Eioneus

Eioneus was a king of Magnesia and the father of Dia who married Ixion. He may have been related to Ixion, and was indeed killed by him. His name seems to derive from eon, 'bank', with perhaps a reference to a river or its god - not that he was either.

Elaïs

Elaïs was one of the three daughters of Anius and Dorippe. Her name means Olive oil', from elaeon, thus according with the names of her two sisters, Oeno and Spermo, which together promote the growth of oil, wine and grain.

Elatus

Elatus was the name of several persons, including the son of Aries who was a king of Arcadia and married Laodice, a Centaur killed by Heracles, the father of Caenis, Ischys and Polyphemus (the Argonaut), a Trojan ally killed by Agamemnon, and one of Penelope's suitors. For all five the name Elatus seems to derive from elater, 'driver', that is, 'charioteer'. This could be suitable for almost all of them, although there is no record of a Centaur turning charioteer.

Electra

Electra was the name of three women: the daughter of Atlas and Plei'one, the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, and (probably the best known) the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra who is the heroine of two well-known tragedies, respectively by Sophocles and Euripides.

Her name conjures up 'electric', of course, but this is merely coincidental (although etymologically justified), since it really means 'amber' (electron) or, possibly, the word of which this is a derivative, 'the beaming sun' (elector). Exactly why this famous name should have the meaning it does is something of a mystery. We know that the Greeks valued amber highly, but the precise link with any of the Electras mentioned here is not clear.

Perhaps the name is purely a 'bright and shining' propitious one. Stesichorus, a lyric poet of the fifth century BC, suggests - perhaps not all that seriously - another derivation. He takes the Doric form of Electra's name, Alectra, and makes it mean 'unmarried', from a-, 'not' and lectra, 'bed', that is, someone who is 'unbedded'.

But he may have been echoing what another poet, Xanthus, had said two centuries earlier, when he pointed out that Agamemnon's daughter was originally called Laodice but had her name changed by the Argives as for a long time she was not married.

Electryon

Electryon was a son of Perseus, whom he succeeded as king of Mycenae. His mother was Andromeda. Electryon married Anaxo, who bore him Alcmene (who became the mother of Heracles). Let us here stick simply to the 'beaming sun' that we proposed for Electra, and regard the name as just one of fair omen.

Elpenor

Elpenor was the youngest member of Odysseus' crew. He under went a number of adventures (including falling from the roof of a house where he was sleeping off a hangover), but his name means simply, and rather charmingly, 'man's hope', from elpis, 'hope' and aner, 'man'.

Elymus

Elymus was a friend of Acestes (otherwise Aegestes) who returned to Sicily with him after the Trojan War. His name seems to mean 'quiver' (elymos) which presumably is a propitious name for a warrior.

Empusa

Empusa was a female monster, an 'amorous fiend' who assumed various shapes and like Lamia devoured her human lovers. Her name looks Greek enough, but is not so easy to explain. Perhaps it derives from empoieo, 'to put in', 'insert', with some sort of reference to her seductiveness or actual seduction.

Enalus

Enalus was a young man who was rescued by a dolphin (like Arion) when he leaped overboard from a ship to join his love Phineïs. (She had been thrown into the sea to appease Amphitrite, and was herself also rescued by a dolphin - the mate of the one that rescued Enalus.)

His name means 'one of the sea' - perhaps we should call him 'Young Man of the Sea' to counterbalance all those Old Men of the Sea - from enalion, 'of the sea' (en, 'in' and hals, 'sea').

Enarephorus

Enarephorus was the son of Hippocoön and the nephew of Tyndareüs. He planned to abduct Helen when she was still a child, so the wary Tyndareüs entrusted her to Theseus to look after. In view of his failure as a cradle-snatcher, Enarephorus has a highly inappropriate name, since it means 'spoil winner', from enara, 'booty', 'spoil' and phero, 'to win'.