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Procrustes

(Encyclopedia)Procrustes prōkrŭsˈtēz [key], in Greek mythology, cruel highwayman. He forced passersby to lie on a very long bed and then stretched them to fit it. Some said that he also had a very short bed; to...

Arachne

(Encyclopedia)Arachne ərăkˈnē [key], in Greek mythology, a Lydian woman who challenged Athena to a trial of skill in weaving. When Arachne won, the goddess forced Arachne to hang herself. Athena then turned Ara...

Daphnis

(Encyclopedia)Daphnis dăfˈnĭs [key], in Greek mythology, shepherd, the son of Hermes and a nymph. He was unfaithful to a nymph who loved him, and in revenge she blinded him. He tried to comfort himself by playin...

Oenone

(Encyclopedia)Oenone ēnōˈnē [key], in Greek mythology, nymph skilled in the art of healing. Paris loved her but later deserted her for Helen. Oenone, in revenge, sent their son, Corythus, to guide the Greeks to...

Acontius

(Encyclopedia)Acontius əkŏnˈshəs [key], in Greek mythology, young man who loved Cydippe. He met her at a festival of Artemis and threw before her an apple inscribed, “I swear by the temple of Artemis to marry...

Oeneus

(Encyclopedia)Oeneus ēˈnēəs [key], in Greek mythology, king of Calydon and father of Meleager. When Oeneus forgot to dedicate the fruits of his first crop to Artemis, she terrorized his kingdom with a wild boar...

Aeolus

(Encyclopedia)Aeolus ēˈələs [key], in Greek mythology. 1 The wind god. He lived on the island of Aeolia, where he kept the winds in a cave. 2 Son of Hellen and ancestor of the Aeolian branch of the Hellenic rac...

Anchises

(Encyclopedia)Anchises ănkīˈsēz [key], in Greek mythology, member of the ruling family of Troy; father of Aeneas by Aphrodite. When Anchises boasted of the goddess's love, Zeus crippled or, in some versions of ...

Leucothea

(Encyclopedia)Leucothea lo͞okŏthˈēə [key], in Greek mythology, sea deity. In some legends she was the deification of Ino, the wife of Athamas; in others she was the deification of the sea nymph Halia, mother o...

Styx

(Encyclopedia)Styx stĭks [key], in Greek mythology, river of Hades that the souls of the dead had to cross on their journey from the realm of the living. It was a sacred river, and by its name even the gods took t...