Echo, a mountain nymph.
The supreme god, Zeus, persuaded her to distract his wife, Hera, with incessant
talk, so that Hera could not spy on him. In anger, Hera robbed Echo of
the full power of speech, leaving her only the capacity to repeat the final
syllable of every word she heard. An unrequited love for the beautiful
Narcissus, who loved only his own reflected image, caused Echo to pine
away until only her voice remained.
Electra, daughter of Agamemnon,
king of Mycenae, and Queen Clytemnestra. After the murder of Agamemnon
by Clytemnestra and her lover, Aegisthus, Electra sent her brother, Orestes,
to safety at the court of an uncle. She stayed behind in Mycenae, living
in poverty under constant surveillance while Clytemnestra and Aegisthus
ruled the kingdom. Electra sent frequent reminders to Orestes that he must
return to avenge the death of their father. At the end of seven years,
Orestes and his friend Pylades went secretly to Agamemnon's tomb. There
they met Electra, who had come to pour libations and offer prayers for
vengeance. Orestes revealed his identity to his sister, then proceeded
at once to the palace, where he killed Aegisthus and Clytemnestra. Electra
later married Pylades, Orestes' constant companion.
Elysium, also known as the
Elysian Fields, a pre-Hellenic paradise, a land of perfect peace and happiness.
In the works of Homer, Elysium was a land at the farthest and westernmost
edge of the world to which the great heroes were carried, body and soul,
and made immortal. There they were free to pursue their favorite activities,
and worries and illness were unknown. Soon, however, Elysium came to be
regarded as the abode of the blessed dead, where the souls of dead heroes,
poets, priests, and others lived in perfect happiness, surrounded by grass,
trees, and gentle winds and enveloped in rose-tinted, perpetual light.
In Roman mythology, Elysium was a part of the underworld and a place of
reward for the virtuous dead. For some it was only a temporary paradise.
At the edge of its soft, green meadows flowed the Lethe, river of forgetfulness,
from which all souls returning to life in the world above had to drink.
Endymion, a youth of exceptional
beauty who sleeps eternally. Endymion was either the king of Elis, a hunter,
or a shepherd. According to most accounts he was a shepherd on Mount Latmos
in Caria. Selene, the goddess of the moon, fell in love with him and visited
him every night as he lay asleep in a cave. She bore him 50 daughters,
but she put him to sleep forever so that she might have him to herself.
Other legends give different reasons for his eternal sleep. In one, the
god Zeus offered him anything he desired, and Endymion chose an everlasting
sleep, in which he might remain forever young. In another, his perpetual
sleep was a punishment inflicted by Zeus for having dared to fall in love
with Zeus's consort, Hera.
Epigoni, the sons of the
seven Greek chieftains known as the Seven Against Thebes. To avenge the
deaths of their fathers, who had been slain in the ill-fated expedition
against Thebes, the Epigoni conquered the city and completely destroyed
it. Although their name, Epigoni, or the "Afterborn," implied that they
had come into the world too late and after all the great deeds had been
done, one of their number, the warrior Diomedes, became one of the greatest
Greek heroes of the Trojan War.
Erinyes, also Furies,
the three avenging deities Tisiphone (the avenger of murder), Megaera (the
jealous one), and Alecto (unceasing in anger). In most accounts the Erinyes
are the daughters of Gaea and Uranus; sometimes they are called the daughters
of Night. They lived in the world below, from which they ascended to earth
to pursue the wicked. They were just but merciless and without regard for
mitigating circumstances. They punished all offenses against human society
such as perjury, violation of the rites of hospitality, and, above all,
the murder of blood relatives. These terrible goddesses were hideous to
behold; they had writhing snakes for hair and blood dripped from their
eyes. They tormented wrongdoers, pursuing them from place to place across
the earth, driving them mad. One of the most famous legends about the Erinyes
concerns their relentless pursuit of the Theban prince Orestes for the
murder of his mother, Queen Clytemnestra. Orestes had been commanded by
the god Apollo to avenge the death of his father, King Agamemnon, whom
Clytemnestra had murdered. The Erinyes, however, heedless of his motives,
pursued and tormented him. Orestes finally appealed to the goddess Athena,
who persuaded the avenging goddesses to accept Orestes' plea that he had
been cleansed of his guilt. When they were thus able to show mercy, they
became changed themselves. From the Furies of frightful appearance, they
were transformed into the Eumenides, protectors of the suppliant.
Eros, the god of love and
counterpart of the Roman Cupid. In early mythology he was represented as
one of the primeval forces of nature, the son of Chaos, and the embodiment
of the harmony and creative power in the universe. Soon, however, he was
thought of as a handsome and intense young man, attended by Pothos ("longing")
or Himeros ("desire"). Later mythology made him the constant attendant
of his mother, Aphrodite, goddess of love. In Greek art Eros was depicted
as a winged youth, slight but beautiful, often with eyes covered to symbolize
the blindness of love. Sometimes he carried a flower, but more commonly
the silver bow and arrows, with which he shot darts of desire into the
bosoms of gods and men. In Roman legend and art, Eros degenerated into
a mischievous child and was often depicted as a baby archer.
Eumenides, ancient
earth spirits or goddesses, associated with fertility but also having certain
moral and social functions. Traditionally three in number, the Eumenides
were worshiped in Athens, at Colonus, and in lands outside Attica. Although
their name is variously described as meaning "the kindly ones," "the reverend
ones," and "the gracious ones," the goddesses were usually portrayed as
Gorgon-like creatures with snakes for hair and eyes that dripped blood.
Their appearance stems from their identification in later legends with
the Erinyes, the three avenging goddesses from the underworld. In his play
The Eumenides, Athenian playwright Aeschylus recounted the Erinyes' relentless
pursuit of Orestes after he killed his mother, Clytemnestra, to avenge
the death of his father, King Agamemnon, whom Clytemnestra had murdered.
Heedless of motives or extenuating circumstances, the Erinyes hounded Orestes
all the way to Athens. There Orestes appealed to the goddess Athena, who
presided over his trial by the Areopagus and cast the decisive vote in
favor of acquittal. After this trial, the Erinyes accepted a new role as
guardians of justice and became known as the Eumenides.
Europa, daughter of Agenor,
the Phoenician king of Tyre, and sister of Cadmus, the legendary founder
of Thebes. One morning, when Europa was gathering flowers by the seashore,
the god Zeus saw her and fell in love with her. Assuming the guise of a
beautiful chestnut-colored bull, he appeared before her and enticed her
to climb onto his back. He then sped away with her across the ocean to
the island of Crete. Among the sons she bore him were Minos and Rhadamanthus,
both of whom became judges of the dead. The abduction of Europa has been
the subject of many paintings, including The Rape of Europa by the Italian
painter Titian.
Eurydice, a beautiful nymph,
and wife of Orpheus, the master musician. Shortly after their marriage
Eurydice was bitten in the foot by a snake and died. Grief-stricken, Orpheus
descended into the underworld to seek his wife. Accompanying his song with
the strains of his lyre, he begged Hades, god of the dead, to relinquish
Eurydice. His music so touched Hades that Orpheus was permitted to take
his wife back with him on the condition that he would not turn around to
look at her until they had reached the upper air. They had almost completed
their ascent when Orpheus, overwhelmed by love and anxiety, looked back
to see if Eurydice was following him. The promise broken, Eurydice vanished
forever to the regions of the dead.
