Minor Gods

Comus/Komos- god of festivity, revelry, jokes, and dalliances at night.

A son of Dionysus, he was also his cupbearer. John Milton made Circe/Kirke his mother.

He was depicted as a winged youth, usually drunk, crowned in flowers and carrying a torch, or as a satyr with donkey ears.

Socus/Sokos- rustic god of Euboea/Euboia, an island.

With Combe/Kombe, a nymph and daughter of the river god Asopus, he fathered the seven Corybantes/Korybantes- Prymneus, Mimas, Acmon, Damneus, Ocythous, Idaeus, and Melisseus, who guarded the infant Dionysus on Euboea. Melisseus was also the name of the god of honey and beekeeping and may have been the same as the Corybante, or a Titan son of Ouranos and Gaia. He was father to the nymphs Adrastea and Ida who were said to have minded the infant Zeus.


According to Nonnus, Socus expelled Combe and the Corybantes from Euboea and they sought refuge with Cecrops, who may have even killed Socus. Cecrops was king of Athens and he picked Athena to be its patron.

Thaumas- a god of the wonders of the sea.

A son of Pontus and Gaia, with his wife Electra/Elektra/Ozomene, an Okeanid, he fathered the Harpies (Okypete, Aello, Podarge, Podarce, Nicothoe, and Celaeno), Iris the goddess of the rainbow and messenger to Hera, Hydaspes a river god, and Arce/Arke, Iris' twin who was messenger to the Titans and who was stripped of her wings by Zeus and cast down into Tartarus.


He may have been overthrown by Poseidon.

Proteus- a god of the changes in the sea. Known as the 'Old Man of the Sea'.

A son of Poseidon, he was herdsman to his seals. With Psamathe, the Nereid goddess of sand and beaches, he fathered Eidothea/Idothea who was a prophetic nymph, she told Menelaus to capture her father to learn how to get home, and sons Polygonus and Telegonus who were killed by Heracles.
He was also father to Cabeiro/Kabeiro a Haliad (nymph of the sea), who was mother to the Cabeiri/Kabeiri, and Cadmilus/Kadmilos, a demigod, with Hephaestus.

He was a shapeshifter and when he was captured by people wishing to hear his prophecies they had to hold him whilst he shifted in an attempt to escape from them. Homer says when Menelaus captured him he took the forms of a lion, a serpent, a leopard, a pig, and even of water or a tree.
Aristaeus seized him on his mother's advice to learn why his bees had died, he shifted before relenting and telling Aristaeus how to protect his bees.

He predicted that Thetis would bear a child greater than its father and for this reason she was wed to Peleus. Achilles was born to them and was indeed greater than Peleus.

He was sometimes called a king of Egypt.

Triton- a sea god, he was the son of Poseidon and Amphitrite and messenger to Poseidon.

He was father to Calliste/Kalliste, a Haliad given to the Argonaut Euphemos as a lump of earth that became an island when washed overboard, Triteia, a Haliad and priestess to Athena who had a son, Melanippos, with Ares, Pallas, a nymph who was friends with Athena and accidentally killed by her, and the Tritonides, nymphs who were handmaidens to Galateia, the Nereid loved by the Cyclopes Polyphemos.
Sometimes he was father to Scylla, with Lamia, but sometimes she was a daughter of Phorcys and Ceto. Scylla was a naiad or nymph desired by Poseidon or Glaucus and cursed by waters poisoned by a jealous Amphitrite or Circe, which turned her into a monster with tentacle legs and dog heads at her waist. Lamia was a queen of Libya cursed by Hera into devouring her children and to never being able to close her eyes, Zeus gave her the ability to remove her eyes. She then became a devourer of children, and was sometimes thought to have the lower body of a serpent.
He may have been a foster father to Athena.

He could still the waves by blowing a conch shell. The sound could also make giants flee.

When the Argonauts were lost in a river or lake he guided them back to the sea.

He was depicted as a merman, sometimes bearded, usually handsome, and with a trident.

Carmanor/Karmanor- a demigod of the harvest and consort to Demeter. With Demeter he had a son, Eubuleus/Euboleus, demigod of swine, ploughing and planting seeds, and two daughters, Khrysothemis/Chrysothemis, demigoddess of the harvest who had daughters with Apollo, Molpadia and Parthenos and Rhoio, and Acacallis/Akakallis, a nymph with whom Apollo had two sons, Phylacides and Phylander.

He purified Apollo after he killed Pytho/Pytho, the dragon that had chased his mother Leto when she was pregnant, and it was said that is how Apollo met Carmanor's daughters.

He may simply have been another version of Iasion/Iasus/Eetion, a son of Zeus and the Titaness of day Hemera, or the Pleiad, Electra, or the Italian king Corythus, and Electra. He lay with Demeter and with her had the twins Ploutos and Phiolmelus, and a son Korybas and possibly a son, Bootes. They had intercourse during Cadmus and Harmonia's wedding and seeing the mud on Demeter's back, a jealous Zeus guessed what had happened and killed Iasion with a thunderbolt.

Eubuleus/Euboleus/Eubolos/Euboulos/Eubouleos- a demigod of ploughing, sacred swine and planting seeds, son of Demeter and Carmanor, or Trokhilos/Trochilus, demigod of the mill-wheel, and Eleusis, demigoddess of of Eleusis who attended Demeter, or Dysaules, demigod of the sacred field of Rharos, and son of Gaia.

His brother was Triptolemus demigod of farming, milling and the Eleusian Mysteries.

His daughter was Carme/Karme, a demigoddess of the harvest who attended Demeter, who became mother to Britomartis with Zeus. Britomartis was a virgin huntress who escaped Minos by jumping into nets held by sailors.

Eubuleus was depicted as a long haired torch bearer like his half-sibling Iacchus, a son of Demeter and Zeus.

In myth he was tending to his swine near Persephone and when she abducted his swine were taken with her.

Triptolemus- a demigod of farming, milling and the Eleusian Mysteries. Son of Trokhilos/Trochilus and Eleusis, or Dysaules, or Okeanos and Gaia, or King Celeus/Keleus of Eleusis and his wife Metanira/Meganeira.

When Demeter was wandering the earth looking for Persephone she found hospitality with King Celeus when she took the guise of an old woman, Doso. Celeus asked her to mind his youngest son Demophon, and in thanks for the hospitality Demeter started to make Demophon immortal by bathing him in fire each night. When Metanira walked in on Demeter doing this she screamed and the ritual was ruined, and in some versions Demophon was killed. So Demeter chose to gift Celeus' other son, Triptolemus, instead. She taught him how to grow and rear crops and he passed these gifts on to the rest of Greece whilst travelling in a winged chariot gifted to him by Demeter.

When he tried to teach King Lyncus of the Scythians the king refused to learn and tried to kill him and was turned into a lynx by Demeter.

With his father Celeus; King Diocles/Diokles of Megara, who was overthrown by Theseus resulting in Eleusis independence from Megara; Eumolpus, son of Poseidon and Chione, goddess of snow and daughter of Boreas, who fled Thrace to Eleusis after it was discovered he had plans to overthrow the Thracian king Tegyrios, and Polyxenus, he was he one of the first priests of Demeter.

He was depicted as young with a branch or diadem in his hair and grain, wheat and barley were all sacred to him. He was frequently shown in his chariot, which was winged and pulled by serpents.

Plutus/Ploutos- a god of wealth and son to Demeter and Iasion, or to Tyche/Tykhe, the goddess of fortune and chance, daughter of Zeus, or Prometheus, or Okeanos and Tethys, and possibly a companion of Persephone.

His twin was Philomelus, and Korybas may have been another brother.

Zeus blinded him so he would distribute wealth fairly and without favour.

He was depicted as young and bearing a cornucopia, and also sometimes lame and/or winged. As an infant he was shown in the arms of Tyche or Eirene/Irene a goddess of peace and spring of one of the three Horae/Horai.

Philomelus/Bootes- demigod of ploughs and the wagon, son of Iasion and Demeter, twin to Ploutos, and brother to Korybas.

His brother Ploutos was wealthy but would not share his fortune so out of necessity, Philomelus attached two oxen to a cart and thus invented the plough. He then supported himself in this fashion, and was turned into the constellation Bootes, the ploughman, by Demeter as she was so impressed by this.

He had a son, Parias, founder of the town Parion.

Palaemon/Melicertes/Palaimon/Melecertes- Originally a mortal known as Melicertes, he was the son of Ino and Athamas, grandson of the Greek hero Cadmus/Kadmus and the goddess Harmonia. When Athamas was driven mad by Hera for fostering Dionysus, he pursued Ino forcing her to jump off a cliff with the infant Melicertes in her arms. The gods took pity on them and turned them both into marine gods- the goddess Leucothea, and the god Palaemon.

Alternatively, Melicertes was killed and his body was taken to shore by dolphins and found by his uncle Sisyphus he had it carried to Corinth and deified, and under the command of the Nereids he held the Isthmian Games in Palaemon's honour. 

He was invoked along with his mother to help those in distress at sea.

Depicted as a boy riding a dolphin or a boy with a fish tail.

His Roman counterpart was Portunes/Portumnes/Portunus, a god of keys, doors and livestock, a guardian of warehouses and a god of ports and harbors. He was linked to the god of doors, beginnings, passages and time Janus and like him was depicted as a god with two heads facing in opposite directions.

Hecaterus/Hekateros- a god of the rustic dance involving fast moving hands known as the hekateris. He had five daughters known as the Hecaterides/Hekaterides, and five sons called the Daktyloi/Dactys. He was grandfather to the Kuretes, Oread Nymphs and the Satyrs.

His wife is sometimes given as Anchiale/Ankhiale, possibly a Titan of the warmth of fire, and either a daughter of the Titan Iapetus/Japetus and sister to the Titans Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Menoetius. Alternatively, she was a daughter of Phoroneus, a primordial king of Argos who taught people how to use fire. She was sometimes said to be a mother to Cydnos/Kydnos as well.

Other Gods- Mithras

Mithra/Mitra/Mithras- a Zoroastrian god, Zoroastrianism was a religion founded by Zoroaster/ Zarathustra, a Persian. Mithra was adopted by both the Greeks and Romans, he was a god of Asha/Truth, Aban/Apas/The Waters, law, the harvest and cattle. He may have also been a sun god.

Sometimes his mother was said to be Anahita, the goddess of water, fertility, healing and wisdom. Sometimes she was his consort instead.

He was a member of the ahuric triad with Ahura Mazda, the highest deity, a god of light and wisdom, and Burz/Ahura Berezant/Apam Napat, the deity of water, making him an important deity. He helped Ahura Mazda battle evil. Sometimes Burz was replaced with Anahita.

With Rashnu, the god of justice, and Sraosha the deity of obedience and observance, he was a judge who passed judgement on people after death, they did this on the Chinvat Bridge, the bridge between the living and the dead.

In Zoroastrian scripture he was described as, "Mithra of wide pastures, of the thousand ears, and of the myriad eyes."
The Khordeh Avesta, a book of prayer, said about him, 'Who has a thousand ears, the well-shaped one, Who has ten thousand eyes, the exalted one, Who has wide knowledge, the helpful one, Who sleeps not, the ever wakeful. We sacrifice to Mithra, The lord of all countries, Whom Ahura Mazda created the most glorious.'

The Greeks called him Mithras and the Romans created the Mithraic mysteries/Mithraism, a mystery religion practised to him.

The Romans showed him being born from a rock, killing a bull and banqueting with Sol. He was born from the rock fully grown, wearing only a Phrygian cap and carrying a dagger in one hand and a torch in the other. Sometimes he carried a globe and sometimes there were flames coming from the rock and/or his cap. Sometimes Saturn was present to give Mithras his dagger.
The bull killing was known as tauroctony, and may have been purely Roman in origin, sometimes the bull's tail was depicted as an ear of wheat as was his blood, occasionally the blood was also shown as grapes. Sometimes in imagery there would be a dog and serpent reaching for the bull's wound and a scorpion reaching for its genitals. Some also had a bird, a chalice and/or a lion. Beings called Cautes and Cautopates were also present, Cautes holding a raised torch and Cautopates a lowered one. They were dressed the same as Mithras but shown as smaller than him. Usually Sol or Sol and Luna would be looking down at his deed. Often Mithras would be depicted as looking up at Sol. It is thought that by slaying the bull he brought life to the world. He was thought to have ridden the bull before killing it.
After killing the bull Mithras ate it with Sol, with the torchbearers present, one holding a caduceus.
He was also depicted ascending behind Sol in his chariot and shaking hands with him.

The myth of the bull could be connected to the myth of Gavaevodata, the primordial bovine of dual gender, one of six primordial creations of Ahura Mazda. Killed by Angra Mainyu, from its body came animal life and plants. Its soul, Goshorun, became the soul of all livestock. Angra Mainyu was an evil spirit, the creator of demons, created by Ahura Mazda. Mithras may have substituted for him in the killing of the life giving bull tale.

Sometimes he was linked to Phanes, hatching from a cosmic egg in his place. He was also known as Sol Invictus (the unconquered sun)

He was depicted as young, in a tunic, with boots and breeches,a Phrygian cap and sometimes a cloak, usually with a dagger in hand. He was sometimes shown in a gold chariot pulled by white horses.

Other Gods- Anemi

Anemi/Anemoi- were the Greek gods of winds, Boreas was the north wind who brought cold air in winter, Notos/Notus was the south wind who brought storms in late summer and autumn, Zephyrus/Zephyros was the west wind linked to spring and early summer, and Eurus/Euros was the east wind.

They were the children of Astraeus/Astraios the titan of the stars and planets, and Eos the titaness of the dawn. Their sister was the virgin goddess of justice Astraea/Astraia. They were linked to the more violent sons of Typhon, the storm winds Anemi/Anemoi Thuelli and sometimes confused with them, they were said to be held captive by Aeolus/Aiolos/Hippotades. It's possible Aeolus had the Anemi captive as well, along with the Harpies/Harpyiai/Aellai. Aeolus was known as the king of the winds, his name Hippotades means 'reiner of horses', it comes from the winds being depicted as horses. Three Aeolus crop up in Greek myth and are usually confused as the same, one was a son of Hellene, one a son of Poseidon and the other a son of Hippotes with the nymph Melanippe/Ocyrrhoe/Okyrrhoe, a daughter of the centaur Chiron/Kheiron. He gave Odysseus the winds in a bag and Odysseus' crew unleashed them thinking he held treasure in the bag.

The winds were depicted as winged or horse like in form.

Boreas/Boreais/Boriais/Borras- god of the north wind and winter, was depicted as old, bearded and winged, wearing a cloak and holding a conch shell. Usually his feet are winged though Pausanias said he had snakes for feet.
He abducted and married Orithyia/Oreithyia an Athenian princess, the daughter of King Erechtheus, her sisters were Procris who was accidentally slain by her husband Cephalus, Creusa who had Ion with Apollo and Cephalus with Hermes, Chthonia who was sacrificed by Erechtheus as a prophecy told him he would win a battle if he did, and Protogeneia and Pandora who killed themselves after Chthonia's death as the three had made a pact to commit suicide if one of them died. Boreas abducted Orithyia when he failed to woo her, he took her when she was playing with her friends by a river and raped her. With her he had two daughters, Chione/Khione the goddess of snow, and Cleopatra/Kleopatra, wife to the Thracian king Phineus, and two sons, the Boreads Calais and Zetes/Zethes who joined the Argonauts and chased the Harpies from the seer Phineas/Phineus. Orithyia became a goddess of the cold mountain winds.
He fathered the Hippoi Troiades, twelve immortal horses owned by King Laomedon of Troy. He had them with King Erikhthonios/Erichthonius' mares, he was an Athenian king born from Hephaestus attempt to rape Athena. Laomedon promised them to Heracles in exchange for him saving his daughter Hesione from the sea monster Cetus, sent by Poseidon, but when Heracles did this Laomedon refused to part with the horses.
He fathered Ares' four horses Aithon/Aethon, Phlogios/Phlogeus, Konabos/Conabus and Phobos/Phobus, they could breathe fire and were immortal.
He fathered the immortal horses Xanthos/Xanthus and Podarkes/Podarces with the Harpy Aello and gave them to King Erechtheus as he had taken his daughter Orithyia from him.
The three nymphs Hecaerge/Hekaerge, Loxo and Oupis/Upis who lived in Hyperborea and attended Artemis were said to be his daughters. Alternate names for them were Arge, Achaeia/Akhaeia, Hyperoche/Hyperokhe and Laodice/Laodike.
With his daughter Chione he fathered the three Hyperborean Giants/Boreades, they were rulers in Hyperborea and priests of Apollo.
Sometimes the breeze nymphs the Aurae/Aurai/Aetai/Aetae/Pnoiai/Pnoeae are his daughters but in other accounts they are the daughters of Okeanos.
Sometimes he was said to have rescued Leto from Python, the monster Hera sent to pursue her while she was pregnant.
He had a contest with Helios to see who could make a man strip first, Boreas tried to blow his clothes off and failed but Helios made him sweat and strip as a result.
The land Hyperborea/Hyperboria was said to be beyond him as it was north of Thrace where he lived, as a result it was never cold.

His Roman counterpart was Aquilo/Aquilon/Septentrio. Another name for him was Aparctias.

Notos/Notus-god of the south wind and late summer/early autumn. He was feared as a destroyer of crops.

His Roman counterpart was Auster who brought heavy clouds and fog.

Eurus/Euros- god of the east wind and autumn, he lived near Helios. He brought warmth and rain.

His Roman counterpart was Vulturnus.

Zephyrus/Zephyros/Zephyr- god of the west wind and spring. He lived in a cave in Thrace.
He was married to Chloris, who he abducted, a goddess of flowers who lived on the Isles of the Blessed. Some sources say he competed with Boreas for her. Together they had a son, Karpos/Carpus. Karpos loved Kalamos, son of the river god Maiandros. They had a swimming contest and Karpos drowned, Kalamos then drowned in his grief and was transformed into a water reed.
Sometimes his wife was Iris, the goddess of the rainbow and his sister. With her he was father to Eros, the god of love, usually seen as a child of Aphrodite and Ares or Ouranos and Gaia, and Pothos/Pothus, the god of sexuality and desire and one of the Erotes, who was sometimes seen as a son of Aphrodite's.
With the Harpy Podarge he was father to Balius/Balios and Xanthos, two immortal horses Poseidon gave to Peleus when he married Thetis. They pulled Achilles' chariot during the Trojan War.

He loved Hyacinth who was also loved by Apollo, jealous of their love Zephyrus blew Apollo's discus into Hyacinth resulting in the youth's death. Apollo turned him into the hyacinth flower.

When Psyche was abandoned on a mountain by her parents when an oracle instructed them to after no one would marry her, Zephyrus carried her away to Eros/Cupid's palace. He took her back to her sisters at Eros' request and then brought them back to his palace during the day. After Psyche loses Eros' love because of her sisters she tricks them into thinking he wants them for a wife and has them go to a top of a mountain and jump of but instead of catching them, Zephyrus lets them fall to their deaths.

His Roman counterpart was Favonius, also a god of plants and flowers.



The Anemoi Thuelli were the wicked offspring of Typhon and the ones imprisoned by Aeolus. They were:
Kaikias, the northeast wind who was depicted as a bearded man with a shield of hailstones, the Romans called him Caecius.
Apeliotes/Apeliotus, the southeast wind, depicted as curly haired, friendly, wearing boots and carrying fruit and wearing a cloth to conceal flowers or grain, his Roman counterpart was Subsolanus or Phoenicias.
Skeiron/Skiron, the northwest wind, depicted as an bearded man tilting a cauldron, his Roman counterpart was Caurus/Corus or Argestes or Iapyx or Meses or Olympias.
Lips, the southwest wind, depicted at the stern of a ship, his Roman counterpart was Afer ventus/Africus.

Circius/Thrascius was the north northwest wind.
Euronotus was the south southeast wind between Euros and Notos.
Libonotus was the south southwest wind.

        

Other Gods- Asclepius

Asclepius/Asklepios- the god of medicine and healing.

A son of Apollo and Coronis/Koronis, a princess of the Lapiths who cheated on Apollo with Ischys/Alcyoneus/Lycus. A raven reported the news of the affair to Apollo who turned the bird's feathers from white to black in anger before sending Artemis to kill Coronis. Apollo commanded Hermes to rescue the unborn Asclepius from his mother's womb while she on her funeral pyre and to give him to Chiron to raise.
In another version of the tale Coronis birthed him and exposed him in the wilderness where he was suckled by a goat and guarded by a dog until the shepherd Aresthanas found him.
Sometimes Arsinoe, daughter of Leucippus/Leukippos is said to be his mother, her sisters Phoebe and
Hilaeira (the Leucippides) were abducted by Castor and Pollux to be their brides.

He married Epion, goddess of soothing pain and with her had daughters, Hygieia/Hygiea/Hygeia, goddess of health, cleanliness and sanitation, Panacea/Panakeia, a goddess of remedy and cures, Aceso/Akeso, goddess of healing, Iaso/Ieso, goddess of recuperation, Aegle/Aigle, goddess of good health and sons, Machaon/Makhaon, a surgeon and medic who led an army from Thessaly during the Trojan War with his brother Podalirius, he was wounded by Paris and killed by Eurpylus, Podalirius/Podaleirius, healed Philoctetes, hid in the Trojan Horse, survived the war and married a princess, Syrna, and Telesphorus/Telesphoros, a dwarf wearing a hood or a cap who was usually in the company of Hygieia, he was linked to recovery from illness.
He had a son, Aratus/Aratos, with Aristodama.

He may have recieved his healing from Athen who gifted him with blood from the Gorgon, the blood flowing from the right side of her body had the power to raise the dead.

He sometimes substitutes for Polyeidos/Polyidus, a seer in the myth of Glaucus. Glaucus was a son of Minos who disappeared chasing a mouse, the Curetes told Minos that whoever could find a marvelous creature born amongst them would find a child, Polyidus found a calf that changed from white to red to black during the day. He then found Glaucus, who had died after falling into a cask of honey, Minos imprisoned Polyidus ordering him to resurrect the boy. A snake came to Polyidus in the cellar and he killed with a sword, he then observed the snake's mate resurrecting it with a herb, he found this herb and brought back Glaucus with it.

He joined the hunt for the Calydonian Boar and was an Argonaut.

He was persuaded to resurrect Hippolytus, son of Theseus, by Artemis or Poseidon or for coin. Hippolytus had been killed by a sea monster or bull sent by Poseidon or Dionysus that frightened his horses who pulled him to his death. This was because Theseus had asked Poseidon to curse him because his wife Phaedra had falsely claimed that Hippolytus had raped her when in truth he had simply resisted his advances. Asclepius resurrected him and was struck down by Zeus, either for bringing back the dead, for taking coin for bringing back the dead or because Hades asked it to be done as he considered the dead being taken from the the Underworld to be an insult.
In outrage, Apollo killed the Cyclopes that had created Zeus' lightning bolts and Zeus made him served King Admetus as punishment.
At Apollo's request Zeus placed Asclepius in the stars as the constellation Opiuchus. Alternatively he became a god, granted godhood by Zeus to prevent further quarreling with Apollo.

He is depicted as a young bearded man carrying a staff with a snake entwined about it.

The Aesculapian Snake is named for him, these are non-venomous snakes that were used in healing rituals and allowed to roam freely in temples to the god amongst the ill.

He was linked to the god Paena/Paeëon/Paeon, a physician to the gods initially he was his own individual before being another name for Apollo or Asclepius. He healed Ares when he was wounded by Diomedes during the Trojan War and healed Hades when Heracles shot him with an arrow.

He had no Roman counterpart

Other Gods- Aristaeus

Aristaeus/Aristaios- god of bee keeping, honey, shepherds, cattle, fruit trees, husbandry and pastures.

He was the son of Apollo and Cyrene/Kyrene, either a daughter of King Hypseus of the Lapiths, or of the river god Peneus. Apollo abducted her when he saw her wrestling a lion or tending sheep and took her to North Africa where he found a city in her name. She gave birth to Aristaeus and Idmon, an Argonaut who was a seer, and sometimes said to be son to Asteria, daughter of Coronus.

Rarely he was said to be a son of Carystus/Karystos/Karustos a rustic god who was son of the centaur Chiron and the nymph Chariclo/Khariclo.

He was either taken by Apollo and given to Chiron to raise or he was taken by Hermes, given to the Horai and Gaia, raised on nectar and ambrosia and made immortal by Gaia.

The nymphs taught him how to curdle milk into cheese, how to tame bees and how to cultivate olive trees. The Muses taught him healing and prophecy, had him tend their flocks and found him a bride. He passed on his talents to humanity.

He was married to Cadmus/Kadmus and Harmonia's daughter Autonoë and with her had a son, Actaeon/Aktaion and a daughter, Macris. Actaeon was a hunter who spied Artemis bathing when he was hunting, as punishment she turned him into a deer and his own hounds tore him apart. In grief, Autonoe left her home in Thebes for Ereneia, where she died, and Aristaeus went to Ceos. Macris gave the newborn Dionysus honey when Hermes delivered him to her and as a result Hera exiled her. She fled to a small island and was helped by Demeter, who taught the residents how to grow cereal grain.

He also had the sons Kharmos and Kallikarpos.

Pherecydes says he was father to Hecate, though she is more popularly said to be the daughter of the Titans Perses and Asteria.

It was the Delphic oracle that advised Aristaeus to go to the island of Ceos, there the people were suffering from a sickness caused by the early rising of the dog star Sirius. Aristaeus ended it by sacrificing to Zeus or by discovering that the murderers of Icarius/Ikarios were amongst them and bringing them to justice. This was probably the same Icarius who was given wine by Dionysus in thanks for his hospitality only to be killed by shepherds he shared the wine with who thought he had poisoned them when they became drunk.

When his bees died his mother advised him to capture Proteus to find out how to restore them. He did so and the god told him to kill a bullock and inter its carcass. Alternatively this advice came from Arethusa, a Nereid.

Sometimes he was said to be foster father to Dionysus. He competed with Dionysus over whether honey or wine was better, the Olympians judged that wine was better. He fought the Indians with Dionysus.

Sometimes Eurydice was said to have been fleeing him rather than a satyr when she was bitten by a poisonous snake.

He seems to have been depicted as young, a bearded shepherd wearing a laurel wreath. He has no Roman counterpart.

Other Gods- Silenus

Silenus/Seilenos- god of drunkenness, wine, folklore, rustic life. The teacher, foster father and companion of Dionysus.

The son of Gaia, Hermes, Pan or some unknown nymph.

He may have been father to the Sileni, drunken followers of Dionysus, depicted as bald and fat with thick lips and flat noses. They were named Maron/Maro, Leneus and Astraeus/Astraios. Maron was Dionysus' charioteer and a priest of Apollo, he was also sometimes said to be a son of Dionysus, Euanthes or Oenopion.
With the Naiad Melia he had sons Dolion and Pholus/Pholos a centaur who entertained Heracles by offering him wine and died when the smell of the wine brought other centaurs and he was accidentally shot by one of Heracles' poisoned arrows.
Another nymph, the Naiad/Okeanid Nais is said to be his wife.

When drunk he could be prophetic and in one tale King Midas had his servants seize him when he was unconscious after drinking so that he could hear a prophecy. Silenus told him it was better for man to not be born and if he was to die as soon as possible. In another version of the tale Silenus was drunk and lost in Phrygia and either found by peasants and taken to Midas or found by Midas himself. Midas treated him hospitably. Dionysus rewarded Midas by offering him whatever he wanted and he asked to be able to turn everything he touched to gold. When he found he could not eat he begged Dionysus to reverse the gift, Dionysus did this by instructing him to wash his hands in a river.

He was depicted as an old man with the tail, legs and ears of a horse, though later he was depicted with human legs, and rarely he was shown with horns. Usually he was being supported by satyrs or on a donkey.

His Roman counterpart is sometimes considered to be Silvanus though he was more popularly viewed as Pan's Roman counterpart.

Other Gods- Priapus

Priapus/Priapos- Usually described as the son of Dionysus and Aphrodite, sometimes the son of Dionysus and Chione/Khione, or a son of Zeus, Pan, Hermes or Adonis with Aphrodite. He was cursed in Aphrodite's womb by Hera in vegeance for Paris picking Aphrodite as the most beautiful goddess over Hera and Athena. As a result of the curse he was born ugly, foul minded and with a large erection (this is why he is thought to be the son of Hermes or Dionysus as both were phallic gods).

He is a rustic god of fertility who protects livestock, fruit plants, bees, gardens and sailors. He was said to be cast down from Olympus because of his ugly appearance and found and raised by shepherds.

He desired the nymph Lotis, daughter of Poseidon or Nereus, and tried to rape her in her sleep. A donkey brayed awakening the nymph and giving her a chance to escape. Everyone else nearby as well awoke and Priapus was humiliated. He continued to desire her so the gods turned her into a lotus tree out of pity. The nymph Dryope, raped by Apollo, plucked from this tree as she wanted the blossoms for her son and was turned into a black poplar for the offence. Priapus then killed the donkey.
Ovid tells another version of this tale, substituting Lotis for the goddess Hestia.

He was depicted a short with a huge penis and usually wearing a Phrygian cap and boots, holding a thyrsus like Dionysus or a caduceus like Hermes. The donkey, fish and bees were his sacred animals and fruit and flowers in general were also sacred to him.

His Roman counterpart was Mutunus Tutunus/ Mutinus Titinus, a phallic god of marriage. Usually depicted as just a phallus, on a coin he was shown as old, bearded and wearing a winged diadem.