Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Eris ēˈrĭs [key], in Greek religion, goddess of strife. Angered at not being invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, she threw the apple of discord among the wedding guests (see Paris, in Gree...

(Encyclopedia) Pan păn [key], in Greek religion and mythology, pastoral god of fertility. He was worshiped principally in Arcadia, and one legend states that he was the son of Hermes, another Arcadian god. Pan was ...

(Encyclopedia) Titan, in Greek religion and mythology, one of 12 primeval deities. The female Titan is also called Titaness. The Titans—six sons and six daughters—were the children of Uranus and Gaea. They were ...

(Encyclopedia) Hermes, in Greek religion and mythology, son of Zeus and Maia. His functions were many, but he was primarily the messenger of the gods, particularly of Zeus, and conductor of souls to Hades. He was go...

(Encyclopedia) mythology [Greek,=the telling of stories], the entire body of myths in a given tradition, and the study of myths. Students of anthropology, folklore, and religion study myths in different ways, distin...

(Encyclopedia) Jason, in Greek mythology, son of Aeson. When Pelias usurped the throne of Iolcus and killed (or imprisoned) Aeson and most of his descendants, Jason was smuggled off to the centaur Chiron, who reared...

(Encyclopedia) Vesta, in Roman religion and mythology, hearth goddess. She was highly honored in every household from early times to the beginning of Christianity. Her public cult maintained a sacred building in whi...

(Encyclopedia) Vulcan, in Roman religion and mythology, fire god. Chiefly a god of destructive fire, Vulcan seems to have originated as a god of volcanoes. His festival, the Volcanalia, was held on Aug. 23. He was l...

(Encyclopedia) Neptune, in Roman religion and mythology, god of water. He was presumably an indigenous god of fertility, but in later times he was identified with the Greek Poseidon, god of the sea. At his festival,...

(Encyclopedia) Juno, in Roman religion and mythology, wife and sister of Jupiter. In early Roman times she, like the Greek Hera (with whom she was later identified), was goddess and protector of women, concerned esp...