# Metamorphoses — Character guide

> Key figures in Metamorphoses by Ovid.

- [Jove](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/jove.md): King of the gods, frequently intervenes in mortal affairs and transformations.
- [Perseus](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/perseus.md): Hero who slays Medusa and rescues Andromeda from a sea monster.
- [Apollo](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/apollo.md): God of prophecy, music, and healing; pursues Daphne and slays Python.
- [Juno](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/juno.md): Queen of the gods, often vengeful toward Jupiter's mortal lovers.
- [Ulysses](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/ulysses.md): Cunning Greek hero who contends for Achilles' armor and voyages home.
- [Minerva](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/minerva.md): Goddess of wisdom, patron of crafts, and rival of Arachne.
- [Achilles](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/achilles.md): Greatest Greek warrior at Troy, slain by Paris's arrow.
- [Diana](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/diana.md): Goddess of the hunt, transforms Actaeon into a stag.
- [Orpheus](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/orpheus.md): Legendary musician who descends to Hades for Eurydice.
- [Aeneas](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/aeneas.md): Trojan hero who voyages to Italy and becomes ancestor of Rome.
- [Cadmus](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/cadmus.md): Founder of Thebes who sows dragon's teeth and is turned into a serpent.
- [Medea](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/medea.md): Sorceress who helps Jason and later murders her own children.
- [Theseus](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/theseus.md): Athenian hero who battles the Minotaur and Centaurs.
- [Hector](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/hector.md): Trojan prince and warrior slain by Achilles.
- [Ajax](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/ajax.md): Greek hero who competes for Achilles' armor and kills himself.
- [Ceres](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/ceres.md): Goddess of agriculture who searches for her daughter Proserpine.
- [Neptune](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/neptune.md): God of the sea, often intervenes in mortal voyages.
- [Bacchus](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/bacchus.md): God of wine who transforms pirates into dolphins.
- [Venus](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/venus.md): Goddess of love, mother of Aeneas and patron of Julius Caesar.
- [Mercury](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/mercury.md): Messenger god who slays Argus and guides souls.
- [Pluto](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/pluto.md): God of the underworld who abducts Proserpine.
- [Proserpine](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/proserpine.md): Daughter of Ceres, queen of the underworld.
- [Hercules](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/heracles.md): Legendary hero who performs twelve labors and dies by poison.
- [Jason](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/jason.md): Leader of the Argonauts who seeks the Golden Fleece.
- [Daedalus](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/daedalus.md): Master craftsman who builds the Labyrinth and wax wings.
- [Icarus](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/icarus.md): Son of Daedalus who flies too close to the sun and falls.
- [Narcissus](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/narcissus.md): Beautiful youth who falls in love with his own reflection.
- [Echo](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/echo.md): Nymph who pines for Narcissus and fades to a voice.
- [Pyramus](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/pyramus.md): Babylonian lover who kills himself for Thisbe.
- [Arachne](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/arachne.md): Mortal weaver who challenges Minerva and is turned into a spider.
- [Niobe](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/niobe.md): Queen who boasts of her children and is turned to stone.
- [Philomela](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/philomela.md): Sister of Procne who is transformed into a nightingale after tragedy.
- [Tereus](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/tereus.md): Thracian king who rapes Philomela and is turned into a hoopoe.
- [Medusa](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/medusa.md): Gorgon whose gaze turns men to stone, slain by Perseus.
- [Andromeda](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/andromeda.md): Princess rescued from a sea monster by Perseus.
- [Atlas](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/atlas.md): Titan who holds up the sky, turned into a mountain by Perseus.
- [Midas](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/midas.md): King who turns everything to gold and later grows ass's ears.
- [Ceyx](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/ceyx.md): King who drowns at sea and is reunited with Alcyone as birds.
- [Alcyone](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/alcyone.md): Wife of Ceyx who becomes a kingfisher after his death.
- [Caeneus](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/caeneus.md): Lapith warrior who was born female and becomes invulnerable.
- [Polyphemus](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/polyphemus.md): Cyclops who loves Galatea and kills Acis.
- [Glaucus](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/glaucus.md): Fisherman turned sea god who loves Scylla.
- [Scylla](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/scylla.md): Nymph transformed into a sea monster by Circe.
- [Circe](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/circe.md): Sorceress who turns men into animals and loves Picus.
- [Vertumnus](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/vertumnus.md): God of seasons who woos Pomona in disguise.
- [Pomona](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/pomona.md): Nymph of fruit trees courted by Vertumnus.
- [Romulus](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/romulus.md): Founder of Rome who becomes a god after his death.
- [Julius Caesar](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/julius_caesar.md): Roman dictator deified after his assassination.
- [Augustus](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/augustus.md): First Roman emperor praised in the poem's conclusion.
- [Daphne](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/daphne.md): Nymph who flees Apollo and is turned into a laurel tree.
- [Io](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/io.md): Priestess of Juno turned into a heifer by Jupiter.
- [Syrinx](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/syrinx.md): Nymph who flees Pan and is turned into reeds.
- [Phaeton](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/phaeton.md): Son of the Sun who drives the chariot and falls to earth.
- [Callisto](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/callisto.md): Nymph turned into a bear by Juno and placed among the stars.
- [Coronis](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/coronis.md): Lover of Apollo killed for infidelity, mother of Aesculapius.
- [Battus](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/battus.md): Shepherd turned into a touchstone for betraying Mercury.
- [Aglauros](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/aglaurus.md): Athenian princess turned to stone for jealousy.
- [Europa](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/europa.md): Princess abducted by Jupiter in the form of a bull.
- [Actaeon](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/actaeon.md): Hunter turned into a stag and killed by his own dogs.
- [Pentheus](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/pentheus.md): Theban king torn apart by Bacchants for denying Bacchus.
- [Acrisius](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/acrisius.md): King of Argos, father of Danae, killed by Perseus.
- [Leucothoe](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/leucothoe.md): Mortal loved by the Sun, buried alive and turned into frankincense.
- [Clytie](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/clytie.md): Nymph who pines for the Sun and becomes a sunflower.
- [Salmacis](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/salmacis.md): Nymph who merges with Hermaphroditus into one body.
- [Ino](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/ino.md): Daughter of Cadmus turned into a sea goddess.
- [Pyreneus](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/pyreneus.md): King who attacks the Muses and falls to his death.
- [Cyane](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/cyane.md): Nymph who dissolves into a fountain for opposing Pluto.
- [Ascalaphus](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/ascalaphus.md): Witness turned into an owl for revealing Proserpine's pomegranate.
- [Arethusa](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/arethusa.md): Nymph turned into a spring to escape Alpheus.
- [Lyncus](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/lyncus.md): Scythian king turned into a lynx for attacking Triptolemus.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters