Greek Mythology

The Ancient Myths and Legends of Greek Mythology

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1: Prometheus – Thief of Fire

Chapter 2: Pandora's Box

Chapter 3: Jason and the Argonauts

Chapter 4: Andromeda and Perseus

Chapter 5: Narcissus

Chapter 6: Theseus and the Minotaur

Chapter 7: Daedalus and Icarus

Chapter 8: Aphrodite and Adonis

Chapter 9: Hades and Persephone

Chapter 10: Ursa Major

Chapter 11: Pegasus and Bellerophontes

Chapter 12: Odysseus and the Cyclops

Chapter 13: Myth of Tantalus

Chapter 14: Pygmalion and Galatea

Chapter 15: Sisyphus

Chapter 16: Halcyon – The Halcyon Days

Chapter 17: Heracles (Hercules)

Chapter 18: Dido and Aeneas

Chapter 19: Calypso and Odysseus

Chapter 20: Psyche and Eros

Chapter 21: Myth of Europe

Chapter 22: Myth of Cassandra

Chapter 23: Orpheus and Eurydice

Chapter 24: Achilles

Chapter 25: Necklace of Harmonia

Chapter 26: Circe the Witch

Chapter 27: The Shirt of Nessus

Chapter 28: Myth of Hermes, the Messenger

Chapter 29: Myth of Pan

Conclusion

Introduction

I want to thank you for downloading the book, “Greek Mythology -

The Ancient Myths and Legends of Greek Mythology.”

Greek Mythology dates back to Ancient Greece and has been studied by students, scholars, and literary greats for thousands of years. You will find that it is easy to get yourself lost in the stories of a world where gods, goddesses, Minotaurs, Centaurs, dragons, Cyclopes and other mythical people and creatures roam.

These stories are filled with tales of love, death, deceit, dishonor, generosity and what some would consider are valuable life lessons. The Greeks created these myths to justify and provide reasoning for anything that they could not explain. They would also create these stories any time they wanted to document an important event.

In this book, you will find more than 25 of the most famous stories, lessons and tales in Greek Mythology, including the following:

●       Pandora’s Box

●       Hercules

●       King Midas and the Gold

●       Odysseus and the Cyclops

●       Aphrodite and Adonis

●       Narcissus

●       Theseus and the Minotaur

●       Achilles

●       Hades and Persephone

●       Pegasus and Bellerophontes

●       And many more!

Thank you again for downloading this book. I really hope that you enjoy reading it and afterwards, that you can safely say that you have a firm grasp on the most popular stories in Greek Mythology! You will also find some stories that you may not have heard or read before, but are of equal importance and interest. Enjoy!

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Chapter 1: Prometheus – Thief of Fire

This story begins with Prometheus and Epimetheus, who were brothers. Zeus sent the brothers to earth to make creatures using the powerful gifts that he had given them. Prometheus took time to carefully craft and design his creatures, who were human beings, while Epimetheus hastily made animals and made them powerful. Some had wings, some had fur and some had sharp claws. Epimetheus realized after he had finished making the animals that he had used all of the gifts that Zeus had given to both of the brothers. Prometheus now had no special gifts to give his humans.

Prometheus was devastated because his creatures were now cold and afraid of the animals that Epimetheus had created. He decided to go to Zeus to ask him for one more gift so that he could give it to the humans he had created. Because his humans did not have fur coats or anything to protect themselves from the animals, Prometheus asked Zeus for fire. Zeus was furious at this request because he believed that fire was something that should only belong to the gods and goddesses. He denied this request and was angry at Prometheus for asking for another gift.

Prometheus still did not wish for his creatures to suffer. He felt that if Zeus would not give him fire, then he would have to steal it. He raised his torch to the sky and caught an ember of fire from the sun. He returned to earth and gave the fire to his humans so that they could be warm, safe and could build shelter, and protect themselves from the animals that Epimetheus created.

The humans wanted to pay respect and honor the gods, so they roasted a beast as a sacrifice. Zeus saw the smoke and fire coming from earth and knew that Prometheus had gone behind his back and betrayed him. Although angry, Zeus was pleased at the idea of the sacrificial offering for he was the most powerful god. Prometheus, however, did not enjoy watching the humans burn the beast, as he felt that they did not have enough to waste on offerings to the gods. He instructed the humans to split the sacrificial animal into two halves; the chops in one half covered under bones, and the fat, scraps and entrails in another half. Zeus came down to earth as to choose which offering he liked better. He chose the scraps, because the better portion of the animal was hidden under the bones. When he realized he had been fooled by Prometheus he was filled with deep rage. As punishment, he chained Prometheus to the top of the Caucasus Mountain and wanted him to suffer for eternity. He had an eagle swoop down every day to snatch Prometheus’s liver from his body, although he was immortal. After many ages, Zeus realized that he could not be punished for all of eternity and allowed Hercules, another son of Zeus, to break Prometheus’s chains and kill the eagle, freeing him.

Chapter 2: Pandora's Box

The story of Pandora’s Box is by far one of the most famous stories of Greek mythology. Pandora, according to Greek mythology, was the first woman on earth. Zeus, the most powerful god and the god of thunder and sky, ordered his son, Hephaestus, to create her out of earth and water. Pandora was created to wreak havoc among humans as a punishment, after Prometheus had betrayed Zeus by stealing fire from the gods. Pandora was special as she was given many gifts from the gods and goddesses, including beauty, speech and musical ability.  Although she was given many beautiful gifts, her strong curiosity would cause a great deal of trouble for her and the humans she was sent to.

Zeus sent Pandora to Epimetheus, Prometheus’s brother, for him to marry. Although he was hesitant as he knew of Zeus’s tricks, he instantly fell in love with Pandora. As a wedding gift Zeus gave the couple a box, which some believe was actually more similar to a jar. The box had a note on it that read “Do not open.” It was locked and had a small key attached to it. The couple was told by the gods that the box was filled with many powerful and special gifts, but that they were not allowed to open it. 

Although she tried to follow Zeus’s rule, her curiosity got the best of her and Pandora used the key to open the box. When she did, she realized she had made a huge mistake as all the evil, death and illness flew out of the box and into the world. Pandora tried to close it as fast as she could, but she had already released most of the contents of the box leaving just “hope” inside. This was Zeus’s intention, as he wanted the world to see how life could be when being disobedient and disrespectful to the gods.

Chapter 3: Jason and the Argonauts

Jason was the heir to the throne, but when he was born his uncle Pelias kills his father, Greek King of Iolkas, and stole the throne. Pelias became extremely protective of the throne, as he knew it was not rightfully his. Jason’s mother took him to a centaur named Cheiron who was half man, half horse. Cheiron hid Jason and raised him. However, when Jason turned 20, he decided to reclaim his throne from Pelias. On his journey to see Pelias, Jason met an old woman who he carried across the river as a favor, and loses his sandal in the water. The woman was actually Hera, the Queen of the Gods, disguised as an old woman. When Jason arrived before Pelias, he was only wearing one sandal which frightened Pelias, as it was predicted that he would lose the throne to someone wearing only one sandal. Jason demanded his throne back, but Pelias refused to give it to him without him first completing a challenge. The challenge was to find and retrieve the Golden Fleece, which came from a Golden Ram that was a gift given from Zeus to Phrixus, one of Jason’s ancestors.

Jason accepted the challenge and organized a group of heroes to help him on his journey to find the Golden Fleece. He and his crew were called the “Argonauts.” Their first stop on their journey to find the Golden Fleece was an island called Lemnos, which was populated by women only. Unbeknownst to the Argonauts, the women had killed all of their husbands. Jason and his crew had better luck, however, as the women of Lemnos occasionally needed assistance in repopulating their island.

The Argonauts continued their journey to the Straits of Bosphorus, a narrow body of water that was dangerous and considered the edge of the world by the Greeks. Jason and the Argonauts made it to their destination of Colchis and approached King Aietes to retrieve the Golden Fleece that belonged to Jason’s ancestor. King Aietes agreed but only after Jason finished a series of nearly impossible challenges. Luckily for Jason, King Aietes’ daughter Medea was a powerful sorceress that agreed to help Jason in exchange for him marrying her. Jason agreed, and they returned to Greece with the Golden Fleece where Jason reclaimed his throne. 

Unfortunately, Jason’s luck took a turn for the worst. The people of Iolkas were not happy with Medea’s sorcery and in turn, exiled Medea and Jason to Corinth. The King of Corinth offered his daughter’s hand in marriage to Jason, which he accepted. This infuriated Medea- Jason vowed to only be married to her. Medea then killed the King’s daughter and Jason and Medea’s children. She went to Mount Olympus, where she eventually became married to Achilles. One day Jason was visiting his Argonaut ship on display, when an old beam fell and hit him on the head, killing him.

Chapter 4: Andromeda and Perseus

Princess Andromeda was the daughter of King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia, the rulers of Aethioplan. The Queen constantly boasted of Andromeda’s beauty- however trouble began when Cassiopeia bragged that Andromeda was more beautiful than the Nereids. The Nereids were female sea nymphs, much comparable to mermaids. This angered Poseidon, god of the sea, so he sent Cetus who was a dangerous sea monster to attack and destroy Aethioplan. As a sacrifice and offering to Cetus and Poseidon to save Aethioplan, King Cepheus and Cassiopeia chained Andromeda to a rock by the sea, naked, to be devoured by the monster.

Although left for dead by her parents Andromeda was saved by Perseus, an honorable and brave son of Zeus. Perseus was on a journey home when he encountered a young woman chained to a rock on the coast. Perseus fell in love with Andromeda upon meeting her and killed the monster, Cetus, before he could eat her. Perseus then approached King Cepheus to ask permission to marry the Princess. This caused conflict with Andromeda’s uncle, Phineus, as he was already promised her hand in marriage.

Before Perseus saved Andromeda and fell in love with her, he was fighting other serious battles of his own. Although he was the son of Zeus, he was also the son of Danae- a mortal. Danae was admired and wanted by King Polydectes; however she was not at all interested in his proposal of marriage. King Polydectes thought that the reason for her rejection was somehow related to Perseus, her son. He wanted Perseus out of the way regardless so he sent him on a mission to kill Medusa, the terrifying monster whose head and hair were made of snakes. Medusa could turn anyone to stone if they looked at her face. Perseus was to bring back her head, although Polydectes doubted he would survive.

Luckily for Perseus, he was loved by the gods and goddesses who would help him to win his battle against Medusa. Perseus was given winged shoes from Hermes so he could fly, an invisible cap from Hades and a mirror from Athena. Hermes also gave Perseus a curved sword, so that he could easily cut off Medusa’s head. Perseus went on a journey to find Medusa’s cave, where he eventually found her lying. He flew over her wearing the winged shoes and approached her from behind by looking at the mirror that showed her reflection. Since he did not directly look at her face, he was able to cut off her head with the sword. Perseus later used her head to turn Andromeda’s uncle Phineus to stone, so that he would not interfere with their marriage.

Although it ended poorly for her, Medusa has a story of her own. She was not always a terrible monster. In fact she was once a beautiful, blonde young maiden who was a priestess to the goddess Athena. She took a vow of eternal celibacy, but broke that vow when she was wooed by and fell in love with Poseidon. Once they were married, Athena punished her by transforming her into the awful, green, snake-haired monster that was killed by Perseus.

Chapter 5: Narcissus

Narcissus was the son of Cephissus the River God and Liriope, a nymph. He was known for his great beauty and it was told to Liriope that he would live a long life on the condition that he never saw himself. A talkative wood nymph named Echo pined for Narcissus, but was later unable to speak except to repeat the last few words of anything that had just been said. Echo angered Hera, the goddess, by talking to her and distracting her from spying on one of Zeus’s other lovers. Hera punished Echo by taking her voice from her.

Narcissus rejected the love of Echo and instead fell in love with his own reflection. After seeing his handsome appearance, Narcissus became arrogant and only enjoyed envy and attention.  He became so infatuated with himself and believed he could have any nymph he wanted, yet also believed that none deserved to have him.

After the rejection from Narcissus, Echo was broken-hearted and ended up fading away and becoming “one” with the mountains and all that was left of her was her voice. From then on, Echo’s voice would reply kindly to those who spoke.

Nemesis, the goddess of revenge and divine retribution, led Narcissus to a small pool of water. Narcissus bent down to look and thought he saw a beautiful spirit in the water. Little did he know, it was only his own reflection of which he was so enamored. He bent down to kiss the “spirit” and became distraught when it disappeared. He refused to leave the pool of water until the spirit returned to him. As he sat there, his beauty began to fade and he, just like Echo, began to fade away and die due to a broken heart. His body dissolved into the soil by the pool of water and a beautiful flower popped up in its place.

The goddess Nemesis would essentially make sure that no one could be too happy in these myths. She especially brought misfortune to people who had good luck, but didn’t deserve it – such as Narcissus which is why she led him to the pool of water. The world ‘nemesis’ is used often in the English language to refer to someone who is “out to get you” in a negative way.  The word ‘narcissism’ comes from this story, meaning ‘for a person to be overly attracted to their own physical appearance’. 

Chapter 6: Theseus and the Minotaur

A bull was sent to Queen Pasiphae by Zeus. The queen consummated with the bull and later gave birth to a Minotaur: half human, half bull. The Queen’s husband was King Minos of Crete. The King was greatly embarrassed upon the birth of the Minotaur and decided to keep it a secret by hiding it within the Labyrinth – a complicated maze that he hired Daedalus to build. It was nearly impossible to escape the Labyrinth. Although he had it built specifically to hide the Minotaur in, he ended up keeping other prisoners in there later on.

Androgeus was the son of King Minos and Queen Pasiphae, who traveled to Athens to compete in the Panathenaic Games. He was unfortunately murdered by the bull that his mother was impregnated by. King Minos was furious and had the King of Athens, Aegeus, order seven men and seven women to travel into the Labyrinth every year to fight and kill the Minotaur so that there would not be any more human sacrifices made. By the third year King Aegeus’s son, Theseus, volunteered to go to the Minotaur so that he could kill it.

King Aegeus pleaded with his son Theseus to reconsider his decision, but Theseus would not give in. Aegeus knew that even if Theseus could successfully kill the Minotaur he would never be able to find his way out of the Labyrinth. Princess Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos, fell in love with Theseus and offered to help him with his mission. She gave him a spool of golden thread so that he could unravel it through the Labyrinth and then be able to follow it back out after defeating the Minotaur. Her plan worked, and after Theseus killed the Minotaur he was able to find his way out of the Labyrinth safely.

Before heading back to Athens, Theseus, Ariadne and the Athenians stopped to celebrate at Naxos. Ariadne had fallen asleep on the shore and Theseus did not realize she was not on the boat before he began sailing home. He was so distraught over leaving her there that he forgot he had promised his father to turn the sails of his ship to red if he was safe and had defeated the Minotaur. Instead, he left the sails black and his father saw them and assumed he was dead. King Aegeus immediately committed suicide out of grief by jumping off a cliff and into the sea. Princess Ariadne was granted immortality after eventually marrying the god Dionysus.

Chapter 7: Daedalus and Icarus

What sets this story aside from other Greek myths is that contains some historical connotations. Daedalus created the plan for the Minoan Palace of Knossos, which still stands in Greece to this day. At first King Minos and Daedalus worked well together, especially after building the Labyrinth to hide the Minotaur. However they had a falling out after King Minos learned that Daedalus was the one who gave Princess Ariadne the idea to give Theseus the golden thread to find his way out of the Labyrinth.

As punishment, King Minos imprisoned Daedalus and his son Icarus in the Labyrinth, which was built by Daedalus himself. Icarus was the son of Daedalus and Nafsicrate, who was one of King Minos’ servants. Since Daedalus built the Labyrinth, he knew how complicated it would be to escape. The shores were surrounded by guards so he knew that they could not escape by sea and it was too difficult for them to find their way out of the maze on foot. The only way they would be able to escape was to fly, but Daedalus needed the materials to make this idea a reality. Daedalus asked King Minos for some supplies so that he could use them for a new invention he was working on.

King Minos gave him the supplies and Daedalus used them to craft giant wings out of wax and feathers. He then taught his son Icarus how to fly. He warned Icarus that although it would be fun, flying could also be dangerous. He told him that he was not allowed to get too close to the sun or his wings would melt, as they were made of wax. Daedalus and Icarus were able to fly out of the Labyrinth to their freedom but Icarus was young, careless and too enthusiastic about flying, and he got too close to the sun. The wings melted and Icarus fell to his death into the sea which is now called the Icarian Sea, which is a subdivision of the Mediterranean.

Chapter 8: Aphrodite and Adonis

Aphrodite was the Goddess of Love and Lust. Adonis was a beautiful mortal and the son of beautiful parents. His mother, Myrrha, was actually the daughter of his father, King Cinyrus of Cyprus (in some texts he is named as King Thesias.) 

Adonis’ parental origin was so odd and inappropriate because Aphrodite envied Myrrha’s beauty and encouraged her to have sexual relations with her own father. Myrrha had always been infatuated with her father and had often tried to make advances towards him. The King denied her advances and pushed away his daughter because he was sickened by the thought of it. One night, with Aphrodite’s help, Myrrha tricked her father into laying with her.  King Cinyrus was infuriated with Myrrha for fooling him and tried to attack her and her unborn child with a sword. Aphrodite felt regretful for the situation she had encouraged and turned Myrrha into a myrrh tree to protect her. The King, still infuriated and disgusted by his daughter’s deceitful action, shot an arrow into the trunk of the tree. When the trunk split, Adonis was born.

After the child was born, Aphrodite fell in love with him and was captured by his beauty. She neglected her duties as a goddess due to the amount of time she spent focused on Adonis. She hid him in a chest and sent it to the Queen of the Nether World, Persephone, to look after him for a while so that she could resume her goddess responsibilities. However, when Persephone looked into the chest and saw the beauty of the child, she refused to give him back. Aphrodite was not pleased and went down to the Underworld to take back the child from Persephone.

Zeus stepped in to settle the feud between the two goddesses and allowed each of them to keep the child for part of the year. When Persephone had the child it was winter in the above world and when Aphrodite had the child, it was spring and summer. This particular myth surrounds the battle of love and death, which is a common theme in Greek mythology. For four months out of the year, Adonis was allowed to be alone to do whatever he pleased.

Adonis grew up to be a very attractive young man. Aphrodite was smitten and charmed by him. He was a hunter and a big fan of the outdoors. When Aphrodite went away for a couple days, she told Adonis not to go too far into the woods as it was very dangerous and filled with many beasts. Adonis neglected to listen to Aphrodite and was attacked by a wild boar. He was unable to fight off the boar and was impaled by the boar’s tusk.

It is rumored that the boar was actually Ares in disguise, as he was jealous of Aphrodite’s affection for Adonis. Ares was Aphrodite’s brother, but they had a love affair even though she was married to the blacksmith god, Hephaestus.

Aphrodite went to the forest to be by Adonis’ side as he peacefully passed away. Adonis then arrived in Hades to be with Persephone, which filled Aphrodite with envy. She went down to Hades in disagreement of this and Zeus, again, had to resolve the quarrel between Persephone and Aphrodite. He allowed Persephone to have Adonis for half the year and Aphrodite to have him for the other half. This represented Adonis spending half the year with his wife and half the year with his mother.

Chapter 9: Hades and Persephone

Persephone was not always the goddess of the dark Underworld. In fact, she was the only daughter to Zeus and Demeter, the goddess of agriculture. She loved running through the fields, picking flowers and frolicking in the sunlight. Hades, Zeus’ brother and ruler of the Underworld, wanted Persephone as his bride. Zeus did not oppose this marriage, but knew that Demeter would. Hades decided to kidnap Persephone by snatching her from a field and bringing her into the Underworld. Hades stole her virginity and her innocence. Demeter was furious that someone had taken her daughter and wreaked havoc on the fields and crops due to the anger and grief of losing her daughter. She promised to make the Earth completely barren if she did not learn of her daughter’s whereabouts, as well as the identity of who had abducted her.

When Demeter learned that it was Hades who had taken Persephone, she of course did not approve of the marriage and went down to Earth, refusing to return to Mount Olympus. While on Earth, she killed crops and livestock and forbid the trees from growing any fruit. She made sure that the fields and trees were completely devoid of all life. Zeus realized that humankind would starve and die if she kept this up and he urged Demeter to return to Mount Olympus. Demeter told Zeus that she would not return unless she had her daughter back. Zeus gave in and promised to bring back Persephone.

Zeus sent his messenger, Hermes, down to Hades to bring back Persephone and Hades surprisingly gave her up without a fight. Persephone, however, realized that she was starving and had not eaten a single thing since her kidnapping. Hades offered her a single pomegranate seed to curb her appetite until her return to Olympus, but, unfortunately, it was a trick. Anyone who eats food given to them by Hades must stay in the Underworld.

Hades, Zeus, Demeter and Rhea – Zeus’s mother - came up with the agreement that Persephone must spend four to six months as Queen of the Underworld and the rest could be spent in Olympus with Demeter.

Demeter restored the fertility to the Earth and brought Persephone back to Mount Olympus with her. However, when it became time for Persephone to return back to the Underworld for a few months, the Earth grew cold and infertile until her return to Mount Olympus- thus the season of winter.

Chapter 10: Ursa Major

Most of us know that Ursa Major is one of the oldest and most well-known constellations in the sky, but you may not have known that she began as a beautiful woman who was deeply loved by Zeus. Although Zeus was married to Hera, he was known to have many beautiful lovers- his favorite being Callisto.

Callisto was a nymph and follower of Artemis and as such, she was to honor a vow of chastity. Zeus was in love and infatuated with Callisto and wanted badly to seduce her and have her as his own. Zeus took the form of Artemis to fool Callisto and take advantage of her. Callisto later gave birth to a son named Arcas.

One day Callisto and Zeus were walking through the forest when Zeus spotted Hera coming his way. Hera was always trying to catch Zeus with one of his lovers. He did not want her to see him with Callisto, so he turned her into a bear.

When Hera approached Zeus she saw him alone, but knew him too well and figured that he was likely to be hiding another woman. Hera made Zeus leave with her to head back to Mount Olympus, without Zeus being able to turn Callisto back into a person before leaving.

Callisto’s son, Arcas, was hunting in the forest and saw the bear. He obviously did not know it was his mother, so he shot the bear with an arrow that went straight through the heart, killing it. He was horrified when the bear began to turn into his mother after it had died. He cried to the skies because he was angry and knew it was Zeus who had turned his mother into the bear. Zeus did not want Hera to hear Arcas’ cries and rushed down to the forest to convince him to quiet down and keep it a secret.

Zeus turned Callisto back into a bear and placed her in the sky as the largest constellation ‘Ursa Major’, known as the “Big Dipper.” He then placed Arcas into the sky as a constellation too, known as ‘Ursa Minor’ or the “Little Dipper,” which reunited the mother and son.

Chapter 11: Pegasus and Bellerophontes

Pegasus is one of the most recognizable figures in Greek mythology. He was an immortal, winged, white horse who was born from Medusa’s body, specifically the neck, after she was decapitated by Perseus. Bellerophontes, also known as Bellerophon, was the son of Poseidon and Eurynome, who was actually the wife of Glaucus. Glaucus was a fisherman who became immortal after eating a magical herb. Glaucus raised Bellerophon as his own, because he assumed that he was his own son.

Both Poseidon and Glaucus had a great interest in horses, which is why Bellerophon was so interested in finding Pegasus. Bellerophon could not achieve this on his own, so he asked Polyeidus to help him. Polyeidus advised Bellerophon to stay overnight in a temple of Athena and help would come to him. While sleeping, a goddess came to him in a dream offering him a golden, magical bridle. When Bellerophon awoke, he found the magic bridle in his hands and went to the field where Pegasus was eating. Bellerophon was able to tame him and bridle him very easily using his new magical gift.

After he victoriously bridled Pegasus, he went to King Pittheus to ask for his daughter, Aethra’s, hand in marriage. His request was granted- however right before he was to marry Aethra, he accidentally killed a man and was subsequently banished by the King.

Bellerophon went to King Proetus and begged for his forgiveness for the crime. Proetus excused his actions as they were accidental, and allowed Bellerophon to stay at his house. King Proetus’ wife tried to make advances and seduce Bellerophon, however he rejected her advances out of respect for the King. This angered the King’s wife and she accused Bellerophon of trying to seduce her anyway. King Proetus was furious yet did not want to make a public scene accusing him. It was also a serious offence to the gods to harm a house guest.

King Proetus sent Bellerophon on Pegasus to King Iobates, who was his wife’s father, to deliver a sealed message to him. When King Iobates opened the letter he learned of the accusations against Bellerophon, but was now in the same predicament as King Proetus was. King Iobates decided to have Bellerophon complete a series of dangerous challenges which he highly doubted that Bellerophon would survive. Bellerophon succeeded in challenge after challenge, including fighting and beating an entire army. At this point, King Iobates knew that Bellerophon was favored by the gods and that they would not have given the same favorable treatment to a house guest who was dishonorable. To make up for the poor treatment of Bellerophon, King Iobates gave him half of his kingdom and offered him his daughter, Philonoe’s, hand in marriage.

Bellerophon was pleased and could have lived a long and happy life, however his arrogance got the best of him when he chose to visit the gods in Mount Olympus by flying on Pegasus. This did not please Zeus, so he arranged to have him fall off Pegasus and down to Earth. Bellerophon did survive but his fall left him crippled. He spent the remainder of his life alone, wandering Earth until his death.

Chapter 12: Odysseus and the Cyclops

Odysseus, as told by Homer in the epic poem “The Odyssey,” was the king of Ithaca. Odysseus was a man who possessed the admirable qualities such as courage, resourcefulness, eloquence, endurance and great wisdom. He defeated Troy by building and hiding in a large wooden horse that would allow him and his Greek army to infiltrate the kingdom.

After a battle of nine years, the Greeks were finally heading home to Ithaca. Their ships, unfortunately, sailed off course so they stumbled upon an island, on which Odysseus heard the sound of goats. His hunger led him and some of his crew toward the shore where they found a cave with a large goat pen outside. The cave was also surrounded by many cheeses and meats which filled them with glee. When the shepherd returned, he found Odysseus and his crew relaxing around the cave.

Unfortunately, this was no shepherd the Greeks had ever seen before. He had one huge eye in the middle of his giant head and was enormous in stature. His name was Polyphemus and he was a Cyclops. Cyclopes were huge blacksmiths who had built Olympus. Polyphemus was very happy to see the Greeks, as he planned to eat them. He snatched up two of the men and ate them right away. The others, including Odysseus, had been trapped inside a cave with a giant, heavy boulder blocking the entrance, preventing their escape.

Odysseus was upset that he had gotten his men into this predicament and knew that he must figure out a way to escape the Cyclops. He remembered that he and his men had brought wine along with them on shore. Odysseus offered the wine to Polyphemus and he drank it. The Cyclops had never had wine before, so it went right to his head. The Cyclops became very drowsy and just as he was about to pass out, he asked Odysseus his name. Odysseus replied, “Nobody.”  The Cyclops told “Nobody” that he would eat him last because he liked him.

As the Cyclops drifted to sleep, Odysseus and his men crafted a sharp stick pole and jabbed it into the Cyclops’ eye. Polyphemus screamed and yelled for help from his fellow Cyclopes. They came running and asked Polyphemus who had done this to them. “Nobody,” he replied, and the Cyclopes wondered why he had wasted their time.

Polyphemus called for his flock to roll the boulder out from the cave as he sat in front of the entrance, where he thought he could block the Greeks from escaping. Since he was now blind, he did not notice that Odysseus and the rest of the Greeks clung to the bottoms of the flock of goats to escape without his knowing. Odysseus and his crew made it safely to their ship.

Chapter 13: Myth of Tantalus

Tantalus was the son of Zeus and a Greek King. Tantalus was a close friend of the gods and would often take advantage of their generosity and gifts. He was often invited to dine with the gods; however he would steal ambrosia and nectar to bring it back to his mortal friends on Earth to impress them. Ambrosia and nectar were the food and drink of the gods and were meant to be only consumed by them. In fact, if a mortal were to consume them, the blood would immediately drain from their veins and they would die. Instead of blood, a golden fluid called “Ichor” ran through the gods’ veins.

Tantalus was constantly testing the waters to see how much he could get away with by being deceitful to the gods. He even killed and cooked his own son, Pelops, and fed him to the gods in a stew to see if they would notice. Most of the gods and goddesses caught on to his trick, but Demeter who was distraught and preoccupied with trying to find Persephone, ate a piece of his shoulder.

Zeus killed Tantalus and he was forced to spend an eternity in Hades being tortured. His punishment was to stand in a pool of water, waist-deep, with branches of fruit hanging above his head. He would get extremely thirsty, but when he tried to bend down to drink the water it all drained away. Every time he tried to reach for the fruit above his head, the branches would blow out of his reach.

This is where the word “tantalize” originates, which means to tease or torment. Tantalus’ children, grandchildren, and their children were all very unlucky.

Tantalus and his wife, Dione, had three children- Niobe, Broteas and Pelops, who unfortunately all suffered fatal tragedies.

Niobe had 12 children with her husband, Amphion, the King of Thebes. She made the mistake of bragging that her children were much more beautiful than Artemis and Apollo’s mother, Leto, who was deeply insulted by this remark. Leto told Apollo and Artemis to kill all 12 of Niobe’s children. As a result of the death of all her children, Niobe wept eternally until she was turned to stone.

Broteas met his fate by offending Artemis by refusing to honor her. Artemis punished Broteas by convincing him he was invincible. Broteas jumped into a fire because he thought the flames would not hurt him, when in reality he burned to his death.

We already learned about the fate of Pelops by his father’s own hand, but after Zeus killed Tantalus he and the gods brought him back to life. Demeter gave Pelops a shoulder made from ivory, as an apology for accidentally eating his original shoulder.

Pelops spent some time up in Mount Olympus and grew to be very handsome. In fact, Poseidon fell in love with his looks and gave him a chariot that was magic. Although Poseidon wished for Pelops to stay with the gods, Pelops wanted to return to Earth and arrived in Elis, which is in western Greece.

Oenomaus, the king of Elis, had a beautiful daughter named Hippodameia. He wished for his daughter to live with him forever and never marry. Whenever someone tried to marry her, they were challenged to a chariot race. Oenomaus always won the race as he had a magic chariot that was given to him by Ares. Pelops decided to challenge Oenomaus to a race, and bribed Oenomaus’s charioteer to remove pieces from the chariot causing it to fall apart mid-race.

Oenomaus died and Pelops won the race. He married Hippodameia and together they ruled the kingdom. However, Pelops did not repay the charioteer what he was owed and he placed a curse on Pelops’ entire family and their children.

Chapter 14: Pygmalion and Galatea

Pygmalion was a very gifted Greek sculptor from Cyprus. He became completely disgusted by women after interacting with some prostitutes. He began to view all women this way and promised himself that he would never waste any of his time in pursuit of a woman.

Pygmalion instead dedicated himself to his work and ironically, his most beautiful masterpiece was Galatea, a sculpture of a beautiful woman carved out of stone. It’s been said that he made Galatea so that he could create a women without any flaws.

Pygmalion felt as if he had created the perfect woman and although she was only a statue, he fell madly in love with her. He would bring her extravagant gifts and jewelry and dress her in elegant clothing. The irony became more apparent since even though he hated women, he managed to fall in love with one that would never be able to return his affections.

His love for the statue did not go unnoticed. Pygmalion prayed to Aphrodite every night and begged her to turn his beautiful sculpture into a real woman. Aphrodite felt sorry for Pygmalion and went down to his workshop to look at the statue that he loved so much. She was impressed by the sculpture and thought it bore much resemblance to herself. Upon a sacrifice made by Pygmalion, Aphrodite decided to bring life to the statue Galatea. Pygmalion was overcome with joy and thanked Aphrodite for her great generosity.

Pygmalion and Galatea were married by Aphrodite and lived a wonderful life together. They continued to thank Aphrodite by bringing gifts and offerings to her temple throughout their lives. They also had a child named Paphos, who the city was named after.

Chapter 15: Sisyphus

Sisyphus was the sly and scheming King of Corinth. Although born into royalty under the throne of Thessaly, Sisyphus and his brother Salmoneus often feuded and Salmoneus ended up taking the throne from him.

Since he could not rule Thessaly, Medea, a sorceress, gave the throne of Corinth (originally called Ephrya) to Sisyphus. Another version of this story says that Sisyphus was crowned King due to him finding the city.  He then married Merope, a daughter of Atlas, and had three children- Glaucus, Sinon, and Ornytion.

Sisyphus was often recognized as clever and cunning. When Autolycus, a known thief, continuously stole cattle from him he decided to catch him in the act. This was not an easy thing to do as Autolycus could change the color, and even the form, of anything he had stolen. Sisyphus decided to mark the hooves of his cattle with his name, so that he could prove they were his after Autolycus stole them.

To get revenge on Autolycus for his theft, Sisyphus decided he would seduce his daughter, Anticleia, who later became Odysseus’s mother. Because of Odysseus’s charm and cunning, it was always rumored that Sisyphus may have been his real father.

Although king of his own city, Sisyphus had never forgiven his brother for stealing the throne from him. He consulted the oracle at Delphi for advice on how to best seek revenge. He learned that if he were to have children with Salmoneus’ daughter, those children would kill Salmoneus. Sisyphus did not think twice before violating Tyro, his niece.  Two sons were born from this act, however Tyro killed both of them after learning of Sisyphus’s intent and the prophecy.

Sisyphus’s crimes did not stop with neighbors and family- he even began to deceive the gods. Asopus, son of Poseidon, was searching for his missing daughter Aegina, and Sisyphus told him he knew of her whereabouts. He told Asopus that he would tell him where Aegina was if he promised to place an eternal spring in Corinth, Sisyphus’s city. After Asopus, the god of rivers, obliged to this request, Sisyphus told him that Zeus was the one who had abducted his daughter. Asopus immediately went after Zeus and although he did in fact have Aegina, Zeus was furious and sent Death to Sisyphus as a punishment for betraying him.

When Thanatos (Death) came to find and take Sisyphus, he chained him up so that no one was able to die until Thanatos was unchained by Ares, the God of War.

Before Sisyphus submitted to Ares, he directed his wife to leave his body unburied and not to perform any of the traditional funeral ceremonies. When Sisyphus arrived in the Underworld, he convinced Persephone that his wife did not bury him as she was instructed to and as such, Persephone allowed him to return above ground to punish his wife for her omission and arrange his own funeral ceremonies. Sisyphus was supposed to return to the Underworld after three days, but he did not. He ended up living a long life before eventually dying for the second time, of old age.

As a punishment for cheating death years prior, Hades sentenced Sisyphus to push a large boulder up a mountain, only to have it roll back down. He was forced to repeat this act for all of eternity. It is unknown why this was his punishment; however the connections between myths lead us to believe that hard labor with no fruition was a popular punishment in the Underworld.

Chapter 16: Halcyon – The Halcyon Days

Halcyon was a goddess and the daughter of Aeolus, the ruler of winds. Halcyon was married to, and madly in love with, King Ceyx of Tachis who was a mortal. Their love for each other was greatly known to the mortals as well as the gods, who often teased them by comparing them to Zeus and Hera.

Ceyx had to travel to consult the Oracle of Apollo and decided that he would sail there by ship. Halcyon pleaded with Ceyx not to sail, as she was very afraid of the sea. Ceyx decided to sail against Halcyon’s wishes, and ended up drowning as a result of a dangerous storm which also took down his ship. While underwater and aware of his impending death, Ceyx asked Poseidon to bring his body to Halcyon after he died. Halcyon did not yet know of Ceyx’s death and asked Hera to make sure he had a safe voyage. Hera knew what had happened and instructed Morpheus, the god of dreams, to go into Halcyon’s dreams and tell her of the tragedy that had happened.

Halcyon was so devastated after learning of her husband’s death that she ran to the shore, where she found his body. She then threw herself into the waves of the sea, as she no longer wished to live without her husband. The gods were so impressed by the amount of devotion and love that she had that they transformed Halcyon into a seabird. They also turned Ceyx into a kingfisher, so that they could be together forever.

Although they were able to live and be together, Zeus ordered Halcyon to only lay her eggs in the winter which was nearly impossible as the sea was so rough and windy that the eggs would wash away. Halcyon became distraught and pleaded and prayed for Zeus to help her.  Zeus gave in to her requests and allowed fourteen days of calm winter weather for her to lay the eggs successfully. Halcyon’s father, Aeolus, made sure that the winds stayed calm as well. The 14 days of calm winter weather became known as “The Halcyon Days,” which evolved over many years to be less about the birds nesting and more about the calm weather that occurs for a short period of time during winter.

Chapter 17: Heracles (Hercules)

Hercules was the son of Zeus and the mortal, Alcmene. Zeus was known for being unfaithful to his wife, Hera, and she was constantly trying to catch him in the act. When Alcmene gave birth to twins, one of the twins was much larger than the other and was obviously recognizable as a son of a god. Hera knew it was Zeus’s child and therefore tried to kill Hercules. She got two serpents from her brother, Poseidon, which tried to crush Hercules while he was asleep. Hercules instead choked both serpents to death and was completely unharmed.

Hera knew she would have to come up with a good plan to kill Hercules, but she did not want Zeus to find out that it was her doing. When Hercules was older, Hera got inside his head and made him bash in the headsof his wife, Megara, and their children. When he finally had a moment of clarity, he saw what he had done and immediately wanted to take his own life, which had been Hera’s plan all along. His friend and cousin, Theseus, consoled Hercules and convinced him to spare his life. He was not convicted of murder, as he was not conscious of his actions.

Hercules went to the King of Mycenae, Eurytheus, to become his slave. Eurytheus was prepared to work Hercules to the bone and was encouraged by Hera to work him to death. Hera refused to forgive Zeus’s son, as he was not a son of hers.

Eurytheus directed Hercules to complete 12 labors, which were supposed to kill him. The labors were:

The Nemean Lion, who was immune to all weapons. Hercules killed the lion with his bare hands, skinned it, and wore as a cloak.

The Lernean Hydra who was a nine-headed, venomous monster. Hercules cut off all of her heads and seared the necks so that the heads could not grow back. Because of the help he had from his nephew, the King would not accept this as one of the completed labors.

The Hind of Ceryneia was a deer with golden antlers that was sacred to Artemis, the goddess of the natural environment, chastity, virginity and the moon. Artemis first refused to give Hercules the deer then allowed it, after hearing of the labors he must complete.

The Erymanthian Boar was from the land of Centaurs. Hercules was able to fight off the Centaurs and bring the boar back alive.

The Augean Stables were impossible to clean over many months, let alone in a single day. Hercules had an idea and had Augieus promise to give him some of his land if he could complete the task in a day. Augean agreed but when Hercules succeeded, Augeius refused to give him the land. Eurytheus also refused to accept this labor, as Hercules had tried to make a profit from it.

The Stymphalian Birds were ravaging the country and Hercules was to drive them away. He received a rattle from Athena which startled the birds when he shook it. He killed the birds while they were in flight with his bow and arrow.

The Cretan Bull was sacred to Poseidon because it could supposedly walk on water. King Minos, the owner of the bull, no longer wanted it because his wife had been impregnated by it and given birth to a Minotaur. King Minos gladly turned over the bull to Hercules.

The Horses of Diomedes were horses that fed on human flesh. Hercules fed Diomedes to his own horses and brought back the satisfied mares to the King.

The Belt of Hippolyte belonged to Hippolyte, Queen of the Amazons. Her belt, which was actually more like a girdle, represented her right to rule the kingdom. Hera disguised as an Amazon and convinced the rest of the Amazonians that Hercules had come to kill their Queen. They attacked Hercules, but Hippolyte ended up dying in the fight and Hercules took her belt.

                  Geryone's Cattle lived on the island of Erythia and were guarded by Geryone, the herdsman and son of Ares, and also guarded by Eurytion and Orthros, a two-headed dog with the tail of a serpent. Hercules fought them all off with his club and took the herd of cattle.

                  The Apples of the Hesperides – Hesperides were nymphs who lived in a garden far away where there were trees from which golden apples grew. The apples were protected by a dragon named “Ladon,” who had a hundred heads. Ladon was appointed as guardian by Hera. After consulting with Nereus to find out exactly where the garden was located, Hercules set on his way. Hercules encountered Prometheus chained to a rock while on his journey, and rescued him. In exchange Prometheus led Hercules to his brother, Atlas, to find the exact location of the secret and sacred garden. Atlas was holding up the Heavens as a punishment from Zeus, but offered to retrieve the golden apples himself if Hercules temporarily took his place. Hercules obliged and with the help of Athena, held the Heavens up until Atlas returned. Atlas retrieved the apples but was reluctant to take Hercules’ place upon his return. Hercules tricked Atlas into doing so, took the apples, and went on his way.

                  Cerberus, also known as Kerberos, was the final and most difficult task for Hercules to complete. Cerberus was a ferocious dog with three heads that guarded the gates of Hades. Hercules was to go down to Hades to persuade him to let him take the dog, which worked in his favor. It is said that when he brought the dog back to the King, he was so frightened that he jumped into a jar.

Chapter 18: Dido and Aeneas

Dido was the Queen of Carthage, an African city. She was the sister of Pygmalion and the daughter of King Belus. Upon King Belus’ death, his wishes were for his two children to equally share the throne; however Pygmalion wanted the throne for himself and killed Dido’s husband so that he could seize the throne.

Dido acquired the land in Africa to build her city of Carthage, which became very prosperous. Dido acquired the land from Iarbas, a local ruler. He wished to marry Dido but she declined, as she wished to never marry again after the death of her husband. Unfortunately, Iarbas would not accept this answer and threatened to attack the city of Carthage. Dido ended up taking her own life by stabbing herself with a sword and throwing herself into a funeral pyre, which was a pile of wood that they burned bodies on at their burial ceremonies.

Virgil, the Roman poet, included Dido in his epic poem the “Aeneid.” In this version Aeneas, the Trojan hero, ended up in Carthage when his ship crashed on the coast. At this time Dido was still in the process of building her great, new city.  Upon meeting Aeneas and his crew, Dido fell madly in love with him.

After this, Aeneas and Dido began living together as if they were husband and wife with Aeneas acting as king. Jupiter, god of sky, light and thunder, contacted Aeneas and told him he could not act as king in Carthage and that he had to leave and build a new Trojan city in Italy. Aeneas knew that he could not go against the wishes of Jupiter and the gods, so he set sail to Italy. Dido was devastated at the loss of Aeneas and stabbed herself upon the funeral pyre upon his departure from Carthage.

Chapter 19: Calypso and Odysseus

Calypso was a sea nymph and the daughter of Atlas. She was considered a symbol of the force that diverts and distracts men from successfully completing their goals.

In Greek, “Calypso” relates to a word that means “to conceal.” This was an appropriate name for her because she was known to use her seduction and power to conceal and hide all manner of things for negative reasons. Calypso lived on the island of Ogygia (the location of which is still unknown) yet she was later expelled due to her support for her father in the battle between the Olympians and the Titans.

Odysseus stumbled upon this island on his return from Troy and Calypso welcomed him. She ended up falling in love with Odysseus and wanted him to stay with her on the island. Calypso told Odysseus that she would bestow upon him eternal youth and make him her immortal husband.

Odysseus chose not to accept Calypso’s offer, as he wished to return to his wife in Ithaca. Calypso was so in love with Odysseus that she seduced him until he agreed to be hers. For seven years, they lived together in her beautiful cave home and later, Calypso gave birth to three children. It was speculated that she had actually been keeping Odysseus as a prisoner in her home, rather than the two being lovers.

Zeus sent his messenger, Hermes, to convince Calypso to let Odysseus be freed. Not wanting to anger Zeus, Calypso consented and even helped Odysseus rebuild his ship so he could return to Ithaca. She gave him wine and food for his journey and provided him with winds to get home at a faster pace. After Odysseus left, Calypso was devastated and tried to kill herself. It unfortunately did not work as she was immortal, so she only suffered the pain.

Chapter 20: Psyche and Eros

Psyche was a beautiful and graceful mortal maiden. She would earn immortality as a reward for her great love and sacrifice for Eros, the god of love. Psyche was admired for her beauty and it was common for men to seek her out just to see it. This, of course, filled Aphrodite with envy and she asked her son, Eros, to poison the souls of men so that they would not find such desire and admiration in Psyche. However, Eros himself was falling in love with Psyche and along with the other men of the world, found her irresistible.  

Although Psyche could practically have any man of her choosing, she wanted to marry the one she truly loved.  Her parents wanted her to be married and felt they had no other option but to consult an oracle to give their daughter a husband. Although Apollo was the one who held the oracle, Eros had Apollo give Psyche an ugly beast as her husband- but she would not be able to see his face.

This wasn’t exactly what Psyche’s parents had wished for her, but they decided to make the plans for the marriage anyway. Upon her wedding day, Psyche was able to be with her new husband. She was thrilled at the tenderness and loving nature of the man, but was sad that she could not see his face. She confided with her two sisters about her new found love and happiness, which made the sisters jealous.

The sisters not only revealed the true identity of Psyche’s husband, but also told her that the beast was planning to kill her. Psyche decided she would kill the beast first, and brought a knife and an oil lamp to find him. When she encountered the beast she was shocked to learn that his face was actually the face of Eros. She was so surprised that she accidentally spilled oil from the lamp on his face.

Eros told Psyche as he flew away that she had betrayed him and that there would never be a chance for them to be together again. Psyche was devastated and went to Aphrodite’s palace, begging to see Eros. Aphrodite told her she could only see him after completing and accomplishing three nearly impossible tasks to prove her love for Eros.

Psyche successfully completed the first two tasks and was ready to complete the third, which was to descend into Hades and retrieve a box that contained the elixir of beauty. Psyche was curious and opened the box which actually had Morpheus, the god of dreams inside, which caused Psyche to fall asleep.  When Eros learned of what had happened to Psyche, he begged Zeus to save her life. Zeus was so impressed by the love that they had, that he made Psyche immortal so that she and Eros could be together forever.

Chapter 21: Myth of Europe

Europe was a beautiful, mortal princess with whom Zeus became infatuated with after seeing her beauty stand out among other women. He decided that he wanted to take Europe for himself, so he turned into white bull, swam up to the shore and offered her a ride on his back. All the women she was with on the shore wanted to ride the white bull, but it was Europe that he wanted.  She agreed to go with him, so she mounted him and he took her across the sea from Asia to Crete and then to the cave where Zeus was born, Dikteon Andron.

While in Dikteon Andron, Zeus revealed his true identity to Europe. Zeus and Europe fell in love and she bore three children: Rhadamanthys, Minos and Sarpedon. Their three sons later became judges in the Underworld.

Zeus gave Europe many gifts, such as Laelaps – a hunting dog, Talos – a bronze guard of Crete, and a javelin that was magic. The white bull that Zeus used to seduce Europe was later turned into Taurus, the constellation.

Although Zeus had a lot of affection for Europe, his interest faded and he arranged to have her married to the King of Stars, Asterion. Once Europe became immortal, they named the continent after her. In some versions of this story, Europe has a dream in which two continents quarrel over their names. The continent, Asia, believes it should have the name of “Europe,” because that was where she was born. The other continent had no name, so Zeus named that continent “Europe.”

Along with the continent, the European coin was named a “Euro” and the Greek coin of “2 Euros” depicts an image of a bull abducting Europe from the shore.

Chapter 22: Myth of Cassandra

Cassandra was a princess of Troy. The God, Apollo, fell deeply in love with her and offered her the gift of prophecy. Cassandra was not interested in Apollo’s affection toward her and denied his advances. Feeling angry and insulted, Apollo placed a curse upon Cassandra so that no matter what she said, no one would ever believe she was speaking the truth.

Although Cassandra had still possessed the gift of prophecy, it went to waste as no one ever believed her predictions even though they were always valid. Worst of all, she had predicted the attack of Troy from the Greeks. She tried to warn everyone by telling them not to trust any gifts that the Greeks would try to give.

Of course, no one took her warning seriously and they allowed the wooden horse into the city. Upon the attack, Cassandra was abducted and held as a prisoner of war where she would eventually be murdered.

Psychologists named a type of condition after Cassandra in 1949, which referred to the disbelief of frantic alarms that end up actually being valid and justified. Along with psychology, this syndrome “The Cassandra Syndrome” is often applied in political science.

Chapter 23: Orpheus and Eurydice

Orpheus was the son of the god Apollo. Apollo gave to Orpheus a lyre, which is similar to a harp, and taught him how to play it. Orpheus played the lyre so well that no one could resist the music he played and anyone who heard him sing was captivated by it. It has been said that even his enemies and the rocks and the trees were mesmerized by the sound of his beautiful melodies. Apollo himself was very pleased and impressed by his son’s talent.

Eurydice was an oak nymph and was very beautiful. Orpheus fell in love with her and her unique beauty and they were soon after married. For several years Orpheus and Eurydice lived happily together, but Hymen who had blessed their marriage had previously predicted that their love would not last.

One day, Eurydice was walking through the woods when she was seen by the Shepard, Aristaeus. Aristaeus became enchanted by Eurydice’s beauty when he saw her. He began chasing her through the forest, trying to seduce her and make sexual advances toward her. Eurydice was very frightened and tried to run away. While trying to escape from Aristaeus’ advances, she accidentally stepped on a poisonous snake. She was bitten by the snake and died instantly.

Orpheus was filled with grief and began singing and playing a sad and sorrowful song on his lyre. The gods and the humans were all touched by Orpheus’ deep grief and sorrow, and began to feel sorry for him. Apollo told his son to descend into Hades so he could again see his wife. Orpheus, although mortal, was protected by the gods so he was safe to enter the Underworld.

He approached Hades and Persephone and began to play the beautiful melodies for them on his lyre. The song was beautiful enough to melt even Hades’ heart and he allowed Orpheus to take Eurydice back with him. The only condition was that Eurydice would follow him out of the cave and into the light, but Orpheus must be patient enough to not look at her. He thanked Hades and Persephone for their generosity and listened for Eurydice’s footsteps behind him. When he couldn’t hear them, he began to think that he had been fooled. He impatiently turned around while only a few steps away from the exit and saw that his wife as a shadowy figure was in fact behind him, but she was soon whisked away back to the dead and the Underworld and was gone for eternity.

Orpheus tried to re-enter Hades, but a mortal is not allowed to enter twice without dying. Orpheus wanted to be with his wife so badly that he felt he had no other choice than to begin playing a song on his lyre to lure death so that they could be together again. While playing the song, Orpheus was soon torn to pieces by furious, wild beasts. In another version, Zeus strikes down Orpheus with a lightning bolt as he feared that he would disclose the secrets of the Underworld to mortals after seeing it. Regardless of which death actually occurred, Orpheus did die and the Muses kept his head to save so that they could hear him sing sweet melodies forever.

Chapter 24: Achilles

Achilles was the son of Peleus and Thetis. Thetis wanted her son to become immortal, but no matter what she tried it would not work. She decided to dip him into the River Styx because its waters contained the invulnerability of the gods. Grabbing Achilles tightly by the foot she dunked him into the water, but the water never touched his heel. Due to this, his heel was the only part of him that was subject to vulnerability.

When Achilles turned nine years old, an oracle predicted that he would be killed in a battle with the Trojans. Thetis did not wish for this to happen, so she disguised Achilles as a girl and had him sent away to live on the island of Skyros. Achilles wanted to be a heroic warrior and knew it was his destiny, so he left the island to begin to train as a Greek soldier. Thetis asked Hephaestus, the blacksmith, to craft a sword and armor for Achilles to protect him during battle.

When Zeus arranged the war between the Trojans and the Greeks, it was so he could reduce the population of the mortals on Earth. To trick them into fighting, Zeus began to meddle and interfere in everyone’s personal lives. Zeus invited Paris, the Prince of Troy, to judge a beauty contest at a wedding party being held for Achilles’ parents. The beauty contest was between Aphrodite, Hera and Athena. All of the goddesses bribed Paris to choose them as the winner of the contest. Hera advised Paris of her being the queen of the goddesses and Athena reminded Paris that she was all-knowing and could tell him anything there was to know, but Aphrodite ended up winning the contest. She had promised Paris that if he chose her, she would give him a beautiful wife to marry. Unfortunately, the woman she gave him to marry was already married. It was Zeus’s daughter Helen and she was married to the King of Sparta, Menelaus.

Aphrodite encouraged Paris to go to Sparta and make Helen fall in love with him. Paris did as Aphrodite said and took Helen and the King’s money back to Troy. The King of Sparta was furious and after assembling the Greek Army, of which Achilles was a part of, he went to Troy to win back his wife. The Trojan War lasted for nine years and Achilles remained undefeated in battle until his death.

Agamemnon, the King of Sparta’s brother and the leader of the Achaean Army, imprisoned Chryseis- a young Trojan woman. Her father who was a priest to the god Apollo, tried to get Agamemnon to let his daughter go but he refused, even when he offered money.

This infuriated Apollo greatly and as a punishment to Agamemnon and the Greek Army, he sent a deadly plague upon them that would kill all of them. As the soldiers began to die off one by one, Agamemnon finally agreed to release Chryseis but he wanted another woman in place of her. He forced Achilles to hand over his wife, Breseis, who was a Princess of Troy. Achilles, being respectful to his commander, did as he was told but told Agamemnon that he would no longer be fighting for him in the Greek Army as a result of this demand. Without Achilles helping them, the Greek Army fell behind and lost all of their battles. Patroclus, who was Achilles’ best friend, knew that he needed to ask Achilles for his help or they would absolutely lose the war, and likely all die. Patroclus asked Achilles if he would allow him to wear his special armor, so that the Trojans would mistake Patroclus as Achilles and be too afraid to attack.

Unfortunately Apollo was still angry at Agamemnon and told Paris’ brother Hector that it was actually Patroclus wearing Achilles’s armor, and helped Hector kill him. When Achilles learned of his death, he was furious. He set out to find Hector and killed many Trojans along his way. When he approached Hector, Hector tried to reason with him but Achilles stabbed him in the throat. After killing him, Achilles dragged Hector behind his chariot all the way to the camp and threw his body upon the garbage pile. Eventually, Achilles felt a little regret and did return Hector’s body to King Menelaus so he could be properly buried.

After Hector’s funeral, Achilles returned to Troy so that he could avenge Patroclus’ death further. Paris found Achilles as he was entering Troy and shot a single arrow at him; however Paris was not a skilled warrior which often disappointed his family. Apollo, still angry, guided Paris’ arrow toward Achilles’ heel so that it would strike the one place on his body that was vulnerable. As a result of this, Achilles died immediately upon being struck in the heel by the arrow.

Chapter 25: Necklace of Harmonia

Hephaestus the blacksmith god found out that his wife, the goddess Aphrodite, was cheating on him with her brother, Ares. He decided to come up with an effective plan that would ridicule and embarrass them before the Olympian Gods. He wished for any child born of this love affair between Aphrodite and Ares to be cursed.

Aphrodite later gave birth to a daughter named Harmonia who later became wife to Cadmus, the founder of Themes. Hephaestus went to Harmonia and offered her a necklace as a gift in honor of her new marriage. The necklace he gave her was in the shape of two snakes whose mouths met at the clasp, and it was made of jewels and gold. Hephaestus had placed a curse upon the necklace before giving it to her, so that anyone who wore or was even in possession of the necklace would be cursed with grave misfortune and bad luck. However, although it was deadly and cursed with bad luck, the necklace also brought beauty and eternal youth to whoever wore it.

Harmonia and Cadmus were turned into snakes, and their daughter was given the necklace. She too met her fate when she was visited by Hera, dressed in disguise, who made her ask her lover (Zeus in disguise) to reveal his true identity. When Zeus revealed his identity in front of her and Hera, she died instantly.

Later Queen Jocasta was given the necklace and although it brought her youth and beauty, she ended up marrying her own son, Oedipus, without knowing. When she found out that Oedipus was her son, she killed herself and Oedipus tore out his own eyes and ran away. Their son, Polynices, inherited the necklace which he gave as a gift to Eriphyle so she would convince her husband to join his war efforts.

By the time the necklace had reached Amphoterus and Acarnan, they decided to offer it as a sacrifice at the Temple of Athena so that the continuous string of misfortune and tragedy would finally be put to an end. Unfortunately the necklace was stolen from the temple by Phayllus, a known thief, who gave it to his lover. His lover’s son ended up going crazy after she received the necklace and he later set their house on fire, killing everyone in it. This is the last known story to have the necklace mentioned in it. It was likely destroyed in the fire.

Chapter 26: Circe the Witch

Circe was a beautiful witch with an extensive family tree. She was the daughter of the God of Sun, Helios. Perses and Aeenus, the guardian of the Golden Fleece, were her brothers. Her sister was Pasiphae, King Minos’ wife and the Minotaur’s mother. Circe was known to have great knowledge of magical herbs, potions and elixirs. She could turn any of her offenders or enemies into animals, most commonly pigs. Because Circe often turned men into pigs, she is often viewed upon by scholars as somewhat of a feminist.

On Odysseus’ way home after fighting in the war, he stopped at an island and had his men explore it. His crew found Circe and she offered them a large feast of wine, cheese and other foods, but the wine was laced with a potion. She had the members of the crew drink the wine from an enchanted cup and watched as all of them turned into pigs, one by one. Eurylochus, Odysseus’ right hand man, had suspected that Circe was not to be trusted and had chosen not to partake in her offerings. He then escaped so that he could go back to Odysseus to warn him of what had happened to the rest of the crew.

This news prompted Odysseus to go to the island to attempt to rescue his men. When he encountered Circe he made a deal with her, and she suggested that he see Tiresias, a prophet, for guidance on how to make it home safely. Tiresias told Odysseus that he would be fine on his journey home, as long as he did not harm the cattle on Helios’ island. Eurylochus convinced the crew to go upon the island and eat the cattle anyway. As a result of this, Poseidon created a huge storm which ended up destroying Odysseus’ ship and killing everyone on it, leaving Odysseus as the only survivor.

In another version, when Odysseus went to retrieve his men from Circe he was greeted by Hermes, who advised him to chew on a magical holy herb named “moly” to make himself immune to any potions that Circe would try to give him. After resisting her potion Odysseus drew his sword as if he was going to attack Circe. Circe then asked Odysseus to join her in bed, but because of Hermes’ warning he abstained from doing so. He ended up staying on the island for a while – nearly a year - before traveling back to home. He spent his time there enjoying the food and wine that she had to offer him.

Chapter 27: The Shirt of Nessus

Nessus was a Centaur who was half human and half horse. He left his homeland of Thessaly after the Lapith war and subsequently traveled to the Euenos River to become a ferryman, where he would carry people across the river- usually for a small fee.

One day Hercules and Deianeira, his wife, approached Nessus standing by the river. Hercules was big and powerful enough to trudge through the river to the other side without assistance, but his wife was not. Hercules asked Nessus if he would safely carry her across, to which he obliged. Deianeira climbed upon his back and Nessus carried her across the river. Unfortunately Nessus became filled with desire, and was extremely and uncontrollably attracted to Deianeira. He tried to force himself upon her as he was carrying her and she screamed out for Hercules. Hercules was enraged and shot Nessus with a poisonous arrow that was dipped in the blood of Hydra, who Hercules had killed.

Hydra’s blood was extremely deadly, so much so that you could die just by smelling it. After being shot and as Nessus was dying, he told Deianeira to take either his shirt or tunic, both of which were covered in his own blood and to keep it. Little did she know that Nessus’ blood was tainted and poisonous as well.  Nessus told her that if she suspected that Hercules may be unfaithful to her, the shirt would keep him from straying and that it was supposed to help preserve his love for her for eternity. Believing what the centaur said, Deianeira naively took the bloody shirt off his back and kept it without Hercules knowing.

A few years later, Hercules began to fall in love with the Queen of Thebes, Ino. To prevent Hercules from being unfaithful, Deianeira gave him the shirt of Nessus and told him to wear it. As soon as Hercules put on the shirt, he began to writhe in pain and his whole body started to burn. He died just after throwing himself into a funeral pyre.  The Shirt of Nessus is still a somewhat common theme that people refer to, especially within literature. It symbolizes a type of pain or misfortune which surrounds you and which you cannot escape from.

Chapter 28: Myth of Hermes, the Messenger

If you have read this far, you already know that Hermes was the messenger to the gods- specifically and most importantly to Zeus. You may have wondered how Hermes received this important job.

Hermes was one of the sons of Zeus, and it has been said that when he was just a new-born baby he got up out of his crib and ran away when the nurses were not watching. He traveled for a while before discovering a herd of cattle that was Apollo’s, his brother. Hermes drove off the cattle and took shelter in a cave. Being fearful that his nurses would soon be checking on him, Hermes decided to head back home. On his way, he found a tortoise shell and some strings, from which he fashioned a lyre. He happily played the lyre until he reached home and climbed back into his crib without anyone noticing.

When his brother, Apollo, discovered that his cattle were gone he was angered and approached an old man who told him that Hermes, a new-born baby, was the one who had driven the cattle away. Apollo went to Hermes’ mother, Maia, so that he could tell her what her child had done. Maia could not believe that Apollo had accused Hermes of driving away his cattle, as he was only one day old and she showed Apollo the baby lying in his crib. Apollo was not fooled by this and demanded they take the child to Mount Olympus to see Zeus.

Hermes at first began to deny that he had done anything and he spoke so eloquently and fast when defending himself that Zeus and the other gods were so impressed.  Zeus, especially, was delighted that his son was so talented at such a very young age. Hermes did, however, confess to driving away Apollo’s cattle and he went with him to show him where they had been hiding. Hermes brought with them the lyre that he had made out of the tortoise shell and played music for Apollo along their way. Apollo had a great love of music and it delighted him that Hermes had invented this wonderful new instrument.

Because Apollo loved the instrument so much, Hermes gifted it to him as an apology for driving away his cattle. Apollo was grateful for the gift and gave Hermes the cattle in return.

When Hermes grew older he was appointed herald, or messenger, to the gods. Zeus and the gods knew he would be a perfect match for the job because he was good at communicating and therefore would be able to deliver and relay messages successfully. Hermes wore a pair of sandals that had wings on them so he could run his errands very quickly, and quite literally as fast as lightning. Zeus also sent Hermes to the other gods in their dreams to relay messages.

Hermes did not only deliver messages, but it is said that when people died he escorted their souls to Hades, as it took little effort for him to move between worlds. Hermes was also referred to as the God of Boundaries and Transitions. He also was to watch, protect and help the people who traveled on Earth because he was a traveler himself. It was very dangerous to travel in those days, as most of the time men had to walk very long distances upon rugged terrains and roads to reach their destinations. There would even be thieves who would hide along paths and roads waiting for an unsuspecting traveler to pass by. As such, men who were planning to travel would make a sacrifice to Hermes so that he would watch over them and guide them on their journeys. He was also a protector of athletes and poets.

Hermes appears in many of the most important Greek Myths. When Odysseus is about to approach Circe, the sorceress, Hermes advises him to eat a magical plant so that he is immune to her potions. He also convinced Calypso to release Odysseus when she had been hiding him in her cave for many years. When Jason the Argonaut was planning to slay Medusa, Hermes lent him his winged sandals,so that he could fly over her. He was also the only one, aside from Hades and Persephone, that could leave the Underworld without suffering any consequences.

Chapter 29: Myth of Pan

Hermes had a son, Pan, who was half man and half goat. Pan’s mother was so frightened of her son’s appearance that she ran away from him. The identity of his mother is mostly unknown because she was not present in his life after he was born, but it is suspected to be the rainbow goddess, Iris. Pan had the legs and hooves of a goat, as well as ears and long horns on his head. His torso and arms resembled that of a man.

Pan possessed the most of the same qualities and powers of the gods, including strength and immunity to injury. He was known to have a sense of humor best described as boisterous and a clever and crafty mind. It has also been said that he could practically “teleport” from Earth to Mount Olympus with ease. This would make sense considering he was the son of Hermes, the god of transition. Pan lived in the mountains around Mount Olympus, which are now speculated to have actually been the Swiss Alps, and he spent most of his time watching over and protecting the animals, nature and wildlife. He was known as the God of the Wild.

He often made sexual advances to woodland nymphs and other fairy-like creatures but he often was turned away from them, as his appearance was not pleasing to the eyes. Pan later fell in love with Syrinx, a nymph and follower of the goddess Artemis. Syrinx, however, honored a vow of chastity and therefore she did not return Pan’s affection and advances, and she went to Ladon who in many stories is said to have been her father, for his protection. Ladon, a river god, turned Syrinx into some reeds along the river bed as she requested so that Pan would not find her.

Unfortunately when Pan approached the river bed he did not know which of the reeds were Syrinx and sighed heavily, which ended up producing a musical melody as the wind went through the reeds.  Pan, figuring that he had lost Syrinx forever, pulled out some of the reeds to make a flute which is now known as the “Pan Flute,” or “Panpipe.” Although Pan had named it a “Syrinx” after his beloved nymph, from whom the instrument may have been crafted from. After this, Pan brought along the Syrinx instrument everywhere he went as he did not wish to be without her. In most illustrated depictions of Pan, you will note that he is almost always holding the flute.

Pan aided Zeus and the Olympians in the battle against the Titans, because he possessed an unusual trait – a piercing cry, or rather a shout, that could scare and invoke fear in even the most powerful and fearless Titans. The cry that Pan let out was so terror-inducing that it became the origin for the word “panic” that we use today. Because Pan often looked after the animals and creatures of the forest, Gaea, who is also referred to as “Mother Nature,” was very fond of him and Pan was often considered a close companion. When the goddess, Demeter, went into hiding after Hades abducted her daughter Persephone, Pan found her hiding place thanks to the help of Gaea. He then relayed the information to Zeus, who sent someone to convince Demeter to return to Mount Olympus.

Many decades later, Gaea gave birth to the Giants whose leader was Typhon, because she was unhappy about the way the Olympians had treated the Titans during their battles. When Zeus was fighting with the Giants Pan let out his cry in assistance, although they were unfortunately not intimidated or fazed by it. Zeus subsequently became wounded, but Hermes and Pan worked together to help Zeus and defeat Typhon.

There were no temples built to honor Pan, but instead he was often worshipped in caves and other places in nature as he was the god of the wild. The most famous cave attributed to worshipping Pan, was the Korkykeion cave. This cave was located in Mt. Parsnassos where those who wished to could also honor and pray to the Nymphs, as well as Pan. Pan and the Nymphs were often associated together as they lived side by side in the forest. Pan also often protected the Nymphs, and as you learned made frequent advances toward them. Aside of Pan’s unattractive appearance, most of the Nymphs rejected his advances due to their following of Artemis and their vows of chastity, which they chose to honor.

Although Artemis is mostly associated with hunters and hunting, Pan was also held in high accord with this - however, his hunting mostly consisted of small animals, small game and birds, as opposed to Artemis’ much larger hunts. Pan is also associated with Dionysus, the god of wine and merriment, as he often took part in his frequent parties and celebrations bringing along his flute along for musical entertainment.

Conclusion

Thank you again for downloading this book, Greek Mythology: The Ancient Myths and Legends of Greek Mythology.

I hope that you enjoyed reading about Hercules conquering the 12 Labors, Jason the Argonaut slaying Medusa and all the other tales of heroes, luck, love, misfortune and irony. As you have learned, there are several Greek Myths that included historical connotations in their stories. You may have also caught on to popular phrases and traditions that originated from Greek Myths such as “opening Pandora’s box,” and references to “Achilles’ heel” as a sign of a particular weakness. Many of the words we use today in the English language have Greek origins. The Greek created the names of certain feelings, situations, artifacts and more by adapting them from the stories of which they also created. For example, the word “panic,” originated from the story of Pan and his fear-inducing scream.

As you read in the introduction and also throughout the rest of this book, although several of the Greek myths have historical references and accuracy the Greek created most of their stories to justify and explain events that they did not originally have explanations for. They did believe and pray to the Greek gods and goddesses; however few of the myths can actually be proven to have happened. This is part of the fun of reading and studying the myths, and the reason that the stories are called “myths.” Just as any popular legend, story or folklore, Greek myths have been retold and rewritten thousands of times and for thousands of years, which adds variances to the stories of which you read. Regardless, the core elements of the stories are kept and written to their best possible accuracy.

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