More Greek Tales by Mia Jardine
After reading Oedipus the King and Antigone in class, my love for Greek stories was reinvigorated. As I'm sure many of us were, when I was a youth I was obsessed with the book series Percy Jackson and the myths behind it. I was left wanting more after finishing the last novel. So, as a tribute to my dear friend Grace McDonough who wrote a similarly-structured post back in October on horror movies, I'd like to share with you all 3 interesting Greek myths.
1. Perseus and Medusa
The hero Perseus was born to Zeus and Danae, who was the daughter of King Acrisius. He feared that when Perseus matured, he would slay him and take his crown. To prevent this, he banished Danae and Perseus by casting them out to sea in a wooden chest. They washed up on the shore of Serifos where a fisherman discovered them and took them in. The fisherman's brother was King Polydectes, a bitter man who enslaved Danae. He knew Perseus would do anything for his mother, so he ordered him to bring him the head of Medusa, a gorgon who lived in a cave. To aid Perseus on his quest, Hades gave him a cap of invisibility, Hermes gave him a pair of winged sandals, Athena gave him a reflective bronze shield, and Hephaestus gave him a sword. To say the least, he was well-equipped. When he came across her cave, Medusa was sleeping. He used this to his advantage and quietly crept up to her using the shield as a mirror to locate her, and swiftly decapitated her with the sword. He gently picked up her head and placed it in his satchel, making sure not to make eye contact. Perseus returned to Serifos and turned Polydectes to stone with Medusa's head, freeing his mother.
2. Icarus
Icarus was the son of Daedalus, a gifted craftsman held captive by King Minos of Crete. The monarch forced him Daedalus to build him the infamous Labyrinth for holding his wife's illegitimate son, the Minotaur. To escape the tower they were locked in, he made wings of feathers and wax for Icarus and himself. Before they took flight, Daedalus warned his son to not fly too close to the sun or the sea, for they would make the wings no longer work. Sadly, Icarus did not head this warning and he flew too close to the heat of the sun. His wings melted and he tumbled into the sea.
3. The Kidnapping of Persephone
Persephone was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, the goddess of agriculture. As Demeter's only daughter, Persephone was extremely important to her mother. She kept all men away from her. Despite this, Hades the god of the Underworld still kept pursuing the goddess. He would have no matter the cost. One day while Persephone was picking flowers in a meadow, she spotted a lovely daffodil and went to take it. The ground beneath her opened and she was swallowed up. Hades had taken her hostage. Zeus and Helios were the only ones to witness the kidnapping and decided to stay silent to avoid conflict among the gods. Demeter was absolutely heartbroken, searching for her daughter tirelessly. The goddess Hecate advised her to turn to Helios because he witnessed many things on his sun chariot. Helios, worn down by Demeter's despair, told her that Persephone was kidnapped by Hades. The goddess was furious. Helios suggested that maybe her daughter being the queen of the dead wasn't a horrible thing. Still, Demeter wanted some form of revenge. She executed this in the form of abandoning her duties as goddess of the harvest and nature suffered, as well as humans. Zeus caught wind of this and told Demeter if it could be proved Persephone truly disliked Hades, she would be freed. Hades tricked his distraught wife into eating pomegranate seeds, which bound her to the Underworld. When Persephone and Hades met Demeter and Zeus, Persephone claimed she wanted to return to the Underworld. Demeter knew she had been swindled and threatened to never return to tending to the earth, meaning all of humanity would perish. The king of the gods decreed that Persephone would spend half of the year with Hades and half of the year with Demeter. When her daughter left, Demeter would also leave and winter would take over. This agreement between gods would create the seasons.
Sources:
https://owlcation.com/humanities/top-10-greekmyths
https://www.ancienthistorylists.com/greek-history/fascinating-ancient-greece-myths/
https://www.theoi.com/articles/the-myth-of-perseus-and-medusa-explained/
https://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Mortals/Icarus/icarus.html
https://www.greeka.com/greece-myths/persephone/
1. Perseus and Medusa
The hero Perseus was born to Zeus and Danae, who was the daughter of King Acrisius. He feared that when Perseus matured, he would slay him and take his crown. To prevent this, he banished Danae and Perseus by casting them out to sea in a wooden chest. They washed up on the shore of Serifos where a fisherman discovered them and took them in. The fisherman's brother was King Polydectes, a bitter man who enslaved Danae. He knew Perseus would do anything for his mother, so he ordered him to bring him the head of Medusa, a gorgon who lived in a cave. To aid Perseus on his quest, Hades gave him a cap of invisibility, Hermes gave him a pair of winged sandals, Athena gave him a reflective bronze shield, and Hephaestus gave him a sword. To say the least, he was well-equipped. When he came across her cave, Medusa was sleeping. He used this to his advantage and quietly crept up to her using the shield as a mirror to locate her, and swiftly decapitated her with the sword. He gently picked up her head and placed it in his satchel, making sure not to make eye contact. Perseus returned to Serifos and turned Polydectes to stone with Medusa's head, freeing his mother.
2. Icarus
Icarus was the son of Daedalus, a gifted craftsman held captive by King Minos of Crete. The monarch forced him Daedalus to build him the infamous Labyrinth for holding his wife's illegitimate son, the Minotaur. To escape the tower they were locked in, he made wings of feathers and wax for Icarus and himself. Before they took flight, Daedalus warned his son to not fly too close to the sun or the sea, for they would make the wings no longer work. Sadly, Icarus did not head this warning and he flew too close to the heat of the sun. His wings melted and he tumbled into the sea.
3. The Kidnapping of Persephone
Persephone was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, the goddess of agriculture. As Demeter's only daughter, Persephone was extremely important to her mother. She kept all men away from her. Despite this, Hades the god of the Underworld still kept pursuing the goddess. He would have no matter the cost. One day while Persephone was picking flowers in a meadow, she spotted a lovely daffodil and went to take it. The ground beneath her opened and she was swallowed up. Hades had taken her hostage. Zeus and Helios were the only ones to witness the kidnapping and decided to stay silent to avoid conflict among the gods. Demeter was absolutely heartbroken, searching for her daughter tirelessly. The goddess Hecate advised her to turn to Helios because he witnessed many things on his sun chariot. Helios, worn down by Demeter's despair, told her that Persephone was kidnapped by Hades. The goddess was furious. Helios suggested that maybe her daughter being the queen of the dead wasn't a horrible thing. Still, Demeter wanted some form of revenge. She executed this in the form of abandoning her duties as goddess of the harvest and nature suffered, as well as humans. Zeus caught wind of this and told Demeter if it could be proved Persephone truly disliked Hades, she would be freed. Hades tricked his distraught wife into eating pomegranate seeds, which bound her to the Underworld. When Persephone and Hades met Demeter and Zeus, Persephone claimed she wanted to return to the Underworld. Demeter knew she had been swindled and threatened to never return to tending to the earth, meaning all of humanity would perish. The king of the gods decreed that Persephone would spend half of the year with Hades and half of the year with Demeter. When her daughter left, Demeter would also leave and winter would take over. This agreement between gods would create the seasons.
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| A fun Greek God family tree |
Sources:
https://owlcation.com/humanities/top-10-greekmyths
https://www.ancienthistorylists.com/greek-history/fascinating-ancient-greece-myths/
https://www.theoi.com/articles/the-myth-of-perseus-and-medusa-explained/
https://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Mortals/Icarus/icarus.html
https://www.greeka.com/greece-myths/persephone/
amen sister. you are Artemis and I am Dionysus
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ReplyDeleteSeeing as it's the end of a decade (I still can't process that), I've been feeling very nostalgic. You talking about Percy Jackson and these myths (absolutely classic btw, the ones you chose to talk about) reminded me of a time when I was also obsessed with Greek myths. Granted, I never read the Percy Jackson series, but I did read just about every other book Sparta Library's got in their kids' section on mythology, especially those of the Greek variety. Great job with the post and summarizing the stories! Here's to a new decade of loving Greek mythology!
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