Hades Daughter (80 page)

NAXOS
: island 175 km (108 miles) to the north of
CRETE
in the eastern Mediterranean, and 40 km (25 miles) to the north of
THERA
.

NICHORIA
: a city on the western coast of the Greek Peloponnese. It is ruled by
PODARCES
.

OG
: the stag, forest god of
LLANGARLIA
, mate of
MAG
. In later ages he was known as Cernunnos, later still as Herne, and in medieval times as the Green Man.

PANDRASUS
: king of the Dorians in
MESOPOTAMA
. Father of
CORNELIA
.

PELOPAN
: husband to
AETHYLLA
.

PERIOPIS
: a Trojan woman.

PHILISTINES
,
ALTARS OF THE
: two strange stone pillars on the coast of North Africa.

PILLARS OF HERCULES
: now called the Straits of Gibraltar.

PODARCES
: king of
NICHORIA
.

POITERAN
: a kingdom in the west of modern France, led by
GOFFAR
.

SARPEDON
: a counsellor to
PANDRASUS
.

SILVIUS
: father to
BRUTUS
. Silvius died in a hunting accident when, according to gossip,
BRUTUS
mistakenly shot an arrow into his father’s eye.

SLAUGHTER FESTIVAL
: the great autumn festival of
LLANGARLIA
. It is a trading and festive occasion, although it also marks the annual Assembly of
MOTHERS
on Tot Hill. The name derives from the fact that, in pre-modern times, most livestock was slaughtered in autumn to prepare for the coming winter.

STONE DANCES
: circles of standing stones—stone henges.

TAVIA
: nurse and companion to
CORNELIA
.

THERA
: tiny volcanic island some 120 km (75 miles) north of
CRETE
(almost halfway between
CRETE
and
NAXOS
) which exploded in the late Bronze Age, devastating the Aegean world because of the consequent shock blasts, tsunamis, acid rain, ash and gases which obliterated the skies around the globe, and related earthquakes about the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean shorelines. The eruption on Thera was roughly four or five times the intensity of the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883.

THESEUS
: son and heir of the Athenian king, he was sent as tribute and sacrifice to
CRETE
where he was to be fed to the Minotaur
ASTERION
. But Theseus, aided by his lover
ARIADNE
, managed to defeat the
Minotaur and escape from Crete. Later in life he was the first lover of Helen, whose abduction precipitated the eventual destruction of
TROY
.

THYMBRAECEUS
: father of
ASSARACUS
.

TOTNES
: name of
BRUTUS
’ nurse and also the name given to
BRUTUS
’ first landing site on the Dart River in Britain.

TROIA NOVA
: literally, “New Troy”.

TROY
: the fabulous city of Troy sat on the western shores of
ANATOLIA
(modern-day Turkey). Paris, son of the Trojan king Priam, stole Helen away from her husband, Menelaus, King of Sparta, precipitating the Trojan war in which the city-states of Greece united against Troy. Although it survived a long Greek siege, Troy was eventually destroyed due to a combination of hubris, the betrayal of the gods, and Greek cunning. Those Trojans who survived the destruction scattered about the lands of the Mediterranean, either as refugees or slaves.

TUENNA
: daughter of
ERITH
.

TURON
: a porridge compounded of flour, cheese gratings, eggs and honey. One of the staples of Bronze Age Greek diet.

VEILED HILLS
, the: the six sacred hills of
LLANGARLIA
, clustered above the
LLAN RIVER
in the area now known as London. The six hills are: Tot Hill (where now stands Westminster); the Llandin, the most sacred of the hills (now called Parliament Hill); Pen Hill; Og’s Hill (Ludgate Hill); Mag’s Hill (Cornhill); and the White Mount (Tower Hill). The hills are intersected by three small rivers which flow into the mighty
LLAN
: the Magyl (now called the Fleet), the Ty (now the Tyburn), and the Wal (now the Walbrook).

ZEUS
: leader of the immortals, first among the Olympian gods.