Delphic oracle that he would be the murderer of his father; Oedipus loved Polybos, who he assumed to be his natural father, and fled Korinth so that the prophecy could not be fulfilled.
While traveling, Oedipus met a nobleman on the road and after suffering insults and blows, Oedipus killed the nobleman and all but one of his guards and then proceeded to Thebes; he had no idea that the man he had just killed was his father, Laius.
Before he reached Thebes, Oedipus was stopped by a creature called the Sphinx which menaced and killed travelers on the road to Thebes; the Sphinx would ask riddles and if the travelers could not give the correct answers, she killed them; Oedipus was stopped and asked to answer a riddle before he could pass; Oedipus answered the riddle correctly and the Sphinx killed herself.
When Oedipus reached Thebes he was welcomed as a hero and, since king Laius was now dead, Oedipus was made the king of Thebes and allowed to unwittingly marry his mother, Iokaste.
Many years and four children later, she and Oedipus learned the truth of their unholy relationship; she hanged herself and Oedipus blinded himself and spent the rest of his life as a wanderer.
Oedipus and Iokaste had four children: Ismene, Antigone, Eteokles (Eteocles) and Polynikes (Polynices); the children suffered the curse of their parents and lived lives of sorrow and rejection.
See Epikaste by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
An early fifth century BCE Greek comic poet from the city of Magara, on the island of Sicily.
Little is known of his early life and we only have references to him by other classical writers, such as Horace, to document his life.
His name may also be rendered as Epikharmos or Epicharmos.
See Epikharmus by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
One of the three tribes which made up the Lokrians (Locrians); they occupied an area on the Maliac Gulf.
The other two tribes were named: the Opuntian and the Ozolian; the Lokrian colonists who went to Italy near Mount Zephyrium were called the Zephyrians or the Epizephyrians.
See Epiknemidian by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
(342?-270 BCE) A Greek philosopher and the founder of what we call the Epicurean school of philosophy.
Epikurus believed that there was no supernatural or mystical powers which governed human existence and that nature should be the sole source of motivation and that wise conduct was the best way to live a healthy life; his doctrine was that the external world is a series of fortuitous combinations of events and that the highest good is pleasure, interpreted as freedom from disturbance or pain.
According to Diogenes of Oenoanda, Epikurus was to have said, Good can be attained . . . Evil can be endured.
His name may also be rendered as Epikouros or Epicouros.
See Epikurus by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
A name given to nymphs as the Flock-Protectors.
See Epimelides by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
The legendary prophet from the island of Crete of the early sixth century BCE.
Epimenides was said to have fallen into a coma as a boy and awakened fifty seven years later; he is credited with the famous quote, All Cretans are liars, beasts and slow bellies.
See Epimenides by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
A son of the Titan, Iapetos, and the Okeanid, Klymene (Clymene); the brother of Prometheus, Menoitios and Atlas.
His name literally means After-Thought; Prometheus warned him to be suspicious of gifts from Zeus but Epimetheus could not resist the god-made woman, Pandora, when she was offered to him by Zeus and, by accepting her, unwittingly unleashed all the evils upon the world.
See Epimetheus by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
A traditional Greek choral tribute to the victor of battle or athletic competition.
See Epinikion by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
A coastal district in northwestern Greece where the ancient oracle of Zeus at Dodona is located.
See Epirus by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
In Greek comedy, a number of episodic songs and speeches which resolve the arguments proposed by the Agon.
The classifications into which modern scholars have divided Old Comedy are usually expressed in six elements:
See Episodes by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
A comedy by the Athenian poet, Meander; the title means Arbitration.
See Epitrepontes by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
A poetic meter represented by a series of long and short syllables in the sequence: long short long.
See Epitrite by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
Lokrian (Locrian) colonists from mainland Greece who settled near Mount Zephyrium in southern Italy; also called the Zephyrian.
See Epizephyrians by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
A poetic meter developed by Arkhilokhos (Archilochos) in which a longer line is followed by a shorter line.
See Epode by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
“That which gives its name,” i.e. usually a mythical person who is thought to be the source of the name of a city, river, era or the like.
See Eponymous by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
Literally meaning “a word” but used in the plural by the ancient Greeks to denote epic poetry.
See Epos by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
E; the fifth letter of the Greek alphabet; when reciting the alphabet, the E is pronounced long.
See Epsilon by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
An epic in brief, i.e. a short poem with an epic mythological theme.
See Epyllion by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
(circa 300-250 BCE) A Greek physician and physiologist from Antioch in Syria; in his study of anatomy, he differentiated the motor nerves from the sensory nerves.
See Erasistratus (1) by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
One of the Thirty Tyrants elected to rule the city of Athens after the end of the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE).
Having lost the war to the Spartans, the citizens of Athens elected thirty men to lead the new post-war government; these men became known as the Thirty Tyrants; the short lived government they comprised was an oligarchy.
The tyrants immediately began to prosecute Athenians who had been Spartan informers and collaborators during the long, hard war; the punishment of the guilty seemed appropriate to the common citizens and aristocrats alike but it soon became clear that the executions and banishments were going beyond the bounds of necessity or prudence; open hostilities soon developed between members of the Thirty and their authority and rule came to an end after one year.
See Erasistratus (2) by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
One of the nine Muses, her name means, The Lovely; usually associated with love poetry.
See Erato (1) by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
One of the fifty daughters of Nereus and Doris collectively known as the Nereids, i.e. the daughters of the Nereus; her name means, The Lovely.
See Erato (2) by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
Eratosthenes of Kyrene (Cyrene) (276?-195? BCE) A Greek mathematician and astronomer at Alexandria, Egypt.
Eratosthenes was the head of the Library of Alexandria circa 234 BCE and is noted for his attempt to present an accurate dating of Greek history; he was also noted for accurately calculating the circumference of the earth (within 200 miles (322 kilometers) of the modern accepted measurement) and developing a system of global longitude and latitude.
See Eratosthenes (1) by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
One of the Thirty Tyrants elected to rule the city of Athens after the end of the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE).
Having lost the war to the Spartans, the citizens of Athens elected thirty men to lead the new post-war government; these men became known as the Thirty Tyrants; the short lived government they comprised was an oligarchy.
The tyrants immediately began to prosecute Athenians who had been Spartan informers and collaborators during the long, hard war; the punishment of the guilty seemed appropriate to the common citizens and aristocrats alike but it soon became clear that the executions and banishments were going beyond the bounds of necessity or prudence; open hostilities soon developed between members of the Thirty and their authority and rule came to an end after one year.
See Eratosthenes (2) by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
The spawn of the primal Khaos (Chaos).
Erebos is the Darkness Under the Earth but above Tartaros (Tartarus); thought to be the abode of the wicked after death; Nyx, also a child of Khaos, and Erebos conceived Aither (the Upper Air) and Hemera (Day).
See Erebos by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
The oldest of the temples on the Acropolis with a shrine to the minor Attic goddess, Pandrosus.
The guardian serpent there symbolized Athene’s (Athena) protection of the city of Athens; construction was begun circa 420 BCE; it has two Ionic porches and a porch of Karyatides (Caryatides), i.e. columns sculpted into female figures; the entire structure is considered one of the finest examples of classical architecture still in existence.
See Erekhtheum by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
The mythical king of Attika (Attica); his name literally means, The Render.
Erekhtheus was the son of Pandion who was the son of Erikhthonios (Erikhthonios) who was, in turn, the son of the god Hephaistos (Hephaestus).
Little is known of Erekhtheus or his predecessors except that his grand-father, Erikhthonios, was thought to have snake-like characteristics; for obscure reasons, Poseidon (lord of the Sea) was worshiped at the city of Athens as Poseidon Erekhtheus.
See Erekhtheus by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
According to Apollonius of Rhodes, Eretheis was one of the daughters of Nyx (Night), known collectively as the Hesperides.
Eretheis and her sisters lived in the mythical West and guarded the Golden Apples which were a wedding gift to Hera from Gaia (Earth) upon her wedding to Zeus; the Eleventh Labor of Herakles (Heracles) was to retrieve the Golden Apples of the Hesperides.
The Hesperides are: Eretheis, Hespere and Aegle; when the Argonauts were stranded in the Libyan desert, they encountered the Hesperides; Aegle appeared as the trunk of a willow tree, Eretheis as an elm tree and Hespere as a poplar tree; Aegle told the story of how Herakles (Heracles) had killed the dragon that guarded the Golden Apples and had created a spring of fresh water by kicking a rock; she showed the Argonauts the spring that Herakles had created and the Argonauts drank their fill before they continued through the inhospitable desert.
See Eretheis by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
A city on the island of Euboea; located on the central-eastern coast opposite the mainland city of Delium.
Approximate east longitude 23.48 and north latitude 38.24.
See Eretria by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
Earth to Elysian Fields Emathia to Eretria Erginos to Eulimene Eumaios to Exomis
Original content Copyright 1996–2005 Michael Stewart. All Rights Reserved.
Website design and structure Copyright 2005 Michael Wiik
Site development and maintenance by Messagenet Communications Research