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List of mortals in Greek mythology

The following is a list of mortals in Greek mythology, including heroes, mythical kings, and notable women. In Greek mythology, humans are created by Prometheus, who fashions them in the likeness of the gods. While the Greek gods are immortal and unaffected by aging, the mortality of humans forces them to move through the stages of life, before reaching death. The group of figures referred to as "heroes" (or "demigods"), unique to Greek religion and mythology, are (after the time of Homer) individuals who have died but continue to exert power in the world, and who were worshipped in hero cults.

Heroes

  • Abderus (Ἄβδηρος), aided Heracles during his eighth labour and was killed by the Mares of Diomedes
  • Achilles (Αχιλλεύς), hero of the Trojan War and a central character in Homer's Iliad
  • Aeneas (Αἰνείας), a hero of the Trojan War and progenitor of the Roman people
  • Ajax the Great (Αίας ο Μέγας), a hero of the Trojan War and king of Salamis
  • Ajax the Lesser (Αίας ο Μικρός), a hero of the Trojan War and leader of the Locrian army
  • Amphion and Zethus (Ἀμφίων καὶ Ζῆθος), twin sons of Zeus who built the walls of Thebes
  • Amphitryon (Αμφιτρύων), Theban general who rescued Thebes from the Teumessian fox; his wife was Alcmene, mother of Heracles
  • Anagyros (Ἀνάγυρος), local hero of the Anagyrous deme in Attica
  • Antilochus (Ἀντίλοχος), Son of Nestor sacrificed himself to save his father in the Trojan War along with other deeds of valor
  • Bellerophon (Βελλεροφῶν), hero who slew the Chimera
  • Bouzyges (Βουζύγης), a hero credited with inventing agricultural practices such as yoking oxen to a plough
  • Castor, the mortal Dioscuri twin; after Castor's death, his immortal brother Pollux shared his divinity with him in order that they might remain together
  • Chrysippus (Χρύσιππος), a divine hero of Elis
  • Daedalus (Δαίδαλος), creator of the labyrinth and great inventor, until King Minos trapped him in his own creation
  • Diomedes (Διομήδης), a king of Argos and hero of the Trojan War
  • Eleusis (Ἐλευσίς), eponymous hero of the town of Eleusis
  • Eunostus (Εὔνωστος)), a Boeotian hero
  • Ganymede (Γανυμήδης), Trojan hero and lover of Zeus, who was given immortality and appointed cup-bearer to the gods
  • Hector (Ἕκτωρ), hero of the Trojan War and champion of the Trojan people
  • Icarus (Ἴκαρος), the son of the master craftsman Daedalus
  • Iolaus (Ἰόλαος), nephew of Heracles who aided his uncle in one of his Labors
  • Jason (Ἰάσων), leader of the Argonauts
  • Meleager (Μελέαγρος), a hero who sailed with the Argonauts and killed the Calydonian boar
  • Odysseus (Ὀδυσσεύς or Ὀδυσεύς), a hero and king of Ithaca whose adventures are the subject of Homer's Odyssey; he also played a key role during the Trojan War
  • Oedipus (Οἰδίπους), Theban hero who defeated the Sphinx by solving her riddle
  • Orpheus (Ὀρφεύς), a legendary musician and poet who attempted to retrieve his dead wife from the Underworld
  • Pandion (Πανδίων), the eponymous hero of the Attic tribe Pandionis, usually assumed to be one of the legendary Athenian kings Pandion I or Pandion II
  • Pelops (Πέλοψ), hero of the western Pelopponese who founded the Olympic Games
  • Perseus (Περσεύς), son of Zeus and the founder-king of Mycenae and slayer of the Gorgon Medusa
  • Phaethon, son of Helios who tried and failed to drive his father's sun-chariot for one day
  • Talthybius (Ταλθύβιος), herald and friend to Agamemnon. He was worshipped as a hero at Sparta and Argos, where sacrifices were offered to him.
  • Telephus (Τήλεφος), a son of Heracles who fought against the Achaeans early in the Trojan War
  • Theseus (Θησεύς), son of Poseidon and a king of Athens and slayer of the Minotaur
  • Triptolemus (Τριπτόλεμος), a favourite of Demeter who introduced agriculture to mortals

Notable women

  • Alcestis (Άλκηστις), daughter of Pelias and wife of Admetus, who was known for her devotion to her husband
  • Amymone, the one daughter of Danaus who refused to murder her husband, thus escaping her sisters' punishment
  • Andromache (Ανδρομάχη), wife of Hector
  • Andromeda (Ανδρομέδα), wife of Perseus, who was placed among the constellations after her death
  • Antigone (Αντιγόνη), daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta
  • Apemosyne (Ἀπημοσύνη), a Cretan princess who ran faster than Hermes
  • Arachne (Αράχνη), a skilled weaver, transformed by Athena into a spider for her blasphemy
  • Ariadne (Αριάδνη), daughter of Minos, king of Crete, who aided Theseus in overcoming the Minotaur and became the wife of Dionysus
  • Atalanta (Αταλάντη), fleet-footed heroine who participated in the Calydonian boar hunt and the quest for the Golden Fleece
  • Briseis, a princess of Lyrnessus, taken and given to Achilles as a war prize
  • Caeneus, formerly Caenis, a woman who was transformed into a man and became a mighty warrior
  • Cassandra, a princess of Troy cursed to see the future but never to be believed
  • Cassiopeia (Κασσιόπεια), queen of Æthiopia and mother of Andromeda
  • Clytemnestra, sister of Helen and unfaithful wife of Agamemnon
  • Danaë, the mother of Perseus by Zeus
  • Deianeira, the third wife and unwitting killer of Heracles
  • Electra, daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, she aided her brother Orestes in plotting revenge against their mother for the murder of their father
  • Europa, a Phoenician woman, abducted by Zeus
  • Hecuba (Ἑκάβη), wife of Priam, king of Troy, and mother of nineteen of his children
  • Helen, daughter of Zeus and Leda, whose abduction brought about the Trojan War
  • Hermione (Ἑρμιόνη), daughter of Menelaus and Helen; wife of Neoptolemus, and later Orestes
  • Iphigenia, daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra; Agamemnon sacrificed her to Artemis in order to appease the goddess
  • Ismene, sister of Antigone
  • Jocasta, mother and wife of Oedipus
  • Medea, a sorceress and wife of Jason, who killed her own children to punish Jason for his infidelity
  • Medusa, a mortal woman transformed into a hideous gorgon by Athena
  • Niobe, a daughter of Tantalus who declared herself to be superior to Leto, causing Artemis and Apollo to kill her fourteen children
  • Pandora, the first woman
  • Penelope, loyal wife of Odysseus
  • Phaedra, daughter of Minos and wife of Theseus
  • Polyxena, the youngest daughter of Priam, sacrificed to the ghost of Achilles
  • Semele, mortal mother of Dionysus
  • Thrace, the daughter of Oceanus and Parthenope, and sister of Europa

Kings

Seers/oracles

  • Amphilochus (Ἀμφίλοχος), a seer and brother of Alcmaeon who died in the war of the Seven against Thebes
  • Anius, son of Apollo who prophesied that the Trojan War would be won in its tenth year
  • Asbolus, a seer Centaur
  • Bakis
  • Branchus, a seer and son of Apollo
  • Calchas, an Argive seer who aided the Greeks during the Trojan War
  • Carnus, an Acarnanian seer and lover of Apollo
  • Carya, a seer and lover of Dionysus
  • Cassandra, a princess of Troy cursed to see the future but never to be believed
  • Ennomus, a Mysian seer, killed by Achilles during the Trojan War
  • Halitherses, an Ithacan seer who warned Penelope's suitors of Odysseus' return
  • Helenus, seer and twin brother of Cassandra, who later became king of Epirus
  • Iamus, a son of Apollo possessing the gift of prophecy, he founded the Iamidai
  • Idmon, a seer who sailed with the Argonauts
  • Manto, seer and daughter of Tiresias
  • Melampus, a legendary soothsayer and healer, and king of Argos
  • Mopsus, the name of two legendary seers
  • Polyeidos, a Corinthian seer who saved the life of Glaucus
  • Pythia, the oracle of Delphi
  • Telemus, a seer who foresaw that the Cyclops Polyphemus would be blinded by Odysseus
  • Theoclymenus, an Argive seer
  • Tiresias, blind prophet of Thebes

Amazons

Inmates of Tartarus

  • The Danaïdes, the forty-nine daughters of Danaus who murdered their husbands on their wedding night, were condemned to an eternity of carrying water in leaky jugs.
  • Ixion, king of the Lapiths, who attempted to rape Hera, was bound to a flaming, ever-spinning wheel in Tartarus as eternal punishment.
  • Sisyphus, a king of Thessaly who tried to cheat death, was condemned to an eternity of rolling a boulder uphill, only to watch it roll back down each time.
  • Tantalus, a king of Anatolia who butchered his son Pelops and served him as a meal to the gods, was punished with eternal starvation—food and drink forever dangling just out of reach.
  • Pirithous, king of the Lapiths and the closest companion of Theseus, attempted to kidnap Persephone to make her his wife. As punishment, he was either bound to a chair by snakes for eternity or devoured by Cerberus, depending on the version of the myth.

Minor figures

See also

Notes

References