(Bi′formis), a name of Bacchus, because he was accounted both bearded and beardless.
Birds, see Augury.
Births, see Lucina and Levana.
Blacksmith, see Brontes and Vulcan.
Blind, see Thamyris.
Blue eyes, see Glaukopis.
Bona Dea (Bo′na De′a). “The bountiful goddess,” whose festival was celebrated by the Romans with much magnificence. See Ceres.
Bonus Eventus (Bo′nus Even′tus). The god of good success, a rural divinity.
Boreas (Bo′reas), the north wind, son of Astraeus and Aurora.
“… I snatched her from the rigid north,
Her native bed, on which bleak Boreas blew,
And bore her nearer to the sun…”
Boundaries, see Terminus.
Boxing, see Pollux.
Brahma (Brah′ma). The great Indian deity, represented with four heads looking to the four quarters of the globe.
Briareus (Bri′areus), a famous giant. See Aegeon.
Brisaeus (Bris′aeus). A name of Bacchus, referring to the use of grapes and honey.
Brontes (Bront′es), one of the Cyclops. He is the personification of a blacksmith.
Bubona (Bubo′na), goddess of herdsmen, one of the rural divinities.
Buddha (Bud′dha). Primitively, a pagan deity, the Vishnu of the Hindoos.
Byblis (Byb′lis). A niece of Sol, mentioned by Ovid. She shed so many tears for unrequited love that she was turned into a fountain.
“Thus the Phoebeian Byblis, spent in tears,
Becomes a living fountain, which yet bears
Her name.”
Cabiri (Cab′iri). The mysterious rites connected with the worship of these deities were so obscene that most writers refer to them as secrets which it was unlawful to reveal.
Cacodaemon (Cac′odae′mon). The Greek name of an evil spirit.
Cacus (Ca′cus), a three-headed monster and robber.
Cadmus (Cad′mus), one of the earliest of the Greek demi-gods. He was the reputed inventor of letters, and his alphabet consisted of sixteen letters. It was Cadmus who slew the Boeotian dragon, and sowed its teeth in the ground, from each of which sprang up an armed man.
Caduceus (Cadu′ceus). The rod carried by Mercury. It has two winged serpents entwined round the top end. It was supposed to possess the power of producing sleep, and Milton refers to it in Paradise Lost as the “opiate rod.”
Calisto (Calis′to), an Arcadian nymph, who was turned into a she-bear by Jupiter. In that form she was hunted by her son Arcas, who would have killed her had not Jupiter turned him into a he-bear. The nymph and her son form the constellations known as the Great Bear and Little Bear.
Calliope (Calli′ope). The Muse who presided over epic poetry and rhetoric. She is generally depicted using a stylus and wax tablets, the ancient writing materials.
Calpe (Cal′pe). One of the pillars of Hercules.
Calypso (Calyp′so) was queen of the island of Ogygia, on which Ulysses was wrecked, and where he was persuaded to remain seven years.
Cama (Ca′ma). The Indian god of love and marriage.
Camillus (Camil′lus), a name of Mercury, from his office of minister to the gods.
Canache (Can′ache). The name of one of Actaeon’s hounds.
Canopus (Cano′pus). The Egyptian god of water, the conqueror of fire.
Capis (Cap′is) or Capula (Cap′ula). A peculiar cup with ears, used in drinking the health of the deities.
Capitolinus (Capitoli′nus). A name of Jupiter, from the Capitoline hill, on the top of which a temple was built and dedicated to him.
Capripedes (Cap′ri′pedes). Pan, the Egipans, the Satyrs, and Fauns, were so called from having goat’s feet.
Caprotina (Caproti′na). A name of Juno.
Cassandra (Cassan′dra), a daughter of Priam and Hecuba, who was granted by Apollo the power of seeing into futurity, but having offended that god he prevented people from believing her predictions.
Cassiopeia (Cassiope′ia). The Ethiopian queen who set her beauty in comparison with that of the Nereides, who thereupon chained her to a rock and left her to be devoured by a sea-monster, but she was delivered by Perseus. See Andromeda.
Castalia (Casta′lia). One of the fountains in Mount Parnassus, sacred to the Muses.
Castalides (Casta′li′des), a name of the Muses, from the fountain Castalia or Castalius.
Castor (Cas′tor), son of Jupiter and Leda, twin brother of Pollux, noted for his skill in horsemanship. He went with Jason in quest of the Golden Fleece.
Cauther (Cau′ther), in Mohammedan mythology, is the lake of paradise, whose waters are as sweet as honey, as cold as snow, and as clear as crystal; and any believer who tastes thereof is said to thirst no more.
Celeno (Cel′eno) was one of the Harpies, progenitor of Zephyrus, the west wind.
Centaur (Cen′taur). A huntsman who had the forepart like a man, and the remainder of the body like a horse. The Centauri lived in Thessaly.
Cephalus (Cep′halus) was married to Procris, whom he accidentally slew by shooting her while she was secretly watching him, he thinking she was a wild beast. Cephalus was the type of constancy.
Ceraunius (Cerau′nius). A Greek name of Jupiter, meaning The Fulminator, from his thunderbolts.
Cerberus (Cer′berus). Pluto’s famous three-headed dog, which guarded the gate of the infernal regions, preventing the living from entering, and the inhabitants from going out.
“Three-headed Cerberus, by fate
Posted at Pluto’s iron gate;
Low crouching rolls his haggard eyes,
Ecstatic, and foregoes his prize.”
Ceremonies, see Themis.
Ceres
