The Return of Heracles

INTRODUCTION
The Return of Heracles translates the world of Greek mythology into
modern electronics. Each player takes on the role of one or more
ancient Greek heroes, a heroine, or even a winged horse. (These heroic
characters are referred to generically as heroes, which is not meant
to imply that they are necessarily male.) The heroes travel through
the world of mythic Greece, earning fame and fortune, sharpening their
skills, fighting strange beasts, and trying to satisfy the demands of
Zeus, powerful father of heaven. A single player may control many
heroes, who work together as a team. Additional heroes will be
encountered during the game, and may be added to a party at any time.
But be forewarned that a dead hero may not be reincarnated, that there
are a limited number of heroes available, and that Zeus is not an easy
taskmaster.

May the gods favor you!

OPTIONS
When you insert the Return of Heracles disk, a map of Greece appears.
You are given the choice of starting a game or changing options. The
standard game assumes you want to view the map of Greece and the
playing instructions, start a new game, and control your characters
using a joystick. Changing the options permits you to skip the
instructions, continue playing a saved game, or use the keyboard to
control your characters. If you use the keyboard to move characters
and select options, pressing a single key will relay your
instructions; you need not press CTRL or RETURN. Pressing the space
bar is the same as pressing a joystick button. (Refer to the Age of
Adventure Reference Card for further details on input devices for your
computer.)

Moving your character
A display at the bottom of the screen invites each hero to Move or
select another option. The hero moves through his world as you move
the joystick or press the appropriate keys. (See the section on
"Movement" for more information.)

The game's "camera" follows the currently active player into whatever
room or map area they may visit. Thus if Ajax and Heracles are in a
room and Ajax exits onto one of the sections of the Map of Greece, the
computer will show the map with Ajax on it. When it becomes Heracles'
turn, the "camera" will return to the room where Heracles remains so
as to follow him. This allows heroes, or groups of heroes, to "split
up" so as to attempt to perform two or more of Zeus' tasks in
parallel.

The displays showing heroes are of two types:

1) Maps, which are titled "Northern Greece," etc., show the outline of
the appropriate portion of Greece with symbols showing specific
locations where heroes may seek adventure (See map, back cover) Some
portions of Greece can only be reached by going through (i.e. landing
on top of) these location symbols and surviving the perils within.

2) Specific locations, such as the temples marked on the maps, where
you can seek information and advice. Sometimes a location contains
still more locations within it: a temple within which there is a
secret chamber.

If you choose not to move your hero, press the joystick button or the
space bar to display his other options. A wounded hero who is not
involved in a fight may Rest to restore his vigor; this option can
only be selected before the hero moves. When the hero moves as far as
his speed permits (see "Movement" for details on speed) or you select
the Stop option, his turn ends.

Attacking and Defending
Your hero can make himself a harder target for enemies to hit by
choosing to Defend himself; this option is only available to a hero
before he has moved more than half of his speed.

The Attack option may only be selected when the hero is close to an
enemy, has an appropriate weapon, and has not moved over half of his
speed. If there is a choice of enemies, you must select which foe to
attack. A neighboring enemy cannot be attacked while your hero is
wrestling with another opponent.

Checking your status
You may Know Thyself at any time during your hero's turn. A full
verbal and numeric description of the hero's status is displayed.
Strength affects the hero's ability to push open doors, tackle
enemies, resist being tackled, fight in close combat with a dagger,
and carry heavy loads of drachmae. Vigor is the hero's ability to
survive damage; this quality rarely exceeds his strength. A hero with
a vigor level of less than 3 falls unconscious and can only rest
(vigor is restored primarily by resting). A hero dies when his vigor
falls to 0. Dexterity affects the hero's likelihood of hitting an
enemy and his chances of getting his turn before other heroes. Speed
determines how far the hero can move in one turn. The hero's weapons
may be poisoned and he may be especially skilled in using one or both
of his weapons. Weapons vary in power and quality of workmanship.

Adding and deleting characters
The Add Player option permits you to call on the aid of additional
heroes. You may choose the keyboard or any joystick plugged into your
computer to control a new hero.

Each character you add to the game will appear in a predetermined
location. Unlike Ali Baba, will only you may decide to add them to the
current room, you must bring all the heroes to a single spot in order
to unite them into a coordinated party. This means learning where the
various locations are in Greece (See map, back cover) so you can
select an easy rendezvous point. Thus, if you have three heroes, they
may all start in different locations. Each will have to fight his or
her way to the rendezvous point. Once together, they'll travel as a
group.

If you wish to relinquish control of one of your heroes, you may
choose to have him Desert. You must confirm this drastic choice. A
deserting hero remains in play, acting on his own with no human
control, until he escapes from the currently displayed room or map
area.

Changing display speeds
The Change Monster Speed option allows you to force the beings not
controlled by players to move faster or slower. This does not change
their strategy or the play of the game; it means only that you can
play a faster game of Return of Heracles. Similarly, Change Message
Speed does not affect the strategic play of the game, but enables you
to play more rapidly or slowly by having messages appear/disappear at
a different rate.

Dropping armor or gold
Wearing armor usually reduces your hero's dexterity. Drop Armor if you
want to increase your hero's dexterity before he moves but remember
this increases the likelihood of being injured when an enemy attacks.
Your hero may not pick up armor that has been discarded.

Large sums of drachmae slow your hero and may immobilize him. To
restore his speed, Drop Gold. Any amount may be discarded and is
usually preserved (less a few lost drachmae) on the spot. Dropping
gold and permitting someone else to pick it up allows money to be
transferred from one hero to another. If you drop some gold and then
move away from a dangerous enemy, the enemy may stop to pick up the
loot instead of attacking your hero, giving him another turn in which
to escape. The Drop Gold option must be selected before the hero
moves.

Saving and resuming games
Each time a hero gets his turn, you may choose Save Game before the
hero moves. (You may continue to play the game after saving it.)
Return of Heracles does not save games on its own disk, so you must
provide a floppy disk on which to save the game; the disk need not be
formatted. Be sure the disk you provide has no information on it you
wish to keep, as Return of Heracles may destroy any information
already on the disk. Up to nine games in progress may be saved; use
additional disks to save still more games. When you select this
option, carefully follow the instructions on the screen. To resume a
saved game, insert the Return of Heracles diskette and follow the
directions on the Options screen.

ORACLES
The Oracle of Zeus (See map, back cover) is the only place to discover
the goals of Return of Heracles. Heroes must travel to the oracle and
approach the sacred oak tree of Zeus, whereupon one of the twelve
tasks is revealed. Zeus gives little information on how to accomplish
the tasks but the Oracle of Delphi can be helpful. Heroes may consult
the Delphic oracle at any time; be advised that her clues are more
useful and less obscure when your hero contributes generously to her
priests. The oracle gives advice on the currently assigned task of
Zeus whenever possible. Otherwise, she may give advice on unrevealed
and unaccomplished missions. If your heroes find a task too
challenging, they may return to the Oracle of Zeus for a different
mission, risking the wrath of Zeus but not death for such cowardice.
Once the assigned task is performed, Zeus bestows another.

MOVEMENT
A hero's speed determines how many spaces he may run in a single turn
over unobstructed terrain. In a given turn, movement may be restricted
by the presence of enemies on or near a hero's spot, or by moving
through doors or running into objects. Movement is slowed if a hero is
carrying heavy loads of drachmae. A hero moving half or less of his
adjusted speed may choose to attack (if appropriate) or defend. A
defending hero is harder to hit than an attacking one. The effect of
leaping onto a neighboring enemy depends mainly on a hero's strength.
Persistence pays off. Many objects are activated by moving onto them,
particularly doors and stores. The nature of unknown objects is
usually revealed by attempting to move onto them.

BATTLE
A hero always uses his sword to attack a neighboring enemy, and his
dagger or bare hands to wrestle with a enemy when they share the same
spot. When the hero hits his foe, his strike force equals, on the
average, his weapon power (as given in the Know Thyself option).

Some hits are critical, slipping past the armor of a protected foe or
doing up to 10 additional points of damage to an unarmored enemy. The
force of a blow is reduced by the foe's armor rating. If an attack
succeeds in piercing the foe's armor and the hero's weapon is
poisoned, it inflicts up to 8 additional points of damage.

To fight in hand-to-hand combat, your hero must move onto the
opponents space. This is easy to do when the foe is already wrestling,
resting, or unconscious. Your hero has a 50% chance of tackling one or
more standing foes whose combined strength equals his own.

TRADING
When a hero moves onto a store or trading outpost, he can exchange
money for goods or services. Most places offer either weapons or
armor. Each hero may carry one piece of armor, a sword, and a dagger.
New weapons or armor replace older ones. A hero skilled in the use of
a particular weapon may have to retrain himself in the use of a more
powerful weapon. Weapons vary in workmanship as well as in power. A
cheap weapon breaks in combat more often, while a fine weapon has a
much lower chance of shattering when it strikes a foe.

Some stores specialize in enchanting or poisoning weapons and armor.
Enchanting a weapon or armor never decreases a hero's dexterity or
special training, but it is often quite expensive. Poison is less
expensive but its effects are not lasting (poison wears off one out of
three times that a blow is struck).

A few locations offer training for those who lack skills but not
drachmae. Elis on the Peloponnesus has a training center where your
hero can increase dexterity, strength, and weapon skills. On Mount
Pelion, Cheiron the centaur offers valuable defense tactics in
addition to standard strength and dexterity development courses.
Heroes may also brush up on their weapon skills in the Port of Piraeus
near Athens.

SCORING
Zeus tells you how well you are doing each time  you complete one of
his tasks, whether or not  he has assigned  the  task. Each task is
worth a certain number of points. Completing all twelve tasks earns
you 5200 points. You earn a bonus by completing a mission with the
loss of fewer than two heroes. If you suffer no losses, your bonus is
200 points; if you lose only one hero, your bonus is 100 points. In
addition to the bonus for keeping your heroes alive and in action, you
are awarded one extra point for each turn less than 200 it takes you
to accomplish the task (counting from the beginning of the game or the
completion of the last task, whichever occurred last). You can
approach but never attain a score of 10,000 points. Zeus also gives a
verbal rating of your progress, described under "Garlands" in the 
Glossary. The author has achieved a score of about 9500 points, and
imagines that a score of 9650 might be possible with phenomenal luck.
The Wild Olive Leaf Garland is awarded to scores of enemies 9000 or
more.

GLOSSARY
The following glossary is by no means a comprehensive list of the
terms found in Greek mythology. Only those persons, places , and
things that appear in Return of Heracles are included here. When
pronouncing names, note that the final e and es are sounded, as in
Penelope and Achilles. There are a few exception, such as Thebes,
which has only one syllable.

Abas, Mount -- Mountain in northwestern Africa.

Achilles -- ("Lipless") Son of Peleus and Thetis; was well trained by
Cheiron the centaur.

Acmon -- Brother of Passalus.

Actaeon -- ("Shore Dweller") Son of Aristaeus and Autonoe; took after
his father in his skill at hunting.

Aeaea -- Island of Dawn. Home of Circe.

Aeneas -- Son of Anchises and Aphroditee. Cousin of Paris. Destiny
requires that his royal line must eventually rule Troy.

Aellopus -- A harpy.

Agelaus of Same -- A suitor of Penelope.

Agrius -- A centaur.

Ajax, Great -- ("Of the Earth") Son of Telemon and Periboea; has skin
toughened by the lion hide of Heracles.

Amphitryon -- King of Troezen.

Amycus -- King of Bebrycos. He fancied himself a great boxer.

Amymone -- She was rewarded for her favors by Poseidon with a
perpetual spring, now named Amymone, which waters the Lernaean Swamp.

Anchises -- King of the Dardanians and friend of Troy. He fathered
Aeneas with Aphroditee.

Ancius -- A centaur.

Antaeus -- Giant son of Poseidon and Mother Earth. King of Libya. He
ate lions, enjoyed wrestling, and took strength directly from the
earth.

Antenor -- Brother-in-law of Priam. He betrayed Troy for half of
Priam's treasure.

Antinous -- Most shameless suitor of Penelope.

Apollo -- Son of Zeus and Leto. God of music. He often said "Know
Thyself!" and "Nothing in excess!"

Arcton -- Town on south coast of the Sea of Marmara.

Ares -- Son of Zeus and Hera. God of war.

Argus -- ("Bright") Odysseus' faithful dog.

Artemis -- Daughter of Zeus and Leto. Goddess of the hunt and
patroness of childbirth.

Asclepius -- ("Unceasingly Gentle") Son of Apollo and Coronis; learned
the arts of healing from Apollo and Cheiron. He is revered as the
founder of medicine.

Asterius -- Better known as the Minotaur.

Athene -- Patron goddess of Athens. She sprang fully armed from Zeus'
skull after he swallowed the titaness Metis.

Athens -- Major Greek city-state. "Cradle of Democracy."

Autolycus -- ("Very Wolf") Son of Hermes and Chione. He was a master
thief.

Aventine Forest -- A woods in Italy.

Bebrycos -- Island in the Sea of Marmara.

Bellerophon -- Son of Glaucus and grandson of Sisyphus. He was
handsome, modest, and got along well with winged horses.

Briareus -- Hundred-handed giant son of Mother Earth and Uranus.

Brontes -- One of the Cyclopes.

Cacus -- Huge, hideous, three-based son of Hephaestus and Medusa. He
was a shepherd in the Aventine Forest.

Cadmus -- ("From the East") Son of Agenor and Telephassa; left Canaan
in search of his sister Europa, who had been stolen away by Zeus
disguised as a white bull. In Greece, Cadmus was counseled by the
Delphic Oracle to give up his search.

Calydonian Boar -- Ferocious, man-eating boar, terror of the
countryside.

Carya -- The beloved of Dionysus; she died suddenly at Caryae,
whereupon he changed her into a walnut tree. A temple built to Artemis
and Carya features columns sculpted as female statues of Caryatids.

Caryatid -- A nut nymph serving the goddess Car.

Cassandra -- As a child, she fell asleep at a temple to Apollo and a
sacred serpent licked her ear, giving her the gift of prophecy. See
also Hector.

Castor -- ("Beaver") Son of Tyndareus and Leda, brother of
Clytaemnestra. See Dioscuri.

Cecrops -- A king of Athens.

Centaur -- A strong warrior with the body of a horse and the head and
arms of a man. Centaurs were easily and violently affected by wine.

Cerberus -- The three-headed hound of Hell born of Typhon and Echidne.

Charybdis -- Voracious daughter of Mother Earth and Poseidon, she
sucked in huge amounts of water thrice daily.

Cheiron --  Immortal king of the centaurs, teacher of many Greek
heroes at Mount Pelion.

Chimaera -- Born of Typhon and Echidne. Fire-breathing goat with a
lion's head and serpent's body.

Chthonius -- One of the Sparti.

Circe -- Daughter of Helius and Perse. She was skilled in enchantments
but had little love for mankind.

Cnossus -- Capital of Crete. Minos had his palace here.

Colchis -- City on east coast of the Black Sea.

Crete -- Large island south of Greece.

Cyclopes -- Children of Mother Earth and Uranus. A tribe of fierce and
barbarous people with one large, round eye in the middle of their
forehead.

Cycnus -- Son of Poseidon and Calyce. A swan comforted him after his
birth.

Cytisorus -- An Aeolian shipwrecked on the islet of Ares.

Daedalus -- A wonderful smith. He built a wooden cow for Pasiphae, a
labyrinth for Minos, wings for himself and his son Icarus, a magic
sword for Peleus, a dancing floor for Ariadne, and many other
finely-crafted items.

Dascylus -- Son of King Lycus of Mariandyne.

Deileon -- Was lost and stranded while fighting Amazons with Heracles.

Deinus -- Flesh-eating mare.

Deiphobus -- Son of Priam and Hecabe. See Hector.

Delphi  -- Site of cleft in the ground from which vision-giving vapors
arose.

Dercynus -- Son of Poseidon. Liked to steal cattle.

Diomedes -- King of Thrace who kept wild mares tethered with iron
chains to bronze mangers, and fed them the flesh of his unwary guests.

Dioscuri -- The inseperable brothers Polydeuces and Castor. Castor was
a famous soldier and horse tamer. Polydeuces was the best boxer of his
day. Zeus created the constellation Gemini ("The Twins") to eulogize
them.

Dorceus -- A hunting dog.

Drachma -- The usual unit of money in Greece.

Dryad -- An oak nymph.

Dryope -- A very lovely nymph.

Echidne -- Half lovely woman, half speckled serpent. She ate men raw
and raised a brood of frightful monsters, including Cerberus, the
Hydra, the Chimaera, Orthrus, the Sphinx, and the Nemean Lion.

Echion -- One of the Sparti.

Elis -- Town where most training for the Olympics took place.

Elysium -- Realm of peaceful afterlife far to the West.

Endymion -- ("Seduces Moon Man") Handsome and virile son of Zeus and
the nymph Calyce.

Epidaurus -- Peloponnesian town.

Erymanthian Boar -- A fierce, enormous beast.

Erytheia -- An island beyond the ocean stream.

Eumaeus -- Faithful old swineherd; servant of Odysseus.

Euripides -- Greek playwright. Described death as "Paying the debt
which cancels all others."

Eurybatus -- Brother or alias of Passalus.

Eurydice -- A form of the moon goddess to whom males were sacrificed.
A serpent ruler of the Underworld.

Eurymachus -- One of Penelope's suitors.

Eurytion -- Son of Ares and herdsmen for Geryon.

Garland  -- A wreath or garland was presented to winners at the great
Panhellenic games. No monetary award was given at these competitions,
although the winner's city often lavished prizes and honors on their
champions. Rewards offered in Return of Heracles begin with a word of
encouragement and progress to a poem of praise, a decorative shield, a
fine cloak, and an amphora of olive oil. Next comes a parsley garland,
the traditional honor at the Nemean Games. A laurel garland was
presented at the Pythian Games. The pine needle garland was presented
at the Isthmian Games. The highest honor in Return of Heracles is the
coveted wild olive leaf garland presented at the Olympics themselves.

Geryon -- Son of Chrysaor and Callirrhoe. King of Tartessus (in modern
Spain) and reputedly the strongest man alive. He was born with three
heads, six hands, and three bodies.

Hades -- Ruler of the Underworld. Brother to Poseidon and Zeus.

Harpy -- A loathsome, winged, female creatures fond of stealing and
fouling food.

Hector -- Firstborn son of Priam and his second wife Hecabe. Brother
to Paris, Deiphobus, Cassandra, and Polites. Half-brother to Polydorus
and Troilus. Champion hero of Troy.

Helen -- Beautiful sister of the Dioscuri; loved by all Greek men,
married to King Menelaus and abducted by Paris.

Hephaestus -- Lame smith-god, husband of Aphrodite. He is ugly and
ill-tempered but works with matchless skill.

Hera -- Daughter of Cronus and Rhea. Jealous wife of Zeus with whom
she spent a 300-year wedding night on Samos.

Heracles -- ("Glory of Hera") Very strong hero, known to the later
Romans as Hercules.

Hermes -- Messenger of Zeus. God of shepherds. He never lies, though
he does not always tell the complete truth.

Hesperides -- An orchard in the far west given to Hera by Mother
Earth.

Hippolyte -- ("Of the Stampeding Horses") Daughter of Ares and
Harmonia. Queen of the Amazons.

Hydra -- Many-headed water serpent, born to Typhon and Echidne.

Ialebion -- Son of Poseidon. Lived in Liguria.

Iolcus -- Seaport home of Jason.

Irus -- A sturdy Ithican beggar, hired by Penelope's suitors to chase
strangers from her home.

Ithica -- Island off northwestern coast of Greece. Home of Odysseus
and Penelope.

Janus -- Two-faced god of gateways.

Jason -- ("Healer") Son of Aeson and Polymele; born as Diomedes, was
called Jason by Cheiron the centaur, who reared him.

Ladon --  Hundred-headed serpent offspring of Phorcys and Ceto.
Guarded the golden apples.

Lamia -- Born a beautiful daughter to Belus, Ruler of Libya, Lamia
lost all her children but Scylla to a fit of Hera's jealousy. In
revenge, she began to destroy the children of others. Her face,
reflecting her cruelty, turned into a nightmarish mask. Now she lives
by sucking the blood of young men while they sleep.

Lampon -- Savage mare of Thracian King Diomedes.

Lavreion -- Site of rich silver mines.

Leda -- Mother of Helen and Polydeuces by Zeus, who ravished her in
the form of a swan. Mother of Castor and Clytaemnestra by her husband
Tyndareus.

Lelaps -- Hunting dog.

Lernaen Swamp -- Fed by the rivers Pontinus and Amymone, this swamp is
the grave of many an unwary traveler.

Libya -- Country in northern Africa.

Liguria -- A country near present-day Marseilles.

Lycus -- Exiled from Greece for plots against Aegeus, his kinsman, he
became King of Mariandyne.

Lyre -- A stringed instrument of Greece tuned to E, A, and B below
middle C and D above middle C. In Return of Heracles, a brief melody
will be played as you enter each new area. The melody will indicate
the type of creature that may appear unexpectedly from behind some
bush or rock.

Mariandyne -- City on southern coast of the Black Sea.

Marmara -- The Sea of Marmara is located north of present-day Turkey,
between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. It has outlets through
the Straits of Hellespont to the west and the Symplagades to the east.

Medea -- Hecate's witch-priestess. Daughter of King Aeetes. Theseus
drove her from Athens to Colchis.

Medusa -- She had snakes for hair, huge teeth, a protruding tongue,
and a face so ugly that anyone who saw it was petrified (literally).

Melampus -- Pack leader of hunting dogs.

Megalopolis -- Large Spartan city.

Melanion -- Shipwrecked grandson of Aeetes, King of Colchis.

Melanippe -- ("Black Stallion") Sister of Hippolyte and ruler of an
Amazon city.

Melantheus -- One of Penelope's suitors.

Memnon -- Son of Priam's half-brother Tithonus of Assyria. Memnon led
the Ethiopians in battles for Troy. He was black as ebony and the
handsomest man alive.

Mestor -- Illegitimate son of Priam.

Minos -- Son of Zeus and Europa. King of Crete. Dishonored by his wife
(see Pasiphae), and had Daedalus build him an inextricable maze, in
the midst of which he concealed Pasiphae and the Minotaur. He threw
other offenders into the maze also.

Minotaur -- A monster with a bull's head and a human body. See also
Pasiphae.

Naiad -- A water nymph who presides over brooks and fountains.

Nape -- Hunting dog.

Narcissus -- Son of river god Cephisus and the blue nymph Leirope.
Because of his stubborn pride in his beauty, he rejected many lovers
including Echo, who pined away for love until only her voice remained.
Unable to embrace his own reflection in a pool, he took his life. From
his spilled blood grew a white flower with a red center.

Nemean Lion -- This offspring of Orthrus and Echidne is an enormous
beast with an almost impregnable hide.

Nemean Woods -- Wild, untamed woods in Peloponnesus.

Nephele -- A grandmother centaur.

Obol -- A small unit of Greek money.

Ocypete -- A harpy.

Odysseus -- Son of Sisyphus and Anticleia, named "The Angry One" by
his maternal grandfather Autolycus.

Olus -- Brother or alias of Passalus.

Olympus, Mount -- Home of the Gods.

Omphale -- Queen of Lydia and mother of Tantalus. She bought Heracles
as a slave and gave him his freedom after a year.

Oreus -- A centaur.

Orion -- Son of Poseidon and Euryale. A great hunter whose image was
later placed in the stars by Artemis.

Orchomenus -- Large forest.

Orthrus -- Two-headed watchdog born of Typhon and Echidne.

Ostrakon -- A piece of broken pottery used as a ballot in Greek public
meetings. Used to vote for the exile of unpopular citizens, it is the
source of our word "ostracize."

Paelaemon -- ("Wrestler") Son of Alcmene and Zeus (who impersonated
Alcmene's husband Amphitryon); was powerful enough as a baby to
strangle two serpents sent by the jealous goddess Hera.

Pamphagus -- Hunting dog.

Paris -- Son of Priam and Hecabe. Judged Aphrodite to be the fairest
goddess and was rewarded with the love of Helen, who he abducted to
Troy.

Pasiphae -- Daughter of Helius and the nymph Crete. Minos, her
husband, prayed to Poseidon for a sacrificial animal to come from the
sea. When a beautiful white bull appeared, Minos kept it for himself
instead. Poseidon punished Minos by making Pasiphae fall in love with
the bull. She had Daedalus build a hollow wooden, in which she hid, to
attract the bull. She later gave birth to the Minotaur.

Passalus -- Ephesian son of Oceanus and Theia. He shared with his
brother the reputation of being the most accomplished cheat and liar
known to mankind.

Patroclus -- ("Glory of the Father") Cousin and inseperable friend of
Achilles.

Pegae -- Beautiful pool on south coast of Sea of Marmara.

Pegasus -- ("Of the Wells") Winged horse who sprang up from Medusa's
dead body. Fathered by Poseidon.

Pelion, Mount -- Home of Cheiron the centaur.

Peloponnesus -- A large island peninsula connected to mainland Greece
by a narrow isthmus.

Penelope -- Daughter of Icarus and the naiad Periboea. Wife of
Odysseus, and faithful to him even through his twenty-year absence.

Penthesileia -- Amazon Queen; daughter of Otrere and Ares. She sought
refuge in Troy from punishment for having accidentally shot her sister
Hippolyte.

Pephnos -- Birthplace of the Dioscuri.

Periphetes -- ("The Cudgel-Man") A crippled son of Poseidon; killed
wayfarers with his club.

Perseus -- ("Destroyer") Fathered on Danae by Zeus in a dungeon, he
was cast on the seas in an ark but was rescued and raised by King
Polydeuces.

Phereclus -- Trojan shipbuilder.

Philopoemen -- One of the last heroes of ancient Greece.

Phineas -- Brother of Cadmus. He was blinded by the gods for
prophesying the future too accurately, and was plagued by harpies.

Pholus -- A centaur.

Phoroneus -- Son of river god Inachus and the nymph Melia. First man
to found and people a market town. First man to use fire, after
Prometheus had stolen it.

Phrixus -- Son of Athamas and the phantom Nephele. He escaped an
unjust fate by flying to Colchis on a winged golden ram. His sister
Helles fell off the ram into the sea, giving her name to Hellespont.

Phyllis -- A Thracian princess whose true love Acamas, son of Theseus,
sailed the seas to fight at Troy. She waited for his ship to return,
only to die of grief. Athene changed her into an almond tree whose
rough bark Acamas embraced when he arrived the next day. The branches
burst into flower.

Piraeus -- Seaport connected to Athens by a walled avenue.

Podargus -- Savage mare from the stables at Tirida.

Polites -- Son of Priam and Hecabe. See Hector.

Polybius -- ("Many Oxen") One of the last heroes of ancient Greece.

Polydeuces -- Son of Zeus and Leda; adopted by Tyndareus. See
Dioscuri.

Polydorus -- Son of Priam and Laothoe. Priam's youngest and best loved
child.

Pontinus, Mount -- Source of water feeding the Lernaean Swamp.

Poseidon -- Son of Cronus and Rhea. Lord of the sea. Carries a
trident.

Priam -- Son of Laomedon and Strymo. He was awarded the Trojan throne
by Heracles and sired fifty sons to defend Troy.

Procrustes -- Known as the "Stretcher," he lengthened or shortened his
lodgers to fit one bed.

-------
Typed up by Jeff Lodoen
jlodoen@mega.megamed.com