ENCYCLOPEDIA B - C

BALANIS The Hamadryad-nymph of the acorn tree.

BATIA (Bateia) The nymph wife of a king of Sparta.

BALIUS (Balios) An immortal horse gifted to the hero Peleus at his wedding by the gods. It drove the chariot of his son Achilles in the Trojan War.

BELLEROPHON (Bellerophontes) A Greek hero who tamed the winged-horse Pegasus and rode it into battle against the fire-breathing monster Chimera.

BENDIS The Thracian goddess of the moon and the hunt who was worshipped with wild Bacchic orgies.

BENTHESICYME (Benthesikyme) A sea-nymph daughter of Poseidon who married an Ethiopian king.

BEROE The goddess-nymph of the Phoenician city of Beruit. The gods Poseidon and Dionysus fought a battle in the contest for her hand in marriage.

BIA The goddess of force. She was of one of the henchmen of the god Zeus who stood beside him in the Titan-war.

BLEMMYAE (Blemmyai) A fabulous tribe of headless, African men whose faces were set upon their chests.

BOLBE The goddess-nymph of the Boeotian lake Bolbe.

BOLINA A maiden who leapt into the sea to escape the god Apollo and was transformed into a nymph.

BOOTES The agricultural demigod of the plough and wagon.

BOREAS The purple-haired, winged god of the north-wind whose chill breath brought on the cold of winter.

BRIAREUS (Briareos) A hundred-handed Hecatoncheir-giant who dwelt in the depths of the Aegean Sea. He came to the aid of Zeus when the other gods rebelled against him.

BRITOMARTIS The maiden goddess of the nets. When she was pursued by King Minos of Crete she leapt into the sea and was rescued in the nets of fishermen.

BRIZO A goddess of the island of Delos. She was a patron of fishermen and the sender of oracular visions in dreams.

BRONTES One of the three metal-working Cyclopes who crafted the lightning-bolts of Zeus.

BRYCHON A river of the Thracian Chersonese and its bull-horned god who supported the Gigantes (Giants) in their war with the gods.

BYBLIS A princess of Caria who cast herself off a mountainside and was transformed into a Hamadryad by the nymphs.

BYTHOS One of the Ichthyocentaurs (fish-tailed centaurs) who carried the goddess Aphrodite ashore after her birth in the sea-foam.

BYZE A Naiad daughter of the river-god Erasinus. She was an attendant of the goddess Britomartis.

CAANTHUS (Kaanthos) A son of the Titan Oceanus who was slain by Apollo in a contest for the love of the nymph Melia.

CABEIRI (Kabeiroi) Twin gods of the Mysteries of the island of Samothrace.

CABEIRIDES (Kabeirides) Nymphs of the Cabeirian Mysteries of the Greek island of Samothrace.

CABEIRO (Kabeiro) A sea-nymph loved by the divine smith Hephaestus.

CACIA (Kakia) The female personification of vice.

CACUS (Kakos) A fire-breathing Italian giant slain by Heracles.

CADMILUS (Kadmilos) A rustic deity who fathered the Cabeiri twins.

CAECIUS (Kaikias) The god of the north-east wind.

CAECUS (Kaikos) A river of Teuthrania and its watery god.

CAERUS (Kairos) The god of opportunity.

CALIADNE (Kaliadne) An Egyptian Naiad-nymph.

CALOCAGATHIA (Kalokagathia) The female personification of nobility.

CALLIGENEIA (Kalligeneia) A goddess of the Eleusinian Mysteries who was the nurse of the young Persephone.

CALLIOPE (Kalliope) The eldest of the nine Muses. She presided over epic poetry.

CALLIRHOE (1) (Kallirhoe) The Oceanid wife of the giant Chrysaor who begged her son Geryon not to fight Heracles.

CALLIRHOE (2) (Kallirroe) A Naiad-nymph daughter of the river Achelous who married the hero Alcmaeon. She demanded the famed necklace of Harmonia for a bridal gift--a cursed piece of jewelry which would doom their family.

CALLIRHOE (3) (Kallirhoe) A Naiad daughter of the river Scamander who married one of the kings of Troy.

CALLISTE (Kalliste) A sea-nymph daughter of Triton who was the goddess of the small island of Calliste.

CALLITHYIA (Kallithyia) A Naiad daughter of the river-god Inachus who established the ancient cult of Hera in Argos.

CALYBE (Kalybe) A rustic nymph loved by the Trojan king Laomedon.

CALYDONIAN BOAR (Hus Kalydonios) A giant boar sent by Artemis to ravage the land of Aetolia as punishment for the offences of its king. It was slain by a band of mighty heroes led by Meleager.

CALYPSO (Kalypso) The goddess-nymph of the island Ogygia who detained the hero Odysseus for many years.

CAMARINA (Kamarina) An Oceanid-nymph who gave her name to the Italian city of Camarina.

CAMPE (Kampe) A monstrous she-dragon servant of the Titans who was set to guard the Tartarean prison of the Hecatoncheir- and Cyclops-giants. Zeus slew her to set the brothers free.

CAPHEIRA (Kapheira) The sea-nymph nurse of the infant god Poseidon.

CARCINUS (Karkinos) A giant crab which came to the aid of the Hydra in its fight with Heracles. The hero crushed it beneath his heel but Hera rewarded it with a place amongst the stars as the constellation Cancer.

CARMANOR (Karmanor) A Cretan demigod of the harvest. He was a consort of the goddess Demeter.

CARME (Karme) A Cretan goddess-nymph of the summer harvest.

CARMENTIS (Karmentis) An Arcadian Naiad loved by the god Hermes whose son Evander migrated to Latium in Italy.

CARPI (Karpoi) Gods of the fruits of the earth. They were depicted as infants frolicking in the company of Mother Gaea (the Earth).

CARPO (Karpo) One of the Horae (Seasons) and the goddess of ripened fruit.

CARYA (Karya) The Hamadryad-nymph of the hazel or the walnut tree.

CARYSTUS (Karystos) A rustic demigod of the island of the Euboea. He was a son of the centaur Chiron.

CASTALIA (Kastalia) A Naiad-nymph daughter of the river Achelous who presided over the sacred spring of the oraclular shrine of Delphi.

CAUCASIAN EAGLE (Aetos Kaukasios) An eagle sent by Zeus to gnaw on the ever-regenerating liver of the Titan Prometheus. It was destroyed by Heracles when he came to set the Titan free.

CAYSTER (Kaystros) A river of Lydia and its god.

CEBREN (Kebren) A river of Troy and its liquid god.

CECROPS (Kekrops) An earth-born king of Attica who was born with the tail of a serpent in place of legs.

CEDALION (Kedalion) A daemon attendant of Hephaestus who worked in the divine smith's Lemnian forge.

CELAENO (1) (Kelaino) One of the starry Pleiad-nymphs who was loved by the god Poseidon.

CELAENO (2) (Kelaino) One of the three winged Harpies.

CELEDONES (Keledones) Magical singers crafted of solid gold by the divine smith Hephaestus which served in the first temple of Apollo at Delphi.

CELMIS (Kelmis) One of the metal-working Dactyls.

CELUSA (Kelouse) The nymph mother of the river-god Asopus by Poseidon.

CENTAURIDES (Kentaurides) Females of the centaur-tribe.

CENTAURS (1), THESSALIAN (Kentauroi Thessalioi) A tribe of savages with the upper bodies of men and lower bodies of horses. They tried to abduct the womenfolk of the Lapiths at the wedding of King Pirithous and were slain in the fight which ensued.

CENTAURS (2), PELOPONNESIAN (Kentauroi Pelopponesioi) A tribe of Arcadian centaurs which fought Heracles for the wine of Pholus.

CENTAURS (3), CYPRIAN (Kentauroi Kyprioi) A tribe of bull-horned Centaurs native to the island of Cyprus born when Zeus accidentally impregnated the Earth during a failed attempt to couple with the goddess Aphrodite.

CENTAURS (4), LAMIAN (Pheres Lamioi) Centaur-companions of the god Dionysus. They were transformed into beasts by Hera as punishment for guarding the infant god.

CEPHISUS (1) (Kephisos) A river of Phocis and Boeotia in central Greece and its god.

CEPHISUS (2) (Kephisos) A river of Attica in southern Greece and its fish-tailed god.

CEPHISUS (3) (Kephisos) The god of a river in Argos whose streams were dried up by the god Poseidon as punishment for awarding the land to Hera.

CERAON (Keraon) The daemon of the mixing of water and wine.

CERBERUS (Kerberos) The three-headed, serpent-maned hound of Hades which guarded the gates of the underworld. Heracles was sent to fetch it as one of his twelve labours.

CERCOPES (Kerkopes) A pair of monkey-like bandits which plagued the land of Lydia. They were captured by Heracles but so amused him with their antics that he set them free.

CERYNITIAN HIND (Elaphos Kerynitis) A golden-horned deer sacred to the goddess Artemis. Heracles was sent to fetch it as one of his Twelve Labours.

CETEA (Ketea) The monsters of the sea. Small cetea were the mounts of sea-gods and nymphs. Larger beasts were sent by Poseidon to punish impious men.

CETO (1) (Keto) The goddess-crone of sea-monsters and the hidden dangers of the sea. Her monstrous brood included the Gorgons, the Graea and the deadly sea-nymph Scylla.

CETO (2) (Keto) An Oceanid nymph loved by the sun-god Helius.

CETUS (1), ETHIOPIAN (Ketos Aithiopios) A sea-monster sent by Poseidon to ravage the lands of Ethiopia. The hero Perseus slew the monster and freed the sacrificial princess Andromeda from her chains.

CETUS (2), TROJAN (Ketos Troias) A sea-monster sent by Poseidon to plague the lands of Troy. Heracles slew it with his arrows and freed the king's sacrificial daughter Hesione from her chains.

CEUTHONYMUS (Keuthonymos) A mysterious daemon of the underworld.

CHALCOTAURI (Khalkotauroi) A pair of fire-breathing, bronze bulls which King Aeetes of Colchis commanded Jason yoke to plough a field of dragon's teeth.

CHALCIS (Khalkis) A Naiad-nymph daughter of the river Asopus who was the eponym of the Euboean town of Chalcis.

CHAOS (Khaos) The primordial deity of the "gap" or void of air spanning heaven and earth. Late classical authors reimagined it as a primordial mix of elements.

CHARICLO (1) (Khariklo) The nymph wife of the centaur Chiron who lived with her husband in a cave on Mount Pelion.

CHARICLO (2) (Khariklo) A nymph who was mother of the seer Tiresias. She was a friend and companion of the goddess Athena.

CHARITES (Kharites) Three goddesses of the graces--beauty, mirth and festive good-cheer.

CHARON (Kharon) The ferryman of the dead--an underworld daemon who ferried the soul of the dead across the river Acheron in his skiff.

CHARYBDIS (Kharybdis) A gigantic daughter of Poseidon chained to the sea-bed by Zeus for her crimes. Her inhalations formed a massive whirlpool in the narrow Strait of Messina.

CHELONE (Khelone) An Oread-nymph who haughtily refused to attend the wedding of Zeus and Hera. She was transformed into a tortoise by the god Hermes.

CHIMERA (Khimaira) A creature with the foreparts of a lion, the hindquarters of a goat, a goat's head on its back, and a fanged serpent for a tail. It was slain by Bellerophon from the back of the winged-horse Pegasus.

CHIONE (1) (Khione) The goddess of snow, a daughter of the frosty north-wind Boreas.

CHIONE (2) (Khione) A snow-nymph loved by the wind-god Boreas.

CHIONE (3) (Khione) A Naiad-nymph daughter of the River Nile who was transformed into a snow-cloud by Zeus after she was raped by an Egyptian peasant.

CHIRON (Kheiron) An immortal centaur who was a son of the Titan Cronus and half-brother of the god Zeus. He was a famed teacher who fostered and instructed many great heroes in his cave on Mount Pelion.

CHLORIS (Khloris) The goddess of flowers and wife of Zephyrus the west-wind.

CHREMETES (Khremetes) A river of Libya and its god.

CHRONOS (Khronos) The primordial god of time. He and his consort Ananke encircled the cosmos with serpentine coils.

CHRYSAOR (Khrysaor) A gigantic son of the Gorgon Medusa.

CHRYSEAN DOG (Khryseos Kuon) A golden hound which was set by Rhea set to guard the infant Zeus and his nurse, the goat Amaltheia.

CHRYSOMALLUS (Khrysomallos) A flying, golden-fleeced ram sent by the cloud-nymph Nephele to rescue her children, Phrixus and Helle, from a sacrifice to the gods.

CHRYSOPELIA (Khrysopeleia) The nymph wife of Arcas king of Arcadia.

CHRYSOS (Khrysos) The god of gold.

CHRYSOTHEMIS (Khrysothemis) The goddess of the "golden custom" of the harvest festival.

CIRCE (Kirke) A goddess-witch of the magical island of Aeaea who transformed visitors into beasts with her potions and spells.

CITHAERON (Kithairon) The ancient, craggy god of Mount Cithaeron in southern Greece.

CLAEA (Klaia) An Oread-nymph who possessed a cavern shrine on Mount Calathium in Messenia.

CLAZOMENAEAN BOAR (Hus Klazomenaios) A giant, winged boar which terrorized the Ionian town of Clazomenae.

CLEEIA (Kleeia) One of the starry Hyad-nymphs.

CLEOCHARIA (Kleokhareia) The Naiad-nymph wife of Lelex, first king of Sparta.

CLEODORA (Kleodora) A nymph of Mount Parnassus loved by the god Poseidon.

CLEOMEDE (Kleomede) A nymph of the river Axius loved by King Paeonus of Paeonia.

CLEONE (Kleone) A Naiad-nymph of the town of Cleonae in Argos.

CLIO (Kleio) The goddess Muse of history.

CLONIA (Klonie) A nymph of the Boeotian town of Hyria.

CLOTHO (Klotho) One of the three Fates.

CLYMENE (1) (Klymene) The Titan-goddess of fame and infamy. She was one of the elder Oceanides and wife of the Titan Iapetus.

CLYMENE (2) (Klymene) An Oceanid-nymph who was the mother of Phaethon by the sun-god Helius.

CLYTIA (Klytia) An Oceanid nymph loved by the sun-god Helius. When he forsook her, she pined away and was transformed into a sun-gazing heliotrope flower.

CLYTIUS (Klytios) A Gigante (Giant) who was slain by the flaming torches of Hecate in the war against the gods.

CNOSSIA (Knossia) A nymph of the Cretan town of Cnossus who was loved by King Menelaus of Sparta.

COALEMUS (Koalemos) The personification of stupidity.

COCYTHIAE (Kokythiai) Naiad-nymph daughters of the underworld river Cocytus.

COCYTUS (Kokytos) The underworld river of wailing and its weeping god.

COEUS (Koios) The Titan-god of the inquiring mind who presided over the axis of heaven.

COMBE (Kombe) A rustic nymph of the island of Euboea, mother of the Euboean Corybantes.

COMUS (Komos) The god of festivity.

CONISALUS (Konisalos) A phallic daemon of garden fertility.

CORCYRA (Korkyra) A Naiad-nymph daughter of the river Asopus abducted to the island of Corcyra by the god Poseidon.

CORONIDES (Koronides) Twin daughters of the Giant Orion who saved the city of Orchomeus from plague by offering themselves up as a sacrifice to the gods. Persephone, pitying their fate, transformed them into comets.

CORONIS (Koronis) One of the starry Hyades.

CORUS (Koros) The personification of disdain.

CORYBANTES (1), PHRYGIAN (Korybantes Phrygioi) Divine attendants of the goddess Cybele who celebrated her rites with a dance of clashing shield and spear.

CORYBANTES (2), SAMOTHRACIAN (Korybantes Samothrakioi) Daemones of the orgiastic dance of the Samothracian mysteries.

CORYBANTES (3), EUBOEAN (Korybantes Euboiai) Curete-like daemones of the island of Euboea in Greece.

CORYCIA (Korykia) A nymph of the Corycian spring of Delphi loved by the god Apollo.

CORYCIAE (Korykiai) Naiad-nymph daughters of the river Pleistus who tended the springs of the sacred Corycian cave on Mount Parnassus.

CORYMBUS (Korymbos) The rustic demigod of the ivy wreaths worn by celebrants of the Bacchic orgies.

COTTUS (Kottos) One of the hundred-handed, fifty-headed Hecatoncheir-giants.

COTYS (Kotys) A wild Thracian goddess worshipped with wild Bacchic orgies.

CRANEIA (Kraneia) The Hamadryad-nymph of the cornel or cherry tree.

CRATAEIS (Krataeis) The sea-goddess mother of the monster Scylla.

CRATUS (Kratos) The god of strength, a henchman guardian of the throne of Zeus.

CRENAEAE (Krenaiai) Naiad-nymphs of fountains.

CRES The earth-goddess of the island of Crete.

CRETAN BULL (Tauros Kretaios) A fabulous bull sent from the sea by Poseidon in answer to the prayers of Minos of Crete. Queen Pasiphae fell love with the beast and coupling with it bore the Minotaur. Heracles was later sent to fetch the bull as one of his Twelve Labours.

CRETHEIS (Kretheis) A Naiad-nymph of the Lydian town of Smyrna who, according to legend, was the mother of the poet Homer by the river Meles.

CREUSA (Kreousa) The Naiad-nymph wife of the river Peneus in northern Greece.

CRINAEAE (Krinaiai) Naiad-nymphs of fountains.

CRIUS (Krios) The Titan-god of mastery and leadership who was imprisoned in Tartarus by the gods.

CROCALE (Krokale) One of the nymph handmaidens of the goddess Artemis.

CROMMYON SOW (Hus Krommyon) A giant boar sent by the gods to ravage the farmlands of Crommyon. It was destroyed by the hero Theseus.

CRONUS (Kronos) The king of the Titans and god of time. He castrated his father Uranus and seized the throne of heaven but was afterwards deposed by his on Zeus. Cronus was cast into Tartarus but later freed and appointed king of Elysium.

CROTUS (Krotos) A satyr companion of the nine Muses who was placed amongst the stars as the constellation Saggitarius.

CTESIUS (Ktesios) The friendly daemon-guardian of the household.

CURETES (Kouretes) Guardians of the infant god Zeus who drowned out his cries with a dance of clashing spear and shield, so concealing him from Cronus.

CYAMITES (Kyamites) The bean-man, a minor deity of the Eleusinian Mysteries.

CYANE (1) (Kyane) The Naiad-nymph of a spring near the town of Syracuse in Sicily. When Hades violated her spring during the abduction of Persephone, she was transformed into water.

CYANE (2) (Kyane) The nymph wife of Aeolus king of the winds.

CYANEE (Kyanee) A Naiad-nymph of the springs of the Carian town of Miletus. She was the wife of the town's eponymous founder.

CYBELE (Kybele) The Phrygian mother of the gods who was identified by the Greeks with the goddess Rhea.

CYCLOPES (1), ELDER (Kyklopes) Three one-eyed giants imprisoned in Tartarus by the Titan Cronus. They were rescued by Zeus and in thanks crafted him his lightning-bolts, an earth-shaking trident for his brother Poseidon and a helm of invisiblity for Hades.

CYCLOPES (2), YOUNGER (Kyklopes) A primitive tribe of one-eyed, cannibal giants encountered by Odysseus during his travels.

CYDNIDES (Kydnides) Warlike Cicilian Naiads who fought for Dionysus in his Indian War.

CYDOIMUS (Kydoimos) The personification of battlefield confusion and the din of war.

CYLLENE (Kyllene) A nymph of Mount Cyllene who was the wife of the Arcadian king Pelasgus.

CYMOPOLEA (Kymopoleia) The goddess of the waves, wife of the hundred-handed giant Briareus.

CYNOCEPHALI (Kunokephaloi) A tribe of dog-headed men which dwelt in a remote corner of Africa or India.

CYRENE (Kyrene) A huntress-nymph of Mount Pelion in Thessaly. The god Apollo happened upon her as she was wrestling a lion and, falling in love, abducted her to Libya where she bore him a son--the demigod Aristaeus.

CYTHERUS (Kytheros) A river of Elis in southern Greece and its god.