Characters in Roman mythology

thumb|Aeneas flees burning Troy, Federico Barocci, 1598 ([[Galleria Borghese, Rome, Italy)]]

goddess of the hunt, the moon and birthing, equated with the Greek goddess Artemis

goddess of the hearth, home, and family in Roman religion

Arachne (; from , cognate with Latin ) is the protagonist of a tale in classical mythology known primarily from the version told by the Roman poet Ovid (43 BCE–17 CE). In Book Six of his epic poem Metamorphoses, Ovid recounts how the talented mortal Arachne challenged the goddess Minerva (the Roman equivalent of Athena) to a weaving contest. When Minerva could find no flaws in the tapestry Arachne had woven for the contest, the goddess became enraged and beat the girl with her shuttle. After Arachne hanged herself out of shame, she was transformed into a spider. The myth both provide

mythical lover of Eros/Cupid

thumb|Herculaneum fresco 1–50 AD, [[National Archaeological Museum, Naples]] In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Hermaphroditus (; , ) is a child of Aphrodite and Hermes. According to Ovid, he was born a remarkably beautiful boy whom the naiad Salmacis attempted to rape and prayed to be united with forever. A god, in answer to her prayer, merged their two forms into one and transformed him into a being of two sexes, both male and female. His name is compounded of his parents' names, Hermes and Aphrodite, and is the origin of the term hermaphrodite.

According to Roman tradition, Lucretia (/luːˈkriːʃə/ loo-KREE-shə, Classical Latin: [ɫʊˈkreːtia]; died ), anglicized as Lucrece, was a noblewoman in ancient Rome. Sextus Tarquinius (Tarquin), the king's son, raped Lucretia, and her subsequent suicide precipitated a rebellion that overthrew the Roman monarchy and led to the transition of Roman government from a kingdom to a republic. After Tarquin raped Lucretia, flames of dissatisfaction were kindled over the tyrannical methods of Tarquin's father, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the last king of Rome. As a result, the prominent families institute

mother of Romulus and Remus

thumb|The boy Ascanius weeps and Venus hovers nearby as the physician Iapyx treats the wound of Aeneas (wall painting from [[Pompeii, 1st century AD).]]

thumb|Wind rose of ancient Greece, created by the scholar [[Adamantios Korais around 1796]]

Roman goddess of the Moon

6th-century BC Roman youth famous for his bravery

foster mother of Romulus and Remus

thumb|Lavinia from Promptuarium Iconum Insigniorum|Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum thumb|250px|Lavinia at the Altar () by Mirabello Cavalori, depicting the moment at which Lavinia's hair blazes as an omen of war but ultimate reconciliation In Roman mythology, Lavinia ( ; ) is the daughter of Latinus and Amata, and the last wife of Aeneas.

In Roman mythology, Faustulus was the shepherd who found the infant Romulus (the future founder of the city of Rome) and his twin brother Remus along the banks of the Tiber River as they were being suckled by the she-wolf, Lupa. According to legend, Faustulus carried the babies back to his sheepfold for his wife Acca Larentia to nurse them. Faustulus and Acca Larentia then raised the boys as their own. Romulus later defeated and killed King Amulius of Alba Longa, with the help of Faustulus, and his brother Pleistinus. Romulus and Remus set out to build their own city, but then had a falling-ou

mythological trojan prince, son of Priam

thumb|Reverse of a denarius (89 BCE) depicting the torture of Tarpeia thumb|Reverse of a denarius (19-18 BCE) of [[Augustus showing Tarpeia crushed by the soldiers' shields]] In Roman legend, Tarpeia (; mid-8th century BCE), daughter of the Roman commander Spurius Tarpeius, was a Vestal Virgin who betrayed the city of Rome to the Sabines at the time of their women's abduction for what she thought would be a reward of jewelry. She was instead crushed to death by Sabine shields and her body cast from the southern Rock (Rupes Tarpeia).

late 6th century BC Roman army officer who defended the Pons Sublicius against Lars Porsena's Etruscan army

According to Roman mythology, Amata (also called Palanto) was the wife of Latinus, king of the Latins, and the mother of their only child, Lavinia. In the Aeneid of Virgil, she commits suicide during the conflict between Aeneas and Turnus over which of them would marry Lavinia.

thumb|300px|right|Romanino, The Killing of Virginia.

priestess presiding over the Apollonian oracle at Cumae

Roman god of the Sun

thumb|Hersilia from a detail of The Intervention of the Sabine Women, Jacques-Louis David (1799) In Roman mythology, Hersilia was a figure in the foundation myth of Rome. She is credited with ending the war between Rome and the Sabines.

character of Roman mythology, close friend of Aeneas

legend from the time of Tullus Hostilius in the Roman Kingdom

nymph in Roman mythology, mother of Latinus

thumb|Aeneas and Acestes by Wenceslaus Hollar (1607–1677) In Roman mythology, Acestes or Egestes () was the son of the Sicilian river-god Crinisus by a Dardanian or Trojan woman named Egesta or Segesta.

thumb|upright|Dea Muta, identified with Lara or Larunda, print (ca. 1809–1839) by Mattheus Ignatius van Bree Larunda (also Larunde, Laranda, Lara) was a naiad nymph, daughter of the river Almo and mother of the Lares Compitalici, guardians of the crossroads and the city of Rome. In Ovid's Fasti she is named Lara.

thumb Palinurus (Palinūrus), in Roman mythology and especially Virgil's Aeneid, is the coxswain of Aeneas' ship. Later authors used him as a general type of navigator or guide. Palinurus is an example of human sacrifice; his life is the price for the Trojans landing in Italy.

ancient Roman legendary figure

son of Tarquin the Proud, slain by Lucius Junius Brutus

thumb|Ocnus by J. Ligozzi (circa 1547-circa 1627) In Greek and Roman mythology, Ocnus () or Bianor () was a son of Manto and Tiberinus Silvius, king of Alba Longa. He founded modern Mantua in honor of his mother. Alternatively, he was the son or brother of Aulestes and founded Felsina (modern Bologna), Perusia or Cesena.

In Roman mythology, Caeculus (meaning "little blind boy", from caecus "blind") was a son of Vulcan, and the legendary founder of Praeneste (modern Palestrina).

grandfather of Tullus Hostilius

story of Greek mythology

Roman nobleman of the late Kingdom

eldest son of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (died c.496 BC)

Pair of friends/lovers in the Aeneid, the Augustan epic by Virgil

thumb|Isis and Telethusa by Bernard Picart|Picart, 1732.

brother of Tarquin the Elder

brother of Rome's last king, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus

son of Nauplius in Greek mythology

In Roman mythology, Entoria was the daughter of a Roman countryman. Saturn who was once hospitably received by him, became, by Entoria, the father of four sons: Janus, Hymnus, Faustus, and Felix.

Mnestheus () is a character from Roman mythology, found in Virgil's Aeneid. He is described by Virgil as the ancestral hero of the Memmii and "Of the house of Assaracus". One of a handful of vaguely defined lieutenants under Aeneas, he appears to be Aeneas's most senior captain, taking charge in Book 9 in his absence. He takes second place in the boat race during the funeral games of Anchises in Book 5.

Cipus was a legendary Roman praetor famous for his pietas. After receiving a prophecy that he would become king of Rome, he chose voluntary exile instead of the throne. He is mentioned by Ovid in his Metamorphoses, Pliny the Elder in Natural History, and Valerius Maximus.

The ancient Greek word '''' () means "burning", "blazing" or "shining." Less strictly, it can denote the colour red-brown, or "tawny." It is an epithet sometimes applied to animals such as horses at Hom. Il. 2.839; oxen at Od.18.372; and an eagle at Il''. 15.690 (cf. Hyginus' calling Aëtos, the eagle that tormented Prometheus, an aethonem aquilam at Fabulae 31.5.). In English, aithōn may be written Aethon, Aithon or Ethon. In Greek and Roman mythology there are a number of characters known as Aethon. Most are horses, variously belonging to:

thumb|upright|Cover from Naturalis Historia from [[Pliny the Elder, the work that could have involuntarily been the origin of the mythical character Lusus.]] Lusus is the supposed son or companion of Bacchus, the Roman god of wine and divine madness, to whom Portuguese national mythology attributed the foundation of ancient Lusitania and the fatherhood of its inhabitants, the Lusitanians, seen as the ancestors of the modern Portuguese people. Lusus thus has functioned in Portuguese culture as a founding myth.

Anteias or Antias () was in Roman mythology a figure in some versions of Rome's foundation myth. He was one of the three sons of Odysseus by Circe, and brother to Rhomos and Ardeas, each of whom were said to have founded a major Roman city, much like the Romulus and Remus myth. The town of Anteia or Antium in Italy was said to have been founded by, and taken its name from, this Anteias.