Classical Mythology final

Athens

Athena, who became the city's patron goddess after a contest with Poseidon. The two gods competed for who would get the honour of becoming the patron god of the city, and offered gifts to the Athenians. Poseidon hit the ground with his trident and created a spring, showing that he would offer significant naval power. Athena, on the other hand, offered the olive tree, a symbol of prosperity and peace. The Athenians, led by King Cecrops I, decided to take Athena's gift, thus making her the patron goddess.

Colchis

Colchis was a fabulously wealthy land situated on the mysterious periphery of the heroic world. Here in the sacred grove of the war god Ares, King Aeëtes hung the Golden Fleece until it was seized by Jason and the Argonauts.

Pygmalion

Pygmalion was a Cypriot sculptor who carved a woman out of ivory. According to Ovid, after seeing the Propoetides he was "not interested in women",[1] but his statue was so beautiful and realistic that he fell in love with it. In time, Aphrodite's festival day came, and Pygmalion made offerings at the altar of Aphrodite. There, too scared to admit his desire, he quietly wished for a bride who would be "the living likeness of my ivory girl." When he returned home, he kissed his ivory statue, and found that its lips felt warm. He kissed it again, and found that the ivory had lost its hardness. Aphrodite had granted Pygmalion's wish

Achiles on skyros

Rather than allow her son Achilles to die at Troy as prophesied, the nymph Thetis (father is peleus) sent him to live at the court of Lycomedes, king of Skyros, disguised as another daughter of the king or as a lady-in-waiting, under the name Pyrrha "the red-haired", Issa, or Kerkysera. There Achilles had an affair with Deidamia, one of the daughters of Lycomedes, and they had one or two sons, Neoptolemus and Oneiros.[1] Since another prophecy suggested that the Trojan War would not be won without Achilles, Odysseus and several other Achaean leaders went to Skyros to find him. Odysseus discovered Achilles by offering gifts, adornments and musical instruments as well as weapons, to the king's daughters, and then having his companions imitate the noises of an enemy's attack on the island (most notably, making a blast of a trumpet heard), which prompted Achilles to reveal himself by picking a weapon to fight back, and together they departed for the Trojan War. In some versions, Deidamia dressed as a man followed him.[2][3]

Book 4

We now meet Perseus. Instead of flying during the night, he stops in Atlas's kingdom. Atlas reacts with hostility, because an ancient prophecy has him worried that Perseus will plunder his riches. Perseus's strength is no match for Atlas's, so he turns Atlas to stone using Medusa's head. Perseus takes to the air again. He sees Andromeda chained to a rock as an offering to a sea monster. Perseus descends, strikes a deal with Andromeda's parents, and uses Medusa's head to petrify the monster. Perseus marries Andromeda.

Aegeus

When Aethra became pregnant, Aegeus decided to return to Athens. Before leaving, he buried his sandal, shield, and sword under a huge rock and told her that, when their son grew up, he should move the rock and bring the weapons to his father, who would acknowledge him. Father of Theseus. In Troezen, Theseus grew up and became a brave young man. He managed to move the rock and took his father's weapons. His mother then told him the identity of his father and that he should take the weapons back to him at Athens and be acknowledged. Theseus decided to go to Athens and had the choice of going by sea, which was the safe way, or by land, following a dangerous path with thieves and bandits all the way. Young, brave and ambitious, Theseus decided to go to Athens by land. When Theseus arrived, he did not reveal his true identity. He was welcomed by Aegeus, who was suspicious about the stranger who came to Athens. Medea tried to have Theseus killed by encouraging Aegeus to ask him to capture the Marathonian Bull, but Theseus succeeded. She tried to poison him, but at the last second, Aegeus recognized his son and knocked the poisoned cup out of Theseus' hand. Father and son were thus reunited, and Medea was sent away to Asia.[5] Theseus departed for Crete. Upon his departure, Aegeus told him to put up white sails when returning if he was successful in killing the Minotaur. However, when Theseus returned, he forgot these instructions. When Aegeus saw the black sails coming into Athens, mistaken in his belief that his son had been slain, he killed himself by jumping from a height : according to some, from the Acropolis or another unnamed rock[6]; according to some Latin authors, into the sea which was therefore known as the Aegean Sea.

Minos

as the first King of Crete, son of Zeus and Europa. Every nine years, he made King Aegeus pick seven young boys and seven young girls to be sent to Daedalus's creation, the labyrinth, to be eaten by the Minotaur (product of his mother's union with bull).

Minotaur

being "part man and part bull".[4] The Minotaur dwelt at the center of the Labyrinth, which was an elaborate maze-like construction[5] designed by the architect Daedalus and his son Icarus, on the command of King Minos of Crete. The Minotaur was eventually killed by the Athenian hero Theseus.

Daedalus

built labryinth

Cinyras

, Cinyras' daughter Myrrha, impelled by an unnatural lust for her own father (in retribution for her mother Cenchreis' hubris), slept with him, became pregnant, and asked the gods to change her into something other than human; she became a tree from whose bark myrrh drips.[18] From this incestuous union sprang the child Adonis. Cinyras was said to have committed suicide over the matter.

Scylla of Megara

17th-century engraving of Scylla falling in love with Minos Scylla is a princess of Megara in Greek mythology. She is mentioned by Ovid. As the story goes, Scylla was the daughter of Nisus (Nisos) the King of Megara, who possessed a single lock of purple hair which granted him and the city invincibility. When Minos, the King of Crete, invaded Nisus's kingdom, Scylla saw him from the city's battlements and fell in love with him. In order to win Minos's heart, she decided that she would grant him victory in battle by removing the lock from her father's head and presented it to Minos. Disgusted with her lack of filial devotion, he left Megara immediately. Scylla did not give up easily and started swimming after Minos's boat. She nearly reached him but a sea eagle, into which her father had been metamorphosed after death, drowned her. Scylla was transformed into a seabird (ciris), relentlessly pursued by her father, who was transformed into a sea eagle

book 9

Achelous tells Theseus about fighting with Hercules over Deianira's hand in marriage. Achelous's attempts at persuasive speech are ineffective, and Hercules breaks off Achelous's horn. The narrator jumps to the story of a centaur, Nessus, who attempts to rape Deianira. Hercules prevents the rape by shooting Nessus with an arrow. Just before he dies, Nessus gives Deianira a poisonous cloak, telling her it is a love charm. Later, worried that her husband Hercules no longer loves her, Deianira gives him the cloak. He puts it on and dies a protracted, painful death. Jupiter, with the assent of the gods, deifies Hercules. Hercules' mother, Alcmene, and Iole, Alcmene's daughter-in-law, relate tales of sorrow. Alcmene says that Juno and Lucina, the goddess of childbearing, kept her in labor for seven days and nights until her servant girl, Galanthis, found a way to help her. Iole says her half-sister, Dryope, plucked a lotus plant to give to her baby. The plant, which was once a nymph, began to bleed. Dryope was slowly transformed into a tree as punishment. The narrator offers two unusual stories of love. Byblis is in love with her twin brother, Caunus. When she realizes this love is unnatural and socially unacceptable, she tries to rationalize it by thinking of gods who have sex with their sisters. Her brother rejects her overtures and flees. Byblis tries to find him, and when she fails her weeping turns her into a spring. The second story concerns Iphis. Ligdus, an honest Cretan man, tells his wife, Telethusa, that if their infant is a girl she must be left outside to die. Telethusa cannot bear to do this, so she makes Ligdus believe that Iphis is a boy. When Iphis is thirteen, a marriage is arranged between her and a girl named Ianthe. The two girls fall in love. Telethusa prays to Isis for a miracle. Isis answers her prayer and, to the delight of Telethusa and Iphis, transforms Iphis into a young man.

Argonauts

After the death of King Cretheus, the Aeolian Pelias usurped the Iolcan throne from his half-brother Aeson and became king of Iolcus in Thessaly (near the modern city of Volos). Because of this unlawful act, an oracle warned him that a descendant of Aeolus would seek revenge. Pelias put to death every prominent descendant of Aeolus he could, but spared Aeson because of the pleas of their mother Tyro. Instead, Pelias kept Aeson prisoner and forced him to renounce his inheritance. Aeson married Alcimede, who bore him a son named Jason. Pelias intended to kill the baby at once, but Alcimede summoned her kinswomen to weep over him as if he were stillborn. She faked a burial and smuggled the baby to Mount Pelion. He was raised by the centaur Chiron, the trainer of heroes. When Jason was 20 years old, an oracle ordered him to dress as a Magnesian and head to the Iolcan court. While traveling Jason lost his sandal crossing the muddy Anavros river while helping an old woman (Hera in disguise). The goddess was angry with King Pelias for killing his stepmother Sidero after she had sought refuge in Hera's temple. Another oracle warned Pelias to be on his guard against a man with one shoe. Pelias was presiding over a sacrifice to Poseidon with several neighboring kings in attendance. Among the crowd stood a tall youth in leopard skin with only one sandal. Pelias recognized that Jason was his nephew. He could not kill him because prominent kings of the Aeolian family were present. Instead, he asked Jason: "What would you do if an oracle announced that one of your fellow-citizens were destined to kill you?" Jason replied that he would send him to go and fetch the Golden Fleece, not knowing that Hera had put those words in his mouth. Jason made preparations by commanding the shipwright Argus to build a ship large enough for fifty men, which he would eventually call the Argo. These heroes who would join his quest were known as the Argonauts. Upon their arrival, Jason requested the Golden Fleece from the king of Colchis, Aeëtes. Aeëtes demanded that Jason must first yoke a pair of fire-breathing bulls to a plough and sow dragon's teeth into the earth. Medea, daughter of Aeëtes, fell in love with Jason, and being endowed with magical powers, aided him in his completion of the difficult task. She cast a spell to put the dragon to sleep, enabling Jason to obtain the Golden Fleece from the oak tree. Jason, Medea, and the Argonauts fled Colchis and began their journey home to Thessaly

Alcyone (halcyon) + Ceyx

Alcyone and Ceyx were very happy together in Trachis, and according to Pseudo-Apollodorus's account, often sacrilegiously called each other "Zeus" and "Hera".[1] This angered Zeus, so while Ceyx was at sea (going to consult an oracle according to Ovid's account), the god threw a thunderbolt at his ship. Soon after, Morpheus (god of dreams) disguised as Ceyx appeared to Alcyone as an apparition to tell her of his fate, and she threw herself into the sea in her grief. Out of compassion, the gods changed them both into halcyon birds, named after her. Ovid also adds the detail of her seeing his body washed up onshore before her attempted suicide.

Meleager

Atalanta wounded the boar and Meleager killed it. He awarded her the hide since she had drawn the first drop of blood. Meleager's brother Toxeus, the "archer",[8] and Plexippus (Althaea's brother) grew enraged that the prize was given to a woman. Meleager killed them in the following argument. He also killed Iphicles and Eurypylus for insulting Atalanta. When Althaea found out that Meleager had killed her brother and one of her sons, Althaea placed the piece of wood that she had stolen from the Fates (the one that the Fates predicted, once engulfed with fire, would kill Meleager) upon the fire, thus fulfilling the prophecy and killing Meleager, her own son. The women who mourned his death were turned into guineafowl

book 10

As Eurydice is walking through the grass, a viper bites her foot, killing her. Orpheus travels to the underworld to ask Proserpina and Pluto to give back his wife. Orpheus's song causes the harsh Fates to shed their first tears. Proserpina and Pluto agree to grant Orpheus's request on the condition that he does not look back at his wife as they leave the underworld. Orpheus starts his ascent but, worried about Eurydice, looks back at her. This time, she is lost for good. Orpheus grieves and begins to sing. He sings of the love of boys. Jupiter transforms himself into a bird and snatches the boy Ganymede into heaven. Apollo loves the boy Hyacinthus, with whom he competes in throwing discs. Apollo accidentally strikes Hyacinthus in the face, killing him. Orpheus sings of the lusts of women. The Propoetides are the first to prostitute themselves, for which Venus punishes them by turning them to stone. Pygmalion witnesses these actions and is repulsed by women's immorality. He fashions his own perfect women from ivory. The statue is so lifelike that he falls in love with it. He dresses it, kisses it, and prays to the gods for a woman like the ivory statue. The gods hear his prayer, and to Pygmalion's surprise, the statue comes alive. She bears Pygmalion a daughter, Paphos, who in turn bears a son, Cinyras. Cinyras has a beautiful daughter named Myrrha, who is courted by princes from all over the world. However, Myrrha is in love with her father. Although she is agonized over her feelings, Myrrha tricks her father into sleeping with her for several nights. Cinyras discovers the deception and seeks to kill Myrrha. Now pregnant, Myrrha escapes and turns into a tree. Eventually she bears a beautiful son, Adonis. Cupid accidentally pricks his mother, Venus, with one of his arrows, and she falls in love with Adonis. She prefers him even to heaven. She tells a story of Atalanta, a speedy woman whom an oracle has advised to avoid marriage. Hippomenes wants to marry Atalanta. She challenges him to a race. If he wins, she will marry him. If he loses, he will die. Before the start of the race, Venus gives Hippomenes three golden apples with which to distract Atalanta during the race. Hippomenes defeats Atalanta but fails to thank Venus for her help, so she turns him and Hippomenes into lions. After the story ends, Adonis goes hunting, and a boar gouges him to death. Venus mourns.

Byblis

Byblis acknowledged her love for Caunus (twin brother), and despite her initial efforts to convince herself that her feelings were natural, she realized the inappropriateness of them. Unable to keep her love for Caunus a secret from him any longer, she sent him a long love letter through a servant giving examples of other incestuous relationships between the gods. Disgusted, he ran away. Believing that she could yet make him love her, she was determined to try to woo him once more. When she found out that he had fled, she tore her clothes in sorrow and was driven into madness. She followed him through much of Greece and Asia Minor until she finally died, worn out by her grief and the long journey. As she had been constantly crying, she was changed into a spring.

Icarus

Daedalus was shut up in a tower to prevent the knowledge of his Labyrinth from spreading to the public. He could not leave Crete by sea, as the king kept a strict watch on all vessels, permitting none to sail without being carefully searched. Since Minos controlled the land and sea routes, Daedalus set to work to fabricate wings for himself and his young son Icarus. He tied feathers together, from smallest to largest so as to form an increasing surface. He secured the feathers at their midpoints with string and at their bases with wax, and gave the whole a gentle curvature like the wings of a bird. When the work was done, the artist, waving his wings, found himself buoyed upward and hung suspended, poising himself on the beaten air. He next equipped his son in the same manner, and taught him how to fly. When both were prepared for flight, Daedalus warned Icarus not to fly too high, because the heat of the sun would melt the wax, nor too low, because the sea foam would soak the feathers.

Danae

Disappointed by his lack of male heirs, King Acrisius asked the oracle of Delphi if this would change. The oracle announced to him that he would never have a son, but his daughter would, and that he would be killed by his daughter's son. At the time, Danae was childless and, meaning to keep her so, King Acrisius shut her up in a bronze chamber to be constructed under the court of his palace (other versions say she was imprisoned in a tall brass tower with a single richly adorned chamber, but with no doors or windows, just a sky-light as the source of light and air). She was buried in this tomb, never to see the light again. However, Zeus, the king of the gods, desired her, and came to her in the form of golden rain which streamed in through the roof of the subterranean chamber and down into her womb. Soon after, their child Perseus was born. Unwilling to provoke the wrath of the gods or the Furies by killing his offspring and grandchild, King Acrisius cast Danaë and Perseus into the sea in a wooden chest. The sea was calmed by Poseidon and, at the request of Zeus, the pair survived. They were washed ashore on the island of Seriphos, where they were taken in by Dictys - the brother of King Polydectes - who raised Perseus to manhood. The King was charmed by Danaë, but she had no interest in him. Consequently, he agreed not to marry her only if her son would bring him the head of the Gorgon Medusa. Using Athena's shield, Hermes's winged sandals and Hades' helmet of invisibility, Perseus was able to evade Medusa's gaze and decapitate her. Later, after Perseus brought back Medusa's head and rescued Andromeda, the oracle's prophecy came true. He started for Argos, but learning of the prophecy, instead went to Larissa, where athletic games were being held. By chance, an aging Acrisius was there and Perseus accidentally struck him on the head with his javelin (or discus), fulfilling the prophecy.

Erysichthon

Erysichthon once ordered all trees in the sacred grove of Demeter to be cut down. One huge oak was covered with votive wreaths, a symbol of every prayer Demeter had granted, and so the men refused to cut it down. Erysichthon grabbed an axe and cut it down himself, killing a dryad nymph in the process. The nymph's dying words were a curse on Erysichthon. Demeter responded to the nymph's curse and punished him by entreating Limos, the spirit of unrelenting and insatiable hunger, to place herself in his stomach. Food acted like fuel on a fire: The more he ate, the hungrier he got. Erysichthon sold all his possessions to buy food, but was still hungry. At last he sold his own daughter Mestra into slavery. Mestra was freed from slavery by her former lover Poseidon, who gave her the gift of shape-shifting into any creature at will to escape her bonds. Erysichthon used her shape-shifting ability to sell her numerous times to make money to feed himself, but no amount of food was enough. Eventually, Erysichthon ate himself in hunger

Hydra

Eurystheus sent Heracles to slay the Hydra, which Hera had raised just to slay Heracles. Upon reaching the swamp near Lake Lerna, where the Hydra dwelt, Heracles covered his mouth and nose with a cloth to protect himself from the poisonous fumes. He shot flaming arrows into the Hydra's lair, the spring of Amymone, a deep cave from which it emerged only to terrorize neighboring villages.[8] He then confronted the Hydra, wielding either a harvesting sickle (according to some early vase-paintings), a sword, or his famed club. The chthonic creature's reaction to this decapitation was botanical: two grew back, an expression of the hopelessness of such a struggle for any but the hero. The weakness of the Hydra was that it was invulnerable only if it retained at least one head.

Orpheus

Grieved that wife died, so begged to get her back from underworld. did, but looked back when told not to and she was lost forever. grieving, he called off women forever

Sisyphus (Sisyphean)

He was punished for his self-aggrandizing craftiness and deceitfulness by being forced to roll an immense boulder up a hill only for it to roll down when they near the top, repeating this action for eternity

Andromeda

Her mother Cassiopeia boasted that her daughter was more beautiful than the Nereids, the nymph-daughters of the sea god Nereus and often seen accompanying Poseidon. To punish the queen for her arrogance, Poseidon, brother to Zeus and god of the sea, sent a sea monster named Cetus to ravage the coast of Aethiopia including the kingdom of the vain queen. The desperate king consulted the Oracle of Apollo, who announced that no respite would be found until the king sacrificed his daughter, Andromeda, to the monster. Stripped naked, she was chained to a rock on the coast.[3] Perseus was returning from having slain the Gorgon, Medusa. After he happened upon the chained Andromeda, he approached Cetus while invisible (for he was wearing Hades's helm), and killed the sea monster. He set Andromeda free, and married her in spite of her having been previously promised to her uncle Phineus. At the wedding a quarrel took place between the rivals and Phineus was turned to stone by the sight of the Gorgon's head.[3][4]

Hercules

Hercules is known for his many adventures, which took him to the far reaches of the Greco-Roman world. One cycle of these adventures became canonical as the "Twelve Labours", but the list has variations. One traditional order of the labours is found in the Bibliotheca as follows:[2] Slay the Nemean Lion. Slay the nine-headed Lernaean Hydra. Capture the Golden Hind of Artemis. Capture the Erymanthian Boar. Clean the Augean stables in a single day. Slay the Stymphalian Birds. Capture the Cretan Bull. Steal the Mares of Diomedes. Obtain the girdle of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. Obtain the cattle of the monster Geryon. Steal the apples of the Hesperides. Capture and bring back Cerberus.

Hippomenes

Hippomenes fell in love with Atalanta, the virgin huntress who strongly disliked the idea of getting married. After a warning from an oracle about getting married, she declared that whoever wanted to marry her was to beat her in a footrace (herself being a notoriously swift runner), and that those who should try and lose would be punished by instant death. Another version (followed by Hyginus) was that her father wanted her to be married, but she did not. She agreed to running races against her suitors because she thought she would never lose. Atalanta raced all her suitors and outran all but Hippomenes, who defeated her by cunning, not speed. Hippomenes knew that he could not win a fair race with Atalanta, so he prayed to Aphrodite for help (the goddess, in the meantime, disliked Atalanta's neglect of love). Aphrodite gave him three golden apples - which came from her sacred apple-tree in Tamasus, Cyprus, according to Ovid,[9] or from the garden of the Hesperides according to Servius - and told him to drop them one at a time to distract Atalanta. After each of the first two apples, Atalanta was able to recover the lead, but when she stopped for the third, Hippomenes won the race. It took all three apples and all of his speed, but Hippomenes was finally successful, winning the race and Atalanta's hand. Ovid and Servius suggest that Hippomenes forgot to pay the tribute to Aphrodite he had promised for helping him, and consequently, transforming them into lions

Hyacinth

Hyacinth was a beautiful youth and lover of the god Apollo, though he was also admired by Zephyrus, the West Wind. Apollo and Hyacinth took turns throwing the discus. Hyacinth ran to catch it to impress Apollo, was struck by the discus as it fell to the ground, and died.

Myrmidons

In Ovid's telling, Hera, jealous because her husband Zeus has named the island of Aegina after his lover, the nymph Aegina, causes a devastating plague which wipes out the population of the island.[2] King Aeacus of Aegina prays to Zeus to repopulate the island, and Zeus responds with a flash of lightning, which Aeacus takes as affirmation from the gods. Aeacus then sees a colony of ants covering a tree, so he asks for as many people as there are ants. Overnight, Aeacus has a dream in which these ants fall to the ground and are transformed into people. When he wakes the next morning, he finds that his island has been repopulated and that his prayers have been answered. He names the people "Myrmidons" after the Greek word myrmex (Greek: μύρμηξ), meaning ant.

Gorgons

In late myths, Medusa was the only one of the three Gorgons who was not immortal. King Polydectes sent Perseus to kill Medusa in hopes of getting him out of the way, while he pursued Perseus's mother, Danae. Some of these myths relate that Perseus was armed with a scythe from Hermes and a mirror (or a shield) from Athena. Perseus could safely cut off Medusa's head without turning to stone by looking only at her reflection in the shield. From the blood that spurted from her neck and falling into the sea, sprang Pegasus and Chrysaor, her sons by Poseidon. Perseus is said by some to have given the head, which retained the power of turning into stone all who looked upon it, to Athena. She then placed it on the mirrored shield called Aegis and she gave it to Zeus.

Marsyas

In the contest between Apollo and Marsyas, the terms stated that the winner could treat the defeated party any way he wanted. Since the contest was judged by the Muses,[8] Marsyas naturally lost and was flayed alive in a cave near Celaenae for his hubris to challenge a god.

book 7

Jason appears before King Aeetes of Colchis to demand the Golden Fleece. Aeetes will give it to him only if he completes certain feats. Medea, who knows her father and the dangers that await Jason, is torn. She knows she should be loyal to her father, but she cannot deny the passion she feels for Jason. Jason promises to marry her in exchange for her help, and Medea uses her knowledge of magic to aid him. Jason succeeds and obtains the Golden Fleece. Jason asks Medea to transfer some of his strength to his aging father, Aeson. Moved by this request, Medea does something even better. She returns Aeson to youthfulness with her magic. Pretending that she has been fighting with her husband, Medea seeks refuge in the palace of the aged Pelias. She says she could revive him as she revived Aeson and demonstrates her power on an old sheep. Pelias's daughters ask Medea give their father youth. Medea tells them to cut their father with knives to empty him of old blood. The daughters cannot bear the sight of knives in their father's flesh, so they strike blindly and unintentionally kill him. Medea flees and finds refuge in Athens until she must flee again following the attempted murder of the king's son, Theseus. Minos is seeking allies for a military campaign against Athens. He wants Aeacus, the king of Aegina, to help him, but Aeacus is loyal to Athens. He explains that his land recently suffered a catastrophic plague. Aeacus asked Jupiter either to take away his life or to restore his people. That night he dreamed that he was under a sacred tree covered with numerous industrious ants. The next night, in the midst of a similar dream, he woke up to see a group of men called the Myrmidons hailing him as their leader. Cephalus tells Phocus, the son of Aeacus, about his wife, Procris. He says the goddess Aurora abducted him during a hunting expedition but let him go when she saw his love for Procris. She said he would regret his choice, which made Cephalus doubt his wife's fidelity. To test her, he donned a disguise and tried to seduce her. She failed the test and exiled herself in shame and anger. Cephalus asked for forgiveness, and they repaired the relationship. One day, Cephalus called upon the breeze to refresh him. However, some unnamed person wrongly believed that he was calling to a nymph named Breeze. This person told Procris, who decided to spy on Cephalus during one of his hunting trips. Cephalus mistook her for an animal and slew her with his golden-tipped spear.

Lichas

Lichas brought to his master the deadly garment (Hercules, the poisoned cloth), and as a punishment, was thrown by him into the sea, where the Lichadian islands, between Euboea and the coast of Locris, were believed to have derived their name from him

Iphis

Ligdus and Telethusa were a poor couple who could not afford a dowry if their unborn child was born a girl. Ligdus was forced to come to the conclusion that they had to kill his wife's child if it wasn't a boy. Telethusa gave birth to a girl, she concealed her daughter's sex from her husband and raised her daughter as a boy. Ligdus named the daughter, who he believed was a son, Iphis after his own father (the child's grandfather), and Telethusa was glad to have her named that as the gender-neutral name would fit in any case. As Iphis reached the age of adolescence, Ligdus, still unaware of the truth, arranged for his "son" to marry the beautiful Ianthe, daughter of Telestes. Unaware of the truth and taking her suitor for a man like everyone else did, Ianthe fell in love with Iphis. Iphis fell deeply in love with Ianthe, and prayed to Juno for assistance, as she wished to marry Ianthe, but knew it would be impossible as Iphis was actually a woman. One day before the wedding, the deeply concerned Telethusa prayed to the gods and iphis was transformed into a boy The male Iphis married Ianthe and the two lived happily ever after, their marriage being presided over by Juno, Venus, and Hymenaios, the god of marriage.

Lydia

Lydian coins were said to have been left there when the legendary King Midas washed away the "Midas touch", the power to turn whatever he touched into gold. Lydia was also the home of the mythological Tantalus, who offended the gods and was condemned in Tartarus to eternal hunger and thirst, with water and fruit always just out of reach.

Theseus

Theseus was raised in his mother's land. When Theseus grew up and became a brave young man, he moved the rock and recovered his father's tokens. His mother then told him the truth about his father's identity and that he must take the sword and sandals back to king Aegeus to claim his birthright *killed minotuar, but forgot sails so father killed self.

Medea

Medea's role began after Jason came from Iolcus to Colchis, to claim his inheritance and throne by retrieving the Golden Fleece. In the most complete surviving account, the Argonautica of Apollonius of Rhodes, Medea fell in love with him and promised to help him, but only on the condition that if he succeeded, he would take her with him and marry her. Jason agreed. In a familiar mythic motif, Aeëtes promised to give him the fleece, but only if he could perform certain tasks. First, Jason had to plough a field with fire-breathing oxen that he had to yoke himself; Medea gave him an unguent with which to anoint himself and his weapons, to protect them from the bulls' fiery breath. Next, Jason had to sow the teeth of a dragon in the ploughed field (compare the myth of Cadmus), and the teeth sprouted into an army of warriors; Jason was forewarned by Medea, however, and knew to throw a rock into the crowd. Unable to determine where the rock had come from, the soldiers attacked and killed each other. Finally, Aeëtes made Jason fight and kill the sleepless dragon that guarded the fleece; Medea put the beast to sleep with her narcotic herbs. Jason then took the fleece and sailed away with Medea, as he had promised. Apollonius says that Medea only helped Jason in the first place because Hera had convinced Aphrodite or Eros to cause Medea to fall in love with him. Medea distracted her father as they fled by killing her brother Absyrtus.

Althaea

Meleager grew to be a well-respected prince. One spring Oeneus sacrificed the first fruits of the seasons to all the gods, omitting Artemis by mistake. Enraged by the slight, Artemis sent a boar of unnatural size and strength to ruin the land of Calydon. Meleager was one of the warriors who hunted the boar, along with the famous huntress Atalanta and Althaea's brothers. Meleager killed the boar, but gave the skin to Atalanta both because he had fallen in love with her and because she had landed the first blow on the animal. When Althaea's brothers, "thinking scorn that a woman should get the prize in the face of men, took the skin from her, alleging that it belonged to them by right of birth if Meleager did not choose to take it,"[8] Meleager flew into a rage and killed both of his uncles. When Althaea learned what had happened, she retrieved the brand from where she had concealed it and placed the brand back upon the fire, killing him. Some say that she and Meleager's wife Cleopatra later hanged themselves, others that she killed herself with a dagger.[9][10][11]

book 6

Minerva approaches Arachne, her rival in the art of weaving. Disguised as an old woman, Minerva advises Arachne to ask Minerva for forgiveness. When Arachne will not comply, Minerva drops the disguise and upbraids Arachne. They compete. Minerva fashions a portrait that glorifies the gods in general and herself in particular. Her tapestry depicts the Olympian gods, her victory over Neptune, and four scenes of the gods conquering humans and turning them into animals. Arachne creates a flawless portrait of gods raping and deceiving humans. Minerva is so enraged by Arachne's skill that she begins to beat her. Unable to endure such treatment, Arachne hangs herself, and Minerva transforms her into a spider. When they hear of Arachne's fate, people know they should revere the gods. However, a woman named Niobe does not feel inferior to the gods. She has a great husband, Amphion, a distinguished lineage, a large kingdom, and many children. Tiresias's daughter, Manto, tells Niobe to worship the goddess Latona and her two children, Apollo and Diana. Niobe ignores the advice and mocks her people for listening to Manto. She even wonders why people do not worship her. Latona is outraged. With her children, she causes disaster after disaster to strike Niobe's family. Seven of Niobe's sons and seven of her daughters are killed, she turns into tears, and fear of Latona spreads. Tereus, the tyrant from Thrace, enters the narrative. He liberates Athens from barbarians and marries Procne, the daughter of the king of Athens, Pandion. The marriage is ill-fated. Juno, Hymenaeus, and the Graces do not attend the wedding. After five years of marriage, Procne asks Tereus for permission to see her sister, Philomela. Tereus sets sail for Athens to fetch Philomela. As soon as he sees Philomela, lust grips him. Back in Thrace, he repeatedly rapes her and hacks off her tongue to prohibit her from speaking. Philomela weaves a portrait of Tereus's crime onto cloth and sends it to Procne. To get revenge, Procne slays Itys, her only child with Tereus, and serves him to Tereus as a meal. Procne and Philomela tell Tereus that he has eaten his son, and Tereus goes mad. He wants to kill the sisters, but they escape by turning into birds. Tereus, too, becomes a bird.

book 8

Minos attacks the city of Alcathous, which is ruled by Nisus. During the siege, Scylla, the daughter of Nisus, falls in love with Minos. She scalps her father to give his power, contained in a lock of purple hair, to Minos. Minos is horrified by her betrayal. He decides to impose the fairest terms on the defeated city, and he leaves. Scylla angrily purses Minos's ship but is thwarted by her father, Nisus, who is now an osprey. Scylla turns into a bird. Back in Crete, Minos orders Daedalus to build a labyrinth to conceal the Minotaur, the shameful product of a union between Minos's mother and a bull. Daedalus complies but is not happy to be in exile. He builds wings so that he and his son, Icarus, may fly away. Icarus flies too close to the sun, the wax that holds the wings together melts, and Icarus falls to his death. After Theseus's victory over the Minotaur, his fame spreads, and the Calydonians appeal to him for help in slaughtering a boar that has terrorized their land. Many exalted heroes join the hunt for the boar, but the chase goes badly. Echion wounds a maple tree, Jason overshoots, Nestor has to pole-vault to escape death by pig, and Telamon trips over a root. At last a women warrior, Atalanta, grazes the boar's back. Meleager deals the death blow, but he wants the honor of the hunt to go to Atalanta. This angers the men, especially the uncles of Meleager—Plexippus and Toxeus. After a fight, Meleager kills his two uncles. Althaea, Meleager's mother, is outraged by the death of her brothers. She remembers an old prophecy that as long as a certain log is not consumed by fire, Meleager will live. After debating what to do, Althaea decides to throw the log into the fire. As the log burns, Meleager's life fades away. On his way to Athens, Theseus stays with Achelous. They men share several stories of metamorphoses. Achelous says that the islands in the distance used to be naiads. He transformed them as punishment for failing to invite him to a banquet. Pirithous, one of Theseus's men, is skeptical about the story. Lexes, an older man, tells a story about Jupiter and Mercury assuming human disguise. They knocked on a thousand doors, and everyone turned them away except Baucis and Philemon, who, despite their poverty, offered the disguised gods food and drink. When the wine failed to run out, they realized who their guests were. Jupiter and Mercury granted them their wish to be priests of Jupiter and to live and die together. Achelous tells a story about Erysichthon, a man with no regard for the gods. He chopped down a sacred tree for no reason, persisting even when the tree groaned in pain. Ceres called on Hunger to strike him. A powerful urge to eat gripped Erysichthon. He sold his daughter into slavery to pay for more food and eventually consumed mouthfuls of his own flesh, killing himself.

Alcmene

Mother of Heracles while in labour, Alcmene was having great difficulty giving birth to such a large child. After seven days and nights of agony, Alcmene stretched out her arms and called upon Lucina, the goddess of childbirth (the Roman equivalent of Eileithyia). While Lucina did go to Alcmene, she had been previously instructed by Juno (Hera) to prevent the delivery. With her hands clasped and legs crossed, Lucina muttered charms, thereby preventing Alcmene from giving birth. Alcmene writhed in pain, cursed the heavens, and came close to death. Galanthis, a maid of Alcmene who was nearby, observed Lucina's behaviour and quickly deduced that it was Juno's doing. To put an end to her mistress's suffering, she announced that Alcmene had safely delivered her child, which surprised Lucina so much that she immediately jumped up and unclenched her hands. As soon as Lucina leapt up, Alcmene was released from her spell, and gave birth to Heracles. As punishment for deceiving Lucina, Galanthis was transformed into a weasel; she continued to live with Alcmene

Myrrha

Myrrha was the daughter of King Cinyras and Queen Cenchreis of Cyprus. It is stated that Cupid was not to blame for Myrrha's incestuous love for her father, Cinyras. Ovid further comments that hating one's father is a crime, but Myrrha's love was a greater crime.[22] Ovid therefore blamed it on the Furies.[23] Over several verses, Ovid depicts the psychic struggle Myrrha faces between her sexual desire for her father and the social shame she would face for acting thereon.[23] Sleepless, and losing all hope, she attempted suicide; but was discovered by her nurse, in whom she confided. The nurse tried to make Myrrha suppress the infatuation, but later agreed to help Myrrha into her father's bed if she promised that she would not again try to kill herself

Nessus

Nessus is known for his role in the story of the Tunic of Nessus. After carrying Deianeira, the wife of Heracles, across the river, he attempted to force himself upon her. Heracles saw this from across the river and shot a Hydra-poisoned arrow into Nessus's breast. As he lay dying, as a final act of malice, Nessus told Deianeira that his blood would ensure that Heracles would be true to her forever, knowing the blood to be infected with the hydra's poison. Deianeira foolishly believed him. Later, when her trust began to wane because of Iole, she spread the centaur's blood on a robe and gave it to her husband. Heracles went to a gathering of heroes, where his passion got the better of him. Meanwhile, Deianeira accidentally spilled a portion of the centaur's blood onto the floor. To her horror, it began to fume by the light of the rising sun. She instantly recognized it as poison and sent her messenger to warn Heracles but it was too late. Heracles lay dying slowly and painfully as the robe burned his skin—either in actual flames or by the heat of poison. He died a noble death on a funeral pyre of oak branches. Heracles was then taken to Mount Olympus by Zeus and welcomed among the gods for his heroic exploits

Mt. Oeta

Oeta is chiefly celebrated as the scene of Heracles' death, and Roman authors even gave the demi-god the epithet Oetaeus.[10] Prepared to die, he ascended Mount Oeta, where he built a funeral pyre, gave his bow and arrows to Philoctetes, and laid himself down on the pile, his head resting on his club, and his lion's skin spread over him, and commanded Philoctetes to apply the torch to the pyre

Sicily

Persephone was abducted by Hades near Enna in the Sicilian hinterland

Midas

One day, as Ovid relates in Metamorphoses XI,[14] Dionysus found that his old schoolmaster and foster father, the satyr Silenus, was missing.[15] The old satyr had been drinking wine and wandered away drunk, to be found by some Phrygian peasants who carried him to their king, Midas (alternatively, Silenus passed out in Midas' rose garden). Midas recognized him and treated him hospitably, entertaining him for ten days and nights with politeness, while Silenus delighted Midas and his friends with stories and songs.[16] On the eleventh day, he brought Silenus back to Dionysus in Lydia. Dionysus offered Midas his choice of whatever reward he wished for. Midas asked that whatever he might touch should be changed into gold. Midas rejoiced in his new power, which he hastened to put to the test. He touched an oak twig and a stone; both turned to gold. Overjoyed, as soon as he got home, he touched every rose in the rose garden, and all became gold. He ordered the servants to set a feast on the table. Upon discovering how even the food and drink turned into gold in his hands, he regretted his wish and cursed it. Claudian states in his In Rufinem: "So Midas, king of Lydia, swelled at first with pride when he found he could transform everything he touched to gold; but when he beheld his food grow rigid and his drink harden into golden ice then he understood that this gift was a bane and in his loathing for gold, cursed his prayer."[17] Midas, now hating wealth and splendor, moved to the country and became a worshipper of Pan, the god of the fields and satyr.[19] Roman mythographers[20] asserted that his tutor in music was Orpheus. Once, Pan had the audacity to compare his music with that of Apollo, and challenged Apollo to a trial of skill (also see Marsyas). Tmolus, the mountain-god, was chosen as umpire. Pan blew on his pipes and, with his rustic melody, gave great satisfaction to himself and his faithful follower, Midas, who happened to be present. Then Apollo struck the strings of his lyre. Tmolus at once awarded the victory to Apollo, and all but one agreed with the judgment. Midas dissented, and questioned the justice of the award. Apollo would not suffer such a depraved pair of ears any longer, and said "Must have ears of an ass!", which caused Midas's ears to become those of a donkey.

Proserpina = Persephone

Orpheus' beloved wife, Eurydice, died from a snake-bite; Proserpina allowed Orpheus into Hades without losing his life; charmed by his music, she allowed him to lead his wife back to the land of the living, as long as he did not look back during the journey. But Orpheus could not resist a backward glance, so Eurydice was forever lost to him. Abducted by hades too

Cerberus

Ovid's Cerberus has a venomous mouth,[19] necks "vile with snakes",[20] and "hair inwoven with the threatening snake". Ovid tells that Heracles dragged the three headed Cerberus with chains of adamant.[61] Ovid, also makes Cerberus the cause of the poisonous aconite, saying that on the "shores of Scythia", upon leaving the underworld, as Cerberus was being dragged by Heracles from a cave, dazzled by the unaccustomed daylight, Cerberus spewed out a "poison-foam", which made the aconite plants growing there poisonous

Medusa

Persues kills medusa with help from medea and gods. Medusa has snake hair, and can turn you to stone with her gaze Perseus flew past the Titan Atlas, who stood holding the sky aloft, and transformed him into stone when he tried to attack him.[8] In a similar manner, the corals of the Red Sea were said to have been formed of Medusa's blood spilled onto seaweed when Perseus laid down the petrifying head beside the shore during his short stay in Ethiopia where he saved and wed his future wife, the lovely princess Andromeda. Ovid's Metamorphoses and Lucan's Pharsalia were said to have grown from spilt drops of her blood. Perseus then flew to Seriphos, where his mother was about to be forced into marriage with the king. King Polydectes was turned into stone by the gaze of Medusa's head. Then Perseus gave the Gorgon's head to Athena, who placed it on her shield, the Aegis.[9]

book 5

Phineus, the former fiancé of Andromeda, bursts into Perseus and Andromeda's wedding banquet to contest the marriage. Phineus hurls his spear at Perseus but misses. Perseus retaliates, and a melee ensues. At one point, over a thousand men surround Perseus. He turns them to stone by pulling out Medusa's head. Phineus pleads for his life, and Perseus promises that he will not touch him with his sword. He technically keeps his word but petrifies him with Medusa's head. Minerva visits the virgin Muses and the spring, which Pegasus created with his hoof. The Muses begin to tell Minerva about Pyrenus, a wild Thracian man, who invited them into his house. While they are talking, the sound of nine magpies fills the air. The Muses explain that these birds were once human sisters, the nine daughters of Pierus. They challenged the Muses to a contest of song, and the Muses reluctantly accepted. The Pierides sang first, telling a story that cast the Olympian gods in a negative light. Calliope alone sang on the Muses' behalf. Calliope sang of Venus and Cupid, who made Dis fall in love with Proserpina. As Proserpina picks violets in a grove, Dis rapes her and then takes her to his underworld kingdom. Cyane, a nymph of Sicily, sees the crime, but all she can do is weep. Her tears make her part of the spring she inhabited. Ceres, Prosperpina's mother, searches everywhere for her daughter. When she comes to Cyane's spring, Cyane manages to convey what happened. The rich soil of Sicily feels Ceres' wrath. Arethusa, a sacred spring, explains to Ceres that Dis, not the earth, is to blame. After grieving, Ceres speaks to Jupiter. Initially, Jupiter says that Dis raped Proserpina out of love, and that Proserpina married well. The brother of Jupiter is no insignificant son-in-law. Jupiter says that if Ceres still wants Proserpina back, she may have her, as long as Proserpina has not eaten anything from the underworld. Proserpina has eaten something, so Jupiter offers a compromise. Proserpina will divide her time equally between Dis and Ceres. Arethusa tells Ceres she was transformed from a nymph into a sacred spring to escape Alpheus, a river god. Ceres takes flight in her serpent-driven chariot and gives Triptolemus seeds that cause great fruitfulness. Triptolemus travels to the kingdom of Scythia bearing this gift. The king of the land, Lyncus, is jealous and seeks to kill Triptolemus and steal his seeds. Ceres intervenes and turns Lyncus into a lynx. At this point, Calliope ended her song, and the nymphs declared her victorious. But even in defeat, the Pierides showed such contempt that the Muses turned them into magpies.

Megara (see Scylla)

Scylla is a princess of Megara in Greek mythology.

Procne

She was the elder daughter of a king of Athens named Pandion and the wife of King Tereus of Thrace. Her beautiful sister Philomela visited the couple and was raped by Tereus, who tore out her tongue to prevent her revealing the crime. She wove a tapestry which made it clear what had been done, and the two women took their revenge.[1] Procne killed her son by Tereus, Itys (or Itylos), boiled him and served him as a meal to her husband.[2] After he had finished his meal, the sisters presented Tereus with the severed head of his son, and he realised what had been done.[2] He snatched up an axe and pursued them with the intent to kill the sisters.[2] They fled but were almost overtaken by Tereus. In desperation, they prayed to the gods to be turned into birds and escape Tereus' rage and vengeance.[3] The gods transformed Procne into a swallow, Philomela into a nightingale and Tereus into a hoopoe.

Pelops

Tantalus cut Pelops into pieces and made his flesh into a stew, then served it to the gods. Demeter, deep in grief after the abduction of her daughter Persephone by Hades, absentmindedly accepted the offering and ate the left shoulder. The other gods sensed the plot, however, and held off from eating of the boy's body. While Tantalus was banished to Tartarus, Pelops was ritually reassembled and brought back to life, his shoulder replaced with one of ivory made for him by Hephaestus. Pindar mentioned this tradition in his First Olympian Ode, only to reject it as a malicious invention: his patron claimed descent from Tantalus. After Pelops' resurrection, Poseidon took him to Olympus, and made him the youth apprentice, teaching him also to drive the divine chariot. Later, Zeus found out about the gods' stolen food and their now revealed secrets, and threw Pelops out of Olympus, angry at his father, Tantalus.

Tereus

Tereus desired his wife's sister, Philomela. He forced himself upon her, then cut her tongue out and held her captive so she could never tell anyone. He told his wife that her sister had died. Philomela wove letters in a tapestry depicting Tereus's crime and sent it secretly to Procne. In revenge, Procne killed Itys and served his flesh in a meal to his father Tereus. When Tereus learned what she had done, he tried to kill the sisters but all three were changed by the Olympian Gods into birds: Tereus became a hoopoe; Procne became the nightingale whose song is a song of mourning for the loss of her child; Philomela became the swallow, which has no song.

Latona

The Niobe narrative appears in Ovid's Metamorphoses (Book VI) where Latona (Leto) has demanded the women of Thebes to go to her temple and burn incense. Niobe, queen of Thebes, enters in the midst of the worship and insults the goddess, claiming that having beauty, better parentage and more children than Latona, she is more fit to be worshipped than the goddess. To punish this insolence, Latona begs Apollo and Artemis to avenge her against Niobe and to uphold her honor. Obedient to their mother, the twins slay Niobe's seven sons and seven daughters, leaving her childless, and her husband Amphion kills himself. Niobe is unable to move from grief and seemingly turns to marble, though she continues to weep, and her body is transported to a high mountain peak in her native land.

Argos

The city of Argos was believed to be the birthplace of the mythological character Perseus, the son of the god Zeus and Danaë, who was the daughter of the king of Argos, Acrisius.

Nemean Lion

The first of Heracles' twelve labours, set by King Eurystheus (his cousin) was to slay the Nemean lion. According to one version of the myth, the Nemean lion took women as hostages to its lair in a cave near Nemea, luring warriors from nearby towns to save the damsel in distress. After entering the cave, the warrior would see a woman (usually feigning injury) and rush to her side. Once he was close, the woman would turn into a lion and kill the warrior, devouring his remains and giving the bones to Hades. While searching for the lion, Heracles fetched some arrows to use against it, not knowing that its golden fur was impenetrable; when he found the lion and shot at it with his bow, he discovered the fur's protective property when the arrow bounced harmlessly off the creature's thigh. After some time, Heracles made the lion return to his cave. The cave had two entrances, one of which Heracles blocked; he then entered the other. In those dark and close quarters, Heracles stunned the beast with his club and, using his immense strength, strangled it to death. During the fight the lion bit off one of his fingers. Others say that he shot arrows at it, eventually shooting it in the unarmoured mouth. After slaying the lion, he tried to skin it with a knife from his belt, but failed. He then tried sharpening the knife with a stone and even tried with the stone itself. Finally, Athena, noticing the hero's plight, told Heracles to use one of the lion's own claws to skin the pelt.

Cephalus and prociris

The goddess of dawn, Eos [Aurora] kidnapped Cephalus when he was hunting. The resistant Cephalus and Eos became lovers, and she bore him a son named Phaethon . However, Cephalus always pined for Procris, causing a disgruntled Eos to return him to her, making disparaging remarks about his wife's fidelity. Once reunited with Procris after an interval of eight years, Cephalus tested her by returning from the hunt in disguise, and managing to seduce her. In shame Procris fled to the forest, to hunt with Artemis.[6] In returning and reconciling, Procris brought two magical gifts, an inerrant javelin that never missed its mark, and a hunting hound, Laelaps that always caught its prey. The hound met its end chasing a fox (the Teumessian vixen) which could not be caught; both fox and the hound were turned into stone. But the javelin continued to be used by Cephalus, who was an avid hunter. Procris then conceived doubts about her husband, who left his bride at the bridal chamber[7] and climbed to a mountaintop[8] and sang a hymn invoking Nephele, "cloud".[9] Procris became convinced that he was serenading a lover. She climbed to where he was to spy on him. Cephalus, hearing a stirring in the brush and thinking the noise came from an animal, threw the never-erring javelin in the direction of the sound - and Procris was impaled. As she lay dying in his arms, she told him "On our wedding vows, please never marry Eos". Cephalus was distraught at the death of his beloved Procris, and went into exile.

Arethusa

The myth of her transformation begins in Arcadia when she came across a clear stream and began bathing, not knowing it was the river god Alpheus, who flowed down from Arcadia through Elis to the sea. He fell in love during their encounter, but she fled after discovering his presence and intentions, as she wished to remain a chaste attendant of Artemis. After a long chase, she prayed to her goddess to ask for protection. Artemis hid her in a cloud, but Alpheus was persistent. She began to perspire profusely from fear, and soon transformed into a stream. Artemis then broke the ground allowing Arethusa another attempt to flee.[2] Her stream traveled under the sea to the island of Ortygia, but Alpheus flowed through the sea to reach her and mingle with her waters.

book 11

Thracian women attack Orpheus with stones. Orpheus protects himself by charming the rocks with his songs. But the women drown out his music and tear his body apart. Orpheus's shade descends to the underworld, where he joins Eurydice. Bacchus punishes the Thracian women for their crime against Orpheus by transforming them into trees. In Asia Minor, Bacchus rewards King Midas for finding Silenus by offering him a wish. Midas asks for a golden touch. Everything Midas touches turns to gold, including food and drink. He soon realizes that this gift is a curse, and Bacchus agrees to take it away. Midas witnesses a music contest between Pan and Apollo. The god of Mount Tmolous judges Apollo the winner. Everyone agrees with this decision except Midas. Apollo punishes him by giving him donkey ears and departs to Troy. The founder of Troy, Laomedon, tricks two gods, Neptune and Apollo, into building the wall of Troy without properly paying them. The gods punish Troy with a flood. They say Laomedon must also sacrifice his daughter, Hesione. Laomedon asks Hercules to save Hesione in return for horses. Hercules does, but Laomedon fails to cough up the horses. Hercules gives Hesione to his comrade-in-arms, Telamon. The narrative shifts to Telamon's brother, Peleus, who falls in love with Thetis. She escapes his attempted rape by changing into a lioness. Peleus prays incessantly to the gods, who counsel him to tie up Thetis in her sleep. He does so and succeeds in raping her. However, he is exiled for killing his brother. Peleus is warmly received in Ceyx's kingdom. Ceyx tells a sad tale of his brother, Daedalion. Daedalion's beautiful daughter, Chione, has over a thousand suitors by the age of fourteen. Apollo and Mercury both rape Chione, and she bears twins with extraordinary talents. Chione considers herself greater than Diana. Diana kills her with an arrow. Daedalion goes mad and is transformed into a bird. As Ceyx is telling this story, a servant rushes in and says a wild wolf is ravaging the cattle and people. Peleus says he must deal with this situation. Ceyx decides to visit the oracle of Apollo for answers. Ceyx's wife, Alcyone, tries to persuade him to stay home, but in vain. On the way to see Apollo, Ceyx dies in an enormous storm. As he dies, he bids the waves to bring his body home. Juno sends Sleep to tell Alcyone what has happened in a dream. The next morning, Alcyone sees Ceyx's body floating in the sea. She leaps into the water and turns into a bird. Ceyx, too, turns into a bird.

Jason

Uncle Pelias kills Jason's father, the Greek King of Iolkos, and takes his throne. Jason's mother brings him to Cheiron, a centaur (half man, half horse) who hides him away and raises him on the Mountain of Pelion. When Jason turns 20, he journeys to see Pelias to reclaim his throne. At a nearby river, Hera the Queen of the Gods approaches him disguised as an old woman. While carrying her across the river he loses a sandal and arrives at court wearing only one. Pelias is nervous when he sees Jason missing a sandal, for an oracle has prophesied that a man wearing only one sandal shall usurp his throne. Jason demands the return of his rightful throne. Pelias replies that Jason should first accomplish a difficult task to prove his worth. The task is for Jason to retrieve the Golden Fleece, kept beyond the edge of the known world in a land called Colchis (modern-day Georgia in Southwest Asia). The story of the fleece is an interesting tale in itself. Zeus, the King of the Gods, had given a golden ram to Jason's ancestor Phrixus. Phrixus later flew on the golden ram from Greece to Colchis, whose king was Aietes, the son of Helios the Sun God. Aietes sacrificed the ram and hung the fleece in a sacred grove guarded by a dragon, as an oracle had foretold that Aietes would lose his kingdom if he lost the fleece. Determined to reclaim his throne, Jason agrees to retrieve the Golden Fleece. Jason assembles a team of great heroes for his crew and they sail aboard the Argo. The first stop of the Argonauts is the Greek Isle of Lemnos, populated only by women. Unknown to Jason and his crew, the women have murdered their husbands. The Argonauts fare much better though; in fact the women use the occasion as an opportunity to repopulate the island. After many more adventures, the Argo passes Constantinople, heading for the Straits of Bosphorus. The Straits of Bosphorus are a narrow passageway of water between the Sea of Marmara, the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea. To the ancient Greeks, this was the edge of the known world. The Straits are extremely dangerous due to the currents created by the flow of water from the Black Sea. The ancient Greeks believed that clashing rocks guarded the straits and that the rocks would close together and smash any ship sailing through. Jason had been told by a blind prophet he assisted how to fool the rocks. He was to send a bird ahead of him. The rocks would crash in on it and then reopen, at which point he could successfully sail through. When Jason finally arrives in Colchis he asks King Aietes to return the golden fleece to him as it belonged to his ancestor. Reluctant, the king suggests yet another series of challenges to Jason. He must yoke firebreathing bulls, plough and sow a field with dragons' teeth and then overcome the warriors who will rise from the furrows. Aietes is confident the tasks are impossible but unbeknownst to the king, his daughter Medea has taken a liking to Jason. She offers to assist Jason if he will marry her. He agrees. Medea is a powerful sorceress and Jason is successful. Jason and Medea return to Greece where Jason claims his father's throne, but their success is short-lived. Uncomfortable with Medea's magic, the locals drive Medea and Jason out of Iolkos. They go into exile in Corinth where the king offers Jason his daughter in marriage. He agrees and so violates his vow to the gods to be true only to Medea. Furious, Medea kills the woman, kills Medea and Jason's children and then ascends to Mount Olympus where she eventually marries Achilles. Jason goes back to Iolkos where his boat the Argo is on display. One day, while he sits next to the boat weeping, the decaying beam of his ship the Argo falls off and hits him on the head, killing him outrig

Baucis and Philemon

Zeus and Hermes came disguised as ordinary peasants, and began asking the people of the town for a place to sleep that night. They had been rejected by all, "so wicked were the people of that land," when at last they came to Baucis and Philemon's simple rustic cottage. Though the couple were poor, their generosity far surpassed that of their rich neighbours, among whom the gods found "doors bolted and no word of kindness."

Ganymede

Zeus turned into an eagle and abducted Ganymede, bringing him to Mount Olympus.

Atlas

a Titan who was responsible for bearing the weight of the heavens on his shoulders, a punishment bestowed on him by Zeus. Atlas was given this task in retribution for him leading the Titans into battle, or Titanomachy, against the Olympian Gods for control of the heavens. turned into stone by perseus

Atalanta

a character in Greek mythology, a virgin huntress, unwilling to marry

Tantalus (tantalize)

famous for his eternal punishment in Tartarus. He was made to stand in a pool of water beneath a fruit tree with low branches, with the fruit ever eluding his grasp, and the water always receding before he could take a drink.

Calydon

he leader of the Calydonian boar hunt. The Iliad relates how Meleager's father, King Oeneus of Calydon, had omitted to sacrifice to Artemis, who sent a wild boar to ravage the country.

Deus ex machina

is a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem in a story is suddenly and abruptly resolved by an unexpected and seemingly unlikely occurrence

Philomela

prochnes' sister raped by tereus; her and prochne killed terues son and served it to him. They were all turned into birds

Niobe

she had six sons and six daughters and boasted of her progenitive superiority to the Titan Leto, who had only two children, the twin deities Apollo and Artemis. As punishment for her pride, Apollo killed all Niobe's sons, and Artemis killed all her daughters.

Deianira

she was courted by the river god Achelous but was saved from having to marry him by Heracles, who defeated Achelous in a wrestling contest for her hand in marriage.[9] the central story about Deianira concerns the Tunic of Nessus. A wild centaur named Nessus attempted to kidnap or rape Deianira as he was ferrying her across the river Euenos, but she was rescued by Heracles, who shot the centaur with a poisoned arrow. As he lay dying, Nessus persuaded Deianira to take a sample of his blood, telling her that a potion of it mixed with olive oil would ensure that Heracles would never again be unfaithful. Deianira believed his words and kept a little of the potion by her. Heracles fathered illegitimate children all across Greece and then fell in love with Iole. When Deianira thus feared that her husband would leave her forever, she smeared some of the blood on Heracles' famous lionskin shirt. Heracles' servant, Lichas, brought him the shirt and he put it on. The centaur's toxic blood burned Heracles terribly, and eventually, he threw himself into a funeral pyre. In despair, Deianira committed suicide by hanging herself or with a sword.

Golden Fleece

the Golden Fleece is the fleece of the gold-haired winged ram, which was held in Colchis. The fleece is a symbol of authority and kingship.

Death = Pluto

the Roman god of the underworld and the judge of the dead. Pluto is an alternative name for the Greek god Hades

Perseus

the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty, who, alongside Cadmus and Bellerophon, was the greatest Greek hero and slayer of monsters before the days of Heracles. He killed medusa, saved andromeda, and killed Acrisius of Argos (his father who locked him and his mom in a chest bc it was prophesized that his son would overthrow him)

Ariadne (on Naxos)

the sacrificial party included Theseus, the son of King Aegeus, who volunteered to come and kill the Minotaur. Ariadne fell in love at first sight, and helped him by giving him a sword and a ball of thread (μίτο της Αριάδνης 'Ariadne's thread'), so that he could find his way out of the Minotaur's labyrinth. But, he left her on the island

Aegina

was a Naiad-nymph loved by the god Zeus. He carried her off in the guise of an eagle to the island of Aigina which was named after her.

Arachne

was a talented mortal weaver who challenged Athena, goddess of wisdom and crafts, to a weaving contest; this hubris resulted in her being transformed into a spider.

Labyrinth

was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the hero Theseus. Daedalus had so cunningly made the Labyrinth that he could barely escape it after he built it. On his arrival in Crete, Ariadne, King Minos' daughter, fell in love with Theseus and, on the advice of Daedalus, gave him a ball of thread (a clew), so he could find his way out of the Labyrinth.

Eurydice

was an oak nymph or one of the daughters of Apollo. She was the wife of Orpheus, who tried to bring her back from the dead with his enchanting music.

Typhoeus

was described as a grisly monster with a hundred dragons' heads who was conquered and cast into the underworld by Zeus.

Acheloüs

was originally the god of all water[1] and the rivers of the world were viewed by many as his sinews Achelous the god was a competitor with Heracles in the suit for Deïaneira, and fought with him for the bride. Achelous was conquered in the contest, but as he possessed the power of assuming various forms, he metamorphosed himself first into a serpent and then into a bull. But in this form too he was conquered by Heracles, and deprived of one of his horns, which however he recovered by giving up the horn of Amalthea

Pilias (aeson too)

was power-hungry and he wished to gain dominion over all of Thessaly. To this end, he banished Neleus and Pheres and locked Aeson in the dungeons in Iolcus. Aeson had a kid (one that was prohesized to overthrow pilias) and sent Jason to Chiron to be educated while Pelias, afraid that he would be overthrown, was warned by an oracle to beware of a man wearing one sandal. Many years later, Pelias was holding the Olympics in honor of Poseidon when Jason, rushing to Iolcus, lost one of his sandals in a river while helping Hera, in the form of an old woman, cross. When Jason entered Iolcus, he was announced as a man wearing one sandal. Suspicious, Pelias asked him what he (Jason) would do if confronted with the man who would be his downfall. Jason responded that he would send that man after the Golden Fleece. Pelias took that advice and sent Jason to retrieve the Golden Fleece. Pelias swore before Zeus that he would give up the throne at Jason's return while expecting that Jason's attempt to steal the Golden Fleece would be a fatal enterprise. However, Hera acted in Jason's favour during the perilous journey. During Jason's absence, Pelias intended to kill Aeson. However, Aeson committed suicide by drinking bull's blood. His wife killed herself as well, and Pelias murdered their infant son Promachus.[5] When Jason and Medea returned, Pelias still refused to give up his throne. Medea conspired to have Pelias' own daughters (the Peliades) kill him. She told them she could turn an old ram into a young ram by cutting up the old ram and boiling it. During the demonstration, a live, young ram jumped out of the pot. Excited, the girls cut their father into pieces and threw them into a pot, in the expectation that he would emerge rejuvenated. Pelias, of course, did not survive. As he was now an accessory to a terrible crime, Jason was still not made king. Pelias' son Acastus later banished Jason and Medea, to Corinth, and so reclaimed the kingdom.

Crete

was ruled by King Minos, who periodically demanded a tribute of young men and maidens of Athens to be sacrificed to the Minotaur, the monster of the Labyrinth.

Adonis

was the mortal lover of the goddess Aphrodite in Greek mythology. In Ovid's first-century AD telling of the myth, he was conceived after Aphrodite cursed his mother Myrrha to lust after her own father, King Cinyras of Cyprus.

Muses (Daughters of Memory)

were the nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (i. e. "Memory" personified), figuring as personifications of knowledge and the arts, especially literature, dance and music.

Calliope (Muse of epic poetry)

were the nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (i. e. "Memory" personified), figuring as personifications of knowledge and the arts, especially literature, dance and music. Sang on behalf of muses vs sisters that eventually were turned into magpies.

Pegasus

when Pegasus was born, he flew to where thunder and lightning are released. Then, Athena tamed him and gave him to Perseus, who flew to Ethiopia to help Andromeda. In fact Pegasus is a late addition to the story of Perseus, who flew on his own with the sandals loaned him by Hermes.

Corinth

where oeidpus was raised