The name Elephantis appears in literary and medical commentaries of the late Hellenistic / early Roman imperial period as a woman author and practitioner whose works on erotic technique, cosmetics, abortives and medical treatments were known in Rome (later authors claim figures such as Tiberius took her books to Capri). Separately, Elephantis appears in mythographic genealogical lists as one of several named women associated with Danaus, producing some of the Danaïdes; these attestations place her in the genealogical/mythic geography of Libya and Argos. Sources indicate the same name is used in both contexts but do not establish a single biographical identity across them; some modern summaries note multiple individuals of the same name may be involved.
Classical citations and surviving summaries do not provide any physical or iconographic description of Elephantis. Her presence in the record is textual: epigrammatic references, medical author citations, and later mythographic/genealogical lists. No ancient source quoted in the provided material describes her personal appearance.
In the literary-medical register Elephantis is credited by Roman and Greek writers with authorship of erotic manuals (described in epigrams and the Priapeia as notorious or 'shameless' and sometimes read as describing novel sexual positions), with works or recipes on cosmetics and abortives, and with practical medical skills — Pliny is reported to mention her activity as a midwife and Galen is reported to ascribe to her a remedy for baldness. In the mythographic register Elephantis functions as a mortal progenitor: she is named among Danaus's consorts and listed as mother to one or more Danaïdes; no personal powers or supernatural behaviors are ascribed to her in these genealogical notices.
*Péh₂usōn (reconstructed)
Péh₂usōn is a hypothetical Proto‑Indo‑European pastoral guardian reconstructed by comparative scholars from parallels in Greek and Vedic traditions. Proposed as a Graeco‑Aryan ancestor‑figure, the reconstruction describes a protector of flocks, roads, and travellers rather than an attested historical cultic personality.
Aba (disambiguation / name-form)
Aba is a polyvalent name-form attested across many unrelated contexts (place names, personal names, animal names, and brief mythological listings). The provided sources do not support a single, coherent supernatural entity called "Aba" and offer no descriptive or ritual material for such a being.
Abandinus
Abandinus is a locally attested Romano‑Celtic theonym known from a single inscribed bronze feather (votive object) dedicated at Godmanchester (the Roman fort Durovigutum) in Cambridgeshire. Scholars interpret him as a local god or male spirit tied to a specific place and possibly associated with a nearby spring or stream; this association is tentative and based on etymological readings of the name.
Abarbarea
Abarbarea is a name attested in classical Greek and Roman sources for freshwater nymphs (naiads). The name appears for at least two individual mythic figures — a naiad wife of Bucolion and a naiad counted among ancestors of the Tyrians — and Hesychius records plural forms that may indicate the name was also used as a class-name (Abarbareai / Abarbalaiai).
Abas
Abas (Ancient Greek: Ἄβας, gen.: Ἄβαντος) is not a single mythic being but a recurring personal name borne by multiple mortals and minor mythic figures in Greek epic and genealogical traditions — kings, founders, seers, warriors, attendants, a centaur, and a youth transformed by a goddess. The name is glossed in the sources as 'guileless' or 'good-hearted' and appears across Argive, Theban, Trojan, Euboean, and other local cycles.
Abderus
Abderus (Ancient Greek: Ἄβδηρος, romanized Ábdēros) is a mortal heroic figure in Greek myth closely associated with Heracles, remembered as the youth left in charge of the Mares of Diomedes who was killed by them. He functions as an eponymous local/divine-hero ancestor for the city of Abdera and received funerary commemoration and athletic agones at his tomb.
Abellio
Abellio is a theonym attested in Roman‑period inscriptions from the Comminges area of the Pyrenees and reported as worshipped in the Garonne Valley of ancient Gallia Aquitania. Surviving evidence is limited to a small number of inscriptions; scholars have variously hypothesized solar or arboreal associations and compared the name to forms of Apollo or to Celtic Belenus, but the deity's precise role in local cosmology remains uncertain.
Abnoba
Abnoba is a Gaulish theonym and toponym attested in Roman-era sources and inscriptions: a localized deity associated with woods, springs and the sources of rivers (notably the Danube) and simultaneously the name applied to a mountain or mountain range in the Black Forest/Baar/Odenwald region. Roman altars equate her with Diana, reflecting syncretic cult practice in frontier provinces.
Abomination of Desolation
An apocalyptic prophetic phrase originating in the Book of Daniel designating a profaning thing or act that renders the Jerusalem Temple cult desolate; later reused in the Synoptic Gospels as an eschatological sign prompting urgent flight. The term denotes ritual/cultic impurity (Hebrew shiqquts) and is variously interpreted as pagan offerings or altar, a foreign cult statue, or (in some New Testament readings) an acting agent.
Aborigines (mythology)
A mytho-historical label used in Roman and general reference sources to denote the oldest inhabitants of a region (specifically central Italy in the cited Roman context). The term functions as an identity/category for original human populations rather than as a characterized supernatural being in the provided sources.
Absyrtus
Absyrtus (Ancient Greek: Ἄψυρτος) is a Colchian prince in the Greek Argonautic cycle, son of King Aeëtes and brother or half-brother of Medea. He appears in variant traditions either as a companion taken by Medea during her flight with Jason and murdered/dismembered to delay pursuit, or as a pursuer sent by Aeëtes who is overtaken and slain by Jason; his death functions as a key narrative device in the escape from Colchis.
Abundantia
Abundantia is the Roman divine personification of abundance and material plenty, used primarily in imperial propaganda and public iconography to signify secure grain supplies, wealth, and the promise of a 'Golden Age' under the emperor. She also appears in later medieval European folklore as Domina Abundia / Dame Habonde, a household benefactor in accounts condemned by ecclesiastical writers.
Community Record
- [1]Elephantis (Wikipedia). Wikipedia, 'Elephantis' article (summarizing Suetonius, Martial, Pliny, Galen and mythographic notice).wiki
- [2]Elephantis (mythology) (Wikipedia). Wikipedia, 'Elephantis (mythology)' article summarizing genealogical lists naming Elephantis as a consort/wife of Danaus and mother of Danaïdes.wiki
- [3]Wikidata: Elephantis (taxon reuse noted). Wikidata entry for 'Elephantis' (records reuse of the name as a taxonomic label; cited to note modern reuse unrelated to the human/mythic figures).other
- [4]DANAIDS - Greek Mythology Link. Maicar 'DANAIDS' genealogical listing including variant mothers of the Danaïdes and naming Elephantis among Danaus's women.other
- [5]Elephantis | Facts, Information, and Mythology (Pantheon). Pantheon (summary of literary and mythographic attestations regarding Elephantis).literary
- [6]Greek Legends and Myths: King Danaus. GreekLegendsAndMyths genealogical summary referencing the multiple wives/consorts of Danaus and listing Elephantis in variant traditions.other
- [7]Priapeia and Martial references (summarized in secondary sources). Summaries of Priapeia epigram and Martial epigram referencing 'the books of Elephantis' and their reputation for erotic content (as cited in the Wikipedia article).literary
- [8]Facts and Details: Sex in Ancient Rome (contextual background). Contextual material on Roman reception of erotic literature and how such works were referenced by Roman authors (used in the cited Wikipedia summary).other