Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Hyacinth, in Greek mythology

(Encyclopedia)Hyacinth hīəsĭnˈthəs [key], in Greek mythology, beautiful youth loved by Apollo. He was killed accidentally by a discus thrown by the god. According to another legend, the wind god Zephyr, out of...

Hyades, in Greek mythology

(Encyclopedia)Hyades, in Greek mythology, nymphs; daughters of Atlas and Aethra. They cared for both Zeus and Dionysus as infants. In recognition of these services, they were placed among the stars of the constella...

Hydra, in Greek mythology

(Encyclopedia)Hydra, in Greek mythology, many-headed water serpent; offspring of Typhon and Echidna. When one of its heads was cut off, two new heads appeared. The second labor of Hercules was to kill the monster. ...

Antenor, in Greek mythology

(Encyclopedia)Antenor, in Greek mythology, wise elder of Troy who urged that Helen be returned to Menelaus. The Greeks spared him and his family when they sacked Troy. A later myth portrays Antenor as a traitorous ...

herm, in Greek art

(Encyclopedia)herm hûrm [key], in 6th-century Greek art, vertical pillar surmounted by a bearded human head and often having a phallus below. These structures were considered sacred to Hermes. They were placed on ...

Hero, in Greek mythology

(Encyclopedia)Hero, in Greek mythology, priestess of Aphrodite in Sestos. Her lover, Leander, swam the Hellespont nightly from Abydos to see her. During a storm the light by which she guided him blew out, and he dr...

Harpy, in Greek mythology

(Encyclopedia)Harpy, in Greek mythology, winged women with sharp claws who snatched food, objects, or people.

Andromeda, in Greek mythology

(Encyclopedia)Andromeda ăndrŏmˈĭdə [key], in Greek mythology, princess of Ethiopia, daughter of King Cepheus, king of Ethiopia, and Cassiopeia. According to most legends Cassiopeia angered Poseidon by saying t...

Galatea, in Greek mythology

(Encyclopedia)Galatea gălətēˈə [key], in Greek mythology. 1 Sea nymph, daughter of Nereus and Doris. She was loved by the brutish Polyphemus, a Cyclops who wooed her with love songs; but Galatea loved Acis, th...

Browse by Subject