Difference between revisions of "Greek mythology"
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Revision as of 14:56, April 4, 2008
Greek mythology is a collection of the religion and stories of the ancient Greeks. Many of these Greek beliefs have been preserved and passed down to us today. As was common in that time period in Europe and the Middle East (with the exception of Judaism) the concept of gods was usually as part of a pantheon that were basically more powerful forms of humans complete with petty rivalries and human frailties. They were worshipped just as much out of fear as out of reverence.
Stories also abounded of heroes and fantastical beasts. The most courageous acts of courage were from humans, or at least those who were half human. The concept of intermarriage or mating between gods and man caused many demi-gods who would then go on and continue to mate with humans themselves. Many parts of ancient Greece claimed some connection with godhood as did much of the world (again, except for Judaism).
The Greek Pantheon
Category:Greek Deities:
Category:Trojan War:
Achaeans: The Achaeans was a collective name for the ancient Greeks and their allies who fought against the Trojans during the Trojan War.
Aeacus: Aeacus was a son of Zeus, the father of Peleus, and grandfather of Achilles.
Aetolia: Aetolia is a region in northwestern Greece.
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Agrius: Agrius was a prince of Calydon, the son of Portheus.
Altes: Altes was king of the Leleges and father of Laothoë (a wife of Priam).
Althaea: Althaea was the mother of Meleager.
Antilochus: According to Greek mythology, Antilochus was the son of Nestor, brother of Thrasymedes, and a favorite of Achilles after the death of Patroclus. He was killed by Memnon of Ethiopia during the Trojan War. Achilles was recovering Antilochus' body when Paris hit him with an arrow in his heel, killing him.
Antimachus: Antimachus was the father of the Trojans Pisander, Hippolochus, and Hippomachus.
Argissa: Argissa was a city in Thessaly, in the kingdom of Polypoetes.
Argos: Argos was a city-state in ancient Greece, largely eclipsed by Sparta in prominence and importance. Argos played a role in the mythology of the Trojan War at which time it was said to be ruled by Diomedes. "Argos" could also refer to the entire Argolid, which was the kingdom of Agamemnon. As Agamemnon was the commander of the entire Greek force, "Argos" also could refer very generally to all of allied Greece during the Trojan War. The kingdom of Achilles was sometimes refered to as "Pelasgian Argos".
Bellerophon: Bellerophon was the hero of Greek mythology who tamed and rode the flying horse Pegasus during his victory over the three-headed monster Chimera.
- ↑ Nuttall Encyclopedia of General Knowledge, article on Boötes originally published in 1907 written by Reverend James Wood
Caeneus: Caeneus was a Lapith hero of the generation of Nestor, father of Coronus.
Calydon: Calydon was a city in Aetolia, the site of a legendary battle between Aetolians and Curetes.
- ↑ Nuttall Encyclopedia of General Knowledge, article on Calypso originally published in 1907 written by Reverend James Wood
Charon %28mythology%29: Charon, in Greek mythology was the ferryman of the ghosts of the dead over the Styx into Hades, a grim old figure with a mean dress and a dirty beard, peremptory in exacting from the ghosts he ferried over the obolus allowed him for passage-money.[1]
- ↑ Nuttall Encyclopedia of General Knowledge, article on Charon originally published in 1907 written by Reverend James Wood
- ↑ http://mw1.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chimera
- ↑ http://www.theage.com.au/cgi-bin/common/popupPrintArticle.pl?path=/articles/2003/11/27/1069825920727.html
- ↑ http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/06/uk-catholic-bis.html
- ↑ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/26/nchimera126.xml
Coronus: Coronus was the son of Caeneus, father of the Achaean Leonteus.
Curetes: The Curetes were Aetolians living in Pleuron, who made war on the Aetolians of Calydon.
Echo: Template:Stub Echo was a nymph in Greek mythology. Because of an affair she had with Zeus, she was cursed by Hera to be able to speak only by repeating what she heard.
Eurydamas: Eurydamas was an interpreter of dreams, and father of the Trojans Abas and Polyidus.
- ↑ Hebrew Bible
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Laodamia: Laodamia was a daughter of Bellerophon, the mother of Sarpedon by Zeus, killed by the goddess Artemis
Leonteus: Leonteus was an Achaean, son of Coronus, co-commander with Polypoetes of the Lapiths from Argissa during the Trojan War.
Medea: Medea ,(from the Greek for cunning), was a sorceress, daughter of Aeetes, king of Colchis. She helped Jason to obtain the Golden Fleece and married him. However, she was deserted in Corinth and avenged herself by killing their two children.
Melas: Melas was the son of Portheus, brother of Oeneus.
Meleager: Meleager was the son of Oeneus and Althaea, prince of the Aetolians in Calydon.
Memnon: Memnon was king of Ethiopia, allied to Troy, during the Trojan War.
Mnemosyne: The Titan Mnemosyne was the mother of the Muses by Zeus.
Mount Olympus: Mount Olympus is the place of the gods in Greek mythology. It towers up from the center of the earth. Here at least twelve major gods live and hold court. The myths are vague on whether it is an actual mountain that can be traveled to by foot or only a region of the heavens. == Sources == www.greekmythology.com [2]
Myrmidons: The Myrmidons were the people of Phthia in southern Thessaly. They were ruled by Peleus and commanded during the Trojan War by Achilles.
Neleus: Neleus was the father of Nestor, former king of Pylos.
Nereids: The Nereids were Greek sea-goddesses, daughters of Nereus.
Nereus: Nereus was a sea-god of the Ancient Greeks, known as the "Old Man of the Sea." He was the father of Thetis and all the Nereids.
Oedipus: Oedipus, mythical king of Thebes who killed his father and married his mother in Oedipus Rex, a Greek tragedy by Sophocles.
Oeneus: Oeneus was king of Calydon, son of Portheus, father of Tydeus and Meleager.
Orestes: Orestes was the son of Agamemnon, commander of all the Greek forces at Troy, and the grandson of Atreus[1]. After his father was murdered by his mother, Orestes, who was very young, went into exile. Orestes was determined to avenge his father and when he had grown up, he returned to kill his mother Clytemnestra and her new husband Aegisthus, Orestes' uncle. Despite divine laws against killing family, Orestes killed them both and freed his sister Electra whom they had imprisoned. As punishment for the murders, Orestes was pursued by the Erinyes until Athena forgave him.
- ↑ http://www.pantheon.org/articles/o/orestes.html
- ↑ Nuttall Encyclopedia of General Knowledge, article on Orion originally published in 1907 written by Reverend James Wood
Peleus: Peleus was the son of Aeacus, king of the Myrmidons, father of Achilles, and husband of Thetis.
Pelops: Pelops was the son of Tantalus who served him to the gods at a feast. Fortunately, the gods realized what was happening before eating Pelops, and so were able to re-assemble him. Pelops later married Hippodamia after beating her father in a chariot race. He had two sons: Atreus and Thyestes.
Perseus: :For CODENAME PERSEUS, a key Los Alamos physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project and was a KGB spy, see Perseus (spy). In Greek mythology, Perseus is a great hero, a demigod and the son of Zeus and Danae. He slays the gorgon Medusa and rescues Andromeda. The tale of Perseus and Medusa was artfully retold by Nathaniel Hawthorne in his story, "The Gorgon's Head."[1] In astronomy, Perseus is a not-very-conspicuous constellation located near Cassiopeia. The Perseids are an annual meteor shower, peaking on August 12th; the meteors in this shower appear to radiate from a center in Perseus, hence the name.
- ↑ Hawthorne, Nathaniel (1852), A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys. The Gorgon's Head, online
- ↑ http://www.pantheon.org/articles/p/phaeton.html
Phthia: Phthia was a sector of southern Thessaly, the kingdom of Peleus, and home of Achilles and the Myrmidons.
Pirithous: In Greek mythology Pirithous was a son of Zeus, king of the Lapiths, and father of Polypoetes.
Pleuron: Pleuron was a city in Aetolia.
Portheus: Portheus was an Aetolian hero, father of Agrius, Melas, and Oeneus, grandfather of Tydeus.
Proteus: Proteus was the king of Argos who plotted against the life of Bellerophon.
Sisyphus: In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was a cunning and deceitful man who was known for his trickery. He is best known for his punishment of being forced to roll a boulder up a hill for all of eternity. Perhaps his greatest trick was tricking Thanatos, the personification of Death, to demonstrate a set of shackles on himself. Thanatos remained shackled under the care of Sisyphus for a period of time, during which no mortal could die. Ares, the god of war, became upset that his battles would not result in death, and finally rescued Thanatos. Before Sisyphus died, he asked his wife not to perform the sacrifice usually performed in such a situation. Once sent to the underworld, he then complained that his wife was neglecting this duty, and asked for permission to return to ask his wife to perform this duty. He received this permission, but once he came back, he would not return. Hermes, the messenger of the gods, brought Sisyphus back. As a punishment for his trickery, Sisyphus was sent to Tartarus, the worst part of Hades, and condemned to roll a boulder up a hill for all of eternity. The boulder would always roll back down the hill once Sisyphus brought it to the top. The myth of Sisyphus is used as a metaphor for repetitive and useless activities.
Tantalus: In Greek mythology, Tantalus was the father of Pelops, whom he cut up and served to the Greek gods at a feast. In punishment, the gods sent him to Tartarus, where he was always up to his waist in water and just out of reach of some delicious-looking grapes. From this myth we get the word tantalizing, and also one of Aesop's Fables.
Tethys: Tethys can refer to several different things: *the Greek Titan who was the mother of rivers *one of the Cassini moons of Saturn *a post-Panthalassic ocean that separated Gondwana and Lorasia during the Mesozoic Era
Theseus: Theseus was a mythological character, the son of Aegeus and Aethra of Athens. He was raised by his mother away from his father, but his mother had been instructed to send Theseus to claim his place as his father's heir once he was strong enough to roll away a boulder that was guarding a sword and shoes belonging to Aegeus. After a time, he rolled away the boulder and prepared to journey to his father's kingdom. Because the roads to Athens were filled with dangerous bandits, Theseus' mother and grandfather tried to convince him to take the safe route by sea, but Theseus was determined to prove his valor and become a hero by traveling over land. As he traveled, he encountered numerous outlaws, but he killed them all, and by the time he reached Athens he had built a reputation as a good and courageous fighter, so much so that his father, on the advice of Medea, intially tried to poison him before realizing that Theseus was his son. Theseus went on many other adventures, most notably sailing to Crete to kill the Minotaur. Periodically, the Athenians were forced by King Minos of Crete to give him seven young men and seven young women to be put into the Labyrinth and fed to the Minotaur. One year, Theseus volunteered and, instead of being eaten by the Minotaur, killed it. Unfortunately, this episode ended in the death of Aegeus. Before leaving, Theseus had told Aegeus that if he came back alive, he would raise white sails on his ship as he returned, but he forgot and instead kept the ship's usual black sails, causing Aegeus to think him dead. In grief the King killed himself. ==External Sources== http://www.online-mythology.com/theseus/
Tydeus: Tydeus was the son of Oeneus, father of Diomedes.
See also
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