List of references to Greek mythology in the Halo series

Greek mythology has been an inspiration for many names of locations, vehicles, ships and operations in the Halo Universe.

Location References

 * Tartarus: Tartarus was named after the worst, most cruel part of the Underworld, where the original Cyclopes and Hekatonkheires were sealed by their Titan parents, and later the Titans themselves became inhabitants of Tartarus. The worst people and things were said to go to Tartarus for eternal torture, as is referenced to when Tartarus burns the Mark of Shame into the Arbiter as punishment for failing to protect Halo.
 * Station Delphi: Delphi was an important Ancient Greek religious center and home to the Oracle of Delphi.

Mythological Characters References

 * Déjà: One of the lessons Déjà taught involved the famous Greek Battle of Thermopylae. Déjà took on the appearance of an ancient Greek goddess, and although which one is not specified, she seems to look like Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war.
 * Chiron: In the first Halo a multiplayer map is called Chiron TL-34. In Greek mythology, Chiron was a Centaur who trained many heroes including Achilles and Heracles.
 * Iris: In Greek mythology, Iris was a minor god of the Rainbow and the Messenger of the gods, like Hermes.
 * Operation: PROMETHEUS: This operation was named after Prometheus, a Titan who stole fire from god Zeus and gave it to mortals. He was subsequently punished by Zeus and his brother, Poseidon, the kings of Olympus by being forced to endure his liver being pecked out in the mornings by the vulture, Ethon, having it regrown, and then pecked out again the next day. Also, 300 Spartan-IIIs fought in this battle and died; this is much like the Battle of Thermopylae, where 300 Spartan soldiers fought the Persians. At this battle, all of the Spartans died fighting but also put a heavy loss on the Persians losing many soldiers, paving way for a larger army to later finish the job.
 * Cyclops: This unit is named after the Cyclops, a kind of mythical giant with only one eye in the middle of their head. Some were descendants of the Titans, while another was the son of Poseidon. They were known to be skilled in forging weapons and the like. In the Halo Universe the Cyclops was an exoskeleton armor originally designed for construction.
 * UNSC Heracles: This warship was named after Heracles, a divine hero famous for doing the Labors of Heracles.
 * Melissa: Melissa is the name of one of the nymphs who helped save Zeus from his father, Cronus. She hid him in the hills and fed him milk from Amalthea and honey. When Cronus discovered this, he turned her into a worm. After Zeus came into power, he changed her into a queen bee, not being able to change her from an insect form.
 * Pallas Athena: Athena was the Greek goddess of Wisdom, Craft, and War; Pallas was her second name.
 * Prometheans: Prometheus was the Greek Titan who gave the gift of fire to mankind.
 * Gorgon: The deleted Halo Wars unit, the Gorgon, is a beast of Greek mythology. Gorgons were said to turn all those that looked at them into stone. In Halo Wars, they were originally intended to be an anti-air unit.
 * Tantalus: Tantalus was a system that was ordered that all ships aid Reach. Tantalus in Greek Mythology was punished in the Underworld to never be able to eat or drink anything.
 * Charybdis IX: Charybdis was the daughter of Poseidon. Originally a sea-nymph, she was turned into a sea monster by Zeus, after angering him by stealing Heracles' cattle. She also had a sister who wasn't a daughter of Poseidon.
 * Calypso-class Exfiltration Craft: Calypso is the daughter of Atlas. In the Odyssey, she held Odysseus captive for 7 years until Zeus ordered her to release him.
 * UNSC Minotaur: A UNSC Prowler, this ship was probably named after the beast slain by Theseus.
 * The M145D Mobile Artillery Assault Platform is armed with a Zeus 320mm plasma cannon; this weapon is named after the chief deity of the Greek pantheon. A lightning bolt is painted on the vehicle's turret in further reference to Zeus.
 * UNSC Atlas: A UNSC carrier, named after the Titan Atlas.

Real Character Reference

 * Leonidas: The third movement of the Delta Halo Suite from the Halo 2 Original Soundtrack. Leonidas was a Spartan king from around 488 B.C. to 480 B.C. He died during the Battle of Thermopylae, a battle earlier referenced in this article for it's significance in the Halo Universe.
 * Archimedes: Archimedes was an Ancient Greek philosopher, mathematician, and inventor, of whom discovered many modern units and techniques such as water displacement.
 * Hesiod: The name of this planet is likely a reference to the early Greek poet and rhapsode Hesiod, whose writings serve as a major source on Greek mythology, farming techniques, archaic Greek astronomy, and ancient time-keeping.
 * UNSC Herodotus: Herodotus was a major Greek historian that recorded the statistics and events of the Battle of Thermopylae.

Other

 * SPARTAN Program: This program was named after the Spartan warriors who originated from the city-state of Sparta in the southern part of ancient Greece. This city-state retained the superior military power in the region between 650 and 363 B.C. Its citizens were following a thrifty way of life. They all exercised in a daily basis, and their children, like those used in the SPARTAN programs, were trained from a from a very early age for many years.
 * It has been mentioned in one of the Halo books that the Spartans look like Greek gods in their armor.
 * Odyssey: The Odyssey is an ancient Greek novel written by Homer. It talks about the adventures of Odysseus since he left the Battle of Troy until he reached Ithaca, his homeland.
 * Kurt Ambrose: Kurt-051's surname, Ambrose, comes from the Greek word Ambrosia (Αμβροσία). Ambrosia is the drink the immortal Gods of ancient Greece enjoyed to drink, and the source of their power.
 * Ichor (used as a word for "blood" in Halo: The Flood): Ichor was the name for the golden blood of the gods at Olympus.
 * Origin of the Seasons: In the myth the Origins of the Seasons, when Persephone is able to leave the Underworld, Hades tricks her into eating 7 seeds from a fruit making the time to come back for 7 months.
 * Orpheus' descent to the Underworld is sung by the k'chamanush in the lesser Ark.
 * Promethean means to think before. in Greek. it is unlikely this was intentional.

Related pages

 * Sparta
 * Norse Mythology