| Being |
Location |
Example |
Gloss |
| Absyrtus |
2H6 V.ii.59 |
[of an infant] Into as many gobbets will I cut it / As wild Medea young Absyrtus did |
younger brother of Medea, killed by her to aid Jason’s escape with the golden fleece |
| Acheron |
Mac III.v.15 |
at the pit of Acheron / Meet me |
the chasm or abyss of the Underworld, and the name of one of the rivers there which the souls of the dead have to cross |
| Achilles |
E3 II.i.393 |
The poets write that great Achilles’ spear / Could heal the wound it made |
son of Peleus and Thetis; according to the oracle, only Achilles’ spear could heal the wounds it made; character in Troilus and Cressida |
| Actaeon |
MW III.ii.39 |
a secure and wilful Actaeon |
hunter who encountered Artemis, goddess of chastity, while she was bathing and therefore naked: she changed him into a stag, who was pursued and killed by his own hounds |
| Adonis |
TS induction.2.49 |
Adonis painted by a running brook |
handsome young man loved by Aphrodite, Greek goddess of sexual love (in Roman mythology, by Venus); character in Venus and Adonis |
| Adonis, gardens of |
1H6 I.vi.6 |
Thy promises are like Adonis' garden |
mythological garden of fertility |
| Aeacides |
TS III.i.50 |
Aeacides / Was Ajax, called so from his grandfather |
 Ajax below |
| Aeacus |
2H6 I.iv.61 |
Aio ... Aeacida [Latin: I proclaim ... descendant of Aeacus] |
son of Zeus and Aegina; an ancestor of Achilles |
| Aegle, Aegles |
MND II.i.79 |
[to Tit ania, of Theseus] Didst thou not ... make him with fair Aegles break his faith |
daughter of Panopeus of Phocis, loved by Theseus
Theseus below |
| Aeneas |
JC I.ii.112 |
Aeneas, our great ancestor, / Did from the flames of Troy upon his shoulder / The old Anchises bear |
Trojan hero, son of Anchises and Aphrodite; escaped after the fall of Troy, bearing his father on his shoulders; in Roman legend, the ancestor of the Romans
Anchises, Dido below |
| Aeson |
MV V.i.14 |
Medea gathered the enchanted herbs / That did renew old Aeson |
father of Jason and half-brother of Pelias; magically restored to youth by Medea
Jason, Medea below |
| Agamemnon |
E3 III.i.55 |
we are as puissant as the force / Of Agamemnon in the haven of Troy |
commander of the Greek forces at Troy, married to Clytemnestra; character in Troilus and Cressida |
| Agenor |
TS I.i.165 |
sweet beauty ... / Such as the daughter of Agenor had |
king of Tyre; father of daughter Europa, and of sons Cadmus, Phoenix, and Cilix
Europa below |
| Ajax |
KL II.ii.123 |
None of these rogues and cowards / But Ajax is their fool |
son of Telamon, king of Salamis, thus known as Telamonian Ajax, and sometimes Telamon or Aeacides; fought against Troy, proverbial for his size and strength; when the armour of the dead Achilles was not given to him, he went mad and killed himself; character in Troilus and Cressida |
| Ajax Telamonius |
2H6 V.i.26 |
like Ajax Telamonius, / On sheep or oxen could I spend my fury |
Ajax above |
| Alcides |
TNK V.iii.119 |
Alcides was / To him a sow of lead |
original name of Hercules, after his grandfather Alceus
Hercules below |
| Alecto |
2H4 V.v.37 |
Rouse up Revenge from ebon den with fell Alecto's snake |
one of the Furies, whose name means ‘never-ceasing’ |
| Althaea |
2H6 I.i.232 |
the fatal brand Althaea burnt |
mother of Meleager, whose life-span was determined by the preservation of a magic log; when Althaea burnt the log on a fire, Meleager died
Meleager below |
| Anchises |
2H6 V.ii.62 |
Aeneas did old Anchises bear |
father of Aeneas, who saves him from blazing Troy by carrying him out of the city on his shoulders |
| Anna |
TS I.i.151 |
as secret and as dear / As Anna to the Queen of Carthage was |
sister of Dido, to whom Dido confides her love for Aeneas
Dido below |
| Antiopa |
MND II.i.80 |
[to Tit ania, of Theseus] Didst thou not ... make him with fair Aegles break his faith, / With Ariadne, and Antiopa |
Amazon captured or abducted by Theseus; also known as Antiope |
| Argus |
MV V.i.230 |
watch me like Argus |
hundred-eyed guard of Io, a heifer; Hermes killed him to rescue Io, and Hera then transferred his many eyes to the peacock’s tail |
| Ariachne |
TC V.ii.155 |
Admits no orifex for a point as subtle / As Ariachne's broken woof to enter |
weaver from Lydia, who challenged Athene to a contest; when Ariachne’s work was seen to be superior, Athene destroyed it, and Ariachne hanged herself; Athene saved her, but changed her into a spider; also known as Arachne |
| Ariadne |
TG IV.iv.164 |
'twas Ariadne passioning / For Theseus' perjury |
daughter of Minos who helped Theseus find his way through the labyrinth, and then fled with him; Theseus abandoned her while she slept at Naxos |
| Arion |
TN I.ii.15 |
like Arion on the dolphin’s back, / I saw him hold acquaintance with the waves |
legendary Greek musician; about to be robbed and killed by a ship’s crew, he was allowed to sing one last song; dolphins then appeared, Arion leapt overboard, and was carried by one of them to safety |
| Ascanius |
2H6 III.ii.116 |
witch me, as Ascanius did / When he to madding Dido would unfold / His father's acts |
son of Aeneas and Creusa, and grandson of Priam
Aeneas above, Dido below |
| Atalanta |
AYL III.ii.269 |
You have a nimble wit; I think 'twas made of Atalanta’s heels |
fleet-footed huntress who swore only to marry the suitor who could outrace her; those she defeated, she killed |
| Atlas |
3H6 V.i.36 |
Thou art no Atlas for so great a weight |
giant, sentenced by Zeus to carry the heavens on his shoulders for taking part in the struggle against the gods |
| Atropos |
2H4 II.iv.194 |
Come, Atropos, I say! |
Fates below |
| Bacchanals |
MND V.i.48 |
The riot of the tipsy Bacchanals |
devotees of Bacchus (Dionysus), the god of wine and inspiration |
| Briareus |
TC I.ii.28 |
he is a gouty Briareus, many hands and no use |
son of Uranus and Gaea; legendary monster with 100 arms and 50 heads who fought and defeated the Titans for Zeus |
| Cadmus |
MND IV.i.111 |
Hercules and Cadmus ... bayed the bear / With hounds of Sparta |
son of Agenor, King of Tyre; he set off in pursuit of his sister Europa, arrived in Greece, and founded Thebes |
| Capaneus |
TNK I.i.59 |
King Capaneus was your lord |
one of seven champions – the ‘Seven against Thebes’ – who attacked Thebes to deprive Eteocles of his kingship |
| Centaur |
Tit V.ii.202 |
this banquet, which I wish may prove / More stern and bloody than the Centaurs’ feast |
creature with the upper half of a man and the rear legs of a horse; reputed for bestial behaviour; at Pirithous’ wedding feast, one tried to violate his bride, resulting in a fatal brawl |
| Cerberus |
Tit II.iv.51 |
fell asleep, / As Cerberus at the Thracian poet’s feet |
three-headed dog guarding the entrance to the Underworld, originally 50-headed, later with three heads; charmed to sleep by Orpheus during his quest to rescue Euridice
Orpheus below |
| Charon |
TC III.ii.9 |
be thou my Charon, / And give me swift transportance |
guardian of the Underworld; ferryman who carried the souls of the dead across the River Acheron |
| Cimmerian |
Tit II.iii.72 |
your swart Cimmerian |
native of a mythical country where the sun was never seen |
| Circe |
1H6 V.iii.35 |
See how the ugly witch doth bend her brows / As if, with Circe, she would change my shape! |
enchantress who detained Odysseus and his followers on the isle of Aeaea, transforming Odysseus’ men into swine with a magic drink |
| Collatine |
Luc 33 |
why is Collatine the publisher / Of that rich jewel he should keep unknown |
husband of Lucrece; character in The Rape of Lucrece
Lucrece in HISTORICAL FIGURES |
| Creon |
TNK I.i.40 |
three queens, whose sovereigns fell before / The wrath of cruel Creon |
king of Thebes who gave orders that any who died attacking Thebes should be left unburied |
| Cressid, Cressida |
H5 II.i.73 |
from the powdering tub of infamy / Fetch forth the lazar kite of Cressid's kind |
fickle daughter of Calchas, a priest of Troy; beloved by Troilus, a Trojan prince, she deserted him for Diomed; character in Troilus and Cressida |
| Cyclops |
Ham II.ii.487 |
never did the Cyclops’ hammers fall / On Mars’s armour ... with less remorse than Pyrrhus’ bleeding sword / Now falls on Priam |
one-eyed giants who aided Vulcan in forging armour for the gods |
| Daedalus |
1H6 IV.vi.54 |
I, Daedalus; my poor boy, Icarus |
legendary Athenian inventor who constructed the labyrinth for King Minos in Crete; escaped to Sicily with wings he had made for himself and his son Icarus |
| Damon |
Ham III.ii.290 |
thou dost know, O Damon dear / This realm dismantled was / Of Jove himself |
man from Syracuse remembered as a model of faithful friendship; Pythias, condemned to death by Dionysus, begged to be allowed home to arrange his affairs; Damon pledged his own life against Pythias’ return; Dionysus, impressed by their friendship, pardoned Pythias |
| Daphne |
MND II.i.231 |
Apollo flies, and Daphne holds the chase |
nymph loved by Apollo; chased by the god, she was saved by being turned into a laurel, which became Apollo’s sacred tree |
| Dardanian |
MV III.ii.58 |
The rest aloof are the Dardanian wives |
poetic name for someone or something to do with Troy |
| Deucalion |
Cor II.i.86 |
[of Martius] who ... is worth all your predecessors since Deucalion |
son of Prometheus; Deucalion and his wife Pyrrha survived in an ark when Zeus flooded the world; the oracle advised them to restore the human race by throwing stones over their shoulders; these turned into human beings |
| Dido |
MND I.i.173 |
by that fire which burned the Carthage queen / When the false Trojan under sail was seen |
Queen of Carthage who fell in love with Aeneas when he was shipwrecked on her shores; commanded by Jupiter, Aeneas left without seeing Dido again, and she killed herself on a funeral pyre |
| Diomed, Diomede |
3H6 IV.ii.19 |
Ulysses and stout Diomede / With sleight and manhood stole to Rhesus' tents |
Greek hero who fought in the Trojan War and even took on the gods in battle; character in Troilus and Cressida, where he is Cressida’s lover
Cressid above |
| Enceladus |
Tit IV.ii.92 |
Enceladus / With all his threat’ning band of Typhon’s brood |
giant who fought against the Olympian gods, son of Tartarus and Gaea; possible brother of Typhon |
| Endymion |
MV V.i.109 |
the moon sleeps with Endymion, / And would not be awaked |
young shepherd loved by Selene (the Moon); Zeus granted his wish of eternal sleep, and thus he remained forever young |
| Ercles |
MND I.ii.26 |
I could play Ercles rarely |
Hercules below |
| Europa |
MW V.v.3 |
Remember, Jove, thou wast a bull for thy Europa |
daughter of Agenor; she was abducted by Jove in the shape of a bull, who then swam with her on his back to Crete
Jupiter in GODS AND GODDESSES |
| Fates |
MND V.i.277 |
O Fates, come, come, / Cut thread and thrum |
a trio of goddesses who control human destiny: Atropos (‘the inflexible’) cuts the thread of life allotted and spun by Lachesis (‘the distributor’) and Clotho (‘the spinner’) |
| Furies |
MND V.i.276 |
Approach, ye Furies fell |
three goddesses: Alecto ‘never-ceasing’, Megaira ‘grudger’, and Tisiphone ‘avenger of blood’; spirits of vengeance, depicted as carrying torches and covered with snakes) |
| Gorgon |
AC II.v.116 |
Though he be painted one way like a Gorgon, / The other way’s a Mars |
generally applied to Medusa, one of three monsters who had snakes in their hair, ugly faces, huge wings, and whose staring eyes could turn people to stone |
| Hector |
1H6 II.iii.19 |
I thought I should have seen some Hercules, / A second Hector, for his grim aspect |
bravest Trojan, who led out their army to battle; the son of Priam, married to Andromache; character in Troilus and Cressida |
| Hecuba |
Ham II.ii.556 |
What’s Hecuba to him, or he to her, / That he should weep for her |
wife of Priam, King of Troy, and mother of 18 children; after the Greeks took Troy, she saw her sons and her husband killed, and was sent into slavery. |
| Helen |
AYL III.ii.141 |
Nature presently distilled / Helen’s cheek, but not her heart |
woman renowned for her beauty, whose abduction from the Greeks by Paris of Troy caused the Trojan War; character in Troilus and Cressida |
| Helicons |
2H4 V.iii.104 |
Shall dunghill curs confront the Helicons? |
nine Muses from the slopes of Mt Helicon, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, who give artistic inspiration |
| Hercules |
TNK II.iv.2 |
I have not seen, / Since Hercules, a man of tougher sinews |
(Roman form of Heracles) proverbial for his mythical physical strength and miraculous achievements; also referred to as Alcides and comically as Ercles
Nine Worthies in HISTORICAL FIGURES |
| Hero |
TNK II.iv.2 |
Leander below |
| Hippolyta |
TNK I.i.78 |
Honoured Hippolyta, / Most dreaded Amazonian |
Amazonian warrior queen, daughter of Ares, god of war, taken to Athens where (in one version, used by Shakespeare) she was married to Theseus |
| H |
Per I.i.28 |
Before thee stands this fair Hesperides, / With golden fruit |
daughters of the evening star (Hesper), who guard the garden of the gods where the golden apples grow |
| Hydra |
H5 I.i.35 |
never Hydra-headed wilfulness / So soon did lose his seat |
many-headed monster, the child of Typhon and Echnida; as each head was cut off, it grew again |
| Hyrcania |
Ham II.ii.448 |
The rugged Pyrrhus, like th’Hyrcanian beast |
Hyrcan tiger below |
| Hyrcan tiger |
Mac III.iv.100 |
Approach thou like ... the Hyrcan tiger |
tiger of Hyrcania (in Asia Minor), proverbial for its ferocity |
| Icarus |
1H6 IV.vi.55 |
follow thou thy desperate sire of Crete, / Thou Icarus |
son of Daedalus, who tried to escape from Crete wearing wings made by his father; ignoring a warning, he flew too near the Sun; the wax holding the wings melted, and he fell into the Aegean Sea |
| Io |
TS induction.2.53 |
We’ll show thee Io as she was a maid, / And how she was beguiled and surprised |
daughter of river-god Inachus, loved by Zeus, who turned her into a heifer to save her from the jealousy of Zeus’ wife, Hera |
| Jason |
MV I.i.172 |
[of Portia] many Jasons come in quest of her |
son of Aeson, King of Iolcos; he was sent, leading the Argonauts, on the quest for the Golden Fleece, which he obtained with Medea’s assistance
Medea below |
| Laertes |
Tit I.i.383 |
wise Laertes’ son / Did graciously plead for his funerals |
father of Ulysses
Ulysses below |
| Leander |
TG I.i.22 |
story of deep love, / How young Leander crossed the Hellespont |
young man in love with Hero, priestess of Aphrodite, who lived on the opposite side of the Hellespont; each night he swam across, guided by her lamp; one night the lamp blew out in a storm, and he was drowned; Hero committed suicide by throwing herself into the sea |
| Leda |
MW V.v.7 |
You were also, Jupiter, a swan for the love of Leda |
daughter of Thestius; loved by Jove, who turned himself into a swan to seduce her
Jupiter in GODS AND GODDESSES |
| Lichas |
AC IV.xii.45 |
Let me lodge Lichas on the horns o’th’ moon |
companion to Hercules, who carried to him a poisoned tunic; after wearing the tunic, Hercules in agony threw Lichas into the sky
Nessus below |
| Limander |
MND V.i.193 |
like Limander am I trusty still |
malapropism for Leander |
| Medea |
MV V.i.13 |
In such a night / Medea gathered the enchanted herns / That did renew old Aeson |
daughter of Aeetes, King of Colchis, who assisted Jason in obtaining the Golden Fleece
Aeson, Jason above |
| Meleager |
TNK III.v.18 |
do you, / As once did Meleager and the boar, / Break comely out before him |
son of Althaea, his life-span determined by an unburnt magic log; he murdered his uncles in a quarrel over the killing of a boar ravaging the fields in Calydon; in her rage Althaea burnt Meleager’s log on a fire, and he died |
| Menelaus |
3H6 II.ii.147 |
Helen of Greece was fairer far than thou, / Although thy husband may be Menelaus |
brother of Agamemnon, king of Sparta, married to Helen of Troy; character in Troilus and Cressida |
| Minos |
3H6 V.vi.22 |
I, Daedalus; my poor boy, Icarus; / Thy father, Minos, that denied our course |
king of Crete, who imprisoned Daedalus and his son, Icarus, for helping Theseus escape from his labyrinth |
| Minotaur |
1H6 V.iii.189 |
Thou mayst not wander in that labyrinth: / There Minotaurs and ugly treasons lurk |
son of Pasiphae and a bull from the sea, half bull and half human; kept in Minos’ labyrinth, and killed by Theseus |
| Myrmidons |
TC I.iii.378 |
the great Myrmidon, / Who broils in loud applause |
band of warriors from Thessaly, who went to the Trojan War with Achilles; characters in Troilus and Cressida |
| Naiades |
Tem IV.i.128 |
You nymphs, called Naiades, of the windring brooks |
nymphs who inhabit springs, rivers, and lakes |
| Narcissus |
Ven. 161 |
Narcissus ... died to kiss his shadow in the brook |
handsome youth who fell in love with his own reflection in a pool; he pined away and was turned into a flower |
| Nemean lion |
Ham I.iv.83 |
As hardy as the Nemean lion’s nerve |
monstrous lion, reputably invulnerable, from the region of Nemea; its destruction was one of the twelve labours of Hercules |
| Neoptolemus |
TC IV.v.142 |
Not Neoptolemus so mirable ... could promise to himself / A thought of added honour torn from Hector |
son of Achilles and Deidamia, but here referring to Achilles himself
Pyrrhus below |
| Nereids |
AC II.ii.211 |
Her gentlewomen, like the Nereides, / So many mermaids, tended her i’th’ eyes |
sea-nymph, one of the 50 or (in some accounts) 100 daughters of Nereus and Doris; they lived with their father in the depths of the sea |
| Nessus |
AC IV.xii.43 |
The shirt of Nessus is upon me |
centaur, shot by Hercules for attempting to rape Deianeira; Nessus gave her a poisonous liquid in the guise of a love-potion, which caused Hercules’ death when he wore a shirt dipped in the mixture
Hercules, Lichas above |
| Nestor |
E3 III.iv.50 |
if he breaketh out, Nestor’s years on earth / Will make him savour still of this exploit |
Greek leader in the siege of Troy, reputed for his age and wisdom; character in Troilus and Cressida |
| Ninus |
MND III.i.91 |
[Quince] ‘Ninus’ tomb’, man! |
founder of the Assyrian city of Nineveh
Pyramus below |
| Niobe |
Ham I.ii.149 |
she followed my poor father’s body / Like Niobe, all tears |
heroine of Thebes, daughter of Tantalus, whose seven sons and seven daughters [numbers vary in different versions] were slain by Apollo and Diana; the gods then turned her into a rock, but her eyes continued to weep in the form of a spring |
| Orpheus |
TG III.ii.78 |
Orpheus' lute was strung with poets' sinews |
legendary Greek poet, able to charm beasts and even stones with his music |
| Pandarus |
MW I.iii.70 |
Shall I Sir Pandarus of Troy become |
Trojan prince, killed by Diomedes; character in Troilus and Cressida, where he is Cressida’s uncle and go-between Cressid, Diomed above |
| Pandion |
PP.20.23 |
King Pandion he is dead |
King of Athens, the father of Philomela
Philomel below |
| Parca |
H5 V.i.19 |
Dost thou thirst ... / To have me fold up Parca’s fatal web? |
originally, a Roman birth-goddess, later trebled, and identified with the Moerae, or Parcae, the goddesses who decide the destiny of humans
Fates above |
| Paris |
1H6 V.v.104 |
thus he goes, / As did the youthful Paris once to Greece, / With hope to find the like event in love |
youngest son of Priam and Hecuba; he stole Helen away from her Greek husband, Menelaus, causing the Trojan wars; character in Troilus and Cressida |
| Pegasus |
1H4 IV.i.109 |
To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus |
winged horse, which sprang from the body of Medusa after her death; he brought thunderbolts to Zeus
Gorgon above |
| Pelops |
TNK IV.ii.21 |
a brow ... smoother than Pelops’ shoulder |
son of Tantalus, served to the gods at a banquet; Demeter ate his shoulder, which the gods replaced by one of ivory |
| Penelope |
Cor I.iii.83 |
You would be another Penelope ... all the yarn she spun in Ulysses’ absence did but fill Ithaca full of moths |
Ulysses’ wife, who waited 20 years for his return from Troy; she told her suitors she had to finish weaving a shroud for Ulysses’ father before she could remarry, and undid the work each night
Ulysses below |
| Penthesilea |
TN II.iii.170 |
[Sir Toby to Maria] Good night, Penthesilea |
Amazonian warrior queen, daughter of Ares, god of war, the sister of Hippolyta |
| Perigenia |
MND II.i.78 |
Didst thou not lead him through the glimmering night / From Perigenia, whom he ravished |
daughter of a robber, Sinnis; loved by Theseus; also known as Perigouna |
| Perseus |
E3 III.iii.200 |
take this target, wear it on thy arm, / And may the view thereof, like Perseus’ shield, / Astonish and transform thy gazing foes |
son of Zeus and Danae; advised by Athene to look at the reflection in his shield when cutting off Medusa’s head, thereby avoiding being turned to stone; associated with the winged horse released by her death
Gorgon, Pegasus above |
| Philemon |
MA II.i.86 |
My visor is Philemon's roof |
peasant who, with his wife Baucis, entertained Jupiter and Mercury when they visited the Earth to test people’s hospitality |
| Philomel, Philomela |
Luc .1079 |
By this, lamenting Philomel had ended / The well-tun'd warble of her nightly sorrow |
daughter of Pandion, King of Athens; Tereus, her brother-in-law, raped her and cut out her tongue, but she told the tale in her embroidery; the gods turned her into a nightingale after she took her revenge
Procne, Tereus below |
| Priam |
Ham II.ii.461 |
the hellish Pyrrhus / Old grandsire Priam seeks |
King of Troy, son of Laomedon, husband of Hecuba; he was killed by Pyrrhus during the sack of Troy; character in Troilus and Cressida |
| Procne, Progne |
Tit V.ii.194 |
worse than Philomel you used my daughter, / And worse than Procne I will be revenged |
Philomel’s sister, who served her son Itys in a meal to Tereus, his father, in revenge for Tereus’ rape and mutilation of Philomel
Philomel above, Tereus below |
| Procrus |
MND V.i.195 |
Not Shafalus to Procrus was so true |
mispronunciation of Procris, legendary Greek lover whose love for her husband Cephalus was tragically harmed through his jealousy
Shafalus below |
| Prometheus |
Tit II.i.17 |
faster bound to Aaron's charming eyes / Than is Prometheus tied to Caucasus |
Titan who stole fire from heaven to help mankind; he was punished by being chained to a rock in the Caucasus |
| Proteus |
3H6 III.ii.192 |
I can ... / Change shapes with Proteus for advantages |
old man of the sea, shepherd of Poseidon's flock; he had the ability to change his shape |
| Pygmalion |
MM III.ii.43 |
is there none of Pygmalion's images ... to be had now |
sculptor who created and fell in love with his ivory statue of a woman; Aphrodite brought her to life, and he married her |
| Pyramus |
MND I.ii.20 |
What is Pyramus? ... A lover that kills himself, most gallant, for love |
lover of Thisbe; kept apart by their parents, they talked through a crack in their dividing wall; arriving at a rendezvous, Pyramus found Thisbe’s cloak stained with blood from a lion’s prey; thinking she had been killed by a lion, he committed suicide; when she found him, Thisbe killed herself with his sword |
| Pyrrhus |
Ham II.ii.450 |
the rugged Pyrrhus, he whose sable arms ... did the night resemble |
son of Achilles, who entered Troy in the wooden horse and killed Priam; also known as Neoptolemus |
| Rhesus |
3H6 IV.ii.20 |
Ulysses and stout Diomede ... stole to Rhesus' tents, / And brought from thence the Thracian fatal steeds |
Thracian hero, famed for his horses; after he had fought for one day in the Trojan War, Ulysses and Diomedes killed him in his tent at night, and stole the horses
Diomed, above, Ulysses below, Thracian in WORLD PLACES |
| Sagittary |
TC V.v.14 |
the dreadful Sagittary / Appals our numbers |
centaur-like being which fought in the Trojan army against the Greeks |
| Shafalus |
MND V.i.195 |
Not Shafalus to Procrus was so true |
mispronunciation of Cephalus, son of Deion
Procrus above |
| Sibyl/Sibylla |
MV I.ii.100 |
If I live to be as old as Sybilla, I will die as chaste as Diana unless I be obtained by the manner of my father’s will |
priestess inspired by Apollo, her prophecies being written on leaves; Apollo granted her as many years of life as she could hold grains of sand in her hand; there were later said to be 10 Sibyls |
| Sinon |
Cym III.iv.60 |
Sinon's weeping / Did scandal many a holy tear |
spy who alerted the Greeks inside the Trojan horse after it had been taken into the citadel of Troy |
| Siren |
Sonn.119.1 |
Siren tears / Distill'd from limbecks foul as hell within |
sea demon of Greek mythology, half bird, half woman, whose music lured sailors to destruction on the rocky shores of her island |
| Sisters Three |
MND V.i.328 |
O sisters three, / Come, come to me |
Fates above |
| Sphinx |
LLL IV.iii.318 |
Subtle as Sphinx |
female monster who killed people unable to answer its riddle |
| Tantalus |
Ven.599 |
That worse than Tantalus' is her annoy, / To clip Elizium and to lack her joy |
king of Sipylos in Lydia, punished in the Underworld for his crimes; he sits in a pool which recedes when he bends to drink, and the grapes over his head elude his grasp |
| Telamon |
AC IV.xiii.2 |
he’s more mad / Than Telamon for his shield |
Ajax above |
| Tereus |
Cym II.ii.45 |
She hath been reading late, / The tale of Tereus |
legendary king of Athens, who raped and mutilated Philomel
Philomel above |
| Thersites |
Cym IV.ii.252 |
Thersites’ body is as good as Ajax’, / When neither are alive |
cowardly Greek; killed by Achilles after Thersites jeered at him for killing, then falling in love with, Penthesilea; character in Troilus and Cressida |
| Theseus |
TG IV.iv.165 |
’twas Ariadne passioning / For Theseus’ perjury and unjust flight |
legendary king and national hero of Athens, who with Ariadne’s help killed the Minotaur; he conquered the Amazons, and married their queen, Hippolyta; character in Two Noble Kinsmen
Amazon in NON-CLASSICAL LEGEND |
| Thetis |
Per IV.iv.41 |
The earth ... / Hath Thetis' birth-child on the heavens bestowed |
sea nymph destined to bear a son greater than his father; she was married to Peleus, and mother of Achilles
Achilles above |
| Thisbe |
MND I.ii.41 |
What is Thisbe? ... It is the lady that Pyramus must love |
Pyramus above |
| Timon |
LLL IV.iii.168 |
To see ... critic Timon laugh at idle toys! |
nobleman from Athens; disgusted with mankind as shown in the ingratitude of his friends, he lived a life of almost total seclusion; character in Timon of Athens |
| Troilus |
AYL IV.i.88 |
Troilus had his brains dashed out with a Grecian club |
youngest son of Priam and Hecuba; killed by Achilles; in Troilus and Cressida, the lover of Cressida
Cressid above |
| Typhon |
Tit IV.ii.93 |
Enceladus / With all his threat’ning band of Typhon’s brood |
giant, half man half animal, who fought against the Olympian gods; said to be the father of several monsters; Zeus crushed him with Mt Etna |
| Ulysses |
Cor I.iii.84 |
You would be another Penelope ... all the yarn she spun in Ulysses’ absence did but fill Ithaca full of moths |
son of Laertes, who fought for 10 years in the Trojan War; on his return to Ithaca, he slaughtered the suitors who were besieging his wife Penelope; in Greek, known as Odysseus |