bout Greek mythology by Eternal_Knight 2012/03/14 15:21 Here i ll add about greek gods and goddesses..be patient it will take a lot of time. Thanks. I ll start from main gods and goddesses in alphabetical order. Everything is copied from net.
Theogony - The Creation of the First Greek Gods
The ancient Greek mankind, trying toexplain certain metaphysical phenomena and anxieties, invented amazing myths concerning the Cosmogony (the creation of the World) and the Theogony (the birth of the Gods). Thus, the ancient Greek people created their own splendid, yet human-like world of gods, justifying the various abstract significances like Love, Birth or Death.
The origins of the gods of ancient Greek religion are described in the Theogony , the famous poem of the Greek writer Hesiod (around 700 BC) and the Library of Apollodorus.
The creation of the gods needs to be divided into four parts:
The Coming into Existence of Chaos
First there was Chaos, a rough unordered mass of things, also considered as a void. Chaos was followed by Gaea (Earth) and Eros(Desire), who came to cancel every logical thought or act. Gaea then brought Uranus (the Heaven), Pontus (the Sea) and the Mountains to the world.
The Castration of Uranus
Uranus' task was to surround and cover Gaea with his starry coat, however, it very soon came to a union between Uranus and Gaea andthey became the first divine couple in the world.
Gaea bore Uranus twelve Titans and furthermore three Cyclops, Brontes, Steropes and heady Arges, and three Hecatonchires(Hundred-Handed creatures).
Uranus was fearful of his children overthrowing him, so he pushed his children back one by one into the womb of Gaea. His wife Gaea was in deep grief and sorrow over the loss of her own children, so in the end shehanded a sickle to her son Cronus , the youngest of the Titans, in order to castrate his father.
Cronus castrated his father while he was sleeping; the blood from Uranus was collected by Mother Earth Gaea and she produced Erinyes (Furies), Giants and Melian nymphs. Cronus then threw his father's genitals into the sea, around which foams developed, that started in Kythera and then slowly made their way to the island of Paphos . In Paphos, the foams transformed into Aphrodite , the Olympian goddess of Love and Beauty.
Eternal_Knight 2012/03/15 04:38 Gigantomachy-The Giants' Battle with the Olympian Gods
Driven by the titaness Gaea , the Giants attempted to fight against theOlympian gods after their victory over the titans . The battle of the Giants against the Olympian deities is known as " Gigantomachy ". Duringthe Gigantomachy, the Giants were provoking the Olympian Gods by throwing rocks and fire to them and moving mountains, changing the flow of the rivers, drowning islands and trembling the ground.
The Olympian gods felt the need to unify in order to fight effectively against the Giants and even summoned Heracles to the battle; in the end, the Olympian gods triumphed over the Giants and imprisoned them forever in the lowest point of the underworld, the Tartarus.
Satyrs
The Satyrs were divine, half-man andhalf-goat creatures of Ancient Greece
Apperance of the Satyrs The Satyrs were mythological creatures with the upper part of theirbody of a man and the lower half of a goat. The leader of the Satyrs was god Pan
.
The Satyrs' Way of Life
Usually the Satyrs resided in woods and mountains or were accompanying the Greek god of wine Dionysus on his journeys, dancing around joyfully with the Nymphs anddrinking.
The Satiric Drama
The Satyrs also gave their name to a specific type of theatrical play, the satiric drama , that parodies popular myths of Greek gods and heroes.
The Roman name of Satyrs is "faun"
Greek Heroes
Achilles
was a hero of Trojan War and the main character in Homer's Epos, the "Iliad"
Achilles was the most handsome, capable and worthy of all the heroes that participated in the Trojan War. He was born in Farsala in southern Thessaly (Central Greece) as the son of Peleus, the King of Pithia in Thessaly, and the silver footed sea goddess Thetis.
Thetis,the mother of Achilles, was strongly attached to her son and when he was born, she attempted to make him immortal by dipping him in the sacred waters of the river Styx . However, she did not quite achieve what she had hoped for... while she was keeping him inside the waters, she had to hold by one heel, leaving one vulnerable spot in the body of Achilles. This weakness turned out tobe crucial for Achilles, since he got killed during the Trojan War by an arrow that hit exactly that spot.
The expression "Achilles heel" remains until today, describing a small, but important weakness of a human being.
was one of the most distinguished Greek heroes who participated in the Trojan War
Agamemnon was the King of Mycenae and leader of the Greek forces at Troy. Agamemnon is mostly mentioned in Aeschylus’ play,"Agamemnon" and in Homer’s epos, the "Iliad".
Agamemnon was the son of the King Atreus, who got dethroned and murdered by his brother, Aegisthus. During this period, Agamemnon and his brother Menelaus were taking refuge with Tyndareus, king of Sparta. Agamemnon wanted Tyndareus’ daughter Clytemnestra for his wife and therefore killed her first husband and child. He then married Clytemnestra and Menelaus married Clytemnestra’s half sister, Helen.
Agamemnon and Clytemnestra had four children: Iphigenia, Electra, Chrysothemis and Orestes. In order toappease Artemis to calm the wings of the Greek sails and make them arrive safely in Troy, Agamemnon was told by the prophet Calchas to sacrifice his eldest daughter Iphigenia to Artemis. Agamemnon finally consented and Iphigenia was brought to Aulis,an ancient Greek town in Boeotia, in order to be sacrificed. In the end, however, Artemis decided to rescue Iphigenia and carried her away, placing a deer in her place.
Clytemnestra never forgave Agamemnon for sacrificing their daughter and by the time Agamemnon was fighting in the Trojan War, she fell for Agamemnon’s cousin, Aegisthus.
When he returned from Troy, Agamemnon took his mistress Cassandra with him. This made Clytemnestra even more angry and she slay both Agamemnon and Cassandra with an axe. Aegisthus was Clytemnestra‘s accomplice but was later on killed in revenge by Clytemnestra's son, Orestes.
Heracles was the strongest and most worshipped hero of Ancient Greece
Ever since he was a child, Heracles made it obvious that he was not a common mortal but was in possession of extraordinary strengths and divine gifts.
Heracles was born in Thebes, Greece , when Zeus managed to seduce his love, Alkmene, by transforming himself into her husband. The affair of Zeus with Alkmene resulted in thehatred of Hera , the jealous wife of Zeus, and her determination to destroy Heracles in any way possible.
By the time Heracles was only eight months old, Hera sent out two snakes to his cradle, where he was sleeping with his brother Iphicles, in order to destroy him. The strength of the boy, though, was so immense that he managed to strangle the snakes with his bare hands.
When he reached manhood, Heraclesmarried Megara, a princess of Thebes and together they had five children. Hera, however, who still hadn't got her revenge, armed Heracles with a destroying anger, which made him kill both his wife and his children.
Eternal_Knight 2012/03/15 04:49 When Heracles realized what he haddone, he repentantly referred to the Delphic oracle, asking the Greek god Apollo what needed to be done in order to be forgiven for his faults. Apollo advised him to return to his place of origin in order to serve Eurystheus, the King of Tiryns , close to Mycenae. However, Eurystheus was on the side of Hera and tried to exterminate the hero. For this purpose he assigned the hero twelvechallenging labors.
Jason and the Argonauts
and the labor of the Golden Fleece
Jason was the son of Polymeda, who was an aunt of Odysseus and Aeson, an expelled king of Thessaly, who was unjustly overthrown from his throne by his half brother Pelion.
Upon his birth, his parents pretended that Jason had died at birth and secretly gave the child to the wise Centaur Chiron to be protected from the enemies. Jason grew up safely in the Mountains of Pelion, practicing perfectly his body and mind under the guidance of the gentle Centaur.
By the age of twenty, Jason, with the help of goddess Hera , decided to return to his father's kingdom in Iolcus to re-claim his family's throne. On his way, Jason encountered a helpless old woman and offered himself to carry her across a river; the old woman, in fact, was no other than Hera in disguise who was putting Jason's kind soul to a test. While crossing the river, Jason lost his sandal and therefore arrived at Iolcus with only one sandal.
When Pelias saw Jason he got very much frightened because once a prophecy had warned him he would lose his life from the "one sandaled".In order to protect himself, Pelias set Jason an impossible feat: to bring back the Golden Fleece from the divine forest of Ares in Colchis. To accomplish this, Jason needed to pass the Black Sea between Colchis and Thessaly and, once there, to takethe Golden Fleece away from its fierce guarding dragon.
The journey would be long and the mission tedious and of great difficulty, so Jason needed to find a strong ship and brave shipmates. Goddess Athena , who was helping the goddess Hera, ordered from the shipwright Argos a fast ship with fifty oars; Athena herself was observing Argos' work. The spectacular ship was named after hisbuilder, "Argo".
The comrades that were chosen for the journey took the name Argonauts
Eternal_Knight 2012/03/15 04:50 All of them were volunteers and were exceptionally strong and brave warriors. Among them were the strong Heracles , Theseus ,the king of Athens and the musician and poet Orpheus.
While the ship of Argo was sailing along, Jason and the Argonauts wentthrough numerous adventures, but since they always were frank and cooperative, they were given a lot of valuable information for their courseand could pass any obstacle they encountered on their way.
When they reached Colchis, they encountered Aetes, the King of Colchis. The king pretended to be friendly at first, although he didn't really want to give up the Golden Fleece. He therefore set Jason an impossible task: to plow the field with two fire-breathing bulls and then to sow the field with the teeth of a dragon, while armed men wouldbe growing like plants.
The feat seemed to be impossible, but Jason was not alone. Medea , the daughter of Aetes who possessed magic powers, had fallen in love with Jason and helped the hero through by giving him a magic stone to throw to the armed men. By doing so, Jason managed to accomplish Aetes' order successfully.
However, Aetes then went back on his word and set his army to attack the Argo at night. Medea, who knew about her father's plan, quickly brought Jason to the grove where the Golden Fleece was hanging. She sang the dragon to sleep with a lullaby and Jason quickly seized the Golden Fleece and ran back to the ship. Jason and the Argonauts rowed away and Medea followed them. Later on Medea became Jason's wife.
When the ship of Argo returned to Thessaly, Jason found Pelias still unwilling to give up his land. So Medea put a spell to Pelias to sleep and convinced his daughters that herfather had died. In order to return to life, they were advised to cut him to pieces and boil- and so they did. Without knowing, they killed their father all by themselves.
Jason and Medea lived happily together for 10 years, when Jason fell in love with Glauce , a princess of Corinth. When Medea found out about her husband's affair, she killedall her children and then fled from Thessaly. Jason grew old lonely and in the end he killed himself by fallingfrom the stern of the Argo.
was a main hero of the Trojan War and the protagonist in Homer's Epos "Odyssey"
Odysseus was one of the most cunning, yet prudent heroes of the Trojan War, according to the Greek legends. He is a main character in Homer’s Epos, the "Odyssey" and is also mentioned in his Epos "Iliad" as a collaborator of Agamemnon .
Odysseus was a Greek hero who became famous through his participation in the Trojan War. He initially didn't want to join, faking madness. Only when the hero Palamedes threatened to kill his son Telemachus with a sword did Odysseus reveal his sanity and finallyagreed to take part.
Odysseus embarked for Troy knowing full well the oracle’s prediction that he would see his family again after a very long time. Soon enough, the oracle was proven right- the Greek heroes may have managed to achieve victory over Troy, but still the gods were dissatisfied with their arrogant attitude and decided to punish them.
Odysseus, in particular, was sent out on a long, perilous journey which lasted ten years and on which he hadto endure numerous adventures in stormy seas and hostile lands in order to finally reach his home, the island of Ithaca.
The accomplishments of Odysseus are rather allegorical, symbolizing the extremes of effort to which man is prepared to go in order to accomplish his goals.
Theseus
was the most important king of Athens and after Heracles themost popular hero in Ancient Greece
Theseus was the son of king Aegeus of Athens. Aegeus, concerned that hehad reached a certain age without having descendants, went to Delphi to consult the Delphic oracle, but he received a prophecy he could not understand. So, on his way back home, he decided to stop by at the city of Troezen and ask its King Pittheus for advice.
Instead of supporting him, Pittheus rather tricked Aegeus to lie with his daughter Aethra, in the hope that Aethra would conceive a child. However, in the same night, Aethra had been previously seduced by the Greek god Poseidon . This way, Theseus was considered to have had two divine origins.
Before heading off to Athens, Aegeusleft a sword and sandals under a rock and told Aethra that when his son was strong enough to lift the rock, she should send him to Athens. Knowing who the father of Theseus really was, Aethra agreed.
Theseus grew up in the palace of Pittheus and indeed became an extraordinarily strong man. At the age of 16, he already was capable to lift the rock and leave for Athens. Although Theseus was advised to travel by sea, he prefered to take theland route from Troezen to Athens; this way, he had to go through numerous adventures and obstacles.
When Theseus reached Athens, he did not reveal his identity at first. Aegeus’ new wife Medea, who already had a child with Aegeus and possessed the gift of prophecy, saw athreat in Theseus and told Aegeus that Theseus was conspiring against him. So Aegeus sent Theseus away to Marathon to tame the Cretan Bull.
Eternal_Knight 2012/03/15 05:22 Theseus was able to accomplish the task and, back in Athens, he sacrificed the bull to Apollo Delphinius .
When he returned to Athens, Medea again tried to harm Theseus by poisoning him. But at that point, Aegeus recognized his son from his sandals and his sword and knocked the cup from his hands. From that moment on, father and son were reunited and Medea was exiled with her son to Asia. Theseus became the king and founding hero of Athens and always occupied a special place in the hearts of the Athenians.
was the founder of Mycenae and the Greek hero who killed the Gorgon Medusa.
Perseus was the son of Zeus and the princess Danae , daughter of the mythical king of Argos Acrisius.
According to a prophecy, Danae's child would be so strong that would kill the king of Argos- so Acrisius decided to imprison his daughter in adungeon to prevent any man from approaching her. But Zeus, the king of the gods, had fallen so madly in love with Danae and transformed himself into a shower of golden rain and penetrated into the dungeon.
Danaë and Zeus gave birth to a child and called him Perseus. When Arcisius found out, he put Danae and her son in a chest of wood and threwthem into the sea. The wind guided Danae and her son to the island of Seriphos, where the fisherman Polydectes discovered them and offered them hospitality. Perseus was raised up secretly in Seriphos and soon he became a very strong and courageous man... time had come for Perseus to be challenged on a very dangerous feat: the feat of delivering the head of the Gorgon Medusa .
The Gorgon Medusa was a monstrous, yet mortal creature with glorious hair that had the power to turn anyone who looked at her into stone. Messenger of the gods Hermes borrowed Perseus his winged shoes and Athena borrowed her shield, andwith these weapons Perseus succeeded in defeating the Medusa.
On his way back to Seriphos, Perseus fell in love with Andromeda of Aethiopia and they married.Together, they went to city of Larissa, where the funeral games were being held, and Perseus participated. While he was competing in a game, he threw the discus so far, that it struck his grandfather Acrisius fatally, fulfillingthis way the prophecy once been told.
Struck by fate, Perseus founded the city of Mycenae in a small distance from the city of his grandfather.
ACIDized 2012/03/15 08:52 Is Heracles the Hercules?
Lelsi 2012/03/15 10:05 Great work bro, I remember most of greek gods and goddess from Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, it was a must literature when I was in high school. I'll add a topic about Slavic mythology when I get more free time.
Quote: Lelsi: Great work bro, I remember most of greek gods and goddess from Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, it was a must literature when I was in high school. I'll add a topic about Slavic mythology when I get more free time.
hmmm i had read the legends from various books.. Never came across homers works..thanks. Slavic mythology the one from which thor or odin comes na?