Name origin: Titan goddess of falling stars, dream divination and astrology. Asteria was the mother of Hekate, goddess of witchcraft and magic, by Perses. After the fall of the Titans, Zeus (being Zeus) chased Asteria across the sky but she escaped him by transforming herself into a quail and then leaping into the sea to become the wandering island of Delos.
Name origin: Greek Naiad at Delphi who, to flee Apollo’s pursuit, threw (or transformed) herself into the sacred springs now bearing her name. The water from the springs bestowed the gifts of prophecy and poetry.
Name origin: Unknown. Agnes is a female given name derived from Greek, and meaning ‘pure’ or ‘holy’. The popularity of St. Agnes of Rome (c. 291-21 January 304) boosted wide use of the name, which became the third commonest for women in English-speaking countries for more than 400 years, peaking in the early 20th century. There are multiple variants.
Germanic goddess associated with water and wagons. Only priests were allowed to touch the cart of Nerthus, which was kept in a sacred grove on an island. When the priest found her to be present by the cart, it was drawn on procession; everywhere it went celebrations took place.
Named for Nassau Hall, the oldest building at Princeton University. In 1783, when Princeton became the U.S. provincial capital for four months, Nassau Hall served as its seat of government. Congress met in its library on the second floor. The term Old Nassau refers affectionately to the building and serves as a metonym for the university as a whole.
Name origin: The large forests that the discoverer loved to explore throughout his life; initially as a young boy in Massachusetts; then (once in Germany) around Heidelberg, as well as the Black Forest and the Odenwald. The name is Latin for ‘forest lands’.
Veritas is the name given to the Roman virtue of truthfulness, considered one of the main qualities any good Roman should possess, and the Goddess of Truth, daughter of Saturn. The Greek equivalent is Aletheia.
Name origin: The Hanseatic League, a northern continental European commercial and defensive confederation of cities. The word ‘hansa’ or ‘hanse’ means ‘convoy’ in Old German, and refers to the merchants travelling between points in the League. While the area was not generally independent, it was influential and had diplomatic privileges. Some of the Gothic architecture remains.
Name origin: Roman personification of prudence. Prudentia, whose attributes are a mirror and a snake, is frequently depicted as a pair with Justitia, the Roman goddess of Justice. The word “prudence” derives from the Latin prudentia meaning “foresight, sagacity”.
Name origin: Greek god of love. In the earliest account, Eros is a primordial god, while later he is described as one of the children of Aphrodite and Ares and, with some of his siblings, was one of the Erotes, a group of winged love gods.
