Greek Mythology
TRAVIS AND GRAYSON
Ares
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Ares was the great Olympian of
war, battle lust, and manly
courage. He is described as either
a bearded warrior dressed in
battle arms, or a nude, beardless
youth with helm and spear.
Because of his lack of distinctive
attributes he is often difficult to
identify in classical art. The
symbols of Ares was the spear
and his scared animal was the
dog.
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Ares was son of Zeus, king of gods,
and Hera, the goddess of
marriage. Ares just like his mother,
had a difficult character to deal
with so he was unpopular to the
other gods. He would often get
into fights with other gods.
Persephone
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Persephone was the goddess queen of the
underworld, wife of the god Hades. She was
also the goddess of spring growth, who was
worshipped alongside her mother Demeter.
Persephone was titled Kore as the goddess
of spring bounty.
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Once upon a time when she was playing in
a flowery meadow with her nymph
companions, Kore was seized by Hades and
carried off to the underworld as his bride. Her
mother upset at her disappearance and
searched for her throughout the world. She
got furious when she did not find her and
refused to let Earth bear fruit until
Persephone was returned, but Persephone
could not because she tasted the fruit of
Hades and was forced to spend a part of a
year with husband in the underworld. When
she returned in the spring it was marked by
the flowering of meadows and the sudden
growth of the new grain.
Athena
•
Athena was the Greek Virgin goddess of
reason, intelligent activity, arts, and
literature.
•
She was the daughter of Zeus; her birth is
unique because she did not have a mother.
•
Instead, she sprang full grown in amour from
Zeus’s forehead.
•
She only tool part in wars that defended the
state and home from enemies.
•
She invented the trumpet, flute, rake, plow,
ship, and chariot.
•
She was the embodiment of wisdom,
reason, and purity, and was Zeus’ favorite
child and was allowed to use his weapons
including his thunderbolt.
•
Her holy tree was the olive tree and she was
often symbolized as an owl.
•
The favorite city of Athena was Athens and
after she won a contest with Poseidon, she
became the protector of Athens and the
city was named after her.
Heracles
•Hercules was a demigod and was the son of a mortal women
named Alcmene and the supreme god Zeus.
• Zeus' wife Hera hated the child born out of wedlock, and
sent two snakes to kill the baby. However, the young boy killed
the animals.
•Heracles then became a strong warrior, but Hera struck him
with madness, and he killed his own children and wife
•Hercules needed to find some way for the gods to forgive him
for this terrible crime.
•the gods said they would forgive Hercules if he did twelve
hard jobs for the king of Argos - we call these the twelve
labors of Hercules.
•Some of the more well known task were:
The Lion of Nemea
• Heracles' first task was to kill the lion of nearby Nemea, a
terrible beast. It was resistant against all weapons, but
Heracles strangled it. From then on, he wore the lion's
invulnerable pelt as armor.
Heracles
Hydra
•In this task Hercules he had to go kill the Hydra. The Hydra was a huge
snake with nine heads. Hercules realized that whenever he cut off a head,
two more grew back out of it's neck. By fighting the Hydra, Hercules was only
making it stronger. So Hercules thought of another plan. Instead of cutting off
the heads, he smashed them between two rocks. Then the heads did not
grow back, and so Hercules was able to kill the Hydra.
Cerberus
•This was Hercules last labor where he had to go to the underworld and
retrieve a three-headed dog know as Cerberus. When he returned with
the dog he was free.
•Hercules is one of the best-known heroes in Greek mythology and he has
been in many of the movies and stories that we see today.
Dionysus
•Dionysus was the god of fertility and wine.
•He created wine and spread the study of grapes.
•He was the son of Zeus and Semele, and he was the only
god with a mortal parent.
•Zeus had went to Semele in the night, unseen by human
eyes, but could be felt as a divine presence.
•When Hera found out She went to Semele in disguise and
convinced her she should see her lover as he really was.
•When Zeus visited her again, she made him promise to grant
her one wish, and she wished to see him in his true form.
•Zeus was unhappy knowing what was about to happen, but
bound by his oath, he had no choice. He appeared in his true
form and Semele was instantly burnt to a crisp by the sight of
his glory.
• Zeus managed to rescue the fetal Dionysus and stitched him
into his thigh until he would be ready to be born. His birth
from Zeus granted immortality upon him.
•Throughout His life Dionysus wandered the world actively
spreading his cult.
•The thing most associated with Dionysus in today's culture is
with wine, there are many Wineries named after him.
Websites
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http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Ares.html
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http://www.theoi.com/Khthonios/Persephone.html
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Ebsco/Host
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ProQuest
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WorldBook