Last but not least

Hi all!

Time certainly flies, no? And guess what?

Today we’re wrapping up the Olympians, so we’d better be getting started!

Who’s left? Hermes and Hestia, so here goes!

Hermes was either depicted as an older, bearded man or a handsome young man, dressed as traveler. His winged sandals and winged hat, made him faster than any other traveler, divine or mortal. Clearly, we've had enough of older bearded men! :-p

Hermes is the son of Zeus and the Pleiad Maia; he’s very devoted to his father Zeus. For that, he’s been made Zeus’s personal herald, willing to travel to the world’s end to carry out his will. He very much enjoys travelling, so he doesn’t mind playing messenger for the other gods as well. He’s very clever, has a cunning personality and is very mischievous too. So it seems fitting that he’s the protector of travelers, herdsmen, thieves, orators, invention and trade.

He is also pretty fearless, traveling back and forth to the underworld, since he’s responsible for leading the dead to the Underworld.

Hestia was usually depicted as a modest, veiled woman, sitting on a plain wooden throne, but, clearly, Eirini has a completely different idea on the matter. :-p

Hestia was the eldest child of Cronus and Rhea. She was the goddess of the family and domesticity. In ancient times, the heart fire was considered a very important part of the domestic life; letting it go out was considered a disastrous omen. 

Hestia personified the fire burning in the hearth, that’s why she was considered such an important deity; she always received the first offering at every sacrifice in the household; and the best portion too!

She was gentle, kind and forgiving and never participated in any kind of dispute, that’s why she was well respected and loved by the rest of the Olympians.

Hestia never married, despite the fact that both Poseidon and Apollo wished to marry her. Like Artemis, she had asked Zeus for eternal virginity and he had granted her wish. Actually, Hestia, Athena and Artemis were the only ones immune to Aphrodite’s influence.

And...that's a wrap! See you on the weekend!

What is it that unites us?

Hi all!

Sooo, today, in order to make up for missing a post last Wednesday, we’ll be talking about two of the Olympian Gods, Ares and Hephaestus.

An odd couple you say? Hmmm, that’s one way to look at it. Despite their many differences, there’s something that connects them too.

But first things first; let’s talk a bit about who they were, no?

Half-brothers (Hera mothered them both), they couldn’t be any more different even if they tried.

Ares was the god of war; not the structured kind of war though, but the bloody and aggressive kind of war, the one that knows no boundaries. He was the only son of Zeus and Hera, but neither of his parents was very fond of him due to his aggressive, arrogant, and impulsive nature.

He was depicted as a handsome, mature bearded warrior, with extreme physical strength but that didn’t mean he was always victorious. More often than not actually, he was faced with defeat, which only served to wound his pride and enrage him further.

Really menacing, no? (more like spoilt rotten :-p )

Hephaestus was parthenogenetic; meaning he was conceived without male fertilization; myth said Hera conceived him in order to make Zeus jealous. He was the god of craftsmanship. He was talented, kind and generous; shame he was ugly and lame. 

Even his own mother, Hera, couldn’t stand the sight of him and she ejected him from Olympus. He fell into the ocean, and was raised by Thetis. He was always bitter towards Hera about that fact; at some point, he made a magical golden throne and sent it to her; when Hera sat on it, she was trapped and couldn’t stand up. The rest of the gods begged him to release her, but he refused to do so, claiming he had no mother. At long last, Dionysus got him drunk and convinced him to release her. Eventually, he forgave Hera, returned to Olympus and set up his workshop.

So serious and hard-working; sometimes Aphrodite claimed that, because Hephaestus spent too much time in his workshop, she felt lonely and had to seek out other men's company. :-p

So, what was that those two had in common?

They both loved the same woman, Aphrodite (yes, there was someone whom Ares loved more than war); Hephaestus was her husband and Ares was her lover.

When Aphrodite ascended to Olympus, all the gods started fighting over her. Zeus, afraid that the gods would go into war with one another, married her to Hephaestus.

He was elated of course (come on, she was Aphrodite!); Aphrodite agreed too (who would willingly go against Zeus’s will after all?), but that didn’t mean she had to like it. Hephaestus was far for charming, so it didn’t take long for her to start an affair with Ares.

Hephaestus spent long hours in his workshop, so it wasn’t easy for the two lovers to meet. But they were being reckless, and soon Hephaestus found out. He started planning his revenge; he spread out a chain-link net so fine that it was almost invisible on Aphrodite’s bed, and caught them in the act.

The other gods made fun of the two lovers for having been caught in such a compromising position, but in the end Poseidon persuaded him to free them.

Despite their humiliation, Aphrodite and Ares carried on their relationship while Hephaestus turned a blind eye to her unfaithfulness for fear of losing her. Their marriage didn't produce any offspring; still, both Hephaestus and Aphrodite had many children from their various affairs.

And since we are on the topic of offspring, there are many opinions on who Eros's father was; one of the most likely candidates was Ares. We can't be certain of course, but that would explain Eros's shamelessly good looks and why he enjoyed shooting arrows so much!

The Goddess of Wisdom

Hi all!

Soooo it’s Wednesday and we are back on schedule!

Today we are talking about Athena, one of the most talented and likable goddesses of the greek mythology.

Athena was Zeus’s favourite daughter, she being born form his forehead and all that. Naturally, there’s quite an interesting story behind that statement, so here goes.

Metis, Athena’s mother, was the goddess of wisdom; she was also Zeus’ first wife. There was a prophecy though, predicting that her children would be more powerful that their father; Zeus, fearing that his children would overthrow him (in the same way he had overthrown his own father, Cronus), swallowed poor Metis down. But he was too late; Metis was already with child at that point.

Some time later, Zeus was experiencing an enormous headache. Seeking relief, Zeus ordered Hephaestus to cleave his head open with his axe; when he did. Athena leaped from Zeus's head, in all her glory: fully grown and fully armed.

As we can all see, there's too much going on in Eirini's head! :-p
So, this is Athena (obviously!) in all her glory, with her mascot bird thrown in for good measure too! (and yes, that's an olive branch the owl holding, another one of Athena's symbols)
And in case you're wondering, that's Ares she's chasing!
 

Athena was the goddess of wisdom, knowledge, courage, inspiration, justice, strength and skill, strategy, and the arts and crafts.

She was highly intelligent, fair and wise too; even Zeus sought her advice! She was also strong-willed (she never fails to do anything she sets her mind on), independent, strong, brave and selfless.

Athena represented the ordered, strategic side of war, while her brother Ares, god of violence and war, represented the raw, bloody side or war. She didn’t like fighting without purpose and preferred to use her intellect in order to settle arguments.  

She was the patron deity of Athens; back when the city was unnamed and without patronage, she competed with Poseidon for the position. Each would offer the Athenians one gift and then they would choose the gift they preferred. Poseidon struck the ground with his trident and a water spring sprang up; but the water was salty and not good for drinking. Athena, on the other hand, offered them an olive tree. The Athenians chose Athena’s gift, along with her patronage, for the olive tree brought wood, oil, and food.

Overall, Athena was one of the most loved and respected goddesses; that didn’t mean she didn’t have a “bad” side. She was fair and just, but in the few cases that someone angered her, she showed no mercy.

Take Medusa for instance; she was a beautiful girl that that served as priestess in Athena's temple. Medusa caught Poseidon’s attention and  he tried to rape her inside Athena's temple. When Athena discovered the desecration of her temple, she cursed Medusa and turned her into a monster; Medusa's hair turned into living snakes, and her face was so hideous that meeting her gaze would turn any living creature to stone.

Or Arachne; as we’ve mentioned already, Athena was talented in many crafts, including weaving. There was a girl once, Arachne, who was a very skilled weaver too. Her skills were widely admired and all that admiration went straight her head; she began claiming that her skill was greater that Athena’s.

Athena, in the form of an old woman, warned Arachne not to offend the gods. Arachne ignored her and wished for a weaving contest between the goddess and herself, so she could prove her skill once and for all.

Athena resumed her true form then and the contest began; Athena wove the scene of her victory over Poseidon in claiming the patronage of Ahens. Arachne’s tapestry featured various scenes from the lives of the Olympians, depicting them as weak and full of flaws.

Athena admitted that Arachne's work was flawless, but she was outraged at Arachne's lack of respect towards the gods. She lost her temper and destroyed Arachne's tapestry and loom; Arachne’s punishment for her offensive behaviour was severe. Athena cursed her and turned her into a spider, thus condemning her into a lifetime of weaving.  

The Sun and The Moon

Greetings!

In today’s mythology lesson, we’ll be talking about Apollo and Artemis, the twin offspring of Zeus and Leto; we have quite some things to cover, so let’s get started.

We’ve already established that Zeus had numerous affairs and offspring, right?

As soon as a girl stroke his fancy, he had had to have her; Leto was no exception to that rule.

Leto, the daughter of titans Coeus and Phoebe, was a very beautiful girl; at some point, she had caught Zeus’s attention, so naturally, he started pursuing her.

Leto kept rejecting his advances; she even transformed into a quail in order to avoid him. That didn’t faze Zeus of course; he, too, transformed into a quail and mated with her.

Like most of the divine escapades, this one too resulted into a pregnancy; when Hera found out that Leto was pregnant and Zeus was the father, she was enraged.

Instead of going after Zeus for impregnating Leto, she turned against Leto and banned her from giving birth on “terra firma”, meaning Leto could not give birth either on the mainland or any real island. And, in order to be completely certain that Leto would not be able to find a place to deliver her babies, she also sent Python after her.

What a lovely lady indeed!

Leto kept wandering and, finally she found refuge in the newly created floating island of Ortygia (later called Delos) and there, she gave birth to her children.

Artemis was born first, without giving Leto any birth-pains; Apollo’s birth was a different story though; Leto was exhausted and she went through a nine day labor and delivery, before Apollo was born; despite being only a newborn, myth has it that it was Artemis that assisted her mother in giving birth to Apollo.

As a thank you to Delos for providing shelter to Leto, Zeus secured it to the ocean, making it a real island.

Now, Leto was the impersonation of the Night, so both of her children were associated with the sky too; Apollo is associated with the sun and Artemis is associated with the moon.

Apollo was the god of light, truth and prophecy, healing, and the arts while Artemis was the goddess of the hunt, wilderness, childbirth, virginity and protector of young girls.

Apollo and Artemis through Eirini's eyes: young and beautiful (hmm that sounds like a soap opera...)
I may be a little biased (just a tiiiiiny bit :-p ), but I think they are remarkable!

Both of them were extremely good looking, and associated with youth and beauty. They were skilled archers (hence they were often depicted carrying a bow and arrows –gold for Apollo and silver for Artemis), and they both possessed the gift of healing.

Apollo was kind and just; he had a very clear idea of right and wrong. He was unable to tell a lie, yet he had the ability to use his charm to get his way. Sometimes he can be a bit vain too, but it’s only because he’s well aware of his superiority; he’s good looking, and multi-talented too; who can blame him?

Artemis was loyal, brave, strong and kind to those who deserved it; very much like Apollo, she had a very strong sense of right and wrong. Those who crossed her though had better watch out.

Despite their many similarities, there was a main difference between them.

Apollo, pretty much like their father, had numerous affairs and offspring, while Artemis had asked their father for eternal virginity; she was very protective of her purity, and gave grave punishment to any man attempting to dishonour her.

Apollo and Artemis had the best possible relationship (surprisingly, there’s no sibling rivalry between those two!) and remained close to each other forever. Naturally, It goes without saying that they cherished and respected their mother for all the trouble she went through for them and were always hard on those who insulted her.

The Ruler Of The Sea

Greetings!

Today we are talking about Poseidon, so without further ado, let’s start talking about the ruler of the sea.

When Poseidon and his brothers, Zeus and Hades drew lots and shared the world, Poseidon got the sea; but he was also the gods of earthquakes, so whenever he was angered (and that happened quite often), he caused earthquakes, floods, storms, you name it.

Poseidon was one of the most temperamental gods of greek mythology; but his temperament was meant to represent the varying states of the sea and explain a number of natural phenomena, so it makes sense, no?

Of course, he wasn’t always angry; whenever he was placated, people did their best to keep him that way, otherwise no one would ever be able to cross the sea, resulting in no travel and no trade.

Naturally, as the ruler of the sea, he was well-respected too; not as respected as Zeus of course, but still quite respected. Poseidon was aware of his brother’s superiority too and he held a great deal of respect for him as well; that didn’t mean that the two of them always got along, but all brothers fight from time to time, and, gods or not, the same goes for them!

The family resemblance was strong with those two; they even looked quite similar; and yet so very different. While they are both depicted as sturdy, virile men, with long hair and beards, Poseidon does not have the same calm demeanour Zeus has.

So, here's Poseidon; temperamental is the right word for him! :-p 

Poseidon divided his time between Mount Olympus and his palace, which was placed in the depths of the sea, where he lived there with his wife Amphitrite. She was a nymph and Poseidon pursued her for quite some before she gave in and married him.

Having a wife didn’t stop Poseidon from having numerous affairs and fathering numerous offspring from said affairs too; he’s a lot like Zeus in that aspect! :-p

Unlike Zeus though, he doesn’t have to deal with jealous outbursts from his wife; Amphitrite is well aware that she’s always number one in Poseidon’s heart, so she sees no point in being jealous about his passing affairs.

Mums know best!

Hi all!

Long time no see! Not that a week is a terribly long time, but still; to be honest, I’ve missed having to plan for an entry! :-p

On the other hand though, we’ve all had the great joy of reading an entry by Eirini, which more than makes up for it! I was very excited to read about how and when she first got the idea, because believe it or not, I didn’t know either; so, Eirini, thanks for sharing! :-) 

Now, I believe it’s time for another short mythology lesson; today we’ll be talking about Demeter, the goddess of the Earth and harvest.

She’s also associated with Earth’s fertility, and fertility in general; because of that association, she was also considered a protector of married life and motherhood; young married people often visited her temples, seeking guidance.

Her most common depiction is that of an older woman, with soft expressions, calm and collected; an image strongly associated with maternal figures. Even her name suggests so, literally meaning “mother earth”.

A mum's many faces! :-p

As any mother though, she’s only calm and collected as long as no one harms her children.

She had only a handful of lovers, and mothered children from them all; the most well-known myth about Demeter as a mother is the one about the abduction of her daughter, Persephone, by Hades, King of the  Underworld, to his kingdom (fear not, they’ll have their own entry soon).

When Persephone disappeared, Demeter went searching for her; when she realised she wasn’t going to get her back the easy way, she decided to play dirty and put a stop to the earth’s produce of fruit, bringing famine down to the people, thus forcing Zeus to demand Persephone’s return.

Motherly love in all its’ glory!

Zeus and Hera: Love is a Battlefield

Greetings everyone!

For the sake of our sanity (and trying to set realistic goals), we have decided that we will be posting an entry every Wednesday (Thursday if our schedules are too tight), covering various topics from ancient greek mythology (for the most part we’ll be talking about the Olympians and some of our favourite mythological couples), and a second one sometime during every weekend, when we'll be talking about all things Eros and Psyche: how's the project coming along, fun facts and everything related to it.

Before we go any further, here’s an insight of how we plan things:

Eirini: “What are you planning to write about on Wednesday?”

Me: “I don’t know; whatever you feel like drawing.”

…because we’re professional like that! :-p

So, with that in mind, today we’ll be talking about Zeus and Hera; King and Queen of gods and men, brother and sister, husband and wife.

...over a year ago...
(time certainly flies)

Their parents, Cronus and Rhea, had six children together. Cronus, because of an oracle that said that he would be overthrown by his own son, like he had done to his father (history tends to repeat itself after all), swallowed all his children as soon as they were born.

Rhea though, was to put a halt to his plan; when she was about to give birth to Zeus, she escaped to Crete and gave birth to him there; She hid him in a cave, and left him in the care of a goat, Amalthia, until Zeus reached adulthood. Rhea returned home to Cronus, handing him in a rock covered in swaddling clothes.

When Zeus reached manhood, he presented himself to Cronus and forced him to disgorge his siblings. After overthrowing him, he and his brothers drew lots and shared the world; Zeus got the sky and air, so it’s only natural that he’s considered to be the god of sky and thunder.

Clearly, Zeus is a hottie! (sometimes I think I have too much fun with captioning :-p )
And I simply love the sketch on the top right hand corner where he is being chased by Hera. :-)

Zeus is also notorious for him numerous erotic escapades, which resulted in countless offspring. Hera, who was very beautiful (for some strange reason though, that fact is usually overlooked, and people tend to remember her only as strict and solemn) had caught his attention. He began pursuing her, but she kept turning him down (too much of a womaniser for her taste).

Beautiful, solemn and majestic!

Of course, that didn’t stop Zeus; he decided on a different approach, and, disguising himself as a rain-soaked cuckoo, landed to Hera's feet. She felt sorry for the bird and sheltered him to her bosom in an attempt to warm and dry him. Zeus immediately returned to his true form and claimed her as his own. She succumbed to his advances and, full of shame, agreed to marry him.

The fact that he had married Hera for love, did not Zeus stop from having affairs, which was the main cause of dispute between them.

Zeus, and his lovers and offspring as well, often paid the price of Hera’s jealous and vindictive nature; not that she’s entirely to blame though; Zeus was far from an ideal husband. His “authority” made him think that he could get away with being disrespectful towards the goddess of marriage but was he ever wrong!

Hera might be Queen of gods and men, but that doesn’t mean she held as much power as Zeus; not even close. Still, she was well respected by gods and men alike; (even Zeus himself was known to seek her opinion on various occasions), but in the end, she was just the king’s wife; the final word was always his.

Hera in all her glory!

Lastly, both Zeus and Hera play a part in our myth.

Hera, despite the fact she’s the goddess of women and marriage, is not as helpful as she should be (given her role) towards Psyche, because she wants to stay in good graces with Aphrodite.

Zeus on the other hand, is quite helpful towards Eros and Psyche, using his power in their favour and convincing Aphrodite to leave them in peace.

After all, if Eros is happily married to Psyche, shooting arrows towards his direction will be the last thing on his mind. :-p 

The Goddess of Beauty

In the last entry, I’ve mentioned we would be talking out about overcoming obstacles today. Well, turns out we won’t after all, because we figured it would be best if we introduced Aphrodite first, since she holds such a big part in the myth.

So, Aphrodite is the goddess of love, beauty and pleasure.

There are a few stories focusing on her birth, but here’s the most interesting, so here you go: Cronus was the leader of the first generation of Titans; he overthrew his father, Uranus, by castrating him (our mythology can be so charming sometimes :-p ). He threw Uranus’s genitals into the ocean and a divine creature arose from the sea foam; that was Aphrodite (according to some, her name means “foam-risen”).

When Eirini first showed me this sketch, my jaw dropped to the floor; but then again, that's the case with most of her sketches. :-p 

Simply put, she’s gorgeous; long blonde hair, slender figure and fine features. Because of her immense beauty, Zeus feared the rivalry that would break out between the gods in their attempt to woe and possess her, so he married her to Hephaestus, the god of smithing, in order to indicate she was off limits.

Sadly though, Hephaestus was far from charming, since he was ugly and deformed, so Aphrodite was known to have many lovers, both gods and men. In most cases, Hephaestus turned a blind eye to her unfaithfulness, because he didn’t want to lose her.

There was a point he did do something though; when he caught her in bed with Ares (some consider his to be the father of Eros too), but that’s a story for later on! ;-)

Character wise, in most myths, Aphrodite is mild tempered and kind to people, as long as they keep worshipping her of course.

In this particular myth though, she’s the exact opposite of that and it’s actually one of the things we liked about this myth.

She’s vain, vindictive, temperamental, and, at certain points, hysterical too; poor Psyche!

Here she's again; the goddess of beauty and probably the most difficult mother-in-law one could ask for! :-p

And here’s your bonus inside fun fact too: the bits of the myth that feature Aphrodite are the least changed; we were quite spot on from quite early on!