Echidna
( Echinda )
Greek monster goddess. Half woman, half snake. Depending on who you read she is daughter of Tartarus & Gaia (Hesiod), or of Piras & Styx (Apollodorus), or of the sea-deities Phorcus & Ceto (Pausanias). Echidna produced a generation of monsters after consorting with Typhon:
Chimera,
Ladon,
Cerberus,
Orthus,
Sphinx,
Hydra,
Scylla,
Lion,
Eagle,
Sow (Theseus slew this one),
Gorgon,
Harpies.
Herodotus says she had the Sphinx by Orthus. Echidna was caught asleep and slain by Argus.
Echo
( none )
Greek mountain nymph (Oread). She upset Zeus and died trying to reciprocate the love of Narcissus.
Eileithyia
( Latin Ilithyia )
Greek goddess of childbirth. Daughter of Zeus and Hera. Sister of Ares, Eris, Hebe and Hephaestus. Her cult appears to have originated in Crete, where it remained most popular after its spread to the rest of the Greek world. In Homer she is described as the personification of the pain of childbirth. In later times, she was largely replaced by Artemis as a goddess of childbirth.
Eirene
( Latin Irene )
"Peace". Greek goddess of peace. One of the three Horae (Seasons) along with her sisters Dike and Eunomia. Daughter of Zeus and Themis. Equated by the Romans with their goddess Pax.
Electra
( none )
1. Daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. After her mother and Aegisthus murdered Agamemnon, Electra, eager for revenge, longed only for the return of her brother, Orestes. The reunion and vengeance of the brother and sister were dramatized by the three great tragedians Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. However, only in the work of Euripides did Electra take an active part in the killing of Clytemnestra. It is said that she later married Pylades, Orestes' friend, and bore him two sons.
2. One of the Pleiades. She was the daughter of Atlas and Pleione and mother by Zeus of Dardanus, the founder of what was to become the house of Troy. According to one legend she was the lost Pleiad, disappearing in grief after the destruction of Troy.
3. After Hesiod, a sea nymph, daughter of Oceanus and Tethys and mother by Thaumus of Iris, the rainbow, and the Harpies.
Empousae
( none )
Greek demonesses and agents of Hecate.
Enceladus
( none )
One of the Greek Titans. Son of Gaea. After the Titans were defeated by the gods led by Zeus, he fled to Sicily, where he was killed by Heracles or Athena. Mount Aetna was placed over his body and was believed to come to activity whenever he turned over or hissed.
Enyalius
( none )
Minor Greek god of war. A companion of Ares, or perhaps merely one of his epithets.
Enyo
( none )
Another follower of the God of War who accompanied Ares into battle. Daughter of Ares and Aphrodite. Equated by the Romans with their goddess Bellona.
Eos
( Latin Aurora )
Greek goddess of the dawn. According to Hesiod she was the daughter of Hyperion and Theia, and the sister of Helios (sun) and Selene (moon). Homer refers to her as "rosy-fingered dawn". He said in his epic poem about Troy that the morning dew was her tears shed for her son Memnon who fell at Troy. Hesiod gives her consort as the Titan Astraeus, by whom she was said to be the mother of winds Zephyrus (west), Notus (south), as well as of the evening star Hesperusm, and the morning star Eosphorus. Other versions make her the consort of Aeolos (storm and wind), and having given birth to all the winds, Boreoas (north) and Eutus (east) as well. Her stories are all affairs she had with other gods, or mortals. Unfortunately she was caught with Ares by Aphrodite who cursed Eos to always want to have sex with young men, god or mortal. She had Orion, Cephalus, and Tithonas as lovers. Her saddest experience was with Tithonas, son of a Trojan king. She kidnapped him and after a while asked Zeus to make him immortal. Zeus did but forgot to make him stop aging as well. So Tithonas got older and older shrivelling up until she put him in one of her rooms and closed the door. He started to protest but his protests, as he got smaller and smaller (because he was drying up in old age) sounded like chirps. He is considered by many to be the one of the insects of cicadas, which chirps endlessly when it becomes dark. It is with Tithonas that she had Memnon one of the heroes of Troy, and who died there. The Romans referred to her as Aurora.
Erato
( none )
Greek muse of lyric poetry, particularly love poetry. Daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne. Usually depicted with a lyre.
Erebos
( Erebus )
The darkness of the underworld below Hades, personified as a deity in Hesiod. Son of Chaos and Nyx (night). He later became the consort of Nyx, by whom he fathered Aether (light) and Hemera (day).
Erechtheus
( Erichthonos )
Legendary god-king of Athens, and an earth or ancestor spirit of the Athenian people. He was said to be the son of Hephaestus, whose semen fell upon the earth (Gaea) when he attempted to rape the goddess Athena. Athena raised him at the Athenian Acropolis. Erechtheus was depicted either as a snake or with the tail of a snake.
Eridanus
( none )
Greek river god. It was into the river Eridanus that Phaethon plunged after his ill-fated attempt to drive the sun-chariot. Some have tentatively identified this as the river Po.
Erinyes
( sing. Erinys, Eumenides, Roman Furies )
Greek avenging goddesses. According to Hesiod, they were born from the blood of the castrated god Ouranus which fell upon Gaea, the earth. Euripedes was the first to give there number as three: Alekto ("unceasing"), Megaira ("jealous"), and Tisiphone ("avenger of murder"). They punished criminals, especially those who sinned against their parents. Depicted with snake-covered heads and bearing torches from the underworld, where they lived. Often referred to as the Eumenides ("the kind ones") or as the Semnai ("the venerable ones").
Eris
( none )
Greek goddess of discord and strife. Daughter of Zeus and Hera. Sister and companion of Ares. Mother of Ate by Zeus. It was her Golden Apple ("apple of discord") which created the strife among the gods that ultimately led to the Trojan War. Because the gods did not want Eris to cause trouble they did not invite her to the wedding of the mortal Peleus and the sea nymph Thetis. Eris found out and swore to cause trouble. She choose one of her apples of Discord and threw the apple among the guests at a wedding feast, with the inscription "to the fairest". Hera, Aphrodite and Athena each claimed the apple. Zeus attempted to resolve the conflict by having Paris decide the issue calling him the most handsome of men so he could decide the most beautiful of the immortal women. His decision, however, lead to him eloping with Helen to Troy. And feeling slighted, Hera and Athena vowed to bring destruction to Troy in revenge. Her Roman equivalent was Discordia.
Eros
( Roman Amor/Cupid )
Greek god of love and fertility. In Hesiod, he was said to have been born of Chaos. He was later said to be the son of Aphrodite and one of Ares, Hephaestus, Zeus or Hermes. Eros was accompanied by Pothos (longing) and Himeros (desire). Depicted as a winged youth with bow and arrows. His arrows had the power to make both gods and mortals fall in love.
Erotes
( none )
Boy-like gods in late Classical art and poetry who derived from the god Eros.
Esenchebis
( none )
Greek name for Isis (Egyptian).
Eudora
( none )
There are 3 of these mentioned in Greek Mythology.
The first was a Nereides.
The second was one of the Hyades.
The third was one of the Oceanides.
Euippe
( none )
There are 7 of these in Greek mythology.
1. The first was one of the Danaides, married to Argius or to Agenor, but in either case she remained virgin. (See Danaids)
2. This Euippe was also a Danaides and married, according to Apollodorus, to Imbrus.
3. This Euippe was a daughter of Daunus (not Danaus), king in Apulia in a region he named Daunia. Diomedes, fleeing from Argos, was shipwrecked in Daunia, where Daunus asked him to help in a war with the Mesapians and promised Euippe would marry him. When Diomedes won he had a son, Diomedes (confusing as that is).
4. This was another name for Hippe, daughter of Cheron.
5. This Euippe was daughter of Leucon and granddaughter of Athamas, and brother to Eurythrus. She married Andreus but had a son from the river god Cephissus in Boeotia. That son was Eteocles first to offer sacrifices to the Charities at Orchomenus.
6. This one was daughter of Tyrimmas of Epeirus. Odysseus, consulting with the oracle was entertained by Tyrimmas and seduced Euippe. Their son was Euryalus. She sent him to her father when he grew up with proof of his identity. Odysseus was away but Penelope who knew of the affair received him. She told Odysseus that he was part of a plot to kill him. So Odysseus killed Euryaus. His mother never learned about her son’s death.
7. She was the wife of Pierus and mother of nine daughters named for the Muses. (She was often called Antiope)
Eumenides
( none )
Greek Erinyes, or Furies.
Eunomia
( none )
"Good Order". Greek goddess of law and order. One of the Horae (Seasons) along with Dike and Eirene. Daughter of Zeus and Themis. The Horae were entrusted with guarding the gates of Olympus. They were collectively honoured in the annual festival of the Horaea.
Euphrosyne
( Euphrosine )
"Joy". One of the Greek Charites (Graces). Euphrosyne was the personification of joy and festivity. The Charites were said to be the daughters of Zeus and either Hera or Eurynome.
Euryale
( none )
One of the Greek Gorgons, daughters of Ceto and Phorkys. Her sister Gorgons were Medusa and Stheno.
Eurydice
( none )
A Greek Dryad (woodland nymph); wife of Orpheus. She was bitten by a snake while fleeing Aristaeus, whence she died and descended to the Underworld. In a famous tale, her husband Orpheus descended to the Underworld to retrieve her. Hades allowed Eurydice to follow Orpheus to the surface, on condition that Orpheus did not look back at Eurydice until they had left the Underworld. The two reached the threshold between the Underworld and the world of the living, but Orpheus turned to look at Eurydice before they had actually crossed the threshold, and Eurydice was immediately whisked back to the realm of Hades, condemned to eternal death.
Eurynome
( none )
One of the Greek Oceanids (Oceanides), daughters of Oceanus and Tethys. According to Apollonius of Rhodes, Eurynome was a primordial goddess who ruled Olympus with Ophion before the advent of Cronos. She had a cult centre at Phigaleia in Arcadia.
Euros
( none )
Greek god of the east wind. Son of Eos, possibly by Astraeus. Sometimes equated by the Romans with Voltumus, the god of the River Tiber.
Euterpe
( none )
Greek muse of flute playing, variously given as the patron of tragedy or of lyric poetry. Daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne. Her symbol was the double flute, which she was said to have invented.
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