Characters of Ovid
Gods and Immortals1
Achelous: River-god; also river itself
Aeolus: God of the winds; father of Alcyone.
Aesculapius: God of medicine; son of Apollo and Coroni
Alpheus: River-god.
Anubis: Egyptian dog-headed god of death.
Aphrodite: See Venus.
Apis: Egyptian bull-god
Apollo (aka Phoebus): God of the sun; god of prophecy; god of song; god of healing;
son of Latona and Jove; Diana’s twin brother.
Athena: See Minerva.
Atlas: Giant; also a mountain in Northern Africa; said to hold world on shoulders; son of
Iapetos; father of the Pleiads.
Bacchus: God of wine; son of Jove and Semele.
Boreas: God; North Wind.
Bubastis: Egyptian feline goddess
Ceres: Goddess of agriculture; sister of Jove; mother of. Proserpine.
Circe: Goddess and enchantress; daughter of the sun.
Cupid: God of love; son of Venus
Cybele: Mother of the gods.
Diana: Goddess of the moon; virgin goddess of the hunt; daughter of Latona and Jove,
Apollo's twin sister.
1
Mortals changed into immortals are cross-indexed.
Demeter: Earth goddess; mother of Persephone
Furies (aka Fates): Three sisters who live in the Underworld, and emerge to avenge and
punish. Their names are Allecto, Megaere, and Tisiphone.
Ganymede: Beautiful mortal hero brought to live with gods forever; Cupbearer to Jove.
Glaucus: Fisherman changed to a sea-god.
Hebe: Goddess who could restore youth
Hecate: Goddess of enchantments
Hercules: Hero who accomplishes so many feats that he earns the right to immortality;
son of Juptier and Alcmena.
Hephaestus: See Vulcan.
Hymen: God of marriage.
Ilithya: Goddess of childbirth.
Inachus: river-god; father of Io
Iris: The rainbow, and is the messenger of the gods. It was believed that the ends of the
rainbow gathered water to refill the clouds.
Isis: Egyptian goddess associated with Io.
Jove (aka Jupiter): King of the gods; son of Saturn; husband and brother of Juno.
Juno: Queen of the gods, wife and sister of Jove.
Latona (aka Leto): Mother of Diana and Apollo; daughter of Titans Phoebe and Coeus.
Mars: God of war; son of Jove and Juno.
Mercury: Messenger of the gods; son of Jove and Maia.
Minerva (aka Pallas, Athena): Virgin goddess of wisdom; daughter of Jove.
Muses: Nine sisters who are the patronesses of the arts.
Neptune: God of the sea; brother of Jove.
Osiris: Egyptian god of underworld
Pallas: See Minerva.
Pan: God of woods and shepherds.
Peneus: River-god; father of Daphne
Phoebus: see Apollo.
Pluto: God of the Underworld; brother of Jove and Neptune.
Proserpina (aka Persephone): Daughter of Ceres and Jove; wife of Pluto.
Proteus: Sea god able to change forms.
Saturn: Ruler of the world before Jove; father of Jove, Neptune, and Pluto.
Themis: Oracular goddess of justice.
Venus (aka Aphrodite): Goddess of love; mother of Cupid and Aeneas; wife of Vulcan.
Vertumnus: God of the changing seasons.
Vulcan (Hephaestus): God of fire; blacksmith god; husband of Venus.
Creatures and Supernatural Beings
Arethusa: Water nymph; turned into a spring.
Argus: Man with a hundred eyes; son of Arestor.
Calliope: Muse with beautiful voice; mother of Orpheus
Callisto: Nymph; follower of Diana.
Centaurs: Creatures that are half-man, half-horse.
Chiron: A centaur.
Cyane: Sicilian fountain nymph; changed into water.
Cyanee: Nymph; daughter of Meander; wife of Miletus; mother of Caunus and Byblis.
Cyclopes: One-eyed giants.
Daphne: Nymph; Daughter of the river god Peneus; changed to tree.
Echo: Nymph in love with Narcissus.
Galatea: Sea-nymph loved by Acis and Polyphemus.
Giants of Earth: Huge creatures, born from earth that had been fertilized by the blood of
Uranus (Heaven).
Gorgons: Three monstrous women so horrifyingly ugly that when men look upon them,
they turn to stone. They have scales, living snakes for hair, brass hands, fangs and a beard.
Guard entrance to underworld.
The Graie: Women who share one eye and one tooth; they pop them out and take turns
using them. Wise; feed on human flesh and brains. Daughters of Phorcys.
Io: A Naiad, daughter of the river Inachus; changed into cow.
Marsyas: Phrygian satyr; flayed alive.
Medea: Sorceress; Daughter Aeetes; wife of Jason.
Medusa: One of the three Gorgons.
Minotaur: Half-man, half-bull; son of Minos’ wife and a bull.
Naiads: Nymphs who ruled fountains, springs, streams, brooks, and other water sources.
Pegasus: Winged horse; born from the blood of Medusa.
Polyphemus: Cyclops who loved Galatea.
Salmacis: Amorous water nymph and pool in Caria.
Satyrs: Half-men, half-goats.
Scylla: Nymph loved by Glaucus; changed to a monster and then a cliff; daughter of
King Nisus.
Sibyl: Priestess of Apollo at Cumae who lived for centuries due to a foolish wish.
Silenus: Satyr; friend of Bacchus.
Syrinx: The Naiad Pan chased through the woods; turned to reeds.
Thetis: Sea-nymph; daughter of Nereus; wife of Peleus; mother of Achilles.
Mortals
Acheamenides: Shipmate of Ulysses; rescued by Aeneas.
Achilles: Famous warrior; son of Peleus and Thetis.
Acis: Lover of Galatea; changed into a river
Acoetes: Follower of Bacchus.
Actaeon: Grandson of Cadmus
Adonis: Gorgeous son of Myrrha; loved by Venus.
Aeacus: King of Aegins; son of Aegina and Jove.
Aeneas: Trojan hero of the Aeneid; son of Venus and Anchises.
Aesacus: Son of Priam.
Aesculapius: Son of Apollo and Coronis.
Aeson: Father of Jason; restored to youth by Medea
Agamemnon: King of Mycenae; Greek general in Trojan War.
Agenor: Phoenician king; father of Europa
Aglauros: Daughter of Cecrops.
Ajax: Famous warrior; son of Telamon
Alcyone: Wife of Ceyx; daughter of Aeolus
Althaea: Queen of Calydon; mother of Meleager
Andromeda: Daughter of Cepehus; rescued by Perseus.
Arachne: Lydian weaver.
Arcas: Son of Callisto conceived when Jove raped her in the forest.
Ariadne: Daughter of Minos; deserted by Theseus.
Ascalaphus: Son of Acheron and Orphne.
Atalanta (1): Arcadian girl loved by Meleager.
Atalanta (2): Swift-footed daughter of King Schoeneus.
Athamas: Husband of Ino.
Augustus: First Emperor of Rome.
Battus: Dishonest peasant who saw Mercury hide Apollo's herd in the woods.
Baucis: Wife of Philemon who offered everything they had to gods disguised as
strangers.
Byblis: Daughter of Miletus; fell in love with twin brother,Caunus.
Cadmus: Founder of Thebes; son of Agenor
Caeneus (aka Caenis): Girl raped by Neptune; was turned into boy.
Calchas: Greek soldier; sacrificed Iphigenia to Diana.
Caunus: Son of Miletus; twin brother of Byblis.
Cephalus: Prince of Athens; husband of Procris.
Ceyx: King of Thracis; son of Lucifer; husband to Alcyone.
Cinyras: Son of Pygmalion; father of Myrrha.
Cipus: Roman praetor.
Clytie: Loved by Apollo; changed into a heliotrope.
Coronis: Princess of Larissa; mother of Aesculapius.
Cycnus: Kinsman and lover of Phaethon; son of Neptune.
Cycnus: Son of Neptune.
Cyparissus: Young boy loved by Apollo; turned into a cypress tree.
Daedalion: Brother of Ceyx.
Daedalus: Athenian inventor; father of Icarus; uncle of Perdix.
Daughters of Minyas: Women who don’t believe Bacchus is a god.
Deucalion: He and his wife Pyrrha are the only mortals to survive the great flood that
was intended by Jove to wipe out mankind.
Dido: Queen of Carthage who committed suicide because Aeneas left her.
Diomedes: Greek hero at Troy.
Erichthonius: Son of Vulcan conceived when his semen fell on Minerva after an
unsuccesful seduction – she wiped it on the earth from which Erichthonius sprouted.
Erysichthon: King of Thessaly; sacrilegious; cursed to always be hungry.
Europa: Princess of Tyre; mother of Minos.
Eurydice: Wife of Orpheus.
Harmonia: Wife of Cadmus; Daughter of Mars and Venus.
Hector: Famous warrior; bother of Paris; son of Priam.
Ganymede: Beautiful mortal hero brought to live with gods forever; Cupbearer to Jove.
Glaucus: Fisherman changed to a sea-god.
Hecuba: Wife of Priam.
Hercules: Hero who accomplishes so many feats that he earns the right to immortality;
son of Juptier and Alcmena.
Hermaphroditus: Son of Mercury and Venus.
Herse: Daughter of Cecrops.
Hippolytus: Son of Theseus.
Hippomenes: Son of Megareus; husband of Atalanta.
Hyacinthus: Spartan boy loved by Apollo.
Ianthe: Cretan girl; betrothed to Iphis, who at first was a woman but got changed into a
man.
Icarus: Son of Daedalus.
Ino: Daughter of Cadmus; wife of Athamas; nurse of Bacchus.
Iphis: Cretan daughter of Ligdus and Telethusa.
Jason: Leader of the Argonauts; husband of Medea.
Julius Caesar: Famous Roman statesman.
Laomedon: King of Troy; father of Priam.
Leucothoe: Daughter of Orchamus, loved by Apollo; changed into a shrub.
Ligdus: Father of Iphis; husband of Telethusa.
Lycaon: An evil man who tried to trick Jove into eating mortal flesh.
Lyncus: King of the Scythians; turned into a lynx
Macareus: Shipmate of Ulysses.
Meleager: Prince of Calydon; son of Oeneus and Althaea.
Midas: Greedy king of Phyrgia.
Minos: King of Crete; Son of Jove and Europa.
Myrrha: Incestuous daughter of Cinyras; mother and half-sister of Adonis.
Myscelus: Founder of Crotona.
Narcissus: Self-absorbed son of Cephisus and Liriope.
Nestor: King of Pylos; wise and eloquent; advisor in Trojan War.
Niobe: Wife of Amphion; mother of seven sons and seven daughters.
Numa: Second king of Rome.
Ocyrhoe: Prophetess; daughter of Chiron.
Odysseus: See Ulysses.
Orithyia: Sister of Procris; wife of Boreas.
Orpheus: Musician and proto-poet of Thrace; son of Apollo and Calliope; husband of
Eurydice.
Paris: Son of Priam and Hecuba; brother of Hector; lover of Helen.
Peleus: Husband of Thetis; father of Achilles.
Pelias: Half-brother of Aeson.
Pelops: Son of Tantalus; brother of Niobe.
Pentheus: King of Thebes; son of Echion; ripped apart by Bacchantes.
Perdix: Nephew of Daedalus; invented the saw and the mathematical compass; changed
to a partridge.
Periclymenus: Brother of Nestor; killed by Hercules.
Perseus: Son of Danae and Jove.
Phaethon: Son of Clymene and the sun-god.
Philemon: Husband of Baucis who offered everything they had to gods disguised as
strangers.
Philoctetes: Friend of Hercules to whom he leaves Hydra's arrows.
Philomela: Sister of Procne; daughter of Pandion.
Phineus: Brother of Cepheus; fiance and uncle of Andromeda.
Phocus: Son of Aeacus, Half-brother of Telemon and Peleus.
Picus: King of Latium; son of Saturn; turned into a woodpecker.
The Pierides: Nine daughters of Pierus who challenged the Muses to a contest; changed
to magpies.
Pirithous: Friend of Theseus; son of Ixion; husband of Hippodame.
Polydorus: Youngest son of Priam and Hecuba.
Polymestor: King of Thracel son-in-law of Priam.
Polyxena: Daughter of Priam and Hecuba; wedded to dead Achilles.
Pomona: Wood nymph of Latium; wife of Vertumnus.
Priam: Last king of Troy; husband of Hecuba.
Procne: Daughter of Pandion; sister of Philomela; wife of Tereus.
Procris: Daughter of Erechtheus; wife of Cephalus.
Propoetides: Prostitutes of Amathus.
Pygmalion: Cyprus sculptor; father of Cinyras.
Pyramus: Lover of Thisbe.
Pyrrha: She and her husband Deucalion are the only mortals to survive the great flood
that was intended by Jove to wipe out mankind.
Pythagoras: Famous Greek philosopher.
Romulus: Father of Roman people; son of Mars.
Schoeneus: King; father of Atalanta
Semele: Mother of Bacchus; daughter of Cadmus.
Tantalus: Son of Jove and the nymph Plouto; father of Pelops and Niober. Tortured in
the Underworld by intense hunger and fruit just out of reach; intense thirst but water just
out of reach. Both recede whenever he reaches for them.
Telethusa: Wife of Ligdus; mother of Iphis.
Tereus: King of Thrace; Procne's husband.
Theseus: Son of Aegeus; father of Hippolytus.
Thisbe: Lover of Pyramus.
Tiresias: Famous prophet.
Triptolemus: King of Eleusis; son of Celeus.
Turnus: King of Rutuli of Latium; defeated by Aeneus.
Ulysses (aka Odysseus): King of Ithaca; famous hero.