ENDYMION:
Lover of
DIANA.
Diana fell in love with him as he slept, and eventually the other Gods noticed. ZEUS was afraid she would stop riding the moon over the sky at night because of him, so he offered Endymion a choice: death, or eternal youth and sleep. Endymion chose sleep, and he is on mount Latmos where Diana can see him at night.


EPIMETHEUS:
Brother of:
PROMETHEUS, Husband of: PANDORA
Titan; name means "hindsight". Accepted Pandora and her box, after his brother had rejected her. He helped to open the box.


EROS (Greek) - CUPID (Roman): God of Love.
Son of
VENUS, husband of PSYCHE.
Symbols: Arrows.
Carried two types of arrows. Gold tipped to create love; lead tipped to create hate. He was doomed to remain a child until his mother had another son. When she gave birth to Anteros, he grew up.


FAUNUS (Roman): God of agriculture.
Minor God; also the God of shepherds, and gives oracles. He has horns and the feet of a goat.


FIONN MACCUMHAL (Celtic):
Husband of GRAINNE, lover of Fand.
He foresaw the invasion of the Milesians, and created the Isle of Man. Accidentally gained wisdom as a child after burning his finger on the Salmon of Knowledge and sucking the wound. Leader of the Fianna, he rises when needed. He also got rid of the snakes in Ireland.


FISHER KING, The (Celtic): Guardian of the Grail
The Grail was in his palace, and a knight had to have dinner with him, and ask the right questions. His palace was cursed.


FREY (Norse): God of rain and sun.
Made things grow, and helped people gain prosperity. Brother of
FREYA.


HEIMDALL (Norse): Guardian of the Bridge of three hues.
Guards the rainbow bridge (Bifrost) which the Gods ride between land and sky. He keeps the mountain dwarfs off it.


HEPHAESTUS (Greek) - VULCAN (Roman): God of the Forge
Son of
ZEUS and HERA, husband of VENUS
Symbols: Hammer, anvil.
Also god of Artisans, and useful fires. Had a fight with Zeus, who threw him from the sky. After that, he was always lame. He had a bad temper and the other Gods made fun of him. His marriage was a joke, and basically unhappy.


HERAKLES (Greek) - HERCULES (Roman):
Son of
JUPITER and Alcmene.
Sometimes also called Alcides. He was happily married with children, but HERA was so upset at this that she made him mad. In his madness he killed his children. ATHENA sent sleep on him, and gave him his sanity back. He was so upset over what he had done, that he made himself the slave of his cousin for 12 years. His cousin, king Eurystheus, sent him on 12 labours. They were:
1. To killed the Nemean lion.
2. Kill the Lernaean Hydra.
3. Capture the Arcadian stag.
4. Capture the Erymanthian boar.
5. Cleaning the Augean stables.
6. Kill the Stymphalian birds.
7. Capture the Cretan bull.
8. Capture the Diomedes mares.
9. Capture the girdle of Hippolyte, queen of the Amazons.
10. Capture the oxen of Geryon.
11. Get the golden apples of the HESPERIDES.
12. Bring CERBERUS from the underworld.
He also freed PROMETHEUS from his chains. Eventually married Deianira, the sister of Meleager. And yes, he really was friends with Iolaus (his nephew).


HERMES (Greek) - MERCURY (Roman): God of thieves.
Son of
ZEUS and MAIA.
Father of: PAN.
Symbols: Winged sandles or hat.
Messenger of the Gods, watched travelers, and eventually became the God of speeches. He showed the dead the way to the underworld. Herms (statues of his head), were put in all gymnasiums, doorways and roads. Also protector of merchants.


HESPER: The Evening star.
Father of the
HESPERIDES?


HODER, HOTHR (Norse): Watched over Winter. Was blind.


HYMEN (Roman): God of marriage.
A young man with wings. Sometimes seen as carrying a bridal veil, or a torch. Was called on at least as late as the Renaissance during marriage celebrations, when participants would sing "Hymen io Hymen" around the marriage bed.


HYPNOS (Greek) SOMNUS (Roman): God of sleep.
Father of
MORPHEUS.
Brother of THANATOS.
Sometimes pictured with a poppy, for forgetfulness.


ICARUS:
Son of:
DAEDALUS
Escaped from the labyrinth with his father by flying out on wings of wax. His father told him not to fly to close to the sun, but he did, and the wax bindings melted, and he fell into the sea and drowned.


IXION:
Father of the
CENTAURS. He murdered his father-in law because he didn't want to pay the bride price. He was chained to a wheel that rolls forever down a road in the underworld.


JANUS (Roman):
Symbols: gates. God with two faces, one facing forwards, and one facing backwards; he could see the past and the future. The month of January is named for him. Was originally two Gods: the sun and the moon. He was called on at the beginning of everything.


LIR (Celtic): Sea God.
Father of
MANANNAN.


LOKI (Norse): the Trickster.
Father of
FENRIR, the Midgard Serpent, and HEL.
Sometimes seen as God of evil. Very handsome, but basically malicious. Escaped punishment many times by cleverness. Responsible for killing BALDER, he was punished by being chained and having a snake hung above him who dripped venom on him.


MANANNAN (Celtic): Sea God.
Son of
LIR. Manannan took over the sea later on. A popular Celtic God. He was good at tricks. He owned a boat that sailed without oars or sails, a horse that could go on land or sea, and a sword called Answerer that could pierce any armour. Waves with white crests were said to be his horses. His cloak could look like any colour he wanted. He lived on the Isle of Man which was named after him.


MIDAS:
Was asked to judge a music contest between
PAN and APOLLO. He chose Pan, and Apollo was so upset that he gave Midas the ears of an Ass. Midas' barber found out, and unable to contain the secret, he told it to some reeds. The reeds whispered the secret to everybody. Midas also asked Silenus (a SATYR who raised BACCHUS) to make everything he touched turn to gold. Everything, even his food and his daughter turned to gold. He prayed to Bacchus to have the curse removed, and it was.


MINOS: King of Crete
Son of:
EUROPA
Had DAEDALUS build a labyrinth to keep the Minotaur in.


MORPHEUS: God of dreams.
Son of
HYPNOS.
Sends pointless, and deceptive dreams out of the ivory gate, and meaningful, helpful dreams from the horn gate.


NARCISSUS:
Was very handsome, and very arrogant. He eventually saw a reflection of himself in a pool of water, and entranced, he fell in and drowned. Alternately, he fell in love with the reflection, and eventually died from not being able to touch it.
ECHO was in love with him.


ODIN, WODEN (Norse): King of the Gods.
Husband of
FRIGG, Father of THOR and BALDER.
Lived in Asgard, at the end of Bifrost. He had two ravens called Hugin and Munin (Thought and Memory) that sat on his shoulders. They went into the world every day to tell him what was happening. He had two wolves. He drank only Mead. Also God of civilization, wisdom, kingship, poetry and battle. He invented the runes. Wednesday was named after him.


OEDIPUS:
Read the play! Murders his father, marries his mother, fathers' his siblings, blinds himself. The original redneck story. ;)


ORION:
A friend of
DIANA. APOLLO disapproved, and challenged Diana to hit a point out in the ocean. Afterwards, she found out the point was Orion. She made him into a constellation.



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