In the surviving mythographic record Polymede appears as a named human woman inserted into heroic family trees rather than as a character with an independent narrative. One attestation (as preserved in compendia of classical sources and summarized in modern reference entries) names her as daughter of Autolycus and the possible mother of Jason by Aeson of Iolcus, situating her in the Argonautic/Thessalian genealogical network. In other listings a woman named Polymede is recorded as mother of Nestor by Neleus, linking that variant to Pylian traditions. Mythographers and later compilers record these attributions alongside alternative maternal names (for Jason: Alcimede, Amphinome, Rhoeo, Theognete, Arne, Scarphe; for Nestor: Chloris), using Polymede as one of several localizing options rather than as a single authoritative origin.
Ancient sources that mention Polymede supply no physical description; she is known only by name within genealogical lists. Modern lexical glosses of the Greek form Πολυμήδη (Polymēdē) provide an etymological sense—literally 'many-thoughted' or 'very crafty'—so while no bodily traits are recorded, the name itself encodes an attribute (craft/wisdom) that would have conveyed a character impression to ancient audiences. Variant manuscript/traditional forms (Polymele, Polypheme) occur in the textual tradition.
No supernatural powers, deeds, cultic roles, or ritual associations are attributed to Polymede in the cited sources. Her sole function in the surviving materials is genealogical: as a named human mother or possible mother she provides kinship linkage for heroes (chiefly Jason and, in another variant, Nestor). Compilers such as those represented in the Apollodorean tradition list her among alternative maternal attributions rather than describing actions or behaviors.
Autolycus
Autolycus is a mythic Greek trickster-thief, son most commonly of Hermes, famed for cunning, theft, and the ability to alter the appearance of stolen goods; he is a legendary ancestor and occasional tutor within the heroic age rather than an impersonal spirit or cult deity.
Aeson
Aeson (Ancient Greek: Αἴσων) is a legendary mortal king of Iolcus in Thessaly in Greek myth, best known as the father of the hero Jason. His fate—imprisonment by his half-brother Pelias and either suicide or a miraculous restoration performed by Medea—provides the dynastic and moral background for the Argonautic cycle.
Jason
Jason (Ancient Greek: Ἰάσων, Iásōn) is a mortal hero of Greek myth, leader of the Argonauts whose quest for the Golden Fleece establishes his place in the heroic age. He is depicted as a prince of Iolcos, son of Aeson, and husband of the sorceress Medea.
Neleus
Neleus (Greek Νηλεύς) is a mythological heroic-age king of Pylos in Greek tradition, son of Poseidon and Tyro in most accounts, husband of Chloris, and father of Nestor and other sons. He appears in genealogical and foundation narratives and is notably killed by Heracles after refusing to purify him for the murder of his family.
Amphinome
Amphinome is an ancient Greek proper name attested for multiple distinct female figures in myth — chiefly a Nereid (sea-nymph) and several mortal women (including a wife of Aeson and one of the Peliades). The name is also reused in modern taxonomic and creative contexts (annelid genus, butterfly species, and contemporary fantasy), but these are later reuses rather than continuations of a single mythic being.
Chloris
Chloris (Greek Χλῶρις Chlōris) is a personal name borne by multiple female figures in Greek myth—nymphs, queenly wives, and mortal women—whose name derives from the adjective for green/pale and evokes vegetal/fresh imagery. The sources treat Chloris not as a single, uniform supernatural species but as several mythic persons appearing in different genealogies and narratives.
*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.
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.
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.
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.
Acacallis
Acacallis (Ancient Greek: Ἀκακαλλίς; also Acalle) is a mythological princess of Crete in Greek tradition, daughter of King Minos and Pasiphae. She functions primarily as a dynastic and etiological figure: in varying accounts she is mother, by gods such as Hermes (Mercury) or Apollo, of eponymous or founder-figures like Cydon (founder of Cydonia), Miletus, or Lydon/ Lydus.
Acacus
Acacus (Ancient Greek: Ἄκακος) is, in Arcadian Greek tradition, a mortal eponymous founder-king of Acacesium and is remembered as the foster-father who reared the infant Hermes (Mercury) in that local tradition. He is presented in genealogies as a son of Lycaon and functions as a local ancestral/onomastic figure rather than a supernatural spirit.
Academus
Academus (Greek: Akádemos / Hekádemos) is an Attic hero-eponym tied to a sacred grove (Akademeia) on the Cephissus near Athens. In myth he revealed where Helen was hidden to the Dioskouroi, an act said to have saved the city, and the place bearing his name became a long-lived sacred precinct, later the site of Plato's Academy.
Acamas
Acamas (Ancient Greek: Ἀκάμας) is a personal name recurrent in ancient Greek narrative traditions applied to multiple human characters (warriors, princes, suitors), once to a Cyclops, and once as a hound's name. Rather than a single supernatural entity, bearers of the name appear episodically across the Trojan War, Theseid, and Theban cycles as mortal actors whose deeds intersect with gods and fate.
Acantha
Acantha (Ancient Greek: Ἀκάνθα, 'thorn') is a late or secondary mythological figure known from modern retellings as a nymph transformed into the acanthus plant. The tale that she scratched Apollo and was changed into a spiny-leaved plant is not attested in surviving classical corpora and appears to be a modern compilation or invention rather than a firmly documented ancient myth.
Community Record
- [1]Polymede (Wikipedia). Wikipedia entry 'Polymede' summarizing classical sources and variantswiki
- [2]Wikidata: Polymede. Wikidata item indexing Polymede as daughter of Autolycusother
- [3]LP0031 Intro to the Argonauts (Archive). Excerpted Apollodoran material as presented in the Archive LP0031 'Intro to the Argonauts' referencing Aeson and Jason with Polymede as possible motherliterary
- [4]Encyclopedia of Greek Mythology: Polymede (MythWeb). Genealogical summary and listing of variants in maternal attributions for Jason and Nestorother
- [5]Theognete (Wikipedia) — variant name discussion. Reference used in variant-lists of maternal attributions for Jasonwiki
- [6]Argonauts-book: Alcimede - Jason and the Argonauts. Reference for alternate maternal attributions (Alcimede) summarized alongside Polymede in modern compendiaother