Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Circe sûrˈsē [key], in Greek mythology, enchantress; daughter of Helios. She lived on an island, where she decoyed sailors and treacherously changed them into beasts. According to the Odyssey, she ...

(Encyclopedia) Tiresias tīrēˈshəs, –sēəs [key], in Greek mythology, a blind soothsayer who appears in many legends. According to one myth, when he saw Athena bathing she blinded him, but by way of compensati...

(Encyclopedia) Amalthaea ămˌəlthēˈə [key], in Greek mythology, the stepmother of Zeus, a she-goat or nymph who nursed the infant Zeus. It was said that Zeus made one of her magnificent horns into the cornucopi...

(Encyclopedia) Pentheus pĕnˈthēəs [key], in Greek mythology, king of Thebes, son of Cadmus' daughter Agave. When Dionysus came to Thebes, Pentheus denied his divinity and tried to prevent his ecstatic rites. The...

(Encyclopedia) cornucopia kôrˌnyo͞okōˈpēə [key], in Greek mythology, magnificent horn that filled itself with whatever meat or drink its owner requested. Some legends designate it as a horn of the river god A...

(Encyclopedia) Priam prīˈəm [key], in Greek mythology, king of Troy during the Trojan War, son of Laomedon. Priam had several wives and was the father of 50 sons and many daughters. His chief wife, Hecuba, bore h...

(Encyclopedia) Tithonus tĭthōˈnəs [key], in Greek mythology, prince of Troy; son of Laomedon. He was loved by the dawn goddess, Eos, who bore him Memnon. When Eos begged Zeus to bestow immortality upon Tithonus,...

(Encyclopedia) Smith, Sir William, 1813–93, English editor and lexicographer. He was editor of the Quarterly Review from 1867 until his death and also edited reference works esteemed for their accuracy and compreh...

(Encyclopedia) Laocoön lāŏkˈōŏn [key], in Greek mythology, priest of Apollo who warned the Trojans not to touch the wooden horse made by the Greeks during the Trojan War. While he and his two sons were sacrifi...

(Encyclopedia) Nereus nērˈo͞os, –ēəs [key], in Greek mythology, seagod. He was the son of Pontus and Gaea and the father of the nereids (see nymph). A kindly, wise old man of the sea, Nereus could change into...