1.
Asclepias
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Asclepias L. the milkweeds, is an American genus of herbaceous perennial, dicotyledonous plants that contains over 140 known species. It previously belonged to the family Asclepiadaceae, but this is now classified as the subfamily Asclepiadoideae of the dogbane family Apocynaceae, milkweed is named for its milky sap, which consists of a latex containing alkaloids and several other complex compounds including cardenolides. Some species are known to be toxic, carl Linnaeus named the genus after Asclepius, the Greek god of healing. Asclepias species produce some of the most complex flowers in the plant kingdom, five petals reflex backwards revealing a gynostegium surrounded by a five-membered corona. The corona is composed of a five paired hood and horn structure with the acting as a sheath for the inner horn. Glands holding pollinia are found between the hoods, the size, shape and color of the horns and hoods are often important identifying characteristics for species in the genus Asclepias. Pollination in this genus is accomplished in an unusual manner, pollen is grouped into complex structures called pollinia, rather than being individual grains or tetrads, as is typical for most plants. The feet or mouthparts of flower-visiting insects such as bees, wasps and butterflies, pollination is effected by the reverse procedure, in which one of the pollinia becomes trapped within the anther slit. Asclepias species produce their seeds in follicles, the seeds, which are arranged in overlapping rows, bear a cluster of white, silky, filament-like hairs known as the coma. The follicles ripen and split open, and the seeds, each carried by its coma, are blown by the wind, milkweeds use three primary defenses to limit damage caused by caterpillars, hairs on the leaves, cardenolide toxins, and latex fluids. The milkweed filaments from the coma are hollow and coated with wax, during World War II, over 5,000 t of milkweed floss were collected in the United States as a substitute for kapok. As of 2007, milkweed is grown commercially as a filling for pillows. Milkweed fibers are used to clean up oil spills, in the past, the high dextrose content of the nectar led to milkweeds use as a source of sweetener for Native Americans and voyageurs. The bast fibers of some species can be used for cordage, milkweed latex contains about 1 to 2% latex, and was attempted as a source of natural rubber by both Germany and the United States during World War II. No record has been found of large-scale success, silk of America is a strand of common milkweed gathered mainly in the valley of the Saint Lawrence River in Canada. The silk is used to manufacture thermal insulation, acoustic insulation, milkweed is beneficial to nearby plants, repelling some pests, especially wireworms. Milkweed also contains cardiac glycoside poisons that inhibit animal cells from maintaining a proper K+, as a result, many natives of South America and Africa used arrows poisoned with these glycosides to fight and hunt more effectively. Milkweed is toxic and may cause death when animals consume 10% of their weight in any part of the plant
2.
Archaeological Museum of Epidaurus
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Archaeological Museum of Epidaurus is a museum in Epidaurus, in Argolis on the Peloponnese peninsula, Greece. The ancient site of Epidaurus was dedicated to healing and the gods Apollo and it lasted until the eleventh century BC, and then in about 800 BC it was rededicated to Apollo and the area is now known as the Apollo sanctuary. The other main sanctuary, the Asclepeion sanctuary of Epidaurus, was first studied by the French Scientific Expedition of the Peloponnese in 1829. In 1870, Panagiotis Kavadias of the Greek Archaeological Society began excavating the site, the Asclepeion, the larger of the sanctuaries was known for its healing rituals and for hosting sports. The sculptures which had transferred directly to the National Archaeological Museum of Athens were replaced by plaster casts to display in the museum. After Kavadiass death in 1926, only limited excavations of Epidaurus took place, such as by G. Roux of the French School at Athens in the area of the Abaton in 1942-43, papadimitriou of the Greek Archaeological Service in 1948-51. In 1971, the museum underwent expansion again when a new hall was built to the northwest of the building to accommodate a collection of inscriptions. Since 1974 excavations by the Archaeological Society at the sanctuary of Apollo Maleatas have been conducted under Professor V. Lambrinoudakis, the museum contains a number of large reconstructions of temples and architectural components, particularly those found at the Asklepieion. There is also a reconstruction of the entablature and part of the inner Corinthian colonnade of the Propylaia dated to 300 B. C. The museum also has a Corinthian capital which was unearthed below the foundations of the Tholos temple, the temporary exhibition of architectural parts and sculptures from the Tholos, added in 1992, is located in a room which is known as the B gallery. The museum has a collection of inscriptions and Greek and Roman sculptures. A collection of inscriptions is also displayed under the portico to the south of the building of the Epidauras Archaeological Museum. The museum has a plaster cast statue of Asklepios, with a snake curling up on his stick. It is a copy of the original statue unearthed in Epidaurus, also of note is a marble headless statue, believed to be of the health goddess Hygeia, dated to the Hellenistic period and a statuette of a child. The museum has a collection of inscriptions and perirrhanteria, displayed at the facade of the inscriptions hall. C. A lily from the ceiling of the Tholos decorates one of the coffers of the ceiling of the external Doric colonnade of the Tholos which is dated to 360–330 B. C. The museum also displays bronze medical instruments providing an insight into medical practice at the sanctuary of Asklepios. Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs www. greece-museums. com Images of items found at Epidauras
3.
Apollo
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Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in classical Greek and Roman religion and Greek and Roman mythology. The ideal of the kouros, Apollo has been recognized as a god of music, truth and prophecy, healing, the sun and light, plague, poetry. Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto, and has a twin sister, Apollo is known in Greek-influenced Etruscan mythology as Apulu. As the patron of Delphi, Apollo was an oracular god—the prophetic deity of the Delphic Oracle. Medicine and healing are associated with Apollo, whether through the god himself or mediated through his son Asclepius, yet Apollo was also seen as a god who could bring ill-health and deadly plague. Amongst the gods custodial charges, Apollo became associated with dominion over colonists, as the leader of the Muses and director of their choir, Apollo functioned as the patron god of music and poetry. Hermes created the lyre for him, and the instrument became an attribute of Apollo. Hymns sung to Apollo were called paeans, Apollo and Helios/Sol remained separate beings in literary and mythological texts until the 3rd century CE. The name Apollo—unlike the related older name Paean—is generally not found in the Linear B texts, the etymology of the name is uncertain. The spelling Ἀπόλλων had almost superseded all other forms by the beginning of the common era and it probably is a cognate to the Doric month Apellaios, and the offerings apellaia at the initiation of the young men during the family-festival apellai. According to some scholars the words are derived from the Doric word apella, apella is the name of the popular assembly in Sparta, corresponding to the ecclesia. R. S. P. Beekes rejected the connection of the theonym with the noun apellai, several instances of popular etymology are attested from ancient authors. Thus, the Greeks most often associated Apollos name with the Greek verb ἀπόλλυμι, in the ancient Macedonian language πέλλα means stone, and some toponyms may be derived from this word, Πέλλα and Πελλήνη. The role of Apollo as god of plague is evident in the invocation of Apollo Smintheus by Chryses, the Hittite testimony reflects an early form *Apeljōn, which may also be surmised from comparison of Cypriot Ἀπείλων with Doric Ἀπέλλων. A Luwian etymology suggested for Apaliunas makes Apollo The One of Entrapment, Apollos chief epithet was Phoebus, literally bright. It was very commonly used by both the Greeks and Romans for Apollos role as the god of light, like other Greek deities, he had a number of others applied to him, reflecting the variety of roles, duties, and aspects ascribed to the god. However, while Apollo has a number of appellations in Greek myth. Aegletes, from αἴγλη, light of the sun Helius, literally sun Lyceus light, the meaning of the epithet Lyceus later became associated with Apollos mother Leto, who was the patron goddess of Lycia and who was identified with the wolf
4.
Greek mythology
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It was a part of the religion in ancient Greece. Greek mythology is explicitly embodied in a collection of narratives. Greek myth attempts to explain the origins of the world, and details the lives and adventures of a variety of gods, goddesses, heroes, heroines. These accounts initially were disseminated in a tradition, today the Greek myths are known primarily from ancient Greek literature. The oldest known Greek literary sources, Homers epic poems Iliad and Odyssey, focus on the Trojan War, archaeological findings provide a principal source of detail about Greek mythology, with gods and heroes featured prominently in the decoration of many artifacts. Geometric designs on pottery of the eighth century BC depict scenes from the Trojan cycle as well as the adventures of Heracles, in the succeeding Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods, Homeric and various other mythological scenes appear, supplementing the existing literary evidence. Greek mythology has had an influence on the culture, arts. Poets and artists from ancient times to the present have derived inspiration from Greek mythology and have discovered contemporary significance and relevance in the themes, Greek mythology is known today primarily from Greek literature and representations on visual media dating from the Geometric period from c. Mythical narration plays an important role in every genre of Greek literature. Nevertheless, the only general mythographical handbook to survive from Greek antiquity was the Library of Pseudo-Apollodorus and this work attempts to reconcile the contradictory tales of the poets and provides a grand summary of traditional Greek mythology and heroic legends. Apollodorus of Athens lived from c, 180–125 BC and wrote on many of these topics. His writings may have formed the basis for the collection, however the Library discusses events that occurred long after his death, among the earliest literary sources are Homers two epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey. Other poets completed the cycle, but these later and lesser poems now are lost almost entirely. Despite their traditional name, the Homeric Hymns have no connection with Homer. They are choral hymns from the part of the so-called Lyric age. Hesiods Works and Days, a poem about farming life, also includes the myths of Prometheus, Pandora. The poet gives advice on the best way to succeed in a dangerous world, lyrical poets often took their subjects from myth, but their treatment became gradually less narrative and more allusive. Greek lyric poets, including Pindar, Bacchylides and Simonides, and bucolic poets such as Theocritus and Bion, additionally, myth was central to classical Athenian drama
5.
Twelve Olympians
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Hades and Persephone were sometimes included as part of the twelve Olympians, although in general Hades was excluded, because he resided permanently in the underworld and never visited Olympus. The Twelve Olympians, also known as the Dodekatheon, were the deities of the Greek pantheon. The Olympians gained their supremacy in a war of gods in which Zeus led his siblings to victory over their predecessor gods. The concept of the Twelve Gods is older than any extant Greek or Roman source, the gods meet in council in the Homeric epics, but the first ancient reference to religious ceremonies for the Olympians collectively is found in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes. The Greek cult of the Twelve Olympians can be traced to 6th-century BC Athens, the Altar of the Twelve Gods at Athens is usually dated to the archonship of the younger Pesistratos, in 522/521 BC. In ancient Greek religion, the Olympian Gods and the Cults of Twelve Gods were often relatively distinct concepts, while the number was fixed at twelve, there was considerable variation as to which deities were included. However, the twelve as most commonly portrayed in art and poetry were Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Hermes and either Hestia, or Dionysus. Hades, known in the Eleusinian tradition as Pluto, was not usually included among the Olympians because his realm was the underworld. Plato connected the Twelve Olympians with the months, and implies that he considered Pluto one of the twelve in proposing that the final month be devoted to him. In Phaedrus, Plato seems to exclude Hestia from the rank of the great gods. At Olympia there were six altars dedicated to six pairs of gods, Zeus and Poseidon, Hera and Athena, Hermes and Apollo, the Charites and Dionysus, Artemis and Alpheus, the historian Herodotus states that Heracles was included as one of the Twelve by some. At Kos, Heracles and Dionysus are added to the Twelve, for Pindar, the Bibliotheca, and Herodorus of Heraclea, Heracles is not one of the Twelve Gods, but the one who established their cult. Lucian includes Heracles and Asclepius as members of the Twelve, without explaining which two had to give way for them, hebe, Helios, Selene, Eos, Eros and Persephone are other important gods and goddesses who are sometimes included in a group of twelve. Eros is often depicted alongside the twelve, especially his mother Aphrodite. Notes ^ Romans also associated Phoebus with Helios and the sun itself, however, ^ According to an alternate version of her birth, Aphrodite was born of Uranus, Zeus grandfather, after Cronus threw his castrated genitals into the sea. This supports the etymology of her name, foam-born, as such, Aphrodite would belong to the same generation as Cronus, Zeus father, and would be Zeus aunt. See the birth of Aphrodite The following gods and goddess are sometimes included as one of the twelve Olympians, the following gods and goddesses were not usually counted as Olympians, although they had close ties to them. Aeolus – King of the winds, keeper of the Anemoi, Alpheus – God of the River Alpheus
6.
Anemoi
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The Spartans were reported to sacrifice a horse to the winds on Mount Taygetus. Astraeus, the deity, and Eos/Aurora, the goddess of the dawn, were the parents of the Anemoi. The daughters of the Anemoi are the Aurae, the deities equivalent to the Anemoi in Roman mythology were the Venti. These gods had different names, but were very similar to their Greek counterparts, borrowing their attributes. Boreas was the Greek god of the north wind and the bringer of winter. Although normally taken as the wind, the Roman writers Aulus Gellius. Boreas is depicted as being strong, with a violent temper to match. He was frequently shown as an old man with shaggy hair and beard, holding a conch shell. Pausanias wrote that Boreas had snakes instead of feet, though in art he was depicted with winged human feet. Boreas two sons Calaïs and Zetes, known as Boreads, were in the crew of the Argo as Argonauts, Boreas was closely associated with horses. He was said to have fathered twelve colts after taking the form of a stallion, to the mares of Erichthonius and these were said to be able to run across a field of grain without trampling the plants. Pliny the Elder thought that mares might stand with their hindquarters to the North Wind and he is said to have fathered three giant Hyperborean priests of Apollo by Chione. Boreas was also said to have kidnapped Orithyia, an Athenian princess, Boreas had taken a fancy to Orithyia and had initially pleaded for her favours, hoping to persuade her. When this failed, he reverted to his temper and abducted her as she danced on the banks of the Ilisos. Boreas wrapped Orithyia up in a cloud, raped her, and with her, from then on, the Athenians saw Boreas as a relative by marriage. When Athens was threatened by Xerxes, the people prayed to Boreas, and when they went home they built the god a shrine by the River Ilissus. The abduction of Orithyia was popular in Athens before and after the Persian War, in these paintings, Boreas was portrayed as a bearded man in a tunic, with shaggy hair that is sometimes frosted and spiked. The abduction was also dramatized in Aeschyluss lost play Oreithyia, in other accounts, Boreas was the father of Butes and the lover of the nymph Pitys
7.
Iris (mythology)
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In Greek mythology, Iris is the personification of the rainbow and messenger of the gods. She is also known as one of the goddesses of the sea, Iris links the gods to humanity. She travels with the speed of wind from one end of the world to the other, and into the depths of the sea, according to Hesiods Theogony, Iris is the daughter of Thaumas and the Oceanid Electra, and the sister of the Harpies, Aello and Ocypete. During the Titanomachy, Iris was the messenger of the Olympian Gods, while her twin sister Arke betrayed the Olympians and became the messenger of the Titans. Iris is frequently mentioned as a messenger in the Iliad which is attributed to Homer, but does not appear in his Odyssey. Like Hermes, Iris carries a caduceus or winged staff, by command of Zeus, the king of the gods, she carries an ewer of water from the River Styx, with which she puts to sleep all who perjure themselves. According to Apollonius Rhodius, Iris turned back the Argonauts Zetes, Iris is married to Zephyrus, who is the god of the west wind. According to the Dionysiaca of Nonnos, Iris brother is Hydaspes, in Euripides play Herakles, Iris appears alongside Lyssa, cursing Heracles with the fit of madness in which he kills his three sons and his wife Megara. Iris was said to have wings, whereas Arke had iridescent ones. She is also said to travel on the rainbow while carrying messages from the gods to mortals. During the Titan War, Zeus tore Arkes iridescent wings from her and gave them as a gift to the Nereid Thetis at her wedding, who in turn them to her son, Achilles. Achilles was sometimes known as podarkes Podarces was also the name of Priam. Iris also appears several times in Virgils Aeneid, usually as an agent of Juno, in Book 4, Juno dispatches her to pluck a lock of hair from the head of Queen Dido, that she may die and enter Hades. In book 5, Iris, having taken on the form of a Trojan woman, Iris had numerous poetic titles and epithets, including Chrysopteron, Podas ôkea or Podênemos ôkea, Roscida, and Thaumantias or Thaumantos. Under the epithet Aellopus she was described as swift-footed like a storm-wind and she also watered the clouds with her pitcher, obtaining the water from the sea. Iris is represented either as a rainbow, or as a young maiden with wings on her shoulders. As a goddess, Iris is associated with communication, messages, the word iridescence is derived in part from the name of this goddess. The adjective for a rainbow is iridal, the iris of the eye is named after her, to reflect the many colours of the eye
8.
Leto
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In Greek mythology, Leto is a daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe, the sister of Asteria, and the mother, by Zeus, of Apollo and Artemis. The island of Kos is claimed as her birthplace, in the Olympian scheme, Zeus is the father of her twins, Apollo and Artemis, the Letoides, which Leto conceived after her hidden beauty accidentally caught the eyes of Zeus. Finally, she finds an island that is not attached to the floor so it is not considered land. This is her one active mythic role, once Apollo and Artemis are grown, Leto withdraws, to remain a dim and benevolent matronly figure upon Olympus, in Roman mythology, Letos equivalent is Latona, a Latinization of her name, influenced by Etruscan Letun. Walter Burkert notes that in Phaistos she appears in connection with an initiation cult, Leto was identified from the fourth century onwards with the principal local mother goddess of Anatolian Lycia, as the region became Hellenized. In Greek inscriptions, the Letoides are referred to as the gods of the country. Her sanctuary, the Letoon near Xanthos predated Hellenic influence in the region, however, the Hellenes of Kos also claimed Leto as their own. Another sanctuary, more recently identified, was at Oenoanda in the north of Lycia, there was, of course, a further Letoon at Delos. Letos primal nature may be deduced from the natures of her father and mother, the name of Letos mother, Phoebe, is identical to the epithet of her son Apollo, Φοῖβος Ἀπόλλων, throughout Homer. Several explanations have been put forward to explain the origin of the goddess, older sources speculated that the name is related to the Greek λήθη lḗthē and λωτός lotus. It would thus mean the hidden one, in 20th-century sources Leto is traditionally derived from Lycian lada, wife, as her earliest cult was centered in Lycia. Lycian lada may also be the origin of the Greek name Λήδα Leda, other scholars have suggested a Pre-Greek origin. She was powerless to stop the flow of events, Latona for her intrigue with Zeus was hunted by Hera over the whole earth, till she came to Delos and brought forth first Artemis, by the help of whose midwifery she afterwards gave birth to Apollo. Hera banned Leto from giving birth on terra firma, the mainland, any island at sea, the island was surrounded by swans. As a gesture of gratitude, Delos was secured with four pillars and it is remarkable that Leto brought forth Artemis, the elder twin, without travail, as Callimachus wrote, as if she were merely revealing another manifestation of herself. Only Hera kept apart, perhaps to kidnap Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth, instead Artemis, having been born first, assisted with the birth of Apollo. The dynastic rite of the witnessed birth must have been familiar to the hymns hearers, demeter is not present, her mother Rhea attends. The goddess Dione is sometimes taken by later mythographers as a feminine form of Zeus, if this were so
9.
Muses
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The Muses are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts in Greek mythology. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric songs and they were later adopted by the Romans as a part of their pantheon. In current English usage, muse can refer in general to a person who inspires an artist, writer, the earliest known records of the Nine Muses are from Boeotia, the homeland of Hesiod. Some ancient authorities thought that the Nine Muses were of Thracian origin, there, a tradition persisted that the Muses had once been three in number. They were again called Melete or Practice, Mneme or Memory, three ancient Muses were also reported in Plutarchs Quaestiones Convivales. According to Pausanias in the second century AD, there were three original Muses, worshiped on Mount Helicon in Boeotia, Aoidḗ, Melétē, and Mnḗmē. Together, these three form the picture of the preconditions of poetic art in cult practice. In Delphi three Muses were worshiped as well, but with other names, Nḗtē, Mésē, and Hýpatē, alternatively they later were called Kēphisṓ, Apollōnís, and Borysthenís, which names characterize them as daughters of Apollo. In later tradition, a set of four Muses were recognized, Thelxinóē, Aoidḗ Archē, one of the people frequently associated with the Muses was Pierus. By some he was called the father of a total of seven Muses, called Neilṓ, Tritṓnē, Asōpṓ, Heptápora, Achelōís, Tipoplṓ, and Rhodía. According to Hesiods Theogony, they were daughters of Zeus, the second king of the gods. For Alcman and Mimnermus, they were even more primordial, springing from the deities, Uranus. Sometimes the Muses are referred to as water nymphs, associated with the springs of Helicon and it was said that the winged horse Pegasus touched his hooves to the ground on Helicon, causing four sacred springs to burst forth, from which the muses were born. Athena later tamed the horse and presented him to the muses, classical writers set Apollo as their leader, Apollon Mousagetēs. In one myth, the Muses judged a contest between Apollo and Marsyas and they also gathered the pieces of the dead body of Orpheus, son of Calliope, and buried them. In a later myth, Thamyris challenged them to a singing contest and they won and punished Thamyris by blinding him and robbing him of his singing ability. He thus challenged the Muses to a match, resulting in his daughters, Pausanias records a tradition of two generations of Muses, the first are the daughters of Uranus and Gaia, the second of Zeus and Mnemosyne. Another, rarer genealogy is that they are daughters of Harmonia, some Greek writers give the names of the nine Muses as Kallichore, Helike, Eunike, Thelxinoë, Terpsichore, Euterpe, Eukelade, Dia, and Enope
10.
Nymph
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A nymph in Greek mythology and in Latin mythology is a minor female nature deity typically associated with a particular location or landform. They are beloved by many and dwell in mountainous regions and forests by lakes, charybdis and Scylla were once nymphs. Other nymphs, always in the shape of young maidens, were part of the retinue of a god, such as Dionysus, Hermes, or Pan, or a goddess, nymphs were the frequent target of satyrs. The Greek word νύμφη has bride and veiled among its meanings, other readers refer the word to a root expressing the idea of swelling. The mythologies of classicizing Roman poets were unlikely to have affected the rites and cult of individual nymphs venerated by people in the springs. Among the Roman literate class, their sphere of influence was restricted, the ancient Greek belief in nymphs survived in many parts of the country into the early years of the twentieth century, when they were usually known as nereids. At that time, John Cuthbert Lawson wrote and they might appear in a whirlwind. Such encounters could be dangerous, bringing dumbness, besotted infatuation, when parents believed their child to be nereid-struck, they would pray to Saint Artemidos. Due to widespread use of the term among lay persons and stereotypes attached, professionals nowadays prefer the term hypersexuality, the word nymphet is used to identify a sexually precocious girl. The term was made famous in the novel Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, the main character, Humbert Humbert, uses the term many times, usually in reference to the title character. Thus the classes of nymphs tend to overlap, which complicates the task of precise classification, rose mentions dryads and hamadryads as nymphs of trees generally, meliai as nymphs of ash trees, and naiads as nymphs of water, but no others specifically. She is the consort of Acheron, and the mother of Ascalaphus, leuce, lover of Hades Minthe, lover of Hades, rival of Persephone Melinoe Orphic nymph, daughter of Persephone and Zeus disguised as Pluto. Her name is an epithet of Hecate. Nymphs in such groupings could belong to any of the mentioned above. For lists of Naiads, Oceanids, Dryades etc and this motif supposedly came from an Italian report of a Roman sculpture of a nymph at a fountain above the River Danube
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the 
