Metamorphoses characters

In Greek mythology, Coeus (; ), also called Koios or Polus, was one of the Titans, the children of Uranus (Sky) and Gaia (Earth).

nymph seduced by Zeus in Greek mythology

In Greek mythology, Cadmus (; ) was the legendary Phoenician founder of Boeotian Thebes. He was, alongside Perseus and Bellerophon, the greatest hero and slayer of monsters before the days of Heracles. Commonly stated to be a prince of Phoenicia, the son of king Agenor and queen Telephassa of Tyre, the brother of Phoenix, Cilix and Europa, Cadmus traced his origins back to Poseidon and Libya.

In Greek mythology, Calliope ( ; ) is the Muse who presides over eloquence and epic poetry, so called from the ecstatic harmony of her voice. Hesiod and Ovid called her the "Chief of all Muses".

thumb|Atalanta surrounded by three Erotes, Attic white-ground [[lekythos, c. 500–470 BC]]

thumb|Henry Fuseli's painting of Odysseus facing the choice between Scylla and Charybdis, 1794–1796 Charybdis (; , ; , ) is a sea monster in Greek mythology. Charybdis, along with the sea monster Scylla, appears as a challenge to epic characters such as Odysseus, Jason, and Aeneas. The descriptions of Greek mythical chroniclers and Greek historians locates her in the Strait of Messina.

thumb|Roman fresco of Iphigenia, from Magdalensberg

Cybele ( ; 'Kubeleya Mother', perhaps 'Mountain Mother'; ; Kybélē, Kybēbē, Kybelis) is an Anatolian mother goddess; she may have a possible forerunner in the earliest Neolithic at Çatalhöyük. Greek colonists in Asia Minor adopted and adapted her Phrygian cult and spread it to mainland Greece and to the more distant western Greek colonies around the sixth century BC.

thumb|Terpsichore on an antique fresco from Pompeii

thumb|right|Erato on an antique fresco from Pompeii In Greek mythology, Erato (; ) is one of the Muses, associated with erotic lyric poetry. The name would mean "desired" or "lovely", if derived from the same root as Eros, as Apollonius of Rhodes playfully suggested in the invocation to Erato that begins Book III of his Argonautica.

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

Thetis ( , or ; ) is a figure from Greek mythology with varying mythological roles. She mainly appears as a sea nymph, a goddess of water, and one of the 50 Nereids, daughters of the ancient sea god Nereus.

Aeacus (; also spelled Eacus; Ancient Greek: Αἰακός) was a king of the island of Aegina in Greek mythology. He was a son of Zeus and the nymph Aegina, and the father of the heroes Peleus and Telamon. According to legend, he was famous for his justice, and after he died he became one of the three judges in the underworld alongside Minos and Rhadamanthus. In another story, he assisted Poseidon and Apollo in building the walls of Troy.

In Greek mythology, Alcmene ( ; ) or Alcmena ( ; ; ; meaning "strong in wrath") was the wife of Amphitryon, by whom she bore two children, Iphicles and Laonome. She is best known as the mother of Heracles, whose father was the god Zeus. Alcmene was also referred to as Electryone (), a patronymic name as a daughter of Electryon.

Polyhymnia (; ), alternatively Polymnia (Πολύμνια), is, in Greek mythology, the Muse of sacred poetry, sacred hymn, dance and eloquence, as well as agriculture and pantomime. thumb|Polyhymnia on an antique fresco from Pompeii

thumb|upright=1.3|Theseus Recognized by his Father by Hippolyte Flandrin (1832) Aegeus (, ; ) was one of the kings of Athens in Greek mythology, who gave his name to the Aegean Sea, was the father of Theseus, and founded Athenian institutions.

Euterpe (; , from + ) was one of the Muses in Greek mythology, presiding over music. In late Classical times, she was named muse of lyric poetry. She has been called "Giver of delight" by ancient poets.

In Greek mythology, Hecuba (; also Hecabe; , ) was the wife of King Priam and queen of Troy during the Trojan War. With Priam, she was the mother of the warriors Hector and Troilus; Helen's suitor Paris; and the prophetess Cassandra.

thumb|Morpheus, painted by Jean-Bernard Restout Morpheus ( 'Fashioner', derived from , meaning 'form, shape') is a god associated with sleep and dreams. In Ovid's Metamorphoses he is the son of Somnus (Sleep, the Roman counterpart of Hypnos) and appears in dreams in human form. From the Middle Ages, the name began to stand more generally for the god of dreams, or of sleep.

giant with hundred eyes in Greek mythology

In Greek mythology, Pasiphaë (, derived from the dative plural 'for all' and 'light'; , or , ) was the daughter of Helios, queen of Crete, and mother of the Minotaur. After her husband Minos failed to sacrifice the Cretan Bull to Poseidon as promised, the god cursed Pasiphaë to fall in love with the bull. She had Daedalus build a hollow wooden cow for her to hide in, which she then used to mate with the bull; afterwards, she gave birth to the Minotaur.

mythological prince, loved by Apollo

Phaethon (; , ), also spelled Phaëthon, is the son of the Oceanid Clymene and the sun god Helios in Greek mythology.

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.

thumb|Athena counseling Diomedes shortly before he enters the battle. Schlossbrücke, Berlin.

legendary figure of Cyprus, sculptor

nymph in Greek mythology

Eileithyia or Ilithyia (; , ; (Eleuthyia, ) in Crete, also (Eleuthia, ) or (Elysia, ) in Laconia and Messene, and (Eleuthō) in literature) was the Greek goddess of childbirth and midwifery, and the daughter of Zeus and Hera.

thumb|Paestan lekythos depicting Niobe turning to stone, c. 330 B.C, [[Altes Museum, Berlin]]

mountain nymph of Greek mythology

thumb|The death of Actaeon on Red-figure pottery|red-figure [[skyphos from Paestum, 4th century BC (Karlsruhe, Badisches Landesmuseum).]]

thumb|The Fall of Ixion by Cornelis van Haarlem

Deianira, Deïanira, or Deianeira ( ; , or , ), also known as Dejanira, is a Calydonian princess in Greek mythology whose name translates as "man-destroyer" or "destroyer of her husband". She was the wife of Heracles and, in late Classical accounts, his unwitting murderer, killing him with the poisoned Shirt of Nessus. She is the main character in Sophocles' play Women of Trachis.

Aeëtes ( ; , ), or Aeeta, was the ruler of the eponymous realm of Aea in Greek mythology, a wondrous realm which from the fifth century B.C.E. onward became identified with the kingdom of Colchis east in the Black Sea. The name comes from the ancient Greek word (, "eagle").

thumb|Heracles wrestling with Achelous; Stamnos attributed to [[Oltos, c. 525–475 BC, London, British Museum E437.]]

queen in Greek mythology

mythological Greek character, son of Oileus

In Greek mythology, Laomedon (; , Lāomédōn, "ruler of the people") was a Trojan king, son of Ilus and thus nephew of Ganymede and Assaracus.

nymph in Greek mythology who fled from the river god Alpheus

thumb|Eurydice with Orpheus and [[Hermes, 1st-century Roman marble relief in the Archaeological Museum of Naples, Italy.]] Eurydice (; Ancient Greek: Εὐρυδίκη 'wide justice', classical pronunciation: ) was a character in Greek mythology and the wife of Orpheus, whom Orpheus tried to bring back from the dead with his enchanting music.

In Greek mythology, Aeson (; Ancient Greek: Αἴσων Aísōn) was a king of Iolcus in Thessaly. He was the father of the hero Jason. According to one version of the story, he was imprisoned by his half-brother Pelias, and when Pelias intended to kill him he committed suicide. In another story, he was killed by Jason's wife Medea, who brought him back to life as a young man.

thumb|Deucalion from Promptuarium Iconum Insigniorum

son of Theseus in Greek mythology

thumb|right|206x206px| The Fury of Athamas by John Flaxman (1755-1826).

thumb|Attic neck-amphora featuring [[Heracles and Memnon (detail), BC]] thumb|Eos retrieving the body of her son Memnon from the battlefield (detail); Etruscan bronze mirror, BC

thumb|Io (mythology)|Io recognized by her father ([[Victor Honoré Janssens)]]

thumb|upright|220px|''Marsyas receiving Apollo's punishment'', Istanbul Archaeology Museums|İstanbul Archaeology Museum

In Greek mythology, Asteria or Asterie ( ; ) is a daughter of the Titans Phoebe and Coeus (Polus) and the sister of Leto. According to Hesiod, by the Titan Perses she had a single child, a daughter named Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft. Other authors made Asteria the mother of the fourth Heracles and Hecate by Zeus.

Calchas (; ) is an Argive mantis, or seer, in Greek mythology. Calchas appears in the opening scenes of the Iliad, and also has a long literary history after Homer.

In Greek mythology, Autolycus (; ) was a robber who had the power to metamorphose or make invisible the things he stole. He had his residence on Mount Parnassus and was renowned among men for his cunning and oaths.

mythical king of ancient Athens

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

In Greek mythology, Rhodos/Rhodus () or Rhode (), was the goddess and personification of the island of Rhodes and a wife of the sun god Helios.

son of Deioneus and beloved of Eos in Greek mythology

thumb | right | alt=Arcas and Callisto, Sebastiano Ricci (1659–1734). | Arcas and Callisto, Sebastiano Ricci (1659–1734). In Greek mythology, Arcas (; Ancient Greek: Ἀρκάς) was a hunter who became king of Arcadia. He was remembered for having taught people the arts of weaving and baking bread and for spreading agriculture to Arcadia.

Greek mythical character, king of Arcadia, son of Pelasgus and Meliboea

thumb|The Sisters of Phaeton Transformed into Poplars by Santi di Tito (2nd half of 16th century)

mythical daughter of Thestius

Oceanid (one of the three thousand daughters of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys), and the wife of the Sun god, Helios