Mythology Stories

Source: Myths and Their Meaning

by Max J. Herzberg

Pandora• After Prometheus gave fire to

man, Jupiter became more unhappy

• He and Vulcan devised Pandora (all gifts)

• Sent to Prometheus with a sealed box

• Prometheus is suspicious and rejects her

• Jupiter sends her to Epimetheus• Together Epimetheus and

Pandora break the seal on the box and…

All of the evils of the world flew out of the box to plague man

Only one spirit remained and that was: HOPE.

Jupiter, still angry with Prometheus send giants to snatch him and chain him to a rock, where a vulture ate his liver during the day, only to have it grow back at night. (Ouch…)

Zeus and Io• Zeus was attracted to Io and visited

her• Hera became suspicious• Zeus surrounds himself and Io with a

cloud• Hera pushes away the cloud and sees

Zeus standing there with a heifer• Hera admired the heifer and Zeus

had no choice but to give it to her as a gift

• Hera turned the heifer over to her watch-monster, Argus

• Argus had 100 eyes which took turns sleeping

• Zeus sent Mercury to kill Argus• Mercury shape-shifted into a shepherd

and lulled the monster with stories and songs until Argus slept.

• Mercury killed him • Hera took the eyes of Argus and put

them on the tail of the peacock

Zeus and Europa

• Zeus fell in love with Europa, a princess

• He wooed her in the shape of a bull, but cast a spell on her so she wouldn’t be afraid

• She got on his back and he jumped into the sea and headed for Crete.

• On the way he revealed to her that he was a god.

• Princess Europa bore Zeus three sons, one of whom was Minos.

• The continent of Europe is named after her.

Echo and Narcissus• Most celebrated nymph – Echo• One day, Echo purposely delayed

Hera so that Zeus could sneak off• Hera punished Echo – took away

ability to speak freely• Echo fell in love with gorgeous

youth named Narcissus• When he spoke to her all she

repeated what he said

• Narcissus thought she was making fun of him and ignored her

• In despair, she pined away for him until all that was left was her voice

• The other nymphs didn’t like Narcissus because he thought he was too good for them

• One nymph prayed he would experience unrequited love - her prayer was granted

•He saw himself in the pool, tried to embrace himself, fell in and drowned

•A small narcissus flower grew on the shore after his death

Apollo and Hyacinthus• Mortal son of king of

Sparta• Apollo hunted, fished,

and played sports with him

• Zephyrus, the west wind, was also fond of Hyacinthus and jealous of Apollo

• Playing quoits one day, Apollo sailed one toward Hyacinthus and Zephyrus changed its course, striking Hyacinthus

•He died and in his honor a flower, the hyacinth, bloomed.

•The hyacinth is also called the iris

Venus and Adonis• Adonis was an

extraordinarily handsome mortal

• Venus scratched herself with one of Cupid’s arrows and immediately fell in love with Adonis

• Adonis loved to hunt and Venus went with him every day.

• One day Venus went to Mt. Olympus and warned Adonis to be careful while hunting

• Adonis wounds a wild boar while hunting

• The boar attacked Adonis, killing him• Venus grieved and from his blood

sprang the anemone• Zeus took pity on Venus allowed

Adonis to return from the underworld to live with her for 6 months of the year (spring and summer)

Pyramus and Thisbe

• Pyramus was a mortal youth• Thisbe was a mortal maiden• Their parents forbade their marriage • They communicated through a crack in the

wall• Finally, they arranged to meet by the white

mulberry tree outside of town• Thisbe arrived to see a lion, which scared

her

• She ran off leaving her veil behind.

• The lion played with the veil and left

• Pyramus arrives and finds mangled veil

• Thinking Thisbe dead, he plunges his sword into his side

• Thisbe finds him, and uses the sword to kill herself

• Their commingled turned the mulberry fruit deep purple

Orpheus and Eurydice

• Mortal son of Apollo and Calliope (Muse)

• He was given a lyre by Apollo and became to best mortal musician

• He fell in love with the mortal, Eurydice

• They married and lived happily until the day Eurydice was stung by a serpent and died

• Orpheus was heartbroken and decided to go to the underworld to talk to Pluto

• He made it through Hades by charming all of those he came across with his music

• Orpheus played for Pluto, who cried

• Orpheus begged for his wife and Pluto was moved to grant his wish with a condition

• He was not to look back at her until they reached the upper world of earth

• They promised and began their journey up to earth

• He made it out, but before she did, he turned around to check on her and she faded back to Hades, lost to him forever.

• Orpheus roamed the earth, despondent.

• A group of maenads tore him apart because he refused to play for them.

• He joined his beloved in Hades

• Zeus put his lyre among the stars

Pygmalion and Galatea

• Pygmalion was the mortal king of Cyprus

• He was a sculptor who distrusted women

• Intended never to marry• Sculpted a statue of a beautiful

woman and he called it Galatea. • He fell in love with the statue• After praying to Venus, he went

home to find the statue alive. • They married with Venus’

blessing

Baucis and Philemon

• Jupiter liked to wander the earth in disguise to be sure humans practiced hospitality

• He and Mercury dressed as beggars and visited earth.

• Most people turned them away

• At the humble home of Baucis (wife) and Philemon (husband) they found welcome

• They built a nice fire and offered them what food they had

• The food multiplied• The gods led the couple to a

hill for safety• The gods flooded the valley

and all of the un-hospitable people

• Zeus built a temple on the hill and entrusted it to the couple

• At death, Zeus turned them into an oak (Baucis) and a linden tree (Philemon)

Callisto• A mortal woman with

whom Zeus fell in love.• She had his son, Arcas• Hera, ever angry,

changed her into a bear• She fled from hunters

and didn’t fit in with the bears – her mind was human

• Arcas grew into a young man who liked to hunt.

• One day he was hunting and Callisto, in bear form, saw him.

• She stood on her hind legs to try to embrace him, but he became scared

• He drew back an arrow and let it fly• Before it could hit, Zeus took both of them

and placed them in the sky as the constellations Big Bear and Little Bear

(Orsa Major and Orsa Minor)• Hera asked Poseidon to see that they were

not allowed to set below the horizon like the other stars

Daedalus and Icarus

• Daedalus was an inventor and served King Minos of Crete

• After Daedalus built the labyrinth to hold the Minotaur, he and his son were imprisoned.

• Daedalus fashioned wings for both out of feathers and wax

• Icarus flew too close to the sun and the wax melted and he fell into the sea – thereafter called the Icarian Sea

• Daedalus escaped

Hero and Leander

• Leander – mortal youth• Hero – mortal maiden• Visiting a temple they saw

each other and fell in love – forbidden to see each other

• Arranged to meet, but lived on different sides of a strait

• She hung a lantern on shore and he swam to the light

• One night there was a storm and the light blew out as Leander was swimming across the strait.

• He drowned• The next morning Hero

went to the shore and Leanders body was floating there

• In grief, she threw herself into the ocean and drowned

Phaethon• Mortal son of Apollo and nymph

Clymene• Grew up as mortal and was teased by

playmates when he told them of his father.

• His mother recommended he visit Apollo

• He did and Apollo, in his joy, granted Phaethon any wish

• Phaethon asked to drive Apollo’s sun chariot across the sky.

• Apollo could not go back on his word and allowed him to do so, regretting it

• Phaethon started across the sky, but lost control of the chariot

• The horses took control and when they flew too close to the earth they scorched it and when they were too far away, the land froze

• Mankind prayed to Jupiter and he used his thunderbolt to strike down Phaethon.

• Black clouds covered the earth for days as Apollo grieved.

Endymion

• Diana teased other gods about falling for mortals

• Endymion was a mortal shepherd

• Diana saw him and fell in love• While he was asleep, she came

down and sat by him and kissed him night after night

• The other gods noticed Diana was neglecting her duties and wondered why

• They spied on her and discovered what she was doing.

• Zeus had to make Diana resume her duties

• Zeus gave Endymion a choice: death in any manner he chose or perpetual sleep

• Endymion chose perpetual sleep

• As Diana passes overhead, the moon hangs in the sky for a moment so that Diana can gaze at her sleeping beloved.

Niobe• The mortal daughter of king

Tantalus• She had 7 sons and 7

daughters of whom she was inordinately proud

• She bragged that she was a better mother than Latona (or Leto), mother of Apollo and Diana

• Apollo and Diana vowed to punish her boastfulness

• They used their arrows to kill all of Niobe’s sons

• Niobe was devastated, but not humbled and continued to brag that she still had 7 children to Latona’s two.

• Apollo and Diana then slew the 7 daughters

• As Niobe watched, she was turned into stone with grief, but her tears continued

• The gods, in pity, changed her into a fountain

Daphne and Apollo

• Daphne was the daughter of the river god Peneus

• Apollo saw Cupid playing with his bow and arrows and taunted him

• Cupid, angry, shot two arrows: a lead-tipped arrow hit Daphne causing dislike while a golden-tipped arrow hit Apollo causing him to fall in love

• He approached Daphne but she ran from him

• He decided to abduct her and as he chased her and came closer, she cried out to her father to save her

• Peneus changed her into a laurel tree before Apollo could touch her

• He still loved her and the laurel became his favorite tree. The laurel wreath is a symbol of special honor

Tantalus

• A mortal king• Killed his own son• Punished in Hades• Could not eat the

fruit near him• Could not drink the

water near him

Bellerophon• The Chimera was a monster – part

lion, part goat, hind legs of a dragon, and breathed fire

• The King, Iobates searched Greece for a hero to kill the Chimera

• Bellerophon, mortal son of the King of Corinth volunteered

• An oracle advised him to use Pegasus to help him defeat the Chimera

• Minerva gave Bellerophon a golden bridle and instructions to wait at Pegasus’ favorite watering hole and use the bridle to subdue him

• Pegasus took him high and Bellerophon’s arrows killed the Chimera

• He became overly proud of his mastery of Pegasus and tried to fly to Mt. Olympus

• Zeus sent a gadfly to sting the horse, causing him to throw off Bellerophon, who died.

Atalanta and Hippomenes

• A prophecy predicted Atalanta’s marriage would be fatal to her so she decided never to marry

• She lived in the woods and worshiped Diana and rebuffed all men

• She was pursued so avidly that she finally devised a plan to thwart her suitors

• She would become the bride of anyone who could beat her in a foot race

• If the challenger failed, he was put to death

• Many tried and failed• Hippomenes brought in as a judge,

saw Atalanta and fell in love• He accepted the challenge and

prayed to Venus to help him• Venus gave him three of the

golden apples of the Hesperides with instructions

• Atalanta was sad about the race because she actually like Hippomenes

• As they raced Hippomenes threw one golden apple after another in her path

• She would stop to pick it up and he would catch up

• The last apple allowed him to win• They were happy with the outcome

but failed to pay homage to Venus for her help.

• In anger, she changed Hippomenes into a lion and Atalanta into a lioness and they pulled the chariot of Rhea

Cupid and Psyche

• Psyche, youngest mortal daughter of king who was incomparably beautiful

• The alters of Venus began to be neglected• Venus asked Cupid to help with revenge• He was told to give her water that would

make her fall in love with a mean and ugly person

• He found her asleep, and as he bent over to put the water on her, he wounded himself with one of his own arrows, falling deeply in love

• After this, Psyche was no longer worshipped, and her parents consulted an oracle

• They took her to the top of mountain and left her for an immortal monster who would be her husband

• Zephyrus lifted Psyche up and took her a great valley with a golden palace

• She had a wonderful life there with invisible servants and good food and music

• At night, she was visited by her husband who told her she was never to attempt to look at him

• She was happy for a long time, but missed her parents and two sisters.

• She asked her unseen husband if she could make a short visit.

• He agreed, but warned her not to listen to anyone who advised her to take a peek at his face

• Zephyrus took her back to the mountain and she made her way home

• After many happy days, her sisters began to advise her peek at her husband because they were jealous of her

• Back at the golden palace, Psyche took a lamp and knife with her to bed. When her husband fell asleep she used the lamp to see him.

• She saw his beauty and fell deeply in love

• Oil from the lamp fell on him and he woke up, angered, and flew away

• She tried to kill herself, but the river gods would let her because of her beauty

• She prayed for help at a temple of Venus, not realizing it was her husband’s mother

• Venus, still angry, set her impossible tasks

• She separated piles of grain with the help of ants (Cupid sent them)

• She obtained fleece from golden sheep by waiting for them to graze and taking the fleece from the bushes

• She went to Hades and obtained a box of beauty ointment from Persephone.

• On the way back she succumbed to curiosity and opened the box

• She fell into a deadly sleep and Cupid saved her and begged Zeus to intercede with Venus

• Venus accepted her, Mercury flew her to Mt. Olympus, and she ate ambrosia and became the immortal wife of Cupid

Midas• Pan once challenged Apollo to a

contest of their musical talents• Midas, a mortal king, was chosen

judge• Midas chose Pan and Apollo was

angry• Apollo gave him the ears of an ass• He kept his deformity hidden under

a hat• But his barber knew the secret and

unable to keep it, he dug a hole, whispered the secret and covered it up

• Reeds grew on this spot and began to whisper the secret with the breezes

• Then he did a favor for Silenus, the teacher of Bacchus

• Bacchus granted him a wish in return

• He asked that all he touched be turned to gold

• Food, water, and his daughter turned to gold

• Midas asked Bacchus to reverse the gift

• Bacchus told him to bathe in the waters of the River Pactolus, which Midas did

• The curse was removed• Ever since, there is gold

mixed into the sands of the Pactolus