Name origin: Helen, Greek daughter of Zeus and Leda, wife of Menelaos and queen of Sparta, famed for her beauty, who was kidnapped by Paris of Troy following a certain incident involving a golden apple and a divine beauty competition, which act caused the Trojan War. After the Greek victory she returns to Sparta.
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.
Atalante was left to die at birth but rescued by a bear and later raised by hunters. Eventually she was reunited with her father, who insisted that she marry; she insisted she would only marry the man defeating her in a footrace, while those who lost were killed. Hippomenes won the race against her with the help of three sacred apples he received from Aphrodite.
Name origin: Greek; muse of sacred poetry, sacred hymn, dance, eloquence, rhetoric, agriculture and pantomime. Her name comes from the Greek words “poly” meaning “many” and “hymnos”, which means “praise”.
Name origin: Greek sea goddess and wife of Poseidon. He courted her in the form of a dolphin (or, in some tellings, sent a dolphin as messenger).
