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Cacus- A famous robber, son of Vulcan, said to have inhabited a cave on Mt. Aventine, the later site of Rome. He robbed Hercules of some cattle, but Hercules discovered him, killed him, and established on the site of his cave an ox market and altar, "ara maxima," which existed for ages in Rome.
Cadmus- A Phnician hero, son of King Agenor. His father sent him to seek his sister Europa, whom Zeus in the guise of a bull had carried over the sea on his back. Unable to find her and afraid to return, he was directed by an oracle to build a city and call it Thebes. The oracle at Delphi told him that a snow-white cow would lead him to location that was good for a walled city. But, after he got there, his men started disappearing one by one as they were sent to get water. He found out that they were being slayed by a huge dragon guarding the spring. Cadmus slayed the dragon, but he didn't have any men left to help him build his city. So he sacrificed the white cow to the gods and pleaded for their help. Athena answered by telling him that he should pull out all the dragons' teeth and sow them into the ground. Although this sounded weird, he did as he was told. And from the ground came up 50 warriors, but they all ran at Cadmus with their swords. Athena called to him and told him to "Throw a rock among them!" He did and they then fought furiously among themselves, leaving him only five men. Together they built the city called Thebes. Cadmus was a great king and Zeus gave him Harmonia, a daughter of Aphrodite, for his wife. He is said to have introduced the worship of heroes and the use of the alphabet, which at first consisted of only sixteen letters. This proves the fact that the Greek alphabet was developed from the Phnicians.
Caduceus- This fabled wand was carried by Hermes. It was represented as entwined with two serpents and having two wings at the top.
Cairn- Mound of stones in which Hermes is embodied.
Calaïs- Son of the North Wind.
Calchas- The wisest of the soothsayers among the Greeks at Troy. He died from grief on meeting with a soothsayer who proved wiser than he.
Calliope- The Muse who presided over epic and heroic poetry. She had a mortal son named Orpheus and he sang as beautifully as the Muses themselves. She is generally depicted using a stylus and wax writing tablet, or a scroll.
Callisto- A nymph of Arcadia, whose son Arcas was changed into a bear and placed in the heavens as a constellation.
Calpe- One of the two pillars of Hercules. The other was named Abyla. These two were originally only one mountain, which Hercules tore asunder; he then poured the sea between them. Calpe is now called Gibraltar.
Calydonian Boar- A monstrous boar that thrashed through Calydonia as a result of the king having forgot to include Artemis when he sacrificed to the gods. Meleager sent for the best athletes in Greece to hunt to boar down. Many great heroes come, along with a girl name Atalanta. Ironically, she is the one that shot an arrow at the great boar and Meleager then killed it.
Calypso- One of the daughters of Atlas. When Odysseus was shipwrecked on her coasts, she received him with hospitality. She offered him immortality if he would become her husband, but he refused. After remaining with her seven years, he was summoned by Hermes to continue his voyage homeward.
Camenæ- Italian nymphs or fountain deities, identified later by Roman poets with the Greek Muses. Egeria was one of the Camenæ.
Camilla- Virgin queen of the Volscians, poetically described by Virgil as so swift that she could run over a field of corn without bending a blade, or make her way over the sea without wetting her feet.
Cassandra- Daughter of Priam and Hecuba. She was passionately loved by Apollo, who, as the price of love, gave her the gift of prophecy, but, when she deceived him ,added the condition that her prophecies should never be believed.
Cassiopeia- Queen of Ethiopia, wife of King Cepheus, and the mother of Andromeda. She had one day boasted that she was even lovelier than the Nereids. Poseidon could not tolerate a mortal comparing herself to the goddesses of the sea, so he sent a sea monster to ravage Ethiopia. King Cepheus had to sacrifice Andromeda to the monster, but she was saved by Perseus. Stoned to death by Medusa's head which Perseus held, Cassiopeia and Cepheus were placed at their deaths in the heaven. She forms a constellation, the chief stars of which suggest by their arrangement the outline of a chair.
Castalia- A fountain on Mount Parnassus, sacred to Apollo and the Muses. Whoever drank of its waters was endowed with the gift of poetry.
Castor- Twin brother of Pollux, sons of Leda. Hermes carried Castor and Pollux to Pallena, where they were educated. As soon as they arrived at manhood, they embarked with Jason in the quest for the Golden Fleece. Pollux was the son of Zeus; Castor, of Tyndareus. Hence Pollux was immortal, while Castor was subject to old age and death. Since they had been inseparable from birth, they missed each other terribly after Castor died. Zeus took pity on them and allowed Pollux to give half of his immortality to Castor. Therefore the spent half their time on Olympus and the other half with Hades.
Cauther- In Mohammedan mythology, the lake of paradise, whose waters are as sweet as honey, as cold as snow, and as clear as crystal; any believer who tastes of them is said to thirst no more.
Cecrops- The mythical founder of Athens, who is said to have also divided Attica into twelve communities, and to have introduced the first elements of civilized life. He instituted marriage, abolished bloody sacrifices, and taught his subjects how to worship the gods. He is represented with the upper part of his body human and the lower part like that of a dragon.
Centaurs- Monsters, half horse, half human. They are especially celebrated for their contest with the giants in the mountains of Thessaly, and for their assault on her bride at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. On the latter occasion they were defeated and driven away by Lapithæ.
Cerberus- The three-headed dog that guards the entrance of the infernal regions. He prevents the living from entering and the dead from escaping with his gnashing teeth and spiked tail. Orpheus lulled Cerberus to sleep with his lyre to find Eurydice; and the sibyl who conducted Æneas through Hades threw the dog into a sleep also by a cake treated with an opiate. Hercules had to go to the underworld and seize Cerberus for his twelfth labor. He dragged him to Mycenae in the upper world. Since he didn't know what to do with him, he dragged him back to the underworld after the king had saw him. From that day on, Cerberus allowed Hercules access to the underworld.
Ceres- The daughter of Saturn, sister of Jupiter and Neptune. She was the goddess of corn, flowers, and the harvest. She is represented as crowned with poppies and riding in a chariot drawn by dragons. She was the mother of Proserpina, who while gathering flowers was seized by Pluto. Her Greek counterpart was Demeter.
Chaos- The formless void preceding the genesis of an orderly universe and out of which the gods, men, and all things arose.
Charon- A god of the infernal regions, son of Nox, "Night,", and Erebus. He conducted the souls of the dead in a ferry over the rivers Styx and the Acheron.
Charybdis- A woman who robbed travelers and was turned by Zeus unto a dangerous whirlpool on the coast of Sicily, opposite Scylla, a six-headed monster which lived in a rock and seized passing sailors. Scylla and Charybdis are generally mentioned together to represent alternative dangers. They proved dangers to both Jason on his return from his hunt for the golden fleece and Odysseus on his return to Ithaca after the Trojan War.
Chibiabos- A musician, ruler in the land of spirits, and friend of Hiawatha. Personification of harmony in nature.
Chimæra or Chimera- A three-headed monster, having the combined semblance of a lion in front, a goat in the middle, and a dragon in back, which continually vomited flames. It was destroyed by Bellerophon.
Chios- Island in the Aegean Sea.
Chiron- A wise, immortal centaur, son of Cronus the Titan. Kings brought their sons to him often so that he could teach them and raise them. Apollo brought him Asclepius and asked Chiron to raise him since his mother, a Lapith princess, had died. Asclepius grew to surpass Chiron in his knowledge of healing. He was famous for his knowledge of medicine and taught mankind the use of plants and herbs.
Chou- An Egyptian god of many respects similar to the Roman Hercules.
Cimmerians- A half mythical people, first described in the Odyssey as dwelling in perpetual gloom beyond the ocean stream. A people with this name was said by the Greeks to live along the Black Sea.
Circe- A sorceress, daughter of Helios, celebrated for her knowledge of magic and venomous herbs. Odysseus, on his return from the Trojan War, visited her coasts, and his companions were changed by her potions into swine.
Clio- The Muse who presided over history.
Clotho- The youngest of the three Fates, daughters of Zeus and Themis, and supposed to preside over the moment of birth. She held the distaff and spun the thread of life.
Cluricaune- An Irish elf, who guarded a hidden treasure.
Clytemnestra- The wife and murderer of Agamemnon.
Clytie- A water nymph who loved the sun god Apollo and was changed into a sunflower. In this form, she turns always toward the sun.
Cnossus- Fabulous palace in Crete.
Cocytus- A river of the infernal regions. The unburied dead wander on its banks for 100 years. The name means the river of lamentation. See Styx.
Colchis or Colchos- A country of Asia, bordering the Black Sea, famous in connection with the expedition of the Argonauts in that it was where the golden fleece was kept, and as the birthplace of Medea.
Comus- The god of revelry, presiding over feasts. See Milton's Comus.
Concordia-The Roman goddess of peace and concord. She is represented holding a horn of plenty and a scepter budding with fruit.
Consus- An early Italian god of harvests. Mules were under his protection and the mule races were held in his honor.
Cora- A name sometimes given to Proserpina.
Corinth- City-state founded by Sisyphus.
Coronis- (1) Mother of Æsculapius by Apollo. (2) A king's daughter, who was transformed into a crow by Athena when asking for protection from Poseidon.
Corybantes- Priests who served at the worship of Cybele, the mother of the gods, and were in the habit of striking themselves in their religious dances.
Coxcox- The Noah of the Mexican tribes, who, with his wife Xochiquetzal, alone escaped the deluge. They took refuge in a hollow cypress tree which floated until the water subsided and then ran around on a mountain of Culhuacan. Two of their children, who were taught speech by the Great Spirit, were the ancestors of the Toltecs and the Aztecs.
Coyote- See Italaapas.
Cressida- Daughter of the Calchas, the Greek, and beloved by Troilus, son of Priam. They vowed eternal fidelity, and as pledges Troilus gave the maiden a sleeve, while Cressida gave the Trojan prince a glove. Cressida proved false and her name has since stood as a byword for faithlessness.
Crete- Island where Zeus was raised as a new-born god.
Creusa- Daughter of Priam and wife of Æneas. She was lost in the city of Troy when her husband escaped from its flames.
Cronus- The youngest of the Titans. He was said to be the son of Uranus and Gæa, "the heavens and the earth," and to have exercised the first government over the universe. His wife was Rhea, who was also his sister. Cronus and his five brothers were called Titans. Rhea and her five sisters were called Titanides. He bound his brothers in Tartarus because they couldn't be controlled and they all tried to seize the throne. Therefore, Cronus seized upon the government of the universe, yet pledged himself to rear no male children. He had killed his father, Uranus, after Gæa had asked him to and since he feared that his son would also overpower him, he devoured his sons as soon as they were born. But Zeus escaped his fate through the artifice of Rhea, their mother, who gave Cronus a stone to devour instead of the the child. Zeus was carried away to be raised in Crete; he married Metis who tricked Cronus into throwing up not only the stone he had swallowed, but also Hades, Poseidon, Hestia, Demeter, and Hera. When the six gods rose against him, he was defeated and Zeus ruled. See Saturn.
Cupid- God of love, son of Jupiter and Venus. He is represented as a winged boy, naked, armed with a bow and arrows, and often with a bandage covering his eyes. He shot arrows into the hearts of both gods and men, thus infecting them with love. Like all the gods, he put on different forms to suit his plans. See Psyche and Eros.
Cybele- A goddess, daughter of Uranus and Terra, and identified by the Romans with Ops, wife of Saturn. On her birth she was exposed on a mountain, where she was tended and fed by wild beasts, receiving the name of Cybele from the mountain. She is represented on a throne with lions at her side. She Atalanta.
Cyclopes- One-eyed giants who forged the thunderbolts of Zeus. Homer describes them as wild, insolent, lawless shepherds, who devoured human beings. A later tradition represents them as Hephæstus' assistants.
Cyllene- A mountain where Hermes was born.
Cyparissus- A beautiful youth , who, grief-stricken at having inadvertently killed his favorite stag, was metamorphosed into a cypress by Apollo.
Cythera- The island where Aphrodite was blown ashore by the West Wind after she emerged from the foam of the sea. The three Graces welcomed her there and became her attendants.
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