1.
Titan (mythology)
–
In Greek mythology, the Titans and Titanesses were members of the second generation of divine beings, descending from the primordial deities and preceding the Olympian deities. Based on Mount Othrys, the Titans most famously included the first twelve children of the primordial Gaia and they were giant deities of incredible strength, who ruled during the legendary Golden Age, and also comprised the first pantheon of Greek deities. The first twelve Titans comprised the females Mnemosyne, Tethys, Theia, Phoebe, Rhea, and Themis and the males Oceanus, Hyperion, Coeus, Cronus, Crius, like Cronus overthrowing his father Uranus, the Titans were overthrown by Cronus children, in the Titanomachy. The Greeks may have borrowed this mytheme from the Ancient Near East, Greeks of the classical age knew of several poems about the war between the Olympians and Titans. The dominant one, and the one that has survived, was in the Theogony attributed to Hesiod. A lost epic, Titanomachia was mentioned in passing in an essay On Music that was attributed to Plutarch. The Titans also played a prominent role in the poems attributed to Orpheus, although only scraps of the Orphic narratives survive, they show interesting differences with the Hesiodic tradition. Sometimes the elders are supplanted, and sometimes the rebels lose and are either cast out of power entirely or incorporated into the pantheon, the Titanomachy lasted for ten years. The Titans were imprisoned in Tartarus after the war had ended, Tartarus is the deepest spot known in the Underworld, where the most evil beings would be cast into to be tortured for all eternity. Hesiod does not have the last word on the Titans, surviving fragments of poetry ascribed to Orpheus preserve some variations on the myth. In such text, Zeus does not simply set upon his father violently, instead, Rhea spreads out a banquet for Cronus so that he becomes drunk upon fermented honey. Rather than being consigned to Tartarus, Cronus is dragged—still drunk—to the cave of Nyx, another myth concerning the Titans that is not in Hesiod revolves around Dionysus. At some point in his reign, Zeus decides to give up the throne in favor of the infant Dionysus, who like the infant Zeus, is guarded by the Kouretes. The Titans decide to slay the child and claim the throne for themselves, they paint their faces white with gypsum, distract Dionysus with toys, then him and boil. Zeus, enraged, slays the Titans with his thunderbolt, Athena preserves the heart in a gypsum doll and this story is told by the poets Callimachus and Nonnus, who call this Dionysus Zagreus, and in a number of Orphic texts, which do not. Pindar, Plato, and Oppian refer offhandedly to the Titanic nature of humans, according to them, the body is the titanic part, while soul is the divine part of humans. Other early writers imply that humanity was born out of the malevolent blood shed by the Titans in their war against Zeus, Martin Litchfield West also asserts this in relation to shamanistic initiatory rites of early Greek religious practices. Beekes connects the word with τιτώ, burket, Walter, The Orientalizing Revolution, Near Eastern Influence on Greek Culture in the Early Archaic Age, Harvard University Press,1995
Titan (mythology)
–
Rhea, a Titan daughter of the earth goddess
Gaia, was both sister and wife to
Cronus.
2.
Mount Olympus
–
Mount Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece. It is located in the Olympus Range on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, between the units of Pieria and Larissa, about 80 km southwest from Thessaloniki. Mount Olympus has 52 peaks, deep gorges, and exceptional biodiversity, the highest peak Mytikas, meaning nose, rises to 2,918 metres. It is one of the highest peaks in Europe in terms of topographic prominence, Olympus was notable in Greek mythology as the home of the Greek gods, on the Mytikas peak. Mount Olympus is also noted for its rich flora with several species. It has been a National Park, the first in Greece, since 1938 and it is also a Worlds Biosphere Reserve. Every year thousands of people visit Olympus to admire its fauna and flora, to tour its slopes, organized mountain refuges and various mountaineering and climbing routes are available to visitors who want to explore it. The usual starting point is the town of Litochoro, on the foothills of the mountain,100 km from Thessaloniki, where, in the beginning of every summer. The shape of Olympus was formed by rain and wind, which produced an isolated tower almost 3,000 metres above the sea, Olympus has many peaks and an almost circular shape. The mountain has a circumference of 150 kilometres, a diameter of 26 kilometres. To the northwest lies the Vlach village of Kokkinoplou, the Makryrema stream separates Olympus from the massif of Voulgara. The villages Petra, Vrontou and Dion lie to the northwest, while on the side there is the town of Litochoro. On its southeastern side, the Ziliana gorge divides Mount Olympus from Kato Olympos, while on its foothills, there are the villages Sykaminea. The Aghias Triadas Sparmou Monastery and the village Pythion lie to the west, Olympus dry foothills are known as the Xirokampi, containing chaparral and small animals. Further east, the plain of Dion is fertile and watered by the streams originate on Olympus. Mount Olympus is formed of rock laid down 200 million years ago in a shallow sea. Various geological events that caused the emergence of the whole region. Around one million years ago glaciers covered Olympus and created its plateaus, the complicated geological past of the region is obvious on the morphology of Olympus and its National Park
Mount Olympus
–
Mount Olympus from the west
Mount Olympus
–
Olympus' highest peak, Mytikas
Mount Olympus
–
Satellite photo of Olympus' region
3.
Scales of Justice (symbol)
–
Lady Justice is an allegorical personification of the moral force in judicial systems. Her attributes are a blindfold, a balance, and a sword and she often appears as a pair with Prudentia, who holds a mirror and a snake. Lady Justice is also known as Iustitia or Justitia after Latin, Iustitia, the Roman goddess of Justice, the personification of justice balancing the scales dates back to the Goddess Maat, and later Isis, of ancient Egypt. The Hellenic deities Themis and Dike were later goddesses of justice, Themis was the embodiment of divine order, law, and custom, in her aspect as the personification of the divine rightness of law. There are three features of Lady Justice, a set of scales, a blindfold, and a sword. Lady Justice is most often depicted with a set of scales typically suspended from her hand, upon which she measures the strengths of a cases support. The depiction dates back to ancient Egypt, where the God Anubis was frequently depicted with a set of scales on which He weighed a deceaseds heart against the Feather of Truth, since the 16th century, Lady Justice has often been depicted wearing a blindfold. The blindfold represents impartiality, the ideal that justice should be applied without regard to wealth, the earliest Roman coins depicted Justitia with the sword in one hand and the scale in the other, but with her eyes uncovered. Justitia was only represented as blind since about the end of the 15th century. The first known representation of blind Justice is Hans Giengs 1543 statue on the Gerechtigkeitsbrunnen in Berne, instead of using the Janus approach, many sculptures simply leave out the blindfold altogether. Another variation is to depict a blindfolded Lady Justice as a human scale, an example of this can be seen at the Shelby County Courthouse in Memphis, Tennessee. The cover of a 2006 issue of Rolling Stone proclaimed TIME TO GO. focusing on the corruption that dominated Congress. The drawing showed a bunch of figures evoking reactionary politics emerging from the Capitol, one of the figures was Lady Justice lifting her blindfold, implying that the then-composition of Congress had politicized the criminal justice system. The last distinctive feature of Lady Justice is her sword, the sword represented authority in ancient times, and conveys the idea that justice can be swift and final. The Greco-Roman garment symbolizes the status of the attitude that embodies justice. Justice in sculpture Justice in painting Lady Justice and her symbols are used in heraldry, especially in the arms of legal government agencies. com
Scales of Justice (symbol)
–
Themis armed with sword and
balance scales (
Court of Final Appeal,
Victoria,
Hong Kong)
Scales of Justice (symbol)
–
The Ancient Egyptian
Book of the Dead depicts a scene in which a scribe's heart is weighed against the
feather of truth.
Scales of Justice (symbol)
–
Lady Justice with sword, scales and blindfold on the
Gerechtigkeitsbrunnen in
Berne,
Switzerland —1543
Scales of Justice (symbol)
–
Supreme Court of Brazil, 1961
4.
Tripod
–
A tripod is a portable three-legged frame, used as a platform for supporting the weight and maintaining the stability of some other object. A tripod provides stability against downward forces and horizontal forces and movements about horizontal axes, the positioning of the three legs away from the vertical centre allows the tripod better leverage for resisting lateral forces. The earliest attested form of the word is the Mycenaean Greek
Tripod
–
Young
George Washington using a
surveyor's tripod
Tripod
–
A ding from late
Xia Dynasty.
Tripod
–
Seabees train with the
M240B mounted on the
M122 tripod.
Tripod
–
A tripod used to support a
rooftop television antenna
5.
Zeus
–
Zeus /ˈzjuːs/ is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion, who ruled as king of the gods of Mount Olympus. His name is cognate with the first element of his Roman equivalent Jupiter and his mythologies and powers are similar, though not identical, to those of the Indo-European deities such as Indra, Jupiter, Perun, Thor, and Odin. Zeus is the child of Cronus and Rhea, the youngest of his siblings to be born, in most traditions, he is married to Hera, by whom he is usually said to have fathered Ares, Hebe, and Hephaestus. At the oracle of Dodona, his consort was said to be Dione, Zeus was also infamous for his erotic escapades. These resulted in many godly and heroic offspring, including Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Persephone, Dionysus, Perseus, Heracles, Helen of Troy, Minos, and the Muses. He was equated with many foreign weather gods, permitting Pausanias to observe That Zeus is king in heaven is a common to all men. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull, and oak, in addition to his Indo-European inheritance, the classical cloud-gatherer also derives certain iconographic traits from the cultures of the Ancient Near East, such as the scepter. Zeus is frequently depicted by Greek artists in one of two poses, standing, striding forward with a thunderbolt leveled in his right hand. The gods name in the nominative is Ζεύς Zeús and it is inflected as follows, vocative, Ζεῦ Zeû, accusative, Δία Día, genitive, Διός Diós, dative, Διί Dií. Diogenes Laertius quotes Pherecydes of Syros as spelling the name, Ζάς, Zeus is the Greek continuation of *Di̯ēus, the name of the Proto-Indo-European god of the daytime sky, also called *Dyeus ph2tēr. The god is known under this name in the Rigveda, Latin, Zeus is the only deity in the Olympic pantheon whose name has such a transparent Indo-European etymology. The earliest attested forms of the name are the Mycenaean Greek
Zeus
–
The Jupiter de Smyrne, discovered in
Smyrna in 1680
Zeus
–
The Chariot of Zeus, from an 1879 Stories from the Greek Tragedians by Alfred Church.
Zeus
–
Zeus, at the Getty Villa, A.D. 1 - 100 by unknown.
Zeus
–
"
Cave of Zeus ",
Mount Ida (Crete).
6.
Horae
–
In Greek mythology the Horae or Horai or Hours were the goddesses of the seasons and the natural portions of time. They were originally the personifications of nature in its different seasonal aspects and they bring and bestow ripeness, they come and go in accordance with the firm law of the periodicities of nature and of life, Karl Kerenyi observed, Hora means the correct moment. Traditionally, they guarded the gates of Olympus, promoted the fertility of the earth, the course of the seasons was also symbolically described as the dance of the Horae, and they were accordingly given the attributes of spring flowers, fragrance and graceful freshness. For example, in Hesiods Works and Days, the fair-haired Horai, together with the Charites, in Argos, two Horae, rather than three, were recognised presumably winter and summer, Auxesia and Damia. In late euhemerist interpretations, they were seen as Cretan maidens who were worshipped as goddesses after they had been stoned to death. The earliest written mention of Horai is in the Iliad where they appear as keepers of Zeuss cloud gates, hardly any traces of that function are found in the subsequent tradition, Karl Galinsky remarked in passing. They were daughters of Zeus and Themis, half-sisters to the Moirai, Auxo or Auxesia was worshipped in Athens as one of their two Charites, Auxo was the Charis of spring and Hegemone was the Charis of autumn. One of the Horae, and the goddess and personification of the season of summer, she is the protector of vegetation and plants and she was an attendant to Persephone, Aphrodite and Hera, and was also associated with Dionysus, Apollo and Pan. At Athens, two Horae, Thallo and Carpo, also appear in rites of Attica noted by Pausanias in the 2nd century AD. Thallo, Auxo and Carpo are often accompanied by Chione, an Aurae, a daughter of Boreas and Orithyia/Oreithyia, along with Chione, Thallo, Auxo and Carpo were a part of the entourage of the goddess of the turn of the seasons, Persephone. Of the second triad associated to Themis and Zeus for law and order, Diké was the goddess of justice, she ruled over human justice. Eunomia was the goddess of law and legislation, the same or a different goddess may have been a daughter of Hermes and Aphrodite. Eirene or Irene, was the personification of peace and wealth, and was depicted in art as a young woman carrying a cornucopia, scepter. Hyginus identifies a set of Horae, Pherusa, Euporie or Euporia. Nonnus in his Dionysiaca mentions a distinct set of four Horae, quintus Smyrnaeus also attributes the Horae as the daughters of Helios and Selene, and describes them as the four handmaidens of Hera. The Greek words for the four seasons of year, Eiar, Theros, Phthinoporon, finally, a quite separate suite of Horae personified the twelve hours, as tutelary goddesses of the times of day. List of Greek mythological figures Hora Grimal, Pierre, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Wiley-Blackwell,1996, Horae p.217 Smith, William, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London. Horae The dictionary definition of Horae at Wiktionary Media related to Horae at Wikimedia Commons Theoi Project, Horai Theoi Project, Twelve Horae
Horae
–
Dionysus leading the Horae (
Neo-Attic Roman relief, 1st century).
Horae
–
Eirene with the infant
Ploutos (Roman copy after the votive statue of
Kephisodotos, ca. 370 BC.
Horae
–
A detail of Horae Serenae by
Edward Poynter (1894)
Horae
–
Allegory of peace and happiness of the state. In this picture we can see Dike (the justice), Eunomia (order) and, in the center, Eirene (the Peace)
7.
Auxo
–
In Greek mythology the Horae or Horai or Hours were the goddesses of the seasons and the natural portions of time. They were originally the personifications of nature in its different seasonal aspects and they bring and bestow ripeness, they come and go in accordance with the firm law of the periodicities of nature and of life, Karl Kerenyi observed, Hora means the correct moment. Traditionally, they guarded the gates of Olympus, promoted the fertility of the earth, the course of the seasons was also symbolically described as the dance of the Horae, and they were accordingly given the attributes of spring flowers, fragrance and graceful freshness. For example, in Hesiods Works and Days, the fair-haired Horai, together with the Charites, in Argos, two Horae, rather than three, were recognised presumably winter and summer, Auxesia and Damia. In late euhemerist interpretations, they were seen as Cretan maidens who were worshipped as goddesses after they had been stoned to death. The earliest written mention of Horai is in the Iliad where they appear as keepers of Zeuss cloud gates, hardly any traces of that function are found in the subsequent tradition, Karl Galinsky remarked in passing. They were daughters of Zeus and Themis, half-sisters to the Moirai, Auxo or Auxesia was worshipped in Athens as one of their two Charites, Auxo was the Charis of spring and Hegemone was the Charis of autumn. One of the Horae, and the goddess and personification of the season of summer, she is the protector of vegetation and plants and she was an attendant to Persephone, Aphrodite and Hera, and was also associated with Dionysus, Apollo and Pan. At Athens, two Horae, Thallo and Carpo, also appear in rites of Attica noted by Pausanias in the 2nd century AD. Thallo, Auxo and Carpo are often accompanied by Chione, an Aurae, a daughter of Boreas and Orithyia/Oreithyia, along with Chione, Thallo, Auxo and Carpo were a part of the entourage of the goddess of the turn of the seasons, Persephone. Of the second triad associated to Themis and Zeus for law and order, Diké was the goddess of justice, she ruled over human justice. Eunomia was the goddess of law and legislation, the same or a different goddess may have been a daughter of Hermes and Aphrodite. Eirene or Irene, was the personification of peace and wealth, and was depicted in art as a young woman carrying a cornucopia, scepter. Hyginus identifies a set of Horae, Pherusa, Euporie or Euporia. Nonnus in his Dionysiaca mentions a distinct set of four Horae, quintus Smyrnaeus also attributes the Horae as the daughters of Helios and Selene, and describes them as the four handmaidens of Hera. The Greek words for the four seasons of year, Eiar, Theros, Phthinoporon, finally, a quite separate suite of Horae personified the twelve hours, as tutelary goddesses of the times of day. List of Greek mythological figures Hora Grimal, Pierre, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Wiley-Blackwell,1996, Horae p.217 Smith, William, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London. Horae The dictionary definition of Horae at Wiktionary Media related to Horae at Wikimedia Commons Theoi Project, Horai Theoi Project, Twelve Horae
Auxo
–
Dionysus leading the Horae (
Neo-Attic Roman relief, 1st century).
Auxo
–
Eirene with the infant
Ploutos (Roman copy after the votive statue of
Kephisodotos, ca. 370 BC.
Auxo
–
A detail of Horae Serenae by
Edward Poynter (1894)
Auxo
–
Allegory of peace and happiness of the state. In this picture we can see Dike (the justice), Eunomia (order) and, in the center, Eirene (the Peace)
8.
Thallo
–
In Greek mythology the Horae or Horai or Hours were the goddesses of the seasons and the natural portions of time. They were originally the personifications of nature in its different seasonal aspects and they bring and bestow ripeness, they come and go in accordance with the firm law of the periodicities of nature and of life, Karl Kerenyi observed, Hora means the correct moment. Traditionally, they guarded the gates of Olympus, promoted the fertility of the earth, the course of the seasons was also symbolically described as the dance of the Horae, and they were accordingly given the attributes of spring flowers, fragrance and graceful freshness. For example, in Hesiods Works and Days, the fair-haired Horai, together with the Charites, in Argos, two Horae, rather than three, were recognised presumably winter and summer, Auxesia and Damia. In late euhemerist interpretations, they were seen as Cretan maidens who were worshipped as goddesses after they had been stoned to death. The earliest written mention of Horai is in the Iliad where they appear as keepers of Zeuss cloud gates, hardly any traces of that function are found in the subsequent tradition, Karl Galinsky remarked in passing. They were daughters of Zeus and Themis, half-sisters to the Moirai, Auxo or Auxesia was worshipped in Athens as one of their two Charites, Auxo was the Charis of spring and Hegemone was the Charis of autumn. One of the Horae, and the goddess and personification of the season of summer, she is the protector of vegetation and plants and she was an attendant to Persephone, Aphrodite and Hera, and was also associated with Dionysus, Apollo and Pan. At Athens, two Horae, Thallo and Carpo, also appear in rites of Attica noted by Pausanias in the 2nd century AD. Thallo, Auxo and Carpo are often accompanied by Chione, an Aurae, a daughter of Boreas and Orithyia/Oreithyia, along with Chione, Thallo, Auxo and Carpo were a part of the entourage of the goddess of the turn of the seasons, Persephone. Of the second triad associated to Themis and Zeus for law and order, Diké was the goddess of justice, she ruled over human justice. Eunomia was the goddess of law and legislation, the same or a different goddess may have been a daughter of Hermes and Aphrodite. Eirene or Irene, was the personification of peace and wealth, and was depicted in art as a young woman carrying a cornucopia, scepter. Hyginus identifies a set of Horae, Pherusa, Euporie or Euporia. Nonnus in his Dionysiaca mentions a distinct set of four Horae, quintus Smyrnaeus also attributes the Horae as the daughters of Helios and Selene, and describes them as the four handmaidens of Hera. The Greek words for the four seasons of year, Eiar, Theros, Phthinoporon, finally, a quite separate suite of Horae personified the twelve hours, as tutelary goddesses of the times of day. List of Greek mythological figures Hora Grimal, Pierre, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Wiley-Blackwell,1996, Horae p.217 Smith, William, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London. Horae The dictionary definition of Horae at Wiktionary Media related to Horae at Wikimedia Commons Theoi Project, Horai Theoi Project, Twelve Horae
Thallo
–
Dionysus leading the Horae (
Neo-Attic Roman relief, 1st century).
Thallo
–
Eirene with the infant
Ploutos (Roman copy after the votive statue of
Kephisodotos, ca. 370 BC.
Thallo
–
A detail of Horae Serenae by
Edward Poynter (1894)
Thallo
–
Allegory of peace and happiness of the state. In this picture we can see Dike (the justice), Eunomia (order) and, in the center, Eirene (the Peace)
9.
Dike (mythology)
–
In ancient Greek culture, Dikē was the goddess of justice and the spirit of moral order and fair judgement based on immemorial custom, in the sense of socially enforced norms and conventional rules. According to Hesiod, she was fathered by Zeus upon his second consort and she and her mother were both personifications of justice. She is depicted as a young, slender woman carrying a balance scale and wearing a laurel wreath while her Roman counterpart appears in a similar fashion. She is represented in the constellation Libra which is named for the Latin name of her symbol and she is often associated with Astraea, the goddess of innocence and purity. Astraea is also one of her epithets referring to her appearance in the nearby constellation Virgo which is said to represent Astraea and this reflects her symbolic association with Astraea, who too has a similar iconography. The sculptures of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia have as their unifying iconographical conception the dikē of Zeus, in the philosophical climate of late 5th century Athens, dikē could be anthropomorphised as a goddess of moral justice. She ruled over human justice, while her mother Themis ruled over divine justice and her opposite was adikia, in reliefs on the archaic Chest of Cypselus preserved at Olympia, a comely Dikē throttled an ugly Adikia and beat her with a stick. The later art of rhetoric treated the personification of abstract concepts as an artistic device, in a further euhemerist interpretation, Dikē was born a mortal and Zeus placed her on Earth to keep mankind just. He quickly learned this was impossible and placed her next to him on Mount Olympus, one of her epithets was Astraea, referring to her appearance as the constellation Virgo. She proclaimed, Behold what manner of race the fathers of the Golden Age left behind them, but you will breed a viler progeny. Verily wars and cruel bloodshed shall be men and grievous woe shall be laid upon them. Dike left Earth for the sky, from which, as the constellation, after her departure, the human race declined into the Bronze Age, when diseases arose and they learned how to sail. Justitia, her Roman equivalent Astraea, her companion and goddess of purity Themis Adikia Theoi Project, Dike Excerpts from Greek literature in translation
Dike (mythology)
–
An 1886
bas-relief figure of
Dike Astraea in the Old Supreme Court Chamber at the
Vermont State House
10.
Eirene (Greek goddess)
–
Eirene, more commonly known in English as Peace, was one of the Horae, the personification of peace. She was depicted in art as a young woman carrying a cornucopia, sceptre. She is said sometimes to be the daughter of Zeus and Themis and she was particularly well regarded by the citizens of Athens. After a naval victory over Sparta in 375 BC, the Athenians established a cult for Peace and they held an annual state sacrifice to her after 371 BC to commemorate the Common Peace of that year and set up a votive statue in her honour in the Agora of Athens. The statue was executed in bronze by Cephisodotus the Elder, likely the father or uncle of the famous sculptor Praxiteles and it was acclaimed by the Athenians, who depicted it on vases and coins. Although the statue is now lost, it was copied in marble by the Romans and it depicts the goddess carrying a child with her left arm – Plutus, the god of plenty and son of Demeter, the goddess of agriculture. Peaces missing right hand held a sceptre. She is shown gazing maternally at Plutus, who is looking back at her trustingly, the statue is an allegory for Plenty prospering under the protection of Peace, it constituted a public appeal to good sense. The copy in the Glyptothek was originally in the collection of the Villa Albani in Rome but was looted, following Napoleons fall, the statue was bought by Ludwig I of Bavaria. Media related to Eirene at Wikimedia Commons theoi. com, Eirene
Eirene (Greek goddess)
–
Statue of Eirene with the infant
Ploutos: Roman marble copy of bronze votive statue by
Cephisodotus the Elder, now in the
Glyptothek,
Munich.
11.
Eunomia (goddess)
–
Eunomia was a minor Greek goddess of law and legislation, as well as the spring-time goddess of green pastures. She is by most accounts the daughter of Themis and Zeus, Eunomia was the goddess of law and legislation and one of the Second Generation of the Horae along with her sisters Dikē and Eirene. The Horae were law and order goddesses who maintained the stability of society, eunomias name, together with that of her sisters, formed a Hendiatris Good Order, Justice, and Peace. She was frequently depicted in Athenian vase painting amongst the companions of Aphrodite, as such she was identified with Eurynome, mother of the Charites. The Eunomia family of asteroids are named after her, the Triumph of Beauty List of Greek mythological figures Grimal, Pierre, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Wiley-Blackwell,1996, ISBN 978-0-631-20102-1. Horae p.217 Smith, William, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London
Eunomia (goddess)
–
Eunomia top right with Dike, Eirene and Themis, on a ceiling painting in Den Haag
12.
Moirai
–
In Greek mythology, the Moirai or Moerae /ˈmɪrˌiː/ or /ˈmiːˌriː/, often known in English as the Fates, were the white-robed incarnations of destiny, their Roman equivalent was the Parcae. Their number became fixed at three, Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos and they controlled the mother thread of life of every mortal from birth to death. They were independent, at the helm of necessity, directed fate, in the Homeric poems Moira or Aisa, is related with the limit and end of life, and Zeus appears as the guider of destiny. In the Theogony of Hesiod, the three Moirai are personified, daughters of Nyx and are acting over the gods, later they are daughters of Zeus and Themis, who was the embodiment of divine order and law. In Platos Republic the Three Fates are daughters of Ananke and it seems that Moira is related with Tekmor and with Ananke, who were primeval goddesses in mythical cosmogonies. The ancient Greek writers might call this power Moira or Ananke, the concept of a universal principle of natural order has been compared to similar concepts in other cultures like the Vedic Rta, the Avestan Asha and the Egyptian Maat. In earliest Greek philosophy, the cosmogony of Anaximander is based on these mythical beliefs, the goddess Dike, keeps the order and sets a limit to any actions. Moira may mean portion or share in the distribution of booty, portion in life, lot, destiny, death, portion of the distributed land. The word is used for something which is meet and right It seems that originally the word moira did not indicate destiny but included ascertainment or proof. The word daemon, which was an agent related to unexpected events, the word dike, justice, conveyed the notion that someone should stay within his own specified boundaries, respecting the ones of his neighbour. If someone broke his boundaries, thus getting more than his ordained part, in modern Greek the word came to mean destiny. Kismet, the course of events in the Muslim traditions, seems to have a similar etymology and function, Arabic qismat lot qasama, to divide. As a loanword, qesmat fate appears in Persian, whence in Urdu language, when they were three, the three Moirai were, Clotho spun the thread of life from her Distaff onto her Spindle. Her Roman equivalent was Nona, who was originally a goddess called upon in the month of pregnancy. Lachesis measured the thread of life allotted to each person with her measuring rod, Atropos was the cutter of the thread of life. She chose the manner of each death, and when their time was come. In the Republic of Plato, the three Moirai sing in unison with the music of the Seirenes, Lachesis sings the things that were, Clotho the things that are, and Atropos the things that are to be. Pindar in his Hymn to the Fates, holds them in high honour, send us rose-bossomed Lawfulness, and her sisters on glittering thrones, Right and crowned Peace, and make this city forget the misfortunes which lie heavily on her heart
Moirai
–
The three Moirai. Relief, grave of Alexander von der Mark (de) by
Johann Gottfried Schadow.
Old National Gallery,
Berlin
Moirai
–
The three fates, Lachesis, Atropos, and Cloto; by Hans Vischer ca 1530 AD.
Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin
Moirai
–
The three Moirai, or the triumph of death, Flemish
tapestry ca 1520,
Victoria and Albert Museum,
London.
Moirai
–
An 1886 bas-relief figure of
Dike Astraea in the Old Supreme Court Chamber at the
Vermont State House.
13.
Clotho
–
Clotho is the youngest of the Three Fates or Moirai – including her sisters Lachesis and Atropos, in ancient Greek mythology. Clotho was responsible for spinning the thread of human life and she also made major decisions, such as when a person was born, thus in effect controlling peoples lives. This power enabled her not only to choose who was born, for example, when Pelops was killed and boiled by his father, it was Clotho who brought him back to life. As one of the three fates her contribution to mythology was immense, Clotho, along with her sisters and Hermes, was given credit for creating the alphabet for their people. Even though Clotho and her sisters were real goddesses, their representation of fate is more focused upon in Greek mythology, thread represented human life and her decisions represented the fate of all people in society. According to Hesiods Theogony, Clotho and her sisters were the daughters of Erebus and Nyx, though later in the work they are said to have been born of Zeus. Clotho is also mentioned in the book of the Republic of Plato as the daughter of Necessity. In Roman mythology it was believed that she was daughter of Uranus, Clotho also used her life-giving powers in the myth of Tantalus, the god who had slain and prepared his son Pelops for a dinner party with other gods. When the other gods had found out what Tantalus had done, Clotho brought him back to life, with the exemption of his eaten shoulder, which was replaced by a chunk of ivory. Tantalus was then thrust into Hades for what he had done to his own kin, Clotho was worshiped in many places in Greece as one of the Three Fates and is sometimes associated with the Keres and Erinyes, which are other deity groups in Greek mythology. Ariadne, the Greek goddess of fertility, is similar to Clotho in that she carries a ball of thread, Clotho, along with the other two Fates, was tricked into becoming intoxicated by Alcestis. Alcestis, who had two children with Admetus, became deeply anguished when Admetus became very sick and eventually died, Alcestis used Clothos drunkenness to try to get her husband back. The Three Fates explained that if they were to find a replacement for Admetus then he could be released from the Underworld, a substitute was not found so Alcestis offered herself up to be the replacement in order to bring her husband back to life. As the agreement had been met, Alcestis quickly began to grow sick, at the last instant, Heracles arrived at the home of Admetus in the midst of the predicament. When Death came to take Alcestis away, Heracles wrestled him and forced him to return Alcestis, allowing Admetus and Alcestis to be reunited. Although there does not seem to be a tale in Greek mythology in which the Fates are the main focus, they have played critical roles in the lives of gods. A tale in which the Fates played a part was that of Meleagros and the Brand. Rouse describes in Gods, Heroes and Men of Ancient Greece, Meleagros led a hunting party to slay the Calydonian Boar, which was set loose upon Calydon by Artemis
Clotho
–
Statue in
Druid Ridge Cemetery that represents the Greek fate Clotho
Clotho
–
The Triumph of Death, or The 3 Fates.
Flemish tapestry (probably Brussels, ca. 1510-1520).
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
14.
Lachesis (mythology)
–
Lachesis, in ancient Greek religion, was the second of the Three Fates, or Moirai, Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos. Normally seen clothed in white, Lachesis is the measurer of the thread spun on Clothos spindle, Lachesis was the apportioner, deciding how much time for life was to be allowed for each person or being. She measured the thread of life with her rod and she is also said to choose a persons destiny after a thread was measured. In mythology, it is said that she appears with her sisters within three days of a birth to decide its fate. According to Hesiods Theogony, Lachesis and her sisters were the daughters of Erebus and Nyx, though later in the work they are said to have been born of Zeus. Lachesis is also mentioned in the book of the Republic of Plato as the daughter of Necessity. She instructs the souls who are about to choose their next life, assign them lots, Lachesis is a genus of pit vipers sometimes called bushmasters. It includes the largest venomous snake in the Western Hemisphere, thomas Blisniewski, Kinder der dunkelen Nacht. Die Ikonographie der Parzen vom späten Mittelalter bis zum späten XVIII, works related to Theogony at Wikisource
Lachesis (mythology)
–
The three fates,
Clotho, Lachesis and
Atropos, who spin, draw out and cut the thread of life. (
Flemish tapestry,
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
15.
Atropos
–
Atropos or Aisa, in Greek mythology, was one of the three Moirai, goddesses of fate and destiny. Atropos was the oldest of the Three Fates, and was known as the inflexible or inevitable and it was Atropos who chose the mechanism of death and ended the life of mortals by cutting their thread with her abhorred shears. She worked along with her two sisters, Clotho, who spun the thread, and Lachesis, who measured the length, Atropos has been featured in several stories such as Atalanta and Achilles. Her origin, along with the other two fates, is uncertain, although some called them the daughters of the night. It is clear, however, that at a period they ceased to be only concerned with death. Although Zeus was the chief Greek god and their father, he was subject to the decisions of the Fates. According to Hesiods Theogony, Atropos and her sisters were the daughters of Erebus and Nyx, though later in the work they are said to have been born of Zeus. Atropos lends her name to the genus Atropa, of which the poisonous plant Atropa belladonna and the alkaloid atropine, works related to Theogony at Wikisource The dictionary definition of Atropos at Wiktionary
Atropos
–
Bas relief of Atropos, shears in hand, cutting the thread of life
16.
Astraea (mythology)
–
Astraea or Astrea, in ancient Greek religion, was a daughter of Astraeus and Eos. She was the goddess of innocence and purity and is always associated with the Greek goddess of justice. She is not to be confused with Asteria, the goddess of the stars, Astraea, the celestial virgin, was the last of the immortals to live with humans during the Golden Age, one of the old Greek religions five deteriorating Ages of Man. According to Ovid, Astraea abandoned the earth during the Iron Age, fleeing from the new wickedness of humanity, she ascended to heaven to become the constellation Virgo. The nearby constellation Libra reflected her symbolic association with Dike, who in Latin culture as Justitia is said to preside over the constellation. In the Tarot, the 8th card, Justice, with a figure of Justitia, according to legend, Astraea will one day come back to Earth, bringing with her the return of the utopian Golden Age of which she was the ambassador. Astraeas hoped-for return was referred to in a phrase from Virgils Eclogue IV, Iam redit et virgo, in Spain, she was often identified with the rule of Philip IV. Rousseau in his Confessions notes it as one of the novels read with his father, a spectacle play by the Count of Villamediana and thirteen dramas by Calderon de la Barca introduce a character named Astraea to highlight the political and astrological concerns. In Russia, Astraea was identified first with Elizabeth, then with Catherine the Great. The English epic poet Edmund Spenser further embellished this myth at the opening of Book V of The Faerie Queene, shakespeare refers to Astraea in Titus Andronicus, and also in Henry VI, Part 1. In his most famous play, La vida es sueño, Calderon de la Barca has a character named Rosaura take on the name of Astraea at Court and this may be a laudatory political allusion to the dawn of a new Golden Age under Philip IV/Segismundo. John Drydens poem Astraea Redux is titled so as to compare the return of Charles II to England at the end of Interregnum to the return of Astraea, Astraea is also referenced in John Miltons epic poem Paradise Lost, in Book IV between lines 990 and 1000. When Satan is discovered in the Garden of Eden and brought before the Angel Gabriel and she subsequently used the name Astrea to identify the speaker in many of her poems, and was herself referred to as The Incomparable Astrea. The goddesss return forms the framing device of Delarivier Manleys 1709 satire The New Atalantis, Astrea is the one of the three allegorical female narrators. James Thornhill depicted Astraea in the painted Hall of the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich, astræa is also the title of a poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson. In Book 2 of Robert Brownings The Ring and the Book there is the following reference, astraeas gone indeed, let hope go too. Who is it dares impugn the natural law, deny God’s word the faithless wife shall die. Lady Justice Themis Dike Adikia Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Astraea
Astraea (mythology)
–
Astrea, the virgin goddess of Innocence and purity, by
Salvator Rosa
Astraea (mythology)
–
An 1886 bas-relief figure of Astraea in the Old Supreme Court Chamber at the
Vermont State House.
17.
Prometheus
–
Ancient myths and legends relate at least four versions of the narratives describing Prometheus, his exploits with Zeus, and his eternal punishment as also inflicted by Zeus. There is a single somewhat comprehensive version of the birth of Prometheus, the most significant narratives of his origin appear in the Theogony of Hesiod which relates Prometheus as being the son of the Titan Iapetus by Clymene, one of the Oceanids. Hesiod then presents Prometheus as subsequently being a challenger to Zeuss omnipotence. Each individual ancient author selectively preferred certain crucial stories depicting Prometheus over others, all three of the major Athenian tragedians, Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, were affected by the myth of Prometheus. The surviving plays and fragments of Aeschylus regarding Prometheus retain a place of prominence within modern scholarship for their having survived the ravages of time. The majority of written by Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides have been lost to literary antiquity. The influence of the myth of Prometheus extends well into the 20th, the etymology of the theonym prometheus is debated. The classical view is that it signifies forethought, as that of his brother Epimetheus denotes afterthought. It has been theorized that it derives from the Proto-Indo-European root that also produces the Vedic pra math, to steal, hence pramathyu-s, thief, cognate with Prometheus, the Vedic myth of fires theft by Mātariśvan is an analog to the Greek account. Pramantha was the used to create fire. Prometheus, himself a Titan, managed to avoid being in the direct confrontational cosmic battle between Zeus and the other Olympians against Cronus and the other Titans. Prometheus and his struggle would be of vast merit to society as well in this mythology as he was to be credited with the creation of humans. The four most ancient historical sources for the Prometheus myth are Hesiod, Homer, Pindar, the Prometheus myth first appeared in the late 8th-century BCE Greek epic poet Hesiods Theogony. He was a son of the Titan Iapetus by Clymene, one of the Oceanids and he was brother to Menoetius, Atlas, and Epimetheus. In the Theogony, Hesiod introduces Prometheus as a challenger to Zeuss omniscience and omnipotence. In the trick at Mekone, a sacrificial meal marking the settling of accounts between mortals and immortals, Prometheus played a trick against Zeus. He placed two sacrificial offerings before the Olympian, a selection of hidden inside an oxs stomach. Zeus chose the latter, setting a precedent for future sacrifices, henceforth, humans would keep that meat for themselves and burn the bones wrapped in fat as an offering to the gods
Prometheus
–
Prometheus depicted in a sculpture by
Nicolas-Sébastien Adam, 1762 (
Louvre)
Prometheus
–
Prometheus Brings Fire by
Heinrich Friedrich Füger. Prometheus brings fire to mankind as told by Hesiod, with its having been hidden as revenge for the trick at Mecone.
Prometheus
–
Heracles freeing Prometheus from his torment by the eagle (
Attic black-figure cup, c. 500 BCE)
Prometheus
–
Heracles freeing Prometheus, relief from the Temple of Aphrodite at
Aphrodisias
18.
Uranus (mythology)
–
Uranus was the primal Greek god personifying the sky. His name in Roman mythology was Caelus, in Ancient Greek literature, Uranus or Father Sky was the son and husband of Gaia, Mother Earth. According to Hesiods Theogony, Uranus was conceived by Gaia alone, elemental Earth, Sky and Styx might be joined, however, in a solemn invocation in Homeric epic. The most probable etymology traces the name to a Proto-Greek form *worsanós enlarged from *ṷorsó-, the basic Indo-European root is *ṷérs- ‘to rain, moisten’, making Ouranos the ‘rainmaker’. A less likely etymology is a derivative with meaning ‘the one standing on high’ from PIE *ṷérso-, georges Dumézil’s equation of Ouranos’ name with that of the Vedic deity Váruṇa, god of the sky and waters, is etymologically untenable. In Hesiods Theogony, Uranus is the offspring of Gaia, the earth goddess, alcman and Callimachus elaborate that Uranus was fathered by Aether, the god of heavenly light and the upper air. Under the influence of the philosophers, Cicero, in De Natura Deorum, claims that he was the offspring of the ancient gods Aether and Hemera, Air, according to the Orphic Hymns, Uranus was the son of Nyx, the personification of night. Uranus was the brother of Pontus, the God of the sea, further, according to the Theogony, when Cronus castrated Uranus, from Uranus blood, which splattered onto the earth, came the Erinyes, the Giants, and the Meliae. In the Olympian creation myth, as Hesiod tells it in the Theogony, Uranus came every night to cover the earth and mate with Gaia, but he hated the children she bore him. Hesiod named their first six sons and six daughters the Titans, Uranus imprisoned Gaias youngest children in Tartarus, deep within Earth, where they caused pain to Gaia. She shaped a great flint-bladed sickle and asked her sons to castrate Uranus, only Cronus, youngest and most ambitious of the Titans, was willing, he ambushed his father and castrated him, casting the severed testicles into the sea. For this fearful deed, Uranus called his sons Titanes Theoi, from the blood that spilled from Uranus onto the Earth came forth the Giants, the Erinyes, the Meliae, and, according to some, the Telchines. From the genitals in the sea came forth Aphrodite, after Uranus was deposed, Cronus re-imprisoned the Hekatonkheires and Cyclopes in Tartarus. Uranus and Gaia then prophesied that Cronus in turn was destined to be overthrown by his own son, zeus, through deception by his mother Rhea, avoided this fate. These ancient myths of distant origins were not expressed in cults among the Hellenes, the function of Uranus was as the vanquished god of an elder time, before real time began. After his castration, the Sky came no more to cover the Earth at night, but held to its place, Uranus was scarcely regarded as anthropomorphic, aside from the genitalia in the castration myth. He was simply the sky, which was conceived by the ancients as a dome or roof of bronze. Olympus is almost always used of, but ouranos often refers to the sky above us without any suggestion that the gods
Uranus (mythology)
–
Aion -Uranus with
Terra (Greek
Gaia) on
mosaic
Uranus (mythology)
–
The Mutilation of Uranus by Saturn: fresco by
Giorgio Vasari and
Cristofano Gherardi, c. 1560 (Sala di Cosimo I,
Palazzo Vecchio)
19.
Gaia (mythology)
–
In Greek mythology, Gaia, also spelled Gaea, is the personification of the Earth and one of the Greek primordial deities. Gaia is the mother of all life, the primal Mother Earth goddess. She is the parent of Uranus, from whose sexual union she bore the Titans and the Giants. Her equivalent in the Roman pantheon was Terra, the Greek word γαῖα is a collateral form of γῆ meaning Earth, a word of uncertain origin. R. S. P. Beekes has suggested a Pre-Greek origin, in Mycenean Greek Ma-ka also contains the root ga-. Gaia is the personification of the Earth and these are her offspring as related in various myths, some are related consistently, some are mentioned only in minor variants of myths, and others are related in variants that are considered to reflect a confusion of the subject or association. *Some said that those marked with a * were born from Uranus blood when Cronus castrated him, hesiods Theogony tells how, after Chaos, wide-bosomed Gaia arose to be the everlasting seat of the immortals who possess Olympus above, and the depths of Tartarus below. He then tells that Gaia brought forth her equal Uranus to cover her on every side, Gaia also bore the hills, and Pontus, without sweet union of love. After them was born Cronos the wily, youngest and most terrible of her children, as each of the Cyclopes and Hecatonchires were born, Uranus hid them in a secret place within Gaia, causing her great pain. She created a grey flint sickle, and Cronus used the sickle to castrate his father Uranus as he approached Gaia to have sex with her. From Uranus spilled blood, Gaia produced the Erinyes, the Giants, from the testicles of Uranus in the sea came forth Aphrodite. By her son Pontus, Gaia bore the sea-deities Nereus, Thaumas, Phorcys, Ceto, and Eurybia. Because Cronus had learned from Gaia and Uranus that he was destined to be overthrown by one of his children, but when Rhea was pregnant with her youngest child, Zeus, she sought help from Gaia and Uranus. When Zeus was born, Rhea gave Cronus a stone wrapped in swaddling-clothes in his place, which Cronus swallowed, with the help of Gaias advice, Zeus defeated the Titans. But afterwards, Gaia, in union with Tartarus, bore the youngest of her sons Typhon, according to Hyginus, Earth, along with Heaven and Sea were the children of Aether and Day. According to Apollodorus, Gaia and Tartarus were the parents of Echidna, Zeus hid Elara, one of his lovers, from Hera by stowing her under the earth. His son by Elara, the giant Tityos, is sometimes said to be a son of Gaia. Gaia is believed by some sources to be the deity behind the Oracle at Delphi
Gaia (mythology)
–
Gaia, by
Anselm Feuerbach (1875)
Gaia (mythology)
–
Gaia hands her newborn, Erichthonius, to
Athena as Hephaestus watches - an Attic
red-figure stamnos, 470–460 BC
Gaia (mythology)
–
Aion and Gaia with four children, perhaps the personified seasons, mosaic from a Roman villa in
Sentinum, first half of the third century BC, (
Munich Glyptothek, Inv. W504)
20.
Cronus
–
In Greek mythology, Cronus, or Kronos, was the leader and youngest of the first generation of Titans, the divine descendants of Uranus, the sky, and Gaia, the earth. He overthrew his father and ruled during the mythological Golden Age, until he was overthrown by his own son Zeus, Cronus was usually depicted with a harpe, scythe or a sickle, which was the instrument he used to castrate and depose Uranus, his father. Cronus was also identified in antiquity with the Roman deity Saturn. In an ancient myth recorded by Hesiods Theogony, Cronus envied the power of his father, Gaia created a great stone sickle and gathered together Cronus and his brothers to persuade them to castrate Uranus. Only Cronus was willing to do the deed, so Gaia gave him the sickle, when Uranus met with Gaia, Cronus attacked him with the sickle, castrating him and casting his testicles into the sea. From the blood spilled out from Uranus and fell upon the earth, the Gigantes, Erinyes. The testicles produced a white foam from which the goddess Aphrodite emerged, for this, Uranus threatened vengeance and called his sons Titenes for overstepping their boundaries and daring to commit such an act. After dispatching Uranus, Cronus re-imprisoned the Hecatonchires, and the Cyclopes and he and his sister Rhea took the throne of the world as king and queen. The period in which Cronus ruled was called the Golden Age, as the people of the time had no need for laws or rules, everyone did the right thing, and immorality was absent. Cronus learned from Gaia and Uranus that he was destined to be overcome by his own sons, just as he had overthrown his father. As a result, although he sired the gods Demeter, Hestia, Hera, Hades and Poseidon by Rhea, he devoured them all as soon as they were born to prevent the prophecy. When the sixth child, Zeus, was born Rhea sought Gaia to devise a plan to them and to eventually get retribution on Cronus for his acts against his father. Rhea secretly gave birth to Zeus in Crete, and handed Cronus a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes, also known as the Omphalos Stone, Rhea kept Zeus hidden in a cave on Mount Ida, Crete. Still other versions of the say that Zeus was raised by his grandmother. In other versions of the tale, Metis gave Cronus an emetic to force him to disgorge the children, after freeing his siblings, Zeus released the Hecatonchires, and the Cyclopes who forged for him his thunderbolts, Poseidons trident and Hades helmet of darkness. In a vast war called the Titanomachy, Zeus and his brothers and sisters, with the help of the Hecatonchires, and Cyclopes, overthrew Cronus and the other Titans. Afterwards, many of the Titans were confined in Tartarus, however, Atlas, Epimetheus, Helios, Gaia bore the monster Typhon to claim revenge for the imprisoned Titans. Accounts of the fate of Cronus after the Titanomachy differ, in Homeric and other texts he is imprisoned with the other Titans in Tartarus
Cronus
–
Giorgio Vasari: The Mutilation of Uranus by Saturn (Cronus)
Cronus
–
Cronus
Cronus
–
Painting by
Peter Paul Rubens of Cronus devouring one of his children
Cronus
–
4th-century Temple of
Saturn in the
Roman Forum.
21.
Oceanus
–
Strictly speaking, Oceanus was the ocean-stream at the Equator in which floated the habitable hemisphere. Thus, the sun rises from the deep-flowing Oceanus in the east, in Greek mythology, this world-ocean was personified as a Titan, the eldest son of Uranus and Gaia. In Hellenistic and Roman mosaics, this Titan was often depicted as having the body of a muscular man with a long beard and horns. In Roman mosaics, such as that from Bardo he might carry a steering-oar, some scholars believe that Oceanus originally represented all bodies of salt water, including the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, the two largest bodies known to the ancient Greeks. Oceanus consort is his sister Tethys, and from their union came the ocean nymphs, also referred to as the three-thousand Oceanids, and all the rivers of the world, fountains, and lakes. In most variations of this myth, Oceanus also refused to side with Cronus in the revolt against their father. R. S. P. Beekes has suggested a Pre-Greek proto-form *-kay-an-, when Odysseus and Nestor walk together along the shore of the sounding sea they address their prayers to the great Sea-god who girdles the world. It is to Oceanus, not to Poseidon, that their thoughts are directed, Heracles forced Helios to lend him his golden bowl, in order to cross the wide expanse of the Ocean on his trip to the Hesperides. When Oceanus tossed the bowl about, Heracles threatened him and stilled his waves, the journey of Heracles in the sun-bowl upon Oceanus became a favored theme among painters of Attic pottery. Oceanus appears in Hellenic cosmography as well as myth, cartographers continued to represent the encircling equatorial stream much as it had appeared on Achilles shield. Apollonius of Rhodes calls the lower Danube the Keras Okeanoio in Argonautica, accion in the fourth century Gaulish Latin of Rufus Avienus, Ora maritima, was applied to great lakes. At the end of the Okeanos Potamos, is the island of Alba, sacred to the Pelasgian Apollo. Hecateus of Abdera refers to Apollos island from the region of the Hyperboreans and it was on Leuke, in one version of his legend, that the hero Achilles, in a hilly tumulus, was buried. Leto, the Hyperborean goddess, after nine days and nine nights of labour on the island of Delos gave birth to the god of the antique light. Old Romanian folk songs sing of a monastery on a white island with nine priests, nine singers, nine altars. Oceanid Ogyges Rasā Uranus Aeschylus, Persians, edited and translated by Alan H. Sommerstein. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press,2009, online version at Harvard University Press. Apollodorus, Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, London, William Heinemann Ltd.1921
Oceanus
–
Oceanus in the
Trevi Fountain,
Rome
Oceanus
–
Oceanus, at right, with scaly tail, in the
Gigantomachy of the
Pergamon Altar.
22.
Mnemosyne
–
Mnemosyne, source of the word mnemonic, was the personification of memory in Greek mythology. A Titanide, or Titaness, she was the daughter of the Titans Uranus, zeus and Mnemosyne slept together for nine consecutive nights, thus birthing the nine Muses. Mnemosyne also presided over a pool in Hades, counterpart to the river Lethe, dead souls drank from Lethe so they would not remember their past lives when reincarnated. In Orphism, the initiated were taught to instead drink from the Mnemosyne, the river of memory, for more about the incriptions connection with Orphic poetry, see Zuntz,1971. Although she was categorized as one of the Titans in the Theogony, Titans were hardly worshiped in Ancient Greece, and were thought of as so archaic as to belong to the ancient past. They resembled historical figures more than anything else, later, once written literature overtook the oral recitation of epics, Plato made reference in his Euthydemus to the older tradition of invoking Mnemosyne. The character Socrates prepares to recount a story and says “ὥστ᾽ ἔγωγε, καθάπερ οἱ ποιηταί, δέομαι ἀρχόμενος τῆς διηγήσεως Μούσας τε καὶ Μνημοσύνην ἐπικαλεῖσθαι. ”Which translates to “Consequently, like the poets, I must needs begin my narrative with an invocation of the Muses and Memory”. Aristophanes also harked back to the tradition in his play Lysistrata when a drunken Spartan ambassador invokes her name while prancing around pretending to be a bard from times of yore. Mnemosyne was one of the deities worshiped in the cult of Asclepius that formed in Ancient Greece around the 5th century BC. Asclepius, a Greek hero and god of medicine, was said to have been able to cure maladies, the exact order of the offerings and prayers varied by location, and the supplicant often made an offering to Mnemosyne. After making an offering to Asclepius himself, in some locations, the hope was that a prayer to Mnemosyne would help the supplicant remember any visions had while sleeping there. Titans in popular culture, Mnemosyne Mnemonic Meme Moneta Aeschylus, Persians, edited and translated by Alan H. Sommerstein. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press,2009, online version at Harvard University Press. Apollodorus, Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, London, William Heinemann Ltd.1921. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library, caldwell, Richard, Hesiods Theogony, Focus Publishing/R. Hesiod, Theogony, in The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, London, William Heinemann Ltd.1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library, hymn to Hermes, in The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press, London, William Heinemann Ltd.1914, online version at the Perseus Digital Library
Mnemosyne
–
Mnemosyne (1881), a
Pre-Raphaelite interpretation of the goddess by
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
23.
Rhea (mythology)
–
Rhea is the Titaness daughter of the earth goddess Gaia and the sky god Uranus, in Greek mythology and sister and wife to Cronus. In early traditions, she is known as the mother of gods and therefore is associated with Gaia and Cybele. The classical Greeks saw her as the mother of the Olympian gods and goddesses, the Romans identified her with Magna Mater, and the Goddess Ops. Alternatively, the name Rhea may be connected with words for the pomegranate, ῥόα, the name Rhea may ultimately derive from a pre-Greek or Minoan source. Cronus sired six children by Rhea, Hestia, Hades, Demeter, Poseidon, Hera, and Zeus in that order. Apart from Zeus, he swallowed all as soon as they were born, because he had learned from Gaia and Uranus that, as he had overthrown his own father, he was destined to be overcome by his own child. When Zeus was about to be born, however, Rhea sought Uranus and Gaia to devise a plan to him, so that Cronus would get his retribution for his acts against Uranus. Rhea gave birth to Zeus in Crete, and saved him by handing Cronus a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes, Rhea hid Zeus in a cave on Mount Ida in Crete. Her attendants, the warrior-like Curetes and Dactyls, acted as a bodyguard for the infant Zeus, Rhea had no strong local cult or identifiable activity under her control. She was originally worshiped in the island of Crete, identified in mythology as the site of Zeuss infancy and her cults employed rhythmic, raucous chants and dances, accompanied by the tympanon, to provoke a religious ecstasy. Her priests impersonated her mythical attendants, the Curetes and Dactyls, with a clashing of bronze shields, in Roman religion, her counterpart Cybele was Magna Mater deorum Idaea, who was brought to Rome and was identified in Roman mythology as an ancestral Trojan deity. On a functional level, Rhea was thought equivalent to Roman Ops or Opis, the one at Mycenae is most characteristic, with a lioness placed on either side of a pillar that symbolizes the goddess. In Homer, Rhea is the mother of the gods, although not a mother like Cybele. In the Argonautica by Apollonius of Rhodes, the fusion of Rhea, for her temenos they wrought an image of the goddess, a xoanon, from a vine-stump. They leapt and danced in their armour, For this reason the Phrygians still worship Rhea with tambourines, the name of the bird species rhea is derived from the goddess name Rhea. The second largest moon of the planet Saturn is named after her, gantz, Timothy, Early Greek Myth, A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources, Johns Hopkins University Press,1996, Two volumes, ISBN 978-0-8018-5360-9, ISBN 978-0-8018-5362-3. Hesiod, Theogony, in The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, harvard University Press, London, William Heinemann Ltd.1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library, Homer, The Iliad with an English Translation by A. T
Rhea (mythology)
–
Rhea presenting Cronus the stone wrapped in cloth.
Rhea (mythology)
–
Rhea rides on a lion, Pergamon Altar,
Pergamon Museum,
Berlin
Rhea (mythology)
–
In the dry stone
Cyclopean masonry of the
Lion Gate of the
Mycenae acropolis, the pillar flanked by lionesses represents the deity
24.
Tethys (mythology)
–
In Greek mythology, Tethys, was a Titan daughter of Uranus and Gaia, and the wife of her brother the Titan-god Oceanus, and the mother by him of the river gods and the Oceanids. Tethys had no role in Greek mythology, and no established cults. Tethys was one of the Titan offspring of Uranus and Gaia, Hesiod lists her Titan syblings as Oceanus, Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetus, Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, and Cronus. Tethys married her brother, Oceanus, an enormous river encircling the world, and was, by him, the mother of sons, who were river-gods. According to Hesiod, there were three thousand river-gods, also according to Hesiod, there were three thousand Oceanids. Passages in a section of the Iliad called the Deception of Zeus, suggest the possibility that Homer knew a tradition in which Oceanus and Tethys were the parents of the Titans. Twice Homer has Hera describe the pair as Oceanus, from whom the gods are sprung, however, for M. L. West, these lines suggests a myth in which Oceanus and Tethys are the first parents of the whole race of gods. Tethys played no part in Greek mythology, the only early story concerning Tethys, is what Homer has Hera briefly relate in the Iliads Deception of Zeus passage. Hera relates this while dissembling that she is on her way to visit Oceanus and Tethys, in hopes of reconciling her foster parents, who angry with each other, are no longer having sexual relations. Originally Oceanus consort, at a later time Tethys came to be identified with the sea, in Ovids Metamorphoses, Tethys turns Aesacus into a diving bird. Tethys was sometimes confused with another sea goddess, the sea-nymph Thetis and this possible correspondence between Oceanus and Tethys, and Apsū and Tiamat, has been noticed by several authors, with Tethys name possibly having been derived from that of Tiamat. Representations of Tethys prior to the Roman period are rare, Tethys appears, identified by inscription, as part of an illustration of the wedding of Peleus and Thetis on the early sixth century BC Attic black-figure Erskine dinos by Sophilos. Tethys, accompanied by Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth, follows close behind Oceanus, Tethys is also conjectured to be represented in a similar illustration of the wedding of Peleus and Thetis depicted on the early sixth century BC Attic black-figure François Vase. Tethys probably also appeared as one of the fighting the Giants in the Gigantomachy frieze of the second century BC Pergamon Altar. Only fragments of the figure remain, a part of a chiton, below Oceanus left arm, the above are the only artistic representations of Tethys known prior to the Roman period. Her identifying attributes are wings sprouting from her forehead, a rudder/oar, and a ketos, a creature from Greek mythology with the head of a dragon and the body of a snake. The earliest of these mosaics, identified as Tethys, decorated a triclinium overlooking a pool, excavated from the House of the Calendar in Antioch, dated to shortly after AD115. Tethys, reclining on the left, with Oceanus reclining on the right, has long hair, a ketos twines around her raised right arm
Tethys (mythology)
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The goddess Tethys, who may have been a primordial deity of Archaic Greece and who in Classical myths was described as the mother who oversaw the chief rivers of the world known to the Greeks, mid-fourth-century mosaic, Philipopolis (today
Shahba,
Syria), Shahba Museum
Tethys (mythology)
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Roman mosaic of Tethys from
Antioch,
Turkey
25.
Theia
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In Greek mythology, Theia, also called Euryphaessa wide-shining, is a Titaness. Her brother/ consort is Hyperion, a Titan and god of the sun, and together they are the parents of Helios, Selene, the name Theia alone means simply goddess or divine, Theia Euryphaessa brings overtones of extent and brightness. Hesiods Theogony gives her an equally primal origin, said to be the eldest daughter of Gaia, robert Graves also relates that later Theia is referred to as the cow-eyed Euryphaessa who gave birth to Helios in myths dating to Classical Antiquity. Theias alternate name Euryphaessa has been adopted for a species of Australian leafhoppers Dayus euryphaessa, Greek mythology in popular culture Smith, William, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London
Theia
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In the frieze of the
Great Altar of Pergamon (Berlin), the goddess who fights at Helios' back is conjectured to be Theia
26.
Hekatonkheires
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Their name derives from the Greek ἑκατόν and χείρ, each of them having a hundred hands and fifty heads. Hesiods Theogony reports that the three Hecatoncheires became the guards of the gates of Tartarus, the Hundred-Handed-Ones are giants of great storms and hurricanes. Other accounts make Briareos one of the assailants of Olympus, after his defeat, he was buried under Mount Aetna. According to Hesiod, the Hecatoncheires were children of Gaia and Uranus and they played no known part in cult. They were, Briareos Strong, also called Aegaeon, spelled in Latin as Briareus, gyges or Gyes, possibly Limb or Curved. Soon after they were born, their father Uranus threw them into the depths of Tartarus because he saw them as hideous monsters. The Hecatoncheires remained there, guarded by the dragon Campe, until Zeus rescued them, advised by Rhea that they would serve as allies against Cronus. During the War of the Titans, the Hecatoncheires fought against the Titans, throwing rocks as big as mountains, one hundred at a time, after this, the Hecatoncheires became the guards of Tartarus. Briareos became the son-in-law of Poseidon, who gave him Kymopoliea his daughter to wed, scholia on Apollonius of Rhodes represent Aegaeon as a son of Gaea and Pontos, the Sea, ruling the fabulous Aegaea in Euboea, an enemy of Poseidon and the inventor of warships. In Ovids Metamorphoses and in Philostratus Life of Apollonius of Tyana he is a marine deity, in the Iliad by Homer, translated by Butler, Achilles asks his mother to appeal to Zeus on account of a previous interaction with Briareus, or Aegaeon. In Gargantua and Pantagruel it is mentioned that a waiter needs as many hands as Briareus, the giant is also mentioned in Cervantes Don Quixote, in the famous episode of the windmills. Briareos is mentioned in Book I of John Miltons Paradise Lost alongside Typhon as an analogue to the fallen Satan, Briareos is mentioned in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, by Henry Fielding, in a conversation between Tom Jones and Mr. Partridge. In Don Juan, Byron makes a crude joke, musing whether enviable Briareus. Hadst all things multiplied in proportion, in the Magic, The Gathering expansion Theros, based on Greek mythology, there is a card named Hundred-Handed One, a reference to the Hecatonkheires. Kottos, styled as Cottus is mentioned in John Keats Hyperion as a deity in the aftermath of the Titanomachy. Asura Greek mythology in popular culture Hesiods Theogony, 147ff, bibliotheca I.1.1 Ovid, Fasti iv.593 Horace Carminae II.17.14, III.4.69 Karl Kerenyi, Gods of the Greeks, London, Thames and Hudson,1951
Hekatonkheires
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Etching by Tommaso Piroli after a drawing of
John Flaxman.
27.
Cyclops
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A cyclops, in Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, was a member of a primordial race of giants, each with a single eye in the center of his forehead. The word cyclops literally means round-eyed or circle-eyed, other accounts were written by the playwright Euripides, poet Theocritus and Roman epic poet Virgil. In Hesiods Theogony, Zeus releases three cyclopes from the pit of Tartarus. They provide Zeus thunderbolt, Hades helmet of invisibility, and Poseidons trident, in a famous episode of Homers Odyssey, the hero Odysseus encounters the cyclops Polyphemus, the son of Poseidon and Thoosa, who lives with his fellow cyclopes in a distant country. The connection between the two groups has been debated in antiquity and by modern scholars and it is upon Homers account that Euripides and Virgil based their accounts of the mythical creatures. Strabo describes another group of seven Lycian cyclopes, also known as Bellyhands because they earned from their handicraft and they had built the walls of Tiryns and perhaps the caverns and the labyrinths near Nauplia, which are called cyclopean. All the other sources of literature about the cyclopes describe the cyclops Polyphemus, various ancient Greek and Roman authors wrote about cyclopes. Hesiod described them as three brothers who were primordial giants. ”However others suggest that Homer’s Polyphemus may have had two eyes and it is pointed out that in the Odyssey when the actual blinding occurs there is a reference to plural brows and lids. It is also noted that the first artistic or graphic depiction of the episode appears on an amphora that was created by the Polyphemos Painter c. 680-650 B. C. and the artist shows the blinding stake has two prongs, as two eyes are being targeted. In the Theogony by Hesiod, the cyclopes – Brontes, Steropes and the bright Arges – were the sons of Uranus and Gaia and brothers of the Hekatonkheires. As such, they were blood-related to the Titan and Olympian gods and they were giants with a single eye in the middle of their forehead and a foul disposition. According to Hesiod, they were strong and stubborn, collectively they eventually became synonyms for brute strength and power, and their name was invoked in connection with massive masonry. They were often pictured at their forge, Uranus, fearing their strength, locked them in Tartarus. Cronus, another son of Uranus and Gaia, later freed the cyclopes, along with the Hekatonkhires, Cronus then placed them back in Tartarus, where they remained, guarded by the female monster Campe, until freed by Zeus. They fashioned thunderbolts for Zeus to use as weapons, and helped him overthrow Cronus, the lightning bolts, which became Zeus main weapons, were forged by all three cyclopes, in that Arges added brightness, Brontes added thunder, and Steropes added lightning. According to a hymn of Callimachus, they were Hephaestus helpers at the forge, the cyclopes were said to have built the cyclopean fortifications at Tiryns and Mycenae in the Peloponnese. The noises proceeding from the heart of volcanoes were attributed to their operations, Euripides only extant comedy is his play Cyclops, which takes place on the island of Sicily near the volcano Mount Etna
Cyclops
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The Cyclops, gouache and oil by
Odilon Redon, undated (
Kröller-Müller Museum)
Cyclops
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Polyphemus, by
Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein, 1802 (Landesmuseum Oldenburg)
Cyclops
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Statue of a Cyclops at the Natural History Museum in London
Cyclops
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Syracuse,
Italy, -
Museo archeologico regionale Paolo Orsi - Elephas Falconeri
28.
Erinyes
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In Greek mythology the Erinyes, also known as the Furies, were female chthonic deities of vengeance, they were sometimes referred to as infernal goddesses. A formulaic oath in the Iliad invokes them as the Erinyes, walter Burkert suggests they are an embodiment of the act of self-cursing contained in the oath. They correspond to the Dirae in Roman mythology, the Roman writer Maurus Servius Honoratus wrote that they are called Eumenides in hell, Furiae on earth, and Dirae in heaven. According to variant accounts, they emerged from a more primordial level—from Nyx. Their number is usually left indeterminate, Virgil, probably working from an Alexandrian source, recognized three, Alecto or Alekto, Megaera, and Tisiphone or Tilphousia, all of whom appear in the Aeneid. Dante Alighieri followed Virgil in depicting the same three-character triptych of Erinyes, the word Erinys in the singular and as a theonym is first attested in Mycenaean Greek, written in Linear B, in the following forms,
Erinyes
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Orestes at
Delphi flanked by
Athena and
Pylades among the Erinyes and
priestesses of the
oracle, perhaps including
Pythia behind the tripod - Paestan
red-figured bell-krater, c. 330 BC
Erinyes
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The Remorse of
Orestes, where he is surrounded by the Erinyes, by
William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1862
29.
Half-siblings
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A sibling is one of two or more individuals having one or both parents in common. A male sibling is a brother, and a sibling is a sister. In most societies throughout the world, siblings often grow up together, the emotional bond between siblings is often complicated and is influenced by factors such as parental treatment, birth order, personality, and personal experiences outside the family. However, there are cases where siblings grow up in separate homes and it is known that both nature and nurture figure in development, researchers are attempting to ascertain just which one plays the larger role. Identical twins share 100% of their DNA, full siblings are first-degree relatives and, on average, share 50% of their genes out of those that vary among humans. Half-siblings are second-degree relatives and have, on average, a 25% overlap in their genetic variation. Full siblings have the same parents and are 50% related. Identical twins by definition are 100% related, there are two types of twins, identical and fraternal. Identical twins have exactly the same genes, fraternal twins are no more similar than regular siblings, often, twins with a close relationship will develop a twin language from infanthood, a language only shared and understood between the two. Studies suggest that identical twins appear to display more twin talk than fraternal twins, at about 3 years of age, twin talk usually ends. Researchers were interested in subjects who were in the years of life. They knew that past studies suggested that genetics played a role in ones personality in the earlier years of their life. However, they were curious about whether or not this was later on in life. They gathered subjects with an age of 59, who included 99 pairs of identical twins. They also gathered twins who were reared together,160 pairs of identical twins and they studied the most heritable traits in regard to personality, which are emotionality, activity level and sociability, also known as EAS. This study found that identical twins resembled each other twice as much as fraternal twins, furthermore, environment influences personality substantially, however, it has little to do with whether they are reared together or apart. This study also suggests that heritability is substantial, but not as substantial as for younger subjects, half-siblings are people who share one parent but not both. They may share the same mother but different fathers, or they may have the same father and they share only one parent instead of two as full siblings do and are on average 25% related
Half-siblings
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Two brothers
Half-siblings
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The Benzon Daughters by
Peder Severin Krøyer
Half-siblings
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Portrait of Lady Cockburn and her Three Eldest Sons, by
Joshua Reynolds
Half-siblings
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Sibling Physical Conflict
30.
Aphrodite
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Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation. She is identified with the planet Venus, and her Roman equivalent is the goddess Venus, as with many ancient Greek deities, there is more than one story about her origins. According to Hesiods Theogony, she was born when Cronus cut off Uranuss genitals and threw them into the sea, according to Homers Iliad, she is the daughter of Zeus and Dione. In Plato, these two origins are said to be of hitherto separate entities, Aphrodite Ourania and Aphrodite Pandemos, Aphrodite had many lovers—both gods, such as Ares, and men, such as Anchises. She played a role in the Eros and Psyche legend, and was lover and surrogate mother of Adonis. Many lesser beings were said to be children of Aphrodite, Aphrodite is also known as Cytherea and Cypris after the two cult sites, Cythera and Cyprus, which claimed to be her place of birth. Myrtle, roses, doves, sparrows and swans were sacred to her, the ancient Greeks identified her with the Ancient Egyptian goddess Hathor. Aphrodite had many names such as Acidalia and Cerigo, each used by a different local cult of the goddess in Greece. The Greeks recognized all of these names as referring to the single goddess Aphrodite, despite the differences in what these local cults believed the goddess demanded of them. The Attic philosophers of the 4th century, however, drew a distinction between a celestial Aphrodite of transcendent principles, and a separate, common Aphrodite who was the goddess of the people, hesiod derives Aphrodite from aphrós sea-foam, interpreting the name as risen from the foam. Michael Janda, accepting this as genuine, claims the birth myth as an Indo-European mytheme. Likewise, Witczak proposes an Indo-European compound *abʰor- very and *dʰei- to shine and it has been argued that etymologies based on comparison with Eos are unlikely since Aphrodites attributes are entirely different from those of Eos or the Vedic deity Ushas. A number of improbable non-Greek etymologies have suggested in scholarship. One Semitic etymology compares Aphrodite to the Assyrian barīrītu, the name of a demon that appears in Middle Babylonian. Hammarström looks to Etruscan, comparing prϑni lord, an Etruscan honorific loaned into Greek as πρύτανις and this would make the theonym in origin an honorific, the lady. Hjalmar Frisk and Robert Beekes reject this etymology as implausible, especially since Aphrodite actually appears in Etruscan in the borrowed form Apru, the medieval Etymologicum Magnum offers a highly contrived etymology, deriving Aphrodite from the compound habrodíaitos, she who lives delicately, from habrós and díaita. The alteration from b to ph is explained as a characteristic of Greek obvious from the Macedonians. Aphrodite is usually said to have been born near her chief center of worship, Paphos, on the island of Cyprus, however, other versions of her myth have her born near the island of Cythera, hence another of her names, Cytherea
Aphrodite
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Aphrodite Pudica (Roman copy of 2nd century AD),
National Archaeological Museum, Athens
Aphrodite
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Petra tou Romiou ("The rock of the
Greek "), Aphrodite's legendary birthplace in
Paphos, Cyprus.
Aphrodite
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The Birth of Venus by
Sandro Botticelli, circa 1485.
Aphrodite
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Venus and Adonis by
Titian, circa 1554.
