M
Macrobius
A Latin writer who died A. D. 415. He has rendered himself famous for a composition called Saturnalia, a miscellaneous collection of…
Maeander
A celebrated river of Asia Minor flowing into the Aegean Sea. It is famous among the poets for its windings, and from it the application of…
Maia
A daughter of Atlas and Pleione. She was the eldest of the Pleiades, and the most beautiful of the seven sisters. In a grotto of Mount…
Manes
A name applied by the ancients to the soul when departed from the body. Manilius, C. Tribune of the Plebs, B. C. 66, proposed the law…
Mantua
A town in Gallia Transpadana, on an island in the river Mincius, was not a place of importance, but is celebrated because Vergil, who was…
Marathon
A village of Attica, celebrated for the victory which the Athenians and Plataeans, under the command of Militiades, gained over the Persian…
Marcellus
A Roman who distinguished himself in the civil wars of Caesar and Pompey by his firm attachment to the latter. He was banished by Caesar…
Mars
The god of war, was the son of Jupiter and Juno, or of Juno alone, according to Ovid. The loves of Mars and Venus are greatly celebrated…
Marsyas
A celebrated piper of Celaene in Phrygia. He challenged Apollo to a trial of skill in music, which challenge was accepted, the Muses being…
Masinissa
A king of a small part of Africa, who at first assisted the Carthaginians in their 176 IÓOO CLASSICAL CHARACTERS wars against Rome, but who…
Mausolus
A king of Caria. His wife Artemisia was very disconsolate at his death, and erected one of the grandest monuments of antiquity to…
Medea
A celebrated magician, daughter of Aeetes, king of Colchis, and niece of Circe. When Jason came to Colchis in quest of the Golden Fleece…
Medusa
One of the three Gorgons, daughter of Phorcys and Ceto. She was the only one of the Gorgons subject to mortality. She was celebrated for…
Meleager
A celebrated hero of antiquity who signalized himself in the Argonautic expedition, and especially by killing the Calydonian boar, a famous…
Melpomene
One of the Muses, daughter of Jupiter and Mnemosyne. She presided over tragedy. She is generally represented as a young woman wearing a…
Memnon
A king of Ethiopia, son of Tithonus and Aurora. He came with ten thousand men to assist Priam in the Trojan war, where he behaved with…
Menander
A celebrated comic poet of Athens, educated under Theophrastus. He was universally esteemed by the Greeks. He wrote 108 comedies, of which…
Menelaus
A king of Sparta, brother to Agamemnon. He married Helen, the most beautiful woman of her time. Paris, having arrived in Sparta in the…
Menenius Agrippa
A celebrated Roman who appeased the Roman populace in the infancy of the consular government by repeating to them the well-known fable of…
Mentor
A faithful friend of Ulysses, the guide and instructor of his son Telemachus. The term Mentor has become proverbial as applied to anyone…
Mercurius
A celebrated god of antiquity, called Hermes by the Greeks. He was the messenger of the gods, and conducted the souls of the dead into the…
Merops
A king of the island of Cos, who married Clymene, one of the Oceanides. He was changed into an eagle, and placed among the constellations.
Messala
The name of a distinguished family of the Valeria gens at Rome. The most famous member of the family was M. Valerius Messala Corvinus, who…
Metelli
The surname of the family of the Caecilii at Rome, the most noted of whom are: a general who defeated the Achaeans, took Thebes, and…
Methymna
The second city of Lesbos, stood at the north extremity of the island. It was the birthplace of the poet Arion and of the historian…
Metis
The personification of prudence, described as a daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, and the first wife of Zeus (Jupiter). Afraid lest she…
Micipsa
A king of Numidia, son of Masinissa, who, at his death, B. C. 119, left his kingdom to his sons, Adherbal and Hiempsal, and his nephew…
Midas
A king of Phrygias, son of Gordius or Gorgias. According to some traditions, in the early part of his life he found a treasure, to which he…
Miletus
One of the greatest cities of Asia Minor, belonged territorially to Caria and politically to Ionia, being the southmost of the twelve…
Milo
A celebrated athlete of Crotona in Italy. He is said to have carried on his shoulders a bullock for a considerable distance, and to have…
Miltiades
Son of Simon, was sent by the Athenians to take possession of the Chersonesus. On his arrival he seized some of the principal inhabitants…
Minerva (Goddess of wisdom war and all)
The goddess of wisdom, war, and all the liberal arts, sprang, full-grown and armed, from the head of Jupiter, and was immediately admitted…
Minerva (He describes the goddess)
He describes the goddess as Father Nile. appearing, grief-stricken, to appeal against what his lordship deemed a desecration: "Yes, 'twas…
Minos
A king of Crete, son of Jupiter and Europa, who gave laws to his subjects в. c. 1406 which remained in full force in the age of Plato.
Minotaurus
A celebrated monster, half a man and half a bull, for which a number of young Athenian men and maidens were yearly exacted to be devoured…
Mithras
The god of the sun among the Persians. Under the Roman emperors his worship was introduced at Rome. The god is commonly represented as a…
Mithridates First
He was king of Pontus and tributary to the crown of Persia: his attempts to make himself independent of that fealty proved fruitless, being…
Mithridates
Surnamed Eupator and The Great, succeeded to the throne of Pontus when eleven years of age. The beginning of his reign was marked by…
Mnemosyne
A daughter of Coelus and Terra, mother of the nine Muses. Jupiter assumed the form of a shepherd in order to enjoy her company. Moirae (The…
Momus
The god of mirth amongst the ancients, according to Hesiod, was the son of Nox. He amused himself by satirizing the gods by turning into…
Morpheus
A minister of the god Somnus, who imitated very naturally the gestures, words, and manners of mankind. He is sometimes called the god of…
Moschus
A Greek bucolic poet in the age of Ptolemy Philadelphus. His eclogues are characterized by sweetness and elegance, and are said to be equal…
Murena
A celebrated Roman, who invaded the dominions of Mithridates, at first with success, but afterward he met with defeat. He was honored with…
Mycenae
A town of Argolis said to have been built by Perseus. It received its name from Mycene, a nymph of Laconia. It was taken and destroyed by…
Myrmidones
An Achaean race in Phthiotis in Thessaly, whom Achilles ruled over, and who accompanied this hero to Troy. Mytilene or Mitylene. The chief…
Macedonia – Mors
A country in Europe north of Greece, said to have been originally named Emathia. One of the most ancient and important towns in Arcadia.