Roman lunar goddess. Initially revered as a huntress and patron of hunters, Diana later became associated with farms and the cultivated countryside, or where civilisation meets the wilderness. Like Hekate, she had dominion over roadways, particularly three-way crossroads, thereby giving her an underworld aspect. She also oversaw fertility, childbirth, the moon and celestial realms.
Name origin: Greek daughter of Apollo and wife of Orpheus. The main myth concerning Eurydike involves her death by snake bite, and Orpheus’ subsequent attempt to bring her back from the underworld, which failed at the last moment.
Name origin: Greek – either a Nereid, or a mortal formed from a statue. Galateia was one of the fifty Nereides and the goddess of calm seas, wooed by Polyphemos with music, milk and cheese.
Name origin: Greek goddess of motherhood. Leto was one of the Titanides, a bride of Zeus, and the mother of the twins Artemis and Apollo. Alongside her children, she was a protectress of the young. Her name and iconography suggest she also represented modesty and demure womanhood.
Name origin: Greek personification of the spirit of hope. Elpis was depicted as a young woman, usually carrying flowers or a cornucopia in her hands. In Hesiod’s Works and Days, Elpis was the last item in Pandora’s box (or jar).
Name origin: Roman goddess/personification of peace and social harmony. Often associated with Pax (Peace) in assuring a stable society; probably a close match with the Greek concept of homonoia (likemindedness), which was also anthropomorphised.
Name origin: In ancient Greek myth, the first human woman. Zeus had Hephaistos and others create Pandora in order to punish Prometheus for stealing fire from the gods, as a bride for his brother Epimetheus.
Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859), a German polymath whose work pioneered or foreshadowed biogeography, modern geomagnetic and meteorological monitoring, ecology and holistic views of the universe. He also helped establish geography as an independent scientific discipline.
Greek nymph and minor goddess. Kalypso is most famed for detaining Odysseus on her island for seven years, before the gods intervened to get him released. She then aids him to leave.
Name origin: Greek goddess of the hearth (both private and municipal) and the home. Hestia presides over the cooking of bread and the preparation of the family meal. She was also the goddess of the sacrificial flame and received a share of every sacrifice to the gods.
