GREEK MYTHOLOGY
First, there was Chaos...
As the Creation Myth goes, at the beginning of everything there was Chaos; this does not mean "Disorder"
in the contemporary sense, but rather "Chasm", in the sense of a dark, gaping space.
Afterwards came Gaia ("Earth") and Eros ("Sexual Love"), which personifies the driving principle behind
all subsequent acts of procreation by which the cosmos became populated. Gaia was either born of Chaos or
simply rising on its own. The Earth surrounded and engulfed Chaos. From where Chaos and Gaia came is
neither explained nor elaborated. Hesiod simply states that they came first-and that the Earth came into being
to serve as a solid foundation for the home of gods.
From these first three (Chaos, Gaia and Eros) and the possible addition of Tartarus, a grim and terrifying
region below the earth, there originated all that exists.
The Universe begins to take shape
First, came the few beings that were born through parthenogenesis that is the creation resulting from
just one gender:

Chaos gave birth to Erebus -the darkness of the Underworld-and Nyx ("Night").

In her sleep, Gaia gave birth to Uranus ("Sky") and Pontus ("Sea"). Uranus came first-and emerged
as Gaia's equal.
After the birth of Erebus, Nyx, Uranus and Pontus, virtually all of Creation came through mating.
Uranus, the sky, emerged as big as his mother Gaia, so that he might envelop her-which he quickly did.
Radiant with love for his Mother Earth, the Sky showered her with fertile rain. Gaia then gave birth to
the rest of the physical world: the mountains, bodies of water, flora and fauna.
Nyx mated with Erebus, producing a daughter, Hemera ("Day") and a son Aether ("Upper Air"). As
the creation myth goes, Night and Day share a house, forever shrouded in darkness by the grim clouds of
Tartarus. Yet they never stay in the same house together. Instead, they take turns, each waiting for the
other to depart before crossing the bronze threshold and entering the house.
Night also gave birth to another ominous breed of negative entities: Moros (Doom), Thanatos
(Death), Hypnos (Sleep), Nemesis (a goddess of retribution), Eris (Strife), the Keres (female death
spirits who would be charged with collecting and carrying off the bodies of the dead), and the three
Moirai (Fates).
Of these, the most interesting in terms of visual imagery were the Fates: Their names were Clotho,
Lachesis and Atropos and each had her own function, but collectively they had the responsibility of
determining the course of events in mortal lives-including the span of each life.
Clotho ("the Spinner") would spin the thread of life of each mortal, Lachesis ("the Measurer") would
measure the length with a rod and Atropos ("the Inflexible") would cut it with shears, thus ending it.
Titans and Giants
Gaia and Uranus also brought forth other divinities, the most important of which in relation to the
development of the rest of the Creation Myth, were the Titans (the "Overreachers").

Theia, who would become an early goddess of light

Rhea, an earth goddess who would later become mother of the Olympian Gods

Themis, another earth or mother goddess

Mnemosyne, a personification of Memory

Phoebe, who would become an early moon goddess

Tethys, who would become the most ancient goddess of the sea
The sons were named:
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
Oceanus, the first born of the Titans, both the god of the primordial river and the river itself, who
flowed from the Underworld in a circular and never ending stream around the edge of the earth

Coeus, who would become the father of Leto, the mother of the Olympian Gods Apollo and Artemis

Crius, who would become the father of Astraeus

Hyperion, who would become an early god of the son

Iapetus, who would become the father of Prometheus

Cronus, the youngest of the titans, but the craftiest and most daring.
Though not as well known as the Titans who came after them, the first children of Gaia and Uranus
were three giants: Cortus, Briareus and Gyges. Each of these brothers had 50 heads and 100 arms.
These Hundred-Handed giants would be the mightiest of all Gaia's and Uranus's offspring. Their great
strength and imposing presence caused even Titans and later Olympians to quake with fear.
Gaia also lay with her other son Pontus ("Sea"). She gave birth to five children: Nereus, a sea god
who would become known as the Old Man, was renowned for his truthfulness, gentle manner and
fairness. Phorcys, another sea god and Thaumas were the brothers of Nereus. They also had two sisters:
Ceto, a sea monster and Eyrybia.
Nereus fathered fifty lovely sea nymphs in union with Doris, a daughter of Oceanus.
Thaumas had a liaison with Electra, thus bringing forth the wind-swift Harpies and Iris, divine
messenger and goddess of the rainbow.
Phorcys lay with his sister Ceto, and they produced numerous monstrous creatures: Among them were
the Graiai (women already old at birth), the Gorgons (one of them was Medusa) and the hideous
Echidna, nymph above the waist and serpent below it.
Echidna in turn would mate with Typhoeus, to produce Cerberus, Lerna Hydra, Orthos and
Chimaira. Two more creatures, the Sphinx and the Nemean Lion would be the offspring of the mating
between Orthos and Chimaira. Most of these creatures, play a significant role in the heroic exploits of
the Greek heroes Hercules, Perseus etc..
The next children born to Gaia and Uranus were no less intimidating. They were the three Cyclopes:
Brontes, Steropes and Arges. Each had only one eye, yet their enormous stature and mighty limbs more
than made up for their limited vision. Inventive smiths and builders, they would become the forgers of
thunder and lightning.
Uranus oppresses his children
In the development of the creation myth,Uranus proved to be not such a fatherly figure. Because of
his being immortal, he never wanted his power to be diminished and pass the torch to the earlier
generation, as is the case in the mortal world. Being intimidated by an oracle stating that he would be
overthrown by one of his children, he performed some not so fatherly acts:
First, in order to prevent the giants from becoming a threat, he hurled all of them (the Cyclopes and
the Hundred Hand Giants) into the deepest recesses of Tartarus, condemning them to a life of
imprisonment.
As for the Titans, no sooner had Gaia given birth to one of these children, than Uranus thrust the baby
back into the darkness of their mother's womb. Forcing his own children to remain in the deepest, darkest
hollows of the Earth, Uranus refused to let them into the light again.
As a result, all of his children hated Uranus with a passion. This was especially true in the case of
Cronus, who could not wait for an opportunity to seize the power from his cruel father.
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The castration of Uranus
The Birth of Aphrodite (Museum of Rome)
Gaia grew very uncomfortable, with all her mighty children in
her womb, condemned by Uranus. She thus devised a scheme to
avenge her cruel husband:
She crafted an enormous and very sharp sickle of iron. She then
pleaded her children to take action to punish their father, but
everyone was reluctant, except Cronus who volunteered to perform
the horrible deed.
When given the chance when Uranus was in a compromising
position, Cronus severed his genitals with the iron and then hurled
the castrated organ into the sea.
In the sea, the organ bobbed on the water, giving rise to foam. As the myth goes, from this foam
emerged the fully formed goddess of love: Aphrodite (whose name in Greek just means that, "emerging
out of foam"). Naked and riding on a scallop shell, Aphrodite first touched land on the island of
Cythera, but found the place too small for her comfort. Instead she stepped ashore on Cyprus.
From Uranus's severed manhood, fell countless drops of blood, which spattered all over Gaia. From
this strange conception, Gaia bore many children, including:

The Erinyes (Furies) - Alecto, Tisiphone and Megara, who avenge perjury crimes against one's
own family (such as patricide)

The race of Giants, who were born in full armor, with spears in their arms

The ash tree nymphs, who would soon come to inhabit all forests of Greece.
The New Generation of Gods
After gaining their own freedom, the Titans made Cronus their king and freed the Cyclopes and their
Hundred Handed brothers from Tartarus. However, due to their arrogant nature and their resistance to
authority, the latter (Cyclopes and Giants) were soon thrown back to Tartarus by Cronus.
As for the twelve titans, they retained their freedom and began pairing off, breeding a new generation of
gods. Of the dozen, at least eight - four brothers and four sisters - married and had children:

Theia and Hyperion - both associated with the sun - gave birth to Helius ("Sun"), and two
daughters: Selene ("Moon") and Eos ("Dawn")

Phoebe and Coeus - had two daughters: Leto, the future mother of Apollo and Artemis, and
Asteria

Oceanus and Tethys - their union was the most prolific of all: Their offspring included all the
3,000 rivers - each with its own (usually male) god - and the 3,000 female Oceanids

Cronus and Rhea - this was by far the most glamorous union of all, since it produced six divine
children, who would later inhabit Mount Olympus and thus become known as the Olympians. These
were three daughters and three sons: Hera, Demeter, Hestia, Hades, Poseidon and finally Zeus.
History Repeats Itself
As lord of the immortals, Cronus became more of a tyrant than his father. His parents, Gaia and Uranus, had
warned him when he first seized power, that one day he was destined to be overthrown by one of his sons. But
Cronus relished his power and would not tolerate any potential challengers of his domination.
To secure his power, he came up with a scheme that was even crueler than what his father conceived:
Instead of burdening his wife with his children as his father did, he assumed the burden himself by swallowing
each child, as soon as he or she emerged from his or her mother's womb.
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Filled with rage at her husband's unbelievable cruelty, Rhea pleaded with her parent's to devise a scheme to
save her sixth child, Zeus, as soon as he was born. Gaia and Uranus, both being aware of the father and son
destiny, quickly consented to help Rhea.
Zeus, the Master of the Greek Universe
According to Greek Mythology, Zeus was the sixth child of the titans Cronus and Rhea.
As the Creation Myth goes, after the dethronement of Uranus as the supreme god of the ancient Greek
Universe, Cronus, being the new leader, became very insecure about his position of power, feeling threatened
by the prospect of one of his children seizing power from him. So, he came up with the hideous decision to
swallow all of his divine children, as soon they were born.
Cronus's wife Rhea, grieving for her lost children, grew to be very disgusted by her husband's unbelievable
show of cruelty. So when she became pregnant with Zeus, she sought her parents’ assistance, Uranus and Gaia,
into rescuing the child she was carrying in her womb.
Growing Up
Gaia and Uranus, eager to help their distressed daughter, quietly sent her to
Lyktos in Crete. There, in the dead of night, gave birth to Zeus and
immediately turned him over to her mother Gaia. Gaia hid her grandchild in a
cave on Mount Dicte and nourished him with food and love.
Meanwhile, Rhea returned to Cronus bearing a large stone, concealed in
clothes. Cronus, without bothering to examine the bundle more thoroughly,
swallowed it whole.
Rhea deceives her husband
The god grew up in Crete, in the care of the ash nymphs Adrasteia and Io
and the goat nymph Amaltheia, who nursed him with her own milk. By the
time he attained manhood, the father of gods had become invincibly strong and
swift.
As the myth goes, as a show of gratitude for her nurturing, Zeus later
transformed the goat nymph Amaltheia onto the constellation Capricorn. He also fashioned one of her horns
into the famed Cornucopia. This "horn of plenty" always contains the food or drink that his or her owner
desires. What's more, no matter how much anyone takes from it, the Cornucopia never becomes empty.
Confrontation with Cronus
Before confronting his father, the young god sought the consultation of his cousin Metis, a wise Oceanid.
Metis advised him to volunteer himself as Cronus's cupbearer and then put into action a plan that he would
carry out with the assistance of his mother Rhea.
Rhea was quick to embrace Metis's plan, when explained to her by her son. She prepared an emetic potion
and gave that to Zeus, so that he would give it to Cronus, being his private waiter.
As soon as Cronus drank the potion, he began throwing up: First came the stone that Rhea had substituted
for her youngest child, then the god's two brothers and three sisters followed: Poseidon, Hades, Hestia,
Demeter and Hera.
All emerged unharmed. By unanimous decision, the siblings chose Zeus to lead them to a war against
Cronus and the rest of the mighty Titans.
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Clash of the Titans
Not all of the Titans chose to fight against Zeus and his
allies, fearing that they would be overwhelmed by their power.
In fact, of the original twelve Titans, only five, all males,
decided to side with their brother Cronus.
The second generation of titans-the children of the original
Titans-, had their reservations to get involved, as well. Helius
refused to take sides, remaining neutral, while Prometheus
Clash of the Titans (Delphi Museum)
and Epimetheus, the children of Iapetus, did not support their
father and sided with Zeus and the rest of their cousins, instead.
The outcome of war
The war did not resolve itself swiftly. After all, it was a fierce battle
between the mighty Titans and the all powerful children of Cronus and
the outcome was very hard to predict.
The daily clashes and combats lasted for a whole ten years, with no
obvious sign of retreat from any of the two sides.
Heeding an oracle decreed by his grandmother Gaia which said that
the balance of the war would tip in his favor if he forged an alliance with
the mighty hundred handed giants and the Cyclopes, Zeus headed
straight to Tartarus to set them free.
As soon as all six of them were set free, the giants contrived new
weapons, which would definitely tilt the balance of war:

For Zeus, the Cyclopes forged thunder and lightning

To Hades, the Cyclopes offered the helmet of darkness, a magical
hood that makes its wearer invisible

For Poseidon, they forged a trident, which would become the
emblem of the future god of the sea.
Thanks to the new reinforcements, the army of Cronus's children
finally managed to crush their opposition. In order to eliminate any
possibility of any resurgence of the hostilities in the future, Zeus decided
to keep all the Titans under lock and key in the darkest depths of
Tartarus. In addition, the three hundred handed giants stood watch
outside the walls of Tartarus.
Statue
Museum)
of
Atlas
(Naples
The only titan that escaped eternal punishment was Atlas, the son of
Iapetus and brother of Prometheus and Epimetheus. In the course of the
war, Atlas was assigned as successor of Cronus in the leadership of the
Titans.
For him. Zeus reserved a special kind of punishment: The god placed Atlas at the westernmost end of the
earth and ordered him to lift up the sky and bear the weight of the heavens forevermore on his head and
shoulders.
As for his supporters-the six Titanesses, Oceanus, Prometheus and Epimetheus-, Zeus rewarded them by
letting them retain their places of honor and their functions.
By remembering his supporters, Zeus made sure that his reign-unlike those of his father and grandfatherwould last forever.
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The battle of the Giants
To Zeus's dismay, his toils with his enemies did not seem to end with
the Titans. He had to face another group of formidable adversaries, the
mighty Giants who according to the Creation Myth, had sprung from the
blood of the castrated genitals of Uranus.
These, more than one hundred in total, were super human monsters, had
long hair and long beards which covered their reptilian scales. However,
unlike the Titans, these were not immortal.
Athena crushing Engeladus
According to the myth, these Giants were persuaded into revolting by
Gaia, who became enraged when she saw the cruel punishment that her
grandson had inflicted on her sons, the Titans.
Following an old prophecy which decreed that the Giants would be defeated if the gods allied themselves
with a mortal, Zeus sought the assistance of Hercules to fend off his opponents.
The final clash with the Giants took place in Phlegra, an area of the northern Halkidiki peninsula.
According to the myth, Aphrodite used her beauty to deceive the Giants into following her into a cave, where
Hercules killed them all by crushing them beneath huge rocks, where they exploded and caused volcanic
eruptions.
Athena's help played also a significant role in the overall victory. After a long standing wrestle, she pinned
down the mighty Giant Engeladus beneath the island of Sicily in Italy. She also killed Pallas and used his skin
to make her shield.
After all the Giants were finally defeated, the ruler of Olympus was left but with one enemy: The monster
Typhoeus, Gaia's last child from her union with Tartarus.
This was a hundred headed giant that spewed flames and let out high pitched cries. He was taller than the
highest mountains and his entire body was covered in feathers.
Typhoeus was married to Echidna, a monster who was half nymph and half snake. She gave birth to their
monster children Chimaira, Lerna Hydra and the hounds Orthus and Cerberus.
After an adventurous and fearsome battle with all the Olympians which covered a wide span of area from
Greece to the northern shores of Egypt, Typhoeus was finally subdued and ended up in the island of Sicily,
where he was crushed under Mount Aetna.
King of Kings
As described above, Zeus, after all the conflicts and long standing battles, finally emerged as the
unquestionable master of the Universe.
His reference of being the "king of kings" derives from his name, which in Greek is Dias. In all IndoEuropean languages, dias derives from the root div, meaning divine.
According to ancient Greeks, the mighty god lived above the earth in eternal light, among the clouds. In
Greek, he is sometimes referred to as nepheleigeretis or kelaenephis, from the nephelai (clouds). He is master
of storms and ruler of winds; he also rules thunder, lightning and rain, fertilizes the earth and watches over the
universe.
In addition, he was a protector of strangers (Xenios Dias, from the Greek xenos or foreigner), as well as a
protector of vows; he was an punisher, but he was also caring.
In summary, Zeus embodied the divine dimension of the code of ethics that ancient Greeks aspired to live
by.
The god's divine affairs
In terms of number of amorous adventures (both with immortals and immortals) and offspring which
resulted from these adventures, Zeus by far outnumbers all the Greek gods altogether.
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To interpret this fact, one must consider that, through mythology, the ancient Greeks, apart from their effort
to provide an allegorical description of the elements of nature, they expressed their deepest desire to associate
themselves, through genealogical links, with the king of the immortals.
According to Homeric tradition, the god's only legal bride was his sister Hera, with whom he had
Hephaestus. Other myths recognize him as the father of several of Hera's children: Ares, Eileithya and Hebe.
Other ancient writers claim that Zeus was married to Metis, the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys. Metis
personified wisdom and science, which the god absorbed by swallowing her while she was pregnant. The
reason for doing this is that he wanted to escape the ruling of an omen, according to which Metis would give
birth to a child who would be more powerful than his father.
As a result, Athena sprung from Zeus's head.
He was also said to have wed the Titan Themis, the personification of law and order, both natural as well as
moral. The children out of this union were:" the three Horae (Seasons): Eunomia (Law and Order), Dike
(Justice) and Eirene (Peace)." The three Moirai (Fates): the sisters Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos who,
according to Hesiod's Theogony, they were not daughters of Zeus but of Nyx and Erebus.
With the birth of these six daughters, Zeus completed the job of creation: bringing order to Chaos.
His third alleged bride was Themis's sister Mnemosyne (Memory), with whom he lay for nine nights, to
give birth to the nine Muses (sources of inspiration and lesser gods of the sky).
With his sister Demeter, he had Persephone who, against her mother's wishes, she would later become the
Queen of the Underworld.
He also lay with Leto, daughter of the Titans and Phoebe, with whom he fathered the Olympians Apollo
and Artemis.
With Oceanus's daughter Eurynome, Zeus fathered the Charites (Graces). These were Aglaia (meaning
"beauty" or "splendor"), Euphrosyne (meaning "the quality of having a good heart") and Thalia (meaning
"thriving abundance").
The god's affairs with mortals
Apart from deities, Zeus could not resist the charms of mortal women as well, by whom he fathered an
impressive array of heroes, rulers and kings:

In Laconia, by turning himself into a swan, the god lay with Leda, who gave births to the twins Castor
and Polydeuces and Helen of Troy.

With the nymph Taygette, he fathered Lacedaemon, a king and hero of the Spartans

In Boetia, he lay ,in the form of satyr, with Antiope, daughter of the river god Asopus and fathered the
Theban dioscuri, Amphion and Zethus

With Alcmene, whom she tricked by appearing disguised as her husband Electryon, he fathered
Hercules

Disguised as an eagle, he lay with Aegina, daughter of the river god Asopus, and fathered Aecus,
founder of the Aeaceians

In Arcadia, he lay with the nymph Callisto and fathered Arcas, king and founder of the Arcadians

In Cyllene, he lay with Maia, one of the Pleiades (daughters of the Titan Atlas and Pleione) who gave
birth to the Olympian god Hermes

With Niobe, daughter of the Peloponnesean king Phoroneus, the god had Argus, hero of the city state
of Argus

Disguised as a bull, he abducted Europa and took her to Crete, where he lay with her and fathered
Minos, who would later become ruler of Crete

With Io, daughter of the river god Inachus, he fathered the Egyptian god Epaphus
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
Dione, daughter of Aether and Gaia, bore him the goddess Aphrodite (however, according to the
version written in Hesiod's Theogony, Aphrodite was born out of the white foam that was created,
when Cronus threw his father Uranus's castrated genitals into the sea)

Transformed into a shower of gold, Zeus united with Danae and fathered Perseus

With Electra, he fathered Dardanus

With Semele, he fathered the Olympian god Dionysus
Apart from women, the god was also said to be overwhelmed by the
male beauty of the Trojan youth Ganymedes, son of Tros and
Callirhoe, whom he kidnapped and assigned him to be his official
cupbearer (that is, like a private waiter).
Abduction of Europa
As a result of her husband's countless flirtations, Hera, did not
accept his adventures passively. So, the mighty god as well as the
objects of his desire, were frequently the target of her rage and
jealousy. Yet, in spite of the couple's terrible quarrels, Zeus was
considered by the ancient Greeks to be the protector of marriage and
known as Gamilios Zeus.
The God's Cult
Sanctuaries where the Greeks made offerings to the almighty father of gods can be found on almost all the
mountaintops of Greece.
The most well known of these were the Oracle at Dodona, the Temple of Zeus at Olympia and the
Temple of Ammon in an oasis on the east bank of the Nile, in ancient Egypt.
Poseidon, the God of the Sea
Poseidon, god of water and the sea, was an important deity for
the sea-faring Greeks. He lived at the bottom of the ocean and
used his trident – a gift from the Cyclopes – to rule the waves.
He was also the god of earthquakes and could rock the earth,
which he also kept floating on the sea; he used his trident to create
straits, ports, islands and springs.
A son of Cronus and Rhea, the god was considered by some
ancient writers to be older than Zeus, thus he was always bitter at
his brother for snatching power from him.
By other accounts, however, Poseidon was younger than Zeus
and was spared from his father bulimia because his mother hid him among a flock of sheep.
Relationship with brother Zeus
Poseidon, despite his initial reaction to his brother’s assumption of power on
Olympus, he finally succumbed to his rule.
He allied himself with Zeus in the battles against the Giants and repeatedly
helped Zeus’s lovers. For example, he calmed the sea so Zeus, disguised as a
bull, could cross it with Europa.
Poseidon
crushes
Polybotes in the battle
against the Giants
He also gave refuge to Leto, raising the island of Delos from the sea, and
assisted Io, who was pursued by Hera across the sea.
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Relationship with sister Hera
The god of the sea and Hera collaborated to overthrow Zeus, then found
themselves opposing each other over rule of Argos. Their dispute was ratified in
court, which ratified Hera’s jurisdiction over the city.
Angry, the mighty god punished the Argives by drying their rivers, then
sending a huge tidal wave to flood the land. To appease the god, the Argives built
a temple in honor of Poseidon Proclysteios (meaning "the bringer of the flood").
Losing a contest to Athena
Poseidon’s application to become the patron of Athens was as unsuccessful as
his bid for Argos.
The Athenians chose Athena, who had given them the gift of the olive tree.
The god of the sea reacted by flooding the whole area around Athens.
Statue of Poseidon of
Milos
According to other accounts, Poseidon competed against other gods as well for
the patronage of other Greek cities, but always lost.
Married to a Nereid
Poseidon’s legal bride was Amphitrite. According to Hesiod, she was a sea
goddess – a Nereid- one of the seven daughters of Nereus and Doris.
Alteratively, according to Apollodorus, she was one of the Oceanids, born to
Oceanus and Tethys. Still, according to a third account, she was a daughter of
the Titan Atlas.
Poseidon first caught sight of his bride to be on the island of Naxos. After
falling in love with her, he kidnapped her. At first, she was reluctant to
succumb to the god’s love and sought the assistance of Oceanus or Atlas, to
help her hide.
However, she was betrayed by Delphinus, whom the god rewarded by
turning him into a constellation.
A nereid
monster
and
a
sea
From their union, the divine couple had three children: Tritron, Rhode and
Benthesicyme.
Amphitite became queen of the sea and protrectress of sea animals. She was named Poseidonia and she was
worshipped on the islands of Tenos, Syros, and Lesbos.
Extramarital affairs
Following the example set by his mighty brother Zeus, the sea god had a range of extramarital affairs as
well. Some of these are the following:

As his brother Zeus, he fell in love with his sister Demeter. To escape his courtship, she changed
herself into a mare and hid herself among the horses of Ogygus. Poseidon, however, changed himself
into a stallion and took her by force. From their union, they had a daughter whose name was a secret
revealed only at mysteries and the divine horse Areion which had a human voice.

Disguised as a horse, the god lay with Medusa who once was a beautiful Centaur. As the myth goes,
because of the fact that their union took place in the Temple of Athena, the goddess became enraged
with this sacrilegious act and punished Medusa by turning her into a beast. From her union with the god
of the sea, Medusa bore two famous horses, Chrysaeor and Pegasus, who sprang from her body when
Perseus beheaded her.

From the god's union with Gaia, the giant Antaeus was born. He is mentioned to be the king of city of
Isara in Libya. According to the legend, he was a formidable wrestler who fought with every stranger
who visited his land. He was said to draw his strength from his contact with earth. He was finally
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defeated by Hercules, who strangled him after lifting him up in the air, thus preventing him to gather
strength from the earth.

Amynone, a daughter of Danaus and Europa, was another one of the god's lovers. Their affair began
when the god rescued Amynone from a satyr who was trying to rape her. After their intimate contact,
Poseidon struck the ground with his trident and made water flow from the spring of Amynone, later
named the spring of Lerna. From their union, they had a son named Nauplius, who later founded the
city of Nauplion in Greece.

The god also had an affair with Aethra, a daughter of Pittheus the king of Troezen and bride of
Aegeus. The child born from their union was Theseus, the renowned hero of Athens.
Numerous children
As is the case with all Olympian gods, Greek mythology is abundant with mythical figures who were
claimed to be sons or daughters of the mighty ruler of the seas. These included founders of cities, kings, as
well as monsters and beasts who ravaged ancient Greece.
Some of the numerous offspring of the god are the following:

Founders of cities: Owing to the ancient Greek’s desire to claim divine ancestry, Poseidon was alleged
to be the father of many children, who later became founders of cities or tribes. Some of these were
Eurypulus, the king of Cyrene whom Poseidon fathered with Atlas’s daughter Celaeno; Byzantus,
the founder of Byzantium who was born from the god’s union with Ceroessa and Dyrraheios, the
eponym of Dyrahheion in Elyria.

One of the cruelest king in Egypt, Busiris, was said to have divine origin from the god of the sea. He
used to sacrifice all strangers who came to Egypt to Zeus, until he was finally killed by Hercules.
Another notorious king son of the god, who forced strangers to wrestle with him to their death, was
Cercyon, king of Eleusis. He then suffered the same fate, that is killed through wrestling, at the hands of
Theseus.

In his mythical voyage from Troezen to Athens, Theseus managed to kill three of the legendary
monsters who ravaged the area around Athens, who were said to have Poseidon as their father. These
were Sceiron, Sinis (aka Pinebender) and Procrustes (Stretcher).

Another son of the god (and allegedly Aphrodite), who was in the habit of challenging strangers to
wrestling matches, was Eryx, a legendary hero from Sicily, Italy. He was also killed by Hercules, in his
mythical journey to Sicily, with the cattle of Geryon.

Poseidon was also the father of Cyclops Polyphemus, who was made famous on account of his
encounter with Odysseus, in his mythical voyage back to Ithaca, after the end of the Trojan War.

Another interesting story with one of the god's offspring, was the story of Orion, the famous hunter
who, after his death, became a constellation in the sky.
There are many accounts about the life and whereabouts of Orion. According to the most prominent
version, the goddess Artemis was smitten by the youth’s beauty, a fact which upset her brother Apollo who
tricked her into killing Orion. To console herself, Artemis immortalized her lover by turning him into a
constellation, placing him in the heavens next to the hound Sirius.
Mythology also links Orion to the Greek island Chios. Orion visited this island to rid it of wild animals,
then fell in love with Merope, daughter of the island’s king Oenopion (the son of Dionysus and Ariadne). To
avenge his daughter, the king blinded Orion, who then regained his sight by carrying one of Hephaestus’s
workers on his shoulders as a guide to the east, where Helius could be found.
The God's Cult
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Being the god of the sea, Poseidon was worshipped in all
coastal cities and islands in ancient Greece. Sanctuaries dedicated
to the god were usually found on capes, or near springs, rivers,
lakes or caves.
One of the most famous god's temples is the one located at
Cape Sounion.
Numerous cities also bear his name. One of these was Troezen,
which was originally named Posidonia. In addition, cities by the
name of Posidonia existed in Lower Italy and on the island of
Syros.
Trident drawing on ancient Greek
coin
Rituals and celebrations in the god’s honour usually included
sacrifices of horses and bulls, who were later thrown into the sea.
Fish, pigs and wild boar were also sacrificed in the god’s honor.
The cult of the sea god was most prominent in Peloponnese, and this is evidenced by the numerous
remnants of temples dedicated to him.
By far, the most important of these was the temple at the Isthmus of Corinthus, where panhellenic athletic
competitions known as the Isthmia were held every three years at the end of April, between the second and the
third years of each Olympiad.
According to legend, the founder of these games was Theseus, after he rid the land around Athens of the
god’s three bandit sons.
On the Greek islands, themples dedicated to the god of the sea are found in Euboea, Skyros in the northern
Sporades and Tinos and Syros in the Cyclades.
He was also worshipped in Greek colonies, especially at Syvari and Taranta in Sicily.
Hades, the "Unseen One"
Hades was the ruler of the Underworld, son of Cronus and Rhea and
brother of Zeus and Poseidon.
His name is believed to derive from Aidoneus, or Unseen One, from the
ancient root Fid or idein (to see).
In the Iliad, Homer mentions that the king of Darkness had a magic
helmet or kyne, made from the hound of a dog (kyn in ancient Greek). This
helmet, which made his wearer invisible, was a gift given to the ruler of the
underworld from the Cyclopes, to help him and his brother Zeus overpower
the Titans.
The Myth of Persephone
The god figures in one of the most well known myths of Greek Mythology, the
myth of Persephone, daughter of goddess Demeter.
God's passionate adventures
Unlike his divine siblings, Hades did not have many romantic adventures.
Mythology only mentions one affair with the nymph Menthe whom Persephone
and Demeter relentlessly pursued and killed. After she was dead, her lover the king
of darkness turned her into a plant, the mint.
On another occasion, Leuce, Oceanus's daughter is mentioned as the god's lover.
The abduction of
Persephone
When she died, she grew into a silver leafed poplar-the tree that grew in the
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Elysian fields. According to Mythology, Elysian Fields refers to the mythical section of the Underworld,
where the souls of the heroes and the mortals who had led a virtuous life, were resting in eternity.
Hercules, during his trip to the Underworld, made a wreath from the poplar's branches which he wore when
he came back to the world of the living.
The Almighty King of Darkeness
Merciless, tough, untamed, unemotional, hated but rich and powerful from the souls of the dead, Hades was
the great judge of mortals, when facing their unescapable fate.
He was often honored with god Dionysus and there are various versions about the exact location of his
kingdom.
According to the Iliad, he lived beneath the earth, while in Odyssey he is said to live beyond Oceanus in
the land of the Cimmerions, which is bounded by the rivers Acheron, Pyriphlegethon, Cocytus, and Styx.
The gates of the Underworld were guarded by the monstrous dog Cerberus, who had three (or, by other
accounts, fifty) heads with which he devoured whoever dared reach his master's palace.
The ancient Greeks identified several locations with the entrance to the god's underworld kingdom. These
places usually featured openings in the earth and included Taenarum in the southern Peloponnese, Lake
Acherousia, Kymi, or Hippius Colonus in Athens.
Hestia, the Virgin Hearth Goddess
Hestia was the first-born daughter of Cronus and Rhea and was the most
ancient fire deity. She thus occupied a position of honor in the ancient Greek
Olympian Pantheon.
Being the ancient Greek hearth goddess, Hestia had a very distinguished place
in the ancient Greek religion, because the hearth itself took center stage in the
lives of ancient Greeks.
The hearth was not only vital to daily activities and needs, but served a
religious purpose as well. On each hearth, ancient Greeks built a small altar for
worshipping all the deities which protected their home.
Thus, the hearth was personified into a deity, which protected and sheltered
family life from physical threat and in addition, safeguarded the adherence to
high moral values.
The protection offered by the hearth goddess, however, was not limited to the family circle in the strict
sense, but also it extended to the city life. In ancient Greece, each city or settlement, had a central hearth, called
Prytaneio, where a fire burned continuously in honor of the goddess.
This is where foreign emissaries, distinguished visitors and benefactors were received and granted
hospitality. When a city founded a colony, the settlers took with them a torch that was lit from the sacred flame
of their prytaneio. This torch was then used to light the new hearth in their new homeland.
Cosmic interpretations through the myths
According to ancient mythic accounts, the gods Poseidon and Apollo sought to unite with Hestia. However,
the goddess rejected their request, having vowed to protect her virginity.
In appreciation for her steadfastness, her heavenly father Zeus rewarded her by installing her in the middle
of the home where the hearth is, thus putting her in the most prominent place of the ancient Greek home.
In this context, the hearth goddess is identified with Gaia (Earth), since in ancient times it was believed that
Earth was in the centre of the universe.
Indeed, the notion of the goddess being pure and virgin is in line with the notion that ancient Greeks had of
their gods, in relation to their cosmos, as they perceived it: The sun (Apollo) sees Gaia (Hestia) but does not
unite with her; the sea (Poseidon) embraces her, but does not cover her.
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The goddess in ancient Greek art
In ancient geek literature, there is unfortunately scarce evidence about the way that the Greek hearth
goddess was portrayed in art. Archaeologists have yet to unearth any findings which would overturn the
prevalent theory that the goddess's rather vague personality did not inspire many of the ancient Greek artists.
There are, however, some unconfirmed references to a statue by Glaucus (fifth century B.C), a work by
Scopas (fourth century B.C), as well as the existence of statues of Hestia in the antechamber of the temple of
Zeus at Olympia, at Pherae in Achaia, and at the Prytaneion in Athens.
The famous relief of the goddess dressed in a simple garment and her right hand raised towards the sky, has
been dated to Roman times and is often attributed to either Demeter or her daughter, Persephone.
It is worth noting that Roman paid special tribute to Hestia, whom they called Vesta.
Demeter, the ancient Greek earth goddess
Demeter, the goddess of agriculture, was the daughter of Cronus and
Rhea, so she shared the fate of her siblings Poseidon,Hades, Hera and
Hestia until Zeus deposed her father.
It is widely believed that her name is derived from the word da or di,
which meant earth, and mitir, which means mother-hence, Dimitra.
Contrary to those who consider Demeter to be a Greek goddess,
identifying her as the evolution of the Great Mother Goddess, Gaia, the
historian Herodotus claims that she is the Egyptian goddess Isis, who
was introduced in Greece by the Pelasgians and then the Arcadians.
The most important sanctuaries dedicated to the goddess of earth were
found in Thessaly, Arcadia, Attica and Boetia.
The Myth of Persephone
The most widely known myth linked with the goddess of earth, is the
myth involving the abduction of her beloved kore (daughter)
Persephone from Hades, the ruler of the Underworld.
In fact, this myth is one of the most widely known of Greek
Mythology, as it represented the ancient Greek version of the common
theme running across the conceptual foundation of many religions,
relating to the eternal cycle of life-death-resurrection.
Demeter seated on a throne,
greeting
Persephone
her
daughter
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Eleusinian Mysteries
Closely linked with the worship of the earth goddess, the Eleusinian
Mysteries were the most respected of the sacred mysteries of the ancient
Greeks and revealed to the initiated the great secret of life and death, as
well as what happens to the soul after death.
These mysteries were probably part of the worship rituals of the
Pelasgians and were conducted by the royal families of Eleusis. These
rituals gained fame in the seventh century B.C., when the kingdom of
Eleusis was occupied by Athens.
There were two Eleusinian mysteries: the great and the lesser
mysteries.
The lesser mysteries were basically preparatory rituals (cleansing and
fasting of the initiated) and took place during the month of February.
Depiction of initiation ritual
The great mysteries took place during the month of September and
lasted for nine days, the same length of time that the goddess wandered
in Eleusinian Mysteries
the earth in search of her daughter Persephone, according to the relevant
myth. Before the onset of the rituals, Athenians dispatched spondophorous (heralds) throughout Greece, with
the mission to invite observers and declare a two-month holy truce, in an effort to cease all hostilities among
cities, that were probably taking place at the time.
Unfortunately, because of the secrecy shrouding the whole event, not much is documented in ancient
writings of the time, about what went on during the ceremonies. From the little information available, it is
known that a central theme of the rituals was the dramatic recreation of the myth of Demeter and Persephone.
In summary, the Eleusinian mysteries offered the initiated the prospect of a better earthly life, but also the
hope and expectation of divine eternity after death, as the mysteries preached the immortality of the soul.
The goddess’s other traits
Because of the similarity between the female womb and the earth (both nurture a
seed until it is ready to emerge into its earthly life), Demeter, apart from her
function as goddess of earth, was also the goddess of marriage who blessed
children.
At weddings, prayers were offered to the goddess for eugony and fertility.
The goddess thus also became the protectress of women and was known as
Thesmophorus, or she who protects laws and institutions, women’s lives and
marriage.
The goddess offering
wheat to Eleusinian hero
Triptolemus, to initiate
humans to agriculture
Every year, the Athenian women celebrated the goddess of earth and her
daughter Persephone at the Thesmophoria, a three-day festival dedicated to the
fertility of both nature and humankind.
The goddess was also the protectress of society, since people formed settlements
around agriculture and created common laws and institutions.
In ancient Greece, the dead, after they were buried in earth, they were known as Demetrians, to signify the
fact that their body’s cycle of life had ended and had returned to earth.
Their souls, however, descended to Hades where they were greeted by Persephone. Thus, it is manifested in
the most symbolical way that the divine power who gives earthly life (in this context Demeter) and the other
who gives immortal life (Persephone) are closely bound in a cycle of life, death and resurrection through the
immortalization of the souls.
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Hera, the Mother of Gods
The queen of the gods, bride and sister of Zeus, Hera was one of the greatest
deities of the ancient Greeks and later of the Romans. She was a daughter of Cronus
and Rhea, and like her brothers and sisters, she was swallowed by her father.
As the myth goes, she was spit out again, only when Cronus was given an emetic
herb by Zeus.
The goddess's birthplace
In Greek antiquity, many Greek cities claimed the honour of being recognized as
the birthplace of the great goddess. According to various local myths, Hera was born in Argos and delivered to
the daughters of the river-god Asterion, on Euboea, in Akraia, and in Procymna. In other accounts, the
goddess was born on the island of Samos, in the Peloponnesean provinces of Arcadia and Corinth, and
elsewhere.
The origin of her name has never been quite clear, although it has been suggested that it was an Aeolian
corruption of the Sanskrit word swar, which means sky.
In any case, it is certain that Hera was a genuine Greek goddess, patron of agriculture and vegetation-an
identity she acquired after her union with Zeus, when she became the queen of the heavens.
Bride of Zeus
In Greek mythology, there are numerous versions about where and how Hera
and Zeus united for the first time.
Homer, in his Iliad, claims that their union took place in the land of the
Hesperides, while Pausanias claims that Zeus disguised himself as a cuckoo to
seduce his wife on Euboea.
The goddess fulfilled the ancient Greek profile of the ideal woman beautiful, modest and completely faithful to her husband, despite his numerous
affairs with other women.
Her husband's gross infidelity made her always furious and very vindictive.
Their quarrels became increasingly frequent and intense.
Hera and Zeus
In one such moment of frustration, it is said that the goddess gave birth to the
war god Ares, as a result of her mere contact with a flower.
According to other myths, she also gave birth to Hebe, the goddess of eternal youth, after simply dining on
a lettuce.
Other myths attribute many children to Zeus and his wife, and suggest that Hephaestus was the fruit of
their pre-marital relationship, while Ares and Angelos were born after the two gods were married.
The goddess's rage at her husband's amorous adventures knew no bounds.
At one time, she even conspired with Athena and Poseidon to overthrow him. She would have succeeded if
Thetis had not rushed to Zeus's assistance by bringing the hideous Hecatoncheiras Briareus (one of the
hundred handed giants) from Tartarus to Mount Olympus and seating him next to Zeus, thus scaring off the
rebels and forcing them to cancel their plans.
The Great Schemer
In her desperate passion to take revenge for her husband's countless flirtations, the queen of gods turned her
rage against his lovers, both immortal (nymphs) and mortal as well as against the children who were born from
her husband's relationships. Some of her desperate outbursts of jealously are listed below:

Delayed Alcmene's childbirth by nine days, then sent a serpent to strangle the infant Hercules. Click
here for details.
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
She persuaded the pregnant Semele to demand that Zeus appear before her in his godly form and sent
the titans to dismember god Dionysus

She drove Ino and her husband Athamas mad because they agreed to raise the infant Dionysus

She relentlessly pursued Leto making it impossible for Leto to rest for a minute to give birth. She then
sent a snake to attack her hopeless victim of her rage

She turned Callisto into a bear and sent Artemis to kill her

She chased Io, who had been changed into a cow, and then had the many-eyed Argo to guard her.
The goddess's tendency for revengefulness was shown in other cases as well: A prime example was the
crisis triggered by Paris, who chose Aphrodite over her in the famous beauty contest that later led to the
outbreak of the Trojan War.
In a show of spitefulness, in the Trojan campaign that ensued, Hera took the side of the Greeks, thus
bringing many calamities to the Trojan camp.
In another instance, she was equally harsh in her punishment of the daughters of Proetus, either because
they claimed to be more beautiful than herself, or because they showed contempt for her sanctuary at Argos.
The Goddess's Cult
The queen of Olympus was worshipped in all Greek cities and
foreign colonies.
Outside Greece, her Temple at Lacinia near Croton was the centre
of a massive celebration; the head of the statue of Hera Lacinia was
the symbol of the alliance formed by the Greek cities of Lower Italy
and Sicily.
In the Greek world, the main centres of the worship of the goddess
were at Argos, Sparta, and Mycenae, while in historic times, there
were temples dedicated to her-known as Heraion-at Argos and on the
island of Samos.
Grand festivals were held in honour of the goddess throughout
Greece. These festivals were known as Heraia and included athletic
competitions, processions, dancing and animal sacrifices known as Hecatombae.
Sanctuary of Hera at Argos
The goddess's gold throne, sceptre and crown were the symbols of her power. Her favourite animals and
birds were the peacock, the cow and the cuckoo. Her favourite plants were the lily and the pomegranate.
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Greek Myths: Stories of Adventure and Intrigue
A definition that I liked a lot when trying to explore the
exciting world of Greek myths, is the one given by Richard
Buxton in his wonderful book called "The Complete World
of Greek Mythology": According to him, a myth can be
described as "a socially powerful traditional story".
After giving this definition, the writer goes on to explain
the meaning of each one of the elements of the definition:

First of all, a myth is a "story", meaning that it is a
narrative, a structured sequence of events.

Second, the stories are "traditional", meaning that
they were told from generation to generation and
from teller to teller. As is the case with the myths of
ancient Greece, scholars agree that it is not possible
to trace the origins of the stories, in other words it is
not an easy task to pinpoint exactly in time when they were first created. The first written evidence of
the stories was found in the works of the two most prominent Greek storytellers, Homer and
Hesiod,dating as far back as the 7th or 8th century B.C.

Thirdly, the myths are "socially powerful": What this means is that they deal with issues which have
profound association with the cultural and religious beliefs, as well as the everyday social life of the
individuals belonging in a specific society.
As you will discover by reading these stories, the ancient Greeks used them for multiple purposes: To
express their admiration for their heroes and satisfy their need for role models, to try to explain their
surrounding world and the natural phenomena and to try to understand the mysteries of life and death.
Apart from being valuable sources of information about the ancient Greek civilization, these myths are
exciting and engaging stories which stimulate our imagination and creativity.
The twelve labours of Hercules
Hercules was one of the most well known heroes of ancient Greece.
The Labours of Hercules
The most famous feats of Hercules, are collectively known as "The Labours of Hercules". Here is a little
background on the story:
At a time of his life, Hercules became insane and as a result he killed his children. When his sanity
returned,he received instructions from Pythia ,the priestess of the oracle in Delphi, to go to Tiryns and
perform any ten Labours devised from him by king Eurystheus . As we will later see, the ten Labours were
increased to twelve, since Eurystheus at some time challenged the fact whether Hercules had truly completed
two of the Labours assigned to him.
By successfully completing these labors, Hercules would not only pay for his crime, but also achieve
immortality and take his rightful place among the gods.
Reluctantly, Hercules agreed to submit to the will of the hated Eurystheus, to whom Hera had given the
throne that Zeus had intended for Hercules.
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Labours of Hercules Nr. 1: The Nemean Lion
In the first of the Labours of Hercules, Eurystheus commanded the hero to
bring him the hide of the Nemean Lion. The lion that had been terrorizing the
valley of Nemea, was one of the monstrous children of Echidna and either
Orthus or Typhoeus, or had fallen to earth from Selene (Moon). At first,
Hercules tried to shoot it with his arrows, but seeing that the lion's pelt could
not be pierced, he attacked it with his clubs. The lion ran away and hid in a
cave with two entrances. Hercules blocked the one entrance, then wrestled
with the lion and strangled it.He then skinned it and wrapped himself in its
Greek vase
skin, after first offering a sacrifice to Zeus the Savior.He then returned to
Mycanae with the lion thrown over his shoulder.
Seeing Hercules dressed in the lion's pelt, Eurystheus was so frightened that he ordered him to leave all his
future trophies outside the city's gates. He then had a large, bronze jar forged and buried in the earth.
Thereafter, whenever Hercules approached, the cowardly Eurystheus hid in this jar and had a messenger relay
his next orders to the hero.
Labours of Hercules Nr. 2: The Lerna Hydra
Hercules's second task was to kill the Lerna Hydra (water snake),
daughter of Typhoeus and Echidna, and sister of Orthus and Cerberus.
The Hydra, who lived in the marshes of Lerna, devoured people and
animals. She was a horrifying monster with huge dog-like body and
many serpentine heads (some say as few as seven, others claim 10,000),
one of which was immortal. She had foul, poisonous breath that killed
anyone who inhaled it.
Hercules's aide on this labor was his nephew and charioteer Iolaus,
the son of his brother Iphicles and Automedusa. They arrived together at the Amynone Spring, which was
the monster's hideaway. Hercules forced the beast out by shooting flaming arrows into the lair. Much to his
surprise, Hercules saw that for every head he shot off, two more sprung in its place. A giant crab also helped
the Hydra by biting on Hercules's leg. Hercules killed the crab. He then sought Iolaus's help, instructing him to
sear each new wound with burning branches. This checked the flow of blood and prevented the growing of
new heads.
After he killed the Hydra, Hercules dipped his arrows in its poisonous blood. Thereafter, anyone wounded
with these arrows would die. He then buried the monster's head in the road between Lerna and Elaeus and
placed a rock over it.
Although Hercules completed this labor, Eurystheus refused to give him credit for it, because he claimed
Hercules had received assistance (from Iolaus) to accomplish the feat.
Labours of Hercules Nr. 3: The Cerynitian Hind
The third of the Labours of Hercules was to capture alive the
Cerynitian hind, which the nymph Taygette had dedicated to the
goddess Artemis and which lived in the Sanctuary of Artemis on mount
Cerynea.
A wonderful deer with golden antlers and brass hoofs, this hind
roamed the hills of Cerynea between Arcadia and Achaea, in central
Peloponnesus. Because the hind was sacred, Hercules hoped to capture
it unharmed. After pursuing it for almost a year, the hero finally managed to capture the animal on the banks of
the river Ladon, after having chased it as far as the land of the Hyperboreans.
While returning to Tiryns with the deer on his shoulders, Hercules met Artemis and Apollo. Artemis
chastised Hercules, but let him pass with her deer when he insisted that Eurystheus should be blamed for this
insult.
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Labours of Hercules Nr. 4: The Erymanthian Boar
For his fourth labor, Hercules was ordered to capture the boar that
lived on the Mount Erymanthus, and was ravaging the land of Psophis
(near present day Kalavrita). Hercules first chased the boar out of its
hiding place in the forest, pushed it into a snow covered ravine, and then
captured it in chains.
On his way back to Eurystheus, Hercules clashed with the centaurs
who attacked the hero by throwing rocks and tree trunks at him, after
going mad from the smell of the wine Hercules had been offered by his
friend centaur Pholus. Hercules killed many of his attackers and drove
the rest to a new home on Mount Malea, where their king Cheiron
lived, who was also an old friend and teacher of Hercules. By accident, however, Cheiron was mortally
wounded by one of Hercules's poisonous arrows. His pain was so intense, that Cheiron, being immortal,
resigned his immortality to Prometheus.
Labours of Hercules Nr. 5: The Augeian Stables
Perhaps to humiliate him, Eurystheus assigned Hercules as his sixth
labor, to clean the stables of Augeias, king of Elis (located on the
western coast of Peloponnesus) and a son of the sun god Helius.
Augeias, who had taken part in the expedition of the Argonauts, had
countless herds. When Hercules asked for one-tenth of the king's
animals as his fee for cleaning the stables, the king agreed because he
was convinced that the task was impossible. But Hercules, proved to be
more clever than the king had imagined: He tore down a wall and
diverted the waters of the rivers Alpheius and Peneius into the stables.
The stables were cleaned in a matter of hours, but Augeias refused to
keep his promise, insisting that Hercules had a duty to perform this labor
for Eurystheus. To make matters worse, Eurystheus refused to give him
credit for accomplishing the labor, contending that he had done it as a
job for hire. As some other storytellers insist, Eurystheus withheld credit
and Augeias refused payment, because they contended that the river gods Alpheius and Peneius, rather than
Hercules himself, accomplished the feat.
Labours of Hercules Nr. 6: The Stymphalian Birds
The fifth of the Labours of Hercules was to rid Lake Stymphalus in
Arcadia of its vast flocks of man-eating birds. These Stymphalian birds
had claws, beaks and wings of bronze and they were fed on both
humans and beasts.
With the assistance of Athena, who lent him a pair of bronze
castanets forged by Hephaestus, Hercules drove the birds far away
from Arcadia: The noise of the clattering castanets frightened the birds,
who flew as one into the air. Hercules shot with his arrows a great many
of them, while the others quickly fled the scene. They were said to find
shelter in a faraway island which belonged to Ares, the god of war.
There, they were later to be encountered by Jason and the Argonauts.
Labours of Hercules Nr. 7: The Cretan Bull
The eighth of the labours of Hercules sent him to Crete to capture the
Cretan bull, which was said to be the father of the Minotaur by
Pasiphae, wife of the Cretan king Minos.
By one account, the Cretan bull was the beast that had carried Europa
from Phoenicia to Crete for Zeus. In other myths, the bull was sent by
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Poseidon to Minos, to be sacrificed following the king's promise that he would sacrifice to the god anything
that rose from the sea. But Minos, struck by the animal's beauty, sacrificed in its place another bull, thus
provoking the god's rage. The sea god then in revenge drove the animal wild, ravaging the crops and orchards
of Crete.
Hercules captured the beast after a lengthy struggle. He brought it all the way back across the sea to Tiryns,
to present it to Eurystheus. He then set the beast free. It then roamed around Laconia and Arcadia, crossed the
Corinth Isthmus and ended up in Marathon, to be later captured and killed by Theseus.
Labours of Hercules Nr. 8: The Mares Of Diomedes
Eurystheus next sent Hercules to Thrace, to capture the four maneating mares of king Diomedes. The son of Ares, god of war, Diomedes
fed his savage mares on the flesh of his innocent guests.
On his way to Thrace, Hercules enjoyed the hospitality of Admetus,
king of Thessaly in northeastern Greece. Admetus was cursed by one of
the gods to die at a young age. He could only be saved, if one of his
parents or his wife, accepted to take his position. When he was seriously
ill, his beautiful wife, Alcestis, offered herself to take his place. When
Hercules reached their palace, Alcestis was dying. Touched by her
sacrifice, Hercules decided to rescue her. He entered her room and when he saw Thanatos (Death) by her bed
side, he wrestled with him and beat him.
After rescuing Alcestis, Hercules continued on to Thrace. There, he stole the king's horses and drove them
to the sea. When Diomedes and his subjects pursued him, Hercules managed to kill the subjects, wrestle with
Diomedes and feed him to his own mares. Hercules then harnessed the untamed mares to Diomedes's chariot
and drove them all the way back to Tiryns. Eurystheus released the horses into the wild. They finally ascended
into the Mount Olympus, where they became the prey of wild animals.
According to another version of the myth, the mares were in reality the extremely ugly daughters of
Diomedes, who forced strangers to lay with them and then he killed them.
Labours of Hercules Nr. 9: The Belt of Hippolyte
Admete, the daughter of Eurystheus, asked her father to have
Hercules bring her the exquisite belt of Hippolyte, queen of the
Amazons. The belt was a gift of Ares, the god of war.
The hero thus was off to the land of the Amazons, the famous tribe of
female warriors who lived near the Thermodon river, which flowed
through northeastern Asia Minor and emptied into the Black Sea. The
Amazon were daughters of Ares and the Naiad Harmonia. They spent
two months of the year with the Gargareis of Ida in order to perpetuate
their tribe.
Some say that to keep their men devoted to household chores, the
Amazons broke the arms and legs of male infants, making them
unsuitable for war. Others say that Amazons killed all male infants. Their left breast was either uncovered, or
cut off, so as not to obstruct the use of the bow, or hurling of a spear.
Hippolyte, after meeting with Hercules, at first agreed to offer her belt to him. But Hera, who continued to
track the hero, changed into an Amazon and spread the rumor among the Amazons that Hercules wanted to
abduct their queen. The Amazons thus rushed to attack their enemy. In the battle that followed, Hercules killed
Hippolyte and obtained the belt. He and his companions then defeated the Amazons and returned to Tiryns
with the prize.
20
Labours of Hercules Nr. 10: The Cattle of Geryon
For his next labor, Eurystheus sent Hercules to a faraway place in
present-day Spain, with the order to fetch the cattle of Geryon.
Geryon was a monstrous giant with three upper bodies and was the son
of Chrysaor and the oceanid Calliroe . He owned a herd of beautiful red
cattle, kept under the watchful eye of Eurytion, a son of god Ares, and
the two-headed dog Orthus, another monstrous child of Typhon and
Echidna .
When Hercules reached the Strait of Gibraltar, he erected pillars on
both sides (one in Europe, one in Africa) to mark the great distance he had
traveled. Those pillars, still standing today, are called the Rock of
Gibraltar (or Mount Calpe ) and Morocco's Jebel Musa (or Mount
Abyla ).
Although both Orthus and Eurytion attacked him as he approached the cattle, Hercules killed both of them
with a single blow of his mighty club. As he drove the cattle towards his ship - which by the way was an
enormous golden cup lent to him by the sun god Helius - Geryon tried to stop him. Hercules, however,
managed to kill him by shooting a single of his poisonous arrows through all his three bodies.
After leaving Spain, Hercules had a long and hard journey back to Tiryns. In Liguria (near present-day
Marseilles in France), Hercules managed to kill two thieves who tried to steal the cattle. In retaliation, the
Ligurians attacked him with such a numerous army, that Hercules ran out of arrows and was wounded. But, his
immortal father Zeus helped him by sending a shower of stones against the attackers, thus allowing Hercules
to force them to retreat.
Continuing his trip back home, Hercules arrived at the site that was to become later Rome . While Hercules
was sleeping, a three-headed giant named Cacus - a son of Hephaestus and Medusa - stole some of Geryon's
cattle. Not intimidated by the flames spewing from the giant's mouth, Hercules managed the next morning to
enter the monster's cave and kill him with his bare hands. Hercules thanked the gods for his victory, by
sacrificing some of his cattle on an altar that the Romans would later call the Ara Maxima ("Greatest Altar").
In Roman times, this Altar stood in the middle of the great city.
Hercules's misfortunes had no end: When he reached the straits of Messene, Geryon's finest bull escaped
from the rest of the herd and swam from Italy to Sicily . Hercules pursued the animal and finally found it
mingled among the herds of Eryx, a powerful boxer and wrestler, who was the son of sea god Poseidon and
the goddess Aphrodite . Annoyed by Hercules, Eryx challenged the hero to a wrestling match, betting his
island kingdom against the herd of cattle. Mightly Hercules killed his opponent by smashing him to the
ground.
Eventually, the Greek hero landed at Ambracia where he gathered the Geryon's cattle, actually what
remained of it, and guided it to the Hellespont . Arriving at Scythia, he was united with the monster Echidna,
with whom he had three sons: Agathyrsus, Gelonus and Scythes, from whom the Scythians descended.
From an entire herd of cattle, Hercules managed to bring Eurystheus only one ox, which the Mycenaean
king sacrificed to Hera.
Labours of Hercules Nr. 11: The Apples of Hesperides
With the turning over of the cattle to Eurystheus, the Labours of
Hercules completed amounted to ten, equal to the number of Labours
originally postulated by the oracle of Delphi . But, since he was denied
credit for the second (The Lerna Hydra) and fifth Labours (Augeian
stables), Hercules had to perfom two more labors.
For his eleventh labor, Eurystheus sent Hercules to the westernmost part
of the then known world, to the Garden of Hesperides. There, he was
mandated to obtain three Golden Apples from the tree that Gaia had given
her granddaughter Hera, on her wedding day with Zeus. The golden21
fruited tree was tended by nymphs known as Hesperides and guarded by a vicious hundred headed dragon
named Ladon, the monstrous child of Typhon and Echidna . Over the garden towered the titan Atlas, who
bore the heavy burden of holding up the sky.
First of all, Hercules had to find the location of the Garden. When he arrived at the Eridanus river, the
nymphs there instructed him to ask the sea god Nereus, who was an oracle. Since the god was reluctant to
reveal the information to Hercules, the hero tied him up until he succumbed. Apart from giving Hercules
directions to find the Garden, he also advised him to talk Atlas into obtaining the fruit for him.
So, when Hercules finally reached the Garden, he offered Atlas to relieve him of his huge burden in return
for the small favor of bringing him the apples. After Hercules shot and killed Ladon, Atlas was convinced to
take up on the hero's offer.
However, when Atlas returned with the apples, he seemed unwilling to relieve Hercules of his position of
holding the sky. Instead, he offered to take the apples to Eurystheus himslef. Being shrewd not only strong,
Hercules complained that his shoulder ached from the huge load and pleaded Atlas to take his position for a
little while, until he could put a cushion over his head to mitigate the load. The gullible titan agreed. As soon as
Hercules was relieved from holding the heavens, he walked off with the precious apples.
On his way back home, Hercules again had to endure a lot of adventures. In Libya, he met a giant named
Antaeus, son of Gaia and Poseidon, who liked to wrestle his guests to exhaustion and then kill them. As they
fought, Hercules realized that the giant's strength and energy were renewed each time he fell to the ground,
thanks to his mother Earth. The hero then, held the giant high up in the air and crushed him to death in his
arms.
Arriving to the Caucasus Mountains, Hercules met with the titan Prometheus, who had been chained to a
cliff for 30,000 years. Taking pity on him, Hercules shot and killed the eagle who had been feasting with the
titan's liver every day all these years. He then arranged for the wounded centaur Cheiron (as we saw in the
fourth of the Labours of Hercules above) who begged to be freed from the pain caused by Hercules's poisonous
arrow, to take Prometheus's place in the underworld, and then freed the titan from his chains.
When Hercules finally presented the Golden Apples to Eurystheus, the king immediately handed the fruit
back to him, since the sacred fruit belonged to Hera and thus they could not remain out of the Garden. Hercules
turned them over to Athena, who returned them to their original place in the Garden.
Labours of Hercules Nr. 12: Capturing Cerberus
The last of the twelve Labours of Hercules, was the most dangerous and
horrifying of all: Hercules was ordered from Eurystheus to bring from the
Underworld Cerberus, the hideous three-headed guard dog of Hades, son
of Typhon and Echidna .
Before setting off to complete his task, the hero was initiated into the
Eleusinian mysteries . Accompanied by Athena and Hermes, he
descended into the dark kingdom of the souls through a crevice known as Taenarum . After freeing Theseus
and killing Hades's herdsman Menoetes in a wrestling match, Hercules presented himself before the ruler of
the Underworld and explained his mission. Hades allowed Hercules to take Cerberus with him, provided that
he would capture him with his bare hands and that he would return him back, after showing him to Eurystheus.
Hercules remained true to his promise. After a fierce fight, he managed to capture the monstrous dog and,
accompanied by Hermes, he ascended to earth from a gap near Troezen. Then, after presenting Cerberus to
Eurystheus in order to receive due credit, he returned him to Hades.
22
The myth of Demeter and Persephone
One of the most fascinating and intriguing myths of ancient Greece is the myth of the
goddess Demeter and her daughter Persephone.
The Myth of Persephone
Persephone was the only daughter of Demeter, the goddess of grain, agriculture and
fertility.
Unfortunately for her, Hades,the ruler of the Underworld, had dreadful plans for her:
He would steal her innocence and virginity and turn her into his dreaded queen.
The abduction
Hades, god of the underworld, fell in love with Persephone and wanted her as
his bride. Despite his brother Zeus's reservations when he sought his approval, he
decided to abduct her. Zeus was concerned about the reaction of her mother
Demeter, who would certainly not consent to the prospect of her beloved daughter
becoming queen of the Underworld.
The abduction of the innocent maiden was quite spectacular: She was gathering
flowers in a plain somewhere in Sicily, when Hades suddenly appeared, thundering
across the plain in his four-horse chariot.
Before any of the girl's companions realized what was happening, the god
swooped down swiftly and snatched the poor girl from her arm.
Despite her screaming and pleas, no one else could hear her. The earth opened
up before Hades’ chariot and the powerful horses drove down into the chasm. As
they both disappeared into the dark depths, the hole closed up behind them.
Demeter's desperate search for her daughter
When Demeter came to collect
Persephone, she soon realized that
no trace of her could be found.
Hades abducts
Persephone
Distraught and desperate, she
searched high and low for her
daughter. She travelled to the farthest corners of the earth,
searching for nine full days and nights without ever stopping
to eat, drink, bathe, or rest. As she was roaming the lands, she
destroyed crops and livestock, threatening to make the earth
barren forever and thus destroy all of humankind, in case she
would not find her daughter.
Finally, on the tenth day, goddess Hecate told the grief
stricken mother that Persephone had been carried away, but
she did not know the identity of her abductor.
A Renaissance painting depicting the
abduction of Persephone
To find the answer as to who was the culprit, Demeter went to god Helius, who saw everything that
happened on the face of the earth. Helius indeed told her what happened, but, on the other hand, he tried to
convince her that Hades would not be an unfit husband for her daughter.
Enraged to find out about the truth, Demeter remained relentless in her pursuit, horrified at the prospect of
Hades taking away her daughter. Realizing that Zeus was a possible accomplice in the abduction, she refused
to return to Olympus. Instead, she roamed the earth in the guise of a mortal, forbidding the trees to bear fruit
and the earth to nurture vegetable and fruit.
23
A full year passed by and Zeus became restless that, if he let Demeter persist in her pursuit, all humankind
would starve to death. So, he decided to send to her all the gods and goddesses of Olympus to beg her change
her mind.
After he realized that all his efforts were made in vain, the almighty ruler of Olympus promised to Demeter
that he himself would make sure that Persephone would return to her.
A deal is struck
God Hermes, summoned by Zeus, raced down to Hades to fetch
Persephone. Hades immediately complied, but before he let the girl go,
he urged her to eat a pomegranate seed. Alas, this apparent act of
kindness was in reality a devious trick: Anyone who tastes the food of
Hades, must remain in the Underworld!
The deed having been done, Rhea, the mother of Zeus, Demeter and
Hades, proposed a compromise which her children accepted: Persephone
would have to stay with Hades in the Underworld for six months each
year. The rest of the year, she would be allowed to ascend to earth to
stay with her mother.
After agreeing with the deal, Demeter restored earth's fertility and
returned to Olympus with her daughter. But, when the time came that
mother and daughter would part, the earth became colder and less fertile,
until the maiden's re-emergence six months later.
The cycle of Persephone's descent to the Underworld and her
subsequent ascension to earth, signify the progression of seasons, Fall
and Winter succeeded by Spring and Summer. In the Fall, seeds were
buried underground. But in the Spring, crops come out into the sun once
more.
Persephone eating
the pomegranate
Queen of the Underworld
Although she spent only half of her life in the Underworld,
little is known about Persephone's life above ground after her
abduction. Below ground, however, she was dreaded forever
afterwards as the goddess of the Underworld. So feared was she,
that mortals often invoked her name in curses.
The Queen of the Underworld had no children by Hades, but
remained faithful to her. On the other hand, when he tried to have
extramarital affairs, she made sure that her adversary would be
punished.
Such was the case, when her husband tried to seduce Minthe,
who was a nymph: She reacted by turning her husband's potential
lover into a fragrant mint plant!
Similarly, she turned the nymph Leuce into a white poplar
tree, when Hades again tried his charms on her.
Persephone leaving her mother
Demeter
to enter the Underworld
24
The Trojan War
The Trojan War is undoubtedly a story of epic proportions.
The story of the Trojan War
The Trojan War was a great military adventure of
ancient times, undertaken by the kings of ancient Greece
against the city of Troy. It lasted for ten years and cost
many lives, but also produced many heroes.
The last battles of the war were beautifully described by
the great poet Homer in his epic poem "The Iliad". It was
called like that, because the ancient name of Troy was
Ilion.
In the myths surrounding the Trojan War, fact is indeed
mixed with fiction, as archaeological excavations bear
evidence that really such an expedition took place in
ancient times.
According to Homer, the apparent cause of the war was the abduction of beautiful Helen, wife of King
Menelaus of Sparta, by Paris, a prince of Troy, while he was a guest
staying at the palace in Sparta.
The real reason, however, behind the conquest of Troy by the
Greeks, was its strategic position on the Hellespont.
Excavations
Troy
in
According to another mythical version, the reason behind the
Trojan War was founded on the belief of the ancient Greeks, that god
Zeus arranged the whole thing, because he was convinced that such a
war which would cause many deaths, would be the right solution for
the problem of overcrowding, which plagued the earth at the time!
How it all started
The events that led to the Trojan War began long before the war itself did. As a matter of fact, all started at
the celebrated wedding of Peleus and Thetis, who would later become the parents of hero Achilles.
As the myth goes, the goddess Eris, enraged for not being invited to the
wedding, decided to toss a Golden Apple, inscribed "For the Fairest",
among the goddesses. Immediately, Hera, Athena and Aphrodite started to
fight over the apple.
To put an end to the incident, god Zeus ordered the three goddesses to
take their quarrel elsewhere and instructed Hermes to lead them to Troy, a
great walled city on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor.
Furthermore, Zeus appointed Paris, a Trojan prince and reputedly the
handsomest of all men, to be the judge who would decide which of the
three competitors was to win the controversial trophy.
Rather than trust the prince's impartial judgement, all three goddesses
attempted to win by bribery:

Hera promised him dominion over the whole world
 Athena offered certain victory in every battle
The judgment of Paris
 Aphrodite merely offered the most beautiful woman in the world: Helen, a daughter of Zeus and a
sister of the Dioscuri, Castor and Polydeuces.
Paris did not hesitate for a moment, quickly accepting the offer made by the goddess of love.
25
The abduction of Helen
Claiming his "prize", was not an easy task for Paris.
Helen at the time was married to Menelaus, king of Sparta and brother
of the wealthy Agamemnon, king of Mycenae.
Despite this fact and ignoring the warnings he received from his
brother and sister Helenus and Cassandra who were seers (they had the
capacity to foretell the future), Paris left for Sparta.
Menelaus and Helen's brothers all welcomed him at their palace and
entertained him for nine days. When the king left the palace to attend his
grandfather's funeral, Paris seized the opportunity and left off for Troy,
taking Helen with him.
Myth tellers disagree on whether Helen followed the handsome prince
on her own will, or whether she was taken by force. The playwright
Eurypides went as far to contend that Helen never made it to Troy. Hera,
still bitter over being rejected by Paris, "spirited" Helen away to Egypt, putting a ghost in her place that she
made up from a cloud. Thus, the Greeks and Trojans were engaged in the bloody Trojan War for 10 years, over
nothing more than a cloud!
Seduction of Helen by Paris
The Greek army sets off for Troy
Menelaus, being furious at Paris for what he had done, called on all the Greek kings to help him punish the
Trojan.
His campaign was successful: In a few months, a great army was gathered in Aulis, ready to set sail. Being
the most powerful of all kings, Agamemnon, king of Mycenae and brother of Menelaus, took the position of
Chief Commander.
According to the second book of the Iliad, the whole Greek army consisted of 28 contingents which
originated from all over Greece. The total contribution of ships amounted to around 1,200 and the head count
of warriors was estimated to reach 130,000.
But, unfortunately, unfavorable winds kept the fleet from setting
out for Troy. Calchas, the most renowned seer at the time, blamed
the ill winds on Agamemnon, whose boastful claim that he could
hunt better than goddess Artemis had offended her and thus punished
the Greeks.
In order to appease the angry goddess, the seer contended that
Agamemnon should sacrifice on an altar, his beloved daughter
Iphigenia.
Despite the king's reservations, the girl was finally brought to
Aulis by Odysseus and Diomedes, under the pretext of her marrying
Achilles.
Agamemnon sacrifices Iphigenia
At the time, however, that Iphigenia was placed on the altar ready
to be sacrificed, a cloud descended and the girl was taken away by
Artemis. In her place, the goddess left a deer to be sacrificed.
All the events taking place in Aulis are vividly described in Euripides's tragedy named Iphigenia in Tauris,
in which it is claimed that the girl was rescued by Artemis and taken away to serve as her priestess in Tauris,
the Crimean peninsula on the Black Sea.
Once the winds changed, the fleet set out. However, since no one knew the way to Troy, the fleet landed to
the south of the city, in Mysia. There, the local king Telephus, who was a son of Hercules and the son-in-law
of Priam king of Troy, led an army that attacked and killed a lot of Greeks.
26
When Achilles managed to wound him, Telephus consented to follow the Greeks back to Euboea where
they originally set out from and then show them the way to Troy, on the condition that Achilles would cure
him of his wound. His decision to follow the Greeks was based on old oracle which decreed that in case he was
wounded, the only person who would be able to cure him would be his assailant himself, namely Achilles.
After getting underway again, Philoctetes - who as a boy had inherited Hercules's bow and arrows in return
for lighting Hercules's funeral pyre, was bitten by a snake during a stopover at Lemnos (one of the Aegean
islands). The stench of his wound and the sound of his agony were so unbearable, that his shipmates -urged by
Odysseus - abandoned him there.
The long siege begins
Before the Greek army disembarked from the ships, Menelaus and
Odysseus went to meet king Priam to seek a diplomatic settlement of
the issue, in order to avoid military conflict.
While the elderly king saw favorably the return of Helen and the
spartan gold in order to avoid confrontation with the mighty Greeks on
the battlefield, his 50 sons would not succumb to the threat of war,
opting to stand by the side of their brother Paris.
Having no other option, the Greeks decided to land and start the
Trojan War. But, one serious complication prevented them from
disembarking: An oracle had foretold that the first warrior to set foot
on Trojan soil, would be the first casualty of the Trojan War. As a
result, none of the Greek soldiers was willing to get off the ship and hit
The first battles of the Trojan
War
the soil of Troy.
Cunning Odysseus, seeing the impetuous and brave Protesilaus
eager to start fighting, gave the order to jump, while he in the
meantime threw his shield on the ground and jumped, avoiding in this
way to physically touch ground himself. Protesilaus followed suit,
jumping onshore and throwing himself into the battle.
To his great misfortune, however, Hector, prince of Troy and son
of Priam, quickly spotted him, thrusting his sword against him and
thus fatally wounding him. In this way, the prophecy was fulfilled,
making Protesilaus the first Greek to die in the Trojan War.
Rather than mount a direct attack on the formidable fortress of
Troy, the Greeks chose instead to destroy the surrounding towns and
cities which all belonged in the wider region of Phrygia. Troy
depended on these settlements for its supply of provisions and aid.
Trojan War Greek warriors
In the course of their campaign to isolate Troy, the Greeks committed many atrocities: Not only they looted
the cities of everything they could get their hands on, but also raped and enslaved all the women.
The great stars of the battlefield
Despite Zeus's strict directions to the immortals not to actively
engage in the Trojan War, almost all of the Olympians lined up on
either the Greek or the Trojan side. In summary, the gods and
goddesses' line up was the following:
Poseidon
speeds
down
mountain to
aid the Greeks in Trojan War
a

Aphrodite, chosen by Paris as the fairest of all goddesses,
naturally sided with the Trojans. So did Artemis and her
brother Apollo

Hera and Athena, being the ones who lost the beauty contest
to Aphrodite, took the part of the Greeks. The same decision
was taken by Poseidon, Hermes and Hephaestus
27

Ares, fought on both sides

Zeus, Hades, Demeter and Hestia, remained neutral throughout the Trojan War.
Furthemore, the Trojan War provided the opportunity to many warriors from both sides, to display their
bravery and heroism.
Some of the most notable of these warriors were the following:

Achilles: He was undoubtedly and by far the greatest of all Greek
warriors during the Trojan War. He killed countless Trojans and
he proved to be irreplaceable on the battlefield. The Greeks felt
his absence the most, when Agamemnon stole from him his
concubine and thus decided to refrain from any activity on the
field.

Hector: The eldest son of king Priam, Hector proved himself to
be the mightiest of the Trojan warriors during the 10-year Trojan
War. Noble and courageous, he proved his superior military
ability on the battlefield.
When the war escalated into dangerous proportions, he tried to
convince his brother Paris to meet his adversary Menelaus on a one-toone duel to settle the matter once and for all. However, when Paris
finally challenged the Greek king, he abandoned the combat in the
middle, guided by Aphrodite.
The Greek hero Teucer
Hector also killed Patroclus, a deed which in the end proved fatal for
him. Achilles returned to the battle and killed the Trojan prince, bringing
havoc to the Trojan army. After the Greeks returned Hector's body to the
Trojans following the desperate pleas made by king Priam to Achilles,
both sides called an 11-day truce in order to mourn the greatest of Trojan
heroes.

Diomedes: A hero of Argos, Diomedes was second only to Achilles among Greek warriors. In addition
to killing many Trojans, the hero even wounded two gods: Aphrodite and Ares.
Hector getting prepared for the Trojan
War

In the case of Aphrodite, the goddess was
involved in a combat taking place between
Diomedes and the Trojan hero Aineias, who
was the goddess's son. When, in the course of
the battle, the Greek hero threw a rock at his
opponent smashing his hip, Aphrodite took
Aineias is her arms, in order to protect him.
Then, enraged, the king of Argos drew his
sword and slashed the goddess's arm. That
was the first time that a mortal managed to
inflict a wound on a god.

Odysseus: The king of Ithaca was renowned
for his cleverness, which he used not only for
noble purposes, but also for his own benefit.
For example, when he and Diomedes captured Dolon, a Trojan spying on the Greek camp, they forced him
to reveal the layout of the Trojan camp.
In addition, in order to convince the two Greeks to let him free, Dolon directed them to the place where
Rheseus, king of Thrace, had camped outside the walls of Troy to spend the night. Rheseus was a friend of
Hector and had come to Troy to assist his friend in the Trojan War. What was so special about this king which
attracted the greed of cunning Odysseus, was the fact that Rhesus had in his possession 12 magnificent horses,
which were very valuable.
28
As soon as Diomedes and Odysseus disposed themselves of the Trojan spy, they attacked king Rhesus,
killed all of his men and captured his beautiful horses.

Ajax of Salamis: The son of Periboea and Telamon - the same one who had captured Troy with
Hercules more than a generation earlier- Ajax was the tallest among the Greeks, an imposing figure on
the battlefield.
At one time during the Trojan War and to end the needless slaughter on both sides, the gods Athena and
Apollo sent a mental message to the Trojan prince Hector, urging him to challenge one of the Greek warriors
to an one-on-one combat. He who would emerge victorious, could claim his side to be the winner of the war.
The Greek leaders drew lots among the heroes, and the lot fell to Ajax, who was to combat with Hector the
following morning.
The next morning, the two opponents fought until their spears broke and their shields were battered to bits,
without either one of them clearly winning the other. At the end, they decided to declare the duel a draw,
showing respect to each other by exchanging gifts: Ajax gave Hector his belt, while the Trojan gave him a
sword.
Ajax was destined to have a tragic end: After the
funeral of Achilles, the Greek leaders were fighting
over who would take into his possession the armor of
the deceased hero. Following an advice by the wise
king Nestor, they all agreed to draw lots. At the end,
the trophy went to Odysseus, after the lots had been
tampered with by goddess Athena.
Ajax was very embittered, feeling that he was
entitled to the armor, because he and Achilles were the
Odysseus quarrels with Ajax over Achilles' only ones who had been able to have a one-to-one
armor
combat with Hector and were not defeated.
Overwhelmed by madness, he slaughtered the Greeks'
herds of livestock, illusioned that these were the Greek generals who had insulted him. When he finally came
to his senses, he was so embarrassed that he resorted to committing suicide, by falling on his own sword.

Teucer: Another son of Telamon (Hesione was his mother), Teucer was considered to be one of the best
archers on the Greek side, second only to Philoctetes. He often fought from behind the shield of his
half-brother Ajax.

Aeneas: A Trojan prince, Aeneas was one of the bravest Trojan warriors. When he was wounded, his
mother Aphrodite rescued him and Artemis and Leto healed him.
Being one of the few fighters who survived the Trojan War, Aeneas led several other Trojans to a new
home in Italy, where later the Romans claimed him as the ancestor of their first emperors.
The final year of the war
After nine long years, despite their victories in the surrounding
area of Troy, the Greeks never came close to penetrating the colossal
walls of Troy, which were built by gods Apollo and Poseidon.
At the tenth year, the balance of the outcome of the Trojan War
was apparently tipping in favor of the Trojans, thanks to the
reinforcements they received from foreign lands.
Achilles and Penthesileia
Two of the most well known army leaders who came to Troy's
rescue, were the Amazon queen Penthesileia and Memnon, the king
of Ethiopia.
Both of them, managed to inflict great damages on the Greek army. Included among the victims of Memnon
was Antilochus, the son of the wise king of Pylos, Nestor.
29
However, in the end, the two leaders were destined to suffer a tragic
end at the hands of Achilles. In the case of Memnon, the Ethiopian king
was challenged to a duel from Nestor, who wanted to avenge his son's
death. When his offer was declined by Memnon citing the advanced age
of the Greek king, Achilles offered to take his place. Memnon accepted
the challenge, but was later killed from the powerful Greek.
The Trojans managed a severe blow on the Greeks when Paris, with
the aid of god Apollo, killed mighty Achilles by shooting a poisoned
arrow on his heel, which was the only mortal part on his body.
Death of Achilles
The Greeks come up with a strategic plan
After Achilles' death, Odysseus captured the Trojan seer Helenus, brother of
Paris. After a lot of persuasion, the seer revealed to the Greeks that, in order, to
win the Trojan War, they should pursue the following:

Neoptolemus, Achilles' son, should join the fighting

They should recover Philoctetes from the island of Lemnos, where he
was left deserted. He should later use the bow and arrows of Hercules on
the battlefield

One of the bones of Agamemnon's grandfather, Pelops, should be
brought to Troy

Eventually, the Palladium, an ancient wooden statue of goddess Athena,
should be captured from the Trojan citadel called the Pergamum.
Philoctetes on Lemnos
The mission to fulfill all those prerequisites to win the Trojan War, was
undertaken by none others than Odysseus and Diomedes.
They first sailed to the island of Scyrus, where they recruited young
Neoptolemus. The young man was more than eager to engage in battle.
On their way back, they made a stopover at the island of Lemnos to pick up
Philoctetes. Despite his initial grudge on Odysseus who was the one responsible
for his being deserted there, he was finally persuaded to join his visitors on
their journey back to Troy, when the spirit of Hercules appeared before him,
urging him to get involved in the Trojan War.
When the four of them returned to Troy, they were happy to find out that the
people of Elis had gladly sent to them a shoulder blade of Pelops.
As for the Palladium, Odysseus and Diomedes, under the cover of the night,
slipped into Troy and stole the statue, carrying it to the Greek camp.
Diomedes taking
the Palladium
from Troy
Beware of Greeks bearing gifts!
30
As soon as Philoctetes was cured from his wound, he managed to
kill Paris, using the bow and arrows of Hercules.
Despite, however, of some victories on the battlefield that quickly
ensued as soon as the prerequisites stipulated by Helenus were
fulfilled, the walls of Troy seemed impregnable, driving the Greeks
into despair.
As a last resort, Odysseus came up with an ingenious plan to get
inside the city: With Athena's help, Epeius, an artisan, constructed an
enormous wooden horse, which was hollow inside.
Led by Odysseus, a small army of Greek soldiers hid inside the
horse while the rest of the Greek fleet sailed away, as far as the island
of Tenedos.
When the Trojans found the horse, which bore an inscription
which said that it was a gift dedicated to Athena, they had a big
debate about what to do with it. While some argued that it was a part
of a Greek ploy and therefore they should push it over a cliff or burn
The Trojan Horse taken inside it, others contended that they should bring it inside the city to replace
Troy
their stolen Palladium, convinced that it would bring them luck.
When the two prophets
Cassandra and Laocoon explicitly tried to warn their fellow Trojans
that Greeks were actually hidden inside the horse, no one believed
them!
When Laocoon, in an effort to prove his claim, hurled his spear
against the horse, two enormous serpents rose out of the sea and
attacked the seer's sons. After a tremendous struggle, the beasts finally
killed the two boys and Laocoon, who rushed to their defence.
The Trojans interpreted this horrible tragedy as a punishment that
goddess Athena sent to their priest, because he tried to desecrate her
divine gift to the city.
Even those who doubted the good intentions of the Greeks were
finally convinced to take the horse inside the city, when somewhere
outside the walls they met Sinon, a Greek soldier who was tied and his
clothes were torn to shreds.
Death of Laocoon and his
children
According to his story, which apparently was ingeniously devised by cunning Odysseus, he had escaped
from the Greeks when they wanted to sacrifice him to appease Athena, who was enraged when her palladium
was stolen. Furthemore, Sinon claimed that the wooden horse was constructed as an additional gesture to
appease the goddess. As a matter of fact, it was designed to be so enormous, so that it would not fit to get
inside the walls: The Greeks knew that placing the horse inside the city, would certainly bring victory to the
Trojans! Harming the horse, Sinon warned, would turn the wrath of Athena against the Trojans.
After the final shred of doubt was lifted, the Trojans breached their
mighty walls and took the wooden horse inside, overjoyed by their
victory over the Greeks.
When all of them fell drunken asleep following a wild celebration,
Sinon quickly released the Greek soldiers from the inside of the horse
and using a beacon, signaled to the Greek fleet to approach Troy.
Sinon taken prisoner by the
Trojans
Those inside opened the wall gates and the Greeks, without facing
hardly any resistance, overtook the city in a single bloody night. This
signaled the end of the Trojan War.
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The Greeks ravage Troy
During the night that they sacked Troy, the
Greeks committed a lot of horrible atrocities that
offended both men and gods:
The Greeks burn Troy at the end of the Trojan
War

Neoptolemus slaughtered the elderly king
Priam, after dragging him from the sacred
altar of Zeus

Ajax of Locris raped Cassandra at the shrine
of Athena. This sacrilegous act offended
even Odysseus, who called on the Greeks to
stone Ajax, in order to appease the goddess.
But the Greeks did not dare, as Ajax clung to
the statue of the goddess.

Neoptolemus sacrificed Polyxena, one of Priam's daughters, on the grave of his father Achilles

Odysseus threw Astyanax, the infant son of Hector, from the walls of the city to his death, thus ending
the line of king Priam.
As for Helen, the culprit for the outbreak of the Trojan War, Menelaus could not bring himself to kill her as
he had vowed to do, unable to resist her beauty and her pleas to be saved.
The long voyage back home
The long Trojan War cost both sides dearly.
As for Troy, the city never managed to recover after the total destruction it had suffered.
As for Greece, of the more than 1,000 ships which originally left for Troy 10 years earlier, less than 100
embarked on the journey to return home. Even most of these, were lost during the journey.
And of those who managed to survive and return home, almost none of them faced a warm welcome:

Both Diomedes and Idomeneus, king of Crete, returned home only to discover that their wives had
taken lovers. They were finally exiled from their homeland, seeking refuge in Italy.

Philoctetes left Greece to find a new home in Italy

Odysseus wandered for ten years, before he finally returned to his faithful wife Penelope

Teucer was denied by his father Telamon to return home to Salamis, his father being convinced that he
participated in the events which led to his half brother's Ajax tragic death

Nestor, king of Pylos, was an exception to the rule; he peacefully resumed his duties when he returned
to his homeland

Neoptolemus, warned by his grandmother Thetis to avoid sea faring trips, took the long terrestrial route
to his homeland, and eventually made it to Greece

Menelaus and Helen wandered for many years to far off lands, but finally returned to Sparta

The king who was destined to suffer the most tragic death, was Agamemnon, the leader of the Greek
army in the Trojan War campaign.
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The murder of Agamemnon by
Clytemnestra

When he returned, his wife Clytemnestra, who
considered him to be responsible for the loss of her
beloved daughter Iphigenia, conspired with her lover
Aegisthus to slaughter Agamemnon with an axe, the
first day that he arrived back home.

The saga of Agamemnon is figured prominently in the
works of the great Greek playwrights. Three surviving
plays by Aeschylus - Agamemnon, The Libation
Bearers and The Eumenides - are collectively known
as Oresteia.

In addition, four plays by Eurypides - Iphigenia in
Aulis, Orestes, Electra and Iphigenia in Tauris - as
well as Electra by Sophocles, focus on the children of
Agamemnon.
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Jason, the Argonauts and the quest of the Golden Fleece
The story of Jason and the argonauts and their great expedition to bring back the Golden Fleece to Greece
from a faraway land, is considered to be the largest assembly of heroes before the Trojan War.
Jason, the Argonauts and the quest of the Golden Fleece
The story of Jason and the Argonauts talks about a great journey by water to a far away land eastwards of
Greece. According to myth, the purpose of this journey was to find and bring back the golden fleece of a ram
which was kept in that far away land.
The story of the journey is described in a long poem entitled "The Quest of the Golden Fleece", written by
the poet Apollonius of Rhodes, who lived in the third century B.C. Actually, the poem ends with the return of
the heroes to Greece. What happened afterwards, that is the story of Jason and Medea, is described in the play
"Medea" written by the famous playwright Eurypides.
How it all started
The tale of the Golden Fleece begins when Athamas, king of
Orchomenus, had left his wife Nephele, to marry Ino, who was a
daughter of Cadmus, the legendary king of Thebes.
In order to secure that her own son would inherit the kingdom, Ino
plotted the destruction of Athamas'son, Phrixus and his daughter
Helle. To that end, she damaged all all of the seed grain in the
kingdom. When the crops failed, messengers were sent to the Delphic
oracle for guidance. Ino then bribed the returning messengers to
change the oracle: Phrixus must be sacrificed!
Athamas reluctantly agreed to heed the false oracle. But just as he
raised the knife over his son on the altar, a wondrous, golden winged
ram appeared, taking both Phrixus and Helle on his back to carry
them away.
Phrixus taken away by the ram
with the golden fleece
While they were crossing the strait which separates Europe from
Asia, the girl slipped and fell into the water. She was drowned; and
the strait was named after her Hellespont (Sea of Helle).
The boy came safely to land to the country of Colchis on the Black Sea. Although the Colchians were fierce
people, they were kind to Phrixus and their king, Aetes, let him marry one of his daughters.
In gratitude to god Zeus for having being saved, Phrixus sacrificed the ram and gave his golden fleece as a
present, to king Aetes.
The story of Jason
Jason was the grandson of Tyro and her uncle Cretheus. Being the eldest son of Tyro, Jason's father,
Aeson, should have inherited the kingdom of Iolcus, a seaport in Thessaly (northeastern Greece), which
Cretheus had founded.
But Tyro, had also twin sons by the god Poseidon and one of these twins, Pelias, had seized the throne.
Aeson feared for his life and that of his unborn son. So, when his wife Polymede gave birth to Jason, Aeson
claimed that the baby had died at birth. He entrusted the boy to the care of Cheiron, the wisest of the centaurs,
who had also tutored Hercules.
"Beware of the one-sandaled man"
When he reached manhood, Jason set on his journey to Iolcus, to claim the throne that was rightfully his.
Before he reached the city, he came to the river Anaurus, where he met an old woman who was trying to cross
the river.
When he gallantly volunteered to carry her on his shoulders, he lost one of his sandals which got stuck in
the mud of the river bed. After putting the old woman down, he sped off to Iolcus.
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What Jason did not know was that the old woman was actually goddess Hera, who hated Pelias, because he
never offered her any sacrifices, or paid her any respects. As the story unfolds,it will be shown how the
goddess was planning to take her revenge by helping Jason along.
Pelias soon heard of the one-sandaled man who had arrived in the city. This news frightened him, for an
oracle had once warned him that a man with one sandal would some day cause his death.
Right away, Pelias sought to confront Jason and demand from him to reveal his identity. Jason had no
hesitation to answer the truth, announcing his intention to reclaim the city's throne either for his father, or for
himself.
Pelias wanted to kill his nephew right away, but he knew that would not be very wise, as he would violate
the laws of hospitality and thus incur the wrath of the gods.
So, looking for another way to dispose of him, he assigned him an impossible task: To go and retrieve from
Colchis, the golden fleece! If Jason was successful, he promised that he would immediately return the throne to
him.
The young hero, without hesitation, immediately jumped on his uncle's challenge: He agreed and
immediately set off to plan his epic journey.
Assembling the crew
After consulting the oracle at Delphi, Jason invited the most daring
noblemen from all over Greece, to join him. The roster of those accepting
his invitation,was truly impressive: It included the top of the cream of all
the brave heroes that lived at the time. Some of these, were the following:
An assembly of the
argonauts

Hercules, the mightiest of all heroes

Polydeuces, the son of Zeus by Leda and an expert boxer

Castor, the twin of Polydeuces who was an expert in taming,
training and riding horses

Euphemus, son of Poseidon, who was so fast, that he could
allegedly race across water without getting his feet wet

Periclymenus, son of Poseidon as well, who could change his
form at will during battle

Nauplius, son of Poseidon, an expert seaman

Orpheus, son of Apollo, the most gifted of all musicians.
In addition to those who claimed divine birth, the ambitious recruits included also Tiphys, who was
assigned to be the pilot of the ship, as well as the brothers Telemon and Peleus. The latter would later marry
the sea goddess Thetis and beget Achilles, the greatest hero of the Trojan War.
Ready to sail, on board the Argo
Jason's crew named themeselves the Argonauts, after their magnificent ship, the Argo. This was built under
the watchful eye of goddess Athena, who according to myth, had taught humans about the art of sailing the
seas. The ship's beams came from Mount Pelion in Thessaly and included a talking beam from the oaks of the
Oracle at Dodona. From this beam, the Argonauts would receive advice during their long journey.
After offering a traditional sacrifice to Apollo, the argonauts set sail for Colchis.
Arriving at the island of Lemnos
Midway across the northern Aegean Sea, the argonauts arrived at the island of Lemnos. The strange thing
about this place was that the only inhabitants were women.
Year earlier, the women of Lemnos had failed to honor the goddess Aphrodite properly. To punish them,
the goddess had given the women a horrible odor which drove their men away, seeking refuge in Thrace.
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There, they raided the area and brought back with them to Lemnos female captives, with whom they began
having children.
Enraged, the native women of Lemnos killed all their female adversaries, as well as all the men.
When the argonauts set their foot on the island, the women saw them as their potential lovers and lured
them into their bed chambers. Jason himself mated with their queen, Hypsipyle.
The argonauts were finally convinced to leave the island and continue their journey, only when Hercules,
who remained on board Argo, sent a message questioning them whether this was the way they wanted to gain
glory for themselves.
More adventures on the way
After Lemnos, the argonauts made a stop at the island of Samothrace,
where they were initiated in the Samothracian Mysteries, religious rites
that they hoped would help them in their journey.
Their next adventure was in an island at which they made a stop after
they passed the Hellespont and entered the Sea of Marmara. There, while
they were being greeted on land by the natives who welcomed them, their
ship was attacked by fierce giants.
Fortunately, Hercules, who was left on board the ship as one of the
guards, managed to beat them single handedly.
Hylas is abducted by a
nymph
Once the crew set sail again, they were forced to stop in Mysia,
(northwestern Asia Minor), when Hercules broke his oar.
However, when they were on land, Hercules lost his young companion
Hylas, who was abducted by a river nymph, while he was gazing inside the river waters. While Hercules and a
fellow member were in vain searching for the lost youth, the Argonauts set sail and left without them,
prompted by the sea god Glaucus to leave the hero behind, as Zeus intended him to complete his labors.
Encounter with the clashing rocks
At the southern end of the Bosporus, they stopped in Salmydessus,
a land ruled by Phineus, whose wife was a sister of Zetes and Calais,
the twin winged sons of Boreas. They found the king starving, filthy,
blind and so weak he could hardly move.
Zeus had sent the Harpies, horrible creatures, to punish him,
because, being a prophet, he had disclosed sensitive information about
the future to the humans. The Harpies, would steal his food and
pollute whatever they left behind, with a terrible stench.
The winged sons of Boreas help
the blind Phineus
The argonauts prepared some food for Phineus to set a trap for the
Harpies. When they appeared, stole the food and set off, the winged
brothers pursued and caught them. Just then, Iris, Zeus' messenger,
descended from Olympus. If the twins spared the Harpies, Zeus
promised they would leave Phineus alone. Zetes and Calais reluctantly
released the Harpies, and returned to Salmydessus.
Phineus was so grateful, that he foretold some of what the future held for the argonauts. Most importantly,
he offered valuable advice on how to navigate the treacherous Clashing Rocks ("Sympligades" in greek) at the
eastern end of the Bosporus; the entrance to the Black Sea. These two enormous floating islands, driven by the
wind, crushed everything in their path as they smashed against each other without warning.
As the Argo neared the end of the Bosporus, following Phineus' advice, the argonauts released a dove that
flew directly between the Clashing Rocks. Phineus had told them that if the dove could make it through the
strait, so would Argo.
36
The rocks clashed together, but the dove only lost a couple of feathers. So, when the rocks separated again,
the 50 argonauts rowed with all their might: Like the dove, the ship made it almost all the way, losing only an
ornament from the stern. The Clashing Rocks parted once more and with spell broken, they remained forever
apart.
Confronting Aetes, the mighty king of Colchis
The Argo soon entered the mouth of the river Phasis, where Aea, the capital of Colchis lay.
The king Aetes being so poweful, Jason and the argonauts needed all the help they could get from their
divine allies, Hera and Athena. When Jason sought their help, they agreed that they would bribe Eros, the
winged god of love, with a golden ball to wound the heart of Aetes' daughter, Medea. For, if Medea, a
powerful witch, would assist them, even to the point of betraying her father, Jason and the argonauts would
have a chance to win the Golden Fleece.
A priestess of the Underworld goddess Hecate, Medea was the first in Colchis to see the argonauts. Smitten
by Eros, she instantly became infatuated with Jason.
The next day, when the argonauts went to meet the king, he was not so pleased to meet them and when
Jason asked him for the fleece, he proposed a test of strength to him. If he would be successful, then he would
gladly hand over the fleece to the Greeks.
Like the test Pelias had set for Jason, this one too seemed impossible: He would have to harness a pair of
fire-breathing bulls to a plow, sow a field with dragon's teeth and then kill all the men who sprang from this
seed.
Having accepted the challenge, Jason later met with Medea for the first time at dawn, in the shrine of
Hecate at Colchis. There, he made her a solid promise that, should she help him, he would take her back to
Iolcus with him and honor her forever.
The next morning, before undertaking the test, Jason anointed himself and his weapons with a magic drug
that Medea had given him. With the drug protecting him from the flames, the young hero forced the bulls to
their knees and quickly harnessed them. Within a few hours, he had sown the entire field with the dragon's
teeth. When the armored men sprang from the earth, Jason hurled a big stone among them, thus starting a fight
among themselves. In the resulting confusion, he then rushed in with his sword gleaming, and started swinging
it. By nightfall, all the fierce warriors had been slain!
The escape from Colchis
Despite Jason's triumph, Aetes did not intend to keep his promise
and he started plotting against the argonauts instead.
Medea, who knew of her father's vicious plans to get rid of the
Greeks, she quickly went to meet Jason and tell him that she was
ready to help him steal the fleece and then sail away with him, away
from her father.
Hearing her words, Jason followed Medea to the place where the
fleece was kept under the watchful eye of a terrible dragon who never
slept.When the beautiful sorceress used her magic to cause the
sleepless beast to nap, Jason managed to snatch away the fleece from
the tree branch that was hanging. Running back to Argos, they sailed
fast, away from Colchis.
Learning of the theft, Aetes quickly set his son Apsyrtus and a flee
tof worships against them. Half the fleet headed for Bosporus; the
other half for the mouth of the Danube. Though the Argo had made
for the Danube as well, Apsyrtus arrived there before them.
Jason manages to steal the
golden fleece
The argonauts soon found themselves trapped: A Colchian ship guarded the entrance to the Danube river.
They took refuge on an island sacred to Artemis where they knew that Colchians would never dare launch an
attack that might offend the goddess.
37
Medea kills her brother
Sending him a message claiming that she had been abducted, Medea lured her brother to a meeting on the
island, where Jason ambushed and killed him. Then the argonauts killed everyone on Apsyrtus' ship and fled
towards the Danube.
According to another version of the myth, the horrible deed of Medea to cause her own brother's death, was
even worse: Apsyrtus was just a child who ran away with his sister on the Argo. Jason and Medea then killed
the innocent boy, dismembered him and tossed his body parts into the sea. This act forced the Colchian ships
to call off the chase, in order to collect the poor boy's remains for burial.
God Zeus, infuriated by Medea's horrible act of betraying her brother, brewed up a storm and ordered the
evil doers to seek purification for the murder from Medea's aunt Circe, who lived on an island off the western
coast of Italy.
More adventures on dangerous waters
Rather than finding an outlet to the sea and sailing all the way around
the southern coasts of Greece and Italy, the Argo chose a circuitous route
of inland rivers to cross northern Greece and Italy. After making its way
to the western Mediterranean, the ship finally sailed on to Aeaea, the
island of Circe.
The death of the giant Talus
Without asking any questions, Circe purified Jason and Medea with the
blood of a pig and made sacrifices to both Zeus and the Erinyes (Furies).
But, when Circe found out who they were and how Medea had betrayed
her father and her fellow country men, she angrily chased them off the
island.
To their good fortune, however, Hera was again there to help them.
The goddess ordered favorable winds from Aeolus, the keeper of winds, and asked the sea goddess Thetis for
help, too.
As they approached Anthemoessa, home of the Sirens, whose seductive singing had caused so many sailors
to abandon their voyages and slowly waste away from hunger, Orpheus began to sing and play with his lyre as
loudly as he could. By drowning out the alluring singing of the sirens, Orpheus saved the argonauts.
To reach the Ionian Sea, west of Greece, the Argo still had to navigate the narrow strait between the cliff of
Scylla, a six-headed beast that preyed on sailors from a sea cave, and the whirlpool of the monster Charybdis.
But, Thetis secretly took the helm and steered them safely through.
The Nereids then safely skiimed the Argo over the surface of the water around Sicily. This prevented the
violent currents from carrying them into the Wandering Rocks - moving rocks that destroyed ships attempting
to pass among them.
After crossing the Ionian Sea, the argonauts reached the greek island of Drepane (probably the same as
Corfu today). Here, to theit great surprise, they met with othe other half of Aetes' fleet, who had been after
them all along. The Colchians demanded the immediate return of Medea and the golden fleece.
The argonauts then sought help from the local king and queen, Alcinous and Arete. They agreed to protect
them from the wrath of the Colchians on one condition - Jason and Medea had to get married. So, the crew
performed the marriage rites that very night in the sacred cave of Macris. From then on, the cave was known as
the Medea's cave.
The next morning, the king of Drepane informed the Colchians that he would not allow them to take Medea
from her new husband. The argonauts then were free to go.
Just as the Argo reached the southern coast of Greece, a strong wind blew them all the way across the
Mediterranean Sea to the Libyan coast. An enormous wave then deposited the ship far inland, leaving it
stranded on the desert sands.
38
With the help of three nymphs who appeared before them, the argonauts managed to put Argo on rollers and
carry her across the desert for nine days.
Whey they arrived at the salt water lake Tritonis, the argonauts went out to search for fresh water. On their
expedition, they found the Garden of Hesperides, where the nymphs informed that, after stealing their apples,
Hercules had created a fresh water spring.
After returning to Argo, the crew searched for days but could not find an outlet from Tritonis to the sea.
After making a plea to god Triton, he finally responded, pushing the ship all the way to the Mediterranean.
After the long journey across the sea, the argonauts arrived at Crete. But the giant Talus prevented them
from landing, by hurling giant rocks at them. The last of the giants of the bronze age, Talus was invulnerable except for one vein near his ankle. Medea used her sorcery to hypnotize the giant, who stumbled, banging his
ankle against a sharp rock. The vein burst and the giant fell dead in the sea.
The return home
While Jason was far away on his mission, rumours began spreading
in Iolcus that ship and her crew had all been lost. Pelias, encouraged by
this news, forced Jason's father Aeson to commit suicide by drinking
bull's blood, which was a fatal toxin. Then, Pelias killed Jason's
younger brother Promachus. Jason's mother, in her desperation, killed
herself with a sword.
Medea performing
rejuvenation ritual on Pelias
Finding out about the horrible deeds that his uncle had committed
against his family, Jason docked Argo outside the city, while Medea
came up with a horrible scheme to seize the throne from Pelias.
She disguised herself as a crone and entered the city. After claiming
that Artemis had sent her to restore Pelias's youth, she finally convinced Pelias to submit himself to her
promised "treatment".
The spell, Medea said, required the cooperation of Pelias's daughters. Reluctant at first, they finally
consented to Medea's dreadful recipe: They cut up their father into pieces and put his body parts into a
cauldron to stew.
With Pelias out of the way, the argonauts quickly seized control of the city. However, Jason's shipmate and
son of Pelias, Acastus, who succeeded his father to the throne, expelled Jason and Medea from Iolcus,
disgusted by the way that his father was killed.
The couple then sought refuge in Corinth after an invitation extended to them by the local people.
Medea's dreadful revenge
Jason and Medea settled in Corinth, where they had two children.
As the years passed by, Jason increasingly found Medea, whom the
Corinthians hated and were afraid of, an embarrassment to him. So, when king
Creon of Corinth offered him the hand of his daughter Glauce, Jason eagerly
accepted. Divorcing Medea and marrying the king's daughter, would add to his
own power and prestige, as well as ensure the citizenship rights of his children.
But, he was unaware, what Medea would do in retaliation to his betrayal.
Betrayed, divorced and then exiled by Creon, Medea took advantage of her
final day in Corinth to send Clauce a robe and a crown for her wedding, as a gift.
Medea flees from
Jason on a serpent-driven
chariot
When the naive Glauce tried on the robe, which Medea had drenched in
poison, it burst into flames. The fire consumed not only the poor girl, but also the
entire family of Creon and the palace.
To hurt Jason even further, Medea killed her own children. Leaving Iolcus,
she even took their bodies with them,so that Jason would not be able to bury them.
39
The evil sorceress escaped Corinth on a chariot pulled by dragons, a gift from her grandfather Helius.
The final act of an epic story
Medea fled to Athens, where she convinced king Aegeus, who later became the father of Theseus, to marry
her by promising him children.
Aegeus and Medea, who had a son named Medus, lived in Athens for many years. However, when she tried
to kill Theseus to clear a path for her own son, Medea and her son were exiled by Aegeus.
With nowhere else to go, Medea returned at last to her homeland of Colchis. There, Medus, prompted by his
mother, killed king Perses who in the meantime had dethroned his brother Aetes. Medus thus captured the
throne for himself. From them on, no one knows what became of Medea.
As for Jason, he did not have a very glorious ending: When he became old, he tried to visit the wreckage of
Argos, in the hope of rekindling his memory of the past glory days that he and his fellow argonauts had once
lived. While he was there, a beam from the rotten ship fell upon his head, striking him dead.
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Achilles, the greatest hero of the Trojan War
Achilles is considered by many scholars to be the greatest ancient warrior, who
showed his courage and skill on the battlefield countless times. During the Trojan War,
he alone killed multitudes of Trojans, as well as their most fierce allies.
The perfect hero on the battlefield, Achilles had a lot of shortcomings as well. His
impulsive character led him to ignore the advice and counsel of others. His tremendous
pride caused him to abandon his Greek comrades and quit the war because he felt
insulted. His explosive anger and bloodthirstiness led him to desecrate the body of his
most heroic adversary, Hector.
The hero's ancestry and childhood
Achilles was the son of Peleus, the king of Phthia, a city in Thessaly (north-eastern
Greece) and Thetis, a goddess of the sea.
Peleus himself had quite an adventurous life, before becoming husband of Thetis. Being the son of Aeacus,
king on the island of Aegina, he and his brother Telamon were banished from the island by their father, when
they accidentally killed their half brother Phocus.
While Telamon migrated to the island of Salamis where he later became a king, Peleus headed for Thessaly
to Phthia, where the local king Eurytion welcomed him and later offered his guest the hand of his daughter,
Antigone.
Unfortunately, Peleus's life in Phthia was destined to end abruptly, when he accidentally killed his father-inlaw during a hunting trip.
After fleeing Phthia, Peleus sought refuge in Iolcus, where he was invited by his fellow Argonaut Acastus,
who was the local king.
However, misfortune hit him there as well. Astydameia, the king's wife, fell in love with Peleus and when
he did not yield to her advances, she claimed to her husband that his guest friend had violated her.
Acastus, feeling betrayed by his friend, came up with a scheme to have him killed : He arranged a hunting
contest and invited Peleus to join. At night, when Peleus was exhausted and fell asleep, Acastus stole his sword
and abandoned Peleus in the woods, hoping that the barbarous Centaurs would find him and kill him. But,
Peleus was lucky enough to be found first by Cheiron, the wise centaur who was living on Mount Pelion, who
saved him and returned to him his sword.
Being saved, Peleus later returned to Iolcus with an army and killed Astydameia to punish her for her
treachery.
The hero's mother was Thetis, who was one of the Nereids, daughter of old sea god Nereus and the sea
goddess Doris.
As the myth goes, god Zeus had courted Thetis. But, when she became pregnant, he found out from
Prometheus that the son she would give birth to, was destined to become greater than his father. Fearing that
he would suffer the same fate as his own father when he overthrew him, the almighty god decided that Thetis
would not marry any god. So, he chose Peleus to be her future husband. In the meantime, Peleus's first wife
Antigone had killed herself, unable to bear the fact that her husband had cheated on her with Acastus's wife.
The wedding between Thetis and Peleus was one of the most well known in Greek Mythology. All the gods
and goddesses were invited, honoring the glamorous couple with a lot of presents. Thetis received a
magnificent jeweled crown from Aprodite. To Peleus, the gods brought two immortal horses, Xanthus and
Balius.
The only goddess not invited, for obvious reasons of course, was Eris, the goddess of disagreement and
conflict. When she tried to crash the party and was still refused admittance, she used the Golden Apple to spark
a rivalry between three goddesses (Aphrodite, Athena and Hera). More than a decade later, this rivalry would
escalate to the outbreak of the Trojan War.
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When Achilles was born, his mother was not content to have a mere mortal as a son. So, she set her mind on
turning her son into an immortal. Inspired by the hero Hercules who burned off his mortality on a funeral pyre
while his immortal part rose to Mount Olympus, she tried to do the same to her son, by anointing him with
ambrosia during the day and dipping him in a pot of boiling water during the night, holding him only by his
heels.
However, when Peleus witnessed the horrible ritual one night, he quickly pulled his son out of the pot.
Thetis, insulted by her husband's action, she abandoned both Peleus and her son and returned to the sea.
According to another version, instead of boiling water, Thetis dipped her baby in the waters of river Styx.
Through both versions, the hero achieved immortality in all of his body, except his heels, which were held
by his mother during the ritual.
The hero's training and early life
Being a single father, Peleus gave his son to the wise centaur and old
friend Cheiron, to rear and train him. As a matter of fact, it was Cheiron who
gave the boy his name, Achilles.
The hero was taught the art of war and soon showed his great potential.
Indeed, he was said to be so strong and fast, that he could easily outrun a
deer.
After his initial training finished, the hero returned to his father in Phthia,
who entrusted him to his friend Phoenix, king of Dolopians, to take over the
rest of his training.
Achilles
tending
the
wounds of Patroclus after a
battle
While studying under Phoenix, Achilles met Patroclus, the son of
Menoetius. Soon, the two boys became close friends and, according to some
of the ancient storytellers (with the notable exception of Homer who never
claimed such a case), possibly lovers.
The renowned seer Calchas was one of the first to recognize the hero's great potential. When the boy was
just nine years old, he prophesized that the Greeks would never take Troy without him.
Drafted for War
Thetis, knowing that her son was destined to die if he fought in the Trojan
War, devised a scheme to keep him from joining the rest of the Greeks, in
their campaign against Troy: She disguised him as a girl and sent him to the
Aegean island of Scyrus, to live among the daughters of king Lycomedes.
When Odysseus came to Scyrus to try to enlist Achilles for the war, the
king claimed that the boy was not there. But, Odysseus, being cunning,
devised a scheme to force the hero reveal himself:
He laid down a spear and a sword and next to them he placed a number of
pretty jewels. He then invited all the king's daughters to play with the jewels.
Achilles receiving his While they were playing, one member of Odysseus's crew, acting under his
master's directions, sounded a horn, indicating a false alarm that they were
shield from Hephaestus
under attack. The trick worked: The disguised hero, as soon as he heard the
call, took off his lady garments and lifted the spear and the shield from the floor, ready to fight!
Despite his mother's pleas not to go to war, Achilles was finally persuaded to follow Odysseus. As a matter
of fact, his mother confided in her son that if he remained at home in Phthia, he would have a long, safe and
comfortable life, while if he went to Troy he would have a short, dangerous, but glorious one. Achilles, being a
true hero, did not hesistate to choose the latter.
When they joined the Greek fleet in Aulis, the hero, despite his young age, was appointed an admiral by
Agamemnon. He would lead an army of Myrmidons, or "ant-people", who had migrated to Phthia with
Peleus when he was banished from Aegina by his father.
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The early battles of the War
Before attacking Troy, the Greeks first attacked the island of Tenedos. Ignoring his mother's warnings, the
hero killed king Thenes, a son of Apollo, who tried to prevent the invaders from coming ashore, by pelting
them with heavy stones.
As the story about the war later turned out, Apollo was so infuriated with his son's death, that he arranged
for Achilles's death.
From very early in the war, Achilles established himself as a mighty warrior. As the myth goes, one of his
first victims was Cycnus, son of the god Poseidon. When Cycnus died, his father transformed him into a swan.
In the Hypoplacian Thebes, the warrior hero killed king Etion, who was the father of Andromache, wife of
Trojan hero Hector, as well as his seven sons. The hero honoured the king for his bravery by awarding him a
full funeral and burial in his armour, but held his wife, Hector's mother in law, for ransom.
More than any other Greek warrior, Achilles ravaged the family of fifty sons of the Trojan king Priam:
He ambushed and killed Troilus and captured Isus and Antiphus, while they were attending sheep on
Mount Ida. He also captured Lycaon, while the boy was cutting fig shoots to make rims for his chariot wheels
and later sold him as a slave.
The conflict with Agamemnon
In one of the numerous Greek attacks on Troy, the hero managed to
abduct a young beauty by the name of Briseis, to serve as his concubine.
Meanwhile, Agamemnon, the commander in chief of the Greek army,
enslaved a concubine of his own on the island of Chryse by the name of
Chryseis, who was the daughter of the island's priest of god Apollo.
Devastated by his loss, the girl's father pleaded the god to send a pestilence
on the Greeks. As a result, both animals and men began dying on the Greek
camp.
Achilles playing with Ajax
Having no other option, Agamemnon had to surrended the girl back to
her father, in order for the curse to be lifted.
However, to compensate for his loss, he ordered Achilles to give him
Briseis. Infuriated, the hero vowed to remain in his tent and refused to fight.
In addition, his mother Thetis who kept on her beloved son a close watch since he joined the Greeks,
pleaded with almighty Zeus to deny the Greeks any victories on the battlefield, until they begged her son to
return to them. Zeus agreed and as a consequence, the Greeks began to suffer a lot of setbacks. Hector,
commander in Chief of the Trojan army, led an assault which pushed the Greeks back all the way to the
shoreline, where there ships were docked, and set them on fire.
Several attempts to appease the angry Achilles and convince him to return to the battle all failed. Even
promises not only to return Briseis but also to hand him a substantial amount of gold were not successful.
Finally, he agreed to lend his armor to his friend Patroclus who would enter the battlefield, in an attempt to
misguide the Trojans that he himself had returned. Unfortunately, however, Patroclus would soon suffer a
violent death in the hands of Hector.
Return to the battlefield
Embittered by the loss of his beloved friend, the hero decided to return
to the battlefield, wearing a brand new armour which was forged by god
Hephaestus, following a request by Thetis.
Achilles fighting Hector
Entering the battlefield with a renewed vigor, the hero single handedly
spread terror and death to thousands of Trojans, whom he tossed into the
river Scamander. As a matter of fact, the river was so full of corpses, that
he rose up against the hero, flooding the plain where he fought. God
Hephaestus, however, saved him from drowning by drying up the river
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with a single, tremendous flame.
After Achilles forced his opponents to retreat inside the city's
walls, Hector alone came out to challenge him on the battlefield.
Priam claiming the dead body of his
son Hector
Being overpowered by a much superior opponent, the Trojan
hero was finally chased and killed. Not able to contain his rage,
Achilles then desecrated Hector's body, dragging the corpse
behind his chariot and circling the walls of Troy three times.
After retreating to his tent carrying with him the dead body of
his challenger, he finally succumbed to both the pleas of his
mother and the old Trojan king Priam, to surrender the body for burial.
The hero's tragic death
Still after the death of Hector, Achilles remained a formidable
warrior, overpowering the Trojan army. He even defeated and killed
the queen of Amazons, Penthesileia, when she came to assist the
desperate Trojans.
As the myth goes, the Amazon queen was so beautiful, that the
hero fell in love with her when he looked at her and wept, when he
stripped her corpse of her armour.
Statue depicting the death of
Achilles
Disgusted with himself being responsible for the death of so many
human beings, the hero took a leave from fighting and travelled to
the island of Lesbos, where he made sacrifices to Apollo, Artemis
and their mother Leto.
Upon his return, the hero finally met his tragic fate: From inside the
walls of Troy, Paris, assisted by god Apollo, shot an arrow that fatally
pierced the hero's vulnerable heel.
The Nereids mourn Achilles
In honour of their great hero, the Greeks constructed a funeral pyre,
where they burned his corpse. After that, Thetis accompanied by her 49
sisters arose from the sea and collected her beloved son's ashes in a golden
urn, where she mixed them with the ashes of her son's friend and lover
Patroclus. She then disappeared back into the sea.
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Perseus, the hero who killed the monstrous Medusa
Could there be a hero more virtuous than Perseus? A model of chivalry, he
rescued his future bride, Andromeda, from a monster and his mother from a
powerful king. A brave and resourceful adventurer, he ranks among the greatest
monster-slayers of Greek mythology.
A paragon of fidelity, the hero remained true to Andromeda throughout their
marriage. A beloved king, he not only ruled Tiryns for many years, but founded
the neighbouring city of Mycenae and fortified Midea as well.
Little wonder then, that Homer called him "the most renowned of all men".
Conception, Birth and Youth
The story of Perseus actually begins two generations earlier. His grandfather, Acrisius, king of Argos, had
a twin brother named Proetus.
The two brothers were supposed to grow up to rule Argos together. But as soon as they reached manhood,
they fought for the throne of Argos. In this battle, Acrisius was the winner and forced his brother into exile.
Proetus then became the king of Tiryns, a neighboring city in Argolis -the region surrounding Argos.
After many years of marriage to Aganippe, Acrisius had no male heir; instead he had an only daughter
named Danae. Wanting a son to inherit his kingdom, Acrisius consulted an oracle, but to his disappointment
got some bad news: He learned that not only he would he have no sons, but that his daughter's son would kill
him.
In an act of desperation, Acrisius tried to prevent the fulfilment of the prophecy, by locking his daughter up
in an underground chamber.
Despite these measures, Danae conceived a child by Zeus. The god fell in love with Danae and appeared
before her in the form of a gold shower, which poured through the roof of her cell and fell onto her. Thus
Danae gave birth to a child, whom she called Perseus.
When Acrisius found out about the birth of the child, he acted quickly: He placed both Danae and the baby
into a large wooden chest and cast it into the Aegean Sea, convicting his daughter and her son to death.
Fortunately, Zeus guided the chest across the sea to the island of Seriphus. On this island, there lived two
brothers: One was Polydectes (meaning "All Receiver"), king of Seriphus and the other was Dictys (meaning
"Net Man") who was a poor fisher. These two brothers were not at all on good terms with each other.
The chest that contained the two runaways was caught one day in the net of Dictys. After rescuing and
releasing them, Dictys took the two refugees into his home, claiming that they were distant relatives. Dictys
cared for Danae and her son for many years, until the hero reached manhood.
The expedition to capture Medusa
While Danae and her son were living in Dictys's home, king
Polydectes fell in love with her and proposed to marry her. Danae
rejected his offer, and the king, while seeming to accept her denial with
grace, never ceased to scheme against her.
After a while, Polydectes announced his intention to ask for the hand
of Hippodameia, a daughter of king Oenomaus of Pisa, a city in
southwestern Greece. Polydectes arranged for a banquet, in which each
invited guest must traditionally bring a gift for the intended bride.
Polydectes demanded that each of his subjects bring a horse as a
contribution.
Perseus, having not the means to acquire a horse, was in a difficult
position. He thus offered to bring to the king whatever else he desired, even the head of Medusa. Polydectes,
knowing very well that this was an impossible feat, was very happy to accept the hero's offering.
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Medusa was one of three monstrous sisters called the Gorgons. Of the three, only Medusa could be killed;
her sisters Euryale and Stheno were immortal. The hideous Gorgons had the following features:

Serpents for hair.

Penetrating eyes that anyone who looked upon them into stone.

Huge, snake like tongues.

Teeth as long and sharp as the tusks of a wild boar.

Bodies covered with scales so hard, that no weapon could pierce them.

Golden wings.

Claws forged of brass.
In order for Medusa's slayer to be successful, he must approach her lair without being seen either by her or
her sisters. To avoid being turned to stone, the killer would have to slay her without looking at her. Finally,
even after being successful in killing Medusa, the slayer would then need to flee with incredible speed so as to
avoid the swift pursuit of her winged sisters.
To Perseus's great comfort, goddess Athena, who hated Medusa, offered to help him accomplish this
terrible feat. She appeared before him and gave him directions exactly what to do.
She first took him to a cave in Seriphus where some of the Naiads lived. These nymphs lent to the hero
everything he should need to be triumphant:

Winged sandals, which would allow him to move swiftly.

The helmet of darkness (or cap of Hades) which makes its wearer invisible.

A pouch in which to carry his trophy, Medusa's head.
God Hermes then appeared and gave Perseus a sword of adamant-a metallic stone so hard that it was almost
unbreakable.
In order to find out about directions to the Gorgon's lair, Perseus traveled to a cave in the mountain where
Atlas stood. In this cave lived the Graeae ("gray women"), sisters of the Gorgons. These witches, who shared
just one eye and one tooth among them, had gray hair from birth.
Managing to intercept their only eye when they were asleep, the hero forced the witches to reveal the
location of their sisters's lair. After getting the information he needed, he tossed the eye into lake Tritonis and
hurried to his destination.
The lair was at the end of the earth, where neither the sun nor the moon ever shone. As he approached and
entered the lair, the hero passed dozens of stone figures: the petrified bodies of people who fell victims to the
Gorgon's hideous looks.
Following Athena's directions, Perseus used his mirrored shield to reflect Medusa's image and direct his
attack. He swiftly cut off her head with a single blow from his mighty sword, stuffed her head into the pouch
and flew away on his winged feet. Since he was wearing his helmet of darkness which made him invisible,
Medusa's sisters could not see their attacker, and thus escaped their vengeance.
The Voyage Home
According to Ovid alone, the hero first stopped in the land of Hesperides. He announced himself as a son
of Zeus and asked the Titan Atlas, who ruled the Hesperides, if he could rest there for a while.
Atlas recalled the prophecy of the Titaness Themis, who had warned him that a son of Zeus would one day
steal the Golden Apples of the Hesperides. So the Titan, insulted Perseus, denied his godly descent and rudely
attempted to expel him from the land.
Being cunning and shrewd and knowing that Medusa's head still had the power to turn its beholder into
stone, the hero before leaving, made an offer to the Titan to have a look at what he had in the pouch. After
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accepting his offer, Perseus lifted the head of Medusa, so that Atlas could have a glance. He was thus turned
into mountain, later known as Mount Atlas.
The Rescue of Andromeda
As Perseus flew on winged sandals over the coast of Ethiopia, he saw the figure of a beautiful woman
chained to a rock below. Enchanted, he descended to have a closer look.
After gentle persuasion, the girl shared with the hero her tragic tale:Her name was Andromeda and she was
the daughter of Cepheus, the king of Ethiopia, and Cassiopeia. Her mother had angered the sea god Poseidon,
when she boasted that she was more beautiful than the Nereids, the sea nymphs who served as the god's
attendants. To punish Cassiopeia's vanity, Poseidon had flooded the kingdom and sent a sea monster to ravage
Ethiopia. Following the advice of an oracle, the king had chained Andromeda to a rocky cliff as a sacrificial
offering to appease Poseidon and save his kingdom.
The hero immediately fell in love with Andromeda. When she begged for his help, he promised he would,
after securing a promise from her father the king that, if he rescued his daughter, he would reward him with
Andromeda's hand in marriage and a kingdom. Cepheus eagerly accepted his demand.
After killing the monstrous beast, Perseus freed Andromeda, brought her to her parents and demanded his
reward.
However, a complication emerged: Cepheus, in his eagerness to save Andromeda, forgot his earlier promise
to his brother Phineus that he would give Andromeda to him, as a bride to be married. In the battle that ensued
when Phineus crashed the couple's wedding demanding the bride to be given to him, Perseus emerged
victorious, when he used Medusa's head to turn all of the army of Phineus into stone.
With Phineus out of the way, the hero married Andromeda and -unlike most of the gods and heroes of
Greek mythology-remained faithful to her for the rest of his life. The couple remained with Andromeda's
parents for almost a year after their marriage, Andromeda giving birth to their first son, Perses.
When Perseus finally resumed his journey back to Seriphus, he and Andromeda left the infant Perses with
his grandparents. Since Cepheus had no other heir, Perses inherited his kingdom. The boy's descendants would
travel east and rule Persia, the land that was named after Perses.
Seriphus Revisited
When he returned to Seriphus, Perseus found out that his mother Danae found refuge at the alter of the
gods, where Dictys put her in order to escape the assault by Polydectes.
The hero then immediately sought to meet with Polydectes to seek revenge for his mother. When he met
him, he was provoked by him when he doubted that Perseus had brought back with him the head of Medusa.
Being careful to look the other way, the hero lifted the hideous head from the pouch, thus turning Polydectes
and all his attendants into stone.
Having rescued his mother, Perseus rewarded Dictys for his loyalty by giving him the throne of Seriphus
vacated by his brother. He then returned the borrowed weapons to Hermes, who carried them back to the
Naiads. In addition, to show his gratitude to Athena, he mounted his trophy, the head of Medusa, on the shield
of the goddess. The head, surrounded by snakes' heads on the center of her aegis, became Athena's most
distinctive emblem.
His heroic quest completed, Perseus set out for Argos with Andromeda and Danae. There, in the kingdom
of his birth, he hoped to make peace with his grandfather, Acrisius.
Fulfillment of the Prophecy
Fearing that his daughter and her son would soon return to Argos thus fulfilling the prophecy he so much
dreaded, Acrisius fled to Larissa, a kingdom in Thessaly. But Perseus, having long forsaken his grandfather
for his cruelty in the past, followed him to Larissa.
While attending funeral games held in honor of the father of king of Larissa who had recently died, Perseus
decided to join the discus-throw competition. Unfortunately, a discus thrown by Perseus got away from him,
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accidentally striking and killing one of the spectators, who was no other than Acrisius. The prophecy was thus,
after so many years, fulfilled.
With the death of Acrisius, Perseus inherited the throne of Argos. Yet he felt so ashamed about killing his
own grandfather that he vowed never to return to Argos. Instead, he resorted into trading kingdoms (Argos for
Tiryns) with Megapenthes, the only son of Acrisius's twin brother Proteus.
Perseus served as king of Tiryns for many years after. While ruling Tiryns, he established the city of
Mycenae and fortified Midea. He remained faithful to Andromeda, who bore him six children.
After his death, Perseus was worshipped both in Athens and Seriphus as a great hero. Athena herself
honored both Perseus and Andromeda by making constellations in both their names, after they died.
Muses: The Muses were lesser gods of music and intellectual creation.
Their cult seems to originate from Thrace.
According to Hesiod, there were in total nine of these Muses, who were
born in Pieria and were the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne. Each one of
them, was considered to be a patron of a particular form of art. These were:
Nine Muses

Clio, the Muse of History

Euterpe, the Muse of music and lyric poetry

Thalia, the Muse of comedy (not to be confused with the other Thalia,
one of the three Graces)

Melpomene, the Muse of tragedy

Terpsichore, the Muse of dance

Erato, the Muse of love poetry and music songs

Polymnia, the Muse of sacred song and oratory

Urania, the Muse of astronomy

Calliope, the Muse of epic or heroic poetry.
The Muses' favourite place of residence was Mount Helicon, from which they would descend wrapped in a
cloud to chant the events - past, present and future.
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The Lesser Gods in ancient Greece
in Greek Mythology, there is a fascinating, diverse range of lesser gods or minor deities, which personify
elements of nature or spiritual concepts.
These lesser gods can be broadly categorized into five groups, based on either the realm of the ancient cosmos
that they existed (gods of sky, sea, Underworld), on an important area of ancient Greek life (gods of love and
health).
Lesser Gods of the Sky

Iris: Iris, possibly the personification of the rainbow, was, together with
Hermes, the Olympian gods' messenger. She was the daughter of Thaumas
and the oceanid Electra and granddaughter of Gaia and god Poseidon.
Most writers describe her as a virgin, although according to one myth, she lay with
Zephyrus and gave birth to Eros.
Iris carried the waters of the river Styx, on which the immortals took oaths. She
also conveyed Zeus's orders to the other gods and changed form to convey the will
of the gods to mortals.
The ancient writers cite only one place where Iris was worshipped: The island of
Hecate near the island of Delos.

Iris
Charites(Graces): The Graces were lesser gods which personified attraction,
charm and desire. They symbolized graces and happiness in nature and in
the lives of the mortals.
There are several myths surrounding their exact number, their names and their parents. According to Hesiod,
they were three and their names were: Euphrosyne, Aglaia and Thalia. They were the daughters of Zeus and
the oceanid Eurynome.
Others claim that their mother was either Hera, Eunomia, or Lythe. Others claim that their father was Uranus.
The Charites were givers of all goods. They used flowers and fruit as symbols to civilize the mortals' lives and
they were the providers of inspiration for all forms of art.
They were invited to all the celebrations on Mount Olympus and they had a special close relationship with
goddess Aphrodite.

Horae: The Horae were lesser gods which guarded the gates of heavens and Olympus. They
symbolized the seasons and later, the subdivisions of the day and the hour.
They were daughters of Zeus and Themis. Their names were Eunomia(Order), Dike(Justice) and
Eirene(Peace).
The Horae were deities of both natural and moral order; inseparable the gave mortals the gifts of justice,
equality before the law and a peaceful life.

Muses: The Muses were lesser gods of music and intellectual creation.
Their cult seems to originate from Thrace.
According to Hesiod, there were in total nine of these Muses, who were born
in Pieria and were the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne. Each one of them,
was considered to be a patron of a particular form of art. These were:
Nine Muses
o
o
Clio, the Muse of History
o
Euterpe, the Muse of music and lyric poetry
o
Thalia, the Muse of comedy (not to be confused with the other
Thalia, one of the three Graces)
Melpomene, the Muse of tragedy
49
o
Terpsichore, the Muse of dance
o
Erato, the Muse of love poetry and music songs
o
Polymnia, the Muse of sacred song and oratory
o
Urania, the Muse of astronomy
o
Calliope, the Muse of epic or heroic poetry.
The Muses' favorite place of residence was Mount Helicon, from which they would descend wrapped in a
cloud to chant the events - past, present and future.

Helius: Helius (Sun) was the son of the Titan Hyperion and Theia. He was brother of Eos and Selene.
According to myth, he would tirelessly cross the sky on a chariot that was drawn by horses with breaths of
flame, thus bringing light to gods and mortals. At night, he would rest in a boat or a chalice in the ocean, from
where he rose every morning.
Omniscient, proud and ruthless, the god would punish anyone who came into conflict with him. Once, when a
son of Nereus bragged that he was faster than him, he punished him by turning him into a mollusk.
There are many references of the god's unions with both goddesses and mortal women. Best known among his
mortal mistresses was Rhodes, after whom the well known greek island of Dodecanese got its name. From
their union, Helius acquired seven sons and through them, his grandchildren Lindos, Ialyssos and Cameiros
founded the island's ancient cities.

Eos: Daughter of the Titan Hyperion and Theia and sister of Helius and Selene, Eos was the eternally
young goddess of the dawn.
According to Homer, she would rise from her bed each morning, to bring life
to gods and mortals.

Selene: Selene, daughter of Hyperion, was the personification of the
moon. She was also known as Mene.
According to myth, she lay with Zeus and bore him the beautiful daughters
Pandia, Nemea and Herse, who was the personification of morning dew.
The poet Mousaios is also considered to be her son.
The cult of Selene was widespread in Peloponese, and the Spartans would
always make sure to embark on military campaigns, only in favorable lunar
phases. In Nemea, a city in Argolid, it was believed that the Nemean lion
killed in one of the labors of Hercules, was Selene's son.
Selene
Because the moon's crescent resembles a bull's horns, the goddess was depicted seated on a bull or a cow, or
on a chariot driven by these horned beasts.
Lesser Gods of the Sea

Nereus and Nereids: Nereus was the eldest son of Pontus and Gaia and brother of Thaumas,
Phorcys, Ceto and Eurybia. He lived at the bottom of the Aegeian Sea and had the gift of foretelling
the future and the ability to change its form.
Nereus lay with Doris, daughter of Oceanus. With her, she had the Nereids, which were lesse gods, allegedly
amounting to fifty or one hundred. The nereids lived with their father at the bottom of the sea and helped
sailors in distress.
The most well known of the Nereids were Amphitrite, who was the queen of the Sea as she was married to
god Poseidon, and Thetis who was married to Peleus and was the mother of the hero of the Trojan War,
Achilles.

Proteus: According to most mythological accounts, the sea god Proteus was of Egyptian origin. From
Egypt, he went to Thrace, where he married the nymph Coronis and fathered two sons.
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Like Nereus, Proteus had the ability to transform himself, as well as the ability to foretell the future. Historian
Herodotus mention an old Egyptian story, according to which Proteus was king of Egypt during the time of
the Trojan War and gave shelter to Paris and Helen. In this version, Proteus kept Helen, whom he later
returned to her husband Menelaus.

Sirens: The Sirens or Seirenes were lesser gods believed to be daughters of Phorcys, or they had been
born from the blood of the horn of the river god Achelous. Either Gaia or one of the Muses
(Terpsichore, Melpomene or Calliope)was believed to be their mother.
The Sirens were believed to be three in total, their names being either Parthenope, Leucosia and Legeia
(according to the version of the muse Terpsichore being their mother), or Thelxipeia, Aglaope and Pecinoe
(according to the alternative version that claims that the muse Melpomene was their mother).
They were sweet-voiced women who had human heads and bird bodies. They inhabited islands in the
Tyrrhenian Sea and they were man-eaters of sailors who, enticed by their sweet singing, would make the
mistake of approaching the shores of the Siren's island. But, there was a horrid omen linked with the
formidable deities: The Sirens were condemned to crash into the sea and drown, if they once failed to lure the
sailors into their deadly trap.
As the legend goes, the Sirens met their fate when the hero Odysseus was passing by their island, on his return
trip to Ithaca from Troy: Being knowledgeable about their deadly ploy, he tied his sailors to the mast of the
ship, plugging their ears with wax. He was thus able to sail away, managing to avoid the Sirens. As the
prophecy went, the Sirens subsequently fell into the sea and drowned.
Ancient Greeks believed that Sirens were responsible for the nightmares that haunted their sleep. Yet, they also
believed that they were beneficial deities, for those who managed to appease them.

Scylla and Charybdis: Scylla was a monstrous creature with twelve legs,
six necks and six horrible heads, each equipped with three rows of strong
teeth. She lived on the top of high cliff in Lower Italy overlooking the
Messenean straits and ate marine creatures and unsuspecting travellers.
Once a beautiful nymph, she was transformed into a monster by Amphitrite or
Circe, as a punishment for falling in love with either Glaucus, or Poseidon.
Charybdis, another sea monster, lived across the sea opposite Scylla and she was
the personification of whirlpools. She was the daughter of Poseidon and Gaia, but
was changed into a monster by Zeus, as a punishment for stealing Hercules's cattle.
Half woman, half fish, she would suck down the waters of the sea three times a
day, then throw them back up, sucking sailors and ships into the vortex.
Scylla
Both monsters symbolized the dangers of the open sea and the difficulties faced by
ancient sea travelers.

Oceanids: Oceanus's and Tethys's 3,000 daughters were lesser gods known as Oceanids. The most well
known of these were two, Eurynome and Persa, wife of god Helius and mother of sorceress Circe and
Aeetes, king of Colchis.

Nymphs: The nymphs were deities which protected springs,
forests, meadows, trees and caves. They personified the
benign forces of nature and were especially honoured by
young women, preparing to get married.
Depending on the origin and the object they protected, they were
either called Naiads(protectors of rivers and wells), Orestiades
(protectors of forests), Dryads (protectors of trees) and Agronome
(protectors of meadows).
Gods and Nymphs
The nymphs were daughters of Zeus, while, according to Hesiod,
some of them were born from the blood spilled by Uranus, as
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narrated in the creation myth. Some others, where allegedly the daughters of various rivers, such as Achelous,
Cephisus, Ismenus, or Asopus.
Lesser Gods of Love
In Greek Mythology, the primary god of love is Eros, which
embodies the mutual attraction and union of men and women.
Besides its important function in human relationships, Eros is featured
in the creation myth narrated in "Theogony", as one of the primary
god creators of the Universe.
In Plato's Symposium, it is mentioned that Eros is not a god but a
demon - in other words he is one of the lesser gods - who is the son of
Poros (Wealth) and Penia (Poverty), thus symbolizing the fact that
Eros is the driving force behind the creation of life and the struggle
Statues of Eros
for social advancement.
In classical mythology, Eros is indeed considered to be one of the lesser gods, son of Eilythia, goddess of
childbirth, or Iris and Zephyrus; in other myths he is considered to be the son of Aphrodite and Zeus, Ares, or
Hermes.
In art, he is mostly depicted as a beautiful, playful and winged boy who carries his bow and arrows, which
carry the sweet poison tormenting the souls of both mortals and immortals, when they are hit.
Lesser Gods of the Underworld

Dike: Existing in the underworld realm, Dike personified justice through
retribution. According to Hesiod, Dike was one of the three Charites (or
Graces), daughter of Zeus and Themis.
Dike is linked with the ancient Greek custom of persecution of the guilty, either
by the community or by the victim's family. Her assistants were the Erinyes
(Furies), who hound criminals.

Nemesis: In Greek Mythology, Nemesis was one of the lesser gods that
personified the retribution casted upon all mortals who had been
sacrilegious, disrespectful, or arrogant. In other words, it embodied the
gods' frustration against the mortals who had exceeded the boundaries of
moderation - even extreme success.
The cult of Nemesis was quite widespread in Asia Minor. In Smyrna, in
particular, coins have been found which depict the head of Nemesis on their face.
In addition, she was depicted in statues in Olympia and on the island of Thasos,
as well as on reliefs in Thessaloniki.

Keres: Ker, or "the lady of death" as Homer describes her, was a goddess
of destruction, violent death and vengeance who wandered around battle
fields with Eris (Discord) and Kydoemus, a war demon who is the
personification of the noise of the battle. Ker wore a garment which was
dyed red from the blood spilled during a battle.
In other accounts, the Keres were two demons who were blood-soaked, black,
winged figures with human form. The ancient Greeks believed that the Keres
followed anyone who was destined to have a violent death, from the day he or she was born, until the day he or
she died.
Statue of Nemesis

Harpies: Harpies were winged, predatory deities, who snatched the souls of the mortals to bring them
to Hades.
They were the daughters of Thaumas, son of Pontus and Gaia, and the oceanid Electra. They were sisters of
Iris.
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
Erinyes (Furies): The winged Erinyes were horrible, subterranean lesser gods
of destiny and revenge.
According to Hesiod, they were born from the drops of blood that fell on the earth was
Uranus was castrated.
The Erinyes persecuted and haunted all those who upset the order of things by
performing deeds which are generally unacceptable. Notable examples of such cases,
were the persecution of Orestes who, according to the relevant myth, committed
matricide and the case of Oedipus, who committed patricide.
There were different versions about their exact number and their names. According to
the most prevalent one, they were three and their names were Alecto (she who is not
mollified), Tisiphone (the avenger of murders) and Megaera (the spirit of hatred).
Statue of one of the
Erinyes
Black and wearing black clothes, they had a fierce look, foul-smelling, fiery breath,
foam around their mouths, snakes in their hair and hands and they flew through the air
chasing their victim. Neither mortals nor gods could escape their rage.
 Charon: The son of Nyx (Night) and
Erebus, the ferryman Charon would deliver the souls of the dead to
Hades, in return for a fee of one obol.
Over time, the ferryman who would transport the souls across the Acheron
River, became a personification of death and the underworld.
Lesser Gods of Healing
Hypnos
and
Thanatos
Asclepius: According to the most prevalent myth,
carrying a dead warrior
Asclepius was the son of god Apollo and Coronis,
daughter of king Phlegyas of Thessaly. His birth
was quite adventurous, as described in the relevant chapter of Apollo's profile.
He was then given by his father to centaur Cheiron to raise him and teach him the
science of healing. Asclepius's skills as a doctor became so advanced, that he could
even raise the dead, prompting the jealousy of the Olympian gods and the rage of
Zeus, who struck him with a lightning bolt.
Asclepius became so revered across Greece for his extraordinary healing skills, that he
was worshipped everywhere in the ancient Greek world and its colonies. In classical
times, Epidaurus was recognized as the metropolis of Asclepius's cult.
The places of his worship were called Ascleipeions. The most famous of these which
were spread in Greece, was located at Epidaurus. Patients, who were coming from the
four corners of Greece to be healed by Asclepius, stayed within the temple overnight.
As they believed, the god would appear in their sleep, thus restoring their good health.
The Ascleipions were usually built in healthy environments - for instance in woods or
Statue of Asclepius
near thermal spas. The cure included baths, diet and exercise. Prominent sanctuaries
were located in Athens, in Piraeus, on the island of Cos and in Trikala.
Especially in Cos, according to local mythology, two sons of Asclepius settled on the island and became the
founders of Asclepieiades, doctors who formed a guild and passed their knowledge about medicine to
posterity, through secret rituals.
Hygeia, which was a deity that personified good health, appeared to be a daughter of Asclepius,as well as,
according to other myths, his wife.
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Part 3
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Part4
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