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 Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 2:37 pm
Here you can post your favorites myths or read what myths the other members post,and discuss about them!
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Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 2:42 pm
ATHENA & POSEIDON VIE FOR ATHENS"Kekrops, a son of the soil, with a body compounded of man and serpent, was the first king of Attika ... In his time, they say, the gods resolved to take possession of cities in which each of them should receive his own peculiar worship. So Poseidon was the first that came to Attika, and with a blow of his trident on the middle of the acropolis, he produced a sea which they now call Erekhtheis. After him came Athena, and, having called on Kekrops to witness her act of taking possession, she planted an olive tree, which is still shown in the Pandrosion. But when the two strove for possession of the country, Zeus parted them and appointed arbiters, not, as some have affirmed, Kekrops and Kranaus, nor yet Erysikhthon, but the twelve gods (dodekatheoi). And in accordance with their verdict the country was adjudged to Athena, because Kekrops bore witness that she had been the first to plant the olive. Athena, therefore, called the city Athens after herself, and Poseidon in hot anger flooded the Thriasian plain and laid Attika under the sea. About the olive tree [by the temple of Athena Polias on the Akropolis of Athens] they have nothing to say except that it was testimony the goddess produced when she contended for their land. Legend also says that when the Persians fired Athens the olive was burnt down, but on the very day it was burnt it grew again to the height of two cubits." - Pausanias, Guide to Greece 1.27.1
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Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 2:56 pm
HERA & HER SON HEPHAISTOSAfter Athene's birth from the head of Zeus, Hera was furious and gave birth without Zeus to the fatherless Hephaistos. "[Zeus], apart from Hera, had lain in love ... Metis, whom he deceived, for all she was so resourceful, for he snatched her up in his hands and put her inside his belly ... she then conceived Pallas Athene ... but Zeus gave birth from his own head to Tritogeneia [Athene] ... Hera was very angry and quarrelled with her mate. And because of this strife she bare without union with Zeus who hold the aegis a glorious son, Hephaistos, who excelled all the sons of Heaven in crafts." - Hesiod, Theogony 921 “Hera bore Hephaistos without benefit of sexual intercourse, although Homer says that Zeus was his father. Zeus threw him from the sky for helping Hera when she was in chains. Zeus had hung her from Olympos as punishment for setting a storm on Herakles as he was sailing back from his conquest of Troy. Hephaistos landed on Lemnos, cripped in both legs." - Apollodorus, The Library 1.19 "One of the Greek legends is that Hephaistos, when he was born, was thrown down by Hera. In revenge he sent as a gift a golden chair with invisible fetters. When Hera sat down she was held fast, and Hephaistos refused to listen to any other of the gods save Dionysos - in him he reposed the fullest trust - and after making him drunk Dionysos brought him to heaven." - Pausanias, Guide to Greece 1.20.3 "There are also represented [on the throne of the Amyklaian at Amyklai in Lakedaimonia] ...the fabled binding of Hera by Hephaistos." - Pausanias, Guide to Greece 3.18.16
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Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 3:48 pm
Herakles THE LEON NEMEIOS (or Nemean lion) was a large lion, whose hide was impervious to weapons, which plagued the district of Nemea in the Argolis. King Eurystheus commanded Herakles to destroy the beast as the first of his twelve Labours. The hero cornered the lion in its cave and seizing it by the neck wrestled it to death. He then skinned its hide to make a lion-skin cape, one of his most distinctive attributes. Hera afterwards placed the lion amongst the stars as the constellation Leo.
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Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 12:48 pm
THE BIRTH OF APHRODITE
I) BORN OF THE SEA-FOAM
The most common version of the birth of Aphrodite describes her born in sea-foam from the castrated genitals of the sky-god Ouranos.
"Ouranos (the Sky) came, bringing on night and longing for love, and he lay about Gaia (the Earth) spreading himself full upon her. Then the son [Kronos] from his ambush stretched forth his left hand and in his right took the great long sickle with jagged teeth, and swiftly lopped off his own father's members and cast them away to fall behind him ... and so soon as he had cut off the members with flint and cast them from the land into the surging sea, they were swept away over the main a long time: and a white foam spread around them from the immortal flesh, and in it there grew a maiden. First she drew near holy Kythera, and from there, afterwards, she came to sea-girt Kypros, and came forth an awful and lovely goddess, and grass grew up about her beneath her shapely feet. Her gods and men call Aphrodite, and Aphrogeneia (the foam-born) because she grew amid the foam, and Eustephanos (well-crowned or girdled) Kythereia because she reached Kythera, and Kyprogenes because she was born in billowy Kypros, and Philommeides (Genital-Loving) because sprang from the members. And with her went Eros (Love), and comely Himeros (Desire) followed her at her birth at the first and as she went into the assembly of the gods. This honour she has from the beginning, and this is the portion allotted to her amongst men and undying gods, - the whisperings of maidens and smiles and deceits with sweet delight and love and graciousness." - Hesiod, Theogony 176
"To Sea-set Kypros the moist breath of the western wind (Zephryos) wafted her [Aphrodite] over the waves of the loud-moaning sea in soft foam, and there the gold-filleted Horai (Seasons) welcomed her joyously. They clothed her with heavenly garments: on her head they put a fine, well-wrought crown of gold, and in her pierced ears they hung ornaments of orichalc and precious gold, and adorned her with golden necklaces over her soft neck and snow-white breasts, jewels which the gold-filleted Horai wear themselves whenever they go to their father's house to join the lovely dances of the gods. And when they had fully decked her, they brought her to the gods, who welcomed her when they saw her, giving her their hands. Each one of them prayed that he might lead her home to be his wedded wife, so greatly were they amazed at the beauty of violet-crowned Kythereia." - Homeric Hymns 6 to Aphrodite
"[Aphrodite] roaming over the waves like sea-lettuce, moving her soft-skinned body in her voyage over the white calm sea, she pulls the breakers along her path. Above her rosy breast and below her soft neck a great wave divides her skin. In the midst of the furrow, like a lily wound among violets, Kypris shines out from the clam sea. Over the silver on dancing dolphins ride guileful Eros and laughing Himeros (Desire), and the chorus of bow-backed fish plunging in the waves sports with Paphia where she swims." - Greek Lyric II The Anacreontea, Frag 5
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Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 12:51 pm
PSYKHE (or Psyche) was the goddess of the soul, wife of Eros the god of love. She was once a mortal princess whose astounding beauty earned the ire of Aphrodite when men turned their worship from goddess to girl. Aphrodite commanded Eros make Psykhe fall in love with the most hideous of men, but the god himself fell in love with her and carried her away to his secret palace. However Eros hid his true identity, and commanded her never to look upon his face. Psykhe was eventually tricked by her jealous sisters into gazing upon the face of god, and he abandoned her. In her despair, she searched throughout the world for her lost love, and eventually came into the service of Aphrodite. The goddess commanded her perform a series of difficult labours which culminated in a journey to the Underworld. In the end Psykhe was reunited with Eros and the couple wed in a ceremony attended by the gods. Psykhe was depicted in ancient mosaics as a butterfly winged goddess in the company of her husband Eros. Sometimes a pair of Pyskhai are portrayed, the second perhaps being their daughter Hedone (Pleasure).
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Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 1:07 pm
DEMETER & THE RAPE OF PERSEPHONE (APOLLODORUS)Apollodorus in the following passage summarizes the contents of the Homeric Hymn to Demeter (which is itself quoted here in the following section). "Plouton [Haides] fell in love with Persephone, and with Zeus’ help secretly kidnapped her. Demeter roamed the earth over in search of her, by day and by night with torches. When she learned from the Hermionians that Plouton [Haides] had kidnapped her, enraged at the gods she left the sky, and in the likeness of a woman made her way to Eleusis. She first sat upon the rock that has come to be called Agelasttos after her, beside the well called Kallikhoron. Then she went to the house of Keleus, the current ruler of the Eleusinians. After the woman inside invited her to sit with them, one old granny named Iambe joked with the goddess and got her to smile. For this reason they say that the women at the Thesmophoria joke and jest. Metaneira, the wife of Keleus, had a baby, which was given to Demeter to nurse. Wishing to make it immortal, she would set the baby in the fire at night and remove its mortal flesh. But because Demophon (the baby’s name) grew so wondrously each day, Metaneira kept an eye on him, and when she spied him being buried in the fire she screamed. The child was thereupon destroyed by the fire, and the goddess revealed her true identity. For Triptolemos, the elder of Metaneira’s sons, Demeter prepared a chariot of winged Drakones, and she gave him wheat, which he scattered all over the populated earth as he was carried along through the sky. Panyasis says that Triptolemos was the son of Eleusis, which is why Demeter came to him; but Pherekydes says that he was born of Okeanos and Ge. When Zeus commanded Plouton to send Kore [Persephone] back up, Plouton gave her a pomegranate seed to eat, as assurance that she would not remain long with her mother. With no foreknowledge of the outcome of her act, she consumed it. Askalaphos, the son of Akheron and Gorgyra, bore witness against her, in punishment for which Demeter pinned him down with a heavy rock in Hades’ realm. But Persephone was obliged to spend a third of each year with Plouton, and the remainder of the year among the gods." - Apollodorus, The Library 1.29-33 "Pandion became king [of Athens]. It was during his reign that Demeter and Dionysos came to Attika. Keleus welcomed Demeter to Eleusis, and Ikarios received Dionysos." - Apollodorus, The Library 3.191
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Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 1:11 pm
HEARCLES AND THE LERNAEAN HYDRAHYDRA LERNAIA was a gigantic, nine-headed water-serpent, which haunted the swamps of Lerna. Herakles was sent to destroy her as one of his twelve labours, but for each of her heads that he decapitated, two more sprang forth. So with the help of Iolaos, he applied burning brands to the severed stumps, cauterizing the wounds and preventing regeneration. In the battle he also crushed a giant crab beneath his heel which had come to assist Hydra. The Hydra and the Crab were afterwards placed amongst the stars by Hera as the Constellations Hydra and Cancer.
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Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 1:15 pm
HERACLES AND THE ELAPHOS KERYNITISTHE ELAPHOS KERYNITIS (or Cerynitian Hind) was a golden-horned deer sacred to the goddess Artemis. Some say the deer was a gift from the Nymph Taygete and was one of five, the other four drawing the chariot of the goddess. Herakles was sent to fetch it as one of his twelve labours. After chasing the swift animal for a full year he finally captured it on Mount Artemision in Arkadia. When the goddess Artemis complained at the treatment of her animal, whose horn the hero had broken off in the struggle, he persuaded her to let him borrow it for the completion of his Labour. The hind may have been assigned a Constellation like the other beasts of Herakles' labours.
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Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 1:28 pm
HERACLES AND THE HUS ERYMANTHIOSTHE HUS ERYMANTHIOS (or Erymanthian Boar) was a gigantic boar which ravished the farmlands of Psophis in western Arkadia. Herakles was sent to capture it as one of his Twelve Labours. After chasing the boar through the deep winter snows of Mount Erymanthos, he netted it and brought it back alive to Eurystheus. The king, terrified at the sight of the deadly boar, leapt into a buried pithos jar for safety. The boar may have once been assigned a Constellation like the other beasts of Herakles' Twelve Labours.
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Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2007 11:43 am
HERE IS SOMETHING INTERESTING ABOUT KADMUS
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Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2007 11:48 am
HERE IS SOMETHING INTERESTING ABOUT KADMUS
Kadmus is the first king and founder of Thebes as the myth say in Beotea!
When Kadmus was in Beotea in the place where Thebes was found the Snakes(drakontes) of Ares....if i remember completely....and killed them all.....Then he ripped their teeth and planted them in the earth.....from the teeth that were planted the myth says the Thebans were born and then Thebes was found
Kadmus then became the king....weird eh? heart
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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 6:42 am
I like the myth of Athens and Zeus, where Athens is said to have been born from the head of Zeus! It's weird, heh? That was supposed to mean that Athens was clever because she was in Zeus head (brain) for some period of time!
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