Arete (Ancient Greek: Ἀρήτη) is presented in the epic tradition as the wife of Alcinous and queen of the Phaeacians on Scheria. Genealogical notes in the tradition place her within the Phaeacian royal household descended from Nausithous and connected to the seafaring lineage of the Phaeacians; while some interpretations emphasize various etymologies of her name (the Ionic noun ἀρητή glossed as 'sacred', 'cursed', or 'prayed [for]', and other readings that render 'righteous' or link it to Ares), the narrative sources treat her origin as that of an exemplary and highly honored royal woman rather than as a deity.
The provided sources do not supply a detailed corporeal description of Arete (no height, hair, or clothing specifics). Epic descriptions focus on her social comportment and public honor: Homer notes that Alcinous 'honored her as no other woman on earth is honored' and that the people 'look upon her as upon a goddess, and greet her as she goes through the city,' emphasizing near-sacral public reverence without ontologically treating her as divine.
Arete's 'powers' are social and political rather than supernatural: she directs household affairs, supervises and manages the royal household, exercises persuasive influence as an effective mediator who 'makes an end of strife' among women and their husbands, and plays a decisive role in decisions about hospitality and sanctuary. In narrative episodes she receives appeals for protection (Odysseus seeks her reception in the Odyssey) and in the Argonautica/Apollodorus tradition she acts to secure Medea's safety by advising that Medea and Jason be wed, thereby altering legal and social outcomes. Her authority functions through counsel, household governance, and the moral weight of public esteem.
Acessamenus
Acessamenus (Ancient Greek: Ἀκεσσάμενος, Akessamenos) is attested in Greek sources as a mortal king of Pieria and the eponymous founder of a Macedonian place called Akesamenai. He appears in Homeric genealogy as the father of Periboea, whose union with the river-god Axius links Acessamenus into the ancestry of the hero Asteropaios.
Achaeans (Homer)
In Homeric epic, 'the Achaeans' (Ancient Greek: Ἀχαιοί, Akhaioí) is a collective ethnonym used to refer to the Greek peoples as a single grouped human contingent—the army of Greeks in the Trojan War narratives such as the Iliad and the Odyssey. The term functions as a poetic designation for human actors within the moral, social, and military universe of Homeric poetry rather than as a supernatural class of beings.
Aeolus
Aeolus is a name applied to multiple related figures in Greek myth: an eponymous son of Hellen (founder of the Aeolian people), a son of Poseidon who led colonial ventures to Tyrrhenian islands, and a son of Hippotes depicted in epic as a ruler or keeper of the winds. Ancient mythographers note confusion and overlap among these persons.
Agamemnon
Agamemnon is the legendary king of Mycenae (or Argos), head of the House of Atreus, and commander of the Achaean forces at Troy in Greek epic and tragedy. His story links dynastic guilt, ritual obligation, and political authority, culminating in the sacrifice-at-Aulis episode and his murder on return from Troy followed by juridical atonement in the Oresteia.
Agelaus
Agelaus (Ancient Greek: Ἀγέλαος) is not a single supernatural being but a personal name borne by multiple mortal figures in Greek myth, epic, and local history. Bearers include a herdsman who raised the exposed infant Paris, several minor warriors in the Trojan cycle, mythic princes (e.g., sons of Oeneus, Stymphalus, Temenus, and in some lists a son of Heracles), a suitor of Penelope, and a historical official of Naupactus in the Aetolian League.
Agenor of Argos
Agenor is a mythic royal figure in Greek heroic‑age genealogies who functions as a dynastic ancestor and narrative node. In different traditions he appears as an Argive king in the house of Phoroneus or as a son of Poseidon associated with Phoenicia and Libya; an Agenor also appears as a warrior in Homeric epic.
Amphimachus of Caria
A mortal Homeric leader: son of Nomion and co-captain (with his brother Nastes) of the Carian contingent allied with Troy in the Trojan War tradition. Attested in Homeric catalogue material and later commentary; sources record a variant tradition in which one of Nomion's sons was slain and stripped of gold by Achilles, with disagreement over whether that was Amphimachus or Nastes.
Ate
Ate (Ancient Greek: Ἄτη, Átē) is the personified force of delusion, reckless folly, and ruin in ancient Greek poetic and mythic tradition. She functions both as an abstract condition—an aition for misguided action—and as an active agent who can blind the minds of gods and men and be sent, notably by Zeus, as a form of retribution.
Briseis
Briseis is a mortal woman in the Homeric epic tradition, captured at Lyrnessus and attached to Achilles as a war prize; her transfer between leaders (Achilles and Agamemnon) functions as a key social and moral symbol in the Iliad and later literary traditions.
Caletor
Caletor (Ancient Greek: Καλήτωρ) is a personal name borne by at least two mortal figures in the Trojan War cycle: a Trojan defender, son of Clytius, who attempted to burn an Achaean ship and was slain by Ajax; and a separate Caletor attested as the father of the Achaean warrior Aphareus. He is treated in the sources as a human participant in epic narrative and genealogy.
Clytoneus
Clytoneus is a personal name in ancient Greek mythic genealogies and epic narrative borne by at least two mortal figures: an Argive genealogical ancestor (also attested as Clytius) linked to seafaring descendants, and a Phaeacian prince, son of Alcinous and Arete, who competes in the athletic games for Odysseus in the Odyssey.
Ctesippus
Ctesippus (Greek Κτήσιππος, Ktēsippos) is an ancient Greek personal name attested for several distinct mortal figures in literary and mythographic sources: one or more sons of Heracles in genealogical lists, a wealthy and disorderly suitor of Penelope in the Odyssey, and a named minor interlocutor or symposium participant in Platonic dialogues. The attestations show recurring onomastic use rather than a single supernatural entity.
Community Record
- [1]Arete (mythology) - Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 'Arete (mythology)'wiki
- [2]LP0032 Fables of the Argonauts (Archive recording). Archive.org, LP0032 Fables of the Argonautsother
- [3]LP0098 -XXIV ARGO- Medea & The Argo, from The Library of Apollodorus (Archive recording). Archive.org, LP0098 - 'Argo' / 'Medea' excerpts from Apollodorus/Argonautica traditionother
- [4]Sophocles: a study of heroic humanism (archive). Whitman, 'Sophocles: a study of heroic humanism' (archive notes)other