Heroes: Volume II of Mythos

C HILDREN OF Z EUS APOLLO Archer god and god of harmony. Son of Zeus and the TITANESS Leto. Half-brother of Zeus’s plethora of progeny. Twin of Artemis. Father of Aristaeus and Idmon (by Cyrene), Asclepius (by Coronis), Hymen (by the Muse Urania), Linus and Orpheus (by the Muse Calliope) and Lycomedes (by Parthenope). Grandfather of Eurytus. Slayer of Python and establisher of the Pythia’s oracle at Delphi. Slayer of the Cyclopes in revenge for Zeus’s smiting of Asclepius. Servant and lover of Admetus. Devises plan with the Moirai to grant Admetus immortality. Abettor of Heracles and Orpheus. Builds Troy’s walls with Poseidon; then infects the city with plague when Laomedon reneges on payment. ARES God of war. Son of Zeus and Hera. Brother of Hephaestus. Half-brother of Zeus’s plethora of progeny. Father of Eros and Phobos (by Aphrodite); of the Amazons, notably Antiope and Hippolyta (by the nymph Harmonia); and of Alcon, Diomedes and Eurytion. Perhaps father (by Althaea) of Meleager. Forebear of the Thracians. Possessor of man-eating metal birds. Along with Dionysus, a curser of the house of Cadmus. ARTEMIS Goddess of chastity and the chase. Daughter of Zeus and the TITANESS Leto. Twin of Apollo. Half-sister of Zeus’s plethora of progeny. Mistress of the Cerynaeian Hind; lends her to Heracles. Venerated by Atalanta and Hippolytus. Sensitive to slights: sends snakes to ruin the wedding night of Admetus and Alcestis; sends the Calydonian Boar and Atalanta to punish Calydon and the family of Oeneus, and transforms most of the Meleagrids into guinea fowl. ATHENA Goddess of wisdom. Daughter of Zeus and the Oceanid Metis. Half-sister of Zeus’s plethora of progeny. Patron of Athens. Abettor of Bellerophon, Heracles, Jason and Perseus. Possessor of Aegis (see Medusa). Imprisons the GIANT Enceladus under Mount Vesuvius. DIONYSUS God of dissipation and disorder. Son of Zeus and the mortal Semele. Half-brother of Zeus’s plethora of progeny. Suckled by his aunt Ino. Along with Ares, a curser of the house of Cadmus. Drives his aunts Agave, Autonoë and Ino mad. Transforms Ino and his cousin Melicertes into sea deities. Causes Agave and Autonoë to help tear apart his cousin Pentheus. Orders Theseus to surrender Ariadne so that they can marry and produce numerous offspring. Restores Ariadne and Semele to life so that they can all live together on Olympus. HEPHAESTUS Smith god. Son of Zeus and Hera. Brother of Ares. Half-brother of Zeus’s plethora of progeny. Possibly the father of Cercyon and Periphetes. Cast out of Olympus as an infant by Hera and lamed. Abettor of Heracles. Creator of marvels including a golden breastplate and bronze rattle for Heracles, the Khalkotauroi for Aeëtes, and (some believe) Talos. HERMES Messenger of the gods and arch-psychopomp. Son of Zeus and the Pleiad Maia. Half-brother of Zeus’s plethora of progeny. Father of Abderus and Autolycus. Abettor of Heracles and Perseus. Possessor of caduceus (winged staff), petasus (winged helmet), talaria (winged sandals).

P RIMORDIAL B EINGS G ODS EREBUS The darkness. Son of Chaos. Father of Moros. Father (by Nyx) of Charon, Hypnos, Thanatos and the Hesperides. GAIA The earth. Daughter of Chaos. Mother of Ouranos and Pontus. Mother (by Ouranos) of the Cyclopes and the first generation of TITANS. Mother (by Ouranos’s blood and seed) of the Furies and the GIANTS. Mother (by Pontus) of Charybdis, Nereus and Phorcys and Ceto. Mother (by Poseidon) of Antaeus. Mother (by Tartarus) of Echidna and Typhon. Creator of the harpe sickle used to castrate Ouranos. NYX Night. Daughter of Chaos. Mother (by Erebus) of Charon, Hypnos, Thanatos and the Hesperides. OURANOS The sky. Son of Gaia. Father (by Gaia) of the Cyclopes and the first generation of TITANS. Castrated by Kronos. Progenitor from his blood and seed of Aphrodite and (by Gaia) the Furies and the GIANTS. TARTARUS The hidden deeps. Son of Chaos. Father (by Gaia) of Echidna and Typhon.