Encyclopedia: C - Cyzicos: Greek mythology, people, places and things of ancient Greece

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C
The Greeks had no C in their alphabet; the letter kappa (Κ - κ) is often rendered as a C but, properly speaking, the K more correct; I have included spellings using C instead of K in an attempt to accommodate “common usage.”

Cabiri (Kabiri)
A group of gods, probably of eastern origin, who were worshiped on the islands of Lemnos and Samothrake (Samothrace); because of their skill with metals, they were reputed to be the sons of Hephaistos (Hephaestus).

Cadmeian Fox (Teumesian Fox)
A savage fox that ravaged Thebes and was hunted by Amphitryon and Kephalos (Cephalus).
The land around the city of Thebes was called Kadmeia (Cadmeia) after the founder of the city, Kadmos (Cadmus); Amphitryon and Alkmene (Alcmene), the stepfather and mother of Herakles (Heracles), went to Thebes to seek help in avenging the deaths of Alkmene’s brothers at the hands of the Teleboans; King Kreon (Creon) of Thebes said that he would send his army against the Teleboans if Amphitryon would kill a savage fox that had been killing children and terrorizing the county around Thebes; the fox is now commonly referred to as the Kadmeian (Cadmeian) Fox but ancient writers used the name Teumesian Fox; despite Amphitryon’s best efforts, he could not kill the fox and the brutal murders of the Theban children continued.
The Thebans decided to appease the fox by setting out one of their children every month so that the wild beast could have its blood feast and be satisfied with only the one child instead of randomly killing many; Amphitryon was not satisfied that no one could kill the fox and also disappointed that he had lost a powerful ally in his war against the Teleboans so he enlisted the help of a banished Athenian man named Kephalos (Cephalus).
Kephalos had a fabled dog named Lailaps (Storm) that could catch anything he pursued; the dog had once belonged to King Minos of the island of Crete and was eventually given to an Athenian woman named Prokris (Procris) by the goddess Artemis; Prokris gave the dog to her husband Kephalos but he accidently killed Prokris while hunting and was an exile living in Thebes when Amphitryon was trying to kill the murderous fox; Amphitryon promised Kephalos a portion of the plunder from the Teleboans if he would put his unstoppable dog on the trail of the savage fox; when the dog was in hot pursuit of the fox, Zeus intervened and turned the dog and the fox into stone near a hill called Teumessus and thus the name Teumesian Fox.
King Kreon of Thebes was satisfied that Amphitryon had fulfilled the obligation of ridding Kadmeia of the fox and, true to his word, joined Amphitryon in his war against the Teleboans.
Apollodorus of Athens, Library, book 2.57-59
The Epigoni, fragment 2

Cadmeians (Kadmeians)
The ancient inhabitants of the city of Thebes and the surrounding countryside; Kadmos (Cadmus) was the mythical founder of Thebes; the inhabitants of Thebes were called Thebans and/or Kadmeians.

Cadmus (Kadmos)

The founder of the city of Thebes whose inhabitants became known as Kadmeians (Cadmeians).
The son of Agenor and the brother of the maiden, Europa, and the blind seer, Phineus.
With his wife, Harmonia, Kadmos had five children: Autonoe, Ino, Agaue, Polydoros (Polydorus) and Thyone (a.k.a. Semele).
When Zeus abducted Europa, Agenor sent Kadmos to retrieve her; Kadmos could find no trace of his sister, Europa, and finally, at the advice of the oracle at Delphi, gave up the search and set off to found a new city; the pythia (priestess) at Delphi instructed Kadmos to follow a cow from Delphi and build his city on the spot where the cow laid down to rest; Kadmos did as he was instructed and built the Kadmea (Cadmea), the citadel, as the first structure of the city that was to become Thebes.
Kadmos killed the dragon which guarded the spring near the site of the proposed city and, at the advice of the goddess Athene (Athena), planted the teeth of the dragon in the earth; a group of fully armed warriors sprang from the dragons teeth; Kadmos tossed a rock into their midst and started a fight amongst the warriors; only five warriors, called the Sparti, i.e. Sown-Men, survived and they became the founders of the noble families of Thebes.
Kadmos is also credited with the introduction of writing to the Greeks because he is reputed to be responsible for introducing the old (sixteen letter) alphabet to Greece.
The above image shows Kadmos receiving the blessing of the goddess Athene.
His name may also be spelled Kadmus or Cadmos.
Theogony, line 976

Caeneus (Kaeneus)
The father of the Argonaut, Koronus (Coronus); Kaeneus died valiantly while fighting the Centaurs; he was separated from the other fighters and was killed alone by an overwhelming force of Centaurs.
Argonautika, book 1, lines 57-64

Caicias (Kaikias)
The personification of the North-East Wind.
There are two types of Winds:
1) The divinely created winds, i.e. Boreas (North Wind), Notos (South Wind), Zephyros (West Wind) and the Etesian winds, and
2) The ill-favored winds that were created by the monster, Typhoeus, when Zeus imprisoned him under the earth.
The divinely created winds nourish and bless the earth but the winds of Typhoeus are wild and destructive; Kaikias is one of the winds of Typhoeus.
Theogony, lines 869-880

Caicus (Kaikos)
A river god; one of the many sons of Tethys and Okeanos (Ocean); the Kaikos river is located in Asia Minor and flows into the Candarli Gulf which is south and east of the island of Lesbos and is now known as the Bakir.
Zeus gave the Rivers, Apollon and the Okeanids the special obligation of having the young in their keeping.
Theogony, line 343
Histories, book 6.28; book 7.42

Calais (Kalais)
The winged son of Boreas (North Wind) and Oreithyia.
Kalais and his brother Zetes were a wonder to see with dark wings, bright with golden scales, vibrating from their temples and feet; both had long blue-black curling hair that streamed in the wind when they flew.
The two brothers are best remembered for their role in the adventures of Jason and the Argonauts; the voyage of the Argo with its company of heroes was one of the greatest adventures of the ancient world.
In their quest for the Golden Fleece, the Argonauts encountered the blind prophet, Phineus.
Phineus had married the daughter of Boreas (North Wind), Kleopatra (Cleopatra), and after her death he married a cruel and vengeful woman; his new wife hated his sons which he and Kleopatra had sired; she induced Phineus to blind them; as punishment for such a horrendous act, Zeus offered him blindness or death; Phineus chose blindness; Helios (the Sun) was offended that Phineus would choose darkness rather than death so he sent the two winged-women known as the Harpies to torment Phineus by stealing his food; the Harpies did not steal all of Phineus’ food, they would always leave reeking morsels so that he could sustain himself and thus his torment could continue.
In order to find the location of the Golden Fleece, the Argonauts had to consult with Phineus on what was called the Floating Islands; Phineus told the sailors that he would only help them if they would rid him of the curse of the Harpies; Kalais and Zetes set a trap for the Harpies but the flying women were very swift and the winged brothers could only claw at them with their fingertips; Iris, the messenger of the Immortals, rushed into the fray and chided the brothers for trying to harm the Harpies; Iris explained that the Harpies were there to punish Phineus at the behest of Zeus and that the brothers would incur the wrath of the father of the Immortals if they interfered with his judgment; Iris swore a sacred oath on the river Styx that if Zetes and Kalais would stop their pursuit of the Harpies, Phineus would no longer be tormented; thus Phineus was freed from his curse and the Argonauts learned how to find the land where the Golden Fleece was hidden.
Argonautika, book 1, lines 211-223 and 240+

Calchas (Kalchas)
KAL khas
The seer who was with the Greeks at the siege Troy; he was the son of Thestor and was given the gift of divination by Apollon.
When the Argive fleet was about to sail for Troy from Aulis, Boreas (North Wind) would not let the ships leave the harbor; Kalchas said that unless Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphianassa to the goddess Artemis, the fleet would not be allowed to leave Aulis; Iphianassa was summoned from Mycenae under the pretext that she would marry Achilles; when the girl was about to be sacrificially killed, Artemis substituted a stag in he place and removed her to Tauris where she would remain until Agamemnon’s son Orestes and his companion Pylades rescued her.
Kalchas also prophesied that the war with Troy would last for ten years; he saw a blood-red snake eat eight baby sparrows and the mother; he reasoned that the nine birds symbolized a weakening of the Trojans and that the tenth year would bring victory for the Greeks.
Kalchas survived the Trojan War and after Troy was conquered, journeyed by land with several companions to Kolophon (Colophon) to bury the Theban seer, Teiresias; Kalchas and Teiresias had been the two most renowned seers in ancient Greece but Teiresias’ grandson Mopsos (Mopsus) gained a reputation which equaled that of his grandfather and Kalchas.
When Kalchas met Mopsos he decided to test the young man’s wisdom by asking him a question; Kalchas pointed out a fig tree and asked how many figs such a small tree might produce; Mopsos did not hesitate to answer that the tree had ten thousand figs which would be one bushel and one fig left over; the figs were counted and Mopsos was correct even to the detail that the last fig would not fit in the bushel basket; Kalchas was so annoyed at the accuracy of Mopsos’ answer that he was shrouded by death and died.
Text References

Calliades (Kalliades)
The archon of the city of Athens when the invading Persian army, led by King Xerxes, burned and looted the city circa 480 BCE; the Persians captured an empty city because the citizens and government officials had fled.
Histories, book 8.51

Callicrates (Kallikrates)
A mid-fifth century BCE Greek architect who, together with Iktinus (Ictinus), designed the Parthenon for the city of Athens.

Callimachus (Kallimachus)
A Greek poet, grammarian and critic (circa 310-240 BCE); he is thought to have been a teacher in Alexandria, Egypt, where he taught Apollonius of Rhodes.

Callinus of Ephesus (Kallinus of Ephesus)
A poet presumed to have lived in the seventh century BCE; only a few fragments of his work are extant; he is considered an elegiac poet, i.e. one who wrote sad, sorrowful poems with the first line a dactylic hexameter and the second line a pentameter.

Calliope (Kalliope)

One of the nine Muses; she was the Muse of epic poetry; her name means Beautiful-Voiced; she is considered the primary sister of the Muses; the mother of the master musician, Orpheus; the prefix Kalli literally means Beautiful.
For more information on Kalliope and her sisters, I suggest that you consult the Muses page in the Immortals section of this site.

Calliphon (Kalliphon)
A painter from the island of Samos credited with some of the works at the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus.

Callippus (Kallippus)
A Greek astronomer; fl. forth century BCE; also spelled Kalippus or Calippus.

Callirhoe (Kallirhoe) ¹
An Okeanid, i.e. one of the three thousand daughters of Okeanos (Ocean) and Tethys; she was the wife of Chrysaor and the mother of three-headed Geryon (Geryones) and the snake bodied nymph, Echidna.
Zeus gave the Okeanids, Apollon and the Rivers the special obligation of having the young in their keeping.
Her name is sometimes rendered as Kallirrhoe or Callirrhoe.
Theogony, lines 287, 351 and 979

Callirhoe (Kallirhoe) ²
A fountain in the city of Athens from which water was taken as part of wedding day ceremonies; the name literally means “with nine springs;” sometimes spelled Kallirron or Callirron.

Callistratus (Kallistratos) ¹
The man who is credited with originating the 24 letter Greek alphabet; a native of the island of Samos; that alphabet is the one still in use today; although his contribution to Greek culture is un-denied, all details of his life are lost.
His name may also be rendered as Kallistratus or Callistratos.

Callistratus (Kallistratos) ²
(fl. forth century BCE) An Athenian orator and statesman who organized the Second Athenian Confederacy.

Calliste (Kalliste)
The original name of the island Thera; located in the southern Aegean Sea in the Kyklades (Cyclades) group; the island has an area of 30 square miles (78 square kilometers).
The island was magically created from a clod of earth which was presented to one of the Argonauts, Euphemos, by the half-fish, half-man Triton.
Triton guided the Argonauts out of the desert wastes of Libya and gave Euphemos a clod of earth as a gift; Euphemos had a divinely inspired dream about the clod of earth and threw it into the sea; an island arose and a descendant of Euphemos, Theras, migrated to the island and named it after himself; when the island first arose from the sea it was called Kalliste; the island is now called Santorini.
Argonautika, book 4, lines 1755-1764

Callisthenes (Kallisthenes)
kalis THEN nees
Kallisthenes of Olynthus; a Greek philosopher, circa 360-327 BCE; the son of a niece of Aristotle, Hero.
Kallisthenes was a nephew and student of Aristotle and, because of those relationships, became the official biographer of Alexander the Great; Kallisthenes accompanied Alexander on his military campaigns into Asia but, because of his non-military bearing, was generally disliked and distrusted by Alexander’s Macedonian companions; Kallisthenes was a man of words and philosophy with the unfortunate habit of speaking in hypothetical and idealistic terms; he once told Alexander that without the history he (Kallisthenes) was writing, Alexander, despite his claim to divine parentage, would be utterly forgotten; when asked who was held in the highest regard by the Athenians, Kallisthenes said it was Harmodius and Aristogeition because they had killed the tyrant Hipparchus; when he was asked which Greek city would dare give sanctuary to men guilty of tyrannicide, Kallisthenes replied that the Athenians had once fought for the children of Herakles (Heracles) against Eurystheus and, having stood against the absolute master of Greece at that time, the Athenians would again give sanctuary to a tyrant killer.
While accompanying Alexander, Kallisthenes sincerely felt that many of the Persians customs which Alexander had adopted were unbecoming to a Greek leader and degrading to his followers; on the matter of prostration in the presence of the king, Kallisthenes refused to bow and show obeisance to Alexander; one of Alexander’s advisors, Anaxarchus, expressed the belief that, after his death, Alexander would receive the honors of a god; he further reasoned that it was reasonable to demonstrate that honor while Alexander was still alive and able to appreciate their devotion; Alexander agreed with that sentiment and started requiring his men to bow to him on formal occasions; Kallisthenes refused to act in such a non-Greek manner, he cited several good reasons and pointed out the fact that even Herakles (Heracles) was not honored as a god while he was alive; Kallisthenes reminded Alexander that the act of prostration had been instituted by one of the most reviled Persian kings, Cambyses, and that Cambyses, and all of his successors had been defeated by free men; Kallisthenes then asked Alexander if he intended to make all the Greeks bow to him when he returned home or if that insult was reserved for the Persians and Macedonians; his arguments only served to add to the distrust that the Macedonians already held for Kallisthenes.
Because of his eloquence and austerity, Kallisthenes became a mentor for many of the younger Macedonians; one of the youths asked him in what way he could become famous and Kallisthenes said that, if that was his desire, he should kill a famous man; this young man, Hermolaus, was insulted by Alexander on a hunting expedition and decided to kill Alexander in revenge; Hermolaus induced other young men to join in the plot but, before they could act, their scheme was discovered; all the young men confessed under torture and were stoned to death; none of the young men implicated Kallisthenes but Alexander and the Macedonian generals suspected Kallisthenes had an unhealthy influence on the conspirators and eventually found sufficient reason to arrest him; there are several explanations as to how Kallisthenes was put to death and all of them come from men who were with Alexander but they all differ as to the details; some say that Kallisthenes was bound in chains for seven months and died of such harsh treatment; others say that Kallisthenes was hanged.
The biography of Alexander that Kallisthenes wrote is lost to us and the exploits of Alexander that do exist were written hundreds of years after Alexander’s death but were presumably taken from the writings of the various companions of Alexander and, although they are sometimes contradictory, generally agree on the major aspects of Alexander’s campaigns in Asia, Egypt and India; in the third century CE, a body of work appeared called Pseudo-Kallisthenes; these stories are probably more fiction and wishful thinking than actual things that Kallisthenes wrote.
Diodorus Siculus, book 17, III.111
Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander, book iv.10-12, 14 and 22; book vii.27
Plutarch’s Lives, Alexander, LII-LV

Callisto (Kallisto)
A nymph who was an attendant of Artemis and became the consort of Zeus.
Kallisto was the daughter of Lykaon (Lycaon) and lived in Arcadia; she would occupy herself with the wild beasts of the mountains with the goddess Artemis; she was seduced by Zeus and became pregnant; when Artemis saw Kallisto bathing, she was enraged to see that her companion was pregnant and changed Kallisto into a bear; her child was born and she named him Arkas (Arcas); mother and son were eventually captured by some goatherds and returned to her father, Lykaon; Kallisto violated the law by going into the precinct of Zeus and was hunted down by Arkas and other Arcadians; Zeus saw her plight and placed her in the heavens as the constellation the Great Bear.
The fate of Arkas was more unpleasant than that of his mother; we are initially told that Arkas participated in the hunt for his mother in the precinct of Zeus but then we are told that after Kallisto and Arkas returned to her father’s home, Lykaon pretended not to know of his daughter’s fate (being transformed into a bear by Artemis) and, while he was entertaining Zeus at his home, Lykaon chopped up Arkas while he was still a baby and served the infant to Zeus as a meal; Zeus placed Arkas in the heavens as the star Arcturus in the constellation of Bootes and he was thereafter known as the Bear Warden and protector of his mother.
Her name literally means Most-Beautiful.
The Astronomy, fragment 3

Calpe (Kalpe)

The ancient Greek name for the Rock of Gibraltar, i.e. the stone peninsula on the south-central coast of Spain; 1,396 feet (426 meters) in height; located at the western extreme of the Mediterranean Sea where it connects with the Atlantic Ocean.
Gibraltar and Jebel Musa were called the Pillars of Herakles (Heracles) by the ancients; Gibraltar was known as Calpe and Jebel Musa was known as Abyla.
Approximate West Longitude 5º 21' and North Latitude 36º 08'

Calyce (Kalyke)
The daughter of Aeolus (Aiolos); the wife of Aethlios and the mother of Endymion; her siblings were: Alkyone (Alcyone), Athamas, Kanake (Canace), Makareos (Macareus), Salmoneus, and Sisyphus.

Calydon (Kalydon)
An ancient city in western Greece, in Aetolia.

Calydonian Boar (Kalydonian Boar)
The savage boar sent by Artemis to punish the king of Kalydon (Calydon), Oineus, because he neglected to make a proper sacrifice to her; the boar was finally killed by the king’s son, Meleagros (Meleager), in what came to be known as the Kalydonian Hunt.

Calydonian Hunt (Kalydonian Hunt)
The quest for the Golden Fleece, the Trojan War and the Kalydonian Hunt are three of the most notable gatherings of heroes in the ancient world.
A savage boar had been released into the countryside around the city of Kalydon (Calydon) by the goddess Artemis in order to punish King Oineus for his failure to make a proper sacrifice to her.
The boar was in no way ordinary; it was so fierce that no single person could master it; a hunting party of the most noble and bravest fighters in all of Greece was assembled to hunt the boar; included in the hunting party was the beautiful virgin huntress, Atalanta; she was the first to wound the boar but the beast was finally killed by Meleagros (Meleager).
Meleagros awarded the boar-skin to Atalanta as a tribute to her bravery; his mother’s brother (or brothers) tried to take the prize away from Atalanta but Meleagros killed his uncle(s) for the insult to his authority; the murder of his uncle(s) would eventually be the undoing of Meleagros; he died during the siege of Troy when his venomous mother called upon the lords of darkness to avenge her brother’s death at the hands of her arrogant son.
Participants in the Kalydonian Hunt included: Meleagros, Atalanta, Akastos (Acastos), Telamon, Iphiklos (Iphiclos) and Peleus.

Calypso (Kalypso) ¹
ka lip SO
The sea nymph who detained Odysseus on the island of Ogygia.
Kalypso has a page in the Immortals section of this site ... click on her name to view that page.

Calypso (Kalypso) ²
ka lip SO
An Okeanid, i.e. one of the three thousand daughters of Okeanos (Ocean) and Tethys.
Zeus gave the Okeanids, Apollon and the Rivers the special obligation of having the young in their keeping.
Theogony, line 359

Cambyses (Kambyses)
The second king of the Persian Empire; the son of Cyrus the Great and Kassandane (Cassandane); he ruled the Persian Empire from 529-522 BCE (seven years and five months).
According to the historian Herodotus, Kambyses was so harsh and arrogant that the Persians called him The Master, whereas Cyrus was known as The Father and Kambyses’ successor, Darius, was known as The Huckster; he ruled the empire with callous contempt for his subjects and his family.
While Kambyses was occupied with the subjugation of Egypt, he had a dream that implied that his brother, Smerdis, was going to usurp the throne of Persia in his absence; he sent an assassin back to Persia and had Smerdis secretly murdered (this covert act would nearly cause the downfall of the Persian Empire).
While Kambyses was in Africa, he conducted unsuccessful military campaigns against the city of Carthage, the city of Ammon, and the nation of Ethiopia; the mercenary sailors that Kambyses hired refused to engage the Carthaginians for fear of jeopardizing their trade cartel in the Mediterranean Sea; the fifty thousand soldiers he sent to burn the oracle of Zeus in Ammon disappeared in the desert and the army he led against Ethiopia nearly starved to death before they were forced to abandon their march; the frustration of these failed campaigns combined with Kambyses’ cruel nature caused him to commit every type of blasphemy against the Egyptian gods and their temples.
Contrary to Persian tradition, Kambyses married two of his sisters and murdered one of them; Kambyses’ madness progressed as he stayed in Egypt and when he finally decided to return to Persia he was hated and feared by the Egyptians, the Persians and his closest advisors; Kambyses had inherited the captured Lydian king, Kroesus (Croesus), from his father and, while in Egypt, Kroesus was forced to flee for his life because he dared to contradict Kambyses and offer criticism for the mad deeds that Kambyses inflicted on all those around him.
The oracle at Buto told Kambyses that he would die in the city of Agbatana and Kambyses believed that he would die of old age in the Persian city by that name but while he was traveling through Syria, he stopped at the Syrian city of Agbatana and died of a wound from his own sword; before he died Kambyses received news from his capital city, Susa, that his brother, Smerdis, had assumed the throne; Kambyses knew that his brother was dead and he correctly surmised that an imposter was on his throne; he called the highest ranking Persians of his army to his deathbed and told them that he had ordered the murder of his brother and that he (his real brother, Smerdis) could not possibly be on the throne of the Persian empire; he told them that a false-Smerdis had assumed the throne and must be deposed at all costs; the Persians, who were accustomed to Kambyses’ madness, simply refused to believe him and accepted the false-Smerdis as their new king; after a life of manipulation and indulgence, Kambyses died without heirs, respect or honor.
Histories, book 3.1-39 and 3.61-66

Canace (Kanake)
A daughter of Aeolus (Aiolos) who committed suicide at her father’s command because of her incestuous relationship with her brother, Makareos (Macareus).
Her other siblings were: Sisyphus, Alkyone (Alcyone), Athamas, Salmoneus and Kalyke (Calyce); she was the consort of Poseidon (lord of the Sea) and the mother of the Giants: Otos and Ephialtes.

Canaeum (Kanaeum)
A northwest promontory of the island Euboea.

Canethus (Kanethos)
The son of Abas and the father of the Argonaut, Kanthos (Canthus); from the island of Euboea.
His name may also be rendered as Kanethus or Canethos.
Argonautika, book 1, lines 77-85

Cantharus (Kantharos)
A harbor near the city of Athens on the Saronic Gulf.
Kantharos is part of the port facilities of Athens; the port of Piraeus actually consisted of three separate docking areas with two larger areas flanking a smaller center dock; on the west was the Kantharos or Augreat harbor; the small round harbor of Zea was in the center and Munychia was on the east; the harbors were administered from a small settlement located on the high ground of the Munychia promontory.
Munychia was fortified by the Athenian tyrant Hippias (527-510 BCE) but the entire port area, including Kantharos, was not protected by walls until circa 493 BCE when Themistocles began making defensive preparations for the Persian invasion of 490 BCE; there was also an unprotected anchorage used by the Athenians called Phaleron but the docking facilities of Piraeus were considered to be more important so Phaleron was left unfortified.
After losing the war with Sparta (circa 404 BCE), the Long Walls were torn down by the Spartan general, Lysander; it wasn’t until 393 BCE that new walls were built to protect Piraeus; the new walls followed a slightly different overland route to the sea than the original walls but the purpose was essentially the same, i.e. to allow protected access to Piraeus from nearby Athens; the three separate docking facilities could accommodate nearly 100 ships each; the two larger docks (Kantharos and Munychia) were used as commercial docks and the smaller docking area of Zea was used as a military facility.

Canthus (Kanthos)
One of the Argonauts; the son of Kanethos (Canethus) from the island of Euboea.
The Argonauts were a company of the greatest heroes and adventurers in ancient Greece; the Argonauts were assembled by Jason to assist him in retrieving the Golden Fleece from the land of Kolchis (Colchis); their name was derived from their ship, the Argo (Argo + nautes = Argo-seamen); the Quest for the Golden Fleece can be assumed to have occurred circa 1285 BCE.
After the Argonauts had successfully obtained the Golden Fleece and were headed home, they were stranded in the Libyan desert; when they began a desperate search for water, Kanthos encountered a flock of sheep that belonged to the grandson of Apollon, Kaphauros (Caphaurus); as Kanthos was leading the sheep away, Kaphauros challenged and killed him; the other Argonauts avenged their comrade’s death by killing Kaphauros.
His name may also be rendered as Kanthus or Canthos.
Argonautika, book 1, lines 77-85 and 1485-1501

Capaneus (Kapaneus)
One of the commanders in the army known as Seven Against Thebes; Kapaneus was killed Zeus for blasphemy.
In the play, Oedipus at Kolonus (Colonus) by Sophocles, Kapaneus was so hostile towards the king of the city of Thebes, Eteokles (Eteocles), that he wanted to reduce the city to a pile of ashes.

Cape of Magnesia
A peninsula on the eastern coast of the Greek mainland north of the island of Euboea; the Gulf of Pagasai separates the Cape of Magnesia from mainland Thessaly.

Cape Sunium

Cape Sunium (Sounion); a promontory at the southern tip of Attica approximately 40 miles (64 kilometers) south of the city of Athens; Sunium was mentioned in The Odyssey (book 3, line 279) when Phrontis, the helmsman of Menelaos (Menelaus) was swept overboard by the god Apollon; Menelaos, with Helen and the rest of the survivors from Troy, were blown off course and they ended up in Egypt instead of the Peloponnesian Peninsula and their intended destination of Sparta.
The ruins of the Doric style Temple of Poseidon (lord of the Sea) still stand on the highest point of Cape Sunium; the Temple was built during the time of Pericles (circa 444 BCE) and was constructed on the foundations of a shrine that had occupied the cliff until it was destroyed by the Persians when they invaded Attica circa 490 BCE; a Temple to Athene (Athena) Sounias once occupied the isthmus but all that remains today are the foundation stones.
The isthmus that juts into the sea to form the Cape of Sunium rises sharply to the promontory and is bounded on the east by a narrow inlet which could serve as a shelter against bad weather for the cargo ships bound for the Saronic Gulf and the port of Athens, Piraeus; the town of Sunium was a prosperous small community until it was completely leveled during the Persian invasion of 480 BCE; the town was rebuilt and, during the Peloponnesian War, was fortified with a double wall with towers; the fortifications later fell into ruin and became a refuge for pirates and runaway slaves; the final destruction of the town and temple of Sunium came after the area was occupied by slaves who escaped from the silver mines of Laurium (circa 100 BCE).

Caphaurus (Kaphauros)
The grandson of Apollon and Akakallis (Acacallis) and the brother of Nasamon; he slew the Argonaut, Kanthos (Canthos), for trying to steal his sheep; when the other Argonauts found out about the death of their comrade, they killed Kaphauros.
His name may also be rendered as Kaphaurus or Caphauros.
Argonautika, book 4, lines 1485-1501

Capital

An architectural term referring to the top of a pillar or column.

Cap of Hades (Helm of Hades)
The magical hat that would make the wearer invisible; this was the cap that Perseus used in his quest to kill and behead the Gorgon, Medusa.
Shield of Herakles, line 226

Carchedonians (Karchedonians)
The Greek name for the Carthaginians, i.e. the residents of the city of Carthage in northern Africa.
Histories, book 3.17

Caria (Karia)
A Greek settlement located on the coast of the Aegean Sea in southern Asia Minor; the principal city of Karia was Miletos (Miletus).

Carneades (Karneades)
A Greek philosopher circa 214?-129? BCE; he taught at the Academy in Athens and is considered to be typical of the teachings of what is called the New Academy; he taught that our perceptions are our only reference to Truth but that the nature of individual perceptions make Certainty a matter of perspective.

Carpophorus (Karpophorus)
An epithet for Demeter and her daughter, Persephone; the word literally means Fruit-Bearer or Fruit-Tribute.

Carthage
An ancient city on the northern coast of Africa located near the modern city of Tunis.
The Carthaginians were a dominant sea power and active traders in the western Mediterranean Sea until their eventual defeat and dissolution in the second century BCE at the hands of the Romans.

Caryae (Karyae)
A city in Lakonia (Laconia) on the Peloponnesian Peninsula.
Approximate East Longitude 22º 50' and North Latitude 37º 30'

Caryatids (Karyatids)

Columns shaped to look like women draped in flowing dresses.
The most famous Karyatids are the ones which were placed in the southern portico of the Erechtheum on the Acropolis in Athens; the Karyatids are representative of Artemis as the Maiden of Karyae (Caryae), i.e. a city in Lakonia (Laconia).

Caryatis (Karyatis)
A name for Artemis derived from the city in Lakonia, Karyae (Caryae), which had a famous temple dedicated to Artemis; the name means Maiden of Caryae and was the theme for the female-shaped columns called the Karyatids (Caryatids) found in temples throughout Greece.

Cassander (Kassander)
(circa 354-279 BCE) The king of Macedon from 301-297 BCE; the son of Antipater.

Cassandra (Kassandra)

The daughter King Priam and Queen Hekabe (Hecabe) of Troy; as a member of the royal household of Troy she was witness to the fall of her father’s city and the tragic enslavement and/or murder of the population.
In The Iliad, Cassandra is portrayed as the devoted daughter of the king and queen but in later tragedies, such as Agamemnon by Aeschylus, she was given a darker, more tragic countenance; she was said to have been loved by Apollon but rejected him; as a punishment, Apollon gave her the gift of prophecy with the condition that no one believe her predictions; when she tried to warn her father that Troy was going to be overrun by the Greeks, she was ignored.
After Troy was reduced to ashes and her parents were dead, Agamemnon took her to his home as a concubine; she tried to warm him of his impending murder but, because of the curse of Apollon, she was disbelieved and finally killed as a witch.
The above image shows Kassandra clutching the statue of Athene (Athena) after the Argives had breached the walls of Troy.

Cassiopeia (Kassiopeia)

The wife of Kepheus (Cepheus) and mother of Andromeda; she and Kepheus ruled Ethiopia.

Kassiopeia boasted that her lovely daughter, Andromeda, was more beautiful than the immortal Nereids; the Nereids were insulted by such immodest boasting and prevailed on Poseidon (lord of the Sea) to send one of his ketos, i.e. sea monsters, to lay waste to Ethiopia; when Kassiopeia and Kepheus consulted an oracle they were told that if Andromeda was sacrificed to the Immortals the devastation could be averted; with no other alternatives, Kassiopeia and Kepheus prepared to sacrifice Andromeda and save their land from certain destruction; at this opportune time, Perseus was returning from his battle with the Gorgons and had the severed head of Medusa in his kibisis (a special bag to carry Medusa’s head); he confronted the ketos and, with the magical powers instilled in the head of Medusa, turned the beast to stone and saved Andromeda.

Castor (Kastor)
He and his brother, Polydeukes (Polydeuces or Pollux), were called the Dioskuri (Dioscuri); they were the twin sons of Leda and Zeus and the brothers of Helen, Klytemnestra (Clytemnestra) and Timandra.
In The Iliad (book 3, line 243) Kastor and Polydeukes were merely mortals but later stories gave the brothers a more supernatural countenance; as examples:
1) When Helen was a young girl, she was kidnapped by Theseus and Pirithous; Kastor and Polydeukes saved her with the help of Akademus (Academus) or perhaps Dekelus (Decelus);
2) While they were with the Argonauts, the two brothers became involved with the daughters of Leukippus (Leucippus), Hilaeira and Phoebe, and, for one reason or another, Kastor was killed; Polydeukes was supposedly immortal and did not want to live if his brother was dead; Zeus had mercy on the devoted brothers and allowed Kastor to return from the land of the dead on the condition that Polydeukes would take his place; that meant that, alternately, one of the brothers would be condemned to the Underworld while the other would be free on the face of the earth; eventually they were introduced into the heavens as the constellation, Gemini, i.e. the Twins.
An elaboration of the death of Kastor survives in the fragmentary remains of The Kypria; the author (not Homer) says that the two brothers were caught stealing the cattle of Idas and Lynkeus (Lynceus); Kastor was killed by Idas and then he and his brother, Lynkeus, were killed by Polydeukes; Zeus made Kastor and Polydeukes immortal with the condition that while one of them lived on the surface of the earth, the other would reside in the Underworld.

Caucasus Mountains
The mountain range which runs from northwest to southeast between the Euxine (Black Sea) and the Caspian Sea; the highest peak is Mount Elbrus which rises to a height of 18,480 feet (5,633 meters).
When Prometheus stole fire and gave it to the mortal humans, Zeus had him chained to the Caucasus Mountains until Herakles (Heracles) freed him.

Cavalry Battle
The Cavalry Battle; a sculpture accredited to the sculptor, Euphranor, as part of the Colonnade of Zeus at Athens.

Ceceides (Kekeides)
A comic poet before circa 450 BCE.

Cecrops (Kekrops)

A snake-like being who was the first king of the city of Athens; his name became synonymous with Attica.
Gaia (Earth) and Hephaistos (Hephaestus) had a son named Erichthonios; Gaia gave the infant Erichthonios to Athene (Athena) for protection; Athene put Erichthonios in a chest and gave it to the three daughters of Kekrops to guard, with the admonition that they never open the chest; as you can imagine, the women could not resist opening the chest; when they beheld the snake-like appearance of Erichthonios, they went mad and threw themselves from the rocky plateau of the Acropolis at Athens.
It’s one of the mysteries of Greek mythology as to why three women, whose father was snake-like, would be driven mad by the snake-like appearance of Erichthonios; perhaps they were driven mad not by his appearance but because they disobeyed Athene and were punished for their effrontery.

Celaeno (Kelaeno)
One of the seven daughters of Atlas known as the Pleiades.
The hunter, Orion, relentlessly pursued Kelaeno and her sisters until they were changed into pigeons by Zeus and eventually put into the night sky as the constellation, the Pleiades; to see the Pleiades from the northern hemisphere, the sisters are located above and to the right of the constellation of Orion in the zodiacal house of Taurus.
Kelaeno’s sisters are: Alkyone (Alcyone), Asterope, Elektra (Electra), Maia, Merope and Taygete.

Celeos (Keleos)
The king of the city of Eleusis who unwittingly took the goddess, Demeter, into his home to be a nurse for his son, Demophoon.
Keleos and his wife, Metaneira, did not recognize Demeter because she was disguised as an old woman; when Metaneira caught Demeter placing Demophoon into the fireplace to make him immortal, Demeter revealed her true identity and promised to make Eleusis the site of her most sacred temple.
Hymn to Demeter, line 184

Celmis (Kelmis)
KEL mees
One of the Idaean (Idaian) Daktyls who dwelt on Mount Ida on the island of Crete.
The Daktyls were born in a cave on Mount Dikte on the island of Crete; their mother was the nymph Anchiale from the Cretan town of Oiaxos (now Axos); the Daktyls were famous for their skills as metal workers and magicians.
Hesiod states that the Idaian Daktyls taught the smelting and tempering of iron on Crete; the only three Daktyls mentioned by name are Kelmis, Damnameneus and Delas (or perhaps his name was Scythes); Kelmis and Damnameneus discovered iron on the island of Cyprus and are said to be the first Daktyls; Delas is credited with the discovery of bronze smelting.
Argonautika, book 1, line 1129
Diodorus Siculus, book 3.74.4
The Idaean Daktyls

Centaurs (Kentauroi)

An intelligent race of beings having the head, trunk and arms of a man but with the body of a horse.
The origin of the Centaurs is directly related to Zeus and Hera; a mortal man named Ixion fell in love with Hera and his persistent advances angered Zeus; to distract Ixion, Zeus fashioned a cloud to look exactly like Hera; Ixion could not tell the difference and made love to Nephele, i.e. the cloud-woman, and she had a son named Kentauros; Kentauros mated with the Magnesian mares and the race of Centaurs was born.
Centaurs are noted for a variety of noble and depraved acts but when they provoked the Lapithae they more or less ended their habitation on the slopes of Mount Pelion and were forced to dwell on the Peloponnesian Peninsula; the “most noble” of the Centaurs was Cheiron (Chiron) who was the teacher of the heroes: Asklepios (Asclepius), Jason and Achilles.
Iliad (Lattimore), book 1, line 268 (beast men); book 2, line 743 (beast men); book 11, line 832
Iliad (Loeb), book 1, line 268; book 2, line 743; book 11, line 832
Iliad (Fagles), book 1, line 312; book 2, line 845; book 11, line 994
Iliad (Fitzgerald), book 1, line 317; book 2, line 888; book 11, line 963
Odyssey (Lattimore and Loeb), book 21, lines 295 and 303
Odyssey (Fagles), book 21, lines 330, 333 and 340
Odyssey (Fitzgerald), book 21, lines 333 and 341
Theogony, line 1001
The Kypria, fragment 5
Pindar, Pythian Ode 2, lines 21-48

Ceos (Keos)
One of the islands of the Kyklades (Cyclades) group located near the coast of Attica with an area of 60 square miles (155 square kilometers).
Approximate East Longitude 24º 33' and North Latitude 37º 62'

Cephallenia (Kephallenia)
Largest of the Ionian Islands located in the Ionian Sea off the western coast of Greece; with an area of 287 square miles (743 square kilometers); now known as Kefallinia.
Approximate East Longitude 20º 30' and North Latitude 38º 20'

Cephalus (Kephalos)
KEH fah los

Eos abducting Kephalos
Kephalos was the son of Deion (Deioneus) and became a divine spirit through a series of tragic events caused by his affiliation with the goddess Eos (Dawn).
Kephalos married Prokris (Procris) who was the daughter of King Erechtheus of Athens; the happy marriage of Kephalos and Prokris was soon disrupted by Eos who desired the companionship of Kephalos and abducted him; Eos and Kephalos had a splendid son named Phaethon.
Understandably, Prokris became jealous of Kephalos’ affair with Eos so, to ease Prokris’ anger, the goddess, Artemis, gave her a dog which had once belonged to King Minos of the island of Crete; the dog was named Lailaps (Storm) and could catch anything it pursued; also, Artemis gave Prokris a spear that would strike any prey at which it was thrown; Prokris gave the hound and spear to Kephalos as an act of reconciliation but she was still unsure of Eos’ intentions; acting on her suspicions, Prokris secretly followed Kephalos when he went hunting; when Kephalos heard a noise in the bushes he hurled the spear at what he thought was an animal but hit Prokris, killing her.
Kephalos was forced to flee Athens and went to the city of Thebes where he was absolved of his blood guilt and allowed to became a citizen; when Herakles’ (Heracles’) stepfather, Amphitryon, was given the task of hunting down a deadly fox which had been terrorizing the people of Thebes, he enlisted the help of Kephalos and his trusty hound; just as the unstoppable dog was about to catch the fox, Zeus intervened and turned the hound and fox into stone near a hill called Teumessus and thus the fox was thereafter named the Teumesian Fox.
Just as Eos had succumbed to her desires, the goddess of Love, Aphrodite, became infatuated with Kephalos and seized him; she made him the keeper of her shrine, thus he became a divine spirit.
His name may be rendered as Kephalos, Cephalos, Kephalus and Cephalus
Theogony, line 986
The Epigoni, fragment 2

Cepheus (Kepheus) ¹
One of the sons of Aldus; brother of Amphidamas, Auge, and Lykurgos (Lycurgus); one of the Argonauts.
The Argonauts were a company of the greatest heroes and adventurers in ancient Greece; the Argonauts were assembled by Jason to assist him in retrieving the Golden Fleece from the land of Kolchis (Colchis); their name was derived from their ship, the Argo (Argo + nautes = Argo-seamen); the Quest for the Golden Fleece can be assumed to have occurred circa 1285 BCE.
His name may also be rendered as Kepheos or Cepheos.
Argonautika, book 1, lines 161-171

Cepheus (Kepheus) ²

The Ethiopian king; the husband of Kassiopeia (Cassiopeia) and father of Andromeda.

His homeland was nearly destroyed when his wife, Kassiopeia, offended the Nereids by saying that her daughter was more lovely than the Nereids; the Nereids were insulted by such immodest boasting and prevailed on Poseidon (lord of the Sea) to send one of his ketos, i.e. sea monsters, to lay waste to Ethiopia; when Kassiopeia and Kepheus consulted an oracle they were told that if Andromeda was sacrificed to the Immortals the devastation could be averted; with no other alternatives, Kassiopeia and Kepheus prepared to sacrifice Andromeda and save their land from certain destruction; at this opportune time, Perseus was returning from his battle with the Gorgons and had the severed head of Medusa in his kibisis; he confronted the ketos and, with the magical powers instilled in the head of Medusa, turned the beast to stone and saved Andromeda.

Cephisus (Kephisos)
The god of the river Kephisos; the consort of the nymph, Leiriope, and the father of Narkissos (Narcissus).
When Narkissos rejected the love of the beautiful nymph, Echo, either Aphrodite (goddess of Love) or Nemesis (Divine Retribution) punished Narkissos for his arrogance by causing him to become obsessed with his own image; he spent his life gazing at his reflection and finally wasted away.

Cera (Kera)
One of the many children of Nix (Night); her name means Fate, i.e. inevitable death; she is referred to as Black Fate which gives her dominion a more negative connotation, as in Doom.
In the poem, Shield of Herakles (Heracles), she is described as almost ghoulish in nature, i.e. she is dragging dead and wounded men across the battlefield and her clothing is stained with blood.
Her name may also be rendered as Ker or Cer.
Iliad (Lattimore), (Death the destructive) book 18, line 535
Iliad (Loeb), (destructive Fate) book 18, line 535
Iliad (Fagles), (violent Death) book 18, line 623
Iliad (Fitzgerald), (ghastley Fate) book 18, line 616
Theogony, line 212
Shield of Herakles, line 156

Cerberus (Kerberos)

An offspring of the monster Echidna and the snake-bodied Typhaon; he was the ferocious watchdog of the Underworld and was said to have fifty heads, a dragon tail and snakes writhing from his body; the artistic and written descriptions of Kerberos differ as to the number of heads but the common theme is constant in that he was a beast of untamed savagery who only obeyed the voice of Hades (lord of the Dead) or his bride, Persephone.
Kerberos stands at the gates of the House of Hades and fawns on the dead as they enter but will savagely eat anyone trying to pass back through the gates and return to the land of the living.
To complete his Twelfth Labor, Herakles (Heracles) was required to descend into the Underworld and bring Kerberos to the surface; Herakles descended into the Underworld and confronted his uncle, Hades; either through consideration for Herakles or intimidation by Zeus’ wrath, Hades agreed to let Herakles temporarily take Kerberos into the sunlight on the condition that no weapons be used to subdue the beastly hound; when Herakles presented Kerberos to his cousin and taskmaster, Eurystheus, he hid in a giant urn in the ground.
Theogony, lines 311 and 769

Cerceis (Kerkeis)
An Okeanid, i.e. one of the three thousand daughters of Okeanos (Ocean) and Tethys.
Zeus gave the Okeanids, Apollon and the Rivers the special obligation of having the young in their keeping.
Theogony, line 355

Cercopes (Kerkopes)

The Kerkopes were two Monkey-Men named Passalus and Akmon (Acmon); the story of their exploits only survives as depictions in artwork and casual references by Classical writers but their encounter with Herakles (Heracles) was a surprisingly popular theme; the name, Kerkopes, is actually an obscene reference to the way the two brothers looked because their faces had the appearance of male genitalia.
As Herakles was sleeping under a tree, the two mischievous characters stole his bow; Herakles caught the barbaric looking brothers and tied them upside-down to a pole which he carried over his shoulder; the Kerkopes were not only unrepentant but highly amused by their plight and, as they dangled behind Herakles, they began making disparaging comments about Herakles’ hairy posterior; Herakles, who was so accustomed to sorrow and brutality, couldn’t resist the infectious good humor of the Kerkopes and set them free.
Herakles’ encounter with the Kerkopes was a popular artistic theme beginning in the early sixth century BCE and continuing well into the fourth century; the story was popular from mainland Greece to the island of Sicily.
Several Classical and Hellenistic writers thought that Homer had written a poem about the Kerkopes as one of his “fun” poems but most writers of that time rejected the idea.
This story is one of the fragmentary remains of the Epic Cycle; for the complete translations of the Epic Cycle I recommend the Loeb Classical Library volume 57, ISBN 0674990633; you can sometimes find this book at the library or you can order it from the Book Shop on this site.

Cercyon (Kerkyon)
The father of Alope; he could not protect his daughter, Alpoe, from the unwanted advances of Poseidon (lord of the Sea) and Alope became the consort of Poseidon and bore him a son named Hippothous.

Ceres (Keres)
A child of Nyx (Night); the personification of Misery.

Cerigo (Kerigo)
One of the Ionian Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea south of the Peloponnesian Peninsula with an area of 108 square miles (280 square kilometers); site of an ancient Temple of Aphrodite (goddess of Love).

Ceryneian Hind (Keryneian Hind)
A magical deer which was sacred to Artemis and lived on the Peloponnesian Peninsula; capturing the Keryneian Hind became the object of the third task known as the Labors of Herakles (Heracles).
The hind, i.e. female deer, was portrayed with golden horns which is indicative of a male deer; Herakles spent a year searching for the elusive deer before he was able to capture it.
While returning the hind to his cousin Eurystheus, Herakles encountered Apollon and Artemis; they demanded the return of the sacred creature but Herakles successfully argued the justice of his quest and was allowed to keep the hind and complete his Labor.
Keryneia is located in the northern part of the Peloponnesian Peninsula not far from the Gulf of Corinth.

Ceto (Keto)
The daughter of Gaia (Earth) and Pontos (the Sea).
Keto was the consort of her brother, Phorkys, and the mother of the Graiae (the Gray Sisters), the Gorgons, the six-headed monster, Skylla (Scylla) and the serpent, Ladon, who guards the Golden Apples of the Hesperides; she is the sister of Thaumas and Eurybia.
Theogony, lines 238, 270 and 333

Ceyx (Keyx) ¹
The son of the Eophorus (the Morning Star) and the husband of Alkyone (Alcyone); they were both transformed into birds that bore their names; Alkyone was changed into a kingfisher and Keyx was changed into some sort of sea bird.

Ceyx (Keyx) ²
A king of Trachis mentioned in the poem, Shield of Herakles (Heracles) on line 352.

Chaereloes
One of the Thirty Tyrants elected to rule the city of Athens after the end of the Peloponnesian War (404 BCE).
Having lost the war to the Spartans, the citizens of Athens elected thirty men to lead the new post-war government; these men became known as the Thirty Tyrants; the short lived government they comprised was an oligarchy; an oligarchy is a system of government allowing a few select people or families to rule a city or region based on the assumption that their bloodline or intellect gave them a superior predisposition and right to rule.
The tyrants immediately began to prosecute Athenians who had been Spartan informers and collaborators during the long, hard war; the punishment of the guilty seemed appropriate to the common citizens and aristocrats alike but it soon became clear that the executions and banishments were going beyond the bounds of necessity or prudence; open hostilities soon developed between members of the Thirty and their authority and rule came to an end after one year.
Hellenica, book 2.3

Chaerephon
An early and fanatical follower of Socrates who was viciously ridiculed in the comedy Clouds by Aristophanes because of his presumed aversion to fresh air and sunlight; Aristophanes clearly did not like Socrates and took every opportunity to denounce him, his school and his students.

Chaeronea
An ancient city in eastern Greece, in Boeotia; the site where Philip of Macedon defeated the combined forces of the Athenians, the Thebans and their allies.

Chalkidike (Chalcidice)
A district in northern Greece which forms a three-fingered peninsula and juts into the Aegean Sea; bounded on the east by the Gulf of Strimon and on the west by the Gulf of Salonika.

Chalkiope (Chalciope)
The daughter of the king and queen of Kolchis (Colchis), Aietes (Aeetes) and Eidyia; the sister of the sorceress, Medeia (Medea), and half-sister of Apsyrtos.
When the fugitive, Phrixus, came to Kolchis on the flying ram with the Golden Fleece, Aietes gave him sanctuary and allowed him to marry Chalkiope “without gifts of wooing”; at the magical ram’s request, its body was sacrificed and its Golden Fleece was placed in the Garden of Ares at Kolchis.
Years later, after Phrixus died of old age, the four sons of Chalkiope and Phrixus (Argos, Kytissoros (Cytissoros), Phrontis, and Melas) set out on a quest to avenge their father’s unjust expulsion from his home in Orchomenos (Orchomenus); they had not traveled far from Kolchis when they became shipwrecked on the Island of Ares and were rescued by the Argonauts, who were on their way to Kolchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece.
When King Aietes found out why the Argonauts had come to his remote kingdom, he became furious and blamed Chalkiope’s sons for bringing the strangers to his shores; Chalkiope begged her sister, Medeia, to help the Argonauts and divert the king’s anger from her sons; Chalkiope swore a great oath to return from the Underworld as an avenging Fury if her father harmed her sons; Medeia was distressed at her sister’s plight and, under the influence of Eros (god of Love), used her magical powers to assist Jason and the Argonauts to take the Golden Fleece and flee Kolchis; after Medeia fled Kolchis in disgrace and her half-brother, Apsyrtos, was killed in pursuit of the Argonauts, Chalkiope was Aietes’ only child who stayed with him in Kolchis.
Argonautika, book 2, lines 1140-1156

Chalcis (Chalkis) ¹
A bird that flies in its sleep and never wakes; its proximity induces sleep.

Chalcis (Chalkis) ²
A city located on the eastern-central side of the island of Euboea and the site of the fountain of Arethusa.
Approximate East Longitude 23º 36' and North Latitude 38º 28'

Chaos
The original Immortal; all creation is derived from her.
Theogony, lines 116, 700 and 814

Chares of Lindus
Sculptor of the 100+ foot statue of Helios (the Sun) known as the Colossus of Rhodes which was one of the Seven Wonders of the World; the statue, which was erected in 290 BCE, stood in the harbor of the city of Rhodes on the island of Rhodes until it was toppled in an earthquake, sixty-six years later, in 224 BCE.

Charikles (Charicles)
One of the Thirty Tyrants elected to rule the city of Athens after the end of the Peloponnesian War (404 BCE).
Having lost the war to the Spartans, the citizens of Athens elected thirty men to lead the new post-war government; these men became known as the Thirty Tyrants; the short lived government they comprised was an oligarchy; an oligarchy is a system of government allowing a few select people or families to rule a city or region based on the assumption that their bloodline or intellect gave them a superior predisposition and right to rule.
The tyrants immediately began to prosecute Athenians who had been Spartan informers and collaborators during the long, hard war; the punishment of the guilty seemed appropriate to the common citizens and aristocrats alike but it soon became clear that the executions and banishments were going beyond the bounds of necessity or prudence; open hostilities soon developed between members of the Thirty and their authority and rule came to an end after one year.
Hellenica, book 2.3

Charillos
The fifth Eurypontidai king of the city of Sparta who ruled circa 775-750 BCE.
Sparta traditionally had two kings who ruled jointly; one king was required to be a descendant of King Eurypon and the other was required to be a descendant of King Agis I (respectively known as the Eurypontidai and the Agiadai).
Very little is known about Charillos and the dates given for his rule are extrapolations and should be used only as approximations.

Charis
One of the Charites, i.e. Graces; the wife of the lord of the Sea, Hephaistos (Hephaestus).
Iliad (Lattimore and Loeb), book 18, line 382
Iliad (Fagles), book 18, line 446
Iliad (Fitzgerald), book 18, line 444

Charites (Graces)

The daughters of Zeus and Eurynome; they are: Euphrosyne, Aglaia and Thalia.
The Graces have a page in the Immortals section of this site ... click on the above image to view that page.

Charon
The Ferryman of the Underworld; he ferries the dead across the river Styx for the fee of one obol.

Charybdis
A daughter of Gaia (Earth) and Poseidon (lord of the Sea); she is the monster mentioned in The Odyssey and later identified with the whirlpool in the Strait of Messina off the northeastern coast of the island of Sicily.
Charybdis would alternately suck down the waters into her maw and then spew them out causing gigantic waves; passing ships were in double jeopardy as they passed Charybdis because in order to avoid the surging waters, they had to sail dangerously close to the six headed monster, Skylla (Scylla), who occupied the other side of the Strait of Messina.
Odyssey (Lattimore), book 12, lines 104, 113, 235, 260, 428, 430, 431, 436 and 441; book 23, line 327
Odyssey (Loeb), book 12, lines 104, 113, 234, 260, 428, 430, 436 and 441; book 23, line 327
Odyssey (Fagles), book 12, lines 115, 123, 254, 283, 462, 464, 470 and 477; book 23, line 370
Odyssey (Fitzgerald), book 12, lines 122, 133, 303, 338, 548, 550 and 557; book 23, line 366
Argonautika, book 4, lines 789, 825 and 923

Chelonai
Silver coins from the island of Aegina commonly referred to as Tortoises because of their shape; first minted circa 665 BCE.

Cheiron (Chiron)

A wise and beneficent Centaur (half-horse/half-man); the son of Kronos (Cronos) and Philyra.
Cheiron has a page in the Immortals section of this site ... click on his photo to view that page.

Chersonese

The narrow strip of land which comprised the long peninsula on the western side of the Hellespont.

The Chersonese was settled during the reign of the last great tyrant of Athens, Pisistratus (Peisistratus) (circa 500 BCE) and further developed by Pericles circa 465 BCE as an Athenian colony; the peninsula was important because of its strategic location and command of the narrow Hellespont; before the Athenians took control of the peninsula it was politically unstable because of the constant threats of invasion by Greek and Asian tribes; the name literally means Land-Island.

Chi
The twenty-second letter of the Greek alphabet; represented as Χ in the uppercase and χ in the lowercase form.
The ancient Greeks did not have lowercase letters in their alphabet; the lowercase letters were not invented until the ninth century CE, i.e. about eleven hundred years ago.

Children of Herakles (Children of Heracles)
A tragedy by Euripides written circa 429 BCE; also called The Heracleidae.
The play revolves around Herakles’ nephew and companion, Iolaos, as he attempts to safeguard the children of the deceased Herakles; the despicable Eurystheus, who is better known as the man who thrust the Twelve Labors upon Herakles, has pursued the elderly Iolaos and the children from city to city in order to return them to Mycenae and put them to death; he has found them at the temple of Zeus at Marathon.
The king of the city of Athens, Demophon, refuses to surrender the supplicants to Eurystheus’ herald and knows that by doing so he has guaranteed that Eurystheus will attack Athens and try to take the children by force; Demophon assembles the army, prepares the alters with sacrificial animals and consults the oracles, past and present, as to how best defend the city; the oracles give Demophon the sad news that if the city is to be victorious against the army of Eurystheus, the daughter of a noble family must be sacrificed to the goddess, Demeter; Demophon will not order one of his subjects to sacrifice one of their daughters and is at a loss as to what to do; if he turns Iolaos and the children away he will offend Zeus and if he fights Eurystheus without a sacrifice to Demeter he will lose the fight and the citizens of Athens will become slaves.
Iolaos bravely volunteers to surrender himself to Eurystheus but it’s obvious that Eurystheus does not want an old man, he wants the children of Herakles; Makaria (Macaria), Herakles’ daughter offers herself as the victim of the sacrifice; her speech is bold and noble and, while she’s speaking, you secretly hope that another solution can be found so that such a selfless and gallant young woman can escape death and simply live and be happy; in order to think that that may happen, you have to ignore the fact that this play is a tragedy.
I won’t reveal the conclusion of the story in hopes that you will take the time to read this wonderful tale from a time and moral pinnacle long past.
I personally recommend the translations compiled by Richmond Lattimore and David Grene; you can find this and other plays by Euripides in the 882 section of your local library or you can order them from the Book Shop on this site.

Chilon
(fl. 556 BCE); A Greek sage and one of the ephors at Sparta; he was sometimes included as one of the Seven Sages by some historians which is an indication of his reputation throughout the ancient civilized world.
The Seven Sages were a group of wise men who exemplified the characteristics and ideals of the ancient Greek rulers, lawgivers and advisors during the time period of 620-550 BCE; the names of the men who were included as the Seven Sages varied with different ancient authors but several men were consistently included: Solon, Thales, Pittakus (Pittacus) and Bias; other men appeared on the list at one time or another: Chilon, Kleobulus (Cleobulus) and Periander.
His name may also be rendered as Chilo.

Chimera

Bellerophontes astride Pegasos fighting the Chimera
The Chimera was a fire breathing she-beast with three heads: a lion, a snake and a goat; the child of Hydra.
The Chimera was killed by Bellerophontes (Bellerophon) and the flying horse, Pegasos (Pegasus); Bellerophontes was sent to kill the Chimera as one of the suicidal tasks he performed for the lord of Lykia (Lycia).
Theogony, line 319
Catalogues of Women, fragment 7

Chione
The consort of Hermes and the mother of Autolykos; Chione was the great-grandmother of Odysseus; her son Autolykos was renown as a shape-shifting thief; he could also make himself invisible; Autolykos was the father of Antikleia (Anticleia) and the maternal grandfather of Odysseus.

Chios ¹
A Greek island in the Aegean Sea near the central-western coast of Asia Minor; approximately 350 square miles (907 square kilometers) in size.
In regards to the island of Chios, the historian, Herodotus mentioned a curious event that might give us a glimpse into his way of perceiving the world; Herodotus claims that the terrible defeat the Chians suffered at the hands of the Persians after the Ionian Revolt should have been expected because two divinely directed catastrophes had befallen the islanders prior to the Persian invasion; the first was the death of 98 out of 100 Chian youths who had gone to Delphi and died of a mysterious disease; the second was the collapse of a school roof on Chios which killed 119 out of 120 of the school’s children; Herodotus said that these events were ‘signs’ and that they ‘somehow’ gave advance warning of the great evils that were to befall the Chians.
Approximate East Longitude 26º 00' and North Latitude 38º 22'

Chios ²
The principal city of the island of Chios located on the eastern central side of the island.
Approximate East Longitude 26º 08' and North Latitude 38º 22'

Chiton

A long woolen tunic worn by men and women in ancient Greece.

Chlamys
A short, fine woolen mantle worn by men in ancient Greece, usually clasped at the shoulder with a scarab, i.e. a broach in the shape of a scarab beetle.

Chloris
The youngest daughter of Amphion and Niobe and the only one to survive the wrath of Apollon and Artemis; Chloris’ mother, Niobe, insulted Leto by bragging that she had many children and Leto had only two; Leto was enraged and insisted that Apollon and Artemis kill Niobe’s children; the number of brothers and sisters that Chloris had differs with different ancient authors but all agree that Chloris was the only one to survive the hail of arrows from Apollon and Artemis; Niobe was so distraught at the loss of her children that she wept and wailed uncontrollably until Zeus took mercy on her and turned her into a stone pillar on the slopes of Mount Sipylos, in which state she still weeps over her loss.
Chloris married Neleus and became the queen of Pylos; she and Neleus had three sons and one daughter: Nestor, Chromios, Periklymenos and beautiful Pero.
Odyssey (Lattimore and Loeb), book 11, line 281
Odyssey (Fagles), book 11, line 318
Odyssey (Fitzgerald), book 11, line 322

Choenix
A unit of liquid measure; approximately one quart.

Choephore (The Libation Bearers)
A tragedy by the Athenian playwright, Aeschylus; usually called The Libation Bearers; one of the seven surviving tragedies by Aeschylus.
Cast of Characters:
Orestes - Son of Agamemnon and Klytemnestra
Pylades - Friend of Orestes
Electra - Sister of Orestes
Klytemnestra (Clytaemestra) - Wife of Aegisthus and queen of Argos
Aegisthus - King of Argos
Kilissa (Cilissa) - The nurse
This play is the second in the Oresteia trilogy dealing with the murder of Agamemnon and the revenge meted out by his son, Orestes.
The other two plays in this trilogy are 1) Agamemnon and 3) The Eumenides.
Orestes secretly returns home with revenge and murder on his mind; he intends to kill his mother and her new husband because they killed his father in a most cowardly way; before he can do the terrible deed, he must go to the grave of his father and gather his courage; while at the grave he encounters the Libation Bearers and his sister Elektra (Electra); his sister and the other women of the household have come to pay their respects to Agamemnon by pouring a libation on the earth that covers his dead body; Elektra prays for her father, the death of those who killed him and for her long lost brother to return; all three prayers are answered in the course of the play.
Orestes confronts his mother and Aegisthus; he tells them that they deserve what they are about to receive and, with the goddess Athene (Athena) guiding his hand, kills them both.
This play is very moving and Elektra will lay hold to your heart with her sincere piety and unyielding lust for vengeance.
The name of this play may also be rendered as Choephori.
If you wish to read this play I suggest The Complete Greek Tragedies, Aeschylus I, edited by David Grene and Richmond Lattimore, ISBN 0226307786; you can find this book at your library in the 800 section or you can order it from the Book Shop on this site.

Chremon
One of the Thirty Tyrants elected to rule the city of Athens after the end of the Peloponnesian War (404 BCE).
Having lost the war to the Spartans, the citizens of Athens elected thirty men to lead the new post-war government; these men became known as the Thirty Tyrants; the short lived government they comprised was an oligarchy; an oligarchy is a system of government allowing a few select people or families to rule a city or region based on the assumption that their bloodline or intellect gave them a superior predisposition and right to rule.
The tyrants immediately began to prosecute Athenians who had been Spartan informers and collaborators during the long, hard war; the punishment of the guilty seemed appropriate to the common citizens and aristocrats alike but it soon became clear that the executions and banishments were going beyond the bounds of necessity or prudence; open hostilities soon developed between members of the Thirty and their authority and rule came to an end after one year.
Hellenica, book 2.3

Chromios
One of the sons of Neleus and Chloris; when Neleus refused to absolve Herakles (Heracles) for the murder of Iphitos, Herakles killed Chromios his brother, Periklymenos (Periclymenos), and his father, Neleus; his other siblings, Nestor and Pero, survived the wrath of Herakles.
His name may also be rendered as Chromius.

Chrysaor
One of the many creatures born from the blood of Medusa when Perseus cut off her head; Medusa was one of the Gorgons; her sisters, , were immortal but Medusa was mortal and died when Perseus severed her head from her body; as Perseus carried her head in his kibisis (a special bag designed for this particular purpose) the blood that dripped to the earth created a variety of creatures including Chrysaor.
There is no actual physical description of Chrysaor but he is usually assumed to be monstrous because his children were the three-headed Geryon (Geryones) and the snake-like monster, Echidna; his name was derived from his golden sword, (Chyseos means Golden and Aor means Sword).
Theogony, line 281 and 980

Chryseis ¹
An Okeanid, i.e. one of the three thousand daughters of Okeanos (Ocean) and Tethys.
Zeus gave the Okeanids, Apollon and the Rivers the special obligation of having the young in their keeping.
Theogony, line 359

Chryseis ²
The daughter of the priest of Apollon, Chryses; she and another girl, Briseis, were captured by the Greeks during the ninth year of the siege of Troy and were the basis for the bitter dispute between Agamemnon and Achilles.
The girls were taken as slaves during raiding parties that the Greeks regularly conducted to supply their army with food and slaves; Chryseis was the “prize” of Agamemnon and Briseis was the “prize” of Achilles; when Chryseis’ father appealed to Agamemnon and offered a ransom for the return of his daughter, he was treated shamelessly, threatened and sent away; Chryses prayed to Apollon for revenge and his prayers were answered; Apollon rained arrows on the Greek army until Agamemnon relented and returned Chryseis to her father.
Now that Agamemnon was deprived of his prize he took the girl, Briseis, away from Achilles; Achilles was quick to anger and many harsh words were exchanged; the feud between Achilles and Agamemnon nearly cost the Greeks their victory over the Trojans.
Iliad (Lattimore and Loeb), book 1, lines 111, 143, 182, 310, 369 and 439
Iliad (Fagles), book 1, lines 130, 168, 215, 364, 436 and 524
Iliad (Fitzgerald), book 1, lines 131, 170, 211, 363, 427 and 505

Chryselephantine
An adjective used to describe statues that are made of gold and ivory; the most famous example of this type of construction is the Statue of Zeus in Olympia.

Chryses
The priest of Apollon whose daughter, Chryseis, was taken captive by the Greek army during the ninth year of their siege of Troy.
The Greeks would regularly raid nearby cities and bring back provisions and slaves; the girl, Chryseis, was taken as a slave on one such raid and Agamemnon kept her as his “prize;” when Chryses went to Agamemnon and begged for the return of his daughter, he was treated shamelessly and sent away with reproach; Chryses prayed to Apollon and asked the god to punish the Greeks for their uncivilized behavior.
To be clear about this: it was NOT uncivilized to plunder and take slaves but it WAS uncivilized to refuse the supplications of a father for the return of his daughter.
Chryses’ prayers were answered; Apollon stood off-shore and rained arrows on the Greek army killing men and livestock; on the advice of the seer, Kalchas (Calchas), young Chryseis was returned to her father and the Greeks humbled themselves before Apollon and begged forgiveness.
Iliad (Lattimore and Loeb), book 1, lines 11, 370, 442 and 450
Iliad (Fagles), book 1, lines 13, 439, 527 and 532
Iliad (Fitzgerald), book 1, lines 16, 428, 505 and 508

Chrysippus (Chrysippos)

(280-209? BCE) A Greek stoic philosopher.
The above scene depicts the Okeanid, Zeuxo, pouring wine for Chrysippus.

Chrysothemis
One of the three daughters of Agamemnon who was offered to Achilles if he would put away his anger and return to the war with the Trojans.
Agamemnon and Achilles began a bitter feud over the possession of a slave girl named Briseis; the feud was finally put aside at the death of Achilles’ dear friend Patroklos (Patroclus); Achilles accepted the gifts that Agamemnon offered, which included Chrysothemis, but did not live to collect them.
Iliad (Lattimore and Loeb), book 9, line 145 and 287
Iliad (Fagles), book 9, line 174 and 348
Iliad (Fitzgerald), book 9, line 173 and 348

Chthonios ¹
Of or pertaining to the inhabitants or gods on the Underworld.

Chthonios ²
One of the original Spartoi, i.e. the soldiers born from the dragon’s teeth sewn by Kadmos (Cadmus); when Kadmos was directed to the site of the future city of Thebes by the priestess of Apollon, he was forced to kill a dragon in order to secure the nearest water supply; after Kadmos killed the dragon he planted the teeth and the Spartoi, including Chthonios, emerged from the ground.
Chthonios’ sons, Nykteus (Nycteus) and then Lykus (Lycus), ruled the city that was eventually known as Thebes; Nykteus committed suicide and Lykus was deposed as a direct result of Zeus’ seduction of Nykteus’ daughter, Antiope.

Cicynna (Kikynna)
A deme in Attica which was one of several which were created after 510 BCE.

Cilla (Killa)
A sister of King Priam of the city of Troy; Priam killed Killa and her infant son because it had been prophesied that a mother and child of the royal house would cause the destruction of Troy.

Cimon (Kimon)
(507-449 BCE) An Athenian military leader, naval commander and statesman; the son of Miltiades the Younger.
Kimon came to prominence after the ouster of Themistokles (Themistocles) and in 479 BCE he was elected strategos which gave him almost unlimited powers in regard to Athenian military policy; he was less confrontational (some would say sympathetic) with Sparta and more focused on the subjugation of the islands and colonies of the Aegean Sea.
Kimon was finally forced to leave Athens in 461 BCE after a policy dispute with Pericles; he was ostracized for ten years but in 457 BCE he tried to rejoin his “tribe” in the battle-lines when the Spartans invaded the district of Tanagra; this might have been proof positive that he had no confusion as to his loyalties but the followers of Pericles drove him from the ranks and would not let him fight for his city.
Pericles was instrumental in getting Kimon’s citizenship restored but some say that this was done with the condition that Kimon not become involved in politics and spend his time on foreign military campaigns; regardless, Kimon served his city in peace and war and was finally killed in battle on the island of Cyprus.

Cindus (Kindus)
An ancient city in southwestern Asia Minor, in Karia (Caria); the city lies on the coast of the narrow peninsula that juts onto the Aegean Sea south of the city of Halicarnassus and east of the island of Kos (Cos); the Athenians defeated the Spartans in a naval battle near there in 394 BCE.
The name may also be rendered as Kindos or Cindos.

Cinyras (Kinyras)

A king of the island of Cyprus and founder of the cult of Aphrodite on that island.

Kinyras was the father of Adonis by the unnatural union with his daughter, Zmyrna (perhaps her name was Myrrha); Zmyrna had dishonored Aphrodite and the goddess had her revenge by causing Kinyras to seduce his daughter; when Kinyras realized the enormity of his debauchery, he thought he could hide his crime by killing Zmyrna but the Immortals intervened and turned the disgraced girl into a myrrh tree.

Circe (Kirke)
kir KEE

The Dread Goddess; the nymph of the island, Aiaia (Aeaea), where Odysseus was stranded on his journey home from the city of Troy.
Kirke has a page in the Immortals section of this site ... click on her photo to view that page.

Cithaeron (Kithaeron)
Mount Kithaeron is a mountain in northern Attica; 4,622 feet (1,409 meters) in height.
The name may also be rendered as Kithairon or Cithairon.

Cithara (Kithara)

An ancient Greek musical instrument with seven strings and a triangular wooden sounding board; played by Apollon and professional musicians; similar to the lyre.

City Dionysia (Great Dionysia)
A festival of ancient Athens in honor of Dionysos (a.k.a. Bacchus, god of Wine); celebrated in the early Spring and notable for the performance of dithyrambs (a wild and irregular choral song or chant), tragedies, comedies and satyr plays (ribald dramas with a chorus of satyrs).
The Lesser Dionysia (Rural Dionysia) was also a festival of ancient Attica honoring Dionysos but it was held in mid-December and consisted of wine feasts, processions and dramatic performances.

City State
A general term, usually rendered as Polis, which denotes a small geographical district comprising a central independent city and the surrounding countryside.

Clashing Rocks (The Symplegades)
The deadly rocks (or islands) that stood at the narrow passage between the Propontis (Sea of Marmara) and the Euxine (Black Sea).
The twin rocks were located near the entrance to the Euxine and would clash together whenever any living thing tried to pass between them; when the Argonauts were on their way to Kolchis (Colchis) to retrieve the Golden Fleece, they were forced to negotiate the formidable Clashing Rocks, which were also called the Kyanean (Cyanean), i.e. Dark-Rocks and Wandering Rocks.
The blind prophet, Phineus, told the Argonauts to send a dove through the rocks before they attempted to sail their ship through; if the dove survived, it would be safe for their ship, the Argo, to proceed; the dove made it through the Clashing Rocks with only the loss of its tail feathers and the Argo sailed boldly into the passage; Athene (Athena) held back one of the rocks with one hand and pushed the Argo through with the other; after the Argo survived the Clashing Rocks they became stationary islands and never menaced sailors again.
Argonautika, book 2, lines 341-359 and 593-610
Histories, book 4.85

Classical Greek
The form of the Greek language used, especially in Attica, in the fifth and forth centuries BCE.

Clazomenae (Klazomenae)
A Greek city in Lydia in Asia Minor on the southern coast of what is now known as the Gulf of Lzmir.

Clearchus (Klearchus)
A Spartan general during the Peloponnesian War; died 401 BCE.

Cleeia (Kleeia)
One of the five daughters of Atlas who was placed in the heavens as a star and, with her sisters, formed the asterism, Hyades, in the constellation Taurus (the Bull); her sisters are: Phaesyle, Koronis (Coronis), Phaeo and Eudora.
The Astronomy, chapter 2

Cleio (Kleio)
One of the nine Muses; Kleio is the Muse who inspires epic poetry and history; her name means, To Celebrate.
Her name may also be rendered as Klio or Clio.
For more information on Kleio and her sisters, I suggest that you consult the Muses page in the Immortals section of this site.
Theogony, line 77

Cleisthenes (Kleisthenes)
An Athenian statesman; circa 515-495 BCE; after the ouster of the tyrant, Hippias, Kleisthenes led the popular movement for the establishment of a democratic state instead of a tyranny or oligarchy; he is most noted for redistributing the lands of Attica into ten “tribal” divisions; each section was called a deme.
His name may also be rendered as Klisthenes or Clisthenes.

Cleite (Kleite)
The daughter of King Merops of Perkote (Percote) and the wife of King Kyzikos (Cyzicos), ruler of the Doliones who dwelt on a peninsula attached to the Phrygian mainland and jutting into the Propontis (Sea of Marmara); Kleite hanged herself when Kyzikos was mistakenly killed by Jason and the Argonauts.
When the Argonauts chanced to encounter the Doliones, Kyzikos had just celebrated his marriage but left the bridal chamber to greet the illustrious crew of the Argo; after the formalities of hospitality had been observed, the Argonauts continued on their quest for the Golden Fleece and Kyzikos returned to his bride, Kleite.
After taking their leave of King Kyzikos, the Argonauts lost their way in the night and contrary winds blew them back to the peninsula; when the Doliones saw the Argo approaching in the night, they mistakenly assumed that they were being invaded by their enemies and attacked the Argonauts in the darkness; Jason killed Kyzikos in the heat of battle without realizing who he was fighting.
When the light of day revealed the horrible mistakes both sides had made, the Argonauts and the Doliones mourned the needless death of Kyzikos; Kleite could not endure the loss of her beloved husband and hanged herself; the nymphs of the grove cried such tears that a fountain formed and was named after Kleite.
Her name may also be rendered as Klite or Clite.
Argonautika, book 1, lines 1012-1076

Cleito (Kleito)
The only daughter of Evenor and Leukippe (Leucippe) who dwelt on the central mountain of the island of Atlantis.
Kleito was a mortal woman and the wife of Poseidon (lord of the Sea); she and Poseidon had five pairs of twin boys who became the rulers of Atlantis; the twins were named: 1) Atlas and Eumelus (or Gadeirus); 2) Ampheres and Evaemon; 3) Mneseus and Autochthon; 4) Elasippus and Mestor; 5) Azaes and Diaprepes; the descendants of Kleito were the rulers of Atlantis and the surrounding seas for untold generations.
Plato, Kritias (Critias)

Cleobule (Kleobule)
The mother of Phoinix (Phoenix) and wife of Amyntor.
When Amyntor was being unfaithful to Kleobule, she begged Phoinix to seduce her husband’s mistress and turn her affections away from Amyntor; when Amyntor detected the plot, he cursed Phoinix and drove him from the city of Kalydon (Calydon).

Cleobulus (Kleobulus)

(fl. 560 BCE) A native and tyrant of the city Lindus on the island of Rhodes; he was also considered to be a lyric poet and was sometimes included as one of the Seven Sages by some historians which is an indication of his reputation throughout the ancient civilized world.

The Seven Sages were a group of wise men who exemplified the characteristics and ideals of the ancient Greek rulers, lawgivers and advisors during the time period of 620-550 BCE; the names of the men who were included as the Seven Sages varied with different ancient authors but several men were consistently included: Solon, Thales, Pittakus (Pittacus) and Bias; other men appeared on the list at one time or another: Chilon, Kleobulus and Periander.

Cleombrotos I (Kleombrotos I)
The twenty-first Agiadai king of the city of Sparta who ruled from 380-371 BCE.
Sparta traditionally had two kings who ruled jointly; one king was required to be a descendant of King Agis I and the other was required to be a descendant of King Eurypon (respectively known as the Agiadai and the Eurypontidai).
Beginning with Leonidas I (the sixteenth Agiadai king who ruled from 490-480 BCE) the names and dates for the Spartan kings became a part of the historical record and are generally accepted as factual; prior to Leonidas I the dates for the Spartan kings are extrapolated back from historical times to approximate the time periods in which each king ruled.

Cleomedes (Kleomedes)
One of the Thirty Tyrants elected to rule the city of Athens after the end of the Peloponnesian War (404 BCE).
Having lost the war to the Spartans, the citizens of Athens elected thirty men to lead the new post-war government; these men became known as the Thirty Tyrants; the short lived government they comprised was an oligarchy; an oligarchy is a system of government allowing a few select people or families to rule a city or region based on the assumption that their bloodline or intellect gave them a superior predisposition and right to rule.
The tyrants immediately began to prosecute Athenians who had been Spartan informers and collaborators during the long, hard war; the punishment of the guilty seemed appropriate to the common citizens and aristocrats alike but it soon became clear that the executions and banishments were going beyond the bounds of necessity or prudence; open hostilities soon developed between members of the Thirty and their authority and rule came to an end after one year.
Hellenica, book 2.3

Cleomenes I (Kleomenes I)
The fifteenth Agiadai king of the city of Sparta who ruled circa 520-490 BCE.
Sparta traditionally had two kings who ruled jointly; one king was required to be a descendant of King Agis I and the other was required to be a descendant of King Eurypon (respectively known as the Agiadai and the Eurypontidai).
Kleomenes went to Athens in 508 BCE to impose a solution to the dispute over the Athenian constitution, he was subsequently trapped on the Acropolis and only allowed to leave after he promised to never return to Attica; the dates given for his rule are extrapolations and should be used only as approximations.

Cleomenes II (Kleomenes II)
The twenty-third Agiadai king of the city of Sparta who ruled from 370-309 BCE.
Sparta traditionally had two kings who ruled jointly; one king was required to be a descendant of King Agis I and the other was required to be a descendant of King Eurypon (respectively known as the Agiadai and the Eurypontidai).
Beginning with Leonidas I (the sixteenth Agiadai king who ruled from 490-480 BCE) the names and dates for the Spartan kings became a part of the historical record and are generally accepted as factual; prior to Leonidas I the dates for the Spartan kings are extrapolated back from historical times to approximate the time periods in which each king ruled.

Cleomenes III (Kleomenes III)
The twenty-eighth Agiadai king of the city of Sparta who ruled from 236-222 BCE.
Sparta traditionally had two kings who ruled jointly; one king was required to be a descendant of King Agis I and the other was required to be a descendant of King Eurypon (respectively known as the Agiadai and the Eurypontidai).
Beginning with Leonidas I (the sixteenth Agiadai king who ruled from 490-480 BCE) the names and dates for the Spartan kings became a part of the historical record and are generally accepted as factual; prior to Leonidas I the dates for the Spartan kings are extrapolated back from historical times to approximate the time periods in which each king ruled.

Cleon (Kleon)
An Athenian general and political opponent of Pericles; he died in 422 BCE; he was the subject of scorn and ridicule by orators and playwrights because of his humble origins and dogmatic stance on social issues.

Cleopatra (Kleopatra) ¹
The forth wife of Philip II of Macedon; this marriage complicated the direct ascension of Philip’s son, Alexander (the Great) to the throne; Philip’s third wife, Olympias (Myrtale), is assumed to have instigated the murder of Kleopatra, her son and father, soon after Philip’s assassination in 336 BCE.

Cleopatra (Kleopatra) ²
The daughter of Boreas (North Wind) and the sister of Zetes and Kalais (Calais); the first wife of the blinded seer, Phineus.
After her death, Phineus’ second wife hated the sons of Kleopatra and induced Phineus to blind them; thereafter Phineus was cursed by the winged-women known as the Harpies; Zetes and Kalais were the only ones who could break the curse of the Harpies.
Argonautika, book 2, lines 178-208

Cleopatra (Kleopatra) ³
The wife of Meleagros (Meleager) and the daughter of Marpessa and Idas; as a young girl, she had been kidnapped by Apollon and her mother’s plaintive crying earned Kleopatra the by-name Alkyone, i.e. Sea-Bird.

Cleopatra (Kleopatra) ⁴

The daughter of Philip II of Macedon and his third wife, Olympias (Myrtale); Kleopatra was the sister of Alexander the Great; the dates of Cleopatra’s birth and death are not known but we can assume that she was younger than Alexander because he was born approximately one year after Philip and Olympias were married in 357 BCE; Kleopatra eventually married Olympias’ brother, Alexander of Epirus.

Clotho (Klotho)
One of the Fates; she and her sisters, Lachesis and Atropos, are the daughters of Zeus and Themis.
The three sisters determine the life and death of all mortal beings; Klotho spins the thread of life; Lachesis determines the length of the thread; Atropos cuts the thread when the proper time has come for death; the three sisters are also called the Moirai to denote their descent from the original goddess of Fate, Moira.
Theogony, lines 218 and 905
Shield of Herakles, line 257

Clouds
A comedy by the Athenian poet, Aristophanes, produced in 423 BCE and performed at the Great Dionysia in the city of Athens; the play won third place in the competition; the original manuscript is lost and the play we call Clouds is the revised version.
Cast of Characters:
Strepsiades
Pheidippides
Socrates
Pasias
Amynias
Chairephon
Hermes
Clouds is a comic denunciation of the school of Socrates and his students; at the outset of the play, the main character, Strepsiades, is bemoaning the crushing debt his squandering son has incurred; in order to legally avoid the debt collectors, Strepsiades decides to enroll in Socrates’ school so he can learn how to argue his way out of debt regardless of the fact that he actually owes the money to local merchants.
In the play, the chorus assumes the role of Clouds and materialize at the bidding of Socrates; according to Socrates, the Clouds are the goddesses of Blather and Meaningless Oratory who look like ordinary clouds but, in reality, supply the inspiration for poets and prophets; the Clouds have supplanted the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympos (Olympus).
There is an interesting exchange between Strepsiades and the Clouds where the Clouds take credit for the rain and thunder which, everyone knows, is the province of Zeus; the Clouds ask Strepsiades why Zeus never strikes down perjurers and lying politicians with his thunderbolts but regularly hits his own sacred oak trees; Strepsiades has no logical answer and concludes that the Clouds are truly divine.
There ensues an argument between the New Logic and the Old Logic where the simple, practical values of the country folk are berated and the “modern” values of the city dwellers are held aloft as the only workable standards for clear thinking, educated people.
Socrates decides that the aging scoundrel, Strepsiades, is too dense to learn but accepts Strepsiades’ son, Pheidippides, as a student; Strepsiades is finally betrayed by his son and the Clouds but is given his justified revenge when he burns down Socrates’ school and Hermes, a true Immortal, arrives to set thing right.
Aristophanes’ acid-like ridicule of Socrates in Clouds might have set the stage for the tragic and callous trial of Socrates in 399 BCE; Aristophanes portrayed Socrates as a blithering intellectual with little or no concern for the consequences of his thoughts or actions; by exercising his poetic license, Aristophanes very possibly caused the death of a brilliant man for the sake of a few laughs.
Aristophanes’ plays are sometimes difficult to appreciate because he was a very contemporary poet, i.e. he was writing for the Athenian audience of his day; he would use puns, parody regional accents and speak directly to the audience in ways that force modern translators to seek out the contextual meaning rather than the literal meaning of the poet’s words; for that reason, I suggest that if you find a translation that is difficult to enjoy, please don’t blame Aristophanes, simply look for a translation that you can enjoy.
When trying to find a readable translator, I suggest Patric Dickinson; you may find his books at your local library in the 882 section but his books are out of print and sometimes difficult to find; I also recommend the Penguin Classics book Lysistrata & Other Plays: The Acharnians, the Clouds, Lysistrata by Aristophanes, Alan H. Sommerstein (Translator), ISBN: 0140448144; you can also find this book at your local library or you can purchase it from the Book Shop on this site.

Clymene (Klymene) ¹
The daughter of King Minyas; the wife of Phylakos (Phylacus) and the mother of Alkimede (Alcimede) and thus the grandmother of Jason.
Klymene was also the mother of Iphiklos (Iphiclus); it was said that Iphiklos could race the winds; he could run across crops in the field and not damage the plants.
Catalogues of Women, fragment 84
Argonautika, book 1, line 233

Clymene (Klymene) ²
An Okeanid, i.e. one of the three thousand daughters of Okeanos (Ocean) and Tethys; the wife of Iapetos and the mother of Atlas, Prometheus and Epimetheus and Menoitios.
Zeus gave the Okeanids, Apollon and the Rivers the special obligation of having the young in their keeping.
Theogony, lines 351 and 507

Clymenus (Klymenos)
The father of the wife of the aged Greek hero Nestor, Eurydike (Eurydice).
Odyssey (Lattimore and Loeb), book 3, line 452
Odyssey (Fagles), book 3, line 508
Odyssey (Fitzgerald), book 3, line 491

Clytemnestra (Klytemnestra)
The wife of Agamemnon; she and Timandra were the daughters of Tyndareus and Leda; she was the half-sister of Helen and the twins, Kastor (Castor) and Polydeukes (Polydeuces or Pollux); her children were: Elektra (Electra), Orestes, Iphianassa (Iphigenia) and Chrysothemis (Chrysothemis).
Klytemnestra was falsely portrayed as the murderess of her husband seven hundred years after her death and the label has become indelibly attached to her name; in The Iliad, Agamemnon was said to have been killed by Aegisthus (Aigisthus) when he returned from the siege of the city of Troy; in the play Agamemnon by Aeschylus, the story is retold with Klytemnestra as the villain and Aegisthus as simply an accomplice; Klytemnestra had many reasons to despise Agamemnon and wish him dead but her role as murderess was thrust upon her by a playwright for dramatic effect and not based on the earliest accounts.
Before Agamemnon sailed away to Troy, he gathered his army at Aulis but after offending the goddess, Artemis, the ships could not leave the harbor; the seer, Kalchas (Calchas), said that unless Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter, Iphianassa, to Artemis, the fleet would not be allowed to leave the harbor; Agamemnon summoned Iphianassa on the pretext that she was to marry Achilles and prepared her as a human sacrifice; when the time for the sacrifice came, Artemis took Iphianassa from the altar and substituted a deer in her stead.
The attempted sacrifice of Iphianassa and Agamemnon’s ten year absence from home led Klytemnestra into the arms of Agamemnon’s cousin, Aegisthus; when Agamemnon finally returned home he was murdered by Aegisthus; Klytemnestra and her lover, Aegisthus, were in turn murdered by her son Orestes; the murder of Agamemnon and Klytemnestra are the subject of three plays by Aeschylus known as Oresteia; the plays are compelling in their drama and tell a very complicated story which tries to differentiate the subtle distinction between “vengeance” and “justice.”
Her name may also be rendered as Klytaemnestra or Clytaemnestra.
If you wish to read Oresteia, I personally recommend Aeschylus I translated by Richmond Lattimore (ISBN 0226307786); you can find Oresteia at your local library or you can order it from the Book Shop on this site.
Returns, fragment 1

Clytia (Klytia)
An Okeanid, i.e. one of the three thousand daughters of Okeanos (Ocean) and Tethys.
Zeus gave the Okeanids, Apollon and the Rivers the special obligation of having the young in their keeping.
Theogony, line 352

Clytius (Klytios) ¹
A brother of the last king of Troy, Priam; his name may also be rendered as Klytius or Clytios.
Iliad (Lattimore), book 3, line 147; book 15, lines 420 and 427; book 20, line 238
Iliad (Loeb) book 3, line 147; book 15, lines 419 and 427; book 20, line 238
Iliad (Fagles) book 3, line 176; book 15, line 490; book 20, line 275
Iliad (Fitzgerald) book 3, line 174; book 15, line 485; book 20, line 270

Clytius (Klytios) ²
He and his brother, Iphitos, were the sons of Eurytos; both brothers became Argonauts.
The Argonauts were a company of the greatest heroes and adventurers in ancient Greece; the Argonauts were assembled by Jason to assist him in retrieving the Golden Fleece from the land of Kolchis (Colchis); their name was derived from their ship, the Argo (Argo + nautes = Argo-seamen); the Quest for the Golden Fleece can be assumed to have occurred circa 1285 BCE.
His name may also be rendered as Klytius or Clytios.
Argonautika, book 1, lines 86-89

Clytius (Klytios) ³
Klytios was one of the huge monsters collectively known as the Giants; the Giants were the children of Gaia (Earth) engendered by the blood of Ouranos (the Heavens).
The Giants waged an unsuccessful war on the Olympians and were severely punished after their defeat; the poet Hesiod states that the Giants were banished to the Underworld but Apollodorus of Athens clearly describes the brutal death of the Giants.
The Giants were mostly human in form but their bodies were massive and they were invincible in their might; they had long drooping locks on their heads and chins; their feet had scales like a dragon or serpent; whether they actually had the feet of dragons or whether they were simply scaled was a point of contention among several of the ancient authors; the traveler and historian, Pausanias, disputed the fact that the Giants literally had dragon feet but ancient artwork generally represented the Giants with dragon-like feet.
The original home of the Giants was either Phlegrae or Pallene but it has been suggested that the two names represent the same place; the Immortals were given an oracle which stated that the Giants could not be killed by a god or goddess so they decided to enlist the aid of Herakles (Heracles) to do the actual killing; when Gaia learned of the oracle, she began the preparation of a drug which would protect her awful children but Zeus culled a cunning brew of his own that would make the Giants vulnerable to the wrath of the Immortals; in order to have the time necessary for the creation of the drug, Zeus forbade Eos (Dawn), Selene (Moon) and Helios (Sun) to shine until his task was complete.
The goddess Athene (Athena) summoned Herakles and the war against the Giants began:
Klytios was killed by the goddess Hekate (Hecate) with torches; presumably he was burned to death; his brothers all met a similar fate:
Alkyoneos (Alcyoneus) - Alkyoneos was one of the two most powerful of the Giants; he was brazen in his contempt for the Olympian Gods and even stole the cattle of Helios from Erythia; he was immortal as long as he remained on his home soil, i.e. he could not be killed by man, god or beast as long as he remained in the land of his birth; he was, however, the first of the Giants to die; Herakles shot Alkyoneos with an arrow and the mighty Giant fell to the ground where he was revitalized by the earth and began to recover from the wound; at the advice of Athene, Herakles dragged Alkyoneos out of Pallene where he was no longer protected by his native soil and he died.
Porphyrion - Alkyoneos and Porphyrion were the two most powerful Giants; while Alkyoneos and Herakles were fighting, Porphyrion joined the battle but was immediately distracted by an intervention from Zeus; an irresistible longing for the goddess Hera overcame Porphyrion and he began to tear at the goddesses’ garments; Herakles killed Alkyoneos while Porphyrion was lustfully distracted and Zeus struck the unsuspecting Giant with a thunderbolt and rendered him helpless but not dead; Herakles shot Porphyrion with an arrow and killed him.
Ephialtes was shot with an arrow in the left eye by Apollon and then in the right eye by Herakles.
Eurytos (Eurytus) was killed by Dionysos (a.k.a. Bacchus, god of Wine) with a thyrsus, i.e. a wand wreathed in ivy and vine leaves with a pine cone at the top.
Mimas was killed when Hephaistos (Hephaestus) showered him with missiles of hot metal.
Enkelados (Enceladus) tried to run away but Athene dropped the island of Sicily on him.
Polybotes was chased by Poseidon to the island of Kos (Cos) where the god broke off a piece of the island (called Nisyrum) and hurled it at the desperate Giant.
Hippolytus (Hippolytos) was killed by Hermes who was wearing the Helm of Hades which made him invisible.
Gration was killed by Artemis; Agrios (Agrius) and Thoas were beaten with brazen clubs by the Fates; the other (unnamed) Giants were struck by thunderbolts from Zeus; Herakles shot and killed each of the Giants with arrows as they lay suffering.
His name may also be rendered as Klytius or Clytios.
Pausanaus, book vii, chapter 29
Library, book I, chapter VI
Theogony, line 185

Clytoneus (Klytoneos)
The father of the Argonaut, Nauplios, and the son of Naubolos.
The Argonauts were a company of the greatest heroes and adventurers in ancient Greece; the Argonauts were assembled by Jason to assist him in retrieving the Golden Fleece from the land of Kolchis (Colchis); their name was derived from their ship, the Argo (Argo + nautes = Argo-seamen); the Quest for the Golden Fleece can be assumed to have occurred circa 1285 BCE.
Argonautika, book 1, lines 133-138

Cnossus (Knossos)
kah no SOOS



A ruined city in the north-central area of the island of Crete; the capital of the ancient Minoan civilization.
The Minoan civilization was named after King Minos by the archeologist Arthur Evans; Minos was the son of Zeus and Europa; Knossos was Minos’ capital.
King Minos united the barbarian population of Crete and constructed a massive palace at Knossos; Minos exported the fine metalwork, pottery and fabrics of Crete to ports in Greece, Asia Minor and Egypt; the fame of Minos and the Cretans became legendary; as a son of Zeus and a powerful king, the name Minos became synonymous with autocracy and power throughout the ancient world.
After Minos offended Poseidon (lord of the Sea), his wife, Pasiphae, had a child which was half-bull and half-man; the creature was called Minos’ Bull, i.e. the Minotaur; Minos wanted to punish the Athenians for the murder of his son, Androgeus, so he had the master craftsman, Daedalus (Daidalos), built an intricate labyrinth in which Athenian youths could be trapped and then killed by the Minotaur; the Athenian hero, Theseus, outwitted Minos and killed the Minotaur but the image of the labyrinth continued to be a potent symbol for Knossos from approximately 1400 BCE until the present day.
When Apollon was seeking men to build and administrate his Temple at Delphi, he encountered merchants from Knossos and took control of their ship; he assumed the guise of a dolphin and steered their ship to shore and then led the men to Delphi where they did his bidding and his oracle was established.
When Agamemnon mustered his army for the siege of the city of Troy (circa 1250 BCE), Idomeneus commanded the troops from Knossos and Gortyn (Gortyna); Idomeneus sailed from Crete with eighty ships, which would be approximately 1600 men.
When Polykrates (Polycrates), tyrant of the island of Samos (532-515 BCE), was laying plans to make his island a formidable sea power, he was following in the footsteps of King Minos of Knossos who was the first Greek to rightfully claim the title of Master of the Seas.
Knossos is the best known city of the ancient Cretan civilization; the period called the Middle Minoan period (1900-1700 BCE) is also called the Proto-Palatial Period because the first palaces at Knossos and Phaistos were established; during this period, there seemed to be extensive trading with foreign cultures such as Egypt.
Knossos thrived until the Final Palatial Period (1450-1380 BCE); the havoc caused by the eruption of the island Thera (now called Santorini) did not completely destroy Knossos and, after extensive repairs, it became the administrative capital of Crete; all that changed circa 1380 BCE when Knossos was finally destroyed and never reoccupied; small communities continued to sustain remnants of the Minoan Greeks but the driving force of their culture had moved to Mycenae on the Peloponnesian Peninsula.
The name may also be rendered as Cnossos or Knossus.
Approximate East Longitude 35º 17' 53'' and North Latitude 25º 09' 47''
Iliad (Lattimore and Loeb), book 2, line 646; book 18, line 591
Iliad (Fagles), book 2, line 741; book 18, line 691
Iliad (Fitzgerald), book 2, line 766; book 18, line 679
Odyssey (Lattimore and Loeb), book 19, line 178
Odyssey (Fagles), book 19, line 202
Odyssey (Fitzgerald), book 19, line 209
Histories, book 3.122
Hymn to Pythian Apollon, lines 393 and 475

Code of Gortyn
A series of municipal laws which were found inscribed on a wall in the city of Gortyn on the island of Crete and are assumed to be from the fourth or fifth century BCE; they are also referred to as the Twelve Tables of Gortyn.

Coes of Mytilene (Koes of Mytilene)
The Persian king, Darius, offered Koes anything that he might wish in repayment for the good council Koes had provided in the past; Koes asked to be made the tyrant of the city of Mytilene; Darius granted his wish.
Histories, book 5.11

Coeus (Koeus)
One of the Titans; the son of Gaia (Earth) and Ouranos (the Heavens); the husband of the Titan, Phoebe, and father of Leto and Asteria.
His name may also be rendered as Koios or Coios.
Theogony, lines 134 and 404

Colainis (Kolainis)
An epithet for the goddess Artemis.

Colchis (Kolchis)
An ancient country that bordered on the eastern edge of the Euxine (Black Sea) and south of the Caucasus Mountains; best known as the land of the Golden Fleece and the realm of King Aietes (Aeetes).
The historian Herodotus asserts that the people of Kolchis were descended from the Egyptians because of their physical appearance and the fact that when the Egyptian king, Sesostris (Rameses II), marched into Europe in the fourteenth century BCE, part of his army was either stationed in Kolchis or deserted the army and founded their own nation.
Histories, book 2.102-106

Colias (Kolias)
A hill in Attica noted for the temple of Aphrodite (goddess of Love) which was located there.

Colonna (Kolonna)
A cape in east-central Greece, southeast of Athens at the tip of the peninsula of Attica jutting into the western Aegean Sea; also called Cape Sunium.

Colonnade of Zeus
A sculpture at Athens accredited to Euphranor.

Colonus (Kolonus)
A deme of Attica about 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) northwest of Athens; the name literally means Hill.

Colophon (Kolophon)
An ancient Greek city in Ionia, Asia Minor which was essentially depopulated by circa 286 BCE.

Colophonian (Kolophonian)
A name referring to the Greek poet, Antimachos (Antimachus); he was a Greek poet (fl. 410 BCE) from the Greek city of Kolophon (Colophon) in Ionia, Asia Minor; his poems were epic in nature and modeled after the Homeric style; commonly called The Kolophonian.

Colossae (Kolossae)
An ancient city in southwestern Phrygia, in Asia Minor.

Colossus of Rhodes

One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World; designed and constructed by Chares of Lindus as a 110 foot bronze statue of Helios; erected in 290 BCE and toppled in an earthquake, sixty six years later, in 224 BCE.

The popular conception of the statue standing with its legs spanning the entrance to the harbor is imaginative, but inaccurate; the statue was a representation of Helios as a free-standing erect figure at the entrance to the harbor of the city of Rhodes; the statue was situated on a stone base with an iron frame that supported the bronze casing of the body of Helios; the hollow statue was filled with stones to add weight and give stability.

Column

A pillar consisting of a base, a shaft and a capitol; the shaft was generally cylindrical and, depending on the style, tapered towards the top.

Commos (Kommos)
An affectation of dramatic actors in Attica where an actor and the chorus would alternate in wild lamentations.

Confusion
Kydoimos (Cydoimos); a Spirit; the personification of Confusion or Uproar.
Shield of Herakles, line 156

Copais (Kopais)
Lake Kopais; a relatively large lake on the Greek mainland in northern central Boeotia just north of the ancient city of Thebes.

Core (Kore) ¹
A name for Persephone in Attica as the personification of Virginity.

Core (Kore) ²

A sculptured representation of a young woman; especially sculptures produced prior to the fifth century BCE; also rendered as Kora or Cora.

Core (Kore) ³
The daughter of the eccentric king of the Molossians, Aidoneus; her father was named after Hades, her mother was named Persephone and their dog was named Kerberos (Cerberus); Kore was almost kidnapped by Pirithous and Theseus but her father saved her.

Corfu (Korfu)
An Ionian island which lies off the northwestern coast of Greece in the Ionian Sea; 593 square miles (1,536 square kilometers) in size; called Kerkyra (Corcyra) in ancient times.
Approximate East Longitude 19º 45' and North Latitude 39º 40'

Corinna (Korinna)
koh REE nah
A lyric poet from Tanagra in Boeotia; either from 500 BCE or as late as 200 BCE.
The term Lyric Poetry is quite literal and designates poetry written to be sung to the accompaniment of the lyre; the lyric poets flourished from roughly 700 BCE until 400 BCE.
Korinna is one of the few women to gain acclaim as a lyric poet; she wrote in a simple style of the legends of her native Boeotia; she was said to have been a contemporary of Pindar but this could only be so if circa 500 BCE is the correct date for her life; she is credited with the proverbial saying, Sow by the handful and not the whole sack, which of course meant that moderation is better than extravagance.
There are several excellent collections of lyric poetry that I can personally recommend; if you want to read a sampling of this poetic style, I suggest 7 Greeks by Guy Davenport or Greek Lyric, an Anthology in Translation by Andrew M. Miller; however, the most complete collection is undoubtedly the three volume collection from the Loeb Classical Library, Greek Lyric, Greek Lyric II and Greek Lyric III; you can sometimes find these books at your local library or you can purchase any of these books from the Book Shop on this site; look in the Poetry section.

Corinth
One of the wealthiest and most powerful of the ancient Greek cities; located on the Isthmus of Corinth, which connects the Greek mainland to the Peloponnesian Peninsula; due to its location, the city was a thriving artistic center as well as a major trading hub.
Corinth was never as crucial as Sparta or Athens in the realm of military or foreign trading but was always an important factor in all Hellenic activities; the location of Corinth on the narrow isthmus made it the only land route between the Peloponnesian Peninsula and the Greek mainland and being situated between Athens and Sparta gave the Corinthians a marked advantage over most of the other notable Greek cities.
The origins and founder of the city are disputed but there are several credible possibilities; the Corinthians informed the traveler and historian, Pausanias, that the city was founded by a son of Zeus named Corinthus but Pausanias doubted this story and noted that only the Corinthians believed it to be true; Pausanias also states that, circa the eighth century BCE, a daughter of Okeanos (Ocean) named Ephyra was the first to dwell on the isthmus and the city which came to be established there was called Ephyraea in her honor; some time afterwards, the great-grandson of Helios (the Sun) divided the land amongst his sons and Ephyraea was renamed Corinth after Helios’ son Corinthus.
The isthmus of Corinth stretched from the ports of Kenchreae (Cenchreae) to Lechaeum which were named Kenchrias (Cenchrias ) and Leches who were the sons of Poseidon (lord of the Sea) and Peirene; the isthmus itself was traditionally the property of Poseidon and the high ground surrounding the isthmus belonged to Helios; when the two gods were arguing over dominion of Corinth, the giant, Briareos, arbitrated and finalized the division of the country.
There were several unsuccessful attempts to dig a canal to connect the Corinthian Gulf to the Saronic Gulf; the Corinthians were proud of the fact that the only task that was too difficult for Alexander the Great was his attempt to dig through the isthmus at Mimas; Alexander could not really be blamed for his failed attempt to dig a canal through the isthmus because it was generally believed that it was difficult for any man to alter what heaven has made; when the Knidians (Cnidians) began to dig through their isthmus, the pythia (oracular priestess) at Delphi stopped them.
In the Corinthian territory is a place called Kromyon (Cromyon) which was named after Kromos (Cromus), the son of Poseidon; this was the site where Theseus killed the sow of Phaea; not far from there is the place where the body of Melikertes (Melicertes) was brought ashore by a dolphin and found by Sisyphus; an altar was built for Melikertes and the Isthmian Games were established in his honor; the date for the founding of the games is not precisely known; the games were discontinued in 146 BCE when the Roman army, commanded by Mummius, tore down the city walls and drove the Corinthians out of the city; after 146 BCE the Isthmian Games were held at Sikyon (Sicyon) until Corinth was reestablished by Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus in 44 BCE.
Approximate East Longitude 22º 56' and North Latitude 37º 56'

Corinthian Columns
The Corinthian Order of classical architecture was typified by the unique style of the Corinthian Column which had a slender fluted shaft and an ornate capitol decorated with carved acanthus leaves; the Corinthian Order was ornate and delicate compared to the Ionic and Doric Orders which were more solid, i.e. heavy looking, and did not have the grace of the Corinthian style.

Corinthian Gulf
Gulf of Corinth; the body of water north of the Isthmus of Corinth.

Corcyra (Korkyra) ¹
One of the Ionian Islands near the northwestern coast of Greece in the Ionian Sea; now called Kerkira; 593 square miles (1,536 square kilometers) in size.
The dispute between Korkyra and the city of Corinth over the Ionian city of Epidamnus, was one of the initial causes of the long and bloody Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE).
The name may also be rendered as Cercyra or Kercyra.

Corcyra (Korkyra) ²
The daughter of the spring Asopos (Asopus) who was carried off by Poseidon (lord of the Sea) and relocated on an island which was then named after her; her island is located in the Ionian Sea near the coast of modern Herzegovina; the dense forests of the island made it appear black and thus earned the name Black Kerkyra.
The name may also be rendered as Cercyra or Kercyra.

Cornice

In relation to columns, a prominent, continuous, horizontal projection.

Corona
In relation to columns, the projecting, slab-like member of a classical cornice.

Coronis (Koronis) ¹
One of the five daughters of Atlas who was placed in the heavens as a star and, with her sisters, formed the asterism, Hyades, in the constellation Taurus (the Bull); her sisters are: Phaesyle, Kleeia (Cleeia), Phaeo and Eudora.
The Astronomy, chapter 2

Coronis (Koronis) ²
The mother of the famous healer, Asklepios (Asclepius), and the daughter of Phlegyas; she was the consort of Apollon and Asklepios was their son; when she was unfaithful to Apollon, he killed her but saved Asklepios and placed him in the care of the Centaur, Cheiron (Chiron), where he learned the art of healing.

Coronus (Koronus)
The son of Caeneus from Gyrton; one of the Argonauts.
The Argonauts were a company of the greatest heroes and adventurers in ancient Greece; the Argonauts were assembled by Jason to assist him in retrieving the Golden Fleece from the land of Kolchis (Colchis); their name was derived from their ship, the Argo (Argo + nautes = Argo-seamen); the Quest for the Golden Fleece can be assumed to have occurred circa 1285 BCE.
His name may also be rendered as Koronos or Coronos.
Argonautika, book 1, lines 57-64

Corsica
An island in the Mediterranean Sea which was called Kyrnos by the ancient Greeks; located off the west coast of Italy directly north of the island of Sardinia and with an area of 3,367 square miles (8,720 square kilometers).
Approximate East Longitude 9º 00' and North Latitude 42º 00'

Corybantes (Korybantes)
koh REE ban tees
The traditional name for the priests of the Mother of the Gods, Kybele (Cybele).
Kybele was worshiped as a goddess at the command of Apollon; she was a goddess of Asia Minor but associated by the Greeks with the goddess Rheia (Rhea), wife of Kronos (Cronos) and mother of the Olympians.
While sailing in the northern Aegean Sea, Queen Myrina of the Libyan Amazons was caught in a storm; she offered up prayers to Kybele as the Mother of the Gods and was carried safely to an uninhabited island; Myrina had a prophetic dream and named the island Samothrace which means Sacred Island; Kybele was pleased with the island and settled it with a group of people which included her own sons who were called Korybantes after their father, whose name is not stated but might have been Korybanos (Corybanus); Kybele established her rites and mysteries on Samothrace and decreed that her sacred area would become a sanctuary; the name Korybantes became the traditional name for the priests of Kybele and they dressed in full armor at her rituals.
Diodorus Siculus, book 3.55.9

Corycian Cave (Korykian Cave)
The name of a cave on Mount Parnassos (Mount Parnassus) which was sacred to Pan and his nymphs.

Corycos (Korykos)
The name of the Korykian Cave on Mount Parnassos (Mount Parnassus) which was sacred to Pan and his nymphs.

Coryphaeus (Koryphaios)
A term encountered in Greek plays which simply means Leader of the Chorus; not to be confused with the proper name of one of the play’s characters.

Cos (Kos)
An island close to the southwestern coast of Asia Minor where the Aegean Sea joins the Mediterranean Sea; located northwest of the island of Rhodes and southwest of the city of Halicarnassus; the second largest of the Dodecanese Group of islands with an area of approximately 111 square miles (287 square kilometers); located at the entrance to the Gulf of Kos.
Approximate East Longitude 27º 10' and North Latitude 36º 50'

Cothon (Kothon)
A drinking vessel; a cup or mug used in Lakonia (Laconia).

Cothornos (Kothornos)
Boots worn by tragic actors to make their roles apparent to the audience.
Cothornos had high heels and, like socks, could be worn on either foot; the Athenian tyrant, Theramenes, was nicknamed Cothornos because his detractors claimed that he would accommodate any political point of view to gain popularity; Cothornos are known today as Buskins.
Hellenica, book 2.3, line 31

Cottos (Kottos)
Kottos and his brothers, Briareos and Gyes are the sons of Gaia (Earth) and Ouranos (the Heavens); all three brothers have fifty heads and fifty arms sprouting from their massive shoulders.
The brothers were trapped in Gaia’s womb by Ouranos until the Titan, Kronos (Cronos), wounded his father, Ouranos, and they were allowed to be free, but their freedom was not to last; Kronos had helped his mother, Gaia, free the monstrous brothers but he feared their strength and beauty and so he too imprisoned them under the earth where they remained until the war between the Titans and the Olympians began.
Zeus brought the three brothers back into the light and gave them nectar and ambrosia to renew their vitality; with their newly acquired freedom and strength, Briareos, Kottos and Gyes joined the Olympians in the war against the Titans; after ten years of war, Zeus let loose all his fury and the earth and heavens trembled under his thunderbolts; at that moment, Briareos, Kottos and Gyes bombarded the Titans with three-hundred boulders that buried the Titans and ended the war.
His name may also be rendered as Kottus or Cottus.
Theogony, lines 149, 615, 712 and 817

Craniades (Kraniades)
Nymphs of springs; Kraniades are only immortal as long as the spring they inhabit remains vital.

Cratos (Kratos)
The personification of Force or Might; a child of the Titan, Pallas, and the Okeanid, Styx.
Theogony, line 385

Creon (Kreon) ¹
The brother of Iokaste (Jocasta) and eventually the ruler of the city of Thebes; the tragic life of Kreon is tied to the ill fate which marked the life of Oedipus and his children.
While Oedipus was the king of Thebes, Kreon was content to simply be a member of the royal household; he did not envy the throne because, as the brother of the queen, he had money, respect and power without having the responsibilities or burdens that came with the throne; when a blight afflicted the countryside around Thebes, Oedipus sent Kreon to the oracle at Delphi to ask what the citizens of Thebes might do to regain their prosperity; when Kreon returned to Thebes he informed Oedipus that the prosperity of the country would not be restored until the murderer of King Laius was driven from the city; King Laius had been the king of Thebes before Oedipus.
After a painful investigation, Oedipus was made to realize that he, as a pawn of the Immortals, had murdered his father, King Laius, and married his mother, Iokaste; this meant that the children of Oedipus were also his brothers and sisters; when they realized their role in this horrible tragedy, Iokaste hanged herself and Oedipus blinded himself and left the city in disgrace.
Oedipus’ eldest son, Eteokles (Eteocles) assumed the throne and Oedipus’ youngest son, Polyneikes (Polyneices) was exiled to Argos; Polyneikes organized an army to retake Thebes but Kreon could see that the inevitable outcome would be a disaster for Thebes regardless of who won the war; in an attempt to consolidate popular support, he went to the exiled Oedipus and begged him to return to the borders of Thebes and help defuse the impending doom that threatened the city; when Oedipus refused to help, Kreon kidnapped Oedipus’ daughters, Ismene and Antigone; the legendary king of Athens, Theseus, intervened and saved the girls and gave Oedipus sanctuary.
Kreon could do nothing but return to Thebes and await the inevitable war between the sons of Oedipus; Polyneikes and his army attacked Thebes but the attack failed and both Polyneikes and Eteokles were killed on each other’s spear; with the two sons of Oedipus dead, Kreon became the ruler of Thebes; his first decree was that Eteokles would be buried as a hero for defending the city and that Polyneikes would be left to the dogs and vultures for his disgraceful attack on the city; Antigone defied Kreon and buried Polyneikes; she was punished by being entombed alive in a cave; the blind prophet, Teiresias, warned Kreon that his actions were an affront to the Immortals and that if he did not give Polyneikes a decent burial and forgive Antigone, he and his family would suffer dire consequences.
Kreon relented and buried Polyneikes but before he could free Antigone from the cave, she hanged herself; Kreon’s son, Haemon, was the first to open the cave where Antigone was entombed and when he saw her dead body he flew into a rage and tried, but failed, to kill his father; Haemon then stabbed himself with his sword and died clinging to the body of Antigone; when Kreon returned to his palace carrying Haemon’s dead body, he was informed that his wife, Eurydike (Eurydice) had also killed herself.
The tragedy, Antigone, by Sophocles tells the entire tragic story; in the poem, Shield of Herakles (Heracles) by Hesiod, Kreon’s wife is said to be Enioche; since Hesiod predates Sophocles we should assume that Enioche was, in fact, the name of King Kreon’s wife.
I personally recommend the Penguin Classics version of The Theban Plays translated by E. F. Watling (ISBN 0140440038); the book includes the three plays dealing with Oedipus and his family: King Oedipus, Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone; I also recommend the Richmond Lattimore translation of Hesiod (ISBN 0472439030 clothbound or ISBN 0472081616 paper bound); you can find these books at your local library or you can order them from the Book Shop on this site.
Shield of Herakles, line 83

Creon (Kreon) ²
The king of Corinth who gave sanctuary to Jason and Medeia (Medea) after they fled Kolchis (Colchis) with the Golden Fleece.
Jason deserted Medeia in favor of Kreon’s daughter, Glauke (Glauce); Medeia was a sorceress and well skilled in the art of potions and poisons; to avenge herself on Jason, Medeia gave Glauke a poisoned cloak and thereby murdered her.

Cresphontes (Kresphontes)
A son of Herakles (Heracles); he became king of Messenia and was murdered by another son of Herakles, Polyphontes; his wife and son, Merope and Aepytus, took their revenge by killing Polyphontes.

Cressida
In Medieval adaptations of the Trojan War, Cressida was a Trojan woman who was portrayed as the lover of Troilus, whom she deserted for Diomedes.

Cretan
Of or pertaining to the island of Crete or its inhabitants.

Cretan Bull

The savage bull that Herakles (Heracles) captured on the island of Crete during his Seventh Labor.
Later versions of the story say that Herakles returned the bull to his cousin, Eurystheus, who then released the bull on the plain of Marathon where it was recaptured by the hero, Theseus; the Cretan Bull then became known as the Marathonian Bull.

Crete
KREE tee



Crete is the largest of the Greek islands and is situated southeast of the Peloponnesian Peninsula and 186 miles (300 km) north of the coast of Africa; the island is referred to as Crete of the Hundred Cities in The Iliad; in Greek, the name would be Κρητη and transliterated as Kriti and Anglicized as Crete.
Crete is approximately 155 miles (250 km) long and 37 miles (60 km) at its widest point; 8,380 square miles (21,704 square kilometers) in area; the island is oriented so that the length runs approximately east/west; the southern edge of the island is not as conducive to human settlement as the northern portion of the island; a mountainous backbone runs the entire length of the island and is punctuated by several high peaks with Mount Ida as the highest at 8058 feet (2456 meters).
The location of Crete has always made it an ideal Mediterranean trading hub because of its proximity to the Greek mainland, Asia Minor, the Middle East and Egypt; the most notable civilization of ancient Crete was the Bronze Age Minoan culture (3000-1000 BCE) which was arbitrarily named after King Minos by archaeologist Arthur Evans; the Minoans had a highly developed culture with included art, architecture and metallurgy which they exported throughout the Mediterranean area; after the fall of the Minoan civilization, circa 1450 BCE, traces of their culture emerged at Mycenae, Boeotia and parts of Asia Minor; the fall of the Minoan civilization has been attributed to a variety of destructive influences ranging from foreign invasions to the volcanic eruption of the island of Thera (now Santorine) circa 1450 BCE.


Replica of the Minoan Snake Goddess faience figurine, height 13.5 inches (34.3 cm), discovered by Arthur Evans at Knossos (Cnossus) in 1903.

Crete became an important part of the Greek heritage when Rheia (Rhea) took her infant son, Zeus, to Crete to hide him from his devising father, Kronos (Cronos); Gaia (Earth) protected Zeus on Crete and allowed him to live there until he was old enough to seek revenge on his father and assume the role of god of the gods.
Crete is sacred to Demeter (goddess of the Harvest); Demeter was joined in love with Iasion in a thrice-plowed field and gave birth to the kindly god, Plutus; he would travel the land and sea to bestow wealth on all who came into his hands; also, when the hunter Orion landed on Crete, he hunted with Artemis and Leto; his zeal for hunting made him boast that he would kill every wild animal on the earth; outraged by his boasting, Gaia sent a giant scorpion to kill Orion and, after his death, Artemis and Leto persuaded Zeus to place Orion in the heavens as a constellation.
Zeus, in the guise of a bull, abducted Europa and swam from The Levant to the relative isolation of Crete; after Europa became pregnant, Zeus made her live with Asterion, king of the Cretans; Zeus and Europa had three sons: Minos, Sarpedon and Rhadamanthys; when Minos became king of Crete he forced Sarpedon (the ancestor of the Sarpedon who fought at Troy) from the island and unified the barbarians natives of the island into a cohesive society; Sarpedon settled in Asia Minor in an area that was later called Lykia (Lycia) and kept many of the customs he had learned while still on Crete.
King Minos built the famous Labyrinth in which he placed the half-man/half-bull creature known as the Minotaur; the Labyrinth was designed by the master builder, Daedalus, for the punishment of the Athenians who had killed King Minos’ son, Androgeus; Daedalus was not only a master builder, he was a master schemer; after he escaped from Crete, he settled on the island of Sicily and designed a death trap for Minos; when Minos arrived on Sicily he was unceremoniously killed; the Cretans prepared a military expedition to Sicily but the other Greek cities and islands refused to assist them; King Minos ruled two generations before the Trojan War which would be prior to 1300 BCE.
When King Xerxes of Persia was planning his invasion of Greece in 480 BCE, he sent envoys to all the Greek cities and islands to demand their allegiance; the Cretans were unsure as to what to do so they consulted the Oracle at Delphi; the Pythia (priestess of Apollon) chided the Cretans and reminded them that they had foolishly participated in the siege of Troy for the sake of a Spartan woman (Helen) but the Greeks had not helped the Cretans avenge the death of their king (Minos); the Pythia advised the Cretans to give the traditional tokens of earth and water to the envoys of Xerxes and not assist the Greeks in the war against the Persians.
The archaeological history of Crete can be briefly classified as follows:
Neolithic Period (circa 6000-3000 BCE) - Neo-Lithic means New Stone Age but the name is somewhat misleading; the Neolithic Period was the stage of human development where working with stone was augmented by sophisticated uses of pottery and metals; the Neolithic settlers of Crete were probably from Asia Minor or the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea; the Neolithic Cretans were a society of farmers and herdsmen using bone implements and arrowheads as well as obsidian cutting tools; the remnants of sanctuaries have been found in caves with stone and clay female figurines with can be characterized as steatopygous, i.e. with large buttocks, which indicates that they might have been used for fertility rites; mounds and caves used as burial sites were found outside the villages which would indicate a certain degree of respect for the dead and imply an advanced culture.
Bronze Age (3000-1000 BCE) - The Bronze Age on Crete was dominated by the Minoan culture; archaeologist Arthur Evans subdivided the various levels of the Minoan ruins as: 1) Early Minoan, 2) Middle Minoan and 3) Late Minoan; each of the three divisions was further subdivided to reflect different strata of the main divisions based on pottery styles; foreign artifacts, especially Egyptian, have also been used to date the ruins of the Bronze Age sites on Crete.
The Early Minoan period (3000-1900 BCE) is also called the Pre-Palatial Period and, as the name implies, was the period before the construction of palaces; the Cretans of this period were proficient in their use of copper which eventually led to the combination of copper with tin to form bronze.
The Middle Minoan period (1900-1700 BCE) is also called the Proto-Palatial Period because the first palaces at Knossos and Phaistos were established; during this period, there seemed to be extensive trading with foreign cultures such as Egypt.



The last phase of the Bronze Age on Crete is known as the Late Minoan Period (1700-1000 BCE) and is subdivided into the following classifications:
1) The Neo-Palatial Period (1700-1450 BCE) was exemplified by the construction of new palaces atop the ruins of the earlier palaces; the palaces of the Proto-Palatial Period were presumably destroyed by earthquakes and the Neo-Palatial palaces are the ruins we see today throughout the island; trading partners and Minoan colonies were widespread during this period and a strong influence on the Greek mainland dates from 1600 BCE; also, there was considerable Minoan influence on several islands of the Kyklades (Cyclades) Group, the most notable of which is the evidence found at Akrotiri on the island of Thera (now called Santorini); the devastating volcanic eruption of Thera effected all the surrounding areas with earthquakes, clouds of volcanic dust and tidal waves engulfing the neighboring islands, the northern coast of Crete and the shores of Egypt; this regional upheaval ended the Neo-Palatial Period.
2) Final Palatial Period (1450-1380 BCE) - The havoc caused by the eruption of Thera did not completely destroy Knossos and, after extensive repairs, it became the administrative capital of Crete; all that changed circa 1380 BCE when Knossos was finally destroyed and never reoccupied; small communities continued to sustain remnants of the Minoan Greeks but the driving force of their culture had moved to Mycenae on the Peloponnesian Peninsula.
3) The Post-Palatial Period (1380-1000 BCE) was the last phase of the Bronze Age on Crete; there were new settlements and some rebuilding of existing towns but the renewed attempts at a cohesive culture were never destined to reach the previous high standards of art and commerce; evidence of trade with the island of Cyprus has been found and new types of art and burial customs were introduced but, other than that, all remnants of the distinctive Cretan Bronze Age culture were declining and finally ended.
The Iron Age on Crete (1100-650 BCE) was typified, as the name implies, by the introduction of iron tools and weapons; many religious traditions were retained from the Bronze Age but the migration of the Dorians to Crete gradually supplanted the traditions which were perpetuated by the Eteocretans; early on, the population seems to have moved from the northern shore to the more inaccessible mountain regions and then slowly resettled the more fertile land as Dorian city-states; circa 750 BCE, the written language of the island changed from the indecipherable Linear B to a semitic style of Greek script; metal working during the Iron Age on Crete was typified by the Eastern style of beaten bronze but pottery had a distinctive Greek influence in the Geometric Style.


Geometric Style Bell Krater

The Classical/Hellenistic Period (650-67 BCE) - The Classical Age of Greece had little effect on the inhabitants of Crete; the island was still divided into feudal clans and there was no central authority or coordinated effort to organize the island into a unified political or military force; following the death of Alexander the Great (323 BCE), Crete became the focus of several foreign powers who wanted control of the island’s strategic location; the Macedonians, the Spartans, the Egyptians and the Rhodians all wanted commercial or military posts on the island; to add to the turmoil, pirates began to use the island to menace the trade routes to and from the island; finally, in 67 BCE, the Romans intervened as peacemakers and quelled the internal squabbling and put an end to the piracy.
Since this web site is primarily concerned with ancient Greek history, I will end this commentary and only mention that, after the east-west division of the Roman Empire in 395 CE, Crete passed from Byzantine domination to Arab occupation until 1913 CE when the conflict between Greece and Turkey was resolved and Crete once again became a Greek island.
Iliad (Lattimore and Loeb), book 2, lines 645 and 649; book 3, lines 230 and 233; book 13, lines 450 and 453
Iliad (Fagles), book 2, lines 645 and 649; book 3, lines 230 and 233; book 13, lines 450 and 453
Iliad (Fitzgerald), book 2, lines 645 and 649; book 3, lines 230 and 233; book 13, lines 450 and 453
Histories, book 1.65 and 173; book 3.59; book 4.151, 154 and 161; book 7.92 and 169-171
The Astronomy, fragment 4
The Idaean Dactyls
Theogony, lines 477, 480 and 971
Catalogues of Women, fragments 19 and 68, lines 51 and 66
Fragments of Unknown Position, fragment 8
Hymn to Demeter, line 123
Hymn to Delian Apollon, line 30
Hymn to Pythian Apollon, line 470
The Kypria, fragment 1
Battle of Frogs and Mice, line 79
Contest of Homer and Hesiod, section 323

Cretheus (Kretheus)
The son of Aeolus (Aiolos) and father of Aeson; he and his wife, Tyro, were the grandparents of Jason.

Creticon (Kretikon)
A short, loose garment worn at sacred ceremonies; also spelled Cretikon.

Creusa (Kreusa) ¹
The wife of the Trojan hero, Aineias (Aeneas), and mother of Iulus.

Creusa (Kreusa) ²
The mother of Ion with Apollon as the father.
After Ion was born, Kreusa put the infant in a cave to abandon him; he was saved by Hermes and delivered to the temple of Apollon at Delphi where he remained until Kreusa and her husband, Xuthus, found him through the intervention of the temple priestesses.
Kreusa and Xuthus were childless and the oracle told them to adopt the first child they encountered after leaving the temple; when they met Ion, Kreusa thought that he was the illegitimate son of Xuthus by another woman and she plotted to kill Ion but the priestess of Apollon showed her the swaddling clothing in which the infant was wrapped when he had been presented at the temple; Kreusa accepted the fact that Ion was her abandoned child and she and Xuthus took the child to the city of Athens where, according to the goddess Athene (Athena), a prophecy had been fulfilled and that Ion would become the founder of the Ionian race.

Crios (Krios)
One of the Titans, i.e. one of the children of Gaia (Earth) and Ouranos (the Heavens); as the consort of another Titan, Eurybia, he was the father of Pallas.
Theogony, lines 134, 376 and 404

Crisa (Krisa)
A city west of the city of Delphi in the district of Phokis (Phocis).
Approximate East Longitude 22º 50' and North Latitude 38º 46'

Critias (Kritias)
One of the Thirty Tyrants elected to rule the city of Athens after the end of the Peloponnesian War (404 BCE).
Having lost the war to the Spartans, the citizens of Athens elected thirty men to lead the new post-war government; these men became known as the Thirty Tyrants; the short lived government they comprised was an oligarchy; an oligarchy is a system of government allowing a few select people or families to rule a city or region based on the assumption that their bloodline or intellect gave them a superior predisposition and right to rule.
The tyrants immediately began to prosecute Athenians who had been Spartan informers and collaborators during the long, hard war; the punishment of the guilty seemed appropriate to the common citizens and aristocrats alike but it soon became clear that the executions and banishments were going beyond the bounds of necessity or prudence; open hostilities soon developed between members of the Thirty and their authority and rule came to an end after one year.
Critias and Theramenes became the two most dominant tyrants and they clashed openly over matters of public policy; Critias clearly had the support of the other tyrants and Theramenes stood alone in his call for restraint in the punishment of citizens and aristocrats who were accused of collaborating with the Spartans during the Peloponnesian War; the conflict between Theramenes and the other tyrants was a deciding issue in the collapse of the oligarchy.
Hellenica, book 2.3

Crocotus (Krokotos)
A saffron colored robe worn by Dionysos (a.k.a. Bacchus, god of Wine) and his followers.

Croesus (Kroesus)
The king of Lydia from 560-546 BCE, i.e. fourteen years; he was the son of Alyattes and the father of Atys.
Croesus was a barbarian, i.e. a Persian, but his kingdom controlled many areas which were occupied by Greek colonists along the Ionian coast of Asia Minor; the reign and fall of Croesus was well documented in the Histories by Herodotus; his capital city of Sardis was situated well inside Asia Minor and the land west of Sardis was already strongly held Greek territory protected by alliances with Athens, Sparta and other militarily strong Greek cities.
Croesus was a respected and feared leader whose reputation allowed him to influence friends and enemies alike; when the tyrant of the Chersonese fell victim to his own aggression, Croesus stepped in to save him from certain death; the tyrant of the Chersonese, Miltiades, was attacked and captured by the Lampsakenes; Croesus sent a message to the Lampsakenes saying that he would destroy them “even like a pine tree,” i.e. once a pine tree is cut down it will no longer put out shoots and therefore utterly die; the Lampsakenes took the message to heart and released Miltiades.
Croesus turned his aggressive attention towards the east and the Persian Empire; when he consulted the oracle at Delphi he was told that a great empire would fall if he attacked the Persians; although his army was smaller than the Persian forces, Croesus crossed into Persian territory and engaged the army of the Persian king, Cyrus; the initial battle was indecisive and Croesus retreated back to Sardis assuming that Cyrus would also retreat and wait for Spring to renew the war; he disbanded the mercenary aspect of his army and asked his allies in Sparta, Egypt and Babylonia to join him five months hence and resume the war; Cyrus did not wait for the Spring but instead marched to Sardis and defeated the diminished Lydian army.
Croesus was taken prisoner and was due to be executed when a strange event saved his life; as he was being burned at the stake, Croesus remembered the words of the sage, Solon; Solon had once told Croesus that no man can be judged as happy until after his death because sadness and misfortune can befall any man up until that final moment; Croesus uttered the words of Solon and when Cyrus overheard him, he was intrigued and ordered his men to put out the fire that was about to consume Croesus; the soldiers batted at the flames but they would not be stilled; when Croesus realized that Cyrus was trying to save him but the fire could not be extinguished, he prayed aloud to Apollon to save him; out of a clear sky, rain clouds appeared and a sudden downpour doused the flames.
Cyrus was duly impressed by the intervention of Apollon and bade Croesus to sit with him and say what ever he wished; Croesus looked at his besieged city and asked Cyrus what the Persian army was doing; Cyrus said simply that they were plundering his (Croesus’) city; Croesus said that the city was no longer his and the army was plundering the property that rightly belonged to the Persian king; he then suggested that Cyrus should place guards at each city gate and confiscate a tenth of the plunder on the pretext that the confiscated property was a tribute to Zeus; this would make Cyrus appear pious and deprive his army of acquiring too much wealth.
Cyrus was pleased with Croesus’ advice and told him that he could have anything he wished; instead of asking for his freedom or his kingdom, Croesus asked that he might send an envoy to Delphi and demand to know why Apollon had treated him so badly and given him such an ambiguous prophecy; an envoy was dispatched and, when confronted, the pythia said that Croesus was not ill-used by Apollon but that his demise had been the culmination of a family curse that began five generations before when his ancestor, Gyges, had killed Kandaules (Candaules) and assumed the throne of Lydia; Croesus accepted his fate and resigned himself to be the slave of the Persian king until he died.
After the death of Cyrus, Croesus was forced into service as the advisor of Cyrus’ son, Kambyses (Cambyses); Kambyses was a tyrant of the worst sort; Croesus tried to serve him well but when none of the Persians would stand up to Kambyses, Croesus told him that he was acting unwisely; Kambyses ordered that Croesus be killed but the Persians knew that Kambyses would probably change his mind and so allowed Croesus to escape.
Histories, book 1.6, 1.26-28, 1.34-56, 1.76-92, 1.155-156; book 3.14 and 3.36; book 8.35

Cronos (Kronos)

One of the Titans, i.e. one of the children of Gaia (Earth) and Ouranos (the Heavens).
Kronos has a page in the Immortals section of this site ... click on his photo to view that page.

Cteatus (Kteatos)
He and Eurytos (Eurytus) are believed to be the sons of Aktor (Actor) and Molione.

Ctimene (Ktimene)
A town in the district of Dolopia in Thessaly.

Ctimenos (Ktimenos)
The father of the Argonaut, Eurydamas, from the district of Dolopia.
The Argonauts were a company of the greatest heroes and adventurers in ancient Greece; the Argonauts were assembled by Jason to assist him in retrieving the Golden Fleece from the land of Kolchis (Colchis); their name was derived from their ship, the Argo (Argo + nautes = Argo-seamen); the Quest for the Golden Fleece can be assumed to have occurred circa 1285 BCE.
His name may also be rendered as Ktimenus or Ctimenus.

Cuirass
An abbreviated piece of body armor consisting of a breastplate and a back-plate.

Cyaneai (Kyaneai)
The Dark-Rocks; two rocky islands near the entrance to the Euxine (Black Sea); they were once moving islands that would clash together and crush passing ships but after the Argonauts successfully negotiated the, so called, Clashing Rocks they became stationary islands; sometimes referred to as the Kyanean (Cyanean) Rocks.
Argonautika, book 2, lines 341-359 and 593-610

Cyaxares (Kyaxares)
The son of Phraortes and the third king of the Medes; he ruled from 625-585 BCE.
Kyaxares’ father, Phraortes, and his grandfather, Deiokes (Deioces), had expanded the influence of the Medes with military might but both were new to the theory and practice of military strategy; Kyaxares had a broader vision as to the role and potential of the military; he organized the troops into separate units based on the type of weapons they used; this was an innovative concept and proved to be effective but not as decisive as Kyaxares had hoped.
Kyaxares had expanded the empire of the Medes into Asia and confronted the Assyrians outside the city of Ninus (Nineveh) when he was simply overwhelmed by the unexpected invasion of the Scythians; the Scythians proved to be fierce fighters but poor administrators of the territory they conquered; Kyaxares was forced to retreat from the Scythians and relinquished his rule for twenty-eight years; Kyaxares and the Medes eventually gained the advantage and drove the Scythians back into the northern lands from which they had emerged; Kyaxares finally subdued all of western Asia except for the city of Babylon; he ruled for forty years and was succeeded by his son, Astyages.
Histories, book 1.103-107

Cybele (Kybele)
kee BEH lee
The daughter of Dindyme and King Meion of Phrygia; Kybele became immortal because of her healing abilities and her devotion when caring for children.
King Meion ruled Phrygia and Lydia in ancient times but after he became the father of a baby girl, he and Dindyme were unwilling to raise the child; Meion left the infant on Mount Kybelos (Cybelus) to die from exposure; leopards and other ferocious beasts nursed the child until several shepherd women saw the strange occurrence and took the child into their keeping; they named her Kybele after the mountain on which she was found.
As Kybele grew older, she was unequaled in beauty, virtue and intelligence; she was the first person to devise the multi-reed musical pipes as well as introducing the use of cymbals and the kettledrum at athletic games and for accompanying dancers; when she became well known for healing animals and children, people began calling her Mother of the Mountain; one of her constant companions became the satyr Marsyas because he too was a gifted musician.
When she became a woman, she loved a young man named Attis who, by virtue of his association with Kybele, became known as Attis-Papas (Attis the Father); she became pregnant but before her pregnancy became obvious, her parents, King Meion and Dindyme, recognized her and took her into their palace; when Meion realized that Kybele was pregnant, her went into a rage and killed Attis and Kybele’s nurses; their bodies were disgracefully left unburied.
After the murder of Attis, Kybele went into a frenzy and rushed out into the countryside crying aloud and beating on a kettledrum; with her wild hair and the cacophony she was causing, she was a strange sight to behold; her old friend Marsyas followed her in her wanderings until they came to Nysa where they encountered Dionysos (god of Wine) and Apollon; Marsyas became entangled in a dispute with the god Apollon and was flayed alive; Marsyas and Apollon competed in a contest of musical skills and Marsyas became irate when Apollon won; Apollon killed Marsyas because he was argumentative and not for his lack of musical skill.
Apollon became attracted to Kybele and joined her in her wanderings as far as the northern lands of the Hyperboreans; at that time, a pestilence descended on the land and people of Phrygia; when the Phrygians inquired of Apollon how to end their misery, he told them to give Attis a proper burial and to honor Kybele as a goddess; a burial for Attis was impossible because his body had disappeared but an effigy was made to resemble Attis so that he could be mourned; altars were erected for Kybele and her worship spread over much of Asia Minor; King Midas of Phrygia was one of her more notable worshipers; some of her temples and altars were magnificent; they were often adorned with statues of lions and panthers to commemorate the way she had been attended by wild beasts as an infant on Mount Kybelos.
While sailing in the northern Aegean Sea, Queen Myrina of the Libyan Amazons was caught in a storm; she offered up prayers to Kybele as the Mother of the Gods and was carried safely to an uninhabited island; Myrina had a prophetic dream and named the island Samothrace which means Sacred Island; Kybele was pleased with the island and settled it with a group of people which included her own sons who were called Korybantes (Corybantes) after their father, whose name is not stated but might have been Korybanos (Corybanus); Kybele established her rites and mysteries on Samothrace and decreed that her sacred area would become a sanctuary; the name Korybantes became the traditional name for the priests of Kybele and they dressed in full armor at her rituals.
Since Kybele was a goddess of Asia Minor, she was sometimes identified by the Greeks with the goddess Rheia (Rhea), wife of Kronos (Cronos) and mother of the Olympians; there are several references to Rheia in The Argonautika which, by their context, are undoubtedly referring to Kybele.
Jason is told by Mopsos (Mopsus) that he must climb to Dindymon’s shrine to ask the Mother of the Gods to stop the storm which has lasted for twelve days; Mopsos was taught the augury of birds by Apollon and from the signs he received, he instructed the Argonauts to prepare a suitable tribute for Kybele; the shipbuilder Argos carved an elegant image of the goddess; the Argonauts made a gravel altar which they decorated with garlands of oak leaves; the Argonauts put on their armor and danced a war dance around the altar; after the animal sacrifices were made, several miraculous signs assured the Argonauts that their prayers had been answered; the storm abated, fruit dropped from the trees, flowers bloomed, wild animals came from their lairs wagging their tails and a spring burst forth on the parched rock which was thereafter known as Jason’s spring.
A shrine was established in the city of Athens during the plague of 430 BCE in hopes that the Kybele, as the Earth-Goddess, would be appeased and end the suffering of the Athenians; the Athenians had killed a priest of Kybele and thought that they were being punished for their impious actions; she was also called the Great Idaean Mother which was a reference to either her association with Mount Ida or to Kybele as the Great Kind Mother.
The worship of Kybele continued well into historical times; although never formally sanctioned, processions and the worship of Kybele was allowed in Rome as early as 204 BCE.
Diodorus Siculus, book 3.58 and 3.59
Argonautika, book
Homeric Hymn to the Mother of the Gods

Cybernetics
In modern science, the study of replacing human control functions with mechanical or electrical means; (Kybernetes means Helmsman).

Cyclops (Cyclopes or Kyklopes)
The wheel-eyed sons of Gaia (Earth).
The name, Cyclops, means Wheel-Eyed and they seem to have at least two different aspects:
1) There are the three Cyclops who forge the thunder and lightning for Zeus; they are named: Arges (Vivid One), Brontes (Thunderer) and Steropes (Lightener); and
2) The wild Cyclops who live in a state lawless anarchy; these are the Cyclops that Odysseus encountered when he was blown off course after the sack of the city of Troy; they live without cultivating food, they build no homes or ships and have no institutions or laws; they live in caves and have no sense of community with the others of their race; their diet consists of the meat of wild goats or sheep, cheese and wine.
When Odysseus blinded Polyphemos (Polyphemus), the Cyclops son of Poseidon (lord of the Sea), he was punished by not being allowed to return to his home for ten years.
Theogony, lines 139-146

Cyclops (The Cyclops)
A play by Euripides produced circa 425 BCE.
Cast of Characters:
Silenus
Odysseus
Polyphemos (Polyphemus)
This play is not one of the best of Euripides’ efforts but it does have some interesting elements that make it worth reading; as the name implies, the play tells the story of the Cyclops son of Poseidon (lord of the Sea), Polyphemos (Polyphemus), and his encounter with Odysseus; after leaving Troy in ashes, Odysseus and his crew landed on the island of Sicily near the base of Mount Etna (Aetna) seeking water and food; when Polyphemos discovers the travelers he herds them into his cave, kills several of the men, and eats them; Odysseus tricks Polyphemos into drinking some very potent wine and, when the Cyclops falls into a drunken slumber, blinds the Cyclops with a fire-hardened tree trunk.
Of course, there is the humorous banter when Odysseus tells Polyphemos that his name is Nobody and the blinded Cyclops declares that he had been attacked by Nobody and that Nobody has blinded him; there is also a conversation between Odysseus and one of Polyphemos’ slaves where the slave denounces Helen as a harlot and says some other very unkind things about her; this is because, although Helen was a daughter of Zeus, she was also a Spartan and Euripides and the Athenian audiences took great joy in demeaning all Spartans.
I personally recommend the translations compiled by Richmond Lattimore and David Grene; you can find this and other plays by Euripides in the 882 section of your local library or you can order them from the Book Shop on this site.

Cycnus (Kyknos)
The son of Ares (god of War) who is killed by Herakles (Heracles); the story of their combat is told in the poem Shield of Herakles; his name literally means Swan and is associated with the Swan-Song, i.e. death-song.
If you wish to read the Shield of Herakles, I recommend Hesiod by Richmond Lattimore (ISBN 0427439030 clothbound and 0472081616 paper bound); you can find this book at you local library or you can purchase it from the Book Shop on this site.
(Shield of Herakles, lines 57, 65, 329, 331, 337, 346, 350, 368, 413, 468, 472 and 479)

Cydippe (Kydippe)
The young woman who was tricked into marriage by a crafty young man named Akontius (Acontius).
Akontius gave Kydippe an apple with an inscription saying, I swear by Artemis that I will marry no one but Akontius; as Kydippe read the message aloud it became a sacred oath; when her parents tried to marry her to other young men she became ill; finally, to fulfill her oath, she had to marry Akontius.

Cyclades (Kyklades)
A group of Greek islands in the southern Aegean Sea spread out over approximately 2,650 square miles (6,864 square kilometers).
The name literally means Circular or Round and is used for this island group because they encircle the sacred island of Delos, i.e. the birthplace of Apollon and Artemis.

Cydoimos (Kydoimos)
A Spirit; the personification of Confusion or Uproar.
Shield of Herakles, line 156

Cyllene (Kyllene)
Mount Kyllene is in Arkadia (Arcadia) a short distance due west of the city of Corinth; Hermes is reputed to have been born there.
Homeric Hymn to Hermes

Cymatolege (Kymatolege)
One of the fifty daughters of Nereus and Doris collectively known as the Nereids, i.e. the daughters of the Nereus; her name means Wave-Stiller.
Theogony, line 252

Cyme (Kyme) ¹
An ancient Greek coastal city in Lydia in Asia Minor; the largest and most influential of the twelve Ionian cities founded by the Aeolians; the birthplace of the poet Hesiod; named after the Amazon queen, Kyme (Cyme).

Cyme (Kyme) ²
An Amazon queen; her image survives on ancient coins from the as late as 300 BCE; the Aeolian city of Kyme (Cyme) in Asia Minor was named after her.

Cymo (Kymo)
One of the fifty daughters of Nereus and Doris collectively known as the Nereids, i.e. the daughters of the Nereus; her name means Wavy.
Theogony, line 255

Cymodoce (Kymodoke)
One of the fifty daughters of Nereus and Doris collectively known as the Nereids, i.e. the daughters of the Nereus; her name means Wave-Receiver.
Theogony, line 252

Cymopoleia (Kymopoleia)
A daughter of Poseidon (lord of the Sea) and the wife of Briareos; her name means Wave-Walker.
Her name may also be rendered as Kymopolea or Cymopolea.
Theogony, line 819

Cymothoe (Kymothoe)
One of the fifty daughters of Nereus and Doris collectively known as the Nereids, i.e. the daughters of the Nereus; her name means Wave-Swift.
Theogony, line 245

Cynegeticus (Kynegetikos)
The name of a work about hunting by Xenophon (circa 430-355 BCE); usually called On Hunting.

Cynic
The cynics were a school of philosophy founded by Antisthenes and Diogenes of Sinope.
Cynics were reputed to believe that all cultural trappings were unnecessary and degraded the human condition; there are several explanations as to where the cynics got their name:
1) The name comes from the root word Kynikos, meaning Dog-Like; or
2) The name was taken from the first part of the word Kynosarge, meaning the gymnasium at Athens where Antisthenes taught.

Cynisca (Kyniska)
The first woman to become an Olympic champion; a Spartan by birth.
In 392 BCE Kyniska drove her chariot to victory in the Olympian Games; she was honored by having a statue of her victory team included as a primary decoration of the Temple of Zeus in Olympia; her name literally means Female-Dog and may also be rendered as Cyniska.

Cyno (Kyno)
The wife of the cowherd, Mitradates, who raised the future ruler of the Persian Empire, Cyrus, as her son; in Greek her name was Kyno but her Median name was Spako.
Her name played an important part in the legend that made Cyrus such a powerful and charismatic leader because Kyno and Spax mean female dog in Greek and Median respectively.
The story begins with the Median king, Astyages and his daughter, Mandane; Astyages wanted his daughter’s infant son murdered and gave the foul task to one of his trusted kinsmen, Harpagus; when Harpagus gave thought to the matter he decided to keep his hands clean and give the dirty deed to someone of lower rank; he ordered a herdsman named Mitradates to take the baby into the wilderness and leave it to the beasts and elements.
Mitradates took the baby back to his home and found that his wife, Kyno, had just given birth but that her baby had been born dead; Kyno persuaded Mitradates to spare the life of the king’s grandson and to present their dead baby to Harpagus and declare that the evil deed had been done; Harpagus believed Mitradates’ story and gave the matter no more thought.
Mitradates and Kyno raised the child as their own and all went well until the young boy had a dispute with his playmates; a group of boys were playing a game and Mandane’s son was chosen to play the role of the king; when one of the boys disobeyed a “royal” command, the “king” ordered that he be beaten; the boy who had been punished took offense at such base treatment because his family was of noble birth and a mere herdsman’s son had ordered him beaten; the boy’s father took the insulting matter to King Astyages for justice; Astyages called Mitradates and his “son” to stand trial but when Astyages saw the family resemblance of the boy to his daughter, and to himself, he realized that Mandane’s son was still alive.
Astyages demanded the truth from Mitradates and he soon understood the entire sequence of events; the young boy was taken from Mitradates and Kyno and given to his natural mother and father, Mandane and Kambyses; the boy was named Cyrus and as he grew to manhood he was the best and brightest of his peers; as an adult, Cyrus united the Persians and led a successful revolt against King Astyages.
In order to add an element of divine intervention to the life of Cyrus, his mother and father told a slightly augmented version of his early life; they claimed that he had been left in the wilderness, as Astyages had ordered, and that he had been nursed by a female dog, i.e. a Kyno, until he was old enough to take revenge on his grandfather, Astyages, and end the rule of the Medes.
Histories, book 1.110-122

Cynosure (Kynosoyra)
The ancient Greek name for the constellation Ursa Minor, i.e. the Little Bear, which we now call the Little Dipper.

Cynthia (Kynthia)
A name for the goddess, Artemis, because she was born on Mount Kynthus (Cynthus) on the sacred island of Delos.

Cynthios (Kynthios)
A name for Apollon meaning, “born on Kynthus;” he was born on Mount Kynthus (Cynthus) on the sacred island of Delos.

Cynthus (Kynthus)
Mount Kynthus; located on the sacred island of Delos and the birthplace of Artemis and Apollon.

Cypellon (Kypellon)
A goblet-like drinking vessel; a cup or beaker.

Cypria (Kypria)
The Kypria; one of the fragmentary remains of the Epic Cycle which elaborate on the Trojan War and its aftermath; Kypria is another name for the goddess of Love, Aphrodite and the poem revolves around her.
The poem was originally in eleven books but all that remain are twenty two fragments; the author of The Kypria is alternately given as Homer, Stasinus and Hegesias; a brief narrative about the Trojan War is augmented by a series of disjointed facts and sometimes contradictory statements regarding such characters as Helen, Theseus and Nemesis.
The Kypria tells the story (in abbreviated form) of the, so called, Judgment of Paris in which the Trojan prince, Alexandros (Paris), is summoned to the wedding of Thetis and Peleus to judge which goddess is most beautiful: Hera, Athene (Athena) or Aphrodite; he chose Aphrodite and won her favor but, at the same time, inflamed the wrath of Athene and Hera.
Aphrodite then suggested that Alexandros build a ship and ordered another of her sons, Aineias (Aeneas), to sail with him; the seers, Helenos and Kassandra (Cassandra) told Alexandros his future but exactly what they told him is lost to us; Alexandros and Aineias sailed to Lakedaemon (Lacedaemon) where they were entertained by Helen and, her husband Menelaos (Menelaus); after Menelaos left for the island of Cyprus, Aphrodite cast a spell on Alexandros and Helen to make them become lovers; they loaded Alexandros’ ship with treasure and sailed away; a storm blew the ship off course and they were carried to Sidon, where Alexandros sacked the city before returning to Troy to marry Helen (or, also according to the Cypria, the two sailed to Troy in three days).
Meanwhile, Helen’s brothers, Kastor (Castor) and Polydeukes (Polydeuces or Pollux), were caught stealing the cattle of Idas and Lynkeus (Lynceus); Kastor was killed by Idas and then he and his brother, Lynkeus, were killed by Polydeukes; Zeus made Kastor and Polydeukes immortal with the condition that while one of them lived on the surface of the earth, the other would reside in the Underworld.
The goddess, Iris, told Menelaos of Helen’s infidelity and he gathered the Greeks to attack Troy; at this point in the remaining fragments of the Cypria, Menelaos consulted Nestor and it becomes obvious that, had the Cypria remained intact, we would have a wealth of information concerning many of the greatest heroes of Greece; as you may recall from The Iliad, Nestor was a storyteller; when he was asked a question or his opinion, he would always digress into a series of tales from his youth and never give a simple or concise answer; if you were in a hurry, I can see how this might be annoying but for someone seeking knowledge, and not just facts, Nestor would have been the perfect mentor; mentioned in the Cypria, but not elaborated upon, are: the story of King Oedipus, the foiled love of Epopeus, the madness of Herakles (Hercules) and the pretense of madness by Odysseus to avoid joining the expedition to Troy.
When the Greeks assembled at Aulis, the seer, Kalchas (Calchas) correctly read the omen of the serpent and the birds and predicted victory after ten years of fighting; when the fleet sailed from Aulis, they mistook Teuthrania for Troy and sacked the city; the fleet was then scattered and finally returned to Aulis.
The commander of the Greeks, Agamemnon, killed a deer while hunting and boasted that his skill as a bowman surpassed the goddess, Artemis; the enraged goddess sent heavy seas and prevented the fleet from sailing; the seer, Kalchas, perceived the nature of their plight and advised Agamemnon to send for his daughter, Iphigenia, so that she could be sacrificed to appease Artemis; Agamemnon sent for Iphigenia under the pretense that she was to marry Achilles; when she was about to be sacrificed, Artemis snatched her from the altar and put a stag in her place; Iphigenia was then made immortal and transported to Tauris.
The winds abated and the fleet left Aulis and proceeded towards Troy; when they stopped at the island of Tenedos, one of the soldiers, Philoktetes (Philoktetes), was bitten by a snake and left on the island of Lemnos; the fleet arrived at Troy and the first Greek soldier killed was Protesilaus (Protesilaos); Achilles killed Poseidon’s son, Kyenus, and stole the cattle of Aineias; the Greeks demanded the return of Helen but the Trojans refused; the Greeks then laid waste to the surrounding cities, taking slaves and plunder; at this point of the Cypria, the Trojan War narrative abruptly ends and the remaining fragments are very abbreviated, some are only a few sentences.
The historian, Herodotus, mentions The Kypria in relation to the abduction of Helen by Alexandros; Herodotus reasons that the lines in The Kypria which differ from Homer’s account of the abduction, in The Iliad, prove that Homer was not the author of the Cypria but he does not state who might have been the true author of this remarkable poem.
For the complete translations of the Epic Cycle, including The Kypria, I recommend the Loeb Classical Library volume 57, ISBN 0674990633; you can sometimes find this book at the library or you can order it from the Book Shop on this site.
The Kypria, fragments 1-22
Histories, book 2.117

Cyprian (Kyprian) ¹
The Kyprian; an epithet of Aphrodite (goddess of Love); the name is derived from the island of Cyprus where her worship was most fervent.

Cyprian (Kyprian) ²
Noting or pertaining to the island of Cyprus.

Cyprus
An island in the northwestern corner of the Mediterranean Sea with an area of 3,572 square miles (9,251 square kilometers).
The temple of Aphrodite (goddess of Love) on Cyprus was modeled after the temple of Aphrodite Orania in ancient Syria.
The Egyptians, under the rule of King Amasis (circa 525 BCE), were the first to conquer the island of Cyprus and demand a tribute (tax).
When the Persians, under the leadership of Kambyses (Cambyses), circa 522 BCE, were expanding their dominion over Egypt and the western Mediterranean Sea, the inhabitants of the island of Cyprus voluntarily submitted to the Persians; as part of the Persian Empire, the island of Cyprus was lumped together with Palestinian Syria and Phoenicia and the three nations were required to pay a total of 350 talents of gold, i.e. 19,950 pounds of gold, to support the Empire.
When the Greek colonies in Ionia revolted against the Persians they asked the Athenians and the Spartans for help; the Athenians agreed but the Spartans declined; the Greeks, led by Aristagoras of Miletos (Miletus), burned the city of Sardis (circa 498 BCE); as the revolt was gaining momentum, an ambitious man named Onesilos used the tumult to usurp the leadership of the city of Salamis from his brother, King Gorgos (Gorgus), and forced most of the people of Cyprus to join in the revolution; the city of Amathus was the only city to reject Onesilos and stay loyal to the Persians.
Circa 497 BCE, the Persians, assisted by the Phoenician navy, mounted an attack on the island of Cyprus; it was decided that the navy of the Ionian nations would confront the Phoenician navy and that Onesilos would face the Persian army; the Phoenicians were defeated but the Persians won the land battle and decapitated Onesilos; Gorgos was reinstated as the king of Salamis; the Ionian navy retreated and left Cyprus to the Persians; the inhabitants of Cyprus were, after one year of freedom, returned to the status of slaves of the Persian Empire.
Histories, book 1.105; book 2.182; book 3.19 and 3.91; book 5.104-105 and 5.108-115; book 6.6; book 7.90 and 7.98; book 8.68

Cypselus (Kypselus) ¹
keps EE los
A tyrant of the city of Corinth from 655-625 BCE and the father of Periander.
Kypselus was the son of Eetion and Labda; Labda was a daughter of the ruling family of Corinth, the Bacchiadae, and was forced to marry below her social station because she was lame; when Kypselus was born, the oracle at Delphi predicted that the boy would overthrow the Bacchiadae and establish a new ruling dynasty in Corinth; members of the Bacchiadae plotted to kill Kypselus but Labda hid Kypselus in a chest and he lived to fulfill the prophecy by ousting the Bacchiadae and becoming the new tyrant of Corinth; his name comes from the Greek word Kypsele, meaning Chest or Vessel.

Cypselus (Kypselus) ²
keps EE los
The father of Miltiades; he was a descendant of Aiakos (Aeacus), Aegina, Philaeus and Aias (Ajax); an Athenian statesman and renowned chariot racer.
Histories, book 6.36

Cyrenaic
A school of philosophy founded by Aristippus of Kyrene (Cyrene); he taught that pleasure is the only rational aim of life.

Cyrenaica (Kyrenaika)
An ancient district in north Africa; also called Barka (Barca); it was said to be in eastern Libya but in ancient times, Libya was all of north Africa east of Egypt so the actual location remains unknown.
The name may also be rendered as Cyrenaika.

Cyrene (Kyrene) ¹
kee REE nee
An ancient Greek city and colony in Kyrenaika (Cyrenaica) in Libya, i.e. northern Africa.
Kyrene (now Shahhat) was founded by colonists from the island of Thera (now Santorini) circa 630 BCE at the command of the Pythia (priestess of Apollon) at Delphi; the first attempt at colonization was made on the island of Platea off the coast of Libya which was followed by a settlement on the mainland at Aziris; after six years at Aziris, the Theraeans moved eight miles inland to Apollon’s Spring and established the permanent city of Kyrene.
Thera colonized Kyrene because of a seven year drought on their island; the leader of the colonists was a man named Battus (Battos); there is some dispute as to whether the name Battus was a proper name or simply a generic title because the word Battus meant King in the Libyan language and Stammerer in Greek; the historian, Herodotus, states that the original Battus had a speech impediment and was thus called Battus but the Pythia at Delphi called him Battus because she knew that he would someday be a king in Libya; I personally believe that the name Battus was a proper name because several other kings were also called by that name.
Kyrene was a prosperous city which exported grain, oil and horses to Greece and the Greek islands; they repelled several assaults from Egypt and the native Libyans but the city finally fell under the dominion of the Persian king, Kambyses (Cambyses) in 525 BCE.
The name Kyrene is from the nymph consort of Apollon who inhabited the spring where the city was located; the descendants of the original Battus ruled Kyrene for eight generations which was in accord with the predictions of the Pythia at Delphi.
Histories, book 2.32, 96, 161 and 181; book 3.90; book 4.159-165 and 199
The Taking of Oechalia, fragment 2

Cyrene (Kyrene) ²
kee REE nee
A young maiden who lived in the district of Elis on the Peloponnesian Peninsula.
Apollon became infatuated with Kyrene and took her as his lover; he removed her to Libya and turned her into a nymph so that she could have long life and live as one of the Immortals; she and Apollon had a son which they named Aristaios who was also called Hunter and Shepherd.
Circa 630 BCE, at the command of the Pythia (priestess of Apollon) at Delphi, colonists from the island of Thera (now Santorini) built a city in Libya at a place called Apollon’s Spring and named the city after Apollon’s lover, Kyrene.
Argonautika, book 2, lines 500-527

Cyrus the Great
King of the Persian Empire from 559-529 BCE.
The Persians had once ruled western central Asia but from 687-559 BCE the Medes took control of the entire region (except for a brief period (634-606) when the Scythians temporarily ruled).
Cyrus was the son of the Median princess, Mandane, and a Persian named Kambyses (Cambyses); Mandane’s father, Astyages, was the Median king and had a dream in which Mandane’s son took control of the Median empire; to prevent such an event he ordered his trusted kinsman, Harpagus, to leave the infant in the wilderness to die; the baby was saved by a herdsman named Mitradates and his wife, Kyno (Cyno).
It wasn’t until the boy was a young adult that Astyages realized that Mandane’s son had not been murdered as he had commanded; Astyages blamed Harpagus for the fact that the boy was still alive and punished him by killing Harpagus’ son and feeding the cooked child to Harpagus at a celebratory dinner; Harpagus retained his composure but nurtured a long and bitter hatred for Astyages.
Astyages was still not sure if the boy was a threat to his throne so he consulted his seers, the Magi; they assured him that the boy was harmless but just to be safe, Astyages sent him to live amongst the Persians with his natural parents Mandane and Kambyses; the boy was then named Cyrus and as he grew to manhood he was the best and brightest of his peers.
Harpagus waited through the long years and courted Cyrus with gifts and praise; finally, when he deemed the time was right, he sent a secret message to Cyrus stitched inside a dead rabbit so that Astyages’ spies would not intercept the message; he urged Cyrus to lead the Persians in a revolt to take back the land the Medes had stolen from them only four generations hence.
Cyrus was intrigued by the idea and thought long and hard as to the most subtle way to incite a revolution against the Medes; he called an assembly of the highest ranking Persian families and cleverly persuaded them to join him in a revolt against Astyages; on the first day of the assembly, Cyrus bade the Persians to clear a large field of brush and brambles; on the next day he served the Persians a feast and asked them which they preferred: hard toil or luxury; the meaning was clear to the assembled Persians, they could toil like slaves or they could unite behind Cyrus and take back their country.
Harpagus had spent many years sewing the seeds of discontent throughout Astyages’ empire and when the time came to fight the Persians, Astyages was unable to muster an army to defend his throne; the masters were now slaves and the slaves were now masters; Cyrus repaid Harpagus for his assistance by making him a general in the Persian army, in which he assisted in the Persian conquest of Ionia and southern Asia.
One of Cyrus’ most notable victories was against the Lydians; the king of Lydia, Kroesus (Croesus), was a vain and aggressive leader; he wanted to challenge the power of the newly founded Persian empire and consulted the oracle at Delphi; the pythia (priestess) told Kroesus that if he attacked the Persians a mighty nation would fall; the pythia was unclear as to which nation would fall but Kroesus incorrectly assumed that he would be the victor in the confrontation with the Persians; after his utter defeat at the hands of Cyrus, Kroesus became the captive and advisor of Cyrus and throughout his life, gave frank and valuable advice to Cyrus and his son, Kambyses.
The Persian capture of Babylon was a feat of patience and military prowess; Cyrus diverted the Euphrates River which flowed through Babylon and, when the water level was low enough, his troops were able to enter the city unhindered and capture the wealthiest city in Asia.
Cyrus was not satisfied with the extent of his victories and finally marched to his doom against the insignificant armies of the Massagetae; when the Persians entered the land of the Massagetae, the queen, Tomyris, ordered Cyrus to retreat but Kroesus provided Cyrus with a clever plan by which he could defeat the Massagetae with minimal bloodshed; Cyrus feigned a retreat but left wagons full of food and wine for the Massagetae army to capture; when the Massagetae, who were poor and unsophisticated, came upon the food and wine they gorged themselves and fell into a sated stupor; Cyrus easily captured or slew the drunken Massagetae army and took the queen’s son, Spargapises, as a hostage; he then demanded that Tomyris surrender; she refused and vowed to drown Cyrus in blood; Cyrus did not take the threat seriously and marched boldly into the Massagetae homeland; the Persians were utterly defeated and, true to her word, Tomyris killed Cyrus and filled an animal skin with blood and put it over his head.
Cyrus had ruled for 29 years and, under his leadership, the Persians had expanded their empire to include Asia Minor, Assyria and Syria; Cyrus was admired by the Greeks for his strength and equanimity and affectionately called The Father by the Persians; he was succeeded by his son, Kambyses.
Histories, book 1.107-216

Cyrus the Younger
The second son of the Persian king, Darius II and Parysatis.
When Darius died, the eldest son, Artaxerxes, became king; Artaxerxes was a suspicious man and was easily convinced that Cyrus was plotting against him and trying to steal the throne; Artaxerxes had Cyrus arrested and only through the intervention of his mother, Parysatis, was Cyrus allowed to return to his duties as the satrap (governor) of western Asia Minor; Cyrus never forgave the indignity his brother had heaped upon him and, if he had not been his brother’s enemy before his arrest, he was surely his enemy afterwards.
Cyrus very deliberately used his influence to sway various Persian officials and to befriend the Greeks so that he might solicit their aid when he moved to dethrone his brother; his friendly relations with the Spartans helped them defeat the Athenians during the Peloponnesian War (circa 407 BCE) and thus his close contact with the Greeks of Ionia made him a respected and trusted ally.
After the Peloponnesian War was over (404 BCE) there were thousands of Greek warriors who had been soldiers all of their adult lives (the war lasted for 27 years) and they had no intention of returning to their homes to become shopkeepers or farmers; Cyrus enlisted these battle-hardened men to form a mercenary army and march against his brother, Artaxerxes; the historian, Xenophon, was with the mercenary army of Cyrus when they made their failed attempt to take the Persian throne from Artaxerxes; Cyrus was killed in the battle of Kunaxa (Cunaxa) in 401 BCE and his head and hands were severed and put on display; as leader of the mercenary army, Cyrus is also called Cyrus of the Ten Thousand.
For an account of the Greek mercenaries who assisted Cyrus, read the book, Anabasis, by Xenophon; it is an excellent story that is historically revealing as well as a dramatic view of a soldier’s life in the ancient world; I suggest the Loeb Classical Library version of this book (ISBN 0674991001) which is sometimes available at the library or can be ordered from the Book Shop on this site.

Cythera (Kythera)
An island off the southern coast of Lakonia (Laconia); after Aphrodite (goddess of Love) rose from the blood of Ouranos (the Heavens) and the foam of the sea, she went ashore on Kythera and is thus called Kytherean.
Approximate East Longitude 22º 58' and North Latitude 36º 20'

Cytherean (Kytherean)
A name for Aphrodite (goddess of Love) because, after she rose from the blood of Ouranos (the Heavens) and the foam of the sea, the island of Kythera (Cythera) was the first land she encountered.

Cythnos (Kythnos)
One of the islands in the Kyklades (Cyclades) Group located in the southern Aegean Sea directly between the islands of Keos (Ceos) and Seriphos.
Approximate East Longitude 24º 42' and North Latitude 37º 42'

Cytissorus (Kytissoros)
kee TEE soh ros
One of the four sons of Phrixus and Chalkiope (Chalciope); Kytissoros and his brothers, Argos, Phrontis and Melas, all became Argonauts.
Chalkiope was the daughter of King Aietes of Kolchis (Colchis); Phrixus, and his sister, Helle, were given a flying ram with a Golden Fleece to escape their evil stepmother, Ino, and their father, King Athamas of Orchomenos (Orchomenus); during their escape from Orchomenos, Helle fell from the ram and drowned in the sea but Phrixus managed to reach Kolchis and sacrifice the ram in the Garden of Ares; King Aietes was so impressed with Phrixus and the miraculous golden ram, he allowed him to marry his daughter, Chalkiope, without the wedding gifts which were traditionally expected from a suitor.
Kytissoros and his brothers were raised in Kolchis but after their father died, he and his brothers left to avenge their father’s unwarranted treatment by King Athamas; Kytissoros and his brothers did not reach Orchomenos as they had planned; instead, they became stranded on the Island of Ares in the Euxine (Black Sea); they were rescued from the island by the Argonauts; the Argonauts were on their way to Kolchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece and their encounter with Kytissoros and his brothers was more than a chance occurrence; Kytissoros and his brothers joined the crew of the Argo and returned to Kolchis.
Later in life, Kytissoros managed to confront Athamas but he did not avenge the malevolent treatment of his father as he had intended; he came upon Athamas in Achaea (Achaia) in the town of Alus; the Achaeans (Achaians), at the command of an oracle of Zeus, were preparing to sacrifice Athamas; Kytissoros saved Athamas and, by doing so, incurred the resentment of Zeus; from that time forward, the eldest member of Athamas’ family was forbidden, on penalty of death, to enter the town hall of Alus.
His name may also be rendered as Cytissoros or Kytissorus.
Argonautika, book 2, lines 1140-1156
Histories, book 7.197

Cyzicos (Kyzikos) ¹
The son of Aineios and Ainete; ruler of the Doliones who dwelt on a peninsula attached to the Phrygian mainland and jutting into the Propontis (Sea of Marmara).
When Jason and the Argonauts chanced to encounter the Doliones, Kyzikos had just celebrated his marriage but left the bridal chamber to greet the illustrious crew of the Argo; after the formalities of hospitality had been observed, the Argonauts continued on their quest for the Golden Fleece and Kyzikos returned to his bride, Kleite (Cleite).
After taking their leave of King Kyzikos, the Argonauts lost their way in the night and contrary winds blew them back to the peninsula; when the Doliones saw the Argo approaching in the night, they mistakenly assumed that they were being invaded by their enemies and attacked the Argonauts in the darkness; Jason killed Kyzikos in the heat of battle without realizing who he was fighting.
When the light of day revealed the horrible mistakes both sides had made, the Argonauts and the Doliones mourned the needless death of Kyzikos; Kleite, Kyzikos’ new bride, could not endure the loss of her beloved husband and hanged herself; the nymphs of the grove cried such tears that a fountain formed and was named after Kyzikos’ devoted wife, Kleite.
His name may also be rendered as Kyzikus, Cyzikos or Cyzikus.
Argonautika, book 1, lines 936-960 and 1012-1076

Cyzicos (Kyzikos) ²
A peninsula which juts into the Propontis (Sea of Marmara) from the Phrygian mainland and a city on that peninsula.
Although not really an island, the peninsula of Kyzikos is often called Bear Island as well as Bear Mountain; a narrow isthmus connects the peninsula with the mainland and the city of Kyzikos is located on the isthmus.
Kyzikos was controlled by various factions of the Greeks until 387-6 BCE when the Persians took the town as part of the Peace of Antalkidas (Antalcidas).
The name may also be rendered as Kyzikus, Cyzikos or Cyzikus.
Approximate East Longitude 27º 90' and North Latitude 40º 41'
Anabasis, book 7 ii 5
Histories, book 4.100