Posts: 1255
From: third rock from the Sun
Registered: Sep 2004

posted August 20, 2005 03:18 PM         

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Thought this might make interesting reading for all. Its an awesome site with wonderful pictures.

The story of Orpheus making a trip underground, to bring his beloved from there touched me so far. He fails twice. You may list your favourite on this thread
(*edited* or list any thing you find interesting in Greek Mythology).

More here (especially section 8):

http://www.uwm.edu/Course/mythology/0100/toc.htm

Don't forget to visit this thread and mention your favourite mythology so far during the reading. This would make it more fun to read and share. OK let me go back reading some more.

More links: http://messagenet.com/myths/bios/index.html

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Posts: 2981
From: Paradise
Registered: Mar 2004

posted August 20, 2005 03:52 PM         

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well orpheus was always my favorite character too.....

but also, ive always felt bad for poor phaeton, as i myself have had a tendency to "crash and burn".......i mean what was helios thinking?
http://www.loggia.com/myth/phaethon.html

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Posts: 1255
From: third rock from the Sun
Registered: Sep 2004

posted August 23, 2005 02:30 AM         

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Well the story of Prometheus suffering for humanity is great too.

Picture showing him devoured by the eagle and he is standing next to Atlas his brother who is holding the sky up. He btw is also punishd by Zeus. I couldn't figure what the snake is doing there.

http://www.pathguy.com/promethe.htm

I wonder sometimes if he is the Lucifer(or some connection with him) who brings Fire (intelligence) to humanity?

Picture below showing Prometheus stealing fire from Gods and bringing down into earth. Taken from the Rockefeller center NY.

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Posts: 1356
From:
Registered: May 2004

posted August 23, 2005 07:46 AM         

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This creature fascinates me. I wonder why.

quote:

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CHIRON: King of the Centaurs, CHIRON was the son of CRONUS, who'd been horsing about with PHILYRA.

With a tutorials by APOLLO and a degree in healing from the University of Thessaly, he was very good at the healing arts and renowned for his wisdom. He taught Dr ASCLEPIUS the secrets of medicine and thus put the beginnings of medical practice on a very sound footing.

CHIRON then appears to have founded the School for Heroes on Mount Pelion, with clients including HERACLES, THESEUS and ACHILLES. Greek lessons and horse-riding were of course included as standard.

Sadly, CHIRON came to an unhappy end when he was accidentally shot with a poisoned arrow by his old pupil HERACLES. In frightful agony he roamed the world but, being immortal, could not die. Yes, the Great Healer could heal everyone except himself.

Eventually he wandered to the place where PROMETHEUS was undergoing his own agony. Here at last he found freedom from his pain. Performing the world's first immortality-swap operation, CHIRON donated his immortal nature to PROMETHEUS and became mortal.

PROMETHEUS found himself free, while the old centaur dropped dead at his feet. But shed no tears as a sobbing ZEUS granted CHIRON a second immortality and transformed him into the constellation of Sagittarius.

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http://www.godchecker.com/pantheon/greek-mythology.php?deity=CHIRON
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"Know thyself"
Inscribed on the temple of Apollo at Delphi

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Posts: 3512
From: New England
Registered: Mar 2003

posted August 23, 2005 09:48 AM         

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I'm a life-long Persephone fan. And a Rossetti fan too, so a bonus for me...

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Posts: 1255
From: third rock from the Sun
Registered: Sep 2004

posted August 25, 2005 05:04 AM         

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Endymion was a beautiful youth who fed his flock on Mount Latmos. One calm, clear night, Diana, the Moon, looked down and saw him sleeping. The cold heart of the virgin goddess was warmed by his surpassing beauty, and she came down to him, kissed him, and watched over him while he slept.

Another story was that Jupiter bestowed on him the gift of perpetual youth united with perpetual sleep. Of one so gifted we can have but few adventures to record. Diana, it was said, took care that his fortunes should not suffer by his inactive life, for she made his flock increase and guarded his sheep and lambs from wild beasts.

The story of Endymion has a peculiar charm from the human meaning which it so thinly veils. We see in Endymion the young poet, his fancy and his heart seeking in vain for that which can satisfy them, finding his favorite hour in the quiet moonlight, and nursing there beneath the beams of the bright and silent witness the melancholy and the ardor which consumes him. The story suggests aspiring and poetic love, a life spent more in dreams than in reality, and an early and welcome death.

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Posts: 337
From: tx, usa
Registered: Aug 2005

posted August 25, 2005 02:20 PM         

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oh! oh! oh! i love greek mythology. My favorite all time character is Echo. Ive got a puppy named after her. Its the saddest story ever. shakespeare has nothing on greek mythology.
http://artofeurope.com/waterhouse/wat4.htm

Echo was a beautiful nymph, fond of the woods and hills, where she devoted herself to woodland sports. She was a favorite of Artemis, and attended her in the chase. But Echo had one failing; she was fond of talking, and whether in chat or argument, would have the last word. One day Hera was seeking her husband, who, she had reason to fear, was amusing himself among the nymphs. Echo by her talk contrived to detain the goddess till the nymphs made their escape. When Hera discovered it, she passed sentence upon Echo in these words: "You shall forfeit the use of that tongue with which you have cheated me, except for that one purpose you are so fond of - reply. You shall still have the last word, but no power to speak first."
This nymph saw Narcissus, a beautiful youth, as he pursued the chase upon the mountains. She loved him and followed his footsteps. O how she longed to address him in the softest accents, and win him to converse! But it was not in her power. She waited with impatience for him to speak first, and had her answer ready. One day the youth, being separated from his companions, shouted aloud, "Who's here?" Echo replied, "Here." Narcissus looked around, but seeing no one called out, "Come". Echo answered, "Come." As no one came, Narcissus called again, "Why do you shun me?" Echo, asked the same question. "Let us join one another," said the youth. The maid answered with all her heart in the same words, and hastened to the spot, ready to throw her arms about his neck. He started back, exclaiming, "Hands off! I would rather die than you should have me!" "Have me," said she; but it was all in vain. He left her, and she went to hide her blushes in the recesses of the woods. From that time forth she lived in caves till at last all her flesh shrank away. Her bones were changed into rocks and there was nothing left of her but her voice. With that she is still ready to reply to any one who calls her, and keeps up her old habit of having the last word.
Narcissus's cruelty in this case was not the only instance. He shunned all the rest of the nymphs, as he had done poor Echo. One day a maiden who had in vain endeavored to attract him uttered a prayer that he might some time or other feel what it was to love and meet no return of affection. The avenging goddess heard and granted the prayer.
There was a clear fountain, with water like silver, to which the shepherds never drove their flocks, nor the mountain goats resorted, nor any of the beasts of the forest; neither was it defaced with fallen leaves or branches; but the grass grew fresh around it, and the rocks sheltered it from the sun. Hither came one day the youth, fatigued with hunting, heated and thirsty. He stooped down to drink, and saw his own image in the water; he thought it was some beautiful water-spirit living in the fountain. He stood gazing with admiration at those bright eyes, those locks curled like the locks of Dionysos or Apollo, the rounded cheeks, the ivory neck, the parted lips, and the glow of health and exercise over all. He fell in love with himself. He brought his lips near to take a kiss; he plunged his arms in to embrace the beloved object. It fled at the touch, but returned again after a moment and renewed the fascination. He could not tear himself away; he lost all thought of food or rest, while he hovered over the brink of the fountain gazing upon his own image. He talked with the supposed spirit: "Why, beautiful being, do you shun me? Surely my face is not one to repel you. The nymphs love me, and you yourself look not indifferent upon me. When I stretch forth my arms you do the same; and you smile upon me and answer my beckonings with the like." His tears fell into the water and disturbed the image. As he saw it depart, he exclaimed, "Stay, I entreat you! Let me at least gaze upon you, if I may not touch you."
With this, and much more of the same kind, he cherished the flame that consumed him, so that by degrees he lost his color, his vigor, and the beauty which formerly had so charmed the nymph Echo. She kept near him, however, and when he exclaimed, "Alas! alas!" she answered him with the same words. He pined away and died; and when his shade passed the Stygian river, it leaned over the boat to catch a look of itself in the waters. The nymphs mourned for him, especially the water-nymphs; and when they smote their breasts Echo smote hers also. They prepared a funeral pile and would have burned the body, but it was nowhere to be found; but in its place a flower, purple within and surrounded with white leaves, which bears the name and preserves the memory of Narcissus

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Posts: 1255
From: third rock from the Sun
Registered: Sep 2004

posted August 25, 2005 06:47 PM         

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Heres a picture for above.
Echo and Narcissus

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Posts: 1255
From: third rock from the Sun
Registered: Sep 2004

posted August 26, 2005 12:52 PM         

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IO is cursed by Zeus's wife that she can't spend more than 2 nights with anyone.
Lot of poets has expressed her grief.
The story of how the Peacock has many eyes is indeed interesting as well.

Zeus and IO

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Posts: 1255
From: third rock from the Sun
Registered: Sep 2004

posted September 02, 2005 11:48 PM         

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Diana

In Ephesus, Artemis(Diana) was considered one and the same as the goddess Kybelle, from whom the land of Anatolia was born. She is depicted with many facets. multi-breasted, and carrying a temple on her head. This three-storied temple indicates as well that she is the protector of cities. The crescent on her forehead indicates she is also the Moon Goddess and the breasts link her to fertility. Artemis as well carries the bee; the symbol of Ephesus. This indicates that she belongs uniquely to Anatolia.
http://www.ephesusguide.com/temple_of_artemis.html

Apollo and his chariot

The Greek mythological figure Apollo was said to drive a golden chariot across the sky each day, representing the sun. He is depicted here with his horse-drawn chariot on a ceiling painting in the Palazzo Corsini in Florence, Italy.

Apollo's temple at Delphi

Zeus: Apollo and Diana's father

The Greek sculptor Phidias created the 12-m (40-ft) tall Statue of Zeus in about 435 bc. The statue, depicted in this engraving by 16th-century Dutch artist Maarten van Heemskerck, stood in Olympia and was perhaps the most famous sculpture in ancient Greece. Phidias made the god’s robe and ornaments from gold and carved the body out of ivory.

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Posts: 1255
From: third rock from the Sun
Registered: Sep 2004

posted September 03, 2005 12:49 AM         

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Venus and Adonis

VENUS, playing one day with her boy Cupid, wounded her bosom with one of his arrows. She pushed him away, but the wound was deeper than she thought. Before it healed she beheld Adonis, and was captivated with him. She no longer took any interest in her favorite resorts—Paphos, and Cnidos, and Amathos, rich in metals. She absented herself even from heaven, for Adonis was dearer to her than heaven. Him she followed and bore him company. She who used to love to recline in the shade, with no care but to cultivate her charms, now rambles through the woods and over the hills, dressed like the huntress Diana; and calls her dogs, and chases hares and stags, or other game that it is safe to hunt, but keeps clear of the wolves and bears, reeking with the slaughter of the herd. She charged Adonis, too, to beware of such dangerous animals. “Be brave towards the timid,” said she; “courage against the courageous is not safe. Beware how you expose yourself to danger and put my happiness to risk. Attack not the beasts that Nature has armed with weapons. I do not value your glory so high as to consent to purchase it by such exposure. Your youth, and the beauty that charms Venus, will not touch the hearts of lions and bristly boars. Think of their terrible claws and prodigious strength! I hate the whole race of them. Do you ask me why?” Then she told him the story of Atalanta and Hippomenes, who were changed into lions for their ingratitude to her. 1
Having given him this warning, she mounted her chariot drawn by swans, and drove away through the air. But Adonis was too noble to heed such counsels. The dogs had roused a wild boar from his lair, and the youth threw his spear and wounded the animal with a sidelong stroke. The beast drew out the weapon with his jaws, and rushed after Adonis, who turned and ran; but the boar overtook him, and buried his tusks in his side, and stretched him dying upon the plain. 2
Venus, in her swan-drawn chariot, had not yet reached Cyprus, when she heard coming up through midair the groans of her beloved, and turned her white-winged coursers back to earth. As she drew near and saw from on high his lifeless body bathed in blood, she alighted and, bending over it, beat her breast and tore her hair. Reproaching the Fates, she said, “Yet theirs shall be but a partial triumph; memorials of my grief shall endure, and the spectacle of your death, my Adonis, and of my lamentations shall be annually renewed. Your blood shall be changed into a flower; that consolation none can envy me.” Thus speaking, she sprinkled nectar on the blood; and as they mingled, bubbles rose as in a pool on which raindrops fall, and in an hour’s time there sprang up a flower of bloody hue like that of the pomegranate. But it is short-lived. It is said the wind blows the blossoms open, and afterwards blows the petals away; so it is called Anemone, or Wind Flower, from the cause which assists equally in its production and its decay.

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Posts: 8591
From: former land of the leprechaun
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posted September 03, 2005 06:07 AM         

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Beautiful beautiful images guys, thanks so much for those!!!

Love to all

Sue G xxx

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Posts: 1255
From: third rock from the Sun
Registered: Sep 2004

posted October 10, 2005 11:58 PM         

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Apollo, Hyacinthus and Cyparissus Singing and Playing Music

A legend about Hyacinthus tells: Hyacinthus was so beautiful that Apollo fell in love with him, but one day while they were practicing throwing discus, Apollo’s discus changed its course and hit Hyacinthus on the head, killing him at once. Apollo was in grief. To commemorate his name, he transferred his friend’s blood into a flower.
Cyparissus, a beautiful youth loved by Apollo. His favorite companion was a sacred stag, which he had tamed. Once Cyparissus inadvertently killed the stag with his javelin. Full of grief he asked the gods for death. The gods turned him into a cypress, the tree of sadness.

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Posts: 1255
From: third rock from the Sun
Registered: Sep 2004

posted October 11, 2005 12:10 AM         

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Athena
Athena, Greek goddess identified in Rome with Minerva, the daughter of Zeus and Metis. Metis was pregnant and was about to give birth to a child when Zeus swallowed her. When the child was to be born Zeus felt terrible headaches and bade Hephaestus to split his head open with a blow. A girl in full armour sprang forth from his head; it was the goddess Athena.

Combat of Mars and Athena below

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Posts: 2779
From: dreamland
Registered: Jan 2004

posted October 11, 2005 05:49 AM         

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those are really preety iAmThat!!

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Posts: 1176
From:
Registered: Mar 2006

posted October 17, 2007 10:43 PM         

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*bump*

any one wanna add egyptology stuff?

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Posts: 8524
From: Still out looking for Schrödinger's cat
Registered: Mar 2005

posted October 17, 2007 11:04 PM         

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Interesting bump up!

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"Heaven doesn't want me and Hell is afraid I'll take over and start a rehab for the damned!"
~Judgement Must Be Balanced With Compassion~
~Do Not Seek Wealth From The Suffering, Or The Dire Needs Of Others~
~Assumption Is The Bane Of Understanding~
~ if you keep doing what you did, you'll keep getting what you got.~
Everything changes.
Fear not the changes.
"My body is physically disabled, but I am not my body nor am I its disabilities!"
"I would rather," Truth said; "to walk naked than wear the raiments of Falsehood!"
}><}}}(*> <*){{{><{}><}}}(*> <*){{{><{}><}}}(*> <*){{{><{}><}}}(*> <*){{{><{}<}}(*> <3
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Posts: 1176
From:
Registered: Mar 2006

posted October 18, 2007 09:50 AM         

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Yeah thanks.... these images help me relax.
im not an artist though.

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