Metamorphoses

by Ovid

  Juno (aka Saturnia), Daughter of Saturn; sister, wife, and queen of Jove, I.374

  Jupiter, See Jove, I.158

  Laestrygonians, Ancient Italian tribe; reputedly cannibals, XIV.335

  Lapiths, People of Thessaly who engaged in famous battle with centaurs, XII.374

  Latinus, Father of Lavinia, XIV.877

  Latium, Italian region whose capital became Rome, XIV.465

  Latona, Daughter of the Titan Coeus; mother (by Jove) of Apollo and Diana, VI.232

  Lavinia, Daughter of Latinus; wife of Aeneas, XIV.816

  Learchus, Son of Athamas and Ino; slain by his frenzied father, IV.704

  Leda, Wife of Tyndareus; mother (by Jove-as-swan) of Castor and Pollux, VI.153

  Lesbos, Island in the Aegean, II.822

  Leuconoë, One of the storytelling daughters of Minyas, IV.229

  Leucothoë, (1) Daughter of Orchamus and Eurynome; beloved of Phoebus, IV.272; (2) name given to the deified Ino, IV.742

  Liber, An Italian god of wine; identified with Bacchus, III.681

  Lichas, Servant of Hercules; changed into a rock, IX.234

  Ligdus, Father of Iphis, IX.967

  Liriope, Water nymph; mother of Narcissus, III.441

  Lotis, Nymph changed into a lotus tree, IX.504

  Lucifer, Father of Ceyx; the morning star, II.158

  Lucina, Goddess of childbirth, V.443

  Lycaon, King of Arcadia; father of Callisto; changed into a wolf, I.225

  Lycurgus, Thracian king opposed to the worship of Bacchus, IV.38

  Lydia, Country in Asia Minor, II.336

  Lyncus, Scythian king turned into a lynx, V.832

  Macareus, Companion of Ulysses, XII.667

  Maeander, Father of Cyanee, the mother of Byblis and Caunis; a famously winding river and a river god, II.326

  Maenads, Frenzied followers of Bacchus, XI.31

  Maeonia, Old name for Lydia, III.751

  Manto, Daughter of Tiresias and herself a prophet, VI.229

  Mars, Son of Jove and Juno; god of war, III.42

  Marsyas, Satyr who challenges Apollo to a musical contest, VI.574

  Medea, Daughter of Aeetes; a magician; in love with Jason, VII.20

  Medusa, Daughter of Phorcys and Keto; raped by Neptune, she was turned by Athena into a monster whose snake-girded head became a weapon that petrified those who saw it; decapitated by Perseus, her streaming blood produced Pegasus and Chryasor, IV.899

  Meleager, Son of Oeneus and Althaea; Calydonian hero, VIII.379

  Melicertes, Son of Athamas and Ino; changed into the sea god Palaemon, IV.712

  Memnon, Son of Aurora and Tithonus; slain by Achilles, XIII.841

  Memnonides, Birds that sprang from the ashes of Memnon, XIII.897

  Menelaüs, Son of Atreus; brother of Agamemnon; husband of Helen, whose abduction by Paris instigates the Trojan War, XII.910

  Mercury, Son of Jove and Maia; father of Autolycus; messenger of Jove, I.953

  Merops, Ethiopian king; husband of Clymene; putative father of Phaëthon, I.1060

  Messana, City in Sicily, XIII.1057

  Midas, Phrygian king of dubious intellect, XI.129

  Miletus, Son of Apollo; father of Byblis and Caunis, IX.648

  Milon, Legendary athlete, XV.280

  Minerva, (aka Pallas Athena), Daughter of Jove; goddess of wisdom and technical skill; virgin warrior; patron of Athens, II.781

  Minos, Son of Europa (by Jove-as-bull); husband of Pasiphaë father of Androgeos and Ariadne; warlike king of Crete, VII.653

  Minotaur, Monster born of Pasiphaë by a bull; kept in the labyrinth that Minos ordered Daedalus to build; slain by Theseus, VIII.215

  Minyas, King of Orchomenus, a city in Boeotia; his daughters opposed the worship of Bacchus, IV.1

  Mithridates, King of Pontus vanquished by Pompey, XV.936

  Mnemosyne, Mother (by Jove) of the nine Muses, V.389

  Morpheus, Son and messenger of Sleep, XI.908

  Mother Earth, Roman Terra; the earth goddess; daughter of Chaos; wife of Uranus; mother of the Giants, I.215

  Muses, Nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, goddess of Memory, charged with inspiring various kinds of poetry, as well as dance, history, and astronomy, V.369

  Mycenae, City in Argolis; home of Agamemnon, VI.592

  Myrmidons, Race of men created by Jove from ants, VII.934

  Myrrha, Daughter of Cinyras who fell in love with him; mother (by Cinyras) of Adonis, X.387

  Myscelus, Son of Alemon; founder of Crotona, XV.28

  Naiads, Water nymphs, goddesses of rivers and springs, I.890

  Narcissus, Son of river god Cephisus and water nymph Liriope, III.446

  Nature, A process responsible for giving form to Chaos, I.8

  Naxos, Largest of the Cyclades, III.821

  Neleus, Son of Neptune; king of Pylos; father of Nestor, II.953

  Nemesis, Greek goddess; a personification of the righteous indignation of the gods, who punishes men for their presumption and arrogance, III.523

  Neoptolemus, Son of Achilles, XIII.663

  Neptune, Son of Saturn; brother of Jove and Dis; trident-bearing god of the waters, I.381

  Nereids, Sea nymphs; daughters of Nereus and Doris, I.417

  Nereus, A sea god; father of the Nereids, I.256

  Nessus, Centaur slain by Hercules for attempted rape of Deianira, IX.145

  Nestor, Son of Neleus; oldest of Greek heroes during the Trojan War, VIII.441

  Niobe, Daughter of Tantalus and Dione; wife of Amphion; mother of fourteen, all slain by Apollo and Diana, VI.215

  Nisus, King of Megara; father of Scylla; vanquished by Minos, VIII.9

  Nixi, Three Roman goddesses protective of women in labor, IX.433

  Nonacris, Mountain in Arcadia, I.955

  Numa, Second Roman king, XV.5

  Numidians, Tribe in North Africa vanquished by Julius Caesar, XV.935

  Numitor, King of Alba; deposed by brother, Amulius; restored by his grandsons, Romulus and Remus, XIV.1125

  Nyctimene, Daughter of Epopeus; changed into an owl, II.819

  Nysa, Site of a cave in India where the infant Bacchus was sheltered, III.405

  Oceanus, God of the ocean; husband of Tethys, II.704

  Ocyroë, Daughter of Chiron and Chariclo; changed into a mare, II.885

  Oedipus, Theban king who solved the riddle of the Sphinx, VII.1087

  Oeneus, King of Calydon; father of Meleager and Deianira; husband of Althaea, VIII.382

  Oeta, Site of a mountain range in southern Thessaly, I.433

  Olympus, Mountain in Thessaly; home of the gods, I.211

  Ops, Italian deity; goddess of abundance; wife of Saturn, IX.728

  Orchamus, Father of Leucothoë, IV.294

  Orion, (1) Constellated Giant, VIII.287; (2) Theban man famed for self-sacrificing daughters, XIII.433

  Orithyia, Daughter of Erectheus; seized by Boreas, VI.991

  Orpheus, Son of Apollo (or Oeagrus) and the Muse Calliope; husband of Eurydice; famed Thracian poet and musician, X.4

  Orphne, Nymph of the underworld; mother (by Acheron) of Ascalaphus, V.713

  Osiris, Husband of Isis; Egyptian god of fertility, IX.1003

  Ossa, Mountain in Thessaly, I.212

  Othrys, Mountain in Thessaly, II.296

  Pactolus, River in Lydia famed for its gold, VI.23

  P-Airides, See Pierides, V.867

  Palaemon, See Melicertes, IV.741

  Palamades, Exposed Ulysses’ feigned madness to the Greeks and was later falsely accused by him, XIII.54

  Palatine, Hill in Rome, favored by the upper classes, I.242

  Pallas Athena, See Minerva, III.124

  Pan, Goat-footed god of woods and shepherds; a faun, I.967

  Pandion, King of Athens; father of Procne and Philomela, VI.610

  Paphos, Son of Pygmalion and his statue; gave his name to Cypriot city, X.371

  Paris, Son of Priam and Hecuba; brother of Hector; lover of
Helen, XII.6

  Parnassus, Mountain in Phocis; sacred to Apollo and the Muses, I.436

  Parthenon, Famous temple of Athena on the Acropolis in Athens, II.987

  Pasiphaë, Daughter of the Sun; wife of Minos; mother (by him) of Phaedra and Ariadne; mother (by a bull) of the Minotaur, VIII.183

  Pegasus, Winged horse born from Medusa’s blood, IV.1072

  Peleus, Son of Aeacus; brother of Telamon; half brother of Phocus; husband of Thetis; father of Achilles, VII.682

  Pelias, Half brother of Jason’s father, Aeson, whom he deposed; sent Jason on quest for Golden Fleece, VII.418

  Pelion, Mountain in Thessaly, I.212

  Pelops, Son of Tantalus; brother of Niobe; slain by his father and offered as a feast to test the gods, VI.579

  Penelope, Wife of Ulysses, VIII.443

  Peneus, Thessalian river and river god; father of Daphne, I.629

  Pentheus, Son of Echion and Agave; Theban king who opposed worship of Bacchus, III.662

  Perdix, Nephew of Daedalus; changed by Minerva into a partridge, VIII.363

  Pergama, Trojan citadel or Troy itself, XIII.514

  Periclymenus, Grandson of Neptune; shape-shifting brother of Nestor; slain (in the form of an eagle) by an arrow of Hercules, XII.815

  Perimele, Nymph loved by Acheloüs; changed by him into an island, VIII.849

  Persephone, See Proserpina, V.640

  Perseus, Son of Jove and Danaë Greek hero who slew the Medusa and rescued Andromeda, IV.836

  Phaëthon, Son of Clymene and Phoebus (or Merops); took father’s chariot for his last ride, I.1039

  Pharsalia, Region in Thessaly where Julius Caesar defeated Pompey in 48 B.C.E., XV.1030

  Philemon, Pious old husband of Baucis, VIII.890

  Philippi, Macedonian city where Octavian (later Emperor Augustus) and Marc Antony defeated Brutus and Cassius, conspirators who slew Julius Caesar, XV.1031

  Philoctetes, Son of Poeas; companion of Hercules; abandoned on isle of Lemnos by the Greeks at the beginning of the Trojan War, IX.341

  Philomela, Daughter of Pandion; sister of Procne; raped by Tereus, VI.648

  Phineus, (1) Uncle and betrothed of Andromeda, V.11; (2) Blind seer; Thracian king tormented by Harpies, VII.3

  Phlegethon, River in the underworld, V.719

  Phocis, Region in Greece between Boeotia and Aetolia, I.432

  Phocus, Son of Aeacus and the Nereid Psamathe; half brother of Peleus and Telamon, VII.683

  Phoebe, See Diana, I.661

  Phoebus, See Apollo, I.468

  Phoenix, Legendary self-resurrecting bird, XV.454

  Phorcys, Father of the Gorgons, IV.1056

  Phrygia, Country in Asia Minor; original site of the worship of Cybele, VI.64

  Phylius, Lover of Cycnus, VII.524

  Picus, Son of Saturn; husband of Canens; king of Latium; changed by Circe into a woodpecker, XIV.455

  Pierides, (aka P-Airides), Nine daughters of Pierus; changed into magpies by the Muses, V.857

  Pierus, Father of nine daughters known as the Pierides, V.441

  Pindus, Mountain range in Thessaly, I.787

  Pirene, A spring in Corinth, II.320

  Pirithoüs, Son of the Lapith king Ixion; friend of Theseus, VIII.424

  Polydorus, Son of Priam and Hecuba; betrayed and slain by the Thracian king Polymestor, XIII.626

  Polymestor, Thracian king whose murder of Polydorus was avenged by Hecuba, XIII.625

  Polyphemus, Cyclops who loved Galatea and slew Acis, XIII.1108

  Polyxena, Daughter of Priam and Hecuba; sacrificed to the shade of Achilles, XIII.651

  Pomona, Wood nymph of Latium wooed by Vertumnus, XIV.892

  Pontus, Kingdom in Asia Minor on the Black Sea, XV.936

  Priam, Son of Laomedon; husband of Hecuba; last king of Troy, XI.1078

  Priapus, God of procreation and gardens, IX.505

  Procne, Daughter of Pandion; sister of Philomela; wife of Tereus; mother of Itys, VI.612

  Procris, Daughter of Erectheus, the Athenian king; wife of Cephalus; sister of Orithyia, VII.990

  Procrustes, Robber who famously compelled victims to lie on eponymous bed, then stretched or lopped their limbs to fit, VII.625

  Prometheus, Son of Iapetas; father of Deucalion; created mankind out of clay, I.112

  Propoetides, Women of Amathus who, despising Venus, were turned by her into prostitutes, then into stones, X.286

  Proserpina, (aka Persephone), Daughter of Jove and Ceres; wife of Pluto; queen of the underworld, V.558

  Protesilaüs, First Greek slain in the Trojan War, XII.99

  Proteus, Shape-shifting sea god, II.11

  Psamathe, Mother of Phocus; slain by Peleus; a Nereid, XI.571

  Pygmalion, Cypriot sculptor whose ivory maiden lived to marry him, X.312

  Pylos, city in Elis; Nestor’s home, II.947

  Pyramus, Lover of Thisbe, IV.87

  Pyreneus, Thracian king who attempted to violate the Muses, V.400

  Pyrrha, Daughter of Epimetheus; wife of Deucalion, I.483

  Python, Monstrous serpent slain by Apollo, I.608

  Quirinus, See Romulus, XIV.1209

  Rhadamanthus, Son of Jove and Europa; brother of Minos, IX.638

  Rhegium, Italian seaport opposite Messana, XIV.7

  Rhesus, Thracian king allied with Priam; slain by Ulysses and Diomedes, XIII.141

  Rhodope, Man changed by Jove for his impious presumption into a mountain in Thrace frequented by Orpheus, II.297

  Romulus, Son of Mars and Ilia; brother of Remus; husband of Hersilia; known after death as Quirinus, XIV.1130

  Rutulians, Latins, whose hero was Turnus and whose city was Ardea, XIV.644

  Sabines, People of central Italy, neighbors of the Romans, XV.7

  Salmacis, Nymph enamored of Hermaphroditus who gave her name to a pool of water in Caria, IV.397

  Samos, Island in the Aegean; birthplace of Pythagoras, VIII.309

  Sardis, Capital of Lydia, XI.192

  Saturn, Son of Heaven and Mother Earth; husband of Ops; father of Jove, Juno, Neptune, and Dis, by whom deposed and confined to underworld, I.55

  Saturnia, Juno, XIV.1139

  Satyrs, Goat-footed libertarians; companions of Bacchus, I.266

  Scylla, (1) Daughter of Nisus; infatuated with Minos, VIII.20; (2) nymph wooed by Glaucus; changed into monster, then a rock between Italy and Sicily, VII.101

  Scythia, Region in Asia and southeastern Europe; home of nomadic Scythians, I.89

  Semele, Daughter of Cadmus; mother by Jove of Bacchus, III.330

  Semiramis, Queen of Babylon, IV.90

  Seriphos, Island in the Aegean, V.352

  Sibyl, Priestess of Apollo living at Cumae, XIV.151

  Sidon, Phoenician city; birthplace of Mercury; home of Cadmus and Europa, II.1153

  Silenus, Satyr, tutor, and companion to Bacchus, IV.51

  Simoïs, River near Troy, XIII.479

  Sinis, Greek robber slain by Theseus, VII.628

  Sirens, Daughters of Acheloüs and one of the Muses; transformed unjustly and incompletely into birds, whose irresistible song lured sailors to their deaths, V.730

  Sisyphus, Son of Aeolus; punished for theft in the underworld, IV.629

  Smilax, Nymph beloved of Crocus; changed into a flower, IV.392

  Sphinx, Riddle-posing Theban monster, vanquished by Oedipus, VII.1088

  Stellio, Boy changed into a lizard by Latona for his presumption, V.632

  Styx, River in the underworld or the underworld itself, I.1019

  Symplegades, Two rocky islands in the Euxine, or Black Sea that clashed together when ships passed between them, XV.393

  Syrinx, Arcadian nymph; loved by Pan; changed into pipes of Pan, I.956

  Tages, Etruscan god who was changed from clod of earth to man and who taught soothsaying to his people, XV.659

  Tagus, Spanish river famous for its gold, II.335

  Tantalus, Son of Jupiter; father of Niobe and Pelops; punis
hed in the underworld for attempting to deceive the gods by serving them Pelops at a feast, IV.626

  Tarpeia, Roman woman who attempted to betray Rome to Sabines, XIV.1132

  Tartarus, The underworld, I.55

  Tatius, Sabine king who first warred against Romulus, then ruled jointly with him, XIV.1129

  Telamon, Son of Aeacus; king of Aegina; brother of Peleus; half brother of Phocus; Greek hero who accompanied Hercules in the capture of Troy; joined with the Argonauts and the heroes of the Calydonian boar hunt, VII.682

  Telethusa, Wife of Ligdus; mother of Iphis, IX.984

  Tempe, Thessalian valley through which the river Peneus runs, I.786

  Tereus, Thracian king; husband of Procne; father of Itys, VI.605

  Tethys, Sea goddess; wife of Oceanus, II.93

  Teucer, Son of Telamon and Hesione, XII.228

  Thaumas, Father of Iris, IV.659

  Thebes, City founded by Cadmus in Boeotia, III.63

  Themis, Daughter of Heaven and Mother Earth; goddess of justice, I.443

  Thersites, Greek soldier berated by Ulysses for his verbal abuse of leaders, XIII.341

  Theseus, Son of Aegeus; father of Hippolytus; husband of Phaedra; Greek hero who slew the Minotaur, VII.575

  Thessaly, Country in the northeastern part of Greece, I.784

  Thetis, Sea nymph daughter of Nereus and Doris; wife of Peleus; mother of Achilles; a Nereid, XI.313

  Thisbe, Beloved of Pyramus, IV.88

  Thrace, Country to the northeast of Macedonia, II.328

  Tiber, River running through Rome, II.344

  Tiberinus, King of the Albans, XIV.882

  Timolus, Mountain and its presiding deity in Lydia, II.290

  Tiresias, Theban seer who spent seven years as a woman, III.415

  Tisiphone, One of the three Furies, IV.650

  Titans, Family of primordial gods; children of Uranus and Gaea; overthrown and replaced by the Olympians, VI.275

  Tithonus, Husband of Aurora; father of Memnon, IX.616

  Tityos, A Giant punished in the underworld for attempting to rape Latona, IV.625

  Tlepolemus, Son of Hercules, XII.789

  Triptolemus, Greek king used by Ceres to disseminate knowledge of agriculture, V.827

  Triton, Son of Neptune; a fish-tailed sea god, I.457

  Troezen, City in Argolis, VI.597

  Turnus, King of the Rutulians; enemy of Aeneas, XIV.636

  Typhoeus, Giant; struck by Jove’s lightning bolt, he lay buried beneath Sicily, I.391