Thursday, October 28, 2010

Chapter 20: Arachne

She was an excellent weaver but she wasn't satisfied about being the best mortal weaver. She thought she was a better weaver than any other god. She had too much pride and let her emotions control her actions which brought destruction upon herself. Her ability as a weaver had earned fame among her neighbors and other countries. Her work was so good that nymphs often left other thing just to admire her work. Everyone thought that only Athena could have taught Arachne to be a skillful weaver, but she always denied that she had ever received help from the goddess. Arachne decided to battle Athena at a weaving contest and if she lost she would accept whatever punishment or shame Athena chose to put on her. Athena got mad and decided to punish Arachne. She disguised herself as an old lady and told Arachne to apologize to Athena.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Chapter 21: Niobe

Niobe is a woman who compares herself to a goddess. She believes she has given birth to twelve children (six boys and six girls), while the goddess Leto (the god Apollo and the goddess Artemis). The Olympus god does not believe it. The goddess Leto is offended by Niobe's lies. So Leto sends her children, Apollo and Artemis to hurt Niobe. Apollo, shot his silver longbow whip and sing, shot the lads down, and Artemis, shot his raining arrows and killed the daughters. Niobe was devastated when her children were killed. She cried for days on end, and finally was transformed into a stone, but this stone monumented and sheds tears.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Chapter 31-Perseus


Perseus was the son of Zeus and Danae. Danae was the daughter of Acrisius, who was the King of Argos. Acrisius was warned that he would be killed by his grandson Perseus, so Acrisius locked Perseus and his mother in a chest and cast them into the sea. They floated to the island of Seriphus, where they were rescued and where Perseus grew into a man. The king of Seriphus, Polydectes, fell in love with Perseus’ mom. He thought that Perseus might get in the way of his plans to marry Danae, so he sent Perseus to collect the head of Medusa. Medusa was a monster; if you looked at her face, you were turned into stone instantly. Aided by Hermes, Perseus made his way to the Fates, who all shared one eye between them. Perseus took their eye and he wouldn’t give it back to them until they told him where to reach the nymphs of the north. They told him the directions, and when he reached the nymphs, they gave him some winged sandals, a magic wallet (which would fit whatever was put into it), and a cap to make him invisible. Hermes gave him a sword which could never be bent or broken, and Athena gave him a shield. Perseus found Medusa and killed her. To avoid being turned into stone, he looked through the reflection of his sheild. Medusa had some sisters who were not very happy, but Perseus escape because he was wearing his cap. He put Medusa’s head into the wallet and flew on his winged sandals towards home. As he was passing Ethiopia, he rescued the princess Andromeda as she was about to be sacrificed to a sea monster and he took her with him as his wife. At Seriphus, he freed his mother by turning the king into stone, by using Medusa. They all then returned to Greece, where Perseus accidentally killed his grandfather Acrisius with a discus, as he was told in the past.

Chapter 19: Lycaon (The Flood Dawn of the New Era)

 This chapter is about a myth that bronze race mortals made. They were very disrespectful and rude. They made up rumors. Zeus then came along and told them that it is not so bad to a mortal, he will prove it to them. Zeus did an experiment and dressed up as a mortal man, to show that they were good people. If the rumors ended up to be false then he would kill. He went to go visit the main guy who made these rumors and he was the most disrespectful out of all of them, his name is Lycaon. When he visited him, Zeus presented his self as an Olympus god. Lycaon did not believe him so, he tested by asking him if he wanted something to eat. He said he wanted cow. Well, Lycaon gave him meat, but it wasn’t real meat, it was human flesh. If he was a real Olympus god, he would be able to tell whether or not it was human or animal meat. Zeus relized that it wasn’t cow, he was so angry and killed everyone there beside Lycaon. Lycaon escaped to tell his neighbors that the gods were angry. He tried to tell them, but he couldn’t, nothing but howling came out. He started to turn into a wolf. After this, Zeus decided that no mortal should live, what immortal should be sacrificed if no mortal was left to worship the deathless gods. He then made a promise: once the race is gone, he will then make a new one to supply their alters with fragrant sacrifices. Zeus killed the race by water, not fire, because it would destroy land. After he had set up the flood, there was two survivors, Deucalion and Pyrrha. 

Chapter 18: Pandora



Pandora
As further revenge against Prometheus and the powers he gave man, Zeus creates a woman named Pandora. Zeus gives her a box and forbids her from opening it. He sends her down to earth, where her  curiosity leads her to open the lid. Out fly plagues, sorrow, mischief, and all other misfortunes that can plague mankind. Horrified, Pandora attempts to shut the lid of the box, but it is too late. The only good element to fly out of the box is hope.
Pandora was the very first woman who was formed out of clay by the gods. The Titan Prometheus had originally been assigned with the task of creating man. But because he was not pleased with their qualities, he stole fire from heaven. Zeus was angry, and ordered Hephaistos and the other gods to create a woman, Pandora, and give her the beauty and cunning. Then he delivered her to Epimetheus, the younger brother of Prometheus, for a bride. When he let her into his house, Pandora opened the box which Zeus had given her as a wedding present, and released the evil spirits trapped inside it. Only Elpis remained behind, a single blessing to help mankind in their suffering.
Pandora's daughter Pyrrha was the first-born mortal child. She and her husband Deukalion alone survived the Great Deluge. To repopulate the earth they each threw stones over their shoulder. Those tossed by Deukalion formed men, and those tossed of Pyrrha formed women.

Chapter 17: Prometheus






Prometheus
Prometheus is a Titan, the son of Iapetus and Themis, and brother of Atlas, Epimetheus and Menoetius. He was willing to risk his own well-being in order to live the life he chose. He was a champion of mankind, known for his sharp intelligence, for tricking and stealing form Zeus, And helping the mortals. Zeus then punished him for his crimes in an unusual way.
Prometheus was the Titan god of forethought and crafty counsel. He was trusted with the task of molding mankind out of earth and water. He let his brother, Epimetheus, distibute the qualities to each creature that they needed in order to survive. Epimetheus failed at completing this task for man, because he ran out of qualities to give. Because of this, Prometheus kept trying to better the lives of mankind, which brought conflict between him and Zeus. First he tricked the gods out of the best portion of the sacrificial feast, so that man could get the best part and eat well. He was concerned that mortals would give all their best food to the gods and leave little for themselves. Prometheus was very proud of himself for completing the clever task of tricking the father of all gods and men. Then, when Zeus withheld fire, he stole it from heaven and gave it to mortals hidden inside a fennel-stalk. Zeus decided to punish both Prometheus and man. Prometheus was arrested and bound to a stake on Mount Kaukasos. Everyday an eagle ate his liver, which grew back each time only to be eaten again. As a punishment for man, Zeus ordered the creation of Pandora in order to deliver misfortune into for man, or as a way to cheat mankind of the company of the good spirits.