The Earliest HeroesBY: Angel Andoy & Divine Alquiza

Prometheus and Io

Prometheus-known as the rebel Titan-Man’s best friend-Wisest Titan-son of Lapetos & Clymene

Io•Was a priestess of Hera•Seduced by Zeus•Changed in to a heifer

Summary

•When Prometheus went to the rocks, he met a strange visitor: a cow that speaks like a girl. Her voice carried sorrow and pain but still sounds beautiful.

• The strange visitor was Io. She used to be a beautiful woman and Zeus fell in love with her. When Zeus’s wife, Hera, heard of this, Zeus turned Io into a heifer to hide her.• The shrewd Hera asked for the

heifer as a present and Zeus reluctantly gave Io away. Hera gave Io to a monster- with thousand eyes, Argus- to look after her.

• Zeus missed Io so much so he asked his son Hermes, the messenger god, to find ways of killing Argus. Hermes did and succeed what he was told.

• It seemed that Io would be free but Hera sent her flies to drive her insane.

• Prometheus reveals a prophecy that Io will wander for a long time in the beastly body, tormented by flies. But finally she’ll reach the Nile River where Zeus will restore her human form and give her a son.

• From this son will be Hercules, born the greatest heroes, and whom Prometheus would gain his freedom.

Europa

• Cupid shots an arrow at Zeus and instantly he fell for a pretty maiden, Europa.

• That morning, Europa awakens from a strange dream in which two continents were fighting for her. She goes down to the ocean, with her friends to bathe and pick flowers, afraid the dream might visit again.

• Zeus arrives, disguised himself on to a beautiful bull. Europa climbs on top of his back and as soon as she does, Zeus gallops away.

• Europa clings to his horn tightly as they gallop over the waves.

• Terrified, she understands that it was a god, Zeus. She beg for him to let her go but the god comforts her, explaining that he loves her and that he’ll bring her to an island called Crete.

• When they arrived, Zeus returned to his human self and made love with her. She bore him two sons: Minos and Rhadamanthus

MINOS

RHADAMANTHUS

The Cyclops Polyphemus

• At the creation of the world, there was only three Cyclops, but they reproduced and had many off springs. They crafted Zeus’s thunderbolts and were known for their strength and hostility to strangers.

• Thus, when Odysseus (Ulysses) sails for from Troy and beaches his boat on their shore, great danger awaits.

• Odysseus and his crew saw a cave on the beach and walked inside to explore. The enormous Polyphemus pushes a huge rock over the cave’s opening, effectively trapping the men inside.

• He eats few of Odysseus’s men and fell asleep. The situation seemed hopeless but Odysseus came to an idea: he finds an enormous timber and sharpens the end of it. The next day, Odysseus then offers a wine which the beast drinks and promptly fell asleep. While Polympheus sleeps, Odysseus and his men heat the end of the timber and ram it into the Cyclops’s eyes blinding him.

• Centuries had passed, the cyclops remained shape-less, huge and his eyes blinded. But he actually fell for a nymph named Galatea.

• NYMPH- in Greek mythology is a minor female nature deity typically associated with a particular location or landform. There are 5 different types of nymphs, Celestial Nymphs, Water Nymphs, Land Nymphs, Plant Nymphs and Underworld Nymphs.

• In a much later, Galatea fell for him too. In this time of story, Polyphemus got his eye back. Galatea told her sister, Doris, about her affection but Doris would only insult her.

• But Polyphemus did not end up with Galatea. She instead settled for a prince named Acis who Polyphemus then killed.

• Acis then turned into a river god. Polyphemus never loved any other woman but Galatea or that any other woman would love him back.