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Camenae

(Encyclopedia)Camenae kəmēˈnē [key], in Roman religion and mythology, water nymphs gifted in prophecy. At Rome they had a sacred spring from which the vestals drew water for their rites. In later myth they were...

Erymanthian boar

(Encyclopedia)Erymanthian boar ĕrĭmănˈthēən [key], in Greek mythology, a huge boar that ravaged the environs of Mt. Erymanthos. As his third labor, Hercules captured it by chasing it into deep snow and bindin...

Phorcus

(Encyclopedia)Phorcus fôrˈkəs [key], in Greek mythology, sea god, son of Pontus and Gaea. He married his sister Ceto, who bore him a brood of monsters, including the Gorgons, the Graeae, Scylla, and the Sirens. ...

Philemon and Baucis

(Encyclopedia)Philemon and Baucis, in Greek mythology, Phrygian husband and wife. When Zeus and Hermes visited earth as men, only Philemon and Baucis offered them hospitality. As a reward they were saved from a pun...

Ophion

(Encyclopedia)Ophion ōfīˈən [key], in Greek mythology, a huge serpent. An orphic god who ruled the world with his mother, Eurynome, before the reign of Kronos. When he became unruly, Eurynome banished him to th...

Nemesis

(Encyclopedia)Nemesis nĕmˈĭsĭs [key], in Greek religion and mythology, personification of the gods' retribution for violation of sacred law; the avenger. Sometimes she was said to be the goddess of good and ill...

Hebe

(Encyclopedia)Hebe hēˈbē [key], in Greek religion and mythology, goddess of youth; daughter of Zeus and Hera and wife of Hercules. She appears only occasionally in legend as a cupbearer and attendant of the gods...

Alastor

(Encyclopedia)Alastor əlăsˈtər [key], in Greek mythology, spirit of vengeance. It is an epithet applied to Zeus or any other god in his aspect as avenger and is also sometimes applied to an evildoer who is subj...

Charybdis

(Encyclopedia)Charybdis kərĭbˈdĭs [key], in Greek mythology, a female monster. Because she stole Hercules' cattle, Zeus hurled her into the sea. There she lay under rocks across from Scylla and sucked in and sp...

Stymphalian birds

(Encyclopedia)Stymphalian birds stĭmfāˈlēən [key], in Greek mythology, dangerous man-eating birds that infested the woods around Lake Stymphalus in Arcadia. As his fifth labor, Hercules frightened the birds in...