MYTHS OF THE DAY
GREEK MYTHOLOGY EXPLAINED
THE TITANS
Myth of the Day
 Prometheus
was a son
of the Titan Iapetus
and one of the older
Greek gods who sided
with Zeus in his fight
against his father
Cronos.
Prometheus’s fame
was due to his
affection for
mankind, for whom
he gave fire.
 Zeus,
the leader of
the new and stronger
gods, had hidden fire
away, but Prometheus
stole is and brought it
to Earth with him.
But this drew
Prometheus into
conflict with Zeus,
who chained the
rebellious Titan to a
rock and sent an
eagle to eat his liver.


As he was immortal, his
liver would grow back at
night, and each day the
bird would peck it out and
consume it again.
Prometheus was only
released when he gave
Zeus the information that
the sea nympth, Thetis,
whom both Zeus and
Poseidon were pursing,
would give birth to a son
mightier than his father. By
making sure Thetis married
a mortal ruler, the newly
victorious gods protected
themselves because her
son turned out to be the
warrior Achilles.

Zeus’ anger with
mankind was on occasion
explained by poor
sacrifices. But
Prometheus humself was
not a straightforward
helper either. He gave
fire, an essential of
civilized life, but other
gifts were perhaps less
helpful. Out of the
flaming forge came
weapons of war, plus all
the miseries that follow
the disruption of a
simple way of life.
The Myth of the Day

The greatest of all heroes in Greek
mythology, Hercules was the
strongest man on earth. Besides
tremendous physical strength, he had
great self-confidence and considered
himself equal to the gods. Hercules
(called Heracles by the Greeks) was
not blessed with great intelligence,
but his bravery made up for any lack
of cunning. Easily angered, his
sudden outbursts of rage often
harmed innocent bystanders. When
the fury passed, though, Hercules
was full of sorrow and guilt for what
he had done and ready to accept any
punishment for his misdeeds. Only
supernatural forces could defeat him,
and it was magic that ended his
mortal life. In Greek mythology, only
two figures with half-mortal, halfimmortal parentage—Hercules and
Dionysus—became fully immortal
and were worshiped as gods.
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Birth and Early Life. Hercules was the
son of Zeus* and Alcmena, the wife of
Amphitryon, a distinguished Greek
warrior and heir to the throne of Tiryns.
One night while Amphitryon was away,
Zeus came to Alcmena disguised as her
husband. The next day, the real
Amphitryon returned and slept with his
wife. Concerned that Amphitryon did
not remember being with Alcmena on
both nights, the couple consulted the
blind prophet Tiresias, who told them
that Zeus had slept with Alcmena the
first night and predicted that she would
bear a child who would become a great
hero.
Hera was fiercely jealous of Zeus's lovers
and children and pursued them
mercilessly. She tried to kill the infant
Hercules by having two poisonous
snakes placed in his crib one night.
However, the infant grabbed the snakes
and strangled them. Though Hera failed
to kill Hercules, she persecuted him
throughout his life, causing many of the
events that led to his great suffering and
punishments.

One day after Hercules returned
home from a journey, Hera
struck him with a fit of madness
during which he killed his wife
and children. When he came to
his senses, Hercules was
horrified by what he had done.
Devastated with sorrow and
guilt, the hero went to the oracle
at Delphi* to ask how he could
atone for his misdeed. The oracle
told him to go to King
Eurystheus of Tiryns and submit
to any punishment asked of him.
The oracle also announced that if
Hercules completed the tasks set
before him, he would become
immortal.

The Twelve Labors of
Hercules. King Eurystheus
gave Hercules a series of 12
difficult and dangerous
tasks. Known as the Twelve
Labors of Hercules, these
were his most famous feats.
The hero's first task was to
kill the Nemean Lion, a
monstrous beast that
terrorized the countryside
and could not be killed by
any weapon. Hercules
strangled the beast with his
bare hands and made its
skin into a cloak that made
him invulnerable.
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Hydra- nine-headed
serpent
Ceryneian Hind- wild
beast sacred to Artemis
Erymanthian Boar
Cleansing of Augeas’
stables
Stymphaliam birds
Bull of Minos
Man-eating mares of
Diomedes
Amazons (to retrieve the
girdle of Hippolyta
Visit to the Underworld
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Later in his life, Hercules married
Deianeira, a princess whose hand he had
won by fighting the river god Achelous.
Hercules also saved Deianeira from a
centaur named Nessus, who tried to
harm her. As Nessus lay dying from
Hercules' arrows, he urged Deianeira to
take some of his blood, telling her it
would act as a magic potion that could
secure her husband's love forever.
Some years later, fearing that Hercules
had fallen in love with another woman,
Deianeira took the potion and smeared it
on a robe for her husband. The potion
was really a terrible poison, and when
Hercules put on the poisoned garment, it
burned his skin, causing an agonizing
pain that could not be stopped. When
Deianeira discovered what had
happened, she killed herself.
The dying Hercules ordered his son to
build a funeral pyre, and the hero lay
down upon it. As the flames of the pyre
grew, a great cloud appeared, a bolt of
lightning struck, and the body of
Hercules disappeared. Hercules, now an
immortal god, had been taken to Mount
Olympus to be with his father, Zeus, and
the other gods. Even Hera welcomed him
and allowed him to marry her daughter
Hebe.
The Myth of Narcissus
 The myth of Narcissus is
one of the most known
Greek Myths, due to its
uniqueness and moral tale;
Narcissus, was the son of
River God Cephisus and
nymph Lyriope. He was
known for his beauty and he
was loved by God Apollo
due to his extraordinary
physique.
 Narcissus was once
walking by a lake or
river and decided to
drink some water; he
saw his reflection in
the water and was
surprised by the
beauty he saw; he
became entranced
by the reflection of
himself. He could
not obtain the object
of his desire though,
and he died at the
banks of the river or
lake from his sorrow.
 According to the
myth Narcissus is
still admiring
himself in the
Underworld, looking
at the waters of the
Styx.
Narcissism- noun
 narcissism is a
personality trait
characterized by
egotism, vanity,
conceit, or simple
selfishness.
 Narcissist (NOUN)
 Narcissistic (Adjective)

What creature goes on four feet in the
morning, on two at noonday, and on three in
the evening?
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King Laius of Thebes was
warned by an Oracle that he
would die by the hands of
his son.
To attempt to act in such a
way that the prophecy
would be made void was as
futile as to set oneself
against the decrees of fate.
In an attempt to escape his
fate, Laius took his child,
bound its feet together, and
left it to die of exposure on a
mountain. He felt sure that
he had avoided the Oracle’s
prophecy.
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King Laius happily lived
without the fear of being
killed by his son.
Years later, a band of
robbers attacked and killed
the King and all his
attendants.
The matter was not
investigated thoroughly, as
Thebes was having a rough
time.
A fearful Sphinx had taken
residence outside the city.
Anyone who wanted to pass
had to answer a riddle
correctly, under pain of
death. No one could get in
or out.

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So matters stood when there
came into the country a
stranger, whose name was
Oedipus.
He had left his home, Corinth,
where he was held to be the
son of the King, Polybus. The
reason for his exile was
another Delphic oracle. Apollo
had declared that he was fated
to kill his father.
Horrified, Oedipus resolved
never to see his father again.
Like his REAL father, Oedipus
tried to change his fate.
In his lonely wanderings
he came into the country
around Thebes and he
heard what was
happening there. He was
a homeless, friendless
man to whom life meant
little and he determined to
seek the Sphinx out and
try to solve the riddle.
 After answering correctly,
Oedipus was welcomed
into the city. The grateful
citizens made him their
King, and he married the
dead king’s wife, Jocosta.
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For some time, Oedipus
reigned over Thebes happily
with his wife, and their two
sons.
By the time their sons had
grown, however, disaster
struck. Disease was rampant,
and famine. Oedipus sought
to end his people’s suffering.
Apollo announced that their
suffering would end only
when King Laius’ murderer
was punished.
Oedipus was enormously
relieved. He thought it would
be easy to find the villain and
bring him to justice!


They consulted the blind
prophet, Teiresias, who at
first refused to answer
them. Eventually, he caved
and told Oedipus that he
had murdered Laius.
Oedipus banished him from
his sight. Obviously, the
prophet was lying or crazy.
Oedipus returned home to
his wife, and told her what
Teiresias had said. She
laughed, saying it was
ridiculous. After all, her
husband had been killed on
the road by robbers outside
of Thebes.

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Oedipus froze in his tracks.
This sounded familiar. He
began to ask for details, and
the only witness that was
left from Laius’ party.
At this point, some divine
intervention comes in to
help convince Oedipus that
he is indeed the son of Laius,
not Polybus.
Their fates?
 Jocosta, after learning she had
married her son and begot her
own grandchildren, kills herself
in her chamber.
 Oedipus, finding Jocosta dead,
bore out his own eyes, and
blocking out any light and
succumbing to darkness.
Myth of the Day- Psyche and Cupid
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Once upon a time there was a king
with three daughters. They were all
beautiful, but by far the most
beautiful was the youngest, Psyche.
She was so beautiful that people
began to neglect the worship of
Venus, the goddess of love and
beauty.
Venus was very jealous, and asked
her son Cupid (the boy with the
arrows) to make Psyche fall in love
with a horrible monster. When he
saw how beautiful she was, Cupid
dropped the arrow meant for her
and pricked himself, and fell in
love with her.

Despite her great beauty no-one wanted to marry Psyche. Her
parents consulted an oracle, and were told that she was
destined to marry a monster, and they were to take her to the
top of a mountain and leave her there. The west wind took her
and wafted her away to a palace, where she was waited on
by invisible servants. When night came her new husband visited
her, and told her that he would always visit her by night and
she must never try to see him.


Although her invisible husband was
kind and gentle with her, and the
invisible servants attended to her
every desire, Psyche grew homesick.
She persuaded her husband to allow
her sisters to visit her. When they saw
how she lived they became very
jealous and talked Psyche into
peeking at her husband, saying that
he was a monster who was fattening
her up to be eaten and that her only
chance of safety was to kill him.
Psyche took a lamp and a knife, but
when she saw her beautiful husband,
Cupid, she was so surprised she
dripped some hot wax onto his
shoulder, waking him. He took in the
situation at a glance and
immediately left Psyche and the
magnificent palace she had been
living in disappeared in a puff of
smoke.

Psyche roamed about looking
for her husband, and
eventually in desperation
approached his mother, Venus.
Still angry, the goddess set
various tasks for Psyche, all of
which she passed, with a bit of
help from ants and river gods.
At last Cupid found out what
was going on, and he
persuaded Jupiter to order
Venus to stop her persecution
of Psyche. Then they were
married and lived happily
ever after - and it really was
ever after since Psyche was
made a goddess.
Redemption
Myth of the Day- Antigone
 In Greek mythology, Antigone
(pronunciation: /ænˈtɪɡəniː/ anTI-gə-nee; Ἀντιγόνη) is the
daughter of Oedipus and
Jocasta, Oedipus' mother. The
name has been suggested to
mean "opposed to motherhood",
"in place of a mother".[1] It may
also mean "against men" since
men were dominant in the
Ancient Greek family structure,
and Antigone clearly defied
masculine authority, or "antigenerative", from the root gonē,
"that which generates"
Roots
 Antigone is a daughter of
the accidentally incestuous
marriage between King
Oedipus of Thebes and his
mother Jocasta. She is the
subject of a popular story
in which she attempts to
secure a respectable burial
for her brother Polynices,
even though he was a
traitor to Thebes and the
law forbids even mourning
for him, on pain of death.
How the story goes…
 After her father, the king,
dies, her two brothers are
supposed to share the throne.
One brother does not want to
share and seizes power. The
other brother leaves Thebes
and gathers an army. The
brothers kill each other. The
first power-hungry brother
receives a proper burial, but
the second brother is denied
on by the new man in charge.
Antigone breaks the law in
bringing her brother’s body
into the city and giving it a
traditional burial herself.