echidnA

 Greek A monster-child of Gaia and Tartarus or, in some tellings, of Ceto and Phorcys. Echidna was half human and half serpent. She once lived in a cave where she ate the flesh of men. With Typhon, another monster, she had a brood of fright‑

ful children. In one story, the hundred-eyed ARGUS killed her while she slept.

Among the offspring of Echidna and Typhon were CERBERUS, the Hound of Hell; HYDRA, the many-headed serpent of Lerna; and the CHIMERA, a fire-breathing goat with a lion’s head and a serpent’s body. By Orthos, a two-headed hound, Echidna begot the SPHINX and the Nemean Lion (see The Twelve Labors of Heracles, 1. The Nemean Lion, under HERACLES).

ECHO Greek An OREAD, or mountain NYMPH, daughter of GAIA. The goddess HERA, in a fit of jealousy, deprived her of speech, except for the ability to repeat the last words spoken by somebody else. Echo fell in love with NARCISSUS, but Narcissus loved only his own reflection. Echo faded away until there was nothing left of her except her voice, which may still be heard in the mountains and caves of the world.

The story of Echo and Narcissus is told in OVID’s Metamorphoses. It belongs to later Greek mythology.

EGERIA (AEGERiA) Roman A goddess of springs, perhaps originally a goddess of the BABINE people; also considered a deity that protected pregnant women and helped them bring their babies safely into the world. Egeria had the gift of prophecy. She was later considered by the Romans as one of the water NYMPHS known as the CAMENAE. Followers paid tribute to Egeria at a site near the Caelian Hill in RoME.

The dominant myth surrounding Egeria says that she was either an advisor to NUMA PoMPILIUS, ruler of the Sabines and the second king of RoME, or his lover or wife. According to some versions of her story, Egeria favored Numa, so she would answer his every summons. Numa would invite her to public gather-ings, where Egeria appeared in great sumptuousness, bringing with her great feasts. Other stories describe Egeria and Numa meeting secretly at night in a grove near the spring that would later be her site of worship. There she taught him how to honor the gods and properly ask for their help. Some sources suggest that Egeria’s gift of prophecy allowed her to help the king develop the just and fair laws for which he became famous.

After Numa died, Egeria, the nymph, was said to have despaired so much that the goddess DIANA took pity on her and turned her into the spring that was so important to her.

EILEITHYA (iliTHyA) Greek Goddess of childbirth. Daughter of HERA and ZEUS. Eileithya is met in accounts of the births of HERACLES and of LETo’s delivery of her divine twins, APoLLo and ARTEMIS. Eileithya is probably a pre-Olympian goddess whose function was to take care of women in childbirth. She was sometimes identi-fied with Hera, sometimes with Artemis.

EIRENE (iRENE; Peace) Greek Goddess of peace. Eirene was the daughter of ZEUS and THEMIS, a TITAN goddess. According to the Greek poet HESIoD, she was one of the HoRAE, goddesses of the seasons.

Eirene was also considered the goddess of health. She is often pictured on coins holding a CORNUCOPIA, shafts of wheat, or an olive branch. A burning pile of weapons and armor represents Eirene on some artifacts. In ROME, she was worshiped as PAx.

ELEcTRA (1) Greek Daughter of AGAMEMNON and CLYTEMNESTRA; sister of IPHIGENIA and ORESTES. Agamemnon was the leader of the Achaean (Greek) forces in the TROJAN WAR. While her husband was gone to war, Clytemnestra took a lover, AEGISTHUS. When Agamemnon finally returned, he brought with him the lovely CASSANDRA. Aided by Aegist-hus, Clytemnestra murdered both Agamemnon and Cassandra. To avenge their father’s death, Electra and Orestes murdered Clytemnestra and Aegisthus. Electra eventually married Pylades.

Many great playwrights tell the story of this tragic mythical family, including AESCHYLUS, SOPHOCLES, and EURIPIDES, and in modern times Eugene O’Neill (1883–1953) in Mourning Becomes Electra.

ELEcTRA (2) Greek One of the PLEIADES; daughter of ATLAS and PLEIONE; mother, by ZEUS, of DARDANUS, the founder of TROY. Some say that Electra was the lost Pleiad, who faded away with grief after the TROJAN WAR and the destruction of Troy.

ELEcTRA (3) (AMBER) Greek A sea NYMPH, or OCEANID, daughter of OCEANUS and TETHYS; one of the eldest of this group of nymphs, which numbered in the thousands; considered one of the second-generation TITANS. She married THAUMUS, a son of GAIA and PONTUS, and with him was the mother of IRIS (Rainbow) and the HARPIES (Winds).

Electra was considered a bright shining nymph who shone with an amber glow and was thought to live among the clouds, which would be appropriate since she was mother of rainbows and the spirits of sharp strong winds.

ELEusis Ancient city in ATTICA, in ancient GREECE, famous for being the site of the Eleusian Mysteries (see Demeter and the Eleusinian Mysteries, under DEMETER).

ELysiuM Greek A conception of afterlife, the pre-Hellenic paradise that the Greeks identified with their mythical Islands of the Blessed, located at the ends of the Earth—“the far west.” People, or their shades, who were transported there led a blessedly happy life rather than remaining in the oblivion of the truly dead of the UNDERWORLD. RHADAMANTHUS

and CRONUS were joint rulers of this paradise. In HOMER, Elysium was a place for elite heroes; in HESIOD, it was a place for the blessed dead; and from the time of PINDAR, it was believed that admission to Elysium was the reward of a good life. Elysian, which means “in Elysium,” still refers to paradise in the phrase “Elysian fields.”

ENDyMioN Greek According to various sources, the son of ZEUS and Calyce or the shepherd son of Aethlius; prince or king of Elis, a region of the PELOPONNESUS; he was a beautiful young man, loved by Selene (Moon).

In one myth, Endymion begged Zeus to give him immortality so that he could be with Selene forever. Zeus granted his request with the condition that he remain eternally asleep. Another myth has it that Selene herself imposed eternal sleep on Endymion so that she might enjoy his beauty forever. In another story, it is said that Selene had 50 daughters by Endymion. Selene visited Endymion on many nights of the month, personifying the gentle radiance of the Moon that caresses the sleep of mortals.

ENyo (1) Greek A goddess of war, specifically known for sacking cities and towns of the enemy; daughter of ZEUS and HERA; depicted as the sister, daughter, or mother of the war god ARES, often included as a companion of Ares when he went into battle.

Enyo was most known for her terrifying war cry and was portrayed carrying a lance and torch with which she incited troops to do battle. She was known to be the force sent to destroy cities. In Roman mythology, she took on the traits of BELLONA, an ancient goddess of warfare.

ENyo (2) Greek One of the three GRAEA, who were daughters of CETO and PHORCYS; sister of Pemphrado and Dino and of the GORGONS. Between them, the three Graea shared one eye and one tooth, which they passed to each other as they needed it.

Eos (Dawn) Greek The goddess of dawn. She was the daughter of HELIOS (Sun), or, some accounts say, the sister of Helios and SELENE (Moon), begotten by the TITANS, HYPERION and Theia. The Romans called her AURORA. Eos was married to TITHONUS, but she had many other lovers. Eos is depicted as a beautiful young woman, sometimes riding the dawn skies on the winged horse, PEGASUS, sometimes in a chariot drawn by two horses.

With the Titan ASTRAEUS as their father, Eos was mother to the winds ZEPHYRUS and BOREAS and various astral bodies.

Memnon was one of her sons with TITHONUS. CEPHALUS was one of her partners in a tragic love affair.

EPAPHUS Greek The son of the god ZEUS and IO. Epaphus was born in Egypt. HERA, wife of Zeus, was jealous of Io and tormented her endlessly until Io, in the shape of a young white cow, eventually escaped to Egypt, where Zeus restored her to her human shape. There, Io bore her son. Hera, still jealous, ordered the CURETES to kidnap Epaphus. This they did, but Zeus destroyed the Curetes and rescued the child. Epaphus later became king of Egypt, where he built the great city of Memphis, capital of the Old Kingdom of ancient Egypt.

EPHESUS Greek An ancient Greek city of ASIA MINOR (today, Turkey, south of Izmir). Once a wealthy seaport, Ephesus was the site of a temple to the goddess ARTEMIS (Roman DIANA); the temple was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

EPIDAURUS Greek A city in southern GREECE (northeastern PELOPONNESUS) celebrated in ancient times as the sanctuary of ASCLEPIUS, god of medicine and healing. Epidaurus is also famous for its magnifi-cent theater, dating from the fourth century B.C.

EPIGONI (Descendants, the younger generation) Greek The sons of the SEVEN AGAINST THEBES, an expedition launched by ADRASTUS and Polynices to capture the throne of THEBES. The effort failed and Adrastus was the only survivor. When the sons of the Seven, the Epigoni, were old enough to bear arms, Adrastus rallied them to make a second attack. This one succeeded. Thebes was destroyed. It was a bitter victory for Adrastus, for his son Aegialeus was killed.

EPIMETHEUS (Afterthought) Greek Brother of PROMETHEUS, a TITAN. Epimetheus accepted PAN-DORA as his wife, in spite of the warnings of his wiser brother. Pandora had been created by the gods to punish humankind for accepting the forbidden gift of fire from Prometheus.

EPIRUS Greek An ancient country of GREECE on the Ionian Sea, west of Macedonia and THESSALY. Epirus was the home of the ORACLE at DODONA and refuge of the CENTAURS when they were expelled from their native Thessaly.

EPONA Roman A goddess who protected horses, donkeys, and mules, and paid special attention to foals and mares during the birthing process.

Epona was most popular among the soldiers of the Roman armies, who placed images celebrating her, often small statues, in their stables. Epona was said to be the daughter of a mare and a human.

The name, Epona, which is the source of pony, comes from the Celtic language of the British Isles. Some scholars suggest that Epona was a goddess of those northern people and later became a favorite in ROME after the Empire expanded into England in the first century. Epona is credited as the only Celtic god to be welcomed into the Roman pantheon.

Other scholars, however, argue that a Roman goddess of horses was a very old deity in Central Italy and only her name changed after contact with the British Isles.

EREBUS (Darkness) Greek The personification of darkness. Erebus sprang from CHAOS at the begin-ning of time. He was the father of CHARON, NEMESIS, and others. His name was given to the gloomy under­ground cavern through which the dead had to walk on their way to the UNDERwORLD.

ERECHTHEUS Greek The son of DARDANUS, the founder of TROY. Erechtheus was said to be the richest king on Earth. He owned thousands of magnificent horses, the offspring of BOREAS, the North Wind. He was the father of Tros and the grandfather of Ilus, GANYMEDE, and Assaracus. King PRIAM of Troy was a descendant of Ilus.

ERICHTHONIUS Greek Legendary king of ATH-ENS. According to HOMER, Erichthonius was the son of the lame god, HEPHAESTUS, and GAIA. He grew out of semen spilled by Hephaestus when he tried to force his attentions on the goddess ATHENE. Earth nourished the seed and the child, Erichthonius, was born.

In a later story, Athene placed the child in a basket and gave him to the daughters of Cecrops, legendary first king of ATHENS, to look after. She forbade them to open the basket but the women could not resist. When they saw what was inside, they ran off scream-ing, for the child was half serpent. It is common in Greek mythology for men born of the soil to be rep-resented as half serpent, for serpents were regarded as the essential Earth creatures in ancient times.

After Erichthonius became king, he established the worship of Athene in Athens.

ERIGONE Greek Daughter of King IcARIUS of ATTIcA in ancient GREEcE, the area of the southeast-ern mainland where modern ATHENS now stands. Drunken shepherds killed her father and buried him. Erigone and her faithful dog, Maera, set out in search of the vanished king. When Erigone discovered the tomb of Icarius, she was grief-stricken and hanged herself from a nearby tree. The gods transformed her into the constellation VIRGO, and Maera became Procyon, the brightest star in Canis Minor.

ERINYES Greek The three avengers of wrong, generally known by their Roman name, the FURIES. They were also called EUMENIDES (Good-Tempered Ones) by the wise and tactful Greeks, who feared their wrath.

ERIPHYLE Greek Wife of AMPHIARAUS mother of ALcMAEON, sister of ADRASTUS. Eriphyle was given the magic necklace of HARMONIA, a guarantee of unfading beauty, for persuading her husband, Amphiaraus, and her brother, Adrastus, to join in the disastrous rebel-lion known as the SEPEN AGAINST THEBES. Alcmaeon killed Eriphyle but his mother’s dying curse was that no land would ever shelter her son.

ERIS (Discord) Greek The spirit or goddess of strife; the sister of ARES, Eris accompanied him into battle and helped to cause quarrels and lawlessness. In Hesiod’s poems, she is the daughter of NYx (Night). Later legends say that Eris helped to cause the TROJAN WAR by flinging her “apple of discord” among the guests at the wedding of PELEUS and THETIS. Three jealous goddesses competed for the golden apple. PARIS awarded the prize to APHRODITE, goddess of love and beauty.

EROS (Erotic Love) Greek God of love and fertil-ity, called CUPID by the Romans. In ancient times, Eros was a force to be feared. He represented the havoc and misery that could be brought about by love and desire. In later times, Eros was depicted as an overweight baby, winged, and carrying a bow and a quiver of arrows, which he would shoot off randomly. The parentage of Eros is confused and obscure. He is often thought of as the son of the goddess of love, APHRODITE. His father may have been the great god ZEUS; the god of war, ARES; or the god of fertility, HERMES. Older traditions say that he is the son of GAIA, and therefore almost as old as the Earth. Though he appeared in many legends, Eros was never considered important enough to be set among the 12 great OLYMPIAN GODS.

Eros, the winged god of love, pulls at the hair of an old centaur. This marble statue is a Roman copy made in the first century A.D. of an original from Greece made in the second century B.C. It stands in the Louvre in Paris. (Photograph by Marie-Lan Nguyen.)

Nevertheless he is depicted as the constant companion of Aphrodite. The most famous tale about Eros is Eros (or Cupid) and Psyche.

Eros and Psyche Eros was a Greek god of love, perhaps the son of Aphrodite, goddess of love. PSYcHE was a mortal princess. She was so beautiful that Aph­rodite, in a jealous rage, ordered Eros to punish the maiden. Eros fell in love with Psyche and carried her off to a magnificent palace and married her. He did not reveal his identity to her and commanded her never to try to see his face. Psyche fell in love with the man she could not see and vowed never to look at him. Eventu-ally, Psyche’s sisters persuaded her to break her vow, and as Eros lay asleep next to her, Psyche lit a lamp and beheld her husband’s beautiful face. Eros and all the beautiful surroundings immediately disappeared.

From then on, an angry Aphrodite pursued and tormented the maiden. She survived terrible ordeals,

helped by a mysterious force, Eros. Finally Eros pleaded with Zeus to put an end to her suffering. Zeus consented and conferred immortality on Psyche. The wedding of Psyche and Eros was celebrated on OLYM-PUS, and Aphrodite, it is said, joined in the festivities.

ERYTHEIA (ERyTHiA; Dazzling Light) Greek A DRYAD, or wood NYMPH; one of the sisters known as the HESPERIDES; either the daughters of EREBUS (Darkness) and NYX (Night) or the daughters of ATLAS and PLEIONE or Hesperis. Her sisters, those named by people writing during the classic age of Greek mythol-ogy, were AEGLE (2), ARETHUSA, and HESPERIA.

ETHER (AETHER; Bright upper air) Greek Son of NYX (Night) and EREBUS (Darkness); brother of HEMERA (Day).

Ether was the personification of the upper air, the pure, bright, and good realm where the gods dwelled. He stretched between the dome of the sky, which was the realm of URANUS, and the air close to the Earth that humans breathed. Each night, his mother blocked the mortal view of Ether, and each day Hem-era revealed his brilliant blue to the people below. Some Greek poets and writers claimed that Ether was the source of all life, the soul of the universe.

Ether was said to be the father, with his sister Hemera, of the sea goddess THALASSA, and of many natural forces, such as anger, lies, sorrow, and pride.

ETHIOPIA A country in northeast Africa. In Greek mythology, ANDROMEDA was the daughter of CEPHEUS and CASSIOPEIA of Ethiopia. Memnon, a hero of the TROJAN WAR, was a king of Ethiopia.

ETRURIA Roman An ancient culture that thrived in west central Italy from as early as the eighth to the fourth centuries B.C. Etruria was northwest of ROME. Archaeologists and historians have concluded that Etruria was not a kingdom or nation as much as a people who shared a culture and a language and lived in what are now the regions of Tuscany and Umbria.

The history and development of the Etruscans, who joined their cities into a loose confederation or cooperative, overlaps with that of their neighbors, the people of the city of Rome. The last three kings of Rome, the Tarquins, were immigrants from Etruria. They ruled in the 500s B.C. Some scholars believe the stories of their reign are as much a part of legend and mythology as of history.

After expelling the last of these kings in about 509 B.C., the Romans formed their first republic and

elected their first leaders. Eventually, the Romans conquered the cities of Etruria and absorbed that culture into their own.

The ancient gods of the Etruscans influenced the formation and development of the classical Roman religion. Many Roman gods and goddesses, such as SATURN and DIANA, were first Etruscan deities.

The Estruscans were highly regarded for the ability of some of their people to see into the future. This gift, known as divination or divining, involved elaborate ceremonies and rituals that enhanced their ability to read in the signs of the Earth the intentions of the gods. This knowledge helped the Roman leaders make major decisions. Divination was a key element in help-ing the Romans determine when to bring the power of a Greek god or goddess into their own culture.

EUMENIDES (Good-Tempered Ones) Greek The ironic name Greek people used for the ERINYES, fear-some creatures whose name means FURIES. Eumenides is the term writers and poets generally used for them in literature.

EUNOMIA (Order) Greek A goddess of order and lawful conduct and one of the three HORAE, guardians of the seasons, with her sisters DIRE (Justice) and EIRENE (Peace). She was the daughter of ZEUS and THEMIS.

Eunomia involved herself in the law-making process, helping mankind establish wise laws that allowed societies to prosper. Cities would lay claim to her, bragging that she chose to dwell within their walls. Eunomia had specific duties over springtime and the greening of nature.

EURIPIDES (480–406 b.c.) One of the great Greek tragedians, ranked with AESCHYLUS and SOPHOCLES, though his attitudes were very different from theirs. He found it hard to believe that the gods and god-desses, with their capricious, all-too-human ways, were the creators of the universe. To him, mortal men and women were more interesting and noble, and their triumphs and tragedies more worthy of notice and of compassion. Among his surviving plays are Andromache, The Bacchae, Electra, Hecuba, Heracles, Medea, and The Trojan Women.

EUROPA Greek Daughter of AGENOR, king of Tyre (a seaport in PHOENICIA) and Telephassa, and the sister of CADMUS, PHOENIX, and CILIX. Mother of MINOS, RHADAMANTHUS, and SARPEDON with ZEUS; and of Euphemus with POSEIDON; wife of ASTERION, king of CRETE.

Europa was famed for her beauty. Zeus fell in love with her and, knowing that the maiden liked to wan-der on the shore, devised a plan. He turned himself into a snow-white BULL and grazed peacefully on the grass near the shore. The beautiful animal enchanted Europa. She caressed him and twined garlands of flowers upon his horns. When the bull gracefully knelt before her, she climbed upon his back, where-upon the bull dashed into the sea and swam with Europa to the island of Crete, which lies south of GREECE. There he turned himself into an eagle and mated with Europa. She bore him three sons: Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Sarpedon. Later Europa married Asterion, the king of Crete, who adopted her sons. She was worshiped as a goddess after her death.

The story of Europa and the bull is very old. It probably refers back to a time when the bull, a symbol of strength and fertility, was the principal cult animal of the eastern Mediterranean. It seems possible that the figure of Zeus was grafted onto an ancient Cretan story.

Zeus’s capture of Europa may refer to an early Hellenic raid on PHOENICIA by HELLENES from Crete, when Taurus, king of Crete, assaulted Tyre during the absence of Agenor and his sons. The Hellenes took the city and carried off many captives, including the king’s daughter. The story also represents the contribution of Phoenician civilization to that of Crete, which is symbolized by the bull god.

EURYALE (Wide-Stepping) Greek One of the three GORGONS, female monsters; daughter of CETO, an ancient sea goddess, and PHORCYS; her sisters were STHENO and MEDUSA. Euryale and Stheno were immortal, while their sister, Medusa, was mortal. Euryale and Stheno shared with Medusa the power to turn people to stone when the mortals looked into a gorgon’s eyes.

The hero PERSEUS was sent by POLYDECTES to retrieve the head of a gorgon; of course, he chose to cut off Medusa’s because she was mortal. Euryale and Stheno chased Perseus after his theft, raking the air with their great claws. As she flew after Perseus, Euryale screamed an agonized shriek that echoed after him. The gods turned that shriek into lamenting music and gave the song to humans.

Euryale may also mean “the wide sea,” which would fit her role as a daughter of sea gods.

EURYBIA Greek A TITAN; daughter of the EARTH MOTHER GAIA and her son PONTUS, an early sea god.

This heritage gave Eurybia power over the seas, perhaps even over the tides and the rise and fall of the constellations. She married the Titan god CRIUS and with him had three children, ASTRAEUS, PALLAS, and PERSES.

EURYDICE Greek A beautiful DRYAD (tree NYMPH) who became the wife of ORPHEUS. While pursued by ARISTAEUR, she was bitten by a serpent and died. Stricken with grief, Orpheus charmed his way into the UNDERWORLD (1) and persuaded HADES to release his wife. Seduced by the beautiful music of Orpheus, Hades let Eurydice go, on the condition that Orpheus would not look back to see if she was following. The pair had almost reached the entrance to the world when Orpheus looked back. Eurydice disappeared instantly and he never saw her again. The tragic story of Orpheus and Eurydice is the subject of many plays and operas.

EURYLOCHUS Greek One of the crewmen on the journey of ODYSSEUS and, apart from Odysseus himself, the only one to escape the spell of CIRCE, the witch who turned men into swine. (See the ODYSSEY.) Eurylochus, who had been the head of the party exploring Circe’s island, hid, saw what happened to his shipmates and fled to warn Odysseus. Later, when Odysseus and his crew had escaped both Circe and the UNDERWORLD, Eurylochus led the crew to feast on the sacred cattle of HYPERION, god of the Sun, thus bringing about the destruction of the entire crew, except for Odysseus.

EURYNOME Greek One of the eldest OCEANIDS, or ocean NYMPHS, daughters of OCEANUS. Counted among the TITANS. She became a sea goddess after falling from power on Mount OLYMPUS. Eurynome and Ophion, also a Titan, ruled the realm of these early gods after GAIA and URANUS until CRONUS and RHEA, the most powerful Titans, seized power and threw them into the sea. Eurynome’s place in mythol-ogy diminished as people turned to the OLYMPIAN GODS.

Eurynome was also a love interest of ZEUS, the most powerful Olympian god. With him, she became the mother of the three graces and the river god Asopus.

Eurynome helped Thetis rescue and raise HEP-HAESTUS, the Greek god of craftsmen, after one of his parents, Zeus or HERA, threw the infant into the ocean. Eurynome was portrayed in statues as a mermaid.

EURYSTHEUS Greek The king of ARGOS and MYCENAE who imposed the Twelve Labors upon his cousin, HERACLES. Eurystheus was the son of Sthenelus, a descendant of the hero PERSEUS, and Nicippe. Eurystheus became king because of the wiles of HERA, the angry and jealous wife of the god ZEUS. On the day that Heracles was to be born, Zeus proclaimed before the OLYMPIAN GODS that the descendant of Perseus born on that day would become ruler of GREECE. Zeus fully expected that his son with ALCMENE, to be named Heracles, would qualify for the role of ruler. But Hera, knowing that Nicippe was about to give birth, caused her child, Eurystheus, to be born ahead of Heracles. Thus it was Eurystheus, not Heracles, who became ruler of Greece.

The chagrined Zeus decreed that if Heracles could perform the Twelve Labors imposed by Eurys-theus he would become a god.

EURYTUS Greek King of Oechalia, father of IOLE. Eurytus was a renowned archer. He promised his daughter IOLE, to anyone who could shoot better than

he. The great hero HERACLES won the contest, but Eurytus accused Heracles of using poisoned arrows and furthermore of being a slave of EURYSTHEUS and therefore unworthy of a king’s daughter. Eurytus refused to honor Heracles’ right to the hand of Iole. For this Eurytus died at the hand of Heracles, but Heracles was also to die because of Iole.

EVANDER Roman Evander was the name of a minor Greek deity from ARCADIA whose history took on mortal details when he fled GREECE for Italy.

Evander was the son of the Greek god HERMES and the NYMPH CARMENTA. He and his mother were banished from Greece for killing his stepfather. They settled in Italy long before the Trojan hero AENEAS is believed to have arrived there. Evander built a palace on the hill on the Tiber River that would become the Palatine Hill. He was a kind ruler and taught the native people music, religion, and, most notably, writing.

Some scholars believe Roman poets of the second and first centuries B.C. invented Evander to create a link between Roman and Greek traditions.

fAmAAcheLous Roman I A Geek minor myhology, goddess who spread rumors, mixing truth and lies, and who also spread strife and disagreement. She was perhaps only the personification of the human trait of spreading rumor and gossip. When Fama, speaking in many voices, spread her rumors in the realms of the gods, JUPITER cast her out, sending her to live among humans where she found it easy to spread harm and evil. The Greeks knew her as Ossa, or Pheme.

The Roman poet VIRGIL described Fama in great detail. He said she had thousands of eyes and mouths and that she could fly between the Earth and the heavens. Her palace had many openings through which the false messages she spoke could pass to be spread over the Earth. Scholars suggest that Virgil himself, or Greek poets too, may have created this goddess, basing her features on little more than their ideas for the forces that cause rumors.

fAunA Roman An ancient goddess of healing and productivity of the Earth. Fauna was also a god-dess of chastity and of fertility in women. Fauna was either the sister or the wife of FAUNUS, an equally old Roman god of nature and fertility.

As a prophetess, she was called Fatua, and as a goddess she was also known by some as BONA DEA, which means “good goddess.” In some stories, Fauna and HERcULES, the Roman version of the Greek HERAcLES, fall in love when the hero arrives in Italy. Together they are the parents of LATINUS, who becomes the king of the people of the LATIUM region of central Italy.

fAunus Roman One of the oldest gods; god of nature and fertility, protector of farmers and shepherds. He also had the gift of prophecy. Faunus probably evolved into a single deity from the original idea of the fauni, spirits of the countryside. He was usually depicted as a young man with the horns and

legs of a goat, similar to the SATYR of Greek myth. His female counterpart was FLORA. Faunus was identified with the Greek god PAN.

In natural history, the word fauna is used to denote the animals of a region or specific area, as the word flora denotes vegetation.

fAustuLus (FAusTus) Roman The shepherd who found the twin infants ROMULUS AND REMUS being suckled by a wolf and took them to his home to give them shelter. His wife AccA LARENTIA (1) nursed them and raised the boys as her own.

Faustulus was, according to some versions of the story of these twins, a shepherd to King Amulias, who had ordered that Romulus and Remus be put into the Tiber River to die just after they were born. Having overheard the king’s plan, Faustulus followed the servants who were going to destroy the boys and rescued the infants. Later, Faustulus made the boys’ parentage known to the kingdom and helped them restore their grandfather, Numitor, as king of ALSA LONGA, thus ensuring their inheritance.

Faustulus died trying to stop one of the many fights between the adult Romulus and Remus. He was known in classical Roman times to have been buried on the Aventine Hill.

fAvonius (Favorable) Roman The god of the gentle west WIND. Favonius announced the coming of spring and helped vegetation grow.

According to the Roman poet OVID, Favonius beheld FLORA, the goddess of flowers and plants, as she wandered in a field. He fell in love with her, carried her off, and married her.

febris (FEvER) Roman The goddess of fevers. The people of ancient ROME and the tribes and people who lived nearby feared fevers for they spread quickly and often caused epidemics. Writers

during the age of the Roman Republic and Empire recognized that the people, fearing fevers, created a goddess to whom they could offer sacrifices in an attempt to ward off fevers and to protect loved ones from illness and death.

In honor of Febris, ancient Romans built three temples, all in heavily populated areas, where they could offer such sacrifices. One stood on the Palatine Hill, one on the Esqualine Hill, and one at the top of a valley near the Quirinal Hill, which was one of the most populated areas of Rome, and a part of the city most threatened by diseases.

FERONiA Roman Ancient deity thought to be a goddess of fertility and childbirth. Although little is known about her, inscriptions show that Feronia was popular in central Italy. Her most famous shrine, near Terracina, was used for the ceremony of bestowing freedom on slaves. Terracina is an ancient town on the Tyrrhenian Sea, midway between modern RoME and Naples.

FiDES (FiDEs puBliCA) Roman The goddess or personification of honor, honesty, and good faith, particularly as displayed publicly in support of RoME. People called upon Fides to protect contracts and commerce, in private lives as well as in affairs of the government. Her origins in Roman religion were ancient, and she was held by some to be older than the great god JuPITER. Fides was pictured as a white-haired old woman.

Fides was worshiped at a temple on the Capito­line Hill in Rome, built in 282 s.c., which was also a place where the Roman Senate met. Here, too, leaders of Rome welcomed emissaries from other countries.

FLAMEN Roman In ancient RoME, a special priest ordained to offer daily tributes to particular gods in the Roman pantheon. The flamens were responsible for organizing daily sacrifices to the gods, and were exempt from taxation and military duty. It was a peculiarity of Roman dictators and emperors that they accepted deification during their lifetimes, and so were allowed to have their own flamens who would honor them. Thus Mark Antony was a flamen, or priest, of Julius Caesar.

The flamens are historical, rather than mythologi-cal people, but they carried on some of the traditions of ancient peoples, such as the ritual sacrifices to particular gods.

FLORA Roman The ancient goddess of flowers and plants, budding fruit, youth, and springtime. Flora’s worship may have begun among the Sabine people, one of the many central Italian cultures, who brought her cult to RoME when they settled on the Quirinal Hill, one of the city’s seven famous hills.

Flora was often honored with CERES, goddess of corn and Earth, and TELLuS, a fertility goddess. Together, these three goddesses represented features of the more ancient EARTH MoTHER, creator and guardian of all on Earth.

Flora was also considered the female counterpart of FAuNuS, Roman god of fertility and nature. Her festival, the Floralia, arrived in the end of May in the Roman calendar. She was shown in statues and paintings wearing flowers.

The word flora refers to the vegetation native to a region or area.

FONS (FONTus) Roman The god of springs and fountains. Little is known today about this god, though an important festival, the Fontinalia, was celebrated on October 13 in the ancient Roman cal-endar. Archaeologists have uncovered several temples dedicated to Fons in RoME. JuTuRNA, an ancient Roman goddess of springs and fountains, was Fons’ mother, according to some Roman historians.

FORNAx (FuRNACE) Roman A goddess of bak-ing, who oversaw the ovens used for baking so that they did not become too hot and burn the roasting corn or bread. She was the patroness of bakers.

Fornax presided over the festivals of the Fornaca-lia, which were celebrated in early February, certainly before the 17th. During these feasts, often celebrated in households or small groups, people toasted corn, preparing it to be ground into flour and used for bread. Some scholars suggest that the festival is older than the name of the goddess and that the story of her influence developed as a way to explain the festival.

The traditions of Fornax eventually merged with the stories and duties of VESTA, goddess of the hearth.

FORS Roman The god of fortune. Fors was closely connected with FoRTuNA, goddess of destiny and chance. The two were often considered a pair in religious practices and were frequently linked in one phrase as Fors Fortuna. Some scholars say that Fors and Fortuna merged into one god that incorporated both male and female characteristics.