Monday, 9 June 2014

Campe

                                             

                                            In Greek mythology, Campe (or Kempe) was described as a half-dragon with a beautiful woman's head and upper body and a scorpion-like tail. In some versions, Campe was described as the daughter of Gaea (earth) and Tartarus. Campe was the most loyal servant of Cronus, leader of the Titans.

                              Cronus tasked Campe with guarding the Hekatonkheires and the Cyclopes in Tartarus. She was killed by Zeus when he rescued the Cyclopes for help in the battle with the Titans.

Index

Cyclopes

  1: Cyclopes:- In Greek mythology, Cyclopes  were three brothers -Arges, Brontes, and Steropes. They were son of Uranus (sky) and Gaea (earth), and brothers of Titans and the Hecatonchires. Cyclopes were described as a giant with a single eye in the middle of their forehead.  
    

                           Uranus was aghast at the sight of his offspring (Cyclopes and  Hecatonchires) so he locked them in Tartarus. According to other version, Gaea hid Cyclopes and  Hecatonchires within herself in Tartarus, to protect them from her husband. Cronus, the youngest son of Uranus and Gaea freed the Cyclopes along with the Hecatonchires, after he overthrown Uranus. Cronus feared the Cyclopes power, so placed them back in Tartarus, where they remained guarded by the female dragon Campe, until freed by Zeus
Cyclopes in forges

                           The Thunderbolt, which became Zeus' main weapons, was made by all three Cyclopes, - Arges added brightness, Brontes added thunder, and Steropes added lightning. With the assistance of the Cyclopes and their thunderbolts, Zeus overthrew Cronus and the Titans and became ruler. Zeus was grateful for the Cyclopes' help and allowed them to stay in Olympus as his armorers and helpers to Hephaestus, god of smiths. Cyclopes also created Poseidon's trident, Artemis' bow and arrows of moonlight, Apollo's bow and arrows of sun rays, and Hades' helmet of darkness.The Greeks also credited them with building the massive fortifications at Tiryns and Mycenae in the Peloponnese.
Apollo killing the Cyclopes

     Zeus struck Asclepius, Apollo's son, down with a thunderbolt for having risen a person from the dead. Apollo was outraged and killed the Cyclopes who had made the deadly thunderbolt.  For this crime, Apollo was then forced into the servitude of Admetus for one year. The ghosts of Brontes, Steropes, and Arges were said to dwell in Mt. Aetna, an active volcano that smokes as a result of their burning forges. 
                             According to some versions,   after the year of Apollo's servitude had passed, Zeus pardoned the Cyclopes and Asclepius from the underworld, despite them being dead, even though Hades is lord of the dead and they are his prisoners. Hades as well does not ever allow any of his souls to leave the underworld but Zeus could not bear the loss of the cyclopes, for they were the biggest reason the Olympians assumed power. Also Zeus resurrected Asclepius at the request of Apollo, so that their feud would end.

2:Cyclopes:- In Greek mythology, Cyclopes were a primitive tribe of one-eyed Giants who lived in caves and herded flocks on the  island of Sicily. Polyphemus, son of Poseidon and the sea nymph Thoosa, was the only notable one,  and the chief of the Cyclopes.

INDEX

Monday, 2 June 2014

Hermaphroditus

In Greek mythology, Hermaphroditus was was the son of Hermes, messenger of the gods, and Aphrodite, goddess of love (Hermes and Aphrodite). Hermaphroditus's name is derived from those of his parents Hermes and Aphrodite. All three of these gods figure largely among erotic and fertility figures, and all possess distinctly sexual overtones. Sometimes, Hermaphroditus is referred to as Aphroditus.
                   

Hermaphroditus and Salmacis
                       Hermaphroditus had inherited the beauty of both his parents, and was brought up by the nymphs of Mount Ida. At the age of fifteen, he grew bored with his surroundings and traveled to the cities of Lycia and Caria. It was in the woods of Caria, near Halicarnassus that he encountered the nymph, Salmacis, in her pool. She was overcome by lust for the boy, who was very handsome but still young, and tried to seduce him, but was rejected.

Hermaphroditus and Salmacis
                             When he thought her to be gone, Hermaphroditus undressed and entered the waters of the pool. Salmacis sprang out from behind a tree and jumped into the pool. She wrapped herself around the boy, forcibly kissing him and touching his breast. While he struggled, she called out to the gods that they should never part. Her wish was granted, and their bodies blended into one form, "a creature of both sexes".  A person with the figure and breasts of a woman but with the sex organs of a man.
Statues of Hermaphroditus

                                                  In some versions, Hermaphroditus prayed to Hermes and Aphrodite that anyone else who bathed in the pool would be similarly transformed, and his wish was granted.

INDEX

Actaeon

                                                            In Greek mythology, Actaeon, was the son of the minor god Aristaeus ( son of Apollo and the nymph Cyrene) and AutonoĆ« (daughter of Cadmus, the founder of Thebes in Boeotia); he was a Boeotian hero and hunter.  Actaeon accidentally saw Artemis (goddess of wild animals, vegetation, and childbirth) while she was bathing on Mount Cithaeron.
Actaeon saw Goddess Artemis bathing

                                         He stopped and stared, amazed at her ravishing beauty. Once seen, Artemis got revenge on Actaeon: she forbade him speech — if he tried to speak, he would be changed into a stag. Upon hearing the call of his hunting party, he cried out to them and immediately was changed into a stag and was pursued and killed by his own 50 hounds. According to other version, he offended Artemis by boasting that his skill as a hunter surpassed hers.

INDEX

Teiresias

Teiresias
                                        In Greek mythology, Teiresias was a blind prophet of Thebes. He was the son of the shepherd Everes and the nymph Chariclo. Teiresias retained his prophetic gifts even in the underworld, where the hero Odysseus was sent to consult him. At Thebes he played an active part in the tragic events concerning Laius, the king of Thebes, and his son Oedipus.
                                  
Teiresias saw mating snakes
                                 Once, when on Mount Cythaeron (others say Cyllene), Teiresias saw a male and a female snakes engaged in sexual intercourse. He struck at them with his staff, and as he happened to kill the female snake. Goddess Hera was not pleased: as the sensuous seductress of Zeus, she heartily approved of sex - even for the lower creatures. Hera punished Tiresias by transforming him into a woman. As a woman, Tiresias became a priestess of Hera, married and had children, including Manto, who also possessed the gift of prophecy.

       
Lady Teiresias
                                                             According to other version, Lady Tiresias was a prostitute of great renown. After seven years as a woman, Tiresias again found mating snakes, she made sure to leave the snakes alone this time. As a result, Tiresias was released from his sentence and again became a man. In some versions, she struck them again with the staff and was turned back into a man.
                                          
Teiresias with Hera and Zeus
                           Tiresias was drawn into an argument between Hera and her husband Zeus, on the theme of who has more pleasure in sex: the man, as Hera claimed; or, as Zeus claimed, the woman, as Tiresias had experienced both.  Tiresias revealed woman's greatest secret: on a scale of ten, she gets nine parts of the pleasure to his one. Hera was furious, and instantly struck him blind - Zeus couldn't do anything to stop her - but he did give Tiresias the gift of foresight and life which was to last for seven or nine generations. 
                                
Teiresias saw Athena naked
                                             According to other version, Tiresias was blinded by Athena after he saw a goddess bathing naked. His mother, Chariclo, a nymph of Athena, begged Athena to undo her curse, but the goddess could not; instead, she cleaned his ears, giving him the ability to understand birdsong, and the gift of foresight.
                           According to some versions, the cause of Teiresias blindness, was that he was blinded by the gods for revealing their secrets.