The Gods of Ancient Greece
...ted that in Apollo there was almost no darkness at all, his primitive and cruel side was shown only briefly and in very few myths, such as the Flaying of Marsyas. He is also the god of Truth - legend has it that no false word ever fell from his lips, and he foretold the future with the same unerring accuracy as that of his arrows. Because of this his oracle at Delphi was very important to people, serving as a link between men and gods. It's interesting to note how Apollo's famous seat at Delphi came to be: When Apollo was only four days old (Greek gods sure grew up fast!) he gained revenge by killing Python, the terrible earth-serpent sent by Hera to torment his mother. Python was an offspring of Gaea, Mother Earth, and issued revelations through a fissure in the rock at Delphi, named after the mate of Python, the monster Delphyne. The priestess called Pythia would interpret these utterances, and give cryptic answers to any questions asked. Themis the Titaness fed him on nectar and ambrosia and on the fourth day of his birth Apollo called for bows and arrows, which were at once provided him by Hephaestus, the god of smiths and the forge. He came upon the beast at Parnassus and managed to wound it with his arrows, the followed it to Delphi, where he killed Python in the shrine. By slaying the monster he captured Delphi, even though he had to do penance in the region of Thessaly for the killing. Twice Zeus forced Apollo to be the slave of a mortal man to pay for his crime (see more on Python below). He was also the Healer-god, who first taught men medicine and the art of healing. Apollo's interest in healing suggests an ancient association with plague and its control. His son, Asclepius, was also identified with healing - indeed, so accomplished was Asclepius in medicine that an enraged Zeus killed him with a thunderbolt for daring to bring a mortal back to life. One of Apollo's more important daily tasks was to drive the Sun across the sky in his golden chariot. Sometimes he is called the son-god and Helios is said to be one of his many names, but in other myths Helios is a separate god, the son of the titan Hyperion. One of Apollo’s great deeds for humans was his killing of the serpent Python, who lived in the caves of Parnassus - because of this he was sometimes called Pythian. He killed this monster, a favorite of the goddess Hera, to avenge its harassment of his mother Leto while she was pregnant and looking for a place to deliver her twins. Incredibly, Apollo slew this feared snake when he was only four days old, as we saw above. Mother Earth reported this murder to Zeus, who was outraged. Apollo didn't care - He disregarded Zeus's command to visit Tempe and be purified, instead choosing to travel to Crete, where King Carmanor performed the purification ceremony. Upon returning to Greece, Apollo sought out Pan and coaxed him to reveal the art of prophecy. Next he seized the Delphic Oracle and retained its priestess, called the Pythoness, in his own service. That's how Apollo's worship at Delphi came to be. Marsyas was another of Apollo's victims, meeting a fate most gruesome. The story goes that the goddess Athena had crafted a double-flute from the bones of a stag, and with it had entertained the gods at a banquet. Athena couldn't figure out why Hera and Aphrodite were snickering and trying to hold back their laughter, even though the sound from the double-flute was wonderful. Later she went down to a stream and played the flute, watching her reflected image in the water. Sure enough, she discovered that blowing on the flute gave her a bluish face and swollen cheeks, and that's what was making the other goddesses laugh. In disgust, Athena hurled away the flute and laid a curse on anyone who picked it up. Enter poor Marsyas. Finding the double-flute, he no sooner placed it to his lips than it played a sweet melody on its own, inspired by the memory of Athena's music. Amazed and filled with wonder, Marsyas travelled from town to town playing the flute, and soon he was hailed as a musician surpassing even the great Apollo. Marsyas didn't bother to correct them, which aroused the wrath of Apollo. He challenged him to a contest, with the loser being at the complete mercy of the victor. The Muses were to be judge. The two musicians played equally well, until finally Apollo turned his lyre upside down and demanded that Marsyas do the same, singing and playing at the same time. This was impossible to do with a flute and Marsyas lost the contest. Then, the otherwise sweet and bright Apollo showed a rare dark side, flaying Marsyas alive and nailing his skin to a pine tree. This myth was meant to serve as an example for mortals not to compete with the gods. Artemis and her twin brother Apollo were the children of Zeus and Leto, who was the daughter of the Titans Phoebe and Coeus. They were born on the island of Delos because Hera, jealous of her husband's love for the woman, had refused Leto to give birth on either terra firma or on an island out at sea. The only place safe enough to give birth was Delos because Delos was a floating island. Some versions of the twins' birth state that Artemis was born one day before Apollo, and the birth took place on the island of Ortygia. Then the next day, Artemis helped Leto to cross to the island of Delos, and aided Leto with the delivery of Apollo. Either version may be considered accurate. Like her brother, she has the power to send plagues or sudden death among mortals, and also to heal those who please her. Artemis loves to hunt and she is the lady of the forest and all the wild things, as well as the Huntsman-in-chief to the gods, an unusual position for a woman. She protects little children and all sucking animals. Like Apollo she hunts with a silver bow and silver arrows, made for her by the Cyclopes Brontes, Arges and Steropes. They had been told by Zeus to do whatever she commanded of them, and Artemis had instructed these great smiths to create a splendid silver bow and a quiverful of arrows. In return for this great gift she promised the Cyclopes that they would have to eat the first prey she brought down with her new weapons. Armed with these weapons Artemis next went to the region of Arcadia and asked Pan for three lop-eared hounds, two parti-colored and one spotted, capable of dragging live lions back to their mistress. Pan also gifted Artemis seven swift hounds from Sparta. She captured alive four horned hinds and harnessed them to a golden chariot with golden bits. That was her ride. The first four times she tried the silver bow that the Cyclopes had made for her, Artemis sharpened her unerring aim by taking shots at two trees, a wild beast and a city of unjust men, whom she cut down mercilessly. She is one of the three virgin goddesses along with Athena and Hestia. When Artemis was still only three years old and on her father Zeus' knee, he asked her what presents she would like. She didn't hesitate to ask this of the King of the Olympians: "Pray give me eternal virginity; as many names as my brother Apollo; a bow and arrows like his; the office of bringing light; a saffron hunting tunic with a red hem reaching to my knees; sixty young ocean nymphs from Amnisus in Crete, to take care of my buskins and feed my hounds when I am not out shooting; all the mountains in the world; and, lastly, any city you care to choose for me, but one will be enough, because I intend to live on mountains most of the time. Unfortunately, women in labor will often be invoking me, since my mother Leto carried and bore me without pains, and the Fates have therefore made me patroness of child-birth." Callimachus: Hymn to Artemis Hence, she also presides over childbirth; as stated above, this goes back to the fact that she did not cause her mother any pain when she was born. Artemis demanded the same chastity from her followers and when one of her nymphs, Callisto, was seduced by Zeus and her pregnancy was revealed, she was changed by Artemis into a bear, and would have been hunted to death had Zeus not placed her among the stars. Callisto's son, Arcas, was saved and became the ancestor of the Arcadians. As always in Greek Mythology, she also had her dark side, showing her as fierce and vengeful warrior. For example, although she is the protector of the young, she kept the Greek Fleet from sailing to Troy, until Iphigenia, a royal maiden, daughter of the Commander in Chief Agamemnon was sacrificed to her. All because the Greek soldiers killed one of the creatures, a hare, together with her young. On the other hand, when women died a quick and painless death, they were said to have been slain by Artemis’ silver arrows. Artemis was vindictive and there were many who suffered from her anger. One of her actions was to join Apollo in killing the children on Niobe. Artemis took part in the battle against the Giants, where she killed Gration. She also destroyed the Aloadae and is said to have killed the monster Bouphagus. Other victims of Artemis included Orion and Actaeon, who had seen her bathing in the nude and was turned by her into a stag, only to be torn to shreds by his own dogs. She was the youngest manifestation of the Triple Moon-goddess, thus Artemis was also associated with the moon, and called Phoebe and Selene (Luna in Latin), neither of which name originally belonged to her. Phoebe was a titan, one of the elder gods. So was Selene, a moon-goddess and sister of Helios, the sun-god often confused with Artemis’ brother, Apollo. She was called The Maiden of the Silver Bow and her silver bow indeed stood for the new moon. In the later poems Artemis became associated with another goddess, hectate, the dark and awful goddess of the lower world. Hecate was the Goddess of the Dark of the Moon, the black nights when the moon is hidden. She was associated with deeds of darkness, the Goddess of the Crossways, which were held to be ghostly places of evil magic and awful divinity. Thus she became "the goddess with three forms," Selene in the sky, Artemis on earth and Hecate in the lower world as well as in the world above, when it is wrapped in darkness. In Artemis is shown most vividly the uncertainty between good and evil which exists in every god. Ironically, this contrast is least apparent in her brother, the God of Light, Apollo. Artemis Artemis was held in honour in all the wild and mountainous areas of Greece, in Arcadia and in the country of Sparta, in Laconia on Mount Taygetus and in Elis. Her most famous shrine was at Ephesus. Artemis absorbed some cults that involved human sacrifice, such as that practiced in Tauris. She was also the protecting deity of the Amazons who, like her, were warriors and huntresses and independent of men. Her temple at Ephesus was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Where Apollo was considered the sun, she was associated with the moon. Ephesus is located on the Aegean coast of Turkey, what the ancients called Asia Minor, about 200 miles south of Ancient Troy. Ephesus controlled the narrow entrance from the Aegean to a large lake and the surrounding beautiful and fertile mountains and hills. Ephesus was a rich and important settlement for at least eight thousand years - all of recorded history . . .and before. Small round female forms have been discovered from the Hittite period, which began about 1900 B.C. These were fertility figures of the goddess the Hittites called Ma. The Hittites lived in Asia Minor for a thousand years and disappeared for reasons not now known. They were replaced by Phrygians about 900 B.C. The Phrygians continued to worship the same fertility goddess, renamed Kybele (or Cybele, our modern Sibyl). When the Greeks came here, they merged the deity they had brought from Greece with the goddess of the local people. When the Romans succeeded the Greeks, the worship remained unchanged except in name; the Greek Artemis became the Roman Diana. The Temple of Artemis no longer stands. The wonder of the ancient world was built after the death of Alexander the Great, about 320 B.C., and stood for a thousand years, only to be destroyed by the Goths, a Germanic people, who swept across Europe and across the Bosporus into Asia Minor. The marble from the temple was later used in the construction of local buildings, as well as the important church of St. Sofia in Istanbul. Athena Athena is one of the most interesting and influential deities of the ancient Greek culture. The great Athena was the first to teach mathematics and all ancient women's arts, such as cooking, weaving and spinning. She was the goddess of wisdom and war, but, unlike the god of war Ares, she took no pleasure from battle, preferring instead to settle conflict through mediation. However, she still was very skilled in the arts of war. Her mercy was great and if ever it came to her to cast a deciding vote in a criminal trial, she usually chose to free the criminal. When Athena was moved to engage in battle she never lost, even against Ares himself, for she was a far superior strategist and tactician than he was. Generals and wise captains always came to her for advice. She carries no weapons in times of peace and will usually borrow weapons from Zeus when needed. She was the only one allowed to use his fearsome Aegis, and his devastating thunderbolts. It's thought that in the Palasgian myths that Athena was born beside Lake Tritonis in Lybia, and her father has been thought to be Poseidon, Itonus or Zeus, king of the Olympian gods. The most common version says that Athena is Zeus’ daughter and his favorite child, and she is often described as "gray-eyed" or "flashing-eyed." According to most Greek mythology, Athena is said to have no mother, because she sprang full grown and in full armor from her fathers head. This is not completely true however. Athena’s mother was Metis; Zeus came to love her, and wasted no time in pursuing her in his direct way. Metis wanted nothing to do with Zeus and tried to escape as best she could, going so far as to change her form many times, turning into several creatures such as hawks, fish, and serpents. But Zeus was both determined and equally talented at changing form. Refusing to be denied he continued his pursuit until she gave up. An Oracle of Gaea (Mother Earth) then prophesied that Metis' first child would be a girl, but her second child would be a boy that would overthrow Zeus as had happened to his father (Cronus) and his grandfather (Uranus). Zeus took this warning seriously. When he next saw Metis he flattered her and made her comfotable, then with Metis off guard Zeus suddenly opened his mouth and swallowed her. This was the end of Metis but, possibly the beginning of Zeus's wisdom, for many claim that Zeus really had no brains until he swallowed his wife. Some time later, Zeus developed an incredible headache. He howled so loudly it could be heard throughout the earth. The other gods came to see what the problem was. Hermes knew what had to be done and made the gods‘ smith, Hephaestus, take an axe and split open Zeus's skull. (Other sources claim that it was the Titan Prometheus who rendered the blow). Out of the skull sprang Athena, full grown and in a full set of armor. The very ancient Greeks believed that men were solely responsible for conception of a child, and the woman’s only role was to carry it until it was born, that's why Metis is not given any credit for Athena birth. There are two distinctly different representations of Athena’s character. In the classic story of the Trojan War, the Iliad, by the poet Homer, she is a fierce and ruthless warrior goddess, who likes war and fighting. In the Odyssey and all alter poetry she is still very powerful, but only fights to defend the State. She was the embodiment of wisdom, purity and reason, as well as the patron of the handicrafts and sciences and agriculture. Athena was fond of many Greek heroes and assisted them in their quests, helping many of the Greek superheroes attain their goals. Those she helped included Perseus, Jason, Cadmus, Odysseus, and Heracles. She even personally went up to Mount Pelion to cut down the trees to build the Argonauts' boat, called the Argo. Her contributions to society were many: She gave mortals the bridle allowing them to tame and use Poseidon’s gift of horses. She also invented the trumpet, the flute, the pot, the rake, the plow, the yoke, the ship, and the chariot. Of the three virgin goddesses (Athena, Artemis and Hestia) she was head of them and called the Maiden, Parthenos. To honor her the ancient Greeks built at Athens a splendid temple called the Acropolis, with its centerpiece consisting of a temple to Athena called the Parthenon. Athena was perhaps the most recognizable of the gods. She was always depicted with her unmistakable helmet and the ever-present spear. Because she was Zeus’ favorite she was allowed to use his weapons and armor, including the awful aegis, his buckler and even his thunderbolts. Her shield was also very recognizable: after Perseus defeated the gorgon Medusa, Athena put its head on her shield. Indeed Athena was a brave warrior and she was the lone deity to stand her ground when Typhon attacked Olympus. Typhon was the largest, most dangerous, and most grotesque of all creatures. So frightening and intimidating was Typhon that when he rushed Mount Olympus all of the gods ran off to Egypt and hid themselves by assuming the forms of different animals. Only Athena stood firm, and she shamed and lured Zeus into action. Zeus struck Typhon with a thunderbolt and used Uranus' castrating sickle to injure the huge creature. Typhon retreated to Mount Casius, where he and Zeus resumed their struggle, hurling mountains at one another, which resulted in Typhon being crushed beneath what is now known as Mount Aetna. Mount Olympus and the reign of Zeus was saved thanks to Athena. Athena's favorite companion when she was a child was a girl called Pallas, and the two were inseparable, honing their fighting skills and sharing good times. One time, during a practice sparring session, Athena accidentally mortally wounded her best friend, and grieving sorely for her death, Athena made a wooden image in her likeness, which was called the Palladium. She also took on her name as part of hers and henceforth was often referred to as Pallas Athena. When Athena's warlike aspect shown as she was often referred to as Pallas. As the goddess of war, she was responsible for deciding the fates of individuals engaged in combat. She received no pleasure from battle and could be merciful; in fact, she believed peaceful solutions were the better answer to more violent situations. Athena railed against excesses in war or everyday life. She taught men to conquer their savage streak, to tame nature and become masters of the elements. Her adoring subjects called her "Queen of Heaven", the meaning of "Athena". Nike, the goddess and personification of Victory, was often at her side, as one would expect of the goddess of war who never lost. Not surprisingly, Nike was also a favorite of Zeus. Even though she was as modest as Artemis and Hestia, the other virgin goddesses, Athena was far more generous. A man called Teiresias walked in on Athena while she was taking a bath and she was startled that he had entered the room and seen her. Not wanting to kill Teiresias for his mistake, she laid her hands over his eyes and blinded him, but gave him inward sight so that Teiresias became one of the most well-known oracles in Greece. One of the few times that Athena showed petulance was in her weaving contest against the mortal named Arachne. This young woman fancied herself the world's best weaver, even daring to compare herself against Athena. Hearing this, Athena took on the guise of an old woman and appeared at Arachne's house to give her some friendly advice to respect the gods. Arachne was too vain to listen and told the old woman to be gone."Let the great Athena try her skill against mine, and if I lose she can do whatever she pleases with me," she bragged. That's when Athena dropped her disguise and revealed her true identity. All the bystanders fell to their knees in reverence except for Arachne, who was unmoved. The two began their weaving contest, and for a while Arachne was winning against Athena, even poking fun at the gods through the tapestry she crafted, but finally Athena had enough and touched the mortal on the forehead, making her feel her shame. Realizing what she had done, Arachne ran off and hung herself from a tree. Feeling sorry for the hanging Arachne, Athena brought her back to life, but so that mortals learn that it doesn't pay to compare themselves to the gods, she changed Arachne into a spider. There she sits, her and her descendents, forever weaving their web, as a constant reminder not to mess with gods. Athena’s special city was Athens, patronage of which she won from Poseidon by giving the city the olive tree which King Cecrops judged to be a better gift than the water spring that Poseidon provided. Both gods wanted Athens as their own, and Poseidon struck the side of the mountain with his trident, causing a salt spring to burst forth. Wise Athena in turn created the olive tree, which provided people with food, oil and wood for their fires. Needless to say, her gift was far superior, and she was awarded Athens, which was named in her honor. Athena's tree is the olive and her bird is the owl, also a symbol of wisdom. Other symbols of...