Hestia/Vesta: Goddess of the Hearth and Home. Eldest daughter of Kronos and Rhea. Sister of Zeus. Virgin. Once part of the Twelve Olympians, she gave up her throne to Dionysus. She tended the sacred fire at the center of Mount Olympus. Attributes: veil, kettle.
Khaos: Primeval embodiment of Chaos. From the same root as “chasm,” the name means the void from which all other primeval divinities sprang.
Kronos/Saturn: A Titan. With the help of his mother, Gaia (the Earth), he overthrew his father, Ouranos (the Sky), to become King of the Gods. Swallowed his children to prevent them from taking his crown until overthrown by Zeus, his youngest son. Father/grandfather of the Olympians. Also identified as the God of Time. Called “the Wily.” Attributes: sickle. (Also the Father—or “Pater”—of the Host, a secret order dedicated to Mithras.)
Leto/Latona: Goddess of Motherhood and Modesty. Daughter of the Titans Phoibe and Koios. Lover of Zeus. Mother of Artemis and Apollo. Called “neat-ankled,” Gentle Goddess, Mother of Twins. Attributes: veil, date palm. Modern alias: Leticia Delos. (Dead of natural causes in the modern day.)
Magna Mater: See “Cybele.”
Medusa: One of the snake-haired Gorgons, whose gaze turns men to stone. Some stories identify her as a virgin priestess of Athena, raped by Poseidon.
Metis: Goddess and personification of Wisdom. After receiving a prophecy that Metis’s child would overthrow him, Zeus swallowed the goddess after impregnating her. Later, Metis’s daughter, Athena, emerged fully armed from Zeus’s skull.
Mithras: God worshiped by a Mystery Cult during the late Roman era, especially popular with soldiers in the Roman legion, who believed Mithras moved the celestial spheres and shifted the equinoxes, allowing for the world’s passage from one Age to another. He also provided a means of individual salvation for his followers. Epithets include Sol Invictus. Attributes: Phrygian cap, bull, and the other symbols of the tauroctony. (Also the primary deity worshiped by the Host, a secret order that associates Mithras directly with Jesus.)
Mnemosyne: Titan goddess and personification of Memory. Often identified as the mother of the Muses.
Muses: Nine minor goddesses of art, knowledge, and inspiration, each presiding over her own field: Calliope, epic poetry; Clio, history; Urania, astronomy; Thalia, comedy; Melpomene, tragedy; Polyhymnia, religious hymns; Erato, erotic poetry; Euterpe, lyric poetry; and Terpsichore, choral song and dance.
Orion: Son of Poseidon and a mortal woman. Artemis’s only male hunting companion. Some tales describe him as blinded and exiled after raping Merope, a king’s daughter. Other myths say he raped one of Artemis’s nymphs. He was killed either by a scorpion or by Artemis’s arrows, then placed as a constellation in the sky. Called the Hunter. Modern alias: Everett Halloran. (Killed by Selene DiSilva after attempting to re-create the Eleusinian Mysteries through human sacrifice.)
Orpheus: Legendary musician of the ancient world. When Eurydice, his wife, was killed, he journeyed to the Underworld to win her freedom through the power of his song. He is also credited with introducing the ancient world to the Orphic Mysteries, a cult that believed in reincarnation.
Ouranos/Uranus: Primeval Sky Divinity. Father of the Titans. Original ruler of the world until castrated by his son Kronos/Saturn.
Persephone/Proserpina: Goddess of Spring and the Underworld. Daughter of Demeter and Zeus. Wife of Hades. Called Kore (“Maiden”), Discreet, Lovely. Attributes: wheat sheaves, torch. Modern alias: Cora McKelvey.
Poseidon/Neptune: God of the Sea, Earthquakes, and Horses. One of the Twelve Olympians. Son of Kronos and Rhea. Brother of Zeus. Father of Orion, Theseus, and other heroes. Called “blue-haired,” Earth Shaker, Horse Tender. Attributes: trident.
Prometheus: A Titan. After molding humans from clay and granting them life, he gave them fire—despite Zeus’s prohibition. As punishment, the Olympians chained him to a rock and sent an eagle to eat his liver every day for eternity. Called Fire Bringer, Chained One. Attribute: fennel stalk of fire. (Killed by Saturn’s Mithraists in the modern day.)
Protogonos: A proto-god worshiped by followers of Orphism. Usually portrayed as a winged, snake-twined young man standing on an eggshell, holding a torch. In some mythologies, he created the world from a primordial egg. (See “Aion.”)
Rhea/Ops: A Titan. Goddess of Female Fertility. Queen of the Gods in the Age of Titans. Helped Zeus, her youngest son, overthrow his father, Kronos. Mother and grandmother to the Olympians. Sometimes associated with Cybele/the Magna Mater. Attribute: royal scepter.
Saturn: See “Kronos.”
Typhoeus: Storm Giant cast into Tartarus by Zeus in the battle between gods and giants. Now Tartarus’s guardian.
Zeus/Jupiter: King and Father of the Gods. God of the Sky, Lightning, Weather, Law, and Fate. One of the Twelve Olympians. Youngest son of Kronos and Rhea. After Kronos swallowed his first five children, Rhea hid baby Zeus in the Cave of Psychro. After reaching manhood, Zeus cut his siblings from his father’s gullet, defeated the Titans in the Gigantomachy, and began the reign of the Olympians. He divided the world with his two brothers, taking the Sky for himself. Husband (and brother) of Hera, but lover of many. Father of untold gods, goddesses, and heroes, including Artemis, Apollo, Hermes, Ares, Dionysus, and Athena. Called Lightning Bringer, He Who Marshals Thunderheads, Raging One, Omnipotent, and more. Attributes: lightning bolt, eagle, royal scepter.
GLOSSARY OF GREEK AND LATIN TERMS
Aegis: Athena’s goatskin cloak, used as a shield in battle, decorated with a Gorgon’s head
Athanatos (pl. Athanatoi): “One Who Does Not Die” (an immortal)
Caduceus: a snake-twined herald’s staff, the symbol of Hermes/Mercury
Gigantomachy: a great battle between gods and giants at the beginning of the world
Gorgon: a monstrous woman with snakes for hair whose gaze turns men to stone
Heliodromus: “the Sun-Runner,” the penultimate rank in the Mithraic Mysteries
Khairete: a common greeting in both Ancient and Modern Greek
Leo: “a lion,” a rank in the Mithraic Mysteries
Lethe: the River of Forgetfulness in the Underworld
Makarites (pl. Makaritai): “Blessed One”
Maenad: a female follower of Dionysus, often partaking in frenzied rites
Miles: “a soldier,” a rank in the Mithraic Mysteries
Mithraeum (pl. mithraea): a sanctuary dedicated to Mithras
Mnemosyne: “Memory,” also the name of a lake in the Underworld
Omphalos: navel
Parthenona: virgin or young woman
Parthenon: the temple atop the Athenian Acropolis, dedicated to Athena the Virgin
Pater Patrum: Father of Fathers, the leader of the Mithraic Mysteries
Phrygia: a region of ancient Asia Minor, now in modern Turkey
Pneuma: breath, air, or spirit
Promakhos (pl. promakhoi): Frontline soldier (also an epithet of Athena)
Pythia: title given to the prophetess at Delphi, named for the dragon-like Python who once guarded the oracle, later slain by Apollo
Satyr: a drunken, lustful woodland demigod, often portrayed with goat’s horns or hooves and commonly associated with Dionysian revelry
Styx: the river that borders the Underworld. Swearing upon it is the most solemn vow a god can make.
Syndexios (pl. syndexioi): an initiate in the Mithraic Mysteries. Literally, “a joining of the right hands” (one who knows the secret handshake)
Tartarus: a pit far below the Underworld where the Olympians imprison their greatest foes
Tauroctony: “bull killing,” the central image of the Mithraic Mysteries
Taurobolium: “bull sacrifice,” a major ritual in the Magna Mater’s cult
Tetractys: a triangular figure first discovered by the ancients, consisting of ten total dots arranged in four rows, creating an equilateral triangle with four dots on each side. Considered by followers of Pythagoras to be the “perfect number.”
Thanatos (pl. thanatoi): “one who dies” (a mortal)
By Jordanna Max Brodsky
OLYMPUS BOUND
The Immortals
Winter of the Gods
Olympus Bound
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