Curated category
Mythological rapists
- ZeusZeus is the supreme deity of the Greek pantheon, and yet even the gods rise from their seats when he enters the room. That detail, preserved in ancient…
- Jupiter (god)Jupiter, king of the Roman gods, takes his name from two ancient words: the Proto-Italic djous, meaning "day" or "sky," and pater, meaning "father." Sky…
- OdinOdin has more than 170 recorded names, more than any other god among the Germanic peoples. The names describe his attributes, point to myths involving him…
- FreyrFreyr, whose name in Old Norse simply means "the Lord", once stood at the center of a golden temple in Uppsala, his statue carved with an enormous phallus…
- ApolloApollo carries more names than any other Olympian. He is the archer god, the healer, the prophet, the musician, the shepherd's patron, the founder of cities…
- HadesHades is the god of the dead and the King of the underworld in ancient Greek religion and mythology. His name became so feared that by around the 5th century…
- PoseidonPoseidon is one of the twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and mythology, a god of such terrifying breadth that sailors prayed to him for safe passage…
- Mars (mythology)Mars, the Roman god of war, was not simply a deity of battle. He was also a guardian of crops, a father of the Roman people, and a protector whose sacred…
- DionysusDionysus stands as one of the most paradoxical figures in all of ancient Greek religion: the god who frees his followers from fear and self-consciousness…
- HephaestusHephaestus refused to come home. The Greek god of artisans, blacksmiths, and fire had been thrown out of heaven by his own mother, Hera, and his answer was…
- AchillesAchilles, the central figure of Homer's Iliad, carried a name that meant something like 'he who has the people distressed' - a striking label for a warrior…
- HermesHermes is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion, and his story begins in a cave on Mount Cyllene, in the dead of night, where Zeus secretly made love…
- Neptune (mythology)Neptune, the Roman god of freshwater and the sea, had a festival timed not to stormy weather or crashing waves but to the worst heat of summer, when rivers…
- LaiusThe year 320 to 310 BC captures a moment frozen in clay on an Apulian red-figure hydria. This ancient vessel depicts King Laius of Thebes carrying off the…
- Sextus TarquiniusSextus Tarquinius was the son of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the last king of Rome. He is not remembered for victories in battle, nor for any law he gave…
- ThyestesPelops and Hippodamia gave birth to Thyestes in the city of Olympia. Their union carried a heavy burden from the moment Myrtilus died.
- GebGeb, the Egyptian god of the Earth, was said to laugh earthquakes into existence. According to ancient belief, the trembling of the ground was not a…