Aphrodite

Never had there been such sensual beauty and impeccable taste, born of the sea foam created by the mutilation of Uranus by his son Kronos adorned in birth with pearls, scallop shells, and clams. A new era of love had been introduced! Romance was here and planning to stay. A goddess so beautiful and divine, flowers sprang upon her every footstep. Goddess of love and beauty indeed. Every Greek god and goddess was dying to meet her. The Horae (Hours) welcomed her to step ashore and adorned her with the finest gold ornaments and cloth, then brought Aphrodite to Mount Olympus to present her to Zeus and the other gods and goddesses.

Zeus, in his infinite wisdom, instantly recognized the threat of this beautiful goddess to the welfare of all of Olympus. With her extreme beauty that captivated any eye that saw it, she caused many fights in order to gain her much wanted attention. Zeus mandated she must be married at once in an attempt to quell any conflicts over her and awarded the goddess to his son, Hephaestus, god of the forge. It was pretty good for Hephaestus, who got hooked up with one of the most beautiful goddesses ever known, but not so much for Aphrodite who was stuck with . . . Hephaestus, the lame blacksmith, who wasn’t the most attractive of men. However, Hephaestus was reliable and hardworking, and worked tediously to make his wife beautiful jewelry, including Aphrodite’s famous girdle, which made her even more beautiful and irresistible, which wasn’t the greatest of ideas on Hephaestus’s part. Aphrodite, however, did not want to be stuck with plain Hephaestus all her life. Aphrodite was well renowned for her numerous love affairs she’s had which resulted in many offspring by her various lovers. Her most notable lovers were the gods Ares, Dionysius, Hermes, Poseidon, and the mortal, Adonis. Except for a few occasions when he was overwhelmed with jealousy or resentment, Hephaestus seemed to accept this arrangement, happy to just have and hold her when he could. Indeed, their marriage seemed companionable, with little passion perhaps, but little conflict as well.

While many other gods and goddesses were busy with their numerous divine duties, the goddess Aphrodite’s only duty was to bring love into the world.

It’s evident that many women were very envious of Aphrodite’s abounding beauty and her easy-going life, but none were resentful. She was seen as friendly, kind, and even generous. She helped bring both deities and mortals to find true love, and even lent her beautiful girdle to the goddess Hera to try and prevent Zeus from cheating on Hera.

One of Aphrodite’s closest lovers was Ares, and it was known to almost all of Olympia their adulterous affair. Even-headed, Hephaestus was furious. Thus using his wit and his crafting skills he fashioned an unbreakable net, trapped the two lovers, and dragged them to Olympia. Hephaestus demanded punishment, but the Gods’ laughed and thought him foolish. In the end nothing was done and things went back to as they were before, and Hephaestus learned to accept Aphrodite’s cheating. Although Aphrodite was detached to many of her love affairs, one serious affair with the mortal Adonis caused great suffering on her part. When Adonis was killed by a wild boar, his cries were heard by Aphrodite and she joined him at this side at his dying moments. She grieved deeply and cursed the Fates who ordained his demise. In memorial to his love, Aphrodite turned Adonis’s dripping blood into wildflowers.

Aphrodite's most famous son was Eros (also known as Cupid), the god of love, who helped her with her work. An archer, his job was to shoot arrows dipped in Aphrodite's love potion, hitting her unwitting victims, causing them to fall madly in love with the next person they saw, which in many cases created some of the greatest love stories in Greek mythology; however, more often than not it caused great mischief and had broken up many respectable homes. The influence of the Greek goddess Aphrodite can be seen as generative, far beyond that of romance, love, or desire alone. She is associated with the life-giving sea. Just as the waves lapping on the shore refresh and renew the beach, Aphrodite brings us hope and the awareness of the transforming power of love and beauty.

Apollo

Apollo, Favorite Son of Zeus,God of Archery, Hunting, Prophecy,

Cattle-Herding and Plague,Lyre-Music and Dancing,

Also called Phoebus ("bright, shining") by the Romans.

Apollo, Greek god of the Sun, was the original overachiever. No wonder he became his father's favorite son. At the tender age of 4 days, he showed an incredible talent for archery. Apollo killed the gigantic serpent named Python who had been harassing his mother.

The Greek god Apollo and his twin sister Artemis were born to Leto (a Titan goddess who was impregnated by Zeus during one of his numerous affairs.) The birth of the twins was not an easy one, for their poor mother Leto had been pursued throughout her pregnancy by a gigantic serpent named Python and had never been allowed a moment’s rest. Going into labor, she finally found a safe, secluded spot where she could deliver. But after the birth of the first twin, Artemis, Leto was too exhausted to continue. Artemis, just born, had to take control of the situation and become Leto’s midwife, helping her mother safely deliver the infant Apollo.

Zeus welcomed the twins by giving them both silver bows and arrows, promising Artemis she would never have to marry unless she wanted to, and giving Apollo a magnificent golden chariot that was pulled by swans.

Apollo was destined to make his father proud of him. Following his dramatic debut with the Python, he went on to become, not only an unerring archer, but the best musician (playing a lyre given to him by his half-brother Hermes), poet, philosopher, law maker and creator of legal institutions, a masterful physician, the god of prophecy, and a great scholar who always spoke the truth.

Apollo’s skill and determination were evident at a very early age. When he was only 4 days old, he took his bow and arrow and went out in search of the snake that had tormented his mother during her pregnancy. Finding the snake named Python, who was said to measure several acres in length, he wounded her with his first shot.

The serpent crawled back to her cave in the city of Delphi, but the infant Apollo followed her and this time succeeded in killing the snake with his second shot. The citizens of Delphi were glad to be rid of her and were grateful to Apollo - later Delphi was established as the center of Apollo’s worship.

As it happened this was not just a regular snake that Apollo had killed - it turns out that it happened to be the famed Oracle of Delphi, the greatest prophet of all time. The Python lived in the cave and could answer any question since she could see anything in the present or the future. When she answered a question, her hiss would be interpreted by the Pythian priestess and the answer relayed to the questioner.

The killing of the Python was no small matter. Though very proud of his son’s courage and prowess, Zeus was not pleased that Apollo had killed the serpent. Where could he go now when he needed advice based on her remarkable foresight?

“Not a problem,” Apollo assured him, and returned to Delphi where he took over the Temple and persuaded the priestess to teach him the art of prophecy.

Zeus, even though he favored this child, felt Apollo should still be punished for killing the Python, just to teach him a lesson. So he exiled him to live and work on earth as a mortal for one year. His assignment was to assist King Admetus, a kind and pious man who treated Apollo well. At the end of his year of servitude, to repay the king’s kindness, he looked into the future and told the king his fate, warning him that he could reverse it if he could find someone willing to die in his place. Only his wife was willing, and the king regretted allowing her to sacrifice her life for him. Later the hero Hercules was able, however, to restore her life.

It was said that Apollo could only speak the truth, telling the future with an accuracy that was as unerring as his marksmanship with his arrows.

Arrows featured largely in the story of Apollo’s first love. He caught the somewhat bratty young Eros (Cupid) playing with his silver bow and arrows. He chastised Eros, telling him to put them down that they were not toys. Offended, Eros cheerfully responded “OK, you can have some of mine then - they’re not toys either!” and shot Apollo with one of his golden arrows that had been dipped in an aphrodisiac that made the victim fall madly in love with the first person they saw.

At that very moment, Daphne, the lovely daughter of a river god, came walking by. Apollo was instantly smitten. With a wicked smile on his lips, the mischievous Eros drew a second arrow from his quiver. This one was made of lead and tipped with a potion that would make love seem repulsive. He took aim and shot Daphne with it.

Daphne ran home and begged her father to swear an oath that she would never have to marry, so repugnant was the very idea of love. Apollo, his heart inflamed with love, pursued Daphne, calling out his pledges of undying love - but she continued to run from him. Horrified when he finally caught up with her, Daphne cried for Mother Earth to strike her dead or change her form so that she would not be appealing and would not have to endure his love. Instantly she turned into laurel tree.

Apollo, heartbroken, tore off a branch of leaves and wove them in his hair, promising Daphne that she would be forever remembered, living on in the wreaths of laurel leaves that would be used to crown kings and victors from that day forward. And so it would be.

Like several of the Greek gods of his generation, Apollo never married, but seduced many young goddesses and mortal women. In the hopes of winning her love, Apollo gave Cassandra the gift of prophecy. She proved an able student and, like him, learned to see the future and always told the truth. Shocked when he suddenly turned amorous, ready to be repaid for his favor, Cassandra rejected him. Angered by this, Apollo gave her another “gift” - this one a curse that even though she always told the truth no one would ever believe her.

For all his bright and shining qualities, Apollo could also be quite vindictive. Always close to his twin sister, both were known for their skill as archers, their energetic pursuit of their goals, and their swift and merciless punishment of those whose behavior they found insulting or offensive.

When Niobe boasted that she was a better mother than Leto since she had produced six sons and six daughters instead of just a measly set of twins, Apollo and Artemis took offense. Taking their bows and arrows with them, they found Niobe’s children and Apollo killed the sons while Artemis dispatched the daughters. Niobe’s grief was so great that her tears caused the rivers to overflow their banks.

Apollo also had a jealous streak. When Artemis fell in love with the hunter Orion, Apollo missed her company. Aware that Orion was swimming in the ocean, Apollo ran to find Artemis and, gathering up their bows and arrows, rushed down to the beach with her. Pointing to Orion’s head, barely visible on the horizon, Apollo said, “See that shiny thing bobbing in the waves? Bet you can’t hit that!” Artemis, a fierce competitor and exceptional archer accepted the wager. With her unerring aim, she unknowingly killed the man she loved. She never loved again.

For the most part Apollo was rather calm and dispassionate, but there seemed to be three things that could “set him off.” One was any offense or insult to his beloved mother. Another was any violation of the boundaries between the gods and mortal men. Alone among the Olympian deities, Apollo never “sponsored” or helped any of the Greek heroes because he felt that they should know their “place” and stay out of the god’s affairs.

Third, Apollo did not take kindly to any challenges to his position as “the very best” at everything he did. He was, by the way, the champion in many fields - music, science, and prophecy. According to mythology, he was even able to defeat Ares at boxing and Hermes in racing to win those events at the first Olympic games.

It is a good thing that Apollo usually won, for he was far from being a “good loser.” His opponents were often punished for winning. He literally took the skin off a satyr named Marsyus who had the audacity to beat him in a music competition.

But usually his punishments were moderate, and sometimes they even revealed a sense of humor. When King Midas voted for his competitor in a musical competition, Apollo gave him the ears of a donkey. The embarrassed king had to wear a cap over his ears for the rest of his life.

Apollo is usually depicted as a handsome, beardless youth wearing a wreath of laurel leaves and holding his bow, or a lyre, his favorite musical instrument.

Although most of the myths of Apollo feature him “in action,” he was actually known more for his achievements than his acts and was seldom embroiled in the continuous quarrels and unfolding dramas that constituted life on Mount Olympus. Somewhat detached from the others, Apollo was often “away” when things were happening, of simply uninvolved.

Perhaps he did “learn his lesson” as Zeus had hoped, although it took a second exile before he got the message. After he returned from his first exile, Apollo took part in a plot by the Olympians, led by Poseidon, to overthrow Zeus’s reign as their ruler. All the gods

and goddesses agreed that something had to change, that Zeus was proving to be too arrogant and heavy-handed. The attempted coup failed, but Zeus did try to do better from then on and was quite lenient in punishing all of them.

Poseidon and Apollo were both sentenced to one year of manual labor, to be served on earth helping build the walls around Troy while disguised as ordinary mortals. They served their sentences without complaint, but when the King of Troy refused to honor his contract and pay them for their work, the angry Poseidon sent a horrible sea monster and Apollo caused a plague to rain down on the city of Troy. Soon the bodies of the dead and dying were stacked as high as the great wall around the city. The king relented and paid his debt.

Just as he could summon a plague, Apollo was also called upon to prevent and cure all manner of illness for he was a healer of great knowledge and skill.

The favorite son of Zeus, Apollo had a favorite son himself. He was once in love with Coronis. She was pregnant with his child, but Apollo was fearful that she might take another lover during one of his frequent absences. So Apollo dispatched a white raven to spy on her for him. When the raven reported that she had betrayed his trust, he was displeased and turned the raven’s feathers black. Then he killed Coronis, but suddenly regretting it, he saved the unborn child. Naming him Asclepius, he reared the child himself and trained him in the healing arts.

Asclepius became a famous physician and is generally considered to be the “Father of Modern Medicine.” Indeed, his skill was so great that, after he restored life to one of his patients who had died, Zeus had to kill him since only the Fates were allowed to determine whether someone lived or died.

Apollo was a god who had a clear idea of what was right and what was wrong. He believed strongly in law and order. He interpreted the law for mortals and gave the cities their legal institutions, including civic courts so that disputes could be settled without bloodshed. Uncomfortable as Apollo was with chaos and tumult, or even passionate intensity, he was an idealist with a vision of a society that could live peacefully under the rule of fairness and of law.

It is from the Greek god Apollo that we get the sayings "know thyself" and the call to moderation in all things, the Golden Mean, reminding us to do "nothing in excess."

Ares

Greek God of War

Ares was the child of Hera and Zeus, born of an immaculate conception. You see Hera was rather jealous of Zeus who was able to conceive a child, Dionysus, by putting the child into his thigh after the mother died. Hera took a magical herb that allowed her to have a child immaculately, this child was Ares.

Zeus, because he was not actually the father of Ares (no one was really), was not one to excessively dote upon infant Ares. He was rather negligent. Once during infancy, Ares had been abducted by two giants, known as the Aloadai, and they had trapped him in a gigantic bronze jar, to never release him. Zeus however paid little attention. It was in the end the Aloadai mother who discovered the truth and told Hermes, who assisted, releasing Ares from the bronze jar.

Seeing the unsafe environment for Ares (being trapped in bronze jars for several years is not the best toddler care), Hera decided to move Ares somewhere else safer, thus she chose Priapus, who trained and raised Ares until he was a fully grown man.

Ares, the God of War, had one main adversary, his sister Athena, who was also a deity of warfare. Though they were both deities of warfare, they represented different aspects of war itself. Ares was the God of war and bloodlust, he represented the primal nature of war, its brutality, and its violence. He fought just on instinct and his own rage and personal fury he had, and fought primarily for the sake of fighting. However on the opposite spectrum was Athena the Goddess of Wisdom and Warfare. Her warfare was the tactical warfare that calculated each move carefully with strategic strikes in order to get the job done. As can be seen brother and sister were very different, and from this vast difference many conflicts arose.

Ares among the Greek peoples was least favored because of his brutal nature. He was seen as a mercenary of sorts, filled with rage and lust for blood. He was seen as unappeasable and fickle, supporting one side at one time, but changing sides at another time, just so he could shed blood and cause war.

Ares also had quite the interesting love life. Though he was never married, he had several relationships. Plus all of these relationships were never one night stands. As many of these were somewhat committed relationships, relationships that bore him several children. Also much unlike numerous other gods, Ares did not use deceit or trickery in order to attain his love affairs.

Ares is most famous and most long-term love affair was the with the goddess of beauty Aphrodite. Even though Aphrodite was already married to Hephaestus, she saw much of the handsome Ares (a big improvement from the blacksmith Hephaestus who is considered very ugly). From their relationship they had several children, including Harmonia who would grow up to become the fearless leader and mother of a tribe of fearsome warrior women, the Amazonians.

Not surprisingly Ares was very well known for the many conflicts he was embroiled in. During the Trojan War Ares joined the war on the side of the Trojans against the Greeks as a show of support for Aphrodite. Although this may have gotten him brownie points with Aphrodite, the other Olympians were none too pleased, as most supported the Greeks. In battle he charged Athena who had been taunting him. During his advance Athena picked up a large stone and flung it at Ares stopping his advance and knocking him unconscious.

During the same Trojan War, Athena was able to convince a Greek soldier to wound Ares. With the help of Athena he did. In pain and rage Ares bellowed loudly, so loudly that the earth itself shook at his voice. He tried to complain to Zeus, but Zeus refused to acknowledge his complaints.

In another conflict Ares went to the aid of one of his fellow Olympians surprisingly enough. This was the case of King Sisyphus. He found out that King Sisyphus was holding Hades the God of the underworld, and Ares decided to come to his rescue. Ares went and administered heavy threats to Sisyphus including decapitation if he didn’t relent Hades’s captivity. Sisyphus, in fear, did release Hades.

Although Ares was disliked by many peoples, and there were many other Olympians favored more than him, he still had plenty of followers. However many of these followers were, unfortunately, not so morally upright (and in some cases just crazy) minor deities and mortals, several of which included his own sons.

In battle he rode with two of his sons, who were minor deities themselves. One was Phobos who represented Fear, and Daiemos who represented Panic.

Also Ares was viciously protective of many of his numerous children, propelling him into various conflicts to defend them; however, many of these instances led Ares to join into battles that he could not win.

When one of his sons was killed during the Trojan War, Ares, leapt onto the battlefield, defying Zeus's orders that the gods and goddesses not take part in the battle.

In another case, Ares’s son Cycnus was a thief who attacked travelers on certain roads, killed them and took their bones from the bodies. What was he using the bones for? He wanted to create a gigantic temple in honor of his father . . . made completely of human bones. However, Cycnus had the great misfortune of messing with one traveler that he really should not have, Hercules. When he tried to attack Hercules, obviously Hercules fought back, and when Ares saw this he jumped to the defense of his son Cycnus. However Hercules was far stronger than both of them, he easily killed Cycnus and he deeply wounded Ares.

And Ares wasn’t sexist; he was equally defensive with his daughters as well. Once one of Poseidon’s also numerous sons attempted to rape Ares’s daughter Alcippe. When Ares saw this he promptly stopped him and brutally killed him. Poseidon was furious and demanded he be put on trial with the twelve Olympians presiding over the case. This lead to the first murder trial in recorded history. The hill, which was in Athens, was appropriately named Aeropagus (Ares’ Hill). At the end of the trial Ares was acquitted of all his charges.

Artemis

Goddess of the Hunt, Wild Animals,Wilderness, Childbirth, Virginity,

Bringing and Relieving Disease in Women,Protector of Young Girls

In Greek mythology Artemis was the daughter of Zeus, the mighty ruler of the Olympian gods. After an affair and secretly impregnating Leto, Leto had to give birth to Artemis while being chased by Python sent by Hera. Fortunately for Leto, her first child Artemis was birthed without any pain. However Leto had twins, so her labor continued, and as weak as she was, the newborn Artemis quickly took the roll as midwife and helped birth her twin brother Apollo. You could say that, of all the Greek goddesses, the goddess Artemis was literally born to serve as a nurturer and protector. It looks like though both twins had young knacks for things.

On her birthday Artemis asked for six wishes from Zeus, her father. These wishes were.

1. To be able to live life chaste2. To be able to be a lifelong bachelorette and never marry3. A bow and arrow like that of Apollo’s4. Hunting dogs to assist her hunting5. Stags to lead her chariot6. And 80 virgin nymphs to be her hunting companions

Zeus was amused by wishes, and being the good father, granted her each wish she asked for. Artemis would never marry, and would be chaste for all eternity. She roamed with her hunting dogs, nymphs, and her stags, hunting all throughout the mountains where she resided.

Artemis was very protective of the chastity of her nymphs and was angered when they didn’t keep their purity. In the case of Callisto, Zeus had disguised himself as Artemis and took advantage and impregnated Callisto. Artemis was furious that Callisto was no longer chaste and blamed her for her loss of purity. Artemis then immediately irrevocably turned Callisto into a bear. However, before Artemis killed Callisto in bear form, Zeus intervened turning Callisto into constellation in the stars, as Callisto the Bear, also known as Ursa Major.

The Greek goddess Artemis was frequently called upon to nurture her needy and somewhat ineffectual mother. Many times she came to the aid of her mother healing her from sickness. Artemis very naturally became the patron saint of childbirth, the protector of children, and the goddess who especially heard the appeals of women, helping women in childbirth by relieving them of the pain they suffer on several occasions.

Artemis is unsurprisingly associated with the wilderness and the natural world. She symbolizes the untamed spirit, never being tied down by things such as love, being the eternal huntress of the forests. The Greek goddess Artemis was famous for her hunting skills, especially with her bow and arrow. She had unerring aim that never missed her target. She was a very able hunter taking down some of the most terrifying beasts with ease and grace.

Artemis was also very protective of the animals in her domain. Once the King Agamemnon slaughtered one of Artemis’s sacred stags and boasted that he was a superior hunter to Artemis. In vengeance, while Agamemnon and his forces were sailing to Troy for the Trojan War, Artemis becalmed the ships so they were stuck in the middle of the sea with no wind. Artemis then demanded Agamemnon sacrifice his daughter and then Artemis would restore the wind. In the end Artemis herself swaps the sacrifice of Iphigenia for a deer or a goat.

Artemis never had any love affairs, but one. That was with the mortal Orion. Artemis was in love with Orion. However, upset that his sister's time and attentions had been diverted away from him, the God Apollo, her twin, became very jealous. So when Orion was swimming far into the ocean Apollo made a wager with Artemis that she couldn’t hit the floating object on the horizon.

Artemis, being the prideful archer she was, took the wager gladly and proudly drew her bow and shot the object on the horizon winning the wager. However once she won she realized that the “floating object” was actually her only lover Orion. In her great grief the Goddess Artemis turned Orion into various stars and shot him into the night sky, making him a constellation in the night sky forevermore.

The Greek goddess Artemis was often associated with the moon, especially the crescent or "new" moon. Phoebe was one of the many names she was called. The name Phoebe means the "light one" or "bright one."

Artemis "Goddess of Light" had the divine duty of illuminating the darkness. Artemis was often depicted carrying a candle or torch, lighting the way for others, leading them through territories yet uncharted.

In Greek mythology Artemis, despite her "wildness" (her refusal to conform to conventional ways or tradition) and her fierce independence, was depicted as one of the compassionate, healing goddesses. Of all the Greek goddesses, she was the most self-sufficient, living life on her own terms, comfortable both in solitude and in holding the reins of leadership. The Greek goddess Artemis gives us courage. Like her counterpart, the Roman goddess Diana, she illuminates those places that terrify us and lends us her strength to bring us safely through our fears.

Dionysus

Dionysus was one of those gods whose birth was a mix of both good and bad luck; however, in any case his birth was in no way conventional in any remote sense of the term.

Dionysus’s first bit of good luck was that his mother was the beautiful and gentle mortal Semele, who was a princess, and that his father was none other than the mighty Zeus, ruler of Olympus. Semele had not even the faintest idea that her lover was Zeus himself since Zeus transformed himself before going to her. Hera found out about the affair and, as in many other cases, she went crazy and tried to make things a living hell for Zeus’s mistress. Hera disguised herself as a nurse and befriended Semele. After finally gaining her trust Hera convinced Semele to make her lover swear an oath to give her a single wish, with which Zeus complied. When Semele asked him to reveal his true identity, he pleaded and pleaded for her to reconsider; however, since he was under oath and she wasn’t budging, he did. Unfortunately the simple sight of him caused Semele, the mortal, to die.

Zeus, saddened by Semele’s death, acquired the help of Hermes and with his help they rescued the unborn son from Semele’s womb as she was dying. They then proceeded to stitch the premature baby into Zeus’s thigh where Zeus held him until he was ready to be born, and upon birth he named him Dionysus. Though Hera was angry now that Zeus conceived his own child (through his thigh, no less), it was said that Dionysus was born twice (once in Semele and once in Zeus).

Hera, still extremely unhappy that Dionysus was even alive, hired Titan assassins who came and attacked Dionysus. After they viciously killed him and left his pieces lying upon the floor, it was said that Rhea brought him back to life once more.

Zeus saw the unsafe environment that the infant Dionysus was in. Subsequently, Zeus entrusted Dionysus to Hermes who then gave Dionysus to King Athamas and Queen Io. To try and trick Hera, they raised Dionysus as a girl, dressing him up as a woman and raising him even in the women’s quarters.

Hera soon found out that Dionysus was still alive, seeing through the tricks and, not content with killing him once, tried to kill him again. This time she made Dionysus’s foster parents go crazy, so in their madness they subsequently killed their own child thinking he was a deer. Hermes came just in time and sneaked Dionysus out of the insane King and Queen’s place by turning him into a baby goat. Afterwards Hermes sent Dionysus into the mountains and had the mountain nymphs, known as the Hyades, raise him. To say the least, the nymphs, being ever so lovely creatures, doted on him to an excessive amount, feeding him honey and practically spoiling him.

During his stay on the mountains Dionysus invented the process of growing grapes and making wine, a drink much needed after all the stuff he’d been through by then. When he grew to manhood, Hera found him again and drove him to madness, which caused Dionysus to wander the Greek countryside raving mad. However, much to Dionysus’s fortune and Hera’s chagrin, Rhea found him and cured him of his madness, making him perfectly sane again.

Eventually he would wander the countryside of his own accord, and in the process he gathered a following of men and women who worshipped him. They traveled in the mountains and the forests having amazing celebrations where they became ecstatic, dancing to frenzied music, behaving like crazed followers.

These celebrations did alternate with deep meditation with extended periods of contemplative silences where the followers connected and become one with the God Dionysus. As he traveled more and more, his large following, which continued growing (apparently the Greeks liked to party), began to make various rulers to feel threatened by his growing influence which caused trouble for Dionysus and his followers. Once his followers, known as the Maenads, were arrested by king of Thebes and imprisoned them. Dionysus, having learned a few things from Hera, drove the king insane, who then imprisoned a bull thinking it was Dionysus. While he was preoccupied, Dionysus escaped with his followers. They returned once they regrouped and brutally killed the king with the help of the queen who had also been driven insane. In another instance King Lycurgus of Thrace imprisoned Dionysus’s followers. In this case Dionysus escaped and set a drought upon the land. He also caused the king to go insane, killing his own son mistaking him for a patch of ivy which was a sign of Dionysus. Eventually an oracle told the people that the drought would only end when Lycurgus died, and so the people of Thrace sped things up and killed him themselves.

A while later Dionysus finally wanted to go back to Greece after much traveling. When he boarded a ship, he thought it was going to Greece to return him to his lovely home. However, mid-travel he unveiled the ship’s secret which was that it was actually a slave trade ship and it was on its way to not Greece, but to Asia where they were going to sell Dionysus into slavery (not knowing he was a God). Dionysus, as soon as he found out, turned their oars into snakes, filled the boat with ivy, and turned into a ferocious lion

slaughtering all the people on the boat.

Finally after returning home, Dionysus demanded his divinity be acknowledged and join the Gods on Mount Olympus. The Gods finally agreed, even Hera, seeing as his actions had made him unignorable.

Later into Dionysus’s career, he reminisced about his mother whom he had never met. Even though never having met her, he decided to brave Hades by himself to try and save the mother whom had given him birth (the first time). Persephone helped Dionysus get into the underworld, and Dionysus confronted Thanatos, the God of Death himself, and finally rescued his mother Semele.

Dionysus was also a God who rewarded those who did good deeds. Once Dionysus’s old master Silenus had gone missing. Apparently he had been drinking and had wandered into the forest drunk (I think we can blame Dioysus who INVENTED wine for this one). The subjects of King Midas found him and took him back to Midas. Midas treated him graciously and hospitably. Dionysus, when he found Silenus, was grateful to Midas and granted him one wish. Midas then asked for the “golden touch.” Eventually Midas regretted his wish after he turned his daughter into gold. Dionysus took pity and undid his wish.

Dionysus was one of the few gods who married. Ariadne, who had been a moon Goddess during the reign of the Titans, was engaged to Theseus, but he had deserted her. Dionysus found her and fell in love with her, and they married. Surprisingly, Dionysus was one of the few gods who stayed faithful to his wife.

The themes of life and death are a pivotal part of the story of Dionysus. They show us that many times in our journey, we must “die” giving up our old selves. In Dionysus’s story, he quite literally died. We must also become reborn as a new more mature person to take on the tasks before us. Dionysus also reminds of the possibility of intense, sensual, and ecstatic experiences (Dionysus, God of Partying), with dancing, wine, singing, and a frenzied fervor. These celebrations have their dark side where they can potentially hurt us.

The Symbols of the Greek God Dionysus: grapes (vine, leaves, & fruit) • wine • pomegranate • myrtle • honey • lions • bulls • goats • tigers • flute

Hera

Hera is the Greek goddess of love and marriage, and also known as the Queen of Heaven, wife of Zeus, King of Olympus. Hera was an extremely powerful Goddess in her own right even without Zeus. In honor of her great capacity to be a nurturing mother to the very world, her very name translates as the “Great Lady.” The word galaxy derives from “gala” meaning “mother’s milk.” Legend says that the Milky Way was created by milk spurting from Hera’s breasts causing the Milky Way to form, and on Earth wherever drops fell, large beautiful fields of lilies sprang forth. In Roman mythology Hera was worshipped as Juno, and they named the lovely month of June after her. June happens to be the most popular month for weddings. For her sacred animals, Hera chose first the cow, both because of how much the cow nurtured people and its young, but also to set a good example for the other gods and goddesses. However, she also wanted not be too plain, so she also chose the peacock and the lion to symbolize her luxury, beauty, and immortality. The goddess Hera was depicted as supporting women all through their lives and was one of the most important goddesses to women.

Hera blessed and protected women’s marriages, brought them fertility, and protected their children (which is kind of ironic considering how she attempted to slay all of Zeus’s illegitimate children), and helped their financial security.

Hera was the complete, all-encompassing goddess for women. Hera was considered amazingly beautiful, one of the most beautiful goddesses. It was this divine and ravishing beauty that attracted the eye of her future husband and brother, Zeus. Zeus was able to trick her into taking him by changing himself into a very small pitiful, wounded, and frightened bird. When Hera saw the bird, she took pity on it and gave it a great big hug. It was during this hug that Zeus found his moment of opportunity. He went from bird to man in nothing flat, and attempted to have his way with her. However, Hera was able to avoid him and resisted his advances until they were both married. This delay, however, may have increased Zeus’s attraction and lust, for Zeus and Hera had the longest “honeymoon” ever known. It lasted 300 years. Throughout their marriage they would give birth to Ares, Hebe, Eris and Eileithyia. All of whom became very prominent gods and goddesses.

Unfortunately, after that honeymoon Zeus had gotten his fill and wanted something else. A notorious philanderer, Zeus had numerous affairs, all of which infuriated Hera greatly. Hera felt betrayed and humiliated that Zeus would cheat on her. Her pride as queen certainly did not help. To make matters even worse, Zeus doted on his illegitimate children more than his legitimate ones. At first Hera didn’t notice. When Zeus went out on his adulterous affairs, he sent a nymph named Echo, who would flatter Hera and say great things about her to distract her. It worked for awhile, however Hera eventually found out, and first cursed Echo so she could only repeat the words others said to her.

Hera did remain faithful and steadfast to Zeus. She also rarely punished Zeus for his affairs, rather she vented her fury on the women that Zeus had the affairs with. In fact Hera is most famous for the ways in which she sought vengeance upon Zeus’s many mistresses and their children. Some of these even include the famous Gods, Artemis and Apollo, and Dionysus. In one story Hera found out about an affair with the Queen of Libya, Lamia. As soon as she found out Hera slew all of her children, it drove Lamia insane. Hera cursed her then with the inability to close her eyes so the image of her dead children would be forever engraved in her memory. Zeus took pity and gave her the abilities to remove and replace her eyes from her head at will. Eventually Lamia became a monster roaming the countryside. She envied mothers and their children and so she began eating children out of envy.

It is unfortunate that none really remember Hera for her nurturing character and her steadfastness in adversity. Instead she is remembered for her vindictiveness and her vengeful episodes. Some say that this is a result of Homer, who casted a more negative portrayal of Hera, since he himself was a victim of a shrewish wife. Among the Greek goddesses, Hera shows us that there is both good and bad, dark and light within all of us. That we experience both joy and pain, happiness and anger, love and hate, all emotions that are inexorable in life.

Zeus

Zeus, Ruler of Mount Olympus,Lord of the Sky,

Rain-God, Cloud-Gatherer,And Zeus of the Thunderbolt

Zeus was the Greek god of the sky but also the supreme ruler of Mount Olympus, whose domain included all of the Olympian pantheon of gods as well as all of the earth, a mighty position indeed.

Zeus (not surprisingly) had an unorthodox childhood. At the time of Zeus’s conception, Cronus, Zeus’s father, had been eating whole all the children his wife, Rhea. Not because they looked oh-so-scrumptious, but because of a prophecy that Cronus would be overthrown by one of his children. So simple solution: just eat your children.

However, when Rhea had born Zeus, she knew she couldn’t hand him over to Cronus to be devoured, so instead of handing Cronus Zeus to eat, she took some clothes and wrapped a rock and gave it to Cronus (Cronus must have been as smart as one to actually fall for that). After she was safe she sent little Zeus to earth to be raised by nymphs and the divine goat Amalthea. Amalthea was also important later on because upon her death, Zeus was moved to sadness and used her horn as the cornucopia and eventually used her golden fleece as the impregnable aegis.

Once he grew to be a young man, Rhea sought him once more and brought him back to the gods, where Cronus employed him as the royal cupbearer of the Gods, not even suspecting that it was his son. Eventually Zeus was given a special wine, given to him by Metis, the Titan Goddess of Wisdom, to bear to Cronus. Upon swallowing it, he vomited all of the previous children he had swallowed: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon.

Upon the regurgitation of his brothers and sisters, they were understandably angry for having been digested for the last couple decades, so Zeus was able to band them together to wrest power away from Cronus, and the Titans in a long bloody war that followed. They intended to give Cronus what he deserved.

The first thing they needed was some weaponry. So their first move was to travel into Tartarus together and free the Cyclopes who had been imprisoned there by Cronus. Upon freeing them, they were so full of gratitude that they forged three excellent weapons. To Hades they gave a magical helm which rendered him invisible while he wore it, a trident to Poseidon, and thunderbolts to Zeus.

The war was long and bloody and they all fought ferociously. The war finally ended when the three brothers cornered Cronus. Hades was able to sneak upon him invisibly and distract him while Poseidon used his trident to paralyze him, and finally Zeus applied the finishing blow, knocking him out with his thunderbolt. The war was finally over and the Olympian gods had won. The Olympians promptly banished almost all of the Titans to Tartarus, including their father Cronus. Although it’s been said that later Cronus was able to escape from Tartarus and lived with the mortals undetected afterwards.

Gaia was angered by the way the Olympians had treated her children (the Titans were also her children), and so she sent the monsters Typhon and Echidna to attack them. Zeus was able to defeat them, and he banished Typhon to Tartarus but allowed Echidna to live. Echidna was said to be the mother and the source of every monster portrayed in Greek mythologies and stories.

Now came the ever important question of how to decide which of the three brothers got which realm. How did they decide this paramount question of severe importance? They drew lots. Hades drew the underworld, Poseidon drew the seas and the oceans, and Zeus drew the skies as well as Mount Olympus, making him supreme ruler of the Olympian gods.

Zeus, however, was a very hot-headed man at this point, and maybe a tad arrogant. Zeus built a luxurious and grand palace for himself upon Mt. Olympus where his throne sat. He also used his thunderbolts freely, flinging them at will at any and all who even dared to oppose him.

Upon becoming king, Zeus was notorious for the number of consorts he had. They were bountiful, and Zeus kept on adding more and more. But of course being king of mount Olympus he decided he needed a wife. He first picked Metis, the goddess who had first helped him trick Cronus. However Metis declined and transformed to into a different form to try and elude Zeus. However, Zeus was really persistent and relentlessly followed her. Finally tired, Metis relented and accepted his proposal.

However Gaia was upset with the very heavy-handed rule of Zeus, and so she cast a prophecy that any son of Zeus born by Metis would become stronger than him and eventually usurp his power. So when Metis became pregnant, Zeus was extremely fearful. How did he solve his problem? He swallowed Metis and her unborn child whole (like father like son).

As it turned out, Metis was carrying no son, but a daughter, and while she was in the stomach of Zeus she began to fashion a shield and armor for her daughter. Long afterwards Zeus began to feel a terrible headache and he was in dire pain. Eventually when his headache was reaching the apex of its pain, he asked Hermes, the messenger of the gods, for help. Hermes got a large golden axe fashioned by Hephaestus, and with it Hermes struck Zeus’s forehead splitting it right open, and from his forehead Athena popped out, fully grown and armored. Athena was a strong goddess, who Zeus grew to trust deeply, and eventually Athena would become Zeus’s most trusted advisor.

Eventually after Metis was out of the way, Zeus’s eyes fell upon the beautiful goddess Hera (who also happened to be his sister).The problem was Hera was not interested with being the consort of the arrogant god Zeus, and so she constantly did everything she could to evade him. Eventually Zeus realized what was going on and devised a plan to lure Hera into his grasp. Zeus transformed himself into a small helpless bird and soaked himself in a thunderstorm then approached Hera. Hera saw the small helpless bird and took pity on it and so she embraced the small bird. As soon as she did that Zeus transformed back to his regular form, and now that he was finally in front of her, convinced her of his love for her. Eventually she fell in love with him too; however, she wouldn’t give in to any of his more demanding advances until after they were married. This waiting may have amplified Zeus’s “feelings” for her, because after their wedding Zeus and Hera shared a three hundred year long honeymoon.

However Zeus, even though he was married, didn’t at any point slow down his philandering ways, except of course for those three hundred years he was with Hera. He pursued goddesses, nymphs, and mortals. With all this philandering, there were plenty of children, many of whom were mighty and powerful.

Sometimes though his philandering did land him in some trouble every now and again, such as in the story of Sisyphus. Zeus saw Sisyphus’s daughter and was rather enchanted with her beautiful appearance, and decided to go and start flirting with her. However, Sisyphus, being as overprotective as he was, saw Zeus, not knowing it was Zeus, and attacked him with a club. Zeus, who had left his thunderbolts in a nearby tree, was helpless and could only run and finally turned himself into a stone. In the end Zeus was humiliated and was furious. He demanded that his brother Hades punish Sisyphus, and in the end Sisyphus was condemned to push a heavy rock up a hill forever.

Zeus’s hotheadedness extended further than just the ladies. He was harsh against any affront to his power as well. When Prometheus took pity on the mortals of earth and gave them the fire of Olympus, Zeus was furious. Zeus then captured Prometheus and tied him to a rock. The rock itself wasn’t so special, but what was special was the eagle flying overhead. The eagle, each day, would devour Prometheus’s organs, and every new night Prometheus would regenerate his organs only to have them devoured once more by Zeus’s eagle.

At this point in Zeus’s reign, the Olympians were growing weary of Zeus’s arrogance and his heavy handed ways, thus the Olympians planned a coup against him. The conspiracy was originally hatched by his brother Poseidon and Apollo. The Olympians were eventually able to capture Zeus and imprisoned him. However the plans began to fall apart as the conspirators began to argue how to divide the power. While the Olympians were arguing, Zeus broke free, essentially ruining the plot.

Perhaps being attacked and imprisoned by his brothers, sons, daughters, loved ones, and his wife gave Zeus the epiphany that perhaps he was not the most benevolent and wonderful of rulers. Thus, though the coup was a failure, it succeeded in having Zeus do better as a ruler. Zeus shed his arrogant hotheaded ways, and became a very rational and outstanding leader. He had very high standards coupled with strict discipline. As for the coup itself he very fairly meted out punishments to all those involved.

For Apollo and Poseidon, who were the main conspirators in the plot, he let them off lightly with only a year of hard labor as mortals, and even forgave Athena for conspiring against him.

Zeus, however, left the most severe punishment to his wife Hera. For her role, Zeus strung Hera from the stars with fine silver thread, tying heavy anvils to her ankles. For two days nonstop, Hera moaned from the intense pain that she felt. At the end of the two days Zeus took pity upon Hera and finally let he down, under the condition that she not betray him again, which she agreed to. Despite the quantity of Zeus’s affairs he still loved Hera. Eventually Hera was finally able to convince Zeus that he really didn’t need to continue with his infidelity. Finally Zeus saw the error of his ways, and he really did stop, plenty of ruined lives and dozens of illegitimate children later.

Zeus’s rule did improve vastly. His son Hermes became Zeus’s messenger as well as the aide of Zeus. Beyond the obvious message delivery, Hermes also helped Zeus countless times out of binds and tricky situations.

His daughter, Athena, was the goddess of war and wisdom (not to mention one of his favorite children) which were more than ample credentials to be Zeus’s most trusted advisor both inside and outside of battle. She was also the judge of the Olympian courts.

Zeus also had two other special attendants: Nike, the goddess of winged victory, and the cup-bearer named Hebe. Hebe was a beautiful woman who served the drinks to the gods, however Hebe eventually left to marry Heracles.

Outside of the coup by the Olympians, the greatest threat to the rule of Zeus was Gaia herself. Gaia was furious about how her children, the Titans, had been treated by the Olympians and she wanted retribution against the Olympians, especially Zeus. She tried once before but failed; however, if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again, and Gaia took this to heart.

With her second attempt, Gaia laid siege to Mount Olympus by sending an army of giants to attack and siege Mount Olympus. Usually this would be no difficult task for the Olympians to conquer; however, Gaia made it so that only a mortal could go about killing the giants, which left the Olympians helpless against the giants. When the giants were about to scale Mt. Olympus and destroy everything Zeus’s son Heracles stepped up, and together they were able to kill all the giants.

Being as persistent as she was, and even angrier that she had been thwarted again, Gaia created one more monster. This monster was Typhon. Typhon was a very special monster in that he had a regular human shape. What was not regular about him was that instead of legs he had thousands of snakes which each measured hundreds of miles long. It was said that when Typhon stretched out to his very full length, his head touched the stars.

Seeing this monstrosity approach Mount Olympus, all the Gods trembled in fear. To escape, they all transformed into small animals and escaped unnoticed, all but one, that is.

Athena stayed behind, standing her ground. She was disgusted by the cowardly departure of the gods, and began taunting Zeus on how big a coward he was. Zeus, not about to let himself be ridiculed by his own daughter, finally turned around and faced the monster.

The battle between Typhon and Zeus lasted for days as the two fought ferociously, with the very earth shaking as the two came to blows. The fight was reaching its climax as Typhon, in an attempt to end things, picked up a mountain to defeat Zeus. However, Zeus was able to throw with precision and skill, one hundred perfectly aimed thunderbolts at the distracted Typhon. By doing this he was able to destroy the mountain and bury Typhon under it thereby ending the fight. The mighty Zeus, king of the Gods, is the one who looms largest over Greek mythology. He defended political order, exerted his wrath on those who dared angered him, and seduced countless mortals, nymphs, and goddesses. Zeus was ever multi-faceted and ever intriguing in his rule.

The Symbols of the Greek God Zeus: thunderbolts • aegis (shield) • thunderstorms • gold • marble • eagles • oak trees • goats • ash trees • rainbows

Theseus

Once there was a young boy named Theseus. Nobody knew who his father was, for both King Aegeus of Athens and Poseidon had been fond of his mother Aethra. Right before Theseus was born, Aegeus said to Aethra, "If we shall have a son, when he is old enough tell him to lift this rock and take my sword and sandals from under it." Then Aegeus placed both his sword and his sandals under a large boulder and then set sail for Athens.

Now this all happened in a small town called Troezen where Theseus grew into a strong young man. When Aethra thought it was time she took Theseus to the large boulder and told him to lift it. Theseus wrapped his mighty arms around the boulder andlifted it as if it were paper. Then he threw the boulder into a nearby forest. Aethra then told him to take the sword and sandals and go to Athens.

Theseus’s Journeys to Athens

Aethra and her father begged Theseus to go to Athens by sea, for horrible robbers and bandits inhabited the road, but Theseus was bold and went overland. After a few miles he met a large man with a shiny club. "I am Periphetes, the cudgel man, and I'm going to bash your head with this club," he said.

"That's a mighty fine club you have there," replied Theseus.

"Pure brass."

"I bet it isn't."

"Yes it is."

"It's just wood wrapped in brass."

"Here, look at it to make sure."

Periphetes handed the club to Theseus. Theseus knocked Periphetes in the side of the head with it. "Not bad," thought Theseus, "not bad at all. I think I'll keep this."

Theseus started walking again. Not much farther he saw a giant man holding a battle-ax on the side of the road. "I am Sciron and these are my cliffs. To pass you must wash my feet as a toll!" the man said.

"What would happen if I didn't?" replied Theseus.

"I will chop off your head with this ax, and don't think that puny little twig you're carrying will save you, you're absolutely . . . WRONG!" Sciron yelled. So Theseus sat down and started to wash Sciron's feet. Theseus looked over the side of the cliff. There was a monstrous turtle at the bottom. Then Theseus knew that this was the Sciron that kicked people off the cliff where a man-eating turtle waited. When Sciron's foot came towards him, Theseus jerked aside and hurled Sciron off the cliff.

Theseus walked a ways longer until he saw a man that looked remarkably like Sciron. The man said, "Could you do me a favor young man? Hold this pine tree down for me." The man's name was Sinis the pine-bender. Sinis bent a pine tree down and waited for Theseus to hold the tree down with him. Then Sinis let go! He was expecting Theseus to be catapulted in the air, but Theseus held it down. Sinis stooped down to get a better look at the tree, thinking that it had broken. Theseus let go of the tree. It hit Sinis in the chin knocking him unconscious. Theseus then tied Sinis's legs to one bent pine tree, his arms to another. Then Theseus let go, and the trees ripped Sinis in half. Vultures screamed with delight.

Theseus went on his way again. After a few miles it got dark. Theseus saw a large house up ahead of him. He decided to ask the owner for a bed for the night. He walked up to the door and knocked. A man came to the door and said, "Welcome young man. Come in, you look tired. My name is Procustes. I have a magic bed for you to stay the night on. It is exactly six feet long, but can fit

anyone, be they short or tall." Theseus had been warned about a man named Procustes. His so-called "magic" bed did fit anyone, but in an unpleasant way. If you were too short, he would fasten chains on to your arms and legs and stretch you. If you were too tall he would chop of your legs until you were just right. Procustes led Theseus into the room where the bed was. Theseus pushed Procustes on to the bed and chopped off his legs. So Procustes wouldn't feel pain, Theseus sliced his head off too.

Theseus Recognized

The next morning Theseus reached Athens. It was the largest city he had ever seen. He went to the castle where Aegeus lived. Aegeus had married Medea who (being a sorceress) had him under her power. With her powers Medea recognized Theseus and knew that he would get rid of her. So she told Aegeus that Theseus had come to kill him and that she would give Theseus poisoned wine. Aegeus, not knowing that Theseus was his son, agreed. Aegeus invited Theseus to a banquet. When Theseus was just about to drink his wine, Aegeus recognized the sword and dashed the wine cup to the floor. Theseus and Aegeus were filled with happiness. Medea left in a chariot drawn by dragons.

Theseus’s Journeys to Minos

Theseus and Aegeus were happy for a long time, but when the time of the spring equinox came all the Athenians became mournful as a ship with black sail approached Athens. Theseus begged his father to tell him why the Athenians were sad, but Aegeus said nothing.

Theseus went down to the harbor and asked the captain of the black-sailed ship what was happening. The captain told him about how King Minos of Crete's eldest son Androgeus had accidentally been killed in Athens. Minos was very angry. He attacked Athens and demanded that the Athenians pay a yearly tribute of seven young man and seven young women to be fed to the Minotaur. The Minotaur was half man and half bull. It lived in the Labyrinth, a large maze that once one is in, he or she will be aimlessly lost in its many tunnels.

Theseus went back to Aegeus and said, "I will go to Crete as one of the victims and I will slay the Minotaur!"

"No my son," said Aegeus, "you mustn't go. You are my only son. The only heir to the throne."

"I must go father. I must prove that I am a hero." said Theseus. In the end Aegeus let Theseus go, but made him promise that if he return alive, to change the sails from black to white. So Theseus volunteered to go as one of the fourteen victims.

When Theseus and his companions landed at Crete, Minos was there to welcome them. He asked each who they were. When it came to Theseus' turn he said, "I am Theseus, prince of Athens, son of Poseidon!"

To this Minos replied, "If you were the prince of Athens, wouldn't old Aegeus be your father? To prove you are son of Poseidon fetch my ring." Minos threw his ring into the sea. Praying to Poseidon, Theseus dived into the water. He saw the nymph Thetis who gave him the ring and an old crown. Theseus came to the surface holding the ring and the crown. Minos laughed.

That night Theseus was visited by Minos' daughter Ariadne. She said to him, "Theseus, I have decided to help you kill the Minotaur if you will take me back to Athens and make me your queen." Theseus was glad of the help and promised to Ariadne that he would take her back to Athens. She gave Theseus a ball of silk thread and told him to tie it to the entrance of the Labyrinth and unwind it as he went. The string would lead him back to the entrance.

The next day Theseus and his companions were forced into the Labyrinth. Theseus tied the string onto a rock and told everyone to follow him. He led them toward the center of the Labyrinth where the Minotaur was. When they got there they saw the beast sleeping. Theseus jumped on it and ripped off one of it's horns. Theseus started poking at the Minotaur with the horn. Then Theseus ran to a safer distance and threw the horn like a javelin. The horn ripped into the monster’s neck and stuck there. The Minotaur, now enraged, charged at Theseus, but fell dead before it came close. Everyone cheered. Theseus was a hero! They followed the thread back to the entrance of the Labyrinth.

Theseus, Ariadne, and the others went on board the black-sailed ship and set sail for Athens. One night the god Dionysus came to Theseus and said, "You mustn't marry Princess Ariadne for I have chosen her as my own bride. Leave her on the island of Naxos." Theseus did as the god told him. He was so sad, he forgot to change the sails from black to white. Old Aegeus sat on a cliff watching and waiting for Theseus to come, but when he saw the black sails he jumped into the sea to his death. That fatal stretch of water was named after him. It still is called the Aegean.

Nemesis

Today the word nemesis is normally used to mean a worthy opponent; an opponent who perhaps cannot be bested. The word itself, though, has a far older meaning, coming as it does from ancient Greece, where it meant the “dispenser of dues;” and as a result there was a goddess named Nemesis.

Nemesis was generally considered to be one of the early deities, born from a union between Nyx (night) and Erebus (darkness). This means that she predated the most famous Olympian gods led by Zeus. Her role in Greek mythology, though, was as an assistant to Zeus, linked with law and order, but also ensuring that mortals did not think themselves greater than the gods.

The parentage of Nemesis, though, is sometimes given as solely Oceanus, with this parentage prevalent in Athenian worship of the goddess. Nemesis, indeed, was an important goddess to the Athenians, and the most important sanctuary to the goddess was found at Rhamnous, near Marathon, a town under the control of Athens.

Nemesis was considered to be the goddess of retribution, bringing those who had committed wrong to justice, but she was more than just retribution as she also ensured that the lives of mortals were balanced. This meant that happiness and sadness, and good luck and bad luck occurred in equal measure. As a result, Nemesis was often depicted as a beautiful winged maiden.

Nemesis does appear briefly in a number of stories from Greek mythology, but is probably most prominent in the story of Narcissus. Narcissus was a vain hunter who spurned those who had fallen in love with him, often causing their demise; as is seen in the story of Narcissus and Echo. Nemesis, as goddess of retribution, caused the hunter to look into a pond and subsequently fall in love with his own image.

Some stories have Nemesis being the mother of Helen of Troy and Pollux, although it is generally said that Helen, Pollux, Castor, and Clyemnestra were the offspring of Leda. Where Nemesis is said to be the mother though, the story says that the goddess had transformed herself into the form of a swan, with whom Zeus mated. The resulting egg was then given to Leda who raised the offspring as her own.

Nemesis is also often considered to be the mother of the Telchines, in partnership with Tartarus. The Telchines were smiths who produced the sickle used by Chronos to dismember Ouranos.

Prometheus

Prometheus was a young Titan, no great admirer of Zeus. Although he knew the great lord of the sky hated explicit questions, he did not hesitate to beard him when there was something he wanted to know.

One morning he came to Zeus and said, “O Thunderer, I do not understand your design. You have caused the race of man to appear on the earth, but you keep him in ignorant darkness.”

“Perhaps you had better leave the race of man to me,” said Zeus. “What you call ignorance is innocence. What you call darkness is the shadow of my decree. Man is happy now. And he is so framed that he will remain happy unless someone persuades him that he is unhappy. Let us not speak of this again.”

But Prometheus said, “Look at him. Look below. He crouches in caves. He is at the mercy of beast and weather. He eats his meat raw. If you mean something by this, enlighten me with your wisdom. Tell me why you refuse to give man the gift of fire.”

Zeus answered, “Do you not know, Prometheus, that every gift brings a penalty? This is the way the Fates weave destiny—by which gods also must abide. Man does not have fire, true, nor the crafts which fire teaches. On the other hand, he does not know disease, warfare, old age, or that inward pest called worry. He is happy, I say, happy without fire. And so he shall remain.”

“Happy as beasts are happy,” said Prometheus. “Of what use to make a separate race called man and endow him with little fur, some wit, and a curious charm of unpredictability? If he must live like this, why separate him from the beasts at all?”

“He has another quality,” said Zeus, “the capacity for worship. An aptitude for admiring our power, being puzzled by our riddles and amazed by our caprice. That is why he was made.”

“Would not fire, and the graces he can put on with fire, make him more interesting?”

“More interesting, perhaps, but infinitely more dangerous. For there is this in man too: a vaunting pride that needs little sustenance to make it swell to giant size. Improve his lot, and he will forget that which makes him pleasing—his sense of worship, his humility. He will grow big and poisoned with pride and fancy himself a god, and before we know it, we shall see him storming Olympus. Enough, Prometheus! I have been patient with you, but do not try me too far. Go now and trouble me no more with your speculations.”

Prometheus was not satisfied. All that night he lay awake making plans. Then he left his couch at dawn and, standing tiptoe on Olympus, stretched his arm to the eastern horizon where the first faint flames of the sun were flickering. In hid hand he held a reed filled with a dry fiber; he thrust it into the sunrise until a spark smoldered. Then he put the reed in his tunic and came down from the mountain.

At first men were frightened by the gift. It was so hot, so quick; it bit sharply when you touched it, and for pure spite made the shadows dance. They thanked Prometheus and asked him to take it away. But he took the haunch of a newly killed deer and held it over the fire. And when the meat began to sear and sputter, filling the cave with its rich smells, the people felt themselves melting with hunger and flung themselves on the meat and devoured it greedily, burning their tongues.

“This that I have brought you is called ‘fire,’” Prometheus said. “It is an ill-natured spirit, a little brother of the sun, but if you handle it carefully, it can change your whole life. It is very greedy; you must feed it twigs, but only until it becomes a proper size. Then you must stop, or it will eat everything in sight—and you too. If it escapes, use this magic: water. It fears the water, it will fly away until you need it again.

He left the fire burning in the first cave, with children staring at it wide-eyed, and then went to every cave in the land.

Then one day Zeus looked down from the mountain and was amazed. Everything had changed. Man had come out of his cave. Zeus saw woodman’s huts, farmhouses, villages, walled towns, even a castle or two. He saw men cooking their food, carrying torches to light their way at night. He saw forges blazing, men beating out ploughs, keels, swords, spears. They were making ships and raising

white wings of sails and daring to use the fury of the winds for their journeys. They were wearing helmets, riding out in chariots to do battle, like the gods themselves.

Zeus was full of rage. He seized the largest thunderbolt. “So they want fire,” he said to himself. “I’ll give them fire—more than they can use. I’ll turn their miserable little ball of earth into a cinder.” But then another thought came to him, and he lowered his arm. “No,” he said to himself, “I shall have vengeance—and entertainment too. Let them destroy themselves with their new skills. This will make a long, twisted game, interesting to watch. I’ll attend to them later. My first business is with Prometheus.”

He called his giant guards and had them seize Prometheus, drag him off to the Caucasus, and there bind him to a mountain peak with great chains specially forged by Hephaestus—chains which even a Titan in agony could not break. And when the friend of man was bound to the mountain, Zeus sent two vultures to hover about him forever, tearing at his belly and eating his liver.

Men knew a terrible thing was happening on the mountain, but they did not know what. But the wind shrieked like a giant in torment and sometimes like fierce birds.

Many centuries he lay there—until another hero was born brave enough to defy the gods. He climbed the peak in the Caucasus and struck the shackles from Prometheus and killed the vultures. His name was Hercules.

Echo and Narcissus

Not man men, or even gods, were as handsome as young Narcissus. So fair was he that almost everyone who saw him fell in love with him that very moment.

One day, as Narcissus roamed the forests with his hunting companions, he was spied by the watchful eye of the nymph Echo. She had once been a great chatterer, ready to talk to any passerby on any subject at any time, and several occasions she had detained the goddess Hera with hours of casual talk, just as Hera was on the point of stumbling upon Zeus with on of his illicit loves. Eventually Hera grew so annoyed that she put a curse on Echo, and from that time on the unfortunate nymph could say nothing but the last few words that she had heard.

Trembling, Echo followed Narcissus through the trees. She longed to go closer to him, to gaze upon the beauty of his face, but she feared that she would laugh at her silly speech. Before long Narcissus wandered away from his companions, and when he realized he was lost, he called in panic, “Is anybody here?”

“Here!” called Echo.

Mystified by this reply, Narcissus shouted, “Come!”

“Come!” shouted Echo.

Narcissus was convinced that someone was playing tricks on him.

“Why are you avoiding me?” he called. The only answer he heard was his own question repeated from the woods.

“Come here, and let us meet!” pleaded Narcissus.

“Let us meet!” Echo answered, delighted.

She overcame her shyness and crept from her hiding place to approach Narcissus. But he, satisfied now that he had solved the mystery of the voice, roughly pushed her away and ran.

“I would die before I would have you near me!” he shouted mockingly over his shoulder.

Helpless, Echo had to call after him, “I would have you near me!”

The nymph was so embarrassed and ashamed that she hid herself in a dark cave and never came into the air and sunlight again. Her youth and beauty withered away, and her body became so shrunken and tiny that eventually she vanished altogether. All that was left was the pathetic voice which still roams around the world, anxious to talk, yet able only to repeat what others say.

Poor Echo was not the only one to be treated brutally by Narcissus. He had played with many hearts, and at last one of those he had scorned prayed up to the gods that Narcissus would someday find himself scorned by one he loved. The prayer was heard and granted.

Tired and thirsty from his hunting, Narcissus threw himself down beside a still, clear pool to drink. As he leaned over the shining surface, he saw reflected the most beautiful face he had ever seen. His heart trembled at the sight, and he could not tear himself away from it—his own image.

For a long time Narcissus remained there beside the pool, never raising his eyes from the surface, and from time to time murmuring words of love. At last his body withered away and became the stem of a flower, and his head, the lovely gold and white blossom that still looks into quiet pools, and is called the narcissus.

**Literary Sidelight: According to some accounts it was Nemesis, the goddess of vengeance, who decided on Narcissus’s punishment. Nemesis helped people get even with those who had wronged them, because she was responsible for maintaining the balance of good and evil in the world. Today the word nemesis means “a person or force that torments or defeats someone.”