Side Effects (of living and being me)

Helen of Troy is one more of the fascinating characters I read a lot about. She is depicted in the most different ways. On this weekend I read one more book on her, “Mémoirs d’Hélène”, by Sophie Chauveau, where Helen appears not only as a strikingly beautiful woman, but also as a wise politician, with a powerful personality and intellect. These qualities made of her a magnificent woman, able of intellectual duels with philosophers and kings.
This Helen, described by Sophie Chauveau is indeed a fabulous creature.The book also includes an exellent dictionary of “helenisms”, expressions and things of the Ancient Greece. I will certainly read this book again and again.
(Bellatryx)

The Conflicting Views of Helen
Most Greek mythic characters seem to have enduring personality traits, which can be observed by reading their accounts in works recorded by several different authors. However, anyone reading about Helen does not obtain this unified perspective by various writers. The more one reads about Helen, the more conflict one feels as to her true nature. According to some authors, Helen is an inspirational female, transcending the strict boundaries imposed on Greek women. According to others, she is a deceitful and shameful women, the sole cause of the deaths of thousands of brave Geek and Trojan men. These extremely contradictory views of Helen can be seen in lyric poetry, art, and in epic tradition. Some writers take on entirely negative views of Helen, such as Homer and Alkaios, while some have clearly positive attitudes to her, such as Sappho. Other authors are unclear as to their view of this complex woman, and vacillate between positive and negative opinions, which can be noted in works by Stesichorus and Euripides. Even in art, we see many contrary sentiments regarding this complex character.

Alkaios, a lyric poet from Mytilene in Lesbos, does not waver in his feelings towards this controversial woman. In one of his poems, Alkaios holds Helen responsible for the destruction of Troy, “…and excited the heart of Argive Helen; maddened by the Trojan man, a traitorous guest, she followed him in a ship on the sea, leaving at home her child and her husband… The Trojan plain holds conquered because of that woman” (Sappho’s Lyre, 1991). Alkaios blames Helen for violating her sole role in Greek society, which is to be responsible for the domestic sphere of life. He believes that Helen fell in love with Paris and abandoned her husband and child. Alkaois goes on to insist that Helen was the cause for the devastating war at Troy. We can see that Alkaois has no mixed emotions towards Helen, he sees her as an evil woman who decided to forsake her feminine duty, and in so doing, caused a war which devastated both Greece and Troy.

Another lyric poet, also held Helen responsible for her acts, but did not condemn her. Sappho, a contemporary of Alkaois who also came from Lesbos, looks upon Helen with the most approval out of all of the Greek writers. Most writers who favored Helen devised a way to take away the shame associated with a woman who would desert her husband for another. They accomplished this by retelling the story of Helen so that she never in fact went to Troy. Only Sappho maintains that she did in fact leave her husband, Menelaus, but she celebrates the way in which Helen exorcised her individual judgement in complete disregard for social consequences.

Sappho composed songs of desire for relationships and for individuals. In an ode to a woman named Anaktoria, Sappho uses Helen as an example of the idea that whatever one loves appears most desirable, “…the fairest thing on the dark earth: I say it is whatever one loves…Helen, far surpassing the beauty of mortals, leaving behind the best man of all, sailed away to Troy…Reminding me now of Anaktoria being gone” (Sappho’s Lyre, 1991). Sappho connects Helen’s desire for Paris with the poet’s desire for Anaktoria. Sappho refuses to replicate stories of feminine object status, as was the role of women in antiquity. She subverts the common interpretation of Helen’s passivity in her journey to Troy, and sees Helen as an actant in her own life, moving toward what she believed to be the most beautiful thing. For this reason, Sappho used her example as part of her praise to Anaktoria. This poem demonstrates an instant in which women became more than the object of men’s desires.

Homer, one of the most celebrated authors of epic literature, has a slightly more complex view of Helen’s character. The Iliad is filled with negative references toward Helen from every character who mentions her name. Whenever Helen is present in the story, she displays self consciousness about the scandal of her behavior, in leaving her husband for a foreigner and causing the war at Troy. Shame is her distinction, for this author who holds the virtue of honor above all others. Not only does Helen disgrace herself by choosing a foreigner over her own husband, but she disgraces all of Hellas who goes to war for ten years over such an unvirtuous woman.

Helen is not only treated as the cause of the Trojan war, but she is also a helpless captive. She became the type of all women who bring woe to men. However, this entirely negative view of Helen is made more complicated by the fact that Helen is marked by undecidability (Suzuki, 1989). It is unclear whether the war is over Helen or for her numerous possessions, and it is ambiguous as to whether Aphrodite forced Helen to leave Menelaus for Paris. But if Aphrodite is seen as an abstract embodiment of passion, Helen’s act was motivated by lust. Her undecidability as a trait can also be seen in her crossing over the boundary between the male and the female spheres; Helen presides over combat scenes, and does not merely stay at home. It is uncertain whether Homer views Helen as a completely base character when he uses her as a scapegoat who allows the warriors to affirm their community with each other. It seems that Homer questions the idea that the war could be due only to Helen, and underscores her inadequacy as a symbol of war by combining her abstraction in the minds of the Greeks to the concreteness of their wives, children, and the home they left behind.

Homer represents Helen in The Iliad who scorns her second husband, Paris, and longs for what she left behind. She must passively live out the effects of her fatal act. Most of the characters in the story blame Helen for the war, however Menelaus thinks of Helen as a victim, and Priam, the king of Troy, exonerates her by blaming the gods (Suzuki, 1989). Helen blames herself, and wishes that she had never betrayed her husband, “…if only death had pleased me then, grim death, the day I followed your son to Troy, forsaking my marriage bed, my kinsmen, and my child” (Homer) In this passage, Helen expresses remorse and self- hatred. The question of her responsibility for the war is left unanswered. Helen’s vile nature is left somewhat ambiguous, because she is given the depth to analyze her own actions.

In The Odyssey, Helen’s scandal is softened. It is almost a thing of the past, but not forgotten. Helen is no longer seen as the wild mistress, she is now only a wife. In The Iliad, Helen is connected with Aphrodite. Here, she is connected with Artemis, the goddess of chastity (Suzuki, 1989). This seems to signal Helen’s transformation from woman of passion to chaste wife.

However, Helen still remains a symbol for doubleness. During the course of the Trojan war, Helen is married to Paris, a Trojan citizen, and is protected and cared for by his family. Therefore, her loyalty to the Greeks entails a betrayal of the Trojans. When Helen is speaking with Telemachus, Odysseus’ son, she tries to illustrate her loyalty towards the Greeks by explaining that she did not give away Odysseus’ identity when he was disguised. She goes on to explain how she rejoiced over the deaths of the Trojan men while the Trojan women were grieving. This casts a malevolent light on Helen’s loyalty, which is the very quality she had intended to illustrate to Telamachus.

In this story, Helen is a constant comparison to Penelope, who has remained faithful to her husband. Like Helen before her marriage to Menelaus, Penelope is beset by many suitors. Unlike Helen who yielded to Paris in her husband’s shorter absence, Penelope fends off her suitors. Penelope successfully defends against becoming an object of exchange (Suzuki, 1989). The Odyssey reevaluates gender roles determined in The Iliad so that Penelope is recognized by Odysseus as his equal counterpart. On the other hand, Helen’s victemage serves as a pretext and a scapegoat for the war. She is delegated to live in the shadow of her unfaithful deed, and passes her time in needless acts. Homer makes Helen duplicitous and disloyal, as well as inconsequential.

Stesichorus, a seventh century Sicilian lyric poet, changed his opinion of Helen drastically throughout his poems. At first, Stesichorus wrote poetry about how Tyndarius, Helen’s father, sacrificed to the gods but forgot about Aphrodite, “and she, in anger, made the daughters of Tyndarius twice wed and thrice wed and husband deserters” (Sappho’s Lyre, 1991). According to Socrates, after writing this abuse of her, Stesichorus was struck blind by Helen, who was worshiped by Spartans as a goddess. He then came to understand the truth and constructed a new poem called the Palinode, meaning “song reversed”. The intention of the Palinode was to restore Helen to her dignity as a goddess of a Spartan cult. In this poem, Stesichorus calls Homer’s authority into question by asserting that an imaginary Helen was sent to Troy as a false and dishonorable sign for which the Greeks and Trojans brought down their civilizations, and the real Helen never deserted her husband. She was sent to Egypt where the noble pharaoh, Proteus, looked after her. After writing the Palinode, Helen was mollified, and Stesichorus’ sight was restored.

Stesichorus at first agreed with the Homeric version of the wicked Helen who caused shame to herself and all of Greek society by her unfaithful act. However, in the Palinode, Stesichorus attempts to resolve Helen’s ambiguities. He declares Helen of Troy, with her demonic and deadly ways, imaginary while he maintains that the real Helen remains pure. He tries to erase Helen’s distinguishing mark of doubleness by reducing her to a single character. With Helen removed from Troy, Greek womanhood was vindicated , and by removing her from Paris’ lover, men’s honor was saved (Austin, 1994).

No one has a more complex version of the nature of an already enigmatic character as does Euripides. In his early plays on the Trojan theme he insists that Helen was the villain of the Trojan war. In Trojan Women, Helen is detested by men and women, as well as by Greeks and Trojans. In one scene of the play, a Trojan woman, Cassandra, is talking to her mother after the fall of Troy. She not only maintains that Helen went with Paris willingly, but also claims that she was the sole reason for the downfall of Troy.

In another of Euripides’ plays, Andromache, the title character Andromache says that it was Helen’s fault that the Greeks and Trojans fought, and that because of this woman, her husband is now dead. Although the Trojan women seem to blame Helen for their misery, the man who Helen left for a foreigner still claims her to be innocent. Menelaus says that Helen did not go to Troy of her own will, but the gods forced her to go. He goes on to explain that it was in fact a service to the Greeks that they had to go to war, because it forced them to progress in weapon use, battle tactics, and courage. It is unclear which side of the argument Euripides comes out on, although it seems he is unsure himself.

Euripides again displays the ambiguity as to whether Helen was responsible for her infidelity, and thus the Trojan war, or whether she was forced against her will to leave her husband in the play Electra. In one scene, Clytemnestra says to her daughter, Electra, that it was Helen’s lust that caused the Greek men to sail to Troy, and inadvertently caused the death of her daughter. But, later in the play, Helen’s brothers claim that it was a phantom who went to Troy, and Helen never did anything wrong.

However, Euripides drastically changes his portrait of Helen in his play, Helen. This play is Euripides’s own Palinode, in which he has Helen remain pure, while her phantom is sent to Troy. Helen is set in Egypt, where we find Helen seventeen years after the Greeks sailed to Troy. Like Penelope in The Odyssey, Helen is another faithful wife story. In this version, Hermes has exiled Helen to Egypt after Aphrodite gave Paris a phantom Helen to take with him as a prize. Euripides tells a slightly different account than Stesichorus, when he declares that the good Pharaoh Proteus has died, and his evil son, Theokymeinos, has taken over. Helen schemes with Menalaus, and using her charm and cleverness, she outwits Theokymeinos who wants to marry her, and the two lovers make it safely home to Sparta.

This play attempts to blend the many different Helen’s into one. Contrary to the many other accounts of Helen, self-restraint is her fame.In warding off Theokymeinos for seventeen years, she has dissipated the shame, and saved the beauty of the old Helen. She is now the clever wife with a good heart and the patience of Penelope. Helen is made a tragic character in this play because she is divorced from her name, but blamed for everything associated with it. She laments the terrible dishonor, which is no fault of her own, but has been forced upon her because of her beauty. A messenger later backs up Helen’s story and explains to Menelaus that, in fact, it was only a phantom Helen who had committed the shameful acts which the real Helen had been blamed for. Euripides has us feel sorry for Helen, who must have felt sorrow and alienation, in being confined to silence and idleness for the many long years during and after the Trojan war.

It is not only literature which gives us these drastically differing views of Helen, but the art work at the time shows equally conflicting opinions of this controversial woman. According to the art work on some of the vases, Helen is seen as a shameful woman, who has willingly abandoned her family for the dishonorable Paris. In others she is seen as an innocent victim, who can do nothing to avoid her capture, whether it be Paris or a god. In one vase, which makes it clear that Helen’s desertion of her husband was not of her own free will, Paris is seen leading Helen away by her wrists, while her sister is futilely trying to help her. Another vase depicts a similar scene in which Paris has come holding a spear to abduct Helen. Aphrodite is seen standing behind Helen, who is following Paris reluctantly. Behind Aphrodite is the goddess Peitho, who is a symbol of persuasion.

Although these vases portray an innocent Helen who is helpless victim in her abduction, the majority of the vases illustrate the shameless woman who willfully abandoned her family and her country. In one vase, Helen is seen fleeing from her rightful husband Menelaus. In another vase, which captures two connecting scenes in separate pieces, Paris and Helen first meet each other. He is seen lowering his head, while she is looking up at him from under her eyelashes. This flirtatious scene seems to imply that Helen went with Paris willingly. In a different vase, Paris is seen judging a beauty contest. The picture does not tell us much, but the description explains that one women in the vase is unclear, but it is not Peitho because persuasion was not needed for Helen. Finally, another vase depicts the scene of Helen seated on Aphrodite’s lap, with Peitho behind her, and the goddess Nemesis pointing an accusing finger at Helen.

We can clearly see in art, literature, and poetry, that Helen is one of the most ambiguous characters of antiquity. She has been portrayed in different sources, and even by the same authors in opposite extremes. According to some, Helen is an innocent victim who was abducted and slandered, according to others she was a good Spartan goddess, while others believed that she was an evil source of shame who caused much death and suffering to Greeks and Trojans alike.We can only guess at the reasons for these authors contradictory perceptions of this woman.

Perhaps Sappho respected Helen, who she did not even attempt to exonerate by rewriting her history so that she never left her husband. Maybe because Sappho was also a female, she could respect Helen as a woman who surpassed the narrowly circumscribed sphere that a woman was allowed, and celebrated Helen for acting of her own will. Homer, on the other hand, wrote epics in a time when virtue and honor were the most important values, and women only played the part of object in the men’s world of exchange. Alkaois subscribed to this ideal, and saw Helen as a scandalous woman in a time when women had a narrowly defined role, and insubordination was unheard of. At first Euripides agreed with the Homeric account of Helen, but may have changed his mind and rewrote her history to take away from the shame to Hellas for fighting a war for such a disgraceful woman. Stesichorus also agreed with Homer’s version of Helen, but since he was from Sparta, he may have decided to take away the impurity from the goddesses name, who was worshiped in Sparta. It is not surprising that the vases and art work of the time reflected the ambiguities and lack of consensus on this controversial female figure.

From http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/classes/KOp.html

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Everybody like stories, and the magnificent heroic stories of Greek Mythology are part of almost everybody’s life.
All those gods and goddesses, the jealousy, the demigods, the monsters, all those characters were part of the population of my world.
Among them, Chiron. The scholar, the teacher of gods. A centaur. I almost could “see” him in the sky, the centaur, symbol of my star, Sagittarius.
He was a friend of Pentesilea, queen of Amazons and Queen Hecuba’s sister.Queen Hecuba was King Priam of Troy’s wife.
Chiron was a master in the healing arts, too. But could not heal himself after being accidentally wounded by Heracles’ arrow. As he was imortal, his suffering was terrible, and he asked Zeus to take his life.
Zeus did what Chiron asked, and put him in the sky, as the constellation of the centaur, the Sagittarius, the archer pointing his arrow to the infinite,symbolizing his wish of ascending, of transcending his human nature .
(Bellatryx)

In Greek mythology, the centaurs (Greek: ???ta????) are a race part human and part horse, with a horse’s body and a human head and torso.

Dwelling in the mountains of Thessaly, the centaurs were the offspring of Ixion and Nephele, the rain-cloud. Alternatively, the centaurs were the offspring of Kentauros (the son of Ixion and Nephele) and some Magnesian mares or of Apollo and Hebe. It was sometimes said that Ixion planned to have sex with Hera but Zeus prevented it by fashioning a cloud in the shape of Hera. Since Ixion is usually considered the ancestor of the centaurs, they may be referred to by poets as the Ixionidae.

A Centaur battles a Lapith on this metope from the ParthenonThe Centaurs are best known for their fight with the Lapithae, caused by their attempt to carry off Hippodamia (a “horse” woman herself) on the day of her marriage to Peirithous, king of the Lapithae, himself the son of Ixion. The strife among these cousins is a metaphor for the conflict between the lower appetites and civilized behavior in humankind. Theseus, who happened to be present, a hero and founder of cities, threw the balance in favor of the right order of things, and assisted Pirithous. The Centaurs were driven off (Plutarch, Theseus, 30; Ovid, Metamorphoses xii. 210; Diodorus Siculus. iv. 69, 70). Vignettes of the battle between Lapiths and Centaurs were sculpted in bas-relief on the frieze of the Parthenon, which was dedicated to wise Athena.

Like the Titanomachy, the defeat of the Titans by the Olympian gods, the contests with the Centaurs typify the struggle between civilization and barbarism.

The general character of centaurs is that of wild, lawless and inhospitable beings, the slaves of their animal passions. Two exceptions to this rule were Pholus and Chiron, who expressed their “good” nature, wise and kind centaurs. They are variously explained by a fancied resemblance to the shapes of clouds, or as spirits of the rushing mountain torrents or winds.

Abduction of Hippodameia, Carrier-BelleuseAmong the centaurs, the third one with an individual identity is Nessus. The mythological episode of the centaur Nessus carrying off Deianira, the bride of Heracles, also provided Giambologna (1529-1608), a Flemish sculptor whose career was spent in Italy, splendid opportunities to devise compositions with two forms in violent interaction. He made several versions of Nessus carrying off Deianira, represented by examples in the Louvre, the Grunes Gewölbe, Dresden, the Frick Collection, New York and the Huntington Library, San Marino, California. His followers, like Adriaen de Vries and Pietro Tacca, continued to make countless repetitions of the subject. When Belleuse tackled the same play of forms in the 19th century, (illustration right) he titled it Abduction of Hippodameia .

In early Attic vase-paintings centaurs were represented as human beings in front, with the body and hind legs of a horse attached to the back; later, they were men only as far as the waist. The battle with the Lapithae, and the adventure of Heracles with Pholus (Apollodorus, ii. 5; Diod. Sic. IV, li) are favourite subjects of Greek art (see Sidney Colvin, Journal of Hellenic Studies, I, 1881, and the exhaustive article in Roscher’s Ausführliches Lexikon der griechischen und römischen Mythologie).

Many centaur legends state that they are very fickle creatures, and often look to the sky to determine the fates. They are great astrologers and have a love for divination.

CHIRON IN ASTRONOMY

Astronomy: Chiron is one of four planetoids labeled “Centaurs” in honor of their dual nature as both asteroids and comets. Again, technically Chiron is not a planet–its small mass in comparison to even the smallest of planets, in addition with an orbit that it has held for only a few million years, make it and its four brothers unlikely candidates for planethood.

Though Chiron is not by any means remarkable compared to the planets, it is worth note as far as asteroids or comets are concerned. Its mass is a hundred times that of most comets; and while its mass is not remarkable among asteroids, its makeup–mostly methane, ammonia, and carbon monoxide ices–is. Add to this the fact that Chiron possesses a coma like a comet, and that the coma has been observed as large as two million kilometers in diameter, and Chiron becomes more remarkable an object still. Whether or not Chiron is typical of objects that lie in the Kupier Belt beyond Neptune is uncertain, though astronomers hope to gain a closer look of the object when next it makes its closest approach to the Sun in 2047.

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Astrology: Chiron’s role in the chart is two-fold. First, it describes what an individual must learn, in both a karmic and mundane sense. Second, it describes what one is best qualified to teach. An individual must sometimes learn his/her lessons through pain, much as the Chiron of myth gained his wisdom in healing others by suffering a wound which he could not heal. Chiron rules no sign, though one does not have to stretch one’s imagination to see a connection between Chiron and the sign Sagittarius.

Astronomical Data:
Avg. Distance from Sun:
2 870 000 000 km
Mass: 8.683 x 1025 kg
Radius: 25 362 km

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Astronomy: Uranus has two primary features which give the blue-tinged world its claim to fame. First is that the planet’s axis is tilted 89 degrees from its orbit: if the other planets in the solar system spin like tops, Uranus spins like a wheel. Uranus’ twelve moons orbit at the same plane as the world’s rotation, and its rings are formed around Uranus’ equator, so that Uranus and its moons resemble a miniature solar system. The difference is that, in comparison with the rest of the solar system, Uranus and its companions are black sheep in terms of rotational alignment.

Uranus’ other distinct feature is its lack of distinct features. Pictures of Uranus from ground telescopes yield a plain blue disk. Even when Voyager 2 visited the world in 1989, it could gain almost no visual detail about Uranus’ atmosphere. This uniformity of Uranus’ atmosphere is a unique trait, especially given the rarity of a uniform anything in nature.

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Astrology: Uranus is the first of the three “generational” planets, so named because the periods for Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are so long that their positions are typically shared in the charts of anyone born in a particular generation.

Uranus tells of the way in which an individual within a given generation may best find independence and freedom. It rules “radical ideas and people, as well as revolutionary events that upset established structures” (Skalka 54) within a generation; within the individual, it describes freedom of thought and expression, areas of unpredictability, and where one person’s lifestyle may hold him/her apart from others or from society. Uranus also describes communication, like Mercury; however, in the case of Uranus, the method of communication is usually more intense. Uranus rules the sign of Aquarius.

Astronomical Data:
Avg. Distance from Sun:
4 497 000 000 km
Mass: 1.024 x 1026 km
Radius: 24 624 km

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Astronomy: Neptune is the most distant of the gas giant planets; one of its years is equivalent to 163 years on Earth. As far as the gas giant worlds are concerned, Neptune is perhaps the most “typical.” Its system of moons, its diffuse ring system, and an atmosphere with visible turbulence are nothing unique. Neptune does bear one feature, however, that strikingly resembles a well-known feature on Jupiter–as Jupiter has a Great Red Spot, Neptune has a Great Blue Spot. Although the spot is not as large as Jupiter’s massive storm, the dynamics of the two storms are similar.

Voyager 2 passed Neptune in 1992 and gave us most of the information we now possess about the world. The probe now heads toward the distant Oort Cloud, though its distance will likely prevent it from receiving instructions or transmitting any information back to Earth when or if it reaches the Oort Cloud. After the Oort Cloud, intersteller space awaits Voyager 2. . .

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Astrology: Neptune, like Uranus, plays a dual role in the chart of an individual: both as an influence on the individual by society, and as a trait of the individual. In a generaltional role, Neptune is ruler of the oppressed or abandoned, those who don’t fit into society. It also presides over the visionary and the charismatic, and shows society’s growth in or oppression of spirituality, mysticism, and other ideals (Skalka 55). In an individual, Neptune represents the person’s spirituality, illusions, and disillusionment. It can also describe sensitivity, compassion, and psychic awareness, or “Sight.” Neptune’s rulership of the spiritual is not unlike Jupiter’s, though the spirituality Neptune describes is deeper and more intense. Neptune rules the sign Pisces.

Astronomical Data:
Avg. Distance from Sun:
5 913 000 000 km
Mass: 1.25 x 1022 kg
Radius: ~2 000 km (?)

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Astronomy: Pluto is by far the most distant of all the planets, and perhaps the most controversial as well, as astronomers are unsure whether or not it should actually be classified as a planet.

Pluto’s orbit carries it inside Neptune’s orbit for a twenty-year period, and out to a maximum distance of 7 billion km. The small world’s exact radius is uncertain, though astronomers do have a fair idea of its mass. Pluto shares one trait with Earth, in that it and its moon, Charon, are a double-planet system.

The controversy deals with Pluto’s orbit as well as its mass in relation to the other outer planets. The orbit is more reminiscent of a body that was pulled into a new orbit after its formation, rather than a body that formed in its orbit with the rest of the solar system. In addition, Pluto’s mass and radius are out-of-place compared with the other planets in the outer solar system and is more similar to a moon than to a planet. The controversy has spanned quite some time, however, so Pluto’s de facto status as a planet will likely stay the same for the time being.

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Astrology: The Pluto of mythology is the God of the Underworld and the Lord of the Dead. The planet, therefore, rules the deaths and rebirths that make up the life of an individual. Pluto speaks of transformations, whether in the physical, emotional, or spiritual realms. Pluto is a sign shared by a generation, so the transformations it speaks of can as easily apply to society as they can to an individual. The transformation Pluto rules speak volumes of depth and intensity; as Jupiter describes what an individual can become, Pluto describes the fire that will temper the individual so that s/he may become what Jupiter promises. Pluto rules the sign of Scorpio.

Works Cited / References:
Arnett, Bill. The Sun. © 1997.
Skalka, Julia Lupton. The Instant Horoscope Reader. Llewellyn Publications, St. Paul, MN. © 1995. ISBN 1-56718-669-6
Williams, Dr. David R. Planetary Fact Sheets. © 1997.

Source http://www.phoenixblue.net/Hunter/Planets.html

CHIRON IN GREEK MYTHOLOGY

In Greek mythology, Chiron (”hand”) — sometimes spelled Cheiron or Kiron — was held as the superlative centaur over his brethren. Like the satyrs, centaurs were notorious for being overly indulgent drinkers and carousers, given to violence when intoxicated, and generally uncultured. Chiron, by contrast, was intelligent, civilized and kind. Sired by Cronus when he had taken the form of a horse and impregnated the nymph, Philyra, Chiron came from a different lineage than other centaurs. He was the father of Ocyrrhoe with the nymph Chariklo and lived on Mount Pelion (or Pilion).

A great healer, astrologer, and respected oracle, Chiron was most revered as a teacher and tutored Asclepius, Theseus, Achilles, Jason and Heracles. He had the gift of guiding his pupils to uncovering their highest potential and discovering their destiny. When the centaurs drank and partied themselves to extinction, Chiron became the last remaining centaur. His nobility is further reflected in the story of his death as Chiron sacrificed his life, allowing humanity to obtain the use of fire. Being the son of Cronus, a god, he was therefore immortal and so could not die. So it was left to Heracles to arrange a bargain with Zeus to exchange Chiron’s immortality for the life of Prometheus who had been chained to a rock and left to die for his transgressions. Chiron had been poisoned with an arrow belonging to Heracles that had been treated with the blood of the Hydra (see Lernaean Hydra) (in other versions, poison Chiron had given to the hero when he had been under the honorable centaur’s tutelage). This had taken place during the visit of Heracles to the cave of Pholus on Mount Pelion in Thessaly when he visited his friend during his fourth labour in defeating the Erymanthian Boar. While they were at supper, Heracles asked for some wine to accompany his meal. Pholus, who ate his food raw, was taken aback. He had been given a vessel of sacred wine by Dionysus sometime earlier, to be kept in trust for the rest of the centaurs until the right time for its opening. At Heracles’s prompting, Pholus was forced to produce the vessel of sacred wine. The hero, gasping for wine, grabbed it from him and forced it open. Thereupon the vapours of the sacred wine wafted out of the cave and intoxicated the wild centaurs, led by Nessus, who had gathered outside. They attacked the cave with stones, rocks and fir trees. Hercules was forced to shoot many arrows (poisoned, of course, with the blood of the Hydra) to drive them back. During this assault, Chiron was hit in the thigh by one of the poisoned arrows. After the centaurs had fled, Pholus emerged from the cave to observe the destruction. Being of a philosophical frame of mind, he pulled one of the arrows from the body of a dead centaur and wondered how could such a little thing as an arrow have caused so much death and destruction? In that instant, he let slip the arrow from his hand and it dropped and hit him in the foot, killing him instantly.

Ironically, Chiron, the master of the healing arts, could not heal himself, so he willingly gave up his immortality and was placed in the sky as the constellation Sagittarius (or Centaurus).

Chiron saved the life of Peleus when Acastus tried to kill him by taking his sword and leaving him out in the woods to be slaughtered by the centaurs. Chiron retrieved the sword for Peleus. Some sources speculate that Chiron was originally a Thessalian god, later subsumed into the Greek pantheon as a centaur.

Chiron has been adapted for fictional works, most notably in Dante’s The Divine Comedy, in which he is the chief guardian of the seventh circle of Hell. John Updike’s novel The Centaur is an expansion and interpretation of the story of Chiron, set in the context of 20th century small-town America. Chiron’s name, and the underlying mythology, serves to inform many of the root words connected with the ancient healing arts, e.g. cheiromancy, or the art of divining the will of the gods through the interpretation of the patterns of the hands.

Retrieved from “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiron”

Eleusis, the city of the mysteries, dedicated to the goddess Demeter.
According to a legend, it was founded after Demeter asked for a sanctuary there, dedicated to her, during her brief passage by Eleusis, while looking for her daughter Persephone.
Persephone was kidnapped by Hades, the god of the realm of death(the souls were transported by Caronte, and the gates were guarded by Cerberus, the three headed mastiff ).
Demeter went to Zeus, god of gods in the Olympus, and made a complaint against Hades.
After listening to both parties, Zeus decided that Persephone would stay with Hades, who had fallen in love with her and wanted to marry her, for six months. And the other six months she would spent with Demeter, her mother.
Demeter was crushed, but could not go against Zeus’ decision.
But since she was the goddess of crops and plants, she made the Earth stay cold and barren during the six months Persephone was in the underground with Hades.
Whe her beloved daughter came to join her for six months, Demeter celebrated her presence filling the Earth with flowers. That is the myth of Springtime.
(Bellatryx)

The sanctuary of mystery in Eleusis

Eleusis is the place, where the cult of the goddess Demeter existed many centuries and where the most famous religious festival, called the Eleusinian mysteries were performed in the honour of this deity. According to the “Homeric Hymn to Demeter” (7th century BCE), when the goddess Demeter was desparetely looking for her daughter (=Kore) Persephone -kidnapped by Aidoneus (Hades)- during her wandering she came to the city Eleusis. Here she was welcomed by the Queen Metaneria. To thank her, Demeter took care about prince Demophon . Each night she brought the boy near the fire to make him immortal and she fed him with the nectar and ambrosia of the Gods. When the child´s mother saw once at night what was happening, she was astonished. Demeter revealed, who she was and she asked to build a sanctuary in her honour to teach them secret rituals. She closed herself in the temple, troubled for her daughter and she did not allow any seed to grow from the fields until she saw her daughter again. So, Zeus decided, that Persephone will spend one third of a year with Aidoneus in the underworld and the other two thirds with her mother, Demeter. When Persephone is leaving to the underworld Demeter mourns for her and all nature is ready to die, to be reborn again in the spring, when she is coming back to her mother. The myth is a base for the explanation of the changing of nature and the different seasons during a year. Also there was a tradition spread out by the Athenians about the first civilization in Eleusis who were cultivating grain, the gift of Demeter to Triptolemos, the son of the Eleusinian king.

The sanctuary and its cult have roots in the Mycenaean period (1500 - 1425 BCE). The ritual was originally local and it could have had probably from the beginning an agrarian aspect. The Athenians established this cult as Panhellenic during the period of Peisistratus. It was florishing under the Roman supremacy until the proscription of the cult by Theodosius and the destruction of the sanctuary by the Goths about 400 AD.

The name “Eleusinian mysteries” is connected with two Greek words eleusis,- eos - arrival, tó mystírion - secrecy. The people were arriving to this place to performed secret rites. The mysteries were kept in absolute secrecy, so it was strictly forbidden to talk about them under penalty of death. Nevertheless we have some informations from the different sources - many reflections in the literature, the epigraphical evidence, the archaeological findings (architectonical, sculptural, paintings on the vases, votive objects, cult vessels) related to the Eleusinian religious rites. All of these materials are used for the reconstruction of events. But well known is mainly this part of the celebration, which was performed in public.

The ancient literature (Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Pindar, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristoteles, Pausanias) contains only allusions to this theme. But the authors are writing without any doubt, that the mortals who participated in the initiations, were blessed. They knew the beginning and the end of life, they had the happinies, while the others - uninitiated, had only misery and after death murky dark. Christian writers tried to break a secrecy about the ritual. They were describing some details from the initiation act, like drinking from the kykeon ( a special mixture of barley, water and aromatic mint) and moving with sacred tools, kiste and kalathos (kiste - the sacred chest, kalathos - the basket closed with a lid), which only initiate (mystes) members knew what it concealed. Unfortunately they could not give more references about it. Some authors of modern literature are supposing, that the secret of the Eleusinian mysteries was based on the hallucinogenic ingredients in the kykeon.

The reliefs and vase paintings related to the Eleusinian mysteries are concentrated mainly around two themes. They are depicting the mythological story about blessing of agriculture for the earth and in the second case they illustrate the great proccesion from Athens to Eleusis. Triptolemos, receiving the seeds from the hands of Demeter, has to teach mankind how to cultivate the fields, while Kore keeps her hand over his head to protect him.This main story is depicted on the great Eleusinian relief ( from the half of the 5th century BCE.), exhibited in the Archaeological National Museum in Athens. The mission of Triptolemos, seated on the winged throne or chariot with the ears of corn in his hand, surrounded by Demeter and Kore with pine-torches, is an occasional representation on some black and red figured vases and the votive reliefs between the 6th and the 4th centuries BCE, when the myth about beginning of agriculture, connected with the Eleusinians, was very popular.

The procession of initiates with Kore and Iakchos in front of Demeter on the Ninnion Tablet (from the lst half of the 4th century BCE) in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens is showing many interesting details from the Eleusinian celebration. We are supposing that poeple arrived inside the sanctuary . Demeter with a sceptre is sitting on the sacred kiste and Kore with torches is introducing her initiates. Each of them is keeping branches, called bakchoi, which were swung rythmically along the thirty kilometers of the Sacred Way from Athens to Eleusis. The procession was moving with dancing attendants, some of them almost in ecstasy.

The second row of procession was led by torch-bearer Iakchos in the function of priest at the mysteries, who leads the way and holds torches for performance of the rites. He is standing near omphalos , while a further unknown figure sitting on the closed kiste, keeps in her hands a sceptre and a vessel. Probably she is a priestress of Demeter, carrying kiste with the sacred symbols during the procession and keeping a vessel with kykeon. On the pediment of this Tablet is represented Pannychis, the whole-night feast. The festal activities were accompanied by dances, -perhaps across the Rharian field-,(where as the myth is saying the first corn ever grew) and later on by a bull-sacrifice also in the court of the sanctuary.

The Eleusinian Mysteries had their fixed place in the calendar. The first stage of the initiation (Lesser Mysteries) were held usually in the spring in the month of Anthesterion (March). But it could take place also at various times in Eleusis or at the Eleusinion in Athens. The priests of the Mysteries prepared the candidates for receiving initiation (myesis). The first act was the sacrifice of a young pig, after which a purification ceremony followed.

The Great Mysteries were celebrated for nine dayes in the month of Boedromion (September). On the first day - the 14th of Boedromion the sacred symbols were brought from Eleusis to Athens. After the hierophant opened the festal time with an official proclamation (prorrhesis). On the 16th of the month the initiates went together to the sea at Phaleron to purify themselves by bathing. On the 17th the sacrifices were made at the Eleusinion and the next day the initiates stayed at home. On the 19th of the month the procession moved to Eleusis, carrying the sacred symbols of Demeter.

The gates of the sanctuary in Eleusis were open only for the initiates - men, women, foreigners who were admitted, but not murderers or barbarians. The initiation rites took place in the Telesterion building (which was made for several thousand people)on the 20th and 21st of the month.. On each of its sides there were the seats, from which initiates watched the mysteries. Almost in the center of the hall was built the Anaktoron(Palace), a rectangular stone construction for the sacred objects of Demeter. Only the hierophantes could enter it, to perform the rites and display their sacred things. Two classes of initiates participiated in the mysteries - the initiates, who took part for the first time and the others, who were present for at least a second time. The second group could attain epopteia, the highest stage of initiation, when the hierophant showed the greatest mystery. Next day the initiates honoured the dead with libations from special vases. On the 23rd of the month the celebrations took an end and everybody was returning home.

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Eleusis

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Article created on 08 February 1999; last modified on 06 February 2005.
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I never met a person who does not like mythology. I think that it is the child in us who loves stories and fairy tales, fabulous narratives and emotioning adventures.
They are are emotioning, and emotion is the main ingredient of everything which touches the heart, turning into precious treasures things that, without emotion, would be merely ordinary.
Emotion and imagination can paint life with magical colors.
In this world with defined edges, where everything is labeled and catalogued, where gray seldom exists, because there is only black and white, where little miracles happen every day, but are seldom noticed, it is more than likely that we will not do something extrordinary which would attract to us the attention of the world. If we want or need poetry, enchantment and beauty in our lives, we must create them.
It is up to us, the appearance and colors of the world we choose to live in.
Of course there are cruelty and injustice, but we can fight them. We can make the difference .
Emotion is the heart of life. And imagination is its decoration.
(Bellatryx)

…In the beginning, Hesiod says, there was Chaos, vast and dark. Then appeared Gaea, the dep-breasted earth, and finally Eros, ‘ the love which softens hearts ‘, whose fructifying influence would thenceforth preside over the formation of beings an things. From Chaos were born Erebus and Night who, uniting, gave birth in their turn to Ether and Hemera, the day. On her part Gaea first bore Uranus, the sky crowned with stars, ‘ whom she made her equal in grandeur, so that he entirely covered her ‘. Then she created the high mountains and Pontus, ‘ the sterile sea ‘ with its harmonious waves…

Principal Gods click for main characteristics

Chaos - in one ancient Greek myth of creation, the dark, silent abyss from which all things came into existence. According to the Theogony of Hesiod, Chaos generated the solid mass of Earth, from which arose the starry, cloud-filled Heaven. Mother Earth and Father Heaven, personified respectively as Gaea and her offspring Uranus, were the parents of the Titans. In a later theory, Chaos is the formless matter from which the cosmos, or harmonious order, was created.

Gaea - She was the mother and wife of Father Heaven, Uranus. They were the parents of the first creatures, the Titans, the Cyclopes, and the Giants - the Hecatoncheires (Hundred - Headed Ones). Uranus hated the monsters, and, even though they were his children, locked them in a secret place in the earth. Gaea was enraged at this favoritism and persuaded their son Cronos to overthrow his father. He emasculated Uranus, and from his blood Gaea brought forth the Giants, and the three avenging goddesses the Erinyes. Her last and most terrifying offspring was Typhon, a 100-headed monster, who, although conquered by the god Zeus, was believed to spew forth the molten lava flows of Mount Etna.

Tartarus - The lowest region of the underworld. Hesiod claimed that a brazen anvil would take none days and nights to fall from heaven to earth, and nine days and nights to fall from earth to Tartarus. Tartarus rose out of Chaos and was the destination of wicked souls. Uranus banished his children the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires to Tartarus, as Zeus also did to the Titans. Other famous inhabitants of Tartarus include Sisyphus, Ixion, Tantalus, Salmoneus, Tityus, Ophion, and the daughters of Danaus.

Eros - The god of love. He was thought of as a handsome and intense young man, attended by Pothos (”longing”) or Himeros (”desire”). Later mythology made him the constant attendant of his mother, Aphrodite, goddess of love.

Erebus - Personification of the darkness of the Underworld and the offspring of Chaos. . In later myth, Erebus was the dark region beneath the earth through which the shades must pass to the realm of Hades below. He is often used metaphorically for Hades itself.

Uranus + Gaea - The personification of the sky; the god of the heavens and husband of Gaea, the goddess of the earth. . Their children are the Hecatonchires, the Cyclopes and the Titans.

Pontus - The sea god.

Cyclopes - Three sons: Arges, Brontes, and Steropes of Uranus and Gaea. The Cyclops were giant beings with a single, round eye in the middle of their foreheads.They helped Zeus defeat their brother, Cronus, by forging lightning bolts. They also made Poseidon’s trident and Hades invisibility cap.

Hecatonchires - Three sons of Uranus and Gaia. There were three of them: Briareus also called Aegaeon, Cottus, and Gyges also called Gyes. They were gigantic and had fifty heads and one hundred arms each of great strength. They had 100 hands and helped Zeus in his war against the Titans.

Cronus + Rhea - Cronus was a ruler of the universe during the Golden Age. He was one of the 12 Titans and the youngest son of Uranus and Gaea, Cronus and his sister-queen, Rhea, became the parents of 6 of the 12 gods and goddesses known as the Olympians. Cronus had been warned that he would be overthrown by one of his own children. To prevent this, he swallowed his first five children as soon as they were born. Rhea did not like this. She substituted a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes for their sixth child, Zeus. He was hidden in Crete, and when he was older, he returned and forced Cronos to disgorge all the other children, who had grown inside of him. Zeus and his siblings fought a war against Cronos and the Titans. Zeus won, and the Titans were confined in Tartarus, a cave in the deepest part of the underworld.

Coeus + Phoebe - Coeus was a titan of Intelligence, the father of Leto, husband of Phoebe.

Oceanus + Tethys - The personification of the vast ocean. Together with his wife Tethys, they produced the rivers and six thousand offsprings called the Oceanids. He ruled over Ocean, a great river encircling the earth, which was believed to be a flat circle. The nymphs of this great river, the Oceanids, were their daughters, and the gods of all the streams on earth were their sons.

Hestia - Virgin goddess of the hearth. She was the symbol of the house, around which a new born child was carried before it was received into the family. Although she appears in very few myths, most cities had a common hearth where her sacred fire burned. I

Hades - He was made lord of the underworld, ruling over the dead. He is a greedy god who is greatly concerned with increasing his subjects. Those whose calling increase the number of dead were seen favorably by him. He was also the god of wealth, due to the precious metals mined from the earth. His wife was Persephone whom Hades abducted.
The underworld itself was often called Hades. It was divided into two regions: Erebus, where the dead pass as soon as they die, and Tartarus, the deeper region, where the Titans had been imprisoned. It was a dim and unhappy place, inhabited by vague forms and shadows and guarded by Cerberus, the three-headed, dragon-tailed dog. Sinister rivers separated the underworld from the world above, and the aged boatman Charon ferried the souls of the dead across these waters.

Poseidon - God of the sea. His weapon was a trident, which could shake the earth, and shatter any object. He was second only to Zeus in power amongst the gods. Under the ocean, he had a marvelous golden palace. Poseidon was the husband of Amphitrite, one of the Nereids, by whom he had a son, Triton. Poseidon had numerous other love affairs. At one point he desired Demeter. To put him off Demeter asked him to make the most beautiful animal that the world had ever seen. To impress her Poseidon created the first horse. In some accounts his first attempts were unsucessful and created a varity of other animals in his quest. By the time the horse was created his passion for Demeter had cooled.

Zeus + Hera - The god of the sky and ruler of the gods of Mount Olympus. He displaced his father and assumed the leadership of the gods of Olympus. Zeus was considered the father of the gods and of mortals. He did not create either gods or mortals; he was their father in the sense of being the protector and ruler both of the Olympian family and of the human race. His weapon was a thunderbolt. His breastplate was the aegis, his bird the eagle, his tree the oak. He was married to Hera but, is famous for his many affairs, which resulted in many known children and probably many more that were not known to be his. Athena was his favorite child. He bore her alone from his head. One of the greatest feasts for Zeus was the Olympic games. They were taking place every four years in Olympia. Even if there was a war between the city-states of Greece they were stopping the war to take part on that games.
Hera’s marriage was founded in strife with Zeus and continued in strife. Writers represented Hera as constantly being jealous of Zeus’s various amorous affairs. She punished her rivals and their children, among both goddesses and mortals, with implacable fury. The peacock (the symbol of pride; her wagon was pulled by peacocks) and the cow (she was also known as Bopis, meaning “cow-eyed”, which was later translated as “with big eyes”) were her sacred animals. Her favorite city was Argos.

Demeter + Zeus - Goddess of corn and the harvest. She taught mankind the art of sowing and ploughing so they could end their nomadic existence. She was of a severe, a beauty scarcely relieved by her hair. which was as fair as ripened grain. Poseidon coveted her, but Demeter refused herself to him. To escape him she fled to Arkadia where, assuming the shape of a mare, she mingled with the herds of King Oncus. Poseidon, however, succeeded in finding her, changed himself into a stallion and made her the mother of the horse Arion.
When her daughter Persephone was abducted by Hades, god of the underworld, Demeter’s grief was so great that she neglected the land; no plants grew, and famine devastated the earth. Dismayed at this situation, Zeus, demanded that his brother Hades return Persephone to her mother. Hades agreed, but before he released the girl, he made her eat some pomegranate seeds that would force her to return to him for four months each year. In her joy at being reunited with her daughter, Demeter caused the earth to bring forth bright spring flowers and abundant fruit and grain for the harvest. However, her sorrow returned each autumn when Persephone had to return to the underworld. The desolation of the winter season and the death of vegetation were regarded as the yearly manifestation of Demeter’s grief when her daughter was taken from her. Demeter and Persephone were worshipped in the rites of the Eleusinian Mysteries.

Persephone - Persephone was the Queen of the Underworld and the daughter of Demeter. Persephone is the goddess of the underworld in Greek mythology. She is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, goddess of the harvest. Persephone was such a beautiful girl that everyone loved her, even Hades wanted her for himself. Although Zeus gave his consent, Demeter was unwilling. Hades, therefore, seized the maiden as she was gathering flowers and carried her off to his realm. Persephone was a personification of the revival of nature in spring. Her attributes in iconography can include a torch, a crown, a sceptre, and stalks of grain.

Leto + Zeus - The mother of Artemis, goddess of the bow and of hunting. She was loved by the god Zeus, who, fearing the jealousy of his wife, Hera, banished Leto when she was about to bear his child. All countries and islands were also afraid of Hera’s wrath and refused the desperate Leto a home where her child could be born. Finally, in her wanderings, she set foot on a small island floating in the Aegean Sea, which was called Delos.

Iapetus - The son Uranus and Gaea. Iapetus’ wife was Clymene.

Athena - or Pallas-Athene, is one of the most important goddesses in Greek mythology. Goddess of wisdom, war, the arts, industry, justice and skill. Athena sprang full-grown and armoured from the forehead of the god Zeus and was his favourite child. She was fierce and brave in battle but, only fights to protect the state and home from outside enemies. She was the goddess of the city, handicrafts, and agriculture. She invented the bridle, which permitted man to tame horses, the trumpet, the flute, the pot, the rake, the plow, the yoke, the ship, and the chariot. Her attributes in iconography include the aegis (a fringed cloak, sometimes decorated with a Gorgon’s head), the helmet, and the spear.

Ares - God of war. He was very aggressive. He was unpopular with both gods and humans. Ares was not invincible, even against mortals. He personified the brutal nature of war. He was immortal but whenever he would get hurt he would run back to his father, Zeus and was healed. Ares was mainly worshipped in Thracia.

Hebe - The goddess of youth. She, along with Ganymede were the cupbearers to the gods, serving them their nectar and ambrosia. She also prepared Ares’ bath, and helped Hera to her chariot. Hebe was Hercules’ wife.

Hephaestus - God of fire and metalwork. He was born lame and weak, and shortly after his birth, he was cast out of Olympus. In most legends, however, he was soon honoured again on Olympus and was married to Aphrodite, goddess of love, or to Aglaia, one of the three Graces. His workshop was believed to lie under Mount Etna, a volcano in Sicily. He made many wonderful artifacts for the gods, including the twelve golden thrones of the Olympians, their weapons and treasures.

Apollo - Apollo was primarily a god of prophecy. He sometimes gave the gift of prophecy to mortals whom he loved, such as the Trojan princess Cassandra. As a prophet and magician, he is the patron of medicine and healing. He was a gifted musician, who delighted the gods with his performance on the lyre. He was also a master archer and a fleet-footed athlete, credited with having been the first victor in the Olympic games. His twin sister was Artemis. He was famous for his oracle at Delphi. People traveled to it from all over the Greek world to divine the future. He was also the god of agriculture and cattle, and of light and truth.

Artemis - Artemis was the goddess of the hunt and animals, as well as of childbirth. Her twin brother was Apollo. As the moon goddess, she was sometimes identified with the goddesses Selene and Hecate.Her attributes are the bow and arrow, while dogs, deer and goose are her sacred animals. Her most elaborate temple was in Ephesis.

Atlas - Son of the Titan Iapetus and the nymph Clymene, and brother of Prometheus. Atlas fought with the Titans in the war against the deities of Mount Olympus. Atlas stormed the heavens and Zeus punished him for this deed by condemning him to forever bear the earth and the heavens upon his shoulders. He was the father of the Hesperides, the nymphs who guarded the tree of golden apples, and Heracles (Hercules).

Prometheus - Prometheus was the wisest Titan, known as the friend and benefactor of humanity.He stole the sacred fire from Zeus and the gods. He also tricked the gods so that they should get the worst parts of any animal sacrificed to them, and human beings the best. Zeus commanded that Prometheus be chained for eternity in the Caucasus. There, an eagle would eat at his liver and each day, the liver would be renewed. So the punishment was endless, until Heracles finally killed the bird.

Epimetheus - Epimetheus was a Titan, whose name meant “afterthought”. In some accounts, he was delegated, along with his brother Prometheus by Zeus to create mankind. He foolishly ignored his brother Prometheus’ warnings to beware of any gifts from Zeus. He accepted Pandora as his wife, thereby bringing ills and sorrows to the world.

Maia + Zeus - Maia was a daughter of Atlas. She was one of Zeus’ lovers. She, along with Zeus was the mother of Hermes.

Dione + Zeus - The goddess or Titaness Dione became by Zeus the mother of Aphrodite.

Hermes - Hermes’ main role was as a messenger. As the special servant and courier of Zeus, Hermes had winged sandals and a winged hat and bore a golden caduceus, or magic wand, entwined with snakes and surmounted by wings. He conducted the souls of the dead to the underworld and was believed to possess magical powers over sleep and dreams. Five minutes after he was born, he stole a herd of cows from Apollo. He invented the lyre from a cow’s internal fibers. After Apollo learned what happened, he knew that his half-brother should he one of the pantheon. Hermes was the patron of trickster and thieves because of his actions early in life. His attributes in iconography include the kerykeion (messenger’s staff), winged boots, and petassos (cap).

Aphrodite - The goddess of love and beauty. Aphrodite loved and was loved by many gods and mortals. Among her mortal lovers, the most famous was perhaps Adonis. Some of her sons are Eros, Anteros, Hymenaios and Aeneas (with her Trojan lover Anchises). Perhaps the most famous legend about Aphrodite concerns the cause of the Trojan War. She was the wife of Hephaestus. The myrtle was her tree. The dove, the swan, and the sparrow were her birds.

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Homer- the name traditionally assigned to the reputed author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, the two major epics of Greek antiquity. Nothing is known about Homer as an individual. In fact, the question of whether a single person can be said to be responsible for the creation of the two epics is still controversial. However, linguistic and historical evidence allows the assumption that the poems were composed in the Greek settlements on the west coast of Asia Minor sometime in the 9th century BC.

THE ILIAD translated by Samuel Butler
THE ODYSSEY translated by Samuel Butler
The Homeric Problem The ‘Homeric Problem’ is the question whether Homer, the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey truly existed. The question also asks if Homer wasn’t a single man, who wrote the epics.
Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey This site, by means of a purely educational and learning mission, has put together a collaboration of materials and works by our team that we feel will help you to understand and get more out of Homer and his/her/their works.
Odysseus and the Historians focusing on the influence of Odysseus and the Odyssey on the subject matter, persona, and even methodology of the ancient historian.

Source http://www.ancientgreece.com/html/olympics_frame.htm

The Muses

The Muses from Greek Mythology

Athena visits Apollo and the Muses
Bartholomeus Spranger (XVI cent.)
The Muses are the Greek goddesses who preside over the arts and sciences and inspire those who excel at these pursuits. Daughters of Zeus, king of the gods, and Mnemosyne (”memory”), they were born at Pieria at the foot of Mount Olympus. Their nurse, Eupheme, raised them along with her son, Crotus the hunter, who was transported into the sky as Sagittarius upon his death. Their name (akin to the Latin mens and English mind) denotes ‘memory’ or ‘a reminder’, since in the earliet times poets, having no books to read from, relied on their memories. The Romans identified the Muses with certain obscure Italian water-goddesses, the Camenae.

The original number of muses and their names varies in earlier times as their evolution blossomed in Greek mythology. At first, three muses were worshipped on Mount Helicon in Boeotia: Melete (”meditation”), Mneme (”memory”), and Aoede (”song”). Another three were worshipped at Delphi and their names represented the names of the strings of a lyre: Nete, Mese, and Hypate. Several other versions were worshipped until the Greeks finally established the nine muses in mythology as: Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polyhymnia, Terpsichore, Thalia, and Urania. The Muses had several epithets which usually referred to places where they had settled.

Ephialtes and Otus, who also founded Ascra, were the first to sacrifice on Helicon to the Muses and to call the mountain sacred to the Muses. Sacrifices to the Muses consisted of libations of water, milk, or honey.

Their companions are the Charities, the Horae, Eros, Dionysus, Apollo, Aphrodite, Harmonia, and Himerus (Desire). Apollo is the leader of the choir of the Muses and consequently he has the surname Musagetes. Athena caught and tamed the winged horse Pegasus and gave him to the Muses. Some of their disciples included the Sphinx who learned her riddle from the Muses, Aristaeus, who learned the arts of healing and prophecy from them, and Echo, who was taught by them to play music.

In Plato’s Phaedrus 259c, Socrates says the locusts used to be men before the birth of the Muses. When song appeared when the Muses were born, some men were so overcome with delight that they sang constantly, forgetting to eat and drink until they eventually died. These dead men became locusts with a gift from the Muses allowing them to sing continuously from their birth until death without the need of sustenance. When they die, the locust go to the Muses and report which men on earth honors each, endearing a worshipper to the Muse he follows.

The Muses could be vindictive like in the story of the contest with Thamyris. Thamyris who excelled in minstrelsy challenged the Muses to a musical contest at Dorium in Messenia, the agreement being if he won he would take pleasure from all of them. The Muses won the contest, and bereft Thamyris of his eyes and minstrelsy.

In another story, the king of Emathia (Macedonia) and his wife Euippe had nine daughters and named them after the Muses. The daughters entered a contest with the Muses, were defeated and were metamorphosed by the Muses into birds called Colymbas, Iynx, Cenchris, Cissa, Chloris, Acalanthis, Nessa, Pipo, and Dracontis. These names were taken from actual names of birds such as the wryneck, hawk, jay, duck, goldfinch, and four others with no recognizable modern equivalents.

In yet another myth, it was said Hera, queen of the gods, persuaded the Sirens, who were described in early Greek mythology as having the bodies of birds and heads of beautiful women, to enter a singing contest with the Muses. The Muses won the competition and then plucked out all of the Sirens’ feathers and made crowns out of them.

Many places were dedicated to the Muses such as the famous Valley of the Muses - Thespies on the eastern slopes of Mt. Helikon began it’s “Mouseai” festivals in the 6th c. B.C. It was organized every 5 years by the Thespians. Poets and musicians from all over Greece also participated in various games (epic, poetry, rapsodia, kithara, aulos, satyric poetry, tragedy and comedy). It was common for ancient schools to have a shrine to the Muses called mouseion, the source of the modern word ‘museum.’ The famous Museum of Alexandria, founded by Ptolemy I, was a temple dedicated to the Muses. Before poets or storytellers recited their work, it was customary for them to invoke the inspiration and protection of the Muses.
Source http://www.ancientgreece.com/html/olympics_frame.htm