“He dug a hole, and in it whispering said,
What monstrous ears sprout from King Midas’ head.”
Ovid.
Milo (Mi′lo), a celebrated Croton athlete, who is said to have felled an ox with his fist, and to have eaten the beast in one day. His statue is often seen with one hand in the rift of a tree trunk, out of which he is vainly trying to withdraw it. The fable is, that when he got to be an old man he attempted to split an oak tree, but having lost his youthful vigor, the tree closed on his hand and he was held a prisoner till the wolves came and devoured him.
Mimallones (Mimallo′nes). The “wild women” who accompanied Bacchus, so called because they mimicked his actions, putting horns on their heads when they took part in his orgies.
Mimir (Mi′mir). In Scandinavian mythology the god of wisdom.
Mind, see Erinnys.
Minerva (Miner′va), the goddess of wisdom, war, and the liberal arts, is said to have sprung from the head of Jupiter fully armed for battle. She was a great benefactress of mankind, and patroness of the fine arts. She was the tutelar deity of the city of Athens. She is also known by the names of Pallas, Parthenos, Tritonia, and Glaukopis. She was very generally worshiped by the ancients, and her temple at Athens, the Parthenon, still remains. She is represented in statues and pictures as wearing a golden helmet encircled with an olive branch, and a breastplate. In her right hand she carries a lance, and by her side is the famous aegis or shield, covered with the skin of Amalthaea, the goat which nourished Jupiter; and for the boss of the shield is the head of Medusa. An owl, the emblem of meditation, is on the left; and a cock, the emblem of courage, on the right. The Elgin Marbles in the British Museum, London, were brought from the Parthenon, her temple at Athens.
Minos (Mi′nos). The supreme of the three judges of hell, before whom the spirits of the departed appeared and heard their doom.
Minotaur (Min′otaur). The monster, half man, half bull, which Theseus slew.
Mirth, see Momus.
Misery, see Genii.