Character List Metamorphoses

Character List
Prometheus

Prometheus is sometimes credited with creating man by sculpting him out of clay. Other versions simply credit him with bringing man fire, an act for which he was terribly punished.
Jove

Also called Jupiter, Jove is the king of the Gods. He controls the thunderbolt and has the power to transform himself into many other things. Juno is both his sister and his wife.
Saturn

Jove's father. Jove fulfilled a prophecy by overthrowing his father to become king of the gods.
Augustus

The adopted son of Julius Caesar, Augustus becomes a Roman Emperor and oversees the greatest period of peace and prosperity in Roman history. He was the emperor throughout Ovid's life.

Lycaon

King Lycaon plots to kill Jove while he is a guest in his house, and first he attempts to trick him into consuming human flesh. Jove destroys his house with a thunderbolt and Lycaon goes mad and thinks he is a wolf.
Neptune

God of the sea, one of the most powerful gods after Jove.
Deucalion

A pious man, he and his wife are the only two to survive after Jove floods the earth.
Pyrrha

Deucalion's wife
Themis

One of the race of ancient Titans born of Gaia and Uranus, she is an ancient goddess worshipped by all believers in the immortals.
Python

A gigantic snake killed by Apollo, inspiring the Pythian games.
Apollo

Phoebus Apollo, often referred to as Phoebus; The son of Zeus and Leto and the twin brother of Artemis. Apollo is the God of Music, Medicine, Prophecy and the arts. In the Metamorphoses, Apollo is also portrayed as the sun god, but this characterization contradicts most mythology which names a distinct sun-god named Helios.
Cupid

His origins are somewhat unclear, but Ovid represents him as Venus's son. Cupid has the power to instill or destroy love with his bow and arrows.
Daphne

Daughter of the river-god Peneus, Daphne is a wood nymph who wishes to live chaste, like Diana. When she flees the love of Apollo, she prays to her father to save her and he transforms her into a Laurel tree.
Peneus

A river god, father of Daphne.
Diana

Goddess of the moon and the hunt, she foreswears all men and remains a virgin.
Inachus

A river god whose daughter, Io, is seduced by Zeus.
Io

Daughter of inachus, the river god, she is seduced by Zeus, who then turns her into a cow to protect her from Juno.
Juno

Jove's sister and wife, Queen of the gods.
Argus

A man with one hundred eyes whom Juno sets to keep guard over Io in cow form. He is killed by Mercury and Juno sets his eyes into the tail of the peacock.

Mercury

Sometimes, but not always, equated with the Greek Hermes, Mercury is the god of trade and profit.
Syrinx

A river nymph who was transformed into a reed so she might escape Pan.
Pan

A satyr, the god of shepherds, Pan invents the reed pipe and is generally pictured with it.
Epaphus

The son of Jove and Io.
Phaethon

The son of Clymene and Apollo, when Apollo offers to grant any wish to prove he is his father, Phaethon asks to drive the chariot of the sun. He is killed in the process.
Clymene

Phaethon's mother
Eridanus

A river god
Cycnus

Phaethon's friend, he mourns him for so long that he is turned into a swan, a bird which fears flying.
Callisto

One of Diana's handmaids, she is raped by Jove. When her pregnancy is discovered, she is banished. When Juno discovers their affair, she turns Callisto into a bear.
Arcas

Callisto and Jove's son. When he is fifteen he almost kills his mother, who has been transformed into a bear, and as a result he and his mother are turned into constellations.
Tethys

One of the goddesses of the Ocean, mother of all the other bodies of water.
Oceanus

God of the ocean.
Coronis

Apollo's lover and mother of his son Aesculapius. She betrays him with another before their son is even born, and when the raven tells Apollo, he kills her, but saves their son.
Athena

Also called Pallas and Minerva, Athena is the goddess of wisdom, war, the arts and justice. She is Jove's favorite daughter.
Aesculapius

Apollo's son by Coronis, he is the god of healing.
Chiron

A centaur whom, according to Ovid, tried to run off with Hercules wife and was killed with a poisonous arrow.
Ocyrhoe

Chiron's daughter, she has the gift of prophecy.
Battus

The shepherd that promised Mercury he would not reveal the location of the herd Mercury stole; when his lie is revealed, Mercury turns him into stone.

Herse

A beautiful maiden who is raped by Mercury and gives birth to Cephalus.
Aglauros

Herse's sister, Juno sends Envy to infect her, and she tries to prevent Mercury from gaining access to her sister. She is turned to stone.
Europa

A princess whom Jove fell in love with and successfully kidnapped by disguising himself as a beautiful, white bull.
Agenor

Europa's father
Cadmus

Europa's brother, he is banished for being unable to recover his sister. He founds a new city called Boeotia.

Actaeon

Cadmus's grandson, he accidentally stumbles upon Diana bathing, is turned into a stag, and is torn apart by his own dogs.
Semele

A beautiful girl seduced by Jove, she is tricked by Juno into asking to see him in his full glory, which kills her.
Beroe

Semele's nurse
Bacchus

God of wine and Intoxication. He is the son of Jove and Semele, and he comes to term in Jove's thigh, after Semele is killed. Worship of him inspires frenzy in groups of revelers, but many also disputed his claims to divinity.
Tiresias

A man who has also been a woman, he is blinded by Juno and given the gift of prophecy by Jove.
Liriope

Narcissus's mother
Narcissus

A beautiful young man who fell in love with his own reflection and died from the pain of being unable to be with himself.
Echo

A nymph who angered Juno by helping Jove hide his infidelities. Juno punished her by making her only able to repeat the words said by others. She falls in love with Narcissus, who ignores her until she fades away to nothing but her voice.
Pentheus

A king who scorns the power of the gods, especially Bacchus, and in punishment is torn apart by his wife and daughters.
Acoetes

A priest of Bacchus
The daughters of Minyas

A group of women that refuse to worship Bacchus and are turned into spiders as a result.
Arsippe

One of the daughters of Minyas.
Pyramus

A young man who falls in love with the girl next door (Thisbe), and who runs away with her, but tragic misunderstanding leads to both of their deaths.
Thisbe

A young girl who falls in love with Pyramus, and who runs away with him, but a tragic misunderstanding leads to their deaths.
Leuconoe

One of the daughters of Minyas
Mars

God of War
Venus

Goddess of Love
Vulcan

God of fire and the forge, Venus's husband.
Leucothoe

A mortal lover of Apollo.
Clytie

Passionately in love with Apollo, she betrays Leucothoe to her father.
Alcithoe

One of the daughters of Minyas
Hermaphroditus

The son of Venus and Cupid (themselves mother and son), Hermaphroditus was incredibly beautiful. Salmacis, a nymph, fell desperately in love wtih him, and one day while he was swimming, she cleaved to him and begged that the gods transform them into one person. Her wish was granted and Hermaphroditus became a person both male and female.
Salmacis

The nymph that falls in love with Hermaphroditus and brings about his transformation.
Athamos

Ino's husband and part of Cadmus's line, because of Juno he is driven mad by the furies and kills his own son.
Ino

After her husband kills her son, she takes him and jumps into the sea. At Venus's request, Neptune turns her and her child into sea-gods.
Acrisius

A man who closed his city, Argos, to Bacchus and then later refuses to acknowledge the divinity of Perseus. His city is infected with snakes that spring up from the blood of Medusa's head, after Perseus flies over the city.
Perseus

A hero who kills Medusa, saves Andromeda from sacrifice and performs a number of other impressive deeds.
Medusa

Once a beautiful girl, she is raped by Neptune in Diana's temple and Diana punishes her for desecrating her temple by turning her hair into snakes. Medusa turns people into stone when she looks at them. She is killed by Perseus.
Atlas

One of the Titans, his punishment for storming heaven was to hold up the heavens on his shoulders. Perseus turns him into stone with the head of Medusa.
Andromeda

When Andromeda's mother insults the Nereids, Neptune demands her sacrifice as payment. Perseus rescues her and marries her.
Pegasus

A winged horse born from the blood of Medusa when Perseus cut off her head.

Chrysaor

A giant born from the blood of Medusa when Perseus cuts off her head.
Phineus

Andromeda's uncle, whom she was originally supposed to marry.
Cepheus

Andromeda's father
the Muses

A group of nine goddesses of art and science. They are believed to inspire all artistic creation.
Pyreneus

An evil king who tried to imprison the muses, but who fell from a tower and died after they fled.
Calliope

One of the Muses
Ceres

Goddess of the harvest, Proserpine's mother.
Dis

Also called Pluto, king of the Underworld.
Proserpine

Ceres daughter, she becomes Queen of the Underworld.
Cyane

A nymph that tries to save Proserpine from being kidnapped by Dis.
Ascalaphus

One of the Argonauts, he is killed at Troy.
Arethusa

: A nymph who tells Ceres where her daughter has disappeared to, who is stuck inside a spring since she asked Diana to help her escape the unwanted advances of Alpheus.
Alpheus

The man who pursued Arethusa.
Triptolemus

A follower of Ceres.
Lyncus

King of the Scythians, he is angry when Triptolemus brings him magic seeds from Ceres, because he wants all the credit for himself.
Arachne

A girl renowned for her skill at weaving who dares to challenge Athena to a contest. Her hubris is punished by her transformation into a spider.
Leda

A girl whom Jove rapes in the form of a swan; she gives birth to the twins Castor and Pollux.
Niobe

Wife of Amphion and Queen of Thebes, she dared to suggest that she was more worthy of worship than Latona, because she had fourteen children while Latona only had two. In response, Latona had all of her children killed.
Amphion

Niobe's husband, he kills himself after his children are killed.
Manto

Tiresias's daughter, she also has the gift of prophecy.
Latona

Mother of Apollo and Diana
Marsyas

The satyr who challenges Apollo to a flute-playing contest, whom Apollo flays as punishment when the satyr loses.
Tereus of Thrace

He marries Procne, but then falls in love with her sister Philomela. He kidnaps and rapes her, and he cuts out her tongue when she threatens to betray him. Procne finds out, kills their son, and feeds him to her husband.
Pandion

King of Athens, father of Procne and Philomela, he dies when he finds out what happened to his daughters.
Procne

Daughter of Pandion and wife of Tereus.
Hymen

God of marriage.
the Three Graces

Daughters of Jove, the goddesses of beauty and charm, also known as the Three Charities.
the Eumenides

Another name for the Furies.
Philomela

Procne's sister, she is raped by Tereus and has her tongue cut out, but she still manages to get word to Procne.
Orithyia

one of Erectheus's daughters, she marries Boreas god of the North wind, without her father's consent.
King Aeetes

The father of Medea, Jason is sent to get the golden fleece from him.
Jason

At the demand of King Pelias, Jason is sent to get the Golden Fleece from King Aeetes. He succeeds only with the help of Aeetes daughter, Medea, who falls in love with him.
Medea

The daughter of King Aeetes and a powerful sorceress, Medea falls in love with Jason and helps him gain the Golden Fleece on the condition that he will marry her and take her away. When she discovers that Jason has remarried, she kills her children and his new wife.
Hecate

The goddess of the crossroads, often invoked by those doing dark magic.
Aeson

Father of Jason, his youth and health are restored by Medea's magic arts.

Pelias

The king who stole Aeson's throne; Medea tricks his daughters into thinking she will restore his youth, then kills him.
Glauce

The woman that Jason marries while Medea is fleeing punishment for Pelias's death.
Aegeus

King of Athens, he gives sanctuary to and marries Medea, until she almost kills his son, Theseus.
Theseus

Theseus is one of the victims chosen to be sacrificed to the minotaur. Princess Ariadne falls in love with him and helps him conquer the minotaur, but he abandons her at Athena's behest no the way back to Athens. He then ecomes king of Athens.
Minos

King of Crete; Minos's wife is infected with an unnatural passion for a bull which was supposed to be a sacrifice for Neptune. She gives birth to a minotaur, half-bull and half-man, and Minos forces the captive Daedalus to build a labyrinth for it. He demands that every nine years seven Athenian youths and girls be sent as a sacrifice to the minotaur.

Cephalus

A prince of Athens who seeks help from Aeacus, king of Aegina, in Athens' war against Crete.

Aeacus

King of Aegina, he helps Cephalus in Athens' war against Crete.
Androgeos

Minos's son; his death inspires Minos's war against Athens.
Procris

Daughter of Erechteus, married to Cephalus.
Aurora

Goddess of the Dawn
Oedipus

A tragic hero of Greek literature. Despite all attempts to avoid it, he inadvertently fulfills a prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his mother.
Laelaps

Cephalus's hound
King Nisus

King of Alcathous, Minos defeats him after his daughter Scylla betrays him.
Scylla of Alcathous

Daughter of King Nisus, she falls in love with King Minos and betrays the city to him. He rejects her, and she is transformed into a bird.
Daedalus

A famous inventor and architect, after Daedalus killed his nephew Telus, he fled to Minos's court at Crete. When he tires of working for Minos, he escapes with his son Icarus by building wings out of feathers and wax. His son Icarus is killed when he flies too close to the sun.
Minotaur

Child of Pasiphae (wife of King Minos) and a bull, the minotaur is half-man and half-bull.

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