by Stephen Fry
The Muses whisper in my ear and tell me I am done.
Illustrations
1. The Olympians, triumphant on Mount Olympus. 2. Prometheus continues to endure his terrible punishment. 3. The shower of gold. 4. Danaë and Perseus, rescued from the wooden box. 5. Perseus holds the head of Medusa, whose body lies on the ground. 6. The Head of Medusa. 7. Perseus rescues Andromeda from the sea dragon Cetus. 8. The infant Heracles choking a snake. 9. The creation of the Milky Way. 10. Heracles’ First Labour, the great Nemean Lion. 11. Heracles holds the Erymanthian boar over Eurystheus, cowering in his stone jar. 12. An Amazon defending herself from one of Heracles’ men. 13. Heracles, with his lion skin, club and bow, navigates while standing inside the Cup of Helios. 14. The Garden of the Hesperides. 15. The Gigantomachy, or the Fall of the Giants. 16. Pegasus and Bellerophon. 17. Orpheus plays for love, before Hades and Persephone. 18. Orpheus turns too quickly. 19. The Pythia at Delphi. 20. Hylas and the nymphs. 21. The Clashing Rocks. 22. Jason taming the Khalkotauroi. 23. Medea. 24. Medea tames the Colchis Dragon. 25. Jason finds the Golden Fleece. 26. The Calydonian Hunt. 27. The Foot Race. 28. Oedipus answers the riddle of the Sphinx. 29. The Labours of Theseus. 30. Theseus and the Marathonian Bull. 31. The art of bull-leaping. 32. The Tribute. 33. The Cretan Labyrinth. 34. The Minotaur. 35. The Fall of Icarus. 36. Ariadne, abandoned. 37. Theseus in Athens’ Syntagma Square.
List of Characters
OLYMPIAN GODS
APHRODITE Goddess of love. Offspring of Ouranos’s blood and seed. Wife of Hephaestus. Mother (by Ares) of Eros and Phobos. Inflicts dreadful punishments on those who neglect her, such as Atalanta and Hippomenes, Hippolytus, and Medea. Lover (and lifesaver) of Butes, by whom she has Eryx.
CHILDREN OF KRONOS AND RHEA
DEMETER Goddess of fertility and the harvest. Mother (by Zeus) of Persephone, whose absence in the underworld she mourns for six months each year. Worshipped in the Eleusinian Mysteries.
HADESfn1 God of the underworld. Also known as Plouton. Abductor and husband of Persephone. Master of Cerberus; lends him to Heracles. Possessor of hood of invisibility and Chair of Forgetfulness. Abettor of Perseus. Grants Orpheus the chance to bring Eurydice back from the dead. Imprisons Pirithous and Theseus for attempting to kidnap Persephone.
HERA Queen of the Gods. Wife of Zeus. Mother (by Zeus) of Ares, Eileithyia, Hebe and Hephaestus. Breastfeeding accident gives rise to Milky Way. Possessor of malevolent gadflies and ferocious giant crab. Persecutor of Heracles; later his mother-in-law. Her honour defended by Heracles during the Gigantomachy. Enemy of Neleus and Pelias. Abettor of Jason in his quest for the Golden Fleece. Sender of the Sphinx to punish Thebes in fulfilment of Pelops’s curse on Laius.
POSEIDON God of the sea. Inventor (and god) of horses. Father of Antaeus (by Gaia), Bellerophon (by Eurynome), Chrysaor and Pegasus (by Medusa), Eurytus and Cteatus (by Molione), the golden ram (by Theophane), Neleus and Pelias (by Tyro), Theseus (by Aethra), and possibly of Cercyon, Procrustes, Sciron and Sinis. Grandfather of Aegyptus, Cepheus and Phineus, and of Hippolytus and Nestor. Persecutor of Andromeda. Abettor of Bellerophon and Heracles. Builds Troy’s walls with Apollo; then sends sea monster to devour Hesione when Laomedon reneges on payment. Sends Minos II the Cretan Bull; then sends Pasiphae mad with lust for it. Grants Caenis gender reassignment. Fulfils Theseus’s curse on Hippolytus.
ZEUS King of the Gods. Overthrower of Kronos. Liberator of his siblings from Kronos’s captivity. Husband of Hera. Father of OLYMPIAN GODS. Father of the immortals Eileithyia and Hebe (by Hera), Persephone (by Demeter) and the Muses (by Mnemosyne). Father of the mortals Aeacus (by Aegina), Amphion and Zethus (by Antiope), Dardanus and Harmonia (by the Pleiad Electra), the Dioscuros Polydeuces and Helen (by Leda), Heracles (by Alcmene), Minos I and Rhadamanthus (by Europa), Perseus (by Danaë) and Pirithous (by Dia). Creator of Nephele. Punisher of Asclepius, Atlas and Prometheus. Wielder of thunderbolts. Possessor of the oracle at Dodona.
CHILDREN OF ZEUS
APOLLO Archer god and god of harmony. Son of Zeus and the TITANESS Leto. Half-brother of Zeus’s plethora of progeny. Twin of Artemis. Father of Aristaeus and Idmon (by Cyrene), Asclepius (by Coronis), Hymen (by the Muse Urania), Linus and Orpheus (by the Muse Calliope) and Lycomedes (by Parthenope). Grandfather of Eurytus. Slayer of Python and establisher of the Pythia’s oracle at Delphi. Slayer of the Cyclopes in revenge for Zeus’s smiting of Asclepius. Servant and lover of Admetus. Devises plan with the Moirai to grant Admetus immortality. Abettor of Heracles and Orpheus. Builds Troy’s walls with Poseidon; then infects the city with plague when Laomedon reneges on payment.
ARES God of war. Son of Zeus and Hera. Brother of Hephaestus. Half-brother of Zeus’s plethora of progeny. Father of Eros and Phobos (by Aphrodite); of the Amazons, notably Antiope and Hippolyta (by the nymph Harmonia); and of Alcon, Diomedes and Eurytion. Perhaps father (by Althaea) of Meleager. Forebear of the Thracians. Possessor of man-eating metal birds. Along with Dionysus, a curser of the house of Cadmus.
ARTEMIS Goddess of chastity and the chase. Daughter of Zeus and the TITANESS Leto. Twin of Apollo. Half-sister of Zeus’s plethora of progeny. Mistress of the Cerynaeian Hind; lends her to Heracles. Venerated by Atalanta and Hippolytus. Sensitive to slights: sends snakes to ruin the wedding night of Admetus and Alcestis; sends the Calydonian Boar and Atalanta to punish Calydon and the family of Oeneus, and transforms most of the Meleagrids into guinea fowl.
ATHENA Goddess of wisdom. Daughter of Zeus and the Oceanid Metis. Half-sister of Zeus’s plethora of progeny. Patron of Athens. Abettor of Bellerophon, Heracles, Jason and Perseus. Possessor of Aegis (see Medusa). Imprisons the GIANT Enceladus under Mount Vesuvius.
DIONYSUS God of dissipation and disorder. Son of Zeus and the mortal Semele. Half-brother of Zeus’s plethora of progeny. Suckled by his aunt Ino. Along with Ares, a curser of the house of Cadmus. Drives his aunts Agave, Autonoë and Ino mad. Transforms Ino and his cousin Melicertes into sea deities. Causes Agave and Autonoë to help tear apart his cousin Pentheus. Orders Theseus to surrender Ariadne so that they can marry and produce numerous offspring. Restores Ariadne and Semele to life so that they can all live together on Olympus.
HEPHAESTUS Smith god. Son of Zeus and Hera. Brother of Ares. Half-brother of Zeus’s plethora of progeny. Possibly the father of Cercyon and Periphetes. Cast out of Olympus as an infant by Hera and lamed. Abettor of Heracles. Creator of marvels including a golden breastplate and bronze rattle for Heracles, the Khalkotauroi for Aeëtes, and (some believe) Talos.
HERMES Messenger of the gods and arch-psychopomp. Son of Zeus and the Pleiad Maia. Half-brother of Zeus’s plethora of progeny. Father of Abderus and Autolycus. Abettor of Heracles and Perseus. Possessor of caduceus (winged staff), petasus (winged helmet), talaria (winged sandals).
PRIMORDIAL BEINGS
GODS
EREBUS The darkness. Son of Chaos. Father of Moros. Father (by Nyx) of Charon, Hypnos, Thanatos and the Hesperides.
GAIA The earth. Daughter of Chaos. Mother of Ouranos and Pontus. Mother (by Ouranos) of the Cyclopes and the first generation of TITANS. Mother (by Ouranos’s blood and seed) of the Furies and the GIANTS. Mother (by Pontus) of Charybdis, Nereus and Phorcys and Ceto. Mother (by Poseidon) of Antaeus. Mother (by Tartarus) of Echidna and Typhon. Creator of the harpe sickle used to castrate Ouranos.
NYX Night. Daughter of Chaos. Mother (by Erebus) of Charon, Hypnos, Thanatos and the Hesperides.
OURANOS The sky. Son of Gaia. Father (by Gaia) of the Cyclopes and the first generation of TITANS. Castrated by Kronos. Progenitor from his blood and seed of Aphrodite and (by Gaia) the Furies and the GIANTS.
TARTARUS The hidden deeps. Son of Chaos. Father (by Gaia) of Echidna and Typhon.
TITANS (CHILDREN OF GAIA AND OURANOS)
KRONOS King of the Gods. Father (by Rhea) and consumer of OLYMPIAN GODS. Castrator of Ouranos. Overthrown by Zeus.
OCEANUS God of the sea (‘the River of Ocean’). Father (by Tethys) of the Oceanids an
d of Achelous and Nilus. Grandfather of the Nereids, the numberless progeny of the Oceanids, and of Atlas, Prometheus and Zeus.
RHEA Wife of Kronos. Mother of OLYMPIAN GODS. Conceals the existence of Zeus from Kronos so that he can overthrow his father and free his siblings.
TETHYS Goddess of the sea. Mother (by Oceanus) of the Oceanids and of Achelous and Nilus. Grandmother of the Nereids and of Atlas, Geryon, Prometheus and Zeus.
TITANS (Later GENERATIONS)
ACHELOUS River god. Son of Oceanus and Tethys. Brother of Nilus and the Oceanids. Father (by the Muse Melpomene) of the Sirens. Wrestles Heracles for Deianira’s hand, and loses. Gives Heracles the Horn of Plenty.
ATLAS Supporter of the heavens. Son of Iapetus and Clymene. Brother of Prometheus. Father of the Pleiades. Outwitted by Heracles.
HECATE Goddess of witchcraft and enchantments. Daughter of Perses and Asteria. Thought by some to be mother of Scylla. Venerated by Medea.
HELIOS God of the sun. Son of Hyperion and Theia. Brother of Selene. Father of Aeëtes, Circe and Pasiphae (by the Oceanid Perseis), and Augeas. Grandfather (with Gaia) of Theophane. Possessor of Ocean-going cup and herd of magnificent cattle. Abettor of Heracles. Theft of his cattle by Alcyoneus sparks the Gigantomachy.
NILUS God of the River Nile. Son of Oceanus and Tethys. Brother of Achelous and the Oceanids. Forebear of Andromeda, Cadmus, Minos and Perseus.
PROMETHEUS Creator and friend of humans. Son of Iapetus and Clymene. Brother of Atlas. Stealer of the divine fire. Freed from eternal punishment by Heracles. Accepted back onto Olympus by Zeus. Fights on the side of the OLYMPIAN GODS during the Gigantomachy.
SELENE Goddess of the moon. Daughter of Hyperion and Theia. Sister of Helios.
GIANTS (Offspring of Gaia and Ouranos)
ALCYONEUS Brother of Porphyrion. Theft of Helios’s cattle sparks the Gigantomachy. Attempts to rape Hera. Buried by Heracles under Mount Vesuvius.
ENCELADUS Most powerful of all the giants. Survives the Gigantomachy. Imprisoned by Athena under Mount Etna.
EURYMEDON King of the Giants. Attempt to rape Hera during the Gigantomachy thwarted by Heracles. Stunned by Zeus’s thunderbolt and slain by Heracles.
PORPHYRION Brother of Alcyoneus. Attempt to rape Hera during the Gigantomachy thwarted by Heracles. Stunned by Zeus’s thunderbolt and slain by Heracles.
OTHER CHILDREN OF GAIA
CYCLOPES Arges, Brontes and Steropes. One-eyed giants. Sons of Ouranos and Gaia. Brothers of the Furies, the GIANTS and the first generation of TITANS. Servants of Hephaestus. Forgers of the thunderbolts of Zeus. Slain by Apollo in revenge for the smiting of Asclepius.
FURIES Alecto, Megaera and Tisiphone. Daughters of Gaia and Ouranos’s blood and seed. Sisters of the Cyclopes, the GIANTS and the first generation of TITANS. Remorseless goddesses of retribution, especially against those guilty of blood crimes. Also known as the Erinyes or Eumenides.
NEREUS Shape-shifting ‘Old man of the Sea’. Son of Gaia and Pontus. Brother of Charybdis and Phorcys and Ceto. Father (by the Oceanid Doris) of the Nereids. Wrestling partner of Heracles.
PHORCYS AND CETO Gods of the sea. Children of Gaia and Pontus. Siblings of Charybdis and Nereus. Parents of the Gorgons and the Graeae.
PYTHON Giant serpentine guardian of the Omphalos at Delphi. Slain by Apollo, who establishes the oracle of the Pythia in atonement. Offspring of Erebus and Nyx
CHARON Ferryman of the underworld, who transports dead souls across the River Styx. Charmed by the music of Orpheus.
HESPERIDES The three nymphs of the evening. Keen gardeners; producers of immortality-bestowing apples.
HYPNOS Sleep. Father of Morpheus.
MOIRAI The three Fates: Clotho, who spins the thread of life; Lachesis, who measures its length; and Atropos, who cuts it. Agree with Apollo not to cut the thread of Admetus’s life if another volunteers to die in his place. Foretell Meleager’s life will be the duration of a flaming brand.
MOROS Doom or Destiny. All-powerful, all-knowing controller of the cosmos. Most feared entity in creation, even by immortals.
MORPHEUS God of dreams. Son of Hypnos.
THANATOS Death. Servant of Hades and psychopomp. Wrestles Heracles for the soul of Alcestis (and loses).
OTHER IMMORTALS
ARISTAEUS Minor god of rustic matters. Son of Apollo and Cyrene. Immortal brother of Idmon, and half-brother of Apollo’s other progeny. Husband of Autonoë. Father of Actaeon. Tragically besotted with Eurydice.
CHIRON Greatest and wisest of centaurs. Son of Kronos and the Oceanid Phylira. Grandfather of Peleus and Telamon. Healer. Tutor of heroes, including Achilles, Asclepius, Jason and Thessalus. Tends to Pegasus’s Chimera burns. Possible victim of Lernaean Hydra blood. Catasterized as Sagittarius.
CYBELE Phrygian mother goddess, often associated by the Greeks with Gaia, Rhea (the mother, by Kronos, of OLYMPIAN GODS) or Artemis. Punisher of Atalanta and Hippomenes.
EILEITHYIA Goddess of childbirth. Daughter of Zeus and Hera. Half-sister of Zeus’s plethora of progeny. Fails to prevent birth of Heracles.
EROS Youthful god of sexual desire. Son of Ares and Aphrodite. Brother of Phobos. Leader of the Erotes. Possessor of devastating bow and arrows.
GLAUCUS Former fisherman turned god of distressed seamen. Prophecies prevent the Argonauts from turning back after they abandoned Heracles and Polyphemus. In later traditions, member of a tragically romantic love triangle with Circe and Scylla.
GRAEAE Dino, Enyo and Pemphredo. Also known as the Phorcides. Daughters of Phorcys and Ceto. Sisters of the Gorgons. Cousins of Iris and the Graeae. Joint possessors of a single eye and tooth, information of value to Perseus, and seemingly not much else.
HEBE Cupbearer of Hera and goddess of youth. Daughter of Zeus and Hera. Half-sister of Zeus’s plethora of progeny, not least Heracles; his wife after his apotheosis.
HYMEN Also known as Hymenaios. Youthful god of wedding ceremonies; one of Eros’s retinue of Erotes. Son of Apollo and the muse Urania. Half-brother of Apollo’s other progeny. Cousin of the Sirens. Spoils his half-brother Orpheus’s wedding to Eurydice.
IRIS Goddess of the rainbow and messenger of the gods. Daughter of the sea god Thaumas and the Oceanid Electra. Sister of the Harpies. Cousin of the Gorgons and the Graeae. Protects her sisters from attack by Calais and Zetes.
MUSES Nine daughters of Zeus and the TITANESS Mnemosyne (Memory). Goddesses of poetry, song and dance, and learning. Half-sisters of Zeus’s plethora of progeny. They include: Calliope, Muse of epic poetry, and mother (by Apollo) of Linus and Orpheus; Melpomene, Muse of tragedy, and mother (by Achelous) of the Sirens; Terpsichore, Muse of dance; Thalia, Muse of comedy; and Urania, Muse of astronomy, and mother (by Apollo) of Hymen.
NEPHELE Cloud goddess and goddess of xenia. Created by Zeus to decoy Ixion from Hera. Forebear (with Ixion) of the centaurs. Wife of Athamas. Mother of Phrixus and Helle. Sends golden ram to rescue them from Ino’s murderous plot.
NEREIDS Sea nymphs. Daughters of Nereus and the Oceanid Doris. Cousins of Poseidon, and share his palace. Givers of gifts and hospitality, some say, to Theseus.
OCEANIDS Sea nymphs. Daughters of Oceanus and Tethys. Sisters of Achelous and Nilus. Cousins of Poseidon. They include: Callirrhoë, mother (by Chrysaor) of Geryon; Doris, mother (by Nereus) of the Nereids; Electra, mother (by Thaumas) of Iris and the Harpies; Idyia, mother (by her nephew Aeëtes) of Absyrtus, Chalciope and Medea; Metis, mother (by Zeus) of Athena; Perseis, mother (by Helios) of Aeëtes, Circe and Pasiphae; Pleione, mother (by Atlas) of the Pleiades.
PERSEPHONE Also known as Kore. Queen of the Underworld and goddess of spring. Daughter of Zeus and Demeter. Half-sister of Zeus’s plethora of progeny. Abducted and married by Hades, with whom she spends six months of every year. Persuades him to allow Orpheus the chance to bring Eurydice back from the dead. Target of unsuccessful kidnapping plot by Pirithous and Theseus. Worshipped in the Eleusinian Mysteries.
PHOBOS Terror. Son of Ares and Aphrodite. Brother
of Eros. Likely to be present at encounters between ordinary mortals and the heroes, gods and monsters of this book.
PLEIADES Seven heavenly daughters of Atlas and the Oceanid Pleione. They include: Electra, mother (by Zeus) of Dardanus and Harmonia; Maia, mother (by Zeus) of Hermes; Merope, mother (by Sisyphus) of Glaucus of Corinth; Sterope, mother (by Oenomaus) of Hippodamia. Taygeta, ancestor (with Zeus) of Tyndareus.
MONSTERS
PRIMORDIAL MONSTERS
CHARYBDIS Monstrous creator of an inescapable whirlpool. Daughter of Gaia and Pontus. Sister of Nereus and Phorcys and Ceto. Believed by some to have been the mother of Scylla, from whom she is generally inseparable in myth. Avoided by Jason.fn2
ECHIDNA Daughter of Gaia and Tartarus. Sister of Typhon. Half woman, half water snake.
GORGONS Stheno and Euryale. Daughters of Phorcys and Ceto. Sisters of the Graeae. Cousins of Iris and the Harpies. Companions of Medusa. Possessors of boar-like tusks, brass claws and snaky hair.
HARPIES Aello and Ocypete. Daughters of the sea god Thaumas and the Oceanid Electra. Sisters of Iris. Cousins of the Gorgons and the Graeae. Ravenous birdwomen sent by Zeus to torment Phineus of Salmydessus. Driven away by Calais and Zetes during the quest for the Golden Fleece. Protected by Iris.
TYPHON Giant serpentine son of Gaia and Tartarus. Brother of Echidna. First and worst of all monsters.
OFFSPRING OF TYPHON AND ECHIDNA
