List of characters in Metamorphoses

This is a list of characters in the poem Metamorphoses by Ovid.

A

*Achelous
*Achilles
*Acis
*Acmon
*Acoetes
*Actaeon is the grandson of Cadmus, and is turned into a stag by Diana.
*Adonis
*Aeacus is the king of Ageina.
*Aeëtes is the king of Colchis and father of Medea.
*Aegeus is the father of Theseus; he nearly killed his son at Medea's urging.
*Aeneas
*Aesacus
*Aesculapius
*Aeson is the father of Jason. Usurped by his brother, Pelias, he is the reason Jason travels to Colchis to get the Golden Fleece. He is rejuvenated by Medea.
*Agamemnon
*Aglaulus
*Ajax
*Alcmena
*Alcyone
*Althea
*Anaxarete
*Andromeda is the wife of Perseus.
*Anius
*Apollo
*Arachne
*Arcas
*Arethusa
*Argus
*Atalanta
*Athamas
*Atlas
*Aurora
*Autolycus

B

*Bacchus
*Battus
*Baucis (VIII.611-724)
*Boreas
*Byblis (IX.446-665)

C

*Cadmus
*Caeneus (formerly Caenis) is a great warrior, invulnerable to weapons. Born a woman, she was raped by Neptune while she walked along the shore, and Neptune later transformed her into a man at her request.
*Calchas
*Calliope
*Callisto
*Canens
*Cassandra
*Caunus
*Cecrops
*Cephalus is a prince of Athens and the husband of Procris, whom he later kills by accident.
*Ceres
*Ceyx is the son of Eosphorus and the king of Thessaly, and married to Alcyone. He died in a shipwreck.
*Chariclo
*Charybdis
*Chione
*Chiron
*Cinyras
*Cipus
*Circe
*Clymene
*Cornix is a princess attacked by Neptune; she was delivered from him by Minerva, who transformed her into a crow.
*Cupid
*Cyane
*Cybele
*Cygnus
*Cyllarus
*Cyparissus

D

*Daedalion
*Daedalus (VIII.180-262) is the father of Icarus, and also a craftsman. He constructed wings made of feathers and wax for him and his son to escape from Crete.
*Daphne (I.452-567) is a dryad who is transformed into a laurel tree to protect her from rape by Apollo.
*Deianira
*Deucalion
*Diana
*Diomedes
*Dryope

E

*Echo
*Egeria
*Erysichthon
*Europa
*Eurydice is a nymph loved by Orpheus. She is killed by a snakebite, prompting Orpheus to seek a way to bring her back to life.
*Eurytus

G

*Galanthis
*Galatea (XIII.750-68)
*Ganymede (X.152-161)
*Glaucus

H

*Hecuba is a Trojan queen, and the favorite of her husband Priam.
*Hercules
*Hermaphroditus is the son of Aphrodite and Hermes, and is merged into Salmacis, a female nymph. Whilst she clings to him in lust, she prays they never part, and this becomes literally true.
*Herse
*Hersilia is the wife of Romulus; Hora is the name of her deified form.
*Hesperia
*Hippodame
*Hippolytus
*Hippomenes
*Hyacinthus (X.162-219)
*Hylonome

I

*Ianthe (IX.789-937) is a girl betrothed to Iphis, whom she believes to be a boy.
*Icarus (VIII.180-262) is the son of Daedalus; he flew too close to the sun, which melted the wax holding together his wings, which lead to his death.
*Idmon
*Ilia, also called Rhea Sylvia, is the mother of Romulus and Remus.
*Ino
*Io is the daughter of Inachus, and is Jove's lover. She is turned into a cow.
*Iphigenia
*Iphis (IX.789-937) is the name of two characters: a Cretan girl raised as a boy, and a common shepherd boy who falls in love with a princess, Anaxarete; also the name of a Cypriot shepherd who killed himself after rejection a woman named Anaxarete (XIV.802)
*Iris is the goddess of the rainbow, and assists Juno.
*Itys
*Iulus

J

*Jason is the son of Aeson and leader of the Argonauts; he sails to Colchis, where he meets Medea.
*Juno
*Jupiter

L

*Laomedon
*Latona
*Latreus
*Lethaea
*Leucothea
*Lichas
*Lycaon
*Lycian Peasants

M

*Macareus
*Mars
*Medea (VII.1-424) is the daughter of Aeetes. She protects Jason from the tasks her father sets him, and eventually marries him. After he divorces her she goes insane, kills her old family and marries Aegeus.
*Medusa is a Gorgon, decapitated by Perseus.
*Meleager (VIII.269-525)
*Memnon
*Mercury
*Midas
*Minerva
*Minos is a king of Crete.
*Morpheus
*Myrrha
*Myscelus

N

*Narcissus (III.340-350, 415-510)
*Neptune
*Nessus
*Nestor
*Niobe
*Numa
*Numicius
*Nyctimene is the daughter of Epopeus, king of Lesbos; after her father had sexual intercourse with her, Minerva turned her into an owl.

O

*Ocyrhoe
*Olenus
*Orithyia
*Orpheus (X.1-85, XI.1-65) is a Thracian musician, renowned as the best player of the lyre. Losing his love Eurydice shortly after their marriage, he journeyed down to the underworld to retrieve her, but failed because by looking back at her while leading her out, he broke the rule imposed on him and lost her again.

P

*Paeon
*Pan
*Paris
*Peleus is the father of Achilles and king of Aegina.
*Pelias is Aeson's evil, usurping half-brother.
*Pentheus
*Perdix
*Perseus is the son of Jupiter and Danae, and slayer of the Gorgon Medusa.
*Phaedra
*Phaethon is a son of the Sun, tricks Pheobus into letting him drive his chariot, and is struck down by Jove.
*Philemon (VIII.611-724)
*Philomela (VI.424-674) is the sister of Procne; she is raped by Tereus, who also cuts out her tongue. To avenge this, Procne tricks Tereus into eating his own son.
*Phineus, uncle and formerly betrothed to Andromeda, is turned to stone by the head of Medusa after he and his friends attack Perseus.
*Phocus is the son of Aecus.
*Picus
*Pirithous
*Pluto
*Polydectes
*Polydorus
*Polymestor
*Polyphemus
*Polyxena
*Pomona
*Priam
*Procne (VI.424-674) is a daughter of Pandion, wife of Tereus, sister of Philomela, and mother of Itys—whom she feeds to Tereus after Tereus rapes Philomela.
*Procris is the wife of Cephalus; she is killed by Cephalus' hunting spear (which never misses) after he mistakes her for a boar.
*Proserpina, daughter of Ceres, is kidnapped by Pluto and eats of the pomegranate seeds while in the Underworld. She is sentenced by Jove to spend half the year with Ceres, half with Pluto.
*Pygmalion (XIII.750-68) is a sculptor who is described as a bachelor, but sculpts a beautiful woman out of ivory. He falls in love with this statue and prays to Venus to bring it to life. She does, and they have a son together, Paphos.
*Pyramus (IV)
*Pyreneus
*Pyrrha
*Pythagoras

R

*Romulus, the first king of Rome and twin to Remus; his mother is Ilia and father Mars. Quirinus is the name of his deified form.

*Saturn
*Scylla (VIII.1-151) daughter of King Nisus of Megara who from afar fell in love with Minos, king of a besieging army. Unasked, she betrayed her city to him, but he, disgusted, spurned her. She became a seabird. Also (XIV.1-74), the nymph beloved by Glaucus, spurns him. Glaucus seeks Circe's help. But Circe falls for Glaucus, and he spurns her. So Circe revenges herself on Glaucus by transforming Scylla into the monster of legend.
*Semele (III.308-312), mother of Dionysus.
*Sibyl
*Syrinx

T

*Telamon
*Tereus (VI.424-674) is a king of Thrace, husband of Procne, father of Itys; he rapes Philomela and then cuts out her tongue, and is later tricked (in revenge) into eating his son.
*Themis
*Theseus is a son of Aegeus and general hero.
*Thetis is described as a "silver-footed" nymph, and is the mother of Achilles.
*Thisbe (IV)
*Tiresias
*Tisiphone
*Triton

U

*Ulysses
*Urania

V

*Venus
*Vertumnus
*Vesta
*Virbius (also see Hippolytus) is the name of the deified form of Hippolytus, son of Theseus.
*Vulcan