The House of Hades (The Heroes of Olympus #4)(146)

gladius a short sword

Graecus the word Romans used for Greek

greaves shin armor

Greek fire an incendiary weapon used in naval battles because it can continue burning in water

gris-gris In this New Orleans Voodoo practice named after the French word for gray (gris), special herbs and other ingredients are combined and put into a small red flannel bag that is worn or stored to restore the balance between the black and white aspects of a person’s life.

gryphon a creature with the forequarters (including talons) and wings of an eagle and the hindquarters of a lion

Hades the Greek god of death and riches. Roman form: Pluto

Hannibal a Carthaginian commander who lived between 247 and 183/182 BCE and is generally considered to be one of the greatest military strategists in history. One of his most famous achievements was marching an army, which included war elephants, from Iberia over the Pyrenees and the Alps into northern Italy.

harpy a winged female creature that snatches things

Hecate goddess of magic and crossroads; controls the Mist; daughter of Titans Perses and Asteria

Hemera goddess of day; daughter of Night

Hephaestus the Greek god of fire and crafts and of blacksmiths; the son of Zeus and Hera, and married to Aphrodite. Roman form: Vulcan

Hera the Greek goddess of marriage; Zeus’s wife and sister. Roman form: Juno

Heracles the son of Zeus and Alcmene; the strongest of all mortals. Roman form: Hercules

Hercules the son of Jupiter and Alcmene, who was born with great strength. Greek form: Heracles

Hermes Greek god of travelers; guide to spirits of the dead; god of communication. Roman form: Mercury

Hesiod a Greek poet who speculated that it would take nine days to fall to the bottom of Tartarus

Horatius a Roman general who single-handedly held off a horde of invaders, sacrificing himself on a bridge to keep the barbarians from crossing the Tiber River. By giving his fellow Romans time to finish their defenses, he saved the Republic.

House of Hades a place in the Underworld where Hades, the Greek god of death, and his wife, Persephone, rule over the souls of the departed; an old temple in Epirus in Greece

Hyperion one of the twelve Titans; Titan lord of the east

Hypnos Greek god of sleep. Roman form: Somnus

hypogeum the area under a coliseum that housed set pieces and machinery used for special effects

Iapetus one of the twelve Titans; lord of the west; his name means the Piercer. When Percy fought him in Hades’s realm, Iapetus fell into the River Lethe and lost his memory; Percy renamed him Bob.

ichor the golden fluid that is the blood of gods and immortals

Imperial gold a rare metal deadly to monsters, consecrated at the Pantheon; its existence was a closely guarded secret of the emperors

Janus Roman god of doorways, beginnings, and transitions; depicted as having two faces, because he looks to the future and to the past

Juno the Roman goddess of women, marriage, and fertility; sister and wife of Jupiter; mother of Mars. Greek form: Hera

Jupiter the Roman king of the gods; also called Jupiter Optimus Maximus (the best and the greatest). Greek form: Zeus

Kampê a monster with the upper body of a snake-haired woman and the lower body of a drakon; appointed by the Titan Kronos to guard the Cyclopes of Tartarus. Zeus slew her and freed the giants from their prison to aid him in his war against the Titans.

katobleps a cow monster whose name means “down-looker” (katoblepones, pl.). They were accidentally imported to Venice from Africa. They eat poisonous roots that grow by the canals and have a poisonous gaze and poisonous breath.

Katoptris Piper’s dagger

Kerkopes a pair of chimpanzee-like dwarfs who steal shiny things and create chaos

Khione the Greek goddess of snow; daughter of Boreas

Koios one of the twelve Titans; Titan lord of the north

Krios one of the twelve Titans; Titan lord of the south

Kronos the youngest of the twelve Titans; the son of Ouranos and Gaea; the father of Zeus. He killed his father at his mother’s bidding. Titan lord of fate, harvest, justice, and time. Roman form: Saturn

Labyrinth an underground maze originally built on the island of Crete by the craftsman Daedalus to hold the Minotaur (part man, part bull)

Laistrygonian giant a monstrous cannibal from the far north

Lar a house god, ancestral spirit (Lares, pl.)

legionnaire Roman soldier

lemures Roman term for angry ghosts

Leto daughter of the Titan Koios; mother of Artemis and Apollo with Zeus; goddess of motherhood

Lotus Hotel a casino in Las Vegas where Percy, Annabeth, and Grover lost valuable time during their quest after eating enchanted lotus blossoms

Mansion of Night Nyx’s palace

manticore a creature with a human head, a lion’s body, and a scorpion’s tail

Mars the Roman god of war; also called Mars Ultor. Patron of the empire; divine father of Romulus and Remus. Greek form: Ares

Medea a follower of Hecate and one of the great sorceresses of the ancient world

Mercury Roman messenger of the gods; god of trade, profit, and commerce. Greek form: Hermes

Minerva the Roman goddess of wisdom. Greek form: Athena

Minos king of Crete; son of Zeus; every year he made King Aegus pick seven boys and seven girls to be sent to the Labyrinth, where they would be eaten by the Minotaur. After his death he became a judge in the Underworld.

Minotaur a monster with the head of a bull on the body of a man