Hades,
god of the dead. He was the son of the Titans Cronus and Rhea and the brother
of Zeus and Poseidon. When the three brothers divided up the universe after
they had deposed their father, Cronus, Hades was awarded the underworld.
There, with his queen, Persephone, whom he had abducted from the world
above, he ruled the kingdom of the dead. Although he was a grim and pitiless
god, unappeased by either prayer or sacrifice, he was not evil. In fact,
he was known also as Pluto, lord of riches, because both crops and precious
metals were believed to come from his kingdom below ground. The underworld
itself was often called Hades. It was divided into two regions: Erebus,
where the dead pass as soon as they die, and Tartarus, the deeper region,
where the Titans had been imprisoned. It was a dim and unhappy place, inhabited
by vague forms and shadows and guarded by Cerberus, the three-headed, dragon-tailed
dog. Sinister rivers separated the underworld from the world above, and
the aged boatman Charon ferried the souls of the dead across these waters.
Somewhere in the darkness of the underworld Hades' palace was located.
It was represented as a many-gated, dark and gloomy place, thronged with
guests, and set in the midst of shadowy fields and an apparition-haunted
landscape. In later legends the underworld is described as the place where
the good are rewarded and the wicked punished.
Harmonia,
daughter of Ares, god of war, and Aphrodite, goddess of love, and wife
of Cadmus, founder of Thebes. At Harmonia's wedding, which was attended
by the gods, Aphrodite gave her a beautiful necklace made by Hephaestus,
god of metalwork. Although the gift brought her good fortune, it brought
only death and misery to her family. In their old age Harmonia and Cadmus
were transformed into serpents.
Harpies,
foul creatures with the heads of old women and the bodies, wings, beaks,
and claws of birds. They could fly with the speed of the wind, and their
feathers, which could not be pierced, served as armor. The Harpies frequently
snatched up mortals and carried them off to the underworld, always leaving
behind a sickening odor. One of the many perils to be overcome by the Argonauts
in their quest for the Golden Fleece was an encounter with these dread,
half-human creatures, who were slowly starving a pathetic old man by befouling
his food before he could eat it. The Argonauts were on the point of killing
the creatures when Iris, goddess of the rainbow, intervened. At her request
they merely drove the Harpies away. The Trojan prince Aeneas also came
upon the Harpies, but he and his crew put out to sea to escape them.
Hebe,
the goddess of youth, the daughter of Zeus and Hera. Hebe served for a
long time as cupbearer to the gods, serving them their nectar and ambrosia.
She was replaced in this office by the Trojan prince Ganymede. According
to one story, she resigned as cupbearer to the gods upon her marriage to
the hero Hercules, who had just been deified. In another, she was dismissed
from her position because of a fall she suffered while in attendance on
the gods.
Hecate,
goddess of darkness, and the daughter of the Titans Perses and Asteria.
Unlike Artemis, who represented the moonlight and splendor of the night,
Hecate represented its darkness and its terrors. On moonless nights she
was believed to roam the earth with a pack of ghostly, howling dogs. She
was the goddess of sorcery and witchcraft and was especially worshiped
by magicians and witches, who sacrificed black lambs and black dogs to
her. As goddess of the crossroads, Hecate and her pack of dogs were believed
to haunt these remote spots, which seemed evil and ghostly places to travelers.
In art Hecate is often represented with either three bodies or three heads
and with serpents entwined about her neck.
Hector,
the eldest son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy, and husband of Andromache.
In Homer's Iliad, Hector is the greatest of the Trojan warriors. As commander
of the Trojan forces he is instrumental in holding off the Greek army for
nine years and finally succeeds in forcing the Greeks back to their ships
(see Trojan War). During the battle, however, Hector kills Patroclus, the
bosom friend of Achilles, the greatest of the Greek warriors. Achilles
has withdrawn from the fighting because of a quarrel with King Agamemnon,
the leader of the Greek forces, but in order to avenge the death of Patroclus,
he returns to the battlefield. Grief-stricken and frenzied, Achilles pursues
Hector three times around the walls of Troy, kills him, and then ties his
body to his chariot and drags it around the walls and back to Patroclus's
funeral pyre. Learning that the Greeks are withholding burial rites from
his son, the sorrowing Priam makes his way behind Greek battle lines with
the aid of the god Hermes and begs Achilles to relinquish Hector's corpse.
Moved by the sorrow of the aged king, Achilles agrees to yield the corpse
and declares a truce to permit the Trojans to honor Hector with a suitable
burial. A description of the funeral honors paid to Hector concludes the
Iliad. In contrast to the fierce and alienated Achilles, Hector is depicted
as a devoted family man and chivalrous warrior.
Hecuba,
wife of Priam, king of Troy, to whom she bore Hector, Paris, Cassandra,
and 16 other children. Following the fall of Troy and the death of Priam,
the aging Hecuba was taken prisoner by the Greeks. During the siege of
Troy, her youngest son, Polydorus, had been entrusted to the care of the
king of Thrace. On the way to Greece, where she was being taken by her
captors, Hecuba discovered that Polydorus had been murdered on the Thracian
shore. In revenge, she put out the eyes of the king and murdered his two
sons. According to legend Hecuba met death in one of three ways: in despair
at her capture she leapt into the Hellespont (now the Dardanelles); she
was killed for abusing her captors; or she was metamorphosed into a dog.
Helen of Troy,
the most beautiful woman in Greece, daughter of the god Zeus and of Leda,
wife of King Tyndareus of Sparta. She was abducted in childhood by the
hero Theseus, who hoped in time to marry her, but she was rescued by her
brothers, Castor and Pollux. Because Helen was courted by so many prominent
heroes, Tyndareus made all of them swear to abide by Helen's choice of
a husband and to defend the husband's rights should anyone attempt to take
Helen away by force. Helen's fatal beauty was the direct cause of the Trojan
War. The story of the ten-year conflict began when the three goddesses
Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite asked the Trojan prince Paris to choose the
most beautiful among them. After each of the goddesses had attempted to
influence his decision, Paris awarded the golden apple to Aphrodite, who
had promised him the world's most beautiful woman. Soon afterward Paris
sailed to Greece, where he was hospitably received by Helen and her husband,
Menelaus, king of Sparta. Unfortunately, Helen, as the fairest of her sex,
was the prize destined for Paris. Although she was living happily with
Menelaus, Helen fell under the influence of Aphrodite and allowed Paris
to persuade her to elope with him, and he carried her off to Troy. Menelaus
then called upon the Grecian chieftains, including Helen's former suitors,
to help him rescue his wife, and with few exceptions they responded to
his call. During nine years of indecisive conflict, Helen wove a web depicting
her sad story. Then Paris and Menelaus agreed to meet in single combat
between the opposing armies, and Helen was summoned to view the duel. As
she approached the tower, where the aged King Priam and his counselors
sat, her beauty was still so matchless and her sorrow so great that no
one could feel for her anything but compassion. Although the Greeks claimed
the victory in the battle between the two warriors, Aphrodite helped Paris
escape from the enraged Menelaus by enveloping him in a cloud and taking
him safely to Helen's chamber, where Aphrodite compelled the unwilling
Helen to lie with him. After the fall of Troy, Menelaus was reunited with
his wife, and they soon left Troy for their native Greece. They had, however,
incurred the displeasure of the gods and were therefore driven by storms
from shore to shore in the Mediterranean Sea, stopping in Cyprus, Phoenicia,
and Egypt. Arriving at length in Sparta, Menelaus and Helen resumed their
reign and lived the rest of their days in royal splendor. They had one
daughter, Hermione.
Helios,
the ancient sun god, son of the Titans Hyperion and Thea, and brother of
Selene, goddess of the moon, and Eos, goddess of the dawn. Helios was believed
to ride his golden chariot across the heavens daily, giving light to gods
and mortals. At evening he sank into the western ocean, from which he was
carried in a golden cup back to his palace in the east. Helios alone could
control the fierce horses that drew his fiery chariot. When his son Phaëthon
persuaded Helios to let him drive the chariot across the sky, Phaëthon
was killed. Helios was widely worshiped throughout the Greek world, but
his principal cult was at Rhodes. One of the Seven Wonders of the World,
the Colossus of Rhodes was a representation of Helios. He is often identified
with Apollo, the later Greek god of the sun.
Hellen,
ancestor of the Hellenes, or Greeks. He was the son of Pyrrha and Deucalion,
who because of their piety were spared in a devastating flood that destroyed
all creation. Hellen was believed to be the father of the principal nations
of Greece. From his sons Aeolus and Dorus sprang the Aeolians and Dorians,
and from the descendants of his son Xuthus came the Achaeans and Ionians.
Hephaestus,
god of fire and metalwork, the son of the god Zeus and the goddess Hera,
or sometimes the son of Hera alone. In contrast to the other gods, Hephaestus
was lame and awkward. Shortly after his birth, he was cast out of Olympus,
either by Hera, who was repelled by his deformity, or by Zeus, because
Hephaestus had sided with Hera against him. In most legends, however, he
was soon honored again on Olympus and was married to Aphrodite, goddess
of love, or to Aglaia, one of the three Graces. As the artisan among the
gods, Hephaestus made their armor, weapons, and jewelry. His workshop was
believed to lie under Mount Etna, a volcano in Sicily. Hephaestus is often
identified with the Roman god of fire, Vulcan.
Hera,
queen of the gods, the daughter of the Titans Cronus and Rhea, and the
sister and wife of the god Zeus. Hera was the goddess of marriage and the
protector of married women. She was the mother of Ares, god of war; Hephaestus,
god of fire; Hebe, goddess of youth; and Eileithyia, goddess of childbirth.
Hera was a jealous wife, who often persecuted Zeus's mistresses and children.
She never forgot an injury and was known for her vindictive nature. Angry
with the Trojan prince Paris for preferring Aphrodite, goddess of love,
to herself, Hera aided the Greeks in the Trojan War and was not appeased
until Troy was finally destroyed. Hera is often identified with the Roman
goddess Juno.
Hercules
,
hero noted for his strength and courage and for his many legendary exploits.
Hercules is the Roman name for the Greek hero Heracles. He was the son
of the god Zeus and Alcmene, wife of the Theban general Amphitryon. Hera,
the jealous wife of Zeus, was determined to kill her unfaithful husband's
offspring, and shortly after Hercules' birth she sent two great serpents
to destroy him. Hercules, although still a baby, strangled the snakes.
As a young man Hercules killed a lion with his bare hands. As a trophy
of his adventure, he wore the skin of the lion as a cloak and its head
as a helmet. The hero next conquered a tribe that had been exacting tribute
from Thebes. As a reward, he was given the hand of the Theban princess
Megara, by whom he had three children. Hera, still relentless in her hatred
of Hercules, sent a fit of madness upon him during which he killed his
wife and children. In horror and remorse at his deed Hercules would have
slain himself, but he was told by the oracle at Delphi that he should purge
himself by becoming the servant of his cousin Eurystheus, king of Mycenae.
Eurystheus, urged on by Hera, devised as a penance the 12 difficult tasks,
the "Labors of Hercules."
The
Twelve Labors The first task was to kill the lion of Nemea,
a beast that could not be wounded by any weapon. Hercules stunned the lion
with his club first and then strangled it. He then killed the Hydra that
lived in a swamp in Lerna. This monster had nine heads: One head was immortal;
when one of the others was chopped off, two grew back in its place. Hercules
seared each mortal neck with a burning torch to prevent reproduction of
two heads; he buried the immortal head under a rock. He then dipped his
arrows into the Hydra's blood to make them poisonous. Hercules' next labor
was to capture alive a stag with golden horns and bronze hoofs that was
sacred to Artemis, goddess of the hunt, and the fourth labor was to capture
a great boar that had its lair on Mount Erymanthus. Hercules then had to
clean up in one day the 30 years of accumulated filth left by thousands
of cattle in the Augean stables. He diverted the streams of two rivers,
causing them to flow through the stables. Hercules next drove off a huge
flock of man-eating birds with bronze beaks, claws, and wings that lived
near Lake Stymphalus. To fulfill the seventh labor Hercules brought to
Eurystheus a mad bull that Poseidon, god of the sea, had sent to terrorize
Crete. To bring back the man-eating mares of Diomedes, king of Thrace,
Hercules killed Diomedes, then drove the mares to Mycenae. Hippolyta, queen
of the Amazons, was willing to help Hercules with his ninth labor. As Hippolyta
was about to give Hercules her girdle, which Eurystheus wanted for his
daughter, Hera made Hippolyta's forces believe Hercules was trying to abduct
the queen. Hercules killed Hippolyta, thinking she was responsible for
the ensuing attack, and escaped from the Amazons with the girdle. On his
way to the island of Erythia to capture the oxen of the three-headed monster
Geryon, Hercules set up two great rocks (the mountains Gibraltar and Ceuta,
which now flank the Strait of Gibraltar) as a memorial of his journey.
After Hercules had brought back the oxen, he was sent to fetch the golden
apples of the Hesperides. Because Hercules did not know where these apples
were, he sought help from Atlas, father of the Hesperides. Atlas agreed
to help him if Hercules would support the world on his shoulders while
Atlas got the apples. The old man did not wish to resume his burden, but
Hercules tricked Atlas into taking the world back. The 12th and most difficult
labor of Hercules was to bring back the three-headed dog Cerberus from
the lower world. Hades, god of the dead, gave Hercules permission to take
the beast if he used no weapons. Hercules captured Cerberus, brought him
to Mycenae, and then carried him back to Hades.
Death of the
Hero Hercules later married Deianira, whom he won from Antaeus,
son of the sea god Poseidon. When the centaur Nessus attacked Deianira,
Hercules wounded him with an arrow that he had poisoned in the blood of
the Hydra. The dying centaur told Deianira to take some of his blood, which
he said was a powerful love charm but was really a poison. Believing that
Hercules had fallen in love with the princess Iole, Deianira later sent
him a tunic dipped in the blood. When he put it on, the pain caused by
the poison was so great that he killed himself on a funeral pyre. After
death he was brought by the gods to Olympus and married to Hebe, goddess
of youth. Hercules was worshiped by the Greeks as both a god and as a mortal
hero. He is usually represented as strong and muscular, clad in a lion
skin and carrying a club. The most famous statue of the mythical hero is
in the National Museum in Naples.
Hermaphroditus,
a youth who was transformed by the gods into a being half male and half
female, after a nymph, whose love he had rejected, prayed to be forever
united with him.
Hermes,
messenger of the gods, the son of the god Zeus and of Maia, the daughter
of the Titan Atlas. As the special servant and courier of Zeus, Hermes
had winged sandals and a winged hat and bore a golden Caduceus, or magic
wand, entwined with snakes and surmounted by wings. He conducted the souls
of the dead to the underworld and was believed to possess magical powers
over sleep and dreams. Hermes was also the god of commerce, and the protector
of traders and herds. As the deity of athletes, he protected gymnasiums
and stadiums and was believed to be responsible for both good luck and
wealth. Despite his virtuous characteristics, Hermes was also a dangerous
foe, a trickster, and a thief. On the day of his birth he stole the cattle
of his brother, the sun god Apollo, obscuring their trail by making the
herd walk backward. When confronted by Apollo, Hermes denied the theft.
The brothers were finally reconciled when Hermes gave Apollo his newly
invented lyre. Hermes was represented in early Greek art as a mature, bearded
man; in classical art he became an athletic youth, nude and beardless.
Hermione,
daughter of Helen of Troy and Menelaus, king of Sparta. Although she was
betrothed to Orestes, king of Mycenae, after the Trojan War Hermione married
Neoptolemus, the son of the Greek hero Achilles. Orestes later killed Neoptolemus
and became Hermione's second husband.
Hero,
priestess of Aphrodite, goddess of love, at Sestos, a town on the Hellespont
(now Dardanelles). Hero was loved by Leander, a youth who lived at Abydos,
a town on the Asian side of the channel. They could not marry because Hero
was bound by a vow of chastity, and so every night Leander swam from Asia
to Europe, guided by a lamp in Hero's tower. One stormy night a high wind
extinguished the beacon, and Leander was drowned. His body was washed ashore
beneath Hero's tower; in her grief, she threw herself into the sea.
Hesperides,
the daughters of the Titan Atlas or of Night. Aided by a dragon, the Hesperides
guarded a tree, with branches and leaves of gold, that bore golden apples.
The tree had been given to the goddess Hera on her wedding day by Gaea,
Mother Earth. One of the 12 labors imposed upon the hero Hercules was to
bring back the golden apples of the Hesperides.
Hestia,
virgin goddess of the hearth, the eldest daughter of the Titans Cronus
and Rhea. She was believed to preside at all sacrificial altar fires, and
prayers were offered to her before and after meals. Although she appears
in very few myths, most cities had a common hearth where her sacred fire
burned. In Rome, Hestia was worshiped as Vesta, and her fire was attended
by six virgin priestesses known as vestal virgins.
Hippolyte,
queen of the Amazons and daughter of Ares, god of war. She was slain by
the hero Hercules when he took from her, as one of his labors, the girdle
given to her by her father. According to another legend she became the
wife of the Greek hero Theseus, by whom she had a son, Hippolytus.
Hippolytus,
son of the Theban hero Theseus and his wife Hippolyte, queen of the Amazons,
or sometimes the son of her sister Antiope. Hippolytus was an excellent
hunter and charioteer, and he was a devoted servant of Artemis, goddess
of the hunt. Hippolytus spurned all women, and when his stepmother, Phaedra,
fell in love with him, he rejected her advances. In despair at his refusal,
Phaedra committed suicide, leaving a letter accusing Hippolytus of having
attempted to ravish her. Theseus, believing his son guilty, invoked his
father, Poseidon, god of the sea, to destroy Hippolytus. As the young man
drove his chariot along the shore, Poseidon sent a sea monster that frightened
his horses; they ran away, dashing the chariot to pieces. Mortally wounded,
Hippolytus was carried to his father, who had in the meantime learned from
Artemis that his son was innocent. As Hippolytus died, the grief-stricken
father and son were reconciled.
Hyacinthus,
handsome Spartan youth loved both by Apollo, god of the sun, and by Zephyrus,
god of the west wind. One day, as Apollo was teaching the young man to
throw the discus, the god accidentally killed Hyacinthus. From the blood
of the youth, Apollo caused a flower (not the modern hyacinth, but possibly
the iris or larkspur) to spring up, each petal inscribed with an exclamation
of lamentation. According to another legend, Zephyrus was jealous of the
youth's love for Apollo and blew upon the discus, causing it to strike
Hyacinthus.
Hydra ,
nine-headed monster that dwelled in a marsh near Lerna, Greece. A menace
to all of Argos, it had fatally poisonous breath and when one head was
severed, grew two in its place; its central head was immortal. Hercules,
sent to kill the serpent as the second of his 12 labors, succeeded in slaying
it by burning off the eight mortal heads and burying the ninth, immortal
head under a huge rock. The term hydra is commonly applied to any complex
situation or problem that continually poses compounded difficulties.
Hylas,
handsome youth, the inseparable companion of the hero Hercules. Hylas accompanied
Hercules as his armor bearer during the voyage of the Argonauts in search
of the Golden Fleece. When they stopped on the coast of Mysia in Asia Minor,
Hylas was drawn by a sea nymph into the spring from which he was drawing
water. He never appeared again. Hercules abandoned the expedition in order
to look for Hylas, and afterward, the Mysians conducted a search for Hylas
one day of each year.
