Greek mythology is a complex blend of stories and beliefs, most homegrown within the Greek lands but many others imported from neighboring regions, especially Asia Minor. Most of the time, the end result is a chaotic mishmash that historians struggle to make sense of. The Corybantes are a perfect illustration of this cultural puzzle. The …
All about Corybantes: Greek Dancers Protecting Zeus Read More »
Astarte was a highly-regarded mother goddess, associated with the moon, who was worshiped under different names throughout the Middle East, including Ishtar in Mesopotamia and Ashtart or Asherah by the Phoenicians and Canaanites. The Greeks referred to her as Astarte and associated her to their own goddess of love and fertility, Aphrodite. Many clay plaques …
Acanthus is a thistle like plant found in warmer climates. According to the Ancient Greeks, the acanthus flower was said to be a nymph loved by Apollo called Acantha, however the god eventually changed her into the acantha flower. The sinuate, notched leaves of two kinds of acanthus in the Mediterranean region provided the pattern …
Erysichthon had the wicked audacity to cut down the tallest oak in a grove sacred to Ceres. His servants shrank from the sacrilege when he ordered them to fell it; whereupon he seized an ax himself and attacked the mighty trunk around which the dryads used to hold their dances. Blood flowed from the tree …
Greek Myth of Erysichthon: Man Cursed with Endless Hunger Read More »
Procne, the elder of the two sisters, was married to Tereus of Thrace, a son of Ares, who proved to have inherited all his father’s detestable qualities. The two had a son, Itys, and when he was fve years old Procne, who had all this while been living in Thrace separated from her family, begged …
Story of Philomela (The Nightingale in Greek Mythology) Read More »
In the Phrygian hill-country there were once two trees which all the peasants near and far pointed out as a great marvel, and no wonder, for one was an oak and the other a linden, yet they grew from a single trunk. The story of how this came about is a proof of the immeasurable …
All about Philemon and Baucis (Ovid’s Greek Mythology Story) Read More »
Ceyx, a king in Thessaly, was the son of Lucifer, the light bearer, the star that brings in the day, and all his father’s bright gladness was in his face. His wife Alcyone was also of high descent; she was the daughter of Aeolus, King of the Winds. The two loved each other devotedly and …
Ceyx and Alcyone Story: Punished Lovers in Greek Mythology Read More »
NOTE: This story is told only by Ovid and the Goddess of Love is therefore Venus and/or Aphrodite. It is an excellent example of Ovids way of dressing up a myth. A gifted young sculptor of Cyprus, named Pygmalion, was a woman-hater. Detesting the faults beyond measure which nature has given to women, he resolved …
Story of Pygmalion: Sculptor in Love with the Statue Galatea Read More »
Once upon a time the deep red berries of the mulberry tree were white as snow. The change in color came about strangely and sadly. The death of two young lovers was the cause: Pyramus and Thisbe. He the most beautiful youth and she the loveliest maiden of all the East, lived in Babylon, the …
Tale of Pyramus & Thisbe (Romeo & Juliet in Greek Mythology) Read More »
Zeus and Poseidon are perhaps the two most famous gods of the Greek pantheon. Much is known about them, but how are they different from one another? And in a hypotethical fight, who would win?