AENEAS—a Trojan hero, the son of Aphrodite and a favorite of Apollo; becomes king of the Trojan people
AMPHORA (AMPHORAE, pl.)—a tall ceramic jar
ANDROMEDA—the daughter of the Ethiopian king, Cepheus, and his wife, Cassiopeia; after Cassiopeia bragged that her daughter was more beautiful than the Nereids, Poseidon sent a sea monster, Cetus, to attack Ethiopia; Perseus saved Andromeda from the rock she was chained to as a sacrifice
APHRODITE—the Greek goddess of love and beauty; she was married to Hephaestus, but she loved Ares, the god of war
APOLLO—the Greek god of the sun, prophecy, music, and healing; the son of Zeus and Leto, and the twin of Artemis
ARCAS—the son of Zeus and Callisto, a nymph follower of Artemis; Zeus disguised himself as Artemis in order to seduce Callisto; after Hera became jealous and transformed Callisto into a bear, Zeus hid their son, Arcas, in an area of Greece later called Arcadia
ARES—the Greek god of war; the son of Zeus and Hera, and half brother to Athena
ARGONAUTS—a band of heroes who sailed with Jason on the Argo, in search of the Golden Fleece
ARGUS—a hundred-eyed giant sent by Hera to guard a nymph named Io
ARTEMIS—the Greek goddess of the hunt and the moon; the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin of Apollo
ASCLEPIUS—the Greek god of medicine; son of Apollo; his temple was the healing center of ancient Greece
ATALANTA—a Greek hero; the daughter of King Iasus, who left her on a mountaintop to die because he wanted a son; she grew up in the wilderness and eventually became one of Artemis’s Hunters; she sailed with the Argonauts as the only woman among them
ATHENA—the Greek goddess of wisdom
ATHENA PARTHENOS—a giant statue of Athena; the most famous Greek statue of all time
ATHENA POLIAS—an olive-wood, life-size statue of Athena Polias (“of the city”) that was located in the temple to Athena at the Acropolis of Athens, Greece
CALLISTO—a nymph who had a son with Zeus and was transformed into a bear by the jealous Hera; Zeus later placed her into the sky as the constellation Ursa Major, or “the Great Bear”
CASSIOPEIA—wife of the Ethiopian king Cepheus, and mother of Andromeda; she angered Poseidon when she claimed that Andromeda was more beautiful than the Nereids
CELESTIAL BRONZE—a rare metal deadly to monsters
CENTAUR—a race of creatures that is half-human, half-horse
CETUS—the sea monster Poseidon sent to attack Ethiopia as punishment when Cassiopeia boasted that her daughter, Andromeda, was more beautiful than the Nereids; Andromeda was sacrificed to the monster but ultimately saved by Perseus
CHARMSPEAK—a blessing bestowed by Aphrodite on her children that enables them to persuade others with their voices
CHITON—a Greek garment; a sleeveless piece of linen or wool secured at the shoulders by brooches and at the waist by a belt
CYCLOPS (CYCLOPES, pl.)—a member of a primordial race of giants, each with a single eye in the middle of his or her forehead
DEMETER—the Greek goddess of agriculture; a daughter of the Titans Rhea and Kronos
DIONYSUS—the Greek god of wine and revelry; a son of Zeus; activities director at Camp Half-Blood
DRAKON—a gigantic yellow-and-green serpentlike monster, with frills around its neck, reptilian eyes, and huge talons; it spits poison
DRYADS—tree nymphs
EIDOLON—a possessing spirit
ENCELADUS—a giant created by Gaea to specifically destroy the goddess Athena
GAEA—the Greek earth goddess; mother of Titans, giants, Cyclopes, and other monsters
GOLDEN FLEECE—this hide from a gold-haired winged ram was a symbol of authority and kingship; it was guarded by a dragon and fire-breathing bulls; Jason was tasked with obtaining it, resulting in an epic quest
GREEK FIRE—an incendiary weapon used in naval battles because it can continue burning in water
GROVE OF DODONA—the site of the oldest Greek Oracle, second only to the Oracle of Delphi; the rustling of trees in the grove provided answers to priests and priestesses who journeyed to the site
HADES—the Greek god of death and riches; ruler of the Underworld
HARPY—a winged female creature that snatches things
HEBE—the Greek goddess of youth; daughter of Zeus and Hera
HECATE—goddess of magic and crossroads; controls the Mist
HEPHAESTUS—the Greek god of fire and crafts and of blacksmiths; the son of Zeus and Hera, and married to Aphrodite
HERA—the Greek goddess of marriage; Zeus’s wife and sister
HERMES—the Greek god of travelers; guide to the spirits of the dead; god of communication
HESTIA—the Greek goddess of the hearth
HIMATION—an outer garment worn by the ancient Greeks over the left shoulder and under the right
HUNDRED-EYED—Argus was a hundred-eyed giant sent by Hera to guard Io, a nymph with whom Zeus was involved
HUNTERS OF ARTEMIS—a group of maidens loyal to Artemis and gifted with hunting skills and eternal youth as long as they reject men for life
HYPNOS—the Greek god of sleep
IO—a nymph who attracted Zeus’s attention and was guarded by a hundred-eyed giant named Argus
IRIS—the Greek goddess of the rainbow, and a messenger of the gods
JASON—a Greek hero; the leader of the Argonauts’ expedition in the quest of retrieving the Golden Fleece
KOPIS—a three-foot-long sword with a forward-curving blade
KRONOS—the youngest of the twelve Titans; the son of Ouranos and Gaea; the father of Zeus; he killed his father at his mother’s bidding; Titan lord of fate, harvest, justice, and time
LABYRINTH—an underground maze originally built on the island of Crete by the craftsman Daedalus to hold the Minotaur
LYRE—a string instrument, similar to a small harp, used in ancient Greece
MANTICORE—a creature with a human head, a lion’s body, and a scorpion’s tail
MINOTAUR—the half-man, half-bull son of King Minos of Crete; the Minotaur was kept in the Labyrinth, where he killed people who were sent in; he was finally defeated by Theseus
MIST—a magic force that disguises things from mortals
MOUNT OLYMPUS—home of the Twelve Olympians
MOUNT PELION—a mountain in the southeastern part of Thessaly in central Greece; the homeland of Chiron the centaur, tutor of many ancient Greek heroes
MYCENAE—the capital city that Perseus and Andromeda founded
MYRMEKE—a giant antlike creature that poisons and paralyzes its prey before eating it; known for protecting various metals, particularly gold
NAIAD—a water nymph
NEMEAN LION—a lion that ravaged the area of Nemea; its fur was impervious to human weapons; slain by Heracles
NEMESIS—the Greek goddess of revenge
NEREIDS—water nymphs
NIKE—the Greek goddess of strength, speed, and victory
NYMPH—a female deity who animates nature
OMPHALUS—stone used to mark the center—or navel—of the world
ORACLE OF DELPHI—a speaker of the prophecies of Apollo
OURANOS—the Greek personification of the sky; father of the Titans
PALAESTRA—the Greek goddess of wrestling
PALIKOI (PALIKOS, sing.)—twin sons of Zeus and Thaleia; the gods of geysers and thermal springs
PANATHENAIA—an ancient religious festival in Athens; the Athenians went in procession to the Acropolis, sacrificed one hundred oxen, and gave offerings, including a richly embroidered cloth, to the goddess Athena in the Parthenon temple