The Inked Scroll

Greek myths, copied fair by hand

Glossary

A Glossary of Myth, Acheron to Zoster

Every manuscript needs a word-list in its back pages. Here are the terms that keep turning up in our folios – places, rites, objects, creatures and ideas – set out from A to Z with their Greek spelling, a transliteration and a short gloss. Where a word belongs to a story we have copied out in full, a link leads you to that folio.

A

Acheron Ἀχέρων Achérōn
One of the rivers of the Underworld, often the one the dead must cross. It was also a real river in Thesprotia, in north-western Greece, where Herodotus places an oracle of the dead consulted by Periander of Corinth.
Aegis αἰγίς aigís
The terrifying goatskin cape or shield of Zeus, also worn by Athena. In the Iliad it is fringed with golden tassels and bears the Gorgon’s head; shaken over a battlefield, it fills an army with panic.
Ambrosia ἀμβροσία ambrosía
The food of the gods, usually paired with nectar, their drink; the word seems to mean “immortal stuff”. Gods also used it as an ointment, and it could keep a body from decay, as Thetis keeps the corpse of Patroclus fresh in the Iliad.
Anakomidi ἀνακομιδή anakomidí
The exhumation of the bones some years after burial, still customary in much of Greece. The remains are washed, often with wine, and moved to an ossuary. A body found undecayed at this moment could raise fears of a vrykolakas. Turn to this folio
Argo Ἀργώ Argṓ
The ship that carried Jason and his companions to Colchis, built by Argus with Athena’s help. A beam from the oracular oak of Zeus at Dodona was fitted into her, and in Apollonius of Rhodes it speaks to the crew. Turn to this folio
Asphodel Meadow ἀσφοδελὸς λειμών asphodelòs leimṓn
The plain of the Underworld where, in the Odyssey, the shades of the dead drift to and fro. The asphodel is a real Mediterranean plant with pale flowers on tall stalks, common on poor and stony ground.
Ate Ἄτη Átē
Ruinous delusion, and the goddess who brings it. In the Iliad Agamemnon blames her for his quarrel with Achilles, and tells how Zeus, deceived by Ate on the day Heracles was born, flung her down from Olympus.

B

Bacchants βάκχαι bákchai
Women possessed by Dionysus, also called maenads, who left their homes to roam the mountains in his honour. Euripides’ Bacchae shows them suckling wild animals and tearing apart King Pentheus of Thebes.

C

Calydonian Boar Καλυδώνιος κάπρος Kalydṓnios kápros
The monstrous boar Artemis sent to ravage Calydon in Aetolia when King Oeneus forgot her offering. Meleager gathered heroes from across Greece to hunt it, and in later versions Atalanta drew its first blood. Turn to this folio
Catasterism καταστερισμός katasterismós
The placing of a figure among the stars. Ancient handbooks explain many constellations this way: the crab that bit Heracles at Lerna, for instance, became Cancer, set in the sky by Hera as a reward.
Centaur Κένταυρος Kéntauros
A creature with the body of a horse and the torso of a man. Most centaurs were wild and quick to drink, but Chiron was wise and taught heroes such as Achilles and Jason. Several centaurs died of Heracles’ poisoned arrows.
Cerberus Κέρβερος Kérberos
The watchdog of Hades, child of Typhon and Echidna. Hesiod gives him fifty heads, most later writers three. He welcomes the dead and devours any who try to leave. Heracles carried him up into daylight as his twelfth labour. Turn to this folio
Chthonic χθόνιος chthónios
“Of the earth”: the word for gods and powers below the ground, such as Hades, Persephone and Hecate, and for the rites given to them. Chthonic offerings were often made at night, poured into pits or burned whole.

D

Daimon δαίμων daímōn
A divine power: sometimes a god, sometimes a lesser spirit, sometimes the fortune allotted to a person. In Hesiod’s Works and Days the men of the golden age become kindly daimones who watch over the living.
Drakon δράκων drákōn
A great serpent, and the source of our word dragon. Drakontes guard sacred places and treasures in myth: the serpent coiled beneath the Golden Fleece, Ladon in the garden of the Hesperides, the serpent of Ares at Thebes.

E

Echidna Ἔχιδνα Échidna
In Hesiod, a monster half nymph and half speckled serpent, dwelling in a cave beneath the earth. With Typhon she mothered a brood of horrors, among them Orthus, Cerberus and the Lernaean Hydra.
Eleusinian Mysteries Ἐλευσίνια μυστήρια Eleusínia mystḗria
Secret rites of Demeter and Persephone held at Eleusis near Athens, which promised initiates a better lot after death. Apollodorus says Heracles was initiated there before he went down to fetch Cerberus.
Elysium Ἠλύσιον πεδίον Ēlýsion pedíon
The Elysian Plain at the ends of the earth, where in the Odyssey a favoured few live without snow, storm or heavy rain, cooled by the west wind. Later writers placed it within the Underworld as the home of the blessed.
Erinyes Ἐρινύες Erinýes
The Furies, avengers of crimes against kin, above all murder within a family. Hesiod says they sprang from the blood of Uranus falling on the earth; in Aeschylus they hunt Orestes for killing his mother.

G

Golden Apples χρύσεα μῆλα chrýsea mêla
Golden fruit from the garden of the Hesperides, said to be Earth’s wedding gift to Hera. Heracles fetched them as a labour, and three golden apples given by Aphrodite won the footrace against Atalanta. Turn to this folio
Golden Fleece χρυσόμαλλον δέρας chrysómallon déras
The fleece of the golden ram that carried Phrixus to Colchis. King Aeetes hung it on an oak in a grove of Ares under the guard of a sleepless serpent, until Jason, helped by Medea, carried it away. Turn to this folio

H

Hero ἥρως hḗrōs
In myth, a mortal of exceptional deeds, often with a divine parent; in religion, a powerful dead person honoured at his tomb. Molorchus was told to sacrifice to Heracles as a hero if he never came back from Nemea.
Hesperides Ἑσπερίδες Hesperídes
The nymphs of evening, daughters of Night in Hesiod, who tend the garden of golden apples at the western edge of the world, beyond the stream of Ocean and near the place where Atlas holds up the sky.
Hubris ὕβρις hýbris
Violent arrogance: an act that shames or wrongs another, or oversteps the limits set for mortals. In Athenian law it was a crime of outrage; in myth it is the kind of conduct that invites punishment from the gods.
Hydra Ὕδρα Hýdra
“Water snake”: the many-headed serpent of Lerna, child of Typhon and Echidna, whose heads grew back when cut. Heracles and Iolaus destroyed it with blade and fire, and its venom tipped the hero’s arrows ever after. Turn to this folio

I

Ichor ἰχώρ ichṓr
The fluid that runs in the veins of the gods instead of blood. When Diomedes wounds Aphrodite in the Iliad, ichor flows, and Homer explains that the gods eat no bread and drink no wine, and so are bloodless and deathless.

K

Kallikantzaros καλικάντζαρος kalikántzaros
A goblin of modern Greek folklore that climbs up from under the earth during the twelve days from Christmas to Epiphany to make mischief in houses, until the blessing of the waters drives it back below.
Katabasis κατάβασις katábasis
A “going down”: a living person’s journey into the Underworld and back. Famous descents include those of Heracles for Cerberus, Orpheus for Eurydice, Theseus and Pirithous for Persephone and, in Latin poetry, Aeneas.
Katachanas καταχανάς katachanás
A name used on Crete for the restless dead man known elsewhere in Greece as a vrykolakas: a corpse believed to leave its grave by night and to trouble the living until it is laid to rest. Turn to this folio
Kleos κλέος kléos
Fame, literally “what is heard” about someone: the glory that outlives a hero in song. Achilles in the Iliad weighs a short life crowned with undying kleos against a long one lived without it.
Krotala κρόταλα krótala
Clappers or rattles. Apollodorus says Athena gave Heracles bronze krotala made by Hephaestus; their din startled the Stymphalian birds out of their woods, so that he could shoot them as they rose. Turn to this folio

L

Labours ἆθλοι âthloi
The tasks Heracles performed for Eurystheus, from the Nemean Lion to Cerberus. The Greek word means contests for a prize. Ten were set at first, but two were discounted, making the canonical twelve. Turn to this folio
Lerna Λέρνη Lérnē
A district of springs and marsh on the Argolic Gulf, south of Argos, and home of the Hydra. Pausanias saw there a sanctuary of Demeter, the spring Amymone and the Alcyonian Lake, said to be bottomless. Turn to this folio
Lethe Λήθη Lḗthē
Forgetfulness, and the river or plain of the Underworld that brings it. In Plato’s myth of Er, souls drink from the river of Unmindfulness before rebirth; in Virgil, they drink Lethe to forget their former lives.
Libation σπονδή spondḗ
A drink offering poured out to gods or to the dead, usually wine, but also milk, honey, oil or water. In the Odyssey, Odysseus pours honeyed milk, wine and water into a pit when he calls up the shades.

M

Melitoutta μελιτοῦττα melitoûtta
A honey-cake. Cakes of honey were offered to the powers below, and later explanations made them a gift for Cerberus. Virgil’s Sibyl tames the hound with a drugged honey-cake; Apuleius’ Psyche carries two barley cakes soaked in honeyed wine.
Miasma μίασμα míasma
Ritual pollution, above all from bloodshed, which clung to the killer and could spread to a whole city until it was cleansed. Heracles sought purification after killing his children; Circe purifies Jason and Medea after the death of Apsyrtus.
Mnemosyno μνημόσυνο mnimósyno
A memorial service for the dead in the Greek Orthodox Church, held on the third, ninth and fortieth days after a death and at its anniversaries, with a dish of boiled wheat shared among the mourners.
Moirai Μοῖραι Moîrai
The Fates: Clotho the spinner, Lachesis the allotter and Atropos who cannot be turned. Hesiod makes them daughters of Night in one passage and of Zeus and Themis in another; Ovid has them bind Meleager’s life to a log on the fire.

N

Nekyia νέκυια nékyia
A rite for calling up the dead in order to question them, and the name given to the eleventh book of the Odyssey, where Odysseus fills a pit with blood and the shades come thronging to drink.
Nymph νύμφη nýmphē
A female spirit of a particular place – a spring, tree, mountain or stretch of sea – long-lived but not always immortal. The word also means a bride. A spring nymph drew the boy Hylas under during the voyage of the Argo.

O

Obol ὀβολός obolós
A small silver coin. Greek writers speak of a coin placed with the dead as the fare for Charon’s ferry, and graves show the custom was real though never universal. In Aristophanes’ Frogs the fare is two obols.
Omphalos ὀμφαλός omphalós
The “navel”: a carved stone at Delphi said to mark the centre of the earth, where two eagles released by Zeus from its opposite ends met. The word is also used of the raised boss at the centre of a shield or bowl.

P

Pillars of Heracles Ἡράκλειαι στῆλαι Hērákleiai stêlai
The two headlands that flank the strait between Europe and Africa at Gibraltar. Apollodorus says Heracles set them up on his journey to Geryon as memorials of his passage; for the Greeks they marked the edge of the known sea. Turn to this folio
Psychopomp ψυχοπομπός psychopompós
A “guide of souls” who escorts the dead to the Underworld; above all Hermes, who in the Odyssey drives the shades of the suitors with his golden wand. The same god guided Heracles below when he went for Cerberus.
Pythia Πυθία Pythía
The priestess of Apollo at Delphi, through whom the god gave his oracles. According to Apollodorus she was the first to call the hero by the name Heracles, and she sent him to serve Eurystheus for twelve years.

R

Rhapsode ῥαψῳδός rhapsōidós
A professional reciter of epic poetry, especially Homer, who performed at festivals and in competitions. The name was understood as “stitcher of songs”. Plato’s dialogue Ion portrays one, proud of his art and puzzled by questions about it.

S

Stymphalian Birds Στυμφαλίδες ὄρνιθες Stymphalídes órnithes
A flock of birds infesting the woods around Lake Stymphalus in Arcadia. Heracles scared them into the air with bronze rattles and shot them as his sixth labour; later writers turned them into man-eaters with feathers sharp as arrows. Turn to this folio
Styx Στύξ Stýx
The river of hate, and its goddess, by whom the gods swore their most binding oaths. Hesiod says that a god who swore falsely by her water lay breathless for a year and was then barred from the gods’ feasts for nine more.
Symplegades Συμπληγάδες Symplēgádes
The Clashing Rocks at the entrance to the Black Sea, which slammed together on anything passing between them. The Argo slipped through behind a dove with Athena’s help, and from then on the rocks stood still. Turn to this folio

T

Tartarus Τάρταρος Tártaros
The gloomy pit far beneath the earth where the defeated Titans were imprisoned. Hesiod measures its depth: a bronze anvil dropped from heaven would fall for nine days to reach the earth, and nine more to reach Tartarus.
Tympaniaios τυμπανιαίος tympaniaíos
“Drum-like”: in Greek church and folk tradition, the swollen, undecayed corpse of someone who died excommunicated, said to sound like a drum when struck. Such a body was a sign that the dead had not yet been released. Turn to this folio

V

Vrykolakas βρυκόλακας vrykólakas
The revenant of modern Greek folklore: a dead body that does not decay and leaves its grave to trouble the living. The name comes from a Slavic word for a werewolf. Prayer, exhumation and, at worst, burning were the remedies. Turn to this folio

X

Xenia ξενία xenía
Guest-friendship: the sacred bond between host and guest, protected by Zeus Xenios. Myths turn on it constantly, from Molorchus feeding Heracles on the road to Nemea to the Argonauts killing their own host at Cyzicus by mistake.

Z

Zoster ζωστήρ zōstḗr
A warrior’s belt. Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons, wore the zoster of Ares as a sign of her rank, and fetching it for Eurystheus’s daughter Admete was the ninth labour of Heracles. Turn to this folio