Greek Mythology: The Gods, Goddesses, and Heroes Handbook
From Aphrodite to Zeus, a Profile of Who's Who in Greek Mythology
Liv Albert, Sara Richard
- 240 pages
- English
- ePUB (adapté aux mobiles)
- Disponible sur iOS et Android
Greek Mythology: The Gods, Goddesses, and Heroes Handbook
From Aphrodite to Zeus, a Profile of Who's Who in Greek Mythology
Liv Albert, Sara Richard
Ă propos de ce livre
Finally sort out who's who in Greek mythologyâfrom gods, goddesses, heroes, monsters, and everyone in between! Greek mythology continues to appear in popular movies and books today but have you ever wondered about where these characters started out? Discover the origins of your favorite characters from Greek mythology with this collection of profiles to tell you who's who in classical lore!In Greek Mythology, you will discover the backstories of the heroes, villains, gods, and goddesses that enjoy popularity in today's shows and films. With comprehensive entries that outline each character's name, roles, related symbols, and foundational myths, you can get to know the roots of these personas and better understand the stories they inspire today. With this character-focused, handy reference, you will never be confused about Ancient Greece!
Foire aux questions
Informations
The Creation Myth: Gods and Titans
- The Titans, a group very similar to the gods, humanlike and different mostly only in name and overall importance in the mythology; they are sometimes also referred to as gods.
- The Hecatonchires, a very cool, if rarely mentioned, race of monsters, each with one hundred hands and fifty heads.
- The Erinyes, better known as the Furies, three women whose lives were devoted to punishing those who broke the natural laws of the world.
- The Gigantes, a race of bloodthirsty giants.
Gods, Heroes, Mortals, and Monsters
Other Important Deities
- Nymphs were minor deities associated with different aspects of nature. There were a great many types of nymphs, grouped by where they lived and what they were devoted to. The most common types of nymphs were:
- Naiads were nymphs of rivers, streams, and other bodies of fresh water. A subset of these were called Oceanids, freshwater nymphs who were specifically daughters of the Titan Oceanus, the personification of the great river that the Greeks believed encircled the world (yes, itâs confusing that Oceanids were freshwater nymphs).
- Dryads and Hamadryads were nymphs of the forests; their job was to protect the trees of the woods. Hamadryads differ from Dryads in that these nymphs were each devoted to a specific tree.
- Hesperides were nymphs of the sunset, daughters of the Titan Hesperis, the evening star. They guarded the Garden of the Hesperides, where famed golden apples grew.
- Nereids were nymphs of the sea and typically daughters of various sea gods and Titans, including Nereus.
- Lampades were the nymphs of the Underworld. They carried torches through the world of the dead and accompanied the goddesses Persephone and Hecate.
- The nine Muses (Mousai in Greek; Musae in Latin) were goddesses of knowledge, music, and dance and were the inspiration for all artists, poets, and playwrights of ancient Greece. They were the daughters of Zeus and the Titan Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory. Each muse was goddess of a specific aspect of inspiration: Calliope was the muse of epic poetry, Thalia of comedy, Euterpe of lyric poetry, Terpsichore of dance and choral song, Melpomene of tragedy, Polyhymnia of religious hymns, Erato of erotic poetry, Clio of history, and Ourania of astronomy.
- The Fates, or the Moirae (their original Greek name), were the three goddesses who determined the fate of every individual on earth. The ancient Greeks believed a personâs fate was woven into a thread of life, all handled by the Fates. The goddess Clotho spun a personâs life thread, creating their life; the goddess Lachesis measured the personâs life thread, determining their life span; and the goddess Atropos handled the cutting of a personâs life thread and therefore their death. You may recognize this concept from the 1997 Disney film Hercules. In that version, the Fates are conflated with another trio of women from Greek mythology, the Graeae, three crones who shared one eye and one tooth between them.
- The Furies, or the Erinyes (their original Greek name), as briefly mentioned earlier, were goddesses of vengeance and retribution. These goddesses were in charge of punishing humans for their crimes, particularly murder of family members. Their names were Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone, and they were depicted as monstrous, with wings, and snakes for hair or snakes coiled around their limbs.
- Sirens were monsters that were half women, half birds. They were both monstrous and beautiful, and were best known for their song, which they would use to lure sailors out of their boats and to their deaths. The only way to safely pass by the Sirens was to completely block your ears with wax so not a single note of their song could get through. Odysseus famously wanted to hear the Sirensâ song, so he tied himself to the mast of his ship so he could hear it without jumping in the water (the men on his ship used wax, so they were not affected).
- Satyrs and centaurs were the most famous half-human creatures. Satyrs were top-half human, bottom-half goat, and were typically found causing trouble (both lighthearted and not!). Centaurs, meanwhile, were top-half human, bottom-half horse and, with the exception of Chiron (he trained many of the heroes and was the inspiration for the satyr named Phil in the 1997 animated film Hercules!), were horrible creatures.