NEMEAN LION, killed by Hercules

NEMESIS, G.o.ddess of vengeance

NENNIUS, British combatant of Caesar

NEOPTOLEMUS, son of Achilles

NEPENTHE, ancient drug to cause forgetfulness of pain or distress

NEPHELE, mother of Phryxus and h.e.l.le

NEPHTHYS, Egyptian G.o.ddess

NEPTUNE, identical with Poseidon, G.o.d of the sea

NEREIDS, sea nymphs, daughters of Nereus and Doris

NEREUS, a sea G.o.d

NESSUS, a centaur killed by Hercules, whose jealous wife sent him a robe or shirt steeped in the blood of Nessus, which poisoned him

NESTOR, king of Pylos, renowned for his wisdom, justice, and knowledge of war

NIBELUNGEN h.o.a.rD, treasure seized by Siegfried from the Nibelungs, buried in the Rhine by Hagan after killing Siegfried, and lost when Hagan was killed by Kriemhild, theme of Wagner's four music dramas, "The Ring of the Nibelungen,"

NIBELUNGEN LIED, German epic, giving the same nature myth as the Norse Volsunga Saga, concerning the h.o.a.rd

NIBELUNGEN RING, Wagner's music dramas

NIBELUNGS, the, a race of Northern dwarfs

NIDHOGGE, a serpent in the lower world that lives on the dead

NIFFLEHEIM, mist world of the Nors.e.m.e.n, the Hades of absent spirits

NILE, Egyptian river

NIOBE, daughter of Tantalus, proud Queen of Thebes, whose seven sons and seven daughters were killed by Apollo and Diana, at which Amphion, her husband, killed himself, and Niobe wept until she was turned to stone

NISUS, King of Megara

NOAH, as legendary ancestor of French, Roman, German, and British peoples

NOMAN, name a.s.sumed by Ulysses

NORNS, the three Scandinavian Fates, Urdur (the past), Verdandi (the present), and Skuld (the future)

NOTHUNG, magic sword

NOTUS, southwest wind

NOX, daughter of Chaos and sister of Erebus, personification of night

Numa, second king of Rome

NYMPHS, beautiful maidens, lesser divinities of nature Dryads and Hamadryads, tree nymphs, Naiads, spring, brook, and river nymphs, Nereids, sea nymphs Oreads, mountain nymphs or hill nymphs

O

OCEa.n.u.s, a t.i.tan, ruling watery elements

OCYROE, a prophetess, daughter of Chiron

ODERIC

ODIN, chief of the Norse G.o.ds

ODYAR, famous Biscayan hero

ODYSSEUS See ULYSSES

ODYSSEY, Homer's poem, relating the wanderings of Odysseus (Ulysses) on returning from Trojan War

OEDIPUS, Theban hero, who guessed the riddle of the Sphinx (which See), becoming King of Thebes

OENEUS, King of Calydon

OENONE, nymph, married by Paris in his youth, and abandoned for Helen

OENOPION, King of Chios

OETA, Mount, scene of Hercules' death

OGIER, the Dane, one of the paladins of Charlemagne

OLIVER, companion of Orlando

OLWEN, wife of Kilwich

OLYMPIA, a small plain in Elis, where the Olympic games were celebrated

OLYMPIADS, periods between Olympic games (four years)

OLYMPIAN GAMES, See GAMES

OLYMPUS, dwelling place of the dynasty of G.o.ds of which Zeus was the head

OMPHALE, queen of Lydia, daughter of Iarda.n.u.s and wife of Tmolus