Characters in Ovid's Metamorphoses
Referencing David R. Slavitt's Translation

Gods and Immortals :: Supernatural Beings/Creatures :: Mortals

Gods and Immortals
Mortals changed into immortals are cross-indexed.

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 mountainin 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.

Demeter: See Ceres.

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 theonly 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.